Seed phytate and protein content in beans depending on the application of basalt powder

Seed phytate and protein content in beans depending on the application of basalt powder. The content of phytate in the grains is correlated with the supply of phosphorus to the plant, but there is a lack of knowledge as to possible effect of slower availability of nutrients in the soil. The objectives of this study were to assess the effect of rock powder, alone or combined with cattle manure, on the productivity, levels of phosphorus, protein and phytate content in beans. The experiment was carried out in a randomized blocks design, with four replications. The treatments were control (limestone, granite and natural phosphate); conventional fertilization; powder basalt (2.5, 5.0, 10.0 and 20.0 ton. ha(-1)); cattle manure, and doses of powder basalt with cattle manure. In the treatment with conventional fertilizer, the total phosphorus content in grain was higher than the control, but the application of powder of basalt did not show a difference significant. Increase in the doses of basalt powder increased the phosphorus content, but phytate content remained constant. Basalt powder proved to be an alternative to maintain low levels of phosphorus in the form of phytate in the grains.

Aging and calorie restriction modulate yeast redox state, oxidized protein removal, and the ubiquitin-proteasome system

The ubiquitin-proteasome system governs the half-life of most cellular proteins. Calorie restriction (CR) extends the maximum life span of a variety of species and prevents oxidized protein accumulation. We studied the effects of CR on the ubiquitin-proteasome system and protein turnover in aging Saccharomyces cerevisiae. CR increased chronological life span as well as proteasome activity compared to control cells. The levels of protein carbonyls, a marker of protein oxidation, and those of polyubiquitinated proteins were modulated by CR. Controls, but not CR cells, exhibited a significant increase in oxidized proteins. In keeping with decreased proteasome activity, polyubiquitinated proteins were increased in young control cells compared to time-matched CR cells, but were profoundly decreased in aged control cells despite decreased proteasomal activity. This finding is related to a decreased polyubiquitination ability due to the impairment of the ubiquitin-activating enzyme in aged control cells, probably related to a more oxidative microenvironment. CR preserves the ubiquitin-proteasome system activity. Overall, we found that aging and CR modulate many aspects of protein modification and turnover. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Exercise training and caloric restriction prevent reduction in cardiac Ca(2+)-handling protein profile in obese rats

Previous studies show that exercise training and caloric restriction improve cardiac function in obesity. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying this effect on cardiac function remain unknown. Thus, we studied the effect of exercise training and/or caloric restriction on cardiac function and Ca(2+) handling protein expression in obese rats. To accomplish this goal, male rats fed with a high-fat and sucrose diet for 25 weeks were randomly assigned into 4 groups: high-fat and sucrose diet, high-fat and sucrose diet and exercise training, caloric restriction, and exercise training and caloric restriction. An additional lean group was studied. The study was conducted for 10 weeks. Cardiac function was evaluated by echocardiography and Ca(2+) handling protein expression by Western blotting. Our results showed that visceral fat mass, circulating leptin, epinephrine, and norepinephrine levels were higher in rats on the high-fat and sucrose diet compared with the lean rats. Cardiac nitrate levels, reduced/oxidized glutathione, left ventricular fractional shortening, and protein expression of phosphorylated Ser(2808)-ryanodine receptor and Thr(17-)phospholamban were lower in rats on the high-fat and sucrose diet compared with lean rats. Exercise training and/or caloric restriction prevented increases in visceral fat mass, circulating leptin, epinephrine, and norepinephrine levels and prevented reduction in cardiac nitrate levels and reduced: oxidized glutathione ratio. Exercise training and/or caloric restriction prevented reduction in left ventricular fractional shortening and in phosphorylation of the Ser(2808)-ryanodine receptor and Thr(17)-phospholamban. These findings show that exercise training and/or caloric restriction prevent cardiac dysfunction in high-fat and sucrose diet rats, which seems to be attributed to decreased circulating neurohormone levels. In addition, this nonpharmacological paradigm prevents a reduction in the Ser(2808)-ryanodine receptor and Thr(17-)phospholamban phosphorylation and redox status. (Hypertension. 2010;56:629-635.)

