Accumulation of Hg in plants disrupts many cellular-level functions and inhibits growth and development, but the mechanism is not fully understood. We investigated cellular, biochemical and proteomic changes in rice roots under Hg stress. Root growth rate was decreased and Hg, reactive

oxygen species (ROS), and malondialdehyde (MDA) content and lipoxygenase activity were increased significantly with increasing Hg concentration in roots. We VX-661 order revealed a time-dependent alteration in total glutathione content and enzymatic activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (POD) during Hg stress. 2-D electrophoresis revealed differential expression of 25 spots with Hg treatment of roots: 14 spots were upregulated and 11 spots downregulated. These differentially expressed proteins were identified by ESI-MS/MS to be involved in cellular functions including redox and hormone homeostasis, chaperone BAY 57-1293 manufacturer activity, metabolism, and transcription regulation. These results may provide new insights into the molecular basis of the Hg stress response in plants. (C) 2012 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.”
“Bacillus strains

isolated from different habitats were screened and identified for high protease activity. Two of the bacillus strains genetically identified as Bacillus subtilis AG-1 and Bacillus subtilis EAG-2 exhibited tremendous potential for protease production. The strains were optimized with respect to production media and its components. Culture conditions were critically investigated with reference to other key determinants,

involving inoculum concentration, incubation time, initial pH of the medium and temperature. The optimum production pH and temperature was found to be 7.0 and 35 degrees C for B. subtilis AG-1, while 7.2 and 37 degrees C were the optimum conditions for B. subtilis EAG-2. The inoculation ratio and incubation time were determined OSI-906 chemical structure for both of the strains as 1% (v/v) and 24-32 h respectively. The study reveals that, high protease yield can be achieved over a moderate fermentation period with relatively economical production costs. Hence these strains might be useful for commercial exploitation.”
“Diabetes is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) are considered to be a major pathogenic factor for diabetic vascular complications. The levels of AGEs are increased in diabetic patients. We have studied the presence of the major AGE methylglyoxal (MGO)-derived hydroimidazolone in human aorta and carotid arteries, using immunohistochemistry (IHC), western blotting and mass spectrometry. By IHC, MGO-derived modifications were detected mainly associated with cells in intimal thickenings and cells in microvessels in adventitia. In type V lesions MGO-derived AGE was also present, extracellular in the necrotic core and in cells at the border of the core.