Production of nisin by Lactococcus lactis in media with skimmed milk

Nisin is a bacteriocin that inhibits the germination and growth of Gram-positive bacteria. With nisin expression related to growth conditions of Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis, the effects of growth parameters, media components, and incubation time were studied to optimize expression. L. lactis ATCC 11454 was grown (100 rpm at 30°C for 36 h) in both M17 and MRS standard broth media (pH 6.0–7.0) supplemented with sucrose (1.0–12.5 g/L), potassium phosphate (0.13 g/L), asparagine (0.5 g/L), and sucrose (0.24 g/L), and diluted 1:1 with liquid nonfat milk. Liquid nonfat milk, undiluted, was also used as another medium (9% total solids, pH 6.5). Nisin production was assayed by agar diffusion using Lactobacillus sake ATCC 15521 (30°C for 24 h) as the sensitive test organism. The titers of nisin expressed and released in culture media were quantified and expressed in arbitrary units (AU/L of medium) and converted into known concentrations of “standard nisin” (Nisaplin®, g/L). The detection of nisin activity was <0.01 AU/L in M17 and MRS broths, and 7.5 AU/L in M17 with 0.14% sucrose or 0.13% other supplements, and the activity increased to 142.5 AU/L in M17 diluted with liquid nonfat milk (1:1). The 25% milk added to either 25% M17 or 25% MRS provided the highest levels of nisin assayed.     

Characterization of dinitroporphyrin zinc complexes by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. Unusual fragmentations of beta-(1,3-dinitroalkyl) porphyrins

The zinc complexes of diaryl bis(p-nitrophenyl)porphyrins and beta-(1,3-dinitroalkyl)tetraphenylporphyrins were studied by electrospray ionization (ESI) tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). All porphyrins showed the protonated molecule under ESI conditions. The protonated molecules were induced to fragment and the corresponding ESI tandem mass spectra were analysed. Porphyrins with two p-nitrophenyl groups showed, as expected, characteristic fragmentations including either loss of one nitro group, as the major fragment of the tandem mass spectra, and loss of both nitro groups. In contrast, MS/MS of the beta-(1,3-dinitroalkyl)porphyrins provided interesting and unexpected results such as the absence (or in insignificant abundance) of the ions formed by loss of one nitro group. However, these porphyrins show an abundant fragment due to combined loss of the two nitro groups. Also, the typical beta-cleavage of the alkyl chain is not observed per se, only when combined with loss of HNO2 or *NO2. Instead, alpha-cleavage, with loss of the beta-pyrrolic substituent, is the most favourable process.     

Electrospray tandem mass spectrometry of new porphyrin amino acid conjugates

Porphyrin amino acid conjugates with one or two porphyrin units were analyzed by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS). The ESI-MS spectra of all the porphyrins studied, obtained in positive ion mode, show the presence of the corresponding protonated molecule [M+H]+; ESI-MS spectra of diporphyrinyl compounds also show the doubly charged ions [M+2H]2+. The fragmentations of these ions induced by collision with argon were studied (ESI-MS/MS). ESI-MS/MS gives detailed structural information about the amino acids associated with the porphyrin. Cleavage of the bonds in the vicinity of the porphyrin moiety and those involving the side chain of amino acid residues gives structural information about this type of association. A fragmentation common to all derivatives corresponds to the cleavage of the phenyl-CO bond. The expected cleavage of the amide bond, that links the porphyrin to the amino acid moiety, is a minor fragmentation, which in some cases is even absent. The MS/MS spectra of the monoporphyrinyl derivatives show product ions characteristic of the amino acid linked to the porphyrin; the fragmentation also indicates when the amino acids has a terminal carboxylic group or a terminal ester group. The fragmentations of the diporphyrinyl compounds occur mainly by the cleavage of the spacer, leading, in the case of the doubly charged ions, to predominantly mono-charged ions, indicating a preferential location of the two protons in separated porphyrinic units.     

Kinetic study of meso‐tetraphenylporphyrin synthesis under microwave irradiation

A typical synthesis of meso‐tetraphenylporphyrin was carried out from condensation of pyrrole with benzaldehyde in acidic medium under microwave irradiation. A batch of tests were carried out and a systematic evaluation of organic acid, reactant concentration, microwave power, time of reaction, presence of added oxidant at normal pressure conditions and in closed vessels system, allowed us to find a good set of conditions within the range of study. The best result was achieved in only 5 minutes of irradiation showing a great reduction in reaction time and reaching yields higher than those mentioned in literature for the synthesis under classical synthetic heating method.     