Aerobic exercise training improves skeletal muscle function and Ca(2+) handling-related protein expression in sympathetic hyperactivity-induced heart failure

Bueno CR Jr, Ferreira JC, Pereira MG, Bacurau AV, Brum PC. Aerobic exercise training improves skeletal muscle function and Ca(2+) handling-related protein expression in sympathetic hyperactivity-induced heart failure. J Appl Physiol 109: 702-709, 2010. First published July 1, 2010; doi: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00281.2010.-The cellular mechanisms of positive effects associated with aerobic exercise training on overall intrinsic skeletal muscle changes in heart failure (HF) remain unclear. We investigated potential Ca(2+) abnormalities in skeletal muscles comprising different fiber compositions and investigated whether aerobic exercise training would improve muscle function in a genetic model of sympathetic hyperactivity-induced HF. A cohort of male 5-mo-old wild-type (WT) and congenic alpha(2A)/alpha(2C) adrenoceptor knockout (ARKO) mice in a C57BL/6J genetic background were randomly assigned into untrained and trained groups. Exercise training consisted of a 8-wk running session of 60 min, 5 days/wk (from 5 to 7 mo of age). After completion of the exercise training protocol, exercise tolerance was determined by graded treadmill exercise test, muscle function test by Rotarod, ambulation and resistance to inclination tests, cardiac function by echocardiography, and Ca(2+) handling-related protein expression by Western blot. alpha(2A)/alpha(2C)ARKO mice displayed decreased ventricular function, exercise intolerance, and muscle weakness paralleled by decreased expression of sarcoplasmic Ca(2+) release-related proteins [alpha(1)-, alpha(2)-, and beta(1)-subunits of dihydropyridine receptor (DHPR) and ryanodine receptor (RyR)] and Ca(2+) reuptake-related proteins [sarco(endo) plasmic reticulum Ca(2+)-ATPase (SERCA) 1/2 and Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchanger (NCX)] in soleus and plantaris. Aerobic exercise training significantly improved exercise tolerance and muscle function and reestablished the expression of proteins involved in sarcoplasmic Ca(2+) handling toward WT levels. We provide evidence that Ca(2+) handling-related protein expression is decreased in this HF model and that exercise training improves skeletal muscle function associated with changes in the net balance of skeletal muscle Ca(2+) handling proteins.

Effects of different levels of protein intake and physical training on growth and nutritional status of young rats

This study aimed to investigate the effects of physical training, and different levels of protein intake in the diet, on the growth and nutritional status of growing rats. Newly-weaned Wistar rats (n=48) were distributed into six experimental groups: three of them were subjected to physical swim training (1 h per day. 5 d per week, for 4 wk, after 2 wk of familiarization) and the other three were considered as controls (non-trained). Each pair of groups, trained and non-trained, received diets with a different level of protein in their composition: 14%. 21% or 28%. The animals were euthanized at the end of the training period and the following analyses were performed: proteoglycan synthesis as a biomarker of bone and cartilage growth, IGF-I (insulin-like growth factor-I) assay as a biomarker of growth and nutritional status. total RNA and protein concentration and protein synthesis measured in vivo using a large-dose phenylalanine method. As a main finding, increased dietary protein, combined with physical training, was able to improve neither tissue protein synthesis nor muscle growth. In addition, cartilage and bone growth seem to be deteriorated by the lower and the higher levels of protein intake. Our data allow us to conclude that protein enhancement in the diet, combined with physical exercise, does not stimulate tissue protein synthesis or muscle mass growth. Furthermore, physical training, combined with low protein intake, was not favorable to bone development in growing animals.

