Structure of an unexpected trimer from the reaction of ageratochromene II with aluminum chloride

A new trimer from the reaction of ageratochromene [1] (6,7-dimethoxy-2,2-dimethyl-1-benzopyran) with anhydrous aluminum chloride was shown to be 3,4-dihydro-6,7-dimethoxy-2,2-dimethyl-3-(6',7'-dimethoxy-2',2'-di-methyl-2H-1-benzopyran-4'-yl)-4-(3" 4"-dihydro-6", 7"-dimethoxy-2",2"-dimethyl-2H-1-benzopyran-3"-yl)-2H-1-benzopyran. Its structure was confirmed by NMR (H-1, C-13, DEPT-135. COSY, HMBC, HSQC, TOCSY and NOESY), IR, mass spectra and elemental analysis. Copyright (C) 2002 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.

Electronic structures of hafnium dimer and trimer by density functional theory

Equilibrium geometries, vibrational frequencies and dissociation energies of hafnium dimer and trimer were studied by density functional methods B3LYP, BLYP, B3PW91, BHLYP, BP86, B3P86, mPW1PW91 and PBE1PBE. The results indicate that singlet is the ground state both for hafnium dimer and for trimer. For hafnium dimer, the calculated bond distance is less sensitive to the methods used. Except at BHLYP level, the calculated vibrational frequency is comparable to the experimental value. For hafnium trimer, equilateral triangle with D-3h symmetry is slightly favored compared with isosceles triangle with C-2v, symmetry except at BHLYP level. This conclusion is in agreement with experiment in which the ground state of Hf-3 is fluxional and low-spin or closed shell is preferred.

Biosynthesis of fluorescent cyanobacterial allophycocyanin trimer in Escherichia coli

Allophycocyanin (APC), a cyanobacterial photosynthetic phycobiliprotein, functions in energy transfer as a light-harvesting protein. One of the prominent spectroscopic characteristics of APC is a strong red-shift in the absorption and emission maxima when monomers are assembled into a trimer. Previously, holo-APC alpha and beta subunits (holo-ApcA and ApcB) were successfully synthesized in Escherichia coli. In this study, both holo-subunits from Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 were co-expressed in E. coli, and found to self-assemble into trimers. The recombinant APC trimer was purified by metal affinity and size-exclusion chromatography, and had a native structure identical to native APC, as determined by characteristic spectroscopic measurements, fluorescence quantum yield, tryptic digestion analysis, and molecular weight measurements. Combined with results from a study in which only the monomer was formed, our results indicate that bilin synthesis and the subsequent attachment to apo-subunits are important for the successful assembly of APC trimers. This is the first study to report on the assembly of recombinant ApcA and ApcB into a trimer with native structure. Our study provides a promising method for producing better fluorescent tags, as well as a method to facilitate the genetic analysis of APC trimer assembly and biological function.

Crystal packing motifs of oligothiophenes end-capped with N-containing aryls

Oligothiophenes (OThs) end-capped with 3-quinolyl or pyridyl with nitrogen atom at meta-, ortho- or para-position were synthesized. The single-crystal structures of the resulting molecules, i.e., o-PyTh4, m-PyTh4, p-PyTh4, QuTh2, and QuTh3, were successfully determined by single-crystal X-ray analysis. Pyridyl end-capped OThs; o-PyTh4, m-PyTh4, and p-PyTh4, adopt the different herringbone packing arrangement in crystals depending on the position of the nitrogen atom because of the presence of weak C-H center dot center dot center dot N hydrogen bonds. The p-PyTh4 molecules are linked each other along the long axis of the molecules to form the extended chains by C-H center dot center dot center dot N dimer synthon. For m-PyTh4, the C-H center dot center dot center dot N interactions two-dimensionally extend through C-H center dot center dot center dot N trimer synthon.

Characterization of the main light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b-protein complex of green alga, Bryopsis corticulans

The main light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b -protein complex (LHC II) has been isolated directly from thylakoid membranes of shiphonous green alga, Bryopsis corticulans Setch. by using two consecutive runs of anion exchange and gel-filtration chromatography. Monomeric and trimeric subcomplexes of LHC 11 were obtained by using sucrose gradient ultracentrifugation. Pigment analysis by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography showed that chlorophyll a (Chl a), chlorophyll b (Chl b), neoxanthin, violaxanthin and siphonaxanthin were involved in LHC 11 from B. corticulans. The properties of electronic transition of monomeric LHC II showed similarities to those of trimeric LHC II. Circular dichroism spectroscopy showed that strong intramolecular interaction of excitonic dipoles between Chl a and between Chl b exist in one LHC II apoprotein, while the intermolecular interaction of these dipoles can be intensified in the trimeric structure. The monomer has high efficient energy transfer from Chl b and siphonaxanthin to Chl a similarly to that of the trimer. Our results suggest that in B. corticulans, LHC II monomer has high ordered pigment organization that play effective physiological function as the trimer, and thus it might be also a functional organization existing in thylakoid membrane of B. corticulans.

从胶州湾海洋放线菌中发现的新型星形孢菌素等7种新结构化合物

本课题组自1999年以来，将培养条件优化、生物活性跟踪及化学跟踪技术应用到胶州湾海洋放线菌的次级代谢产物研究中，发现了一批具有生物活性的新结构化合物。 本研究从青岛胶州湾分离出各类海洋微生物423株，包括海洋放线菌287株，海洋细菌116株，海洋真菌20株，对胶州湾海洋微生物的资源和分布规律有了基本的认识。对其中海洋放线菌的次级代谢产物进行了活性和化学筛选，获得了它们对八种病原微生物的抑制活性数据。发现胶州湾海洋放线菌对至少一种受试微生物具有中等以上拮抗能力的比例为50%。 从三株海洋放线菌的发酵粗提物中鉴定出7个新结构化合物和31个已知化合物。具体是：①从菌株M518中鉴定出21个化合物，包括3个新结构天然化合物：N-Foramidostaurosporine，5,7-Dihydroxy-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-1H-azocin-2-one，Selina-4(14),7(11)-diene-8,9-diol和1个新结构衍生物Trimer 3。其中化合物5,7-Dihydroxy-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-1H-azocin-2-one为新骨架类型的天然化合物。② 从菌株M491 中鉴定出10个化合物，包括3个新结构化合物10α-14-Dihydroxyamorph-4-en-3-one，10α,11-Dihydroxyamorph-4-ene，5α,10α,11-Triydroxyamorphan-3-one； 并首次从微生物中分离得到已知化合物10α-Hydroxyamorph-4-en-3-one；③从菌株M311中鉴定出7个已知化合物。 发现天然化合物5,7-Dihydroxy-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-1H-azocin-2-one很容易发生重排反应，分离出了两个重排反应产物，并得出该化合物可能的重排反应过程及三聚体形成的方式。 生物活性实验结果表明新型星形孢菌素N-Formamidostaurosporine具有很强的抗肿瘤活性：对于37株人类肿瘤细胞的平均IC50，IC70和IC90分别为0.016µg/ml，0.171µg/ml和2.352µg/ml。对37株肿瘤细胞株的抗肿瘤选择性为27%。还首次发现Staurosporine类化合物具有抑制微藻生长的活性。 对产生新化合物的菌株M518 和M491 进行了形态、生理生化及分子鉴定，提交两株菌的16S rDNA 序列到GenBank（DQ184649 和DQ184648）。结合形态、生理生化特征及系统 发育树分析表明：菌株M518 属于链霉菌属，并可能属于该属中的粉红孢类群；菌株M491属于链霉菌属，并可能属于该属中的青色类群。