Antimicrobial activity of rhodomyrtone isolated from Rhodomyrtus tomentosa (Aiton) Hassk.

Rhodomyrtone was isolated from the leaves of Rhodomyrtus tomentosa (Aiton) Hassk grown in Vietnam using chromatographic methods. Its chemical structure was confirmed by means of spectroscopic data analysis. The pH drop measurement, enzyme activity assays and fluorescence stain were used to examine rhodomyrtone anticaries activity. It was found that rhodomyrtone suppressed acid production by Streptococcus mutans, a major cariogenic agent in human by inhibiting enzyme activities responsible for acid production and tolerance, including membrane bound enzymes F-ATPase and phosphotransferase system (PTS), as well as glycolysis enzymes glyceraldehyphosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) and pyruvate kinase (PK) in cytoplasm with the IC50 values of 24 µM, 19 µM, 23 µM and 28 µM, respectively. Moreover, 50 µM rhodomyrtone reduced biofilm biomass formed by S. mutans up to 59% (p < 0.05). Fluorescent images indicated that cells on the biofilms were significantly killed. Thus, rhodomyrtone is a new and potential anticaries agent against S. mutans.

Recombinant protein expression and solubility screening in Escherichia coli: a comparative study.

Producing soluble proteins in Escherichia coli is still a major bottleneck for structural proteomics. Therefore, screening for soluble expression on a small scale is an attractive way of identifying constructs that are likely to be amenable to structural analysis. A variety of expression-screening methods have been developed within the Structural Proteomics In Europe (SPINE) consortium and to assist the further refinement of such approaches, eight laboratories participating in the network have benchmarked their protocols. For this study, the solubility profiles of a common set of 96 His(6)-tagged proteins were assessed by expression screening in E. coli. The level of soluble expression for each target was scored according to estimated protein yield. By reference to a subset of the proteins, it is demonstrated that the small-scale result can provide a useful indicator of the amount of soluble protein likely to be produced on a large scale (i.e. sufficient for structural studies). In general, there was agreement between the different groups as to which targets were not soluble and which were the most soluble. However, for a large number of the targets there were wide discrepancies in the results reported from the different screening methods, which is correlated with variations in the procedures and the range of parameters explored. Given finite resources, it appears that the question of how to most effectively explore ;expression space' is similar to several other multi-parameter problems faced by crystallographers, such as crystallization.

Evaluation of slime-producing bacteria in oil field core flood experiments.

Epifluorescence microscopy and carbohydrate determinations indicated that the decrease in permeability of oil reservoir sand to reclaimed sewage water was partially the result of biological plugging. Filtration and biocide addition studies demonstrated that the increase in bacterial densities and slime concentrations in flooded oil field cores appeared to be due to both deposition from the reclaimed water and in situ microbial growth and slime production. Although these biological components increased throughout the cores during flooding, the region where the water entered the core exhibited the highest cell densities and slime concentrations. The approach described in this report should be useful in predicting the potential of a water source to induce biological plugging of oil reservoir sand.

Differential reflectance spectrophotometry-I High-reflectance method for determination of micro amounts of substances resolved on thin plates.

The basic principles of differential high-reflectance spectroscopy are discussed from the standpoint of the determination of substances resolved on chromatoplates. Results obtained with the use of two systems, nickel dimethylglyoximate or copper neocuproinate adsorbed on cellulose, are used as illustrations. A graphical method for selecting the optimum concentration range for analysis and for determining the maximum accuracy attainable is also outlined. When contrasted with the conventional method of measuring reflectance, the technique promises substantially increased accuracy over a wider concentration range and seems particularly suited to the analysis of trace amounts of material.

Selection of the optimum concentration range for reflectance spectrophotometric analysis.

Two graphical methods for selecting the optimum range and determining the maximum accuracy of reflectance spectrophotometric analysis are discussed. Results obtained with the use of two systems (Rhodamine B, which absorbs in the visible region of the spectrum, and aspirin, which absorbs in the ultraviolet region, both adsorbed on silica gel) are employed to illustrate how the methods might be employed in practice. Experimental results are contrasted with those expected by application of the Kubelka-Munk equation. The results indicate that the minimum relative error in concentration to be expected in reflectance spectrophotometric analysis is about 6% per 1 % reading error, and that the optimum range for analysis can be arrived at after plotting the reflectance data for either of the two systems discussed, whether the system conforms to the Kubelka-Munk equation or not.