Immobilization and stabilization of microbial lipases by multipoint covalent attachment on aldehyde-resin affinity: Application of the biocatalysts in biodiesel synthesis

Microbial lipase preparations from Thermomyces lanuginosus (TLL) and Pseudomonas fluorescens (PFL) were immobilized by multipoint covalent attachment on Toyopearl AF-amino-650M resin and the most active and thermal stable derivatives used to catalyze the transesterificanon reaction of babassu and palm oils with ethanol in solvent-free media For this different activating agents mainly glutaraldehyde glycidol and epichlorohydrin were used and immobilization parameters were estimated based on the hydrolysis of olive oil emulsion and butyl butyrate synthesis ILL immobilized on glyoxyl-resin allowed obtaining derivatives with the highest hydrolytic activity (HA(der)) and thermal stability between 27 and 31 times more stable than the soluble lipase Although PFL derivatives were found to be less active and thermally stables similar formation of butyl butyrate concentrations were found for both ILL and PFL derivatives The highest conversion into biodiesel was found in the transesterification of palm oil catalyzed by both ILL and PFL glyoxyl-derivatives (c) 2010 Elsevier B V All rights reserved

Anaerobic degradation of linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS) in fluidized bed reactor by microbial consortia in different support materials

Four anaerobic fluidized bed reactors filled with activated carbon (R1), expanded clay (R2), glass beads (R3) and sand (R4) were tested for anaerobic degradation of LAS. All reactors were inoculated with sludge from a UASB reactor treating swine wastewater and were fed with a synthetic substrate supplemented with approximately 20 mg l(-1) of LAS, on average. To 560 mg l(-1) COD influent, the maximum COD and LAS removal efficiencies were mean values of 97 +/- 2% and 99 +/- 2%, respectively, to all reactors demonstrating the potential applicability of this reactor configuration for treating LAS. The reactors were kept at 30 degrees C and operated with a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 18 h. The use of glass beads and sand appear attractive because they favor the development of biofilms capable of supporting LAS degradation. Subsequent 16S rRNA gene sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of samples from reactors R3 and R4 revealed that these reactors gave rise to broad microbial diversity, with microorganisms belonging to the phyla Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria, indicating the role of microbial consortia in degrading the surfactant LAS. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Microbial processes and bacterial populations associated to anaerobic treatment of sulfate-rich wastewater

A pilot-scale (1.2 m(3)) anaerobic sequencing batch biofilm reactor (ASBBR) containing mineral coal for biomass attachment was fed with sulfate-rich wastewater at increasing sulfate concentrations. Ethanol was used as the main organic source. Tested COD/sulfate ratios were of 1.8 and 1.5 for sulfate loading rates of 0.65-1.90 kgSO(4)(2-)/cycle (48 h-cycle) or of 1.0 in the trial with 3.0 gSO(4)(2-) l(-1). Sulfate removal efficiencies observed in all trials were as high as 99%. Molecular inventories indicated a shift on the microbial composition and a decrease on species diversity with the increase of sulfate concentration. Beta-proteobacteria species affiliated with Aminomonas spp. and Thermanaerovibrio spp. predominated at 1.0 gSO(4)(2-) l(-1). At higher sulfate concentrations the predominant bacterial group was Delta-proteobacteria mainly Desulfovibrio spp. and Desulfomicrobium spp. at 2.0 gSO(4)(2-) l(-1), whereas Desulfurella spp. and Coprothermobacter spp. predominated at 3.0 gSO(4)(2-) l(-1). These organisms have been commonly associated with sulfate reduction producing acetate, sulfide and sulfur. Methanogenic archaea(Methanosaeta spp.)was found at 1.0 and 2.0 gSO(4)(2-) l(-1). Additionally, a simplified mathematical model was used to infer on metabolic pathways of the biomass involved in sulfate reduction. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Performance of a horizontal-flow anaerobic immobilized biomass (HAIB) reactor and dynamics of the microbial community during degradation of pentachlorophenol (PCP)