A note on the discrete Cauchy‐Kovalevskaya extension

In this paper, we exploit the umbral calculus framework to reformulate the so‐called discrete Cauchy‐Kovalevskaya extension in the scope of hypercomplex variables. The key idea is to consider not only formal power series representation for the underlying solution, but also integral representations for the Chebyshev polynomials of first and second kind by means of its Cauchy principal values. It turns out that the resulting integral representation associated to our toy problem is a space‐time Fourier type inversion formula. Moreover, with the aid of some Laplace transform identities involving the generalized Mittag‐Leffler function, we are able to establish a link with a Cauchy problem of differential‐difference type.     

A New 3,5‐Bisporphyrinylpyridine Derivative as a Fluorescent Ratiometric Probe for Zinc Ions

A new 3,5‐disubstituted pyridine with two porphyrin moieties was prepared through an efficient synthetic approach involving 2‐formyl‐5,10,15,20‐tetraphenylporphyrin ( 1 ), piperidine, and catalytic amounts of [La(OTf)₃]. 3,5‐Bis(5,10,15,20‐tetraphenylporphyrin‐2‐ylmethyl)pyridine ( 2 ) was fully characterized and its sensing ability towards Zn²⁺, Cu²⁺, Hg²⁺, Cd²⁺, and Ag⁺ was evaluated in solution by absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy and in gas phase by using matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI)‐TOF mass spectrometry. Strong changes in the ground and excited state were detected in the case of the soft metal ions Zn²⁺, Cd²⁺, Hg²⁺, and Cu²⁺. A three‐metal‐per‐ligand molar ratio was obtained in all cases and a significant ratiometric behavior was observed in the presence of Zn²⁺ with the appearance of a new band at 608 nm, which can be assigned to a metal‐to‐ligand charge transfer. The system was able to quantify 79 ppb of Zn²⁺ and the theoretical calculations are in accordance with the stoichiometry observed in solution. The gas‐phase sensorial ability of compound 2 towards all metal ions was confirmed by using MALDI‐TOF MS and in solid state by using polymeric films of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) doped with ligand 2 . The results showed that compound 2 can be analytically used to develop new colorimetric molecular devices that are able to discriminate between Hg²⁺ and Zn²⁺ in solid phase. The crystal structure of Zn^II complex of 3,5‐bisporphyrinylpyridine was unequivocally elucidated by using single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction studies.     

Quasiconvexification in 3-D for a variational reformulation of an optimal design problem in conductivity

We analyze a typical 3-D conductivity problem which consists in seeking the optimal layout of two materials in a given design domain Ω⊂R³$\Omega \subset {\mathbb{R}}^3$ by minimizing the L²$L^2$-norm of the electric field under a constraint on the amount on each material that we can use. We utilize a characterization of the 3-D divergence-free vector fields which is especially appropriate for a variational reformulation. By using gradient Young measures as a main tool, we can give an explicit form of the “constrained quasiconvexification” of the cost density. This result is similar to the one in the 2-D situation. However, the characterization of the divergence-free vector fields introduces a certain nonlinearity in the problem that needs to be addressed properly.     

Discrete Dirac Operators in Clifford Analysis

We develop a constructive framework to define difference approximations of Dirac operators which factorize the discrete Laplacian. This resulting notion of discrete monogenic functions is compared with the notion of discrete holomorphic functions on quad-graphs. In the end Dirac operators on quad-graphs are constructed.     

Saiyacenols A and B: the key to solve the controversy about the configuration of aplysiols

Two new cytotoxic oxasqualenoids, saiyacenols A and B, were isolated from the red alga Laurencia viridis and their structures elucidated by spectroscopic methods and chemical correlation with the well-known compound dehydrothyrsiferol. The new compounds share an important part of their structure with thyrsiferol and aplysiols B and C. Isolation of the saiyacenols concludes the controversy about the configuration of aplysiols, correcting the structure of aplysiol B. Our results illustrate the current limitations of NMR J-based methods when approaching quaternary carbons and demand a reappraisal of rational biogenetic proposals in structural elucidation.