We found that bacteria closely related to Alcanivorax became a dominant bacterial population in petroleum-contaminated sea water when nitrogen and phosphorus nutrients were supplied in adequate quantity. The predominance of Alcanivorax bacteria was demonstrated under three experimental conditions: (i) in batch cultures of sea water containing heavy oil; (ii) in columns packed with oil-coated gravel undergoing a continuous sea water flow; and (iii) in a large-scale tidal flux reactor that mimics a beach undergoing tidal cycles with fresh sea water. These results suggest that bacteria related to Alcanivorax are major players in the bioremediation of oil-contaminated marine environments.

We developed a confocal Raman microspectroscopy system combined with a laser trapping technique and applied it to aqueous solutions (H(2)O and D(2)O) of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPA), which is well-known as a representative thermo-responsive polymer, i.e., phase transition/separation between coiled and globular states. By introducing a near-infrared (1064 nm) laser beam into a microscope, PNIPA microparticles were produced at the focused spot of the laser beam, both in H(2)O and D(2)O. By using the present system, we succeeded in obtaining the Raman spectra of PNIPA in the coiled and globular states over a wide wavenumber region (800-3500 cm(-1)) for the first time. For the D(2)O solutions (in which the photothermal effect is negligible and hence the microparticles should be produced purely by the effect of radiation pressure), some significant differences were observed in the Raman spectra for the coiled state, in the globular state, and for laser induced microparticles. By analyzing these spectra in detail, we revealed that the structure of the laser-induced microparticles was analogous to that in the globular state. We also discuss the fundamental mechanism underlying the transformation of the higher order structure of a polymer by radiation pressure.

No abstract

A novel terpene synthase (Tps) gene isolated from Camellia brevistyla was identified as hedycaryol synthase, which was shown to be expressed specifically in flowers. Camellia plants are very popular because they bloom in winter when other plants seldom flower. Many ornamental cultivars of Camellia have been bred mainly in Japan, although the fragrance of their flowers has not been studied extensively. We analyzed floral scents of several Camellia cultivars by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and found that Camellia brevistyla produced various sesquiterpenes in addition to monoterpenes, whereas Camellia japonica and its cross-lines produced only monoterpenes, including linalool as the main product. From a flower of C. brevistyla, we isolated one cDNA encoding a terpene synthase (TPS) comprised of 554 amino acids, which was phylogenetically positioned to a sole gene clade. The cDNA, designated CbTps1, was expressed in mevalonate-pathway-engineered Escherichia coli, which carried the Streptomyces mevalonate-pathway gene cluster in addition to the acetoacetate-CoA ligase gene. A terpene product was purified from recombinant E. coli cultured with lithium acetoacetate, and analyzed by (1)H-nulcear magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H-NMR) and GC-MS. It was shown that a sesquiterpene hedycaryol was produced, because (1)H-NMR signals of the purified product were very broad, and elemol, a thermal rearrangement product from hedycaryol, was identified by GC-MS analysis. Spectroscopic data of elemol were also determined. These results indicated that the CbTps1 gene encodes hedycaryol synthase. Expression analysis of CbTps1 showed that it was expressed specifically in flowers, and hedycaryol is likely to be one of the terpenes that attract insects for pollination of C. brevistyla. A linalool synthase gene, which was isolated from a flower of Camellia saluenensis, is also described.

Progressive freeze-concentration (PFC) by a tubular ice system was successfully applied to concentrate apple juice from 13.7 to 25.5 o Brix under a program controlled operation for the coolant temperature and the circulation pumping speed. The organic acid distribution and the flavor profile analysis revealed that no substantial differences were observed for the juice before and after concentration both in organic acids and flavor components showing the high quality concentration by PFC. This was also confirmed by electronic taste and flavor analyzers. The PFC-concentrated apple juice was fermented to obtain a new type apple wine with alcohol content as high as 13.7 vol-% without chaptalization. The organic acid distribution was slightly changed before and after fermentation while the flavor profile changed drastically. The present technique will be applicable to produce new type of wine from many other fruits.