The anaerobic biological treatment of pentachlorophenol (PCP) and methanol as the main carbon source was investigated in a horizontal-flow anaerobic immobilized biomass (HAIB) reactor at 30 +/- 1 degrees C, during a 220-day trial period. The reactor biomass was developed as an attached biofilm on polyurethane foam particles, with 24 h of hydraulic retention time. The PCP concentrations, which ranged from 2.0 to 13.0 mg/L, were controlled by adding synthetic substrate. The HAIB reactor reduced 97% of COD and removed 99% of PCP. The microbial biofilm communities of the HAIB reactor amended with PCP, without previous acclimatization, were characterized by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis (ARDRA) with specific Archaea oligonucleotide primers. The ARDRA technique provided an adequate analysis of the community, revealing the profile of the selected population along the reactor. The biomass activities in the HAIB reactor at the end of the experiments indicated the development of PCP degraders and the maintenance of the population of methanogenic Archaea, ensuring the high efficiency of the system treating PCP with added methanol as the cosubstrate. The use of the simplified ARDRA method enabled us to monitor the microbial population with the addition of high concentrations of toxic compounds and highlighting a selection of microorganisms in the biofilm. (C) 2008 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Fermentative hydrogen production by microbial consortium

Heat pre-treatment of the inoculum associated to the pH control was applied to select hydrogen-producing bacteria and endospores-forming bacteria. The source of inoculum to the heat pre-treatment was from a UASB reactor used in the slaughterhouse waste treatment. The molecular biology analyses indicated that the microbial consortium presented microorganisms affiliated with Enterobacter cloacae (97% and 98%), Clostridium sp. (98%) and Clostridium acetobutyricum (96%), recognized as H, and volatile acids` producers. The following assays were carried out in batch reactors in order to verify the efficiencies of sucrose conversion to H-2 by the microbial consortium: (1) 630.0 mg sucrose/L, (2) 1184.0 mg sucrose/L, (3) 1816.0 mg sucrose/L and (4) 4128.0 mg sucrose/L. The subsequent yields were obtained as follows: 15% (1.2 mol H-2/mol sucrose), 20% (1.6 mol H-2/mol sucrose), 15% (1.2 mol H-2/mol sucrose) and 4% (0.3 mol H-2/mol sucrose), respectively. The intermediary products were acetic acid, butyric acid, methanol and ethanol in all of the anaerobic reactors. (C) 2008 International Association for Hydrogen Energy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of the microbial diversity in a horizontal-flow anaerobic immobilized biomass reactor treating linear alkylbenzene sulfonate

The purpose of this work was to assess the degradation of linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS) in a horizontal-flow anaerobic immobilized biomass (HAIB) reactor. The reactor was filled with polyurethane foam where the sludge from a sanitary sewage treatment was immobilized. The hydraulic detention time (HDT) used in the experiments was of 12 h. The reactor was fed with synthetic substrate (410 mg l(-1) of meat extract, 115 mg l(-1) of starch, 80 mg l(-1) of saccharose, 320 mg l(-1) of sodium bicarbonate and 5 ml l(-1)of salt solution) in the following stages of operation: SI-synthetic substrate, SII-synthetic substrate with 7 mg l(-1) of LAS, SIII-synthetic substrate with 14 mg l(-1) of LAS and SIV-synthetic substrate containing yeast extract (substituting meat extract) and 14 mg l(-1) of LAS, without starch. At the end of the experiment (313 days) a degradation of similar to 35% of LAS was achieved. The higher the concentration of LAS, the greater the amount of foam for its adsorption. This is necessary because the isotherm of LAS adsorption in the foam is linear for the studied concentrations (2 to 50 mg l(-1)). Microscopic analyses of the biofilm revealed diverse microbial morphologies, while Denaturing Gradient Gel Eletrophoresis (DGGE) profiling showed variations in the population of total bacteria and sulphate-reducing bacteria (SRB). The 16S rRNA gene sequencing and phylogenetic analyses revealed that the members of the order Clostridiales were the major components of the bacterial community in the last reactor operation step.

