Search results for "MOPS"

Identification of two additives, locust bean gum (E-410) and guar gum (E-412), in food products by DNA-based methods.

2004

Locust bean gum (E-410) and guar gum (E-412) are high molecular weight galactomannans used by the food industry as versatile food additives. The compounds, although chemically closely related, do not have the same functional properties when used in foods, and the substitution or unadvertised addition of either could change the desired qualities of the product. Analytical discrimination between E-410 and E-412 is technically difficult since they only differ in their galactose: mannose ratios, being 1 : 4 and 1 : 2 for locust bean gum and guar gum, respectively. A qualitative DNA-based method is reported for the authentication of additives E-410 and E-412 in finished food products (ice cream,…

Species distribution models as a tool for early detection of the invasive Raphidiopsis raciborskii in European lakes

2022

In freshwater habitats, invasive species and the increase of cyanobacterial blooms have been identified as a major cause of biodiversity loss. The invasive cyanobacteria Raphidiopsis raciborskii a toxin-producing and bloom-forming species affecting local biodiversity and ecosystem services is currently expanding its range across Europe. We used species distribution models (SDMs) and regional bioclimatic environmental variables, such as temperature and precipitation, to identify suitable areas for the colonization and survival of R. raciborskii, with special focus on the geographic extent of potential habitats in Northern Europe. SDMs predictions uncovered areas of high occurrence probabilit…

Synthesis of syn-4,6-dimethyldodecanal, the male sex pheromone and trail-following pheromone of two species of the termite Zootermopsis.

2011

Recently, we reported that syn-4,6-dimethyldodecanal is the male sex pheromone and the trail-following pheromone of the Termopsidae Zootermopsis nevadensis and Zootermopsis angusticollis. In this article, we describe the syntheses of the mixture of the four stereoisomers of 4,6-dimethyldodecanal using a synthetic pathway where the key step is a Wittig reaction between methyl 4-methyl-5-oxo-pentanoate and 1-methylheptyl-triphenylphosphonium iodide, and of (±)-syn-4,6-dimethyldodecanal starting from 3,5-dimethyl-2-cyclohexen-1-one. Direct GC–MS comparison of these synthetic samples with the natural pheromone allowed its unambiguous identification.

Aerobic and facultatively anaerobic cellulolytic bacteria from the gut of the termite Zootermopsis angusticollis.

2002

Aims: To demonstrate the occurrence of cellulolytic bacteria in the termite Zootermopsis angusticollis. Methods and Results: Applying aerobic cultivation conditions we isolated 119 cellulolytic strains from the gut of Z. angusticollis, which were assigned to 23 groups of aerobic, facultatively anaerobic or microaerophilic cellulolytic bacteria. 16S rDNA restriction fragment pattern and partial 16S rDNA sequence analysis, as well as numerical taxonomy, were used for the assignment of the isolates. The Gram-positive bacteria of the actinomycetes branch could be assigned to the order Actinomycetales including the genera Cellulomonas/Oerskovia, Microbacterium and Kocuria. The Gram-positive bact…

Glutamate 270 plays an essential role in K+-activation and domain closure ofThermus thermophilusisopropylmalate dehydrogenase

2014

The mutant E270A of Thermus thermophilus 3-isopropylmalate dehydrogenase exhibits largely reduced (∼1%) catalytic activity and negligible activation by K(+) compared to the wild-type enzyme. A 3-4 kcal/mol increase in the activation energy of the catalysed reaction upon this mutation could also be predicted by QM/MM calculations. In the X-ray structure of the E270A mutant a water molecule was observed to take the place of K(+). SAXS and FRET experiments revealed the essential role of E270 in stabilisation of the active domain-closed conformation of the enzyme. In addition, E270 seems to position K(+) into close proximity of the nicotinamide ring of NAD(+) and the electron-withdrawing effect…

Pitrè. Dal folklore all'antropologia

2021

Giuseppe Pitrè (1941-1916), medico e folklorista palermitano, è stato il fondatore in Italia degli studi demologici ma, più in generale, dell'antropologia. Attraverso la disamina delle sue opere, scelte tra le meno note e dibattute, e di scritti inediti, vengono messi in luce anche aspetti non convenzionali, o "privati", del medico/antropologo palermitano. Infaticabile studioso, "ideatore" della Demopsicologia, docente universitario, fondatore di riviste di ampia diffusione e di una Società di tradizioni popolari, conferenziere, politico, biografo di personaggi illustri ma anche curioso ritrattista di suoi contemporanei. Senza pretesa di esaustività, il presente lavoro presenta anche l'uomo…

Pharmaceutical potential of synthetic and natural pyrrolomycins

2015

The emergence of antibiotic resistance is currently considered one of the most important global health problem. The continuous onset of multidrug-resistant Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains limits the clinical efficacy of most of the marketed antibiotics. Therefore, there is an urgent need for new antibiotics. Pyrrolomycins are a class of biologically active compounds that exhibit a broad spectrum of biological activities, including antibacterial, antifungal, anthelmintic, antiproliferative, insecticidal, and acaricidal activities. In this review we focus on the antibacterial activity and antibiofilm activity of pyrrolomycins against Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogens…

Le origini dell'antropologia in Sicilia. Omaggio a Pitrè. Dalla "Biblioteca delle Tradizioni popolari" all'Edizione Nazionale.

2010

Riflessioni sull'opera di Giuseppe Pitrè nel primo centenario della scomparsa. Gli scritti inediti

2017

The essay, on the occasion of the first centenary of the disappearance of Giuseppe Pitrè (1841-1916), focuses on those unpublished works that have been edited and published during the National edtion of 1985, which was dedicated to the most accomplished folklorist of Palermo. The topic of this essay is mostly aimed to the lessons the Professor held at the University of Palermo since 1910 until 1916.The former edition made possible to focus on about sixty papers, including unpublished ones, that frame the magnitude of his contribute to the study of peculiar folklore in Sicily: “Demopsicologia” through which a part of popular Italian poetry, foreign popular poetry and short stories, have been…

Terphenyl Derivatives from Allantophomopsis lycopodina.

2016

Three secondary fungal metabolites 1–3 with a benzo[b]naphtho[2,1-d]furan skeleton were isolated from submerged cultures of the ascomycete Allantophomopsis lycopodina. The NMR-based structure elucidation was challenging due to a low H/C ratio of only 0.64 and 0.68, respectively. NMR measurements in two different solvents and the use of NMR experiments such as HSQC-TOCSY and LR-HSQMBC proved to be helpful in this respect. The proposed structures obtained from the comprehensive analysis of the NMR data were verified by comparison of recorded and computed NMR chemical shifts from quantum chemical calculations of several constitutional isomers and were further analyzed with the aid of the DP4 a…