At a dose as low as 1 microgram per kilogram of body weight, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) significantly decreased the suppressive effect of electric shock on licking behavior of the rat. Attenuation of punishment was also obtained with mescaline, but neither dimethyltryptamine nor delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol was active in this test. Cyproheptadine and alpha-propyldopacetamide, drugs that interfere with the function of neurons that contain serotonin, have a behavioral effect similar to that of LSD and mescaline, which suggests that the attenuation of punishment produced by these hallucinogens may result from decreased activity of such neurons.

The higher plant Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis) is an important model for identifying plant genes and determining their function. To assist biological investigations and to define chromosome structure, a coordinated effort to sequence the Arabidopsis genome was initiated in late 1996. Here we report one of the first milestones of this project, the sequence of chromosome 4. Analysis of 17.38 megabases of unique sequence, representing about 17% of the genome, reveals 3,744 protein coding genes, 81 transfer RNAs and numerous repeat elements. Heterochromatic regions surrounding the putative centromere, which has not yet been completely sequenced, are characterized by an increased frequency of a variety of repeats, new repeats, reduced recombination, lowered gene density and lowered gene expression. Roughly 60% of the predicted protein-coding genes have been functionally characterized on the basis of their homology to known genes. Many genes encode predicted proteins that are homologous to human and Caenorhabditis elegans proteins.

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Yeasts can convert amino acids to flavor alcohols following the Ehrlich pathway, a reaction sequence comprising transamination, decarboxylation, and reduction. The alcohols can be further derivatized to the acetate esters by alcohol acetyl transferase. Using L: -methionine as sole nitrogen source and at high concentration, 3-(methylthio)-1-propanol (methionol) and 3-(methylthio)-propylacetate (3-MTPA) were produced with Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Methionol and 3-MTPA acted growth inhibiting at concentrations of >5 and >2 g L(-1), respectively. With the wild type strain S. cerevisiae CEN.PK113-7D, 3.5 g L(-1) methionol and trace amounts of 3-MTPA were achieved in a bioreactor. Overexpression of the alcohol acetyl transferase gene ATF1 under the control of a TDH3 (glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase) promoter together with an optimization of the glucose feeding regime led to product concentrations of 2.2 g L(-1) 3-MTPA plus 2.5 g L(-1) methionol. These are the highest concentrations reported up to now for the biocatalytic synthesis of these flavor compounds which are applied in the production of savory aroma compositions such as meat, potato, and cheese flavorings.