Electrochemical and spectroscopic characterization of screen-printed gold-based electrodes modified with self-assembled monolayers and Tc85 protein

This work investigates the formation of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of cystamine and cystamine-glutaraldehyde on a screen-printed electrode, and the immobilization of the Tc85 protein (from Trypanosoma cruzi) on these monolayers. The methods used included infrared techniques, cyclic voltammetry, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The electrochemical studies were performed at pH 6.9 in 0.1 mol L(-1) phosphate buffer solution containing Fe(CN)(6)(-3/-4) redox species. The surface coverage (0) of the electrode was 0.10 (cystamine), 0.35 (cystamine-glutaraldehyde) and 0.84 (Tc85). Interpretation of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy results was based on a charge-transfer reaction involving Fe(CN)(6)(-3/-4) species at high frequencies, followed by a diffusion through the monolayers at lower frequencies. Estimates of the electrode surface coverage, active site radius, and distance between two adjacent sites assumed that charge transfer occurred at the active sites, and that there was a planar diffusion of redox species to these sites. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

MULTIVARIATE STATISTICAL METHOD IN OPTIMIZATION OF PROTEIN EXTRACTION FROM SOYBEAN FLOUR WITH DAIRY WHEY

The aim objective of this project was to evaluate the protein extraction of soybean flour in dairy whey, by the multivariate statistical method with 2(3) experiments. Influence of three variables were considered: temperature, pH and percentage of sodium chloride against the process specific variable ( percentage of protein extraction). It was observed that, during the protein extraction against time and temperature, the treatments at 80 degrees C for 2h presented great values of total protein (5.99%). The increasing for the percentage of protein extraction was major according to the heating time. Therefore, the maximum point from the function that represents the protein extraction was analysed by factorial experiment 2(3). By the results, it was noted that all the variables were important to extraction. After the statistical analyses, was observed that the parameters as pH, temperature, and percentage of sodium chloride, did not sufficient for the extraction process, since did not possible to obtain the inflection point from mathematical function, however, by the other hand, the mathematical model was significant, as well as, predictive.

Penetration of hydrolysed soy protein-added brine and its effect on yield and pH of beef steaks from the biceps femoris muscle

This study was aimed to evaluate the penetration behaviour of different brines with tumbled beef steaks from the biceps femoris muscle, specifically their interactions with pH and effects on yield. Six muscles from different animals, divided into origin (OP) and insertion (IP) portions, were cut into 60 steaks of 2.5 cm thickness and tumbled for 30 or 60 min. The steaks were tumbled with two brines, with (WTB/HSP) or without (WTB) hydrolysed soy protein (HSP), and steaks that were not tumbled with brine or water were used as controls. Brine penetration was verified by measuring the amount of dye-containing brine (absorbance at 627 nm) recovered from homogenates of four thin (2 mm) slices from the surface of the beef steaks after tumbling. The WTB/HSP steaks exhibited greater (P < 0.05) brine penetration when tumbled for 60 min than for 30 min. The OP steaks showed greater yield and lower pH (P < 0.05) than IP steaks. HSP-added brine increased the water absorption and retention in the first slices of the steaks, and its efficiency was increased with a longer tumbling time. The portion of the biceps femoris muscle used influenced brine absorption and retention, impacting meat yield. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Identification of protein coding regions using the modified Gabor-wavelet transform

An important topic in genomic sequence analysis is the identification of protein coding regions. In this context, several coding DNA model-independent methods based on the occurrence of specific patterns of nucleotides at coding regions have been proposed. Nonetheless, these methods have not been completely suitable due to their dependence on an empirically predefined window length required for a local analysis of a DNA region. We introduce a method based on a modified Gabor-wavelet transform (MGWT) for the identification of protein coding regions. This novel transform is tuned to analyze periodic signal components and presents the advantage of being independent of the window length. We compared the performance of the MGWT with other methods by using eukaryote data sets. The results show that MGWT outperforms all assessed model-independent methods with respect to identification accuracy. These results indicate that the source of at least part of the identification errors produced by the previous methods is the fixed working scale. The new method not only avoids this source of errors but also makes a tool available for detailed exploration of the nucleotide occurrence.