Lactic acid bacteria constitute a large group of Gram-positive bacteria (over 200 species described), of which Lactobacillus is the largest genus in the lactic acid bacteria group. Members of the Lact...
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The Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway is conserved in animals as diverse as fruit flies and humans. This pathway is involved in embryological development, and activation of the pathway in adult tissues ...
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A system and method for characterizing incident ions are provided. The method includes positioning a transmission line detector to receive incident ions, the transmission line detector comprising a su...
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Transcription factor expression can profoundly alter the transcriptional dynamics of a cell, even inducing the transition to a new cell fate. Four transcription factors – Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc...
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Biochemical research and biotechnology rely on nucleic acids; however, nucleic acids frequently encounter nucleases that can negatively affect experiments. Although nuclease inhibitors are often used ...
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As the industrial uses of yeast and other fungi expand, new systems are needed to genetically optimize strains for their intended use. In particular, the ability to manipulate prototrophic and diploid...
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In animals, plants and other eukaryotic organisms, typically one protein is translated from each mRNA. Usually, translation can start only at one end of the mRNA strand. In contrast, several viruses ...
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The substrate on which cells are cultured is key to successful growth and tissue generation. For example, it has been shown that attachment to a substrate by human embryonic stem cells influences whet...
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Ubiquitin (Ub) is a small protein composed of 76 amino acids and found throughout the cells of eukaryotic organisms. It folds into a compact globular structure, often as part of a complex of proteins....
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Fungi produce a variety of chemical compounds called secondary metabolites. These compounds display a broad range of activities, including fighting off other fungi and bacteria. They also are useful f...
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E. coli is the most common prokaryote used to produce protein.  The expressed protein generally accumulates in the cytoplasm.  While this approach is useful for some proteins, not all protei...
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How and why precursor cells differentiate into tissue-specific cell types involves a complex interplay of signals and remains a rich topic of investigation. Outside of the body, for example, certain s...
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Enzymes of the glutathione S-transferase (GST) family are present in both eukaryotes and prokaryotes. As much as 10 percent of the cytosolic protein in some mammalian organs can consist of GSTs.
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Bacterial production of recombinant proteins is used commonly by researchers and commercial entities to manufacture a large variety of proteins.
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Bacterial production of recombinant proteins is used commonly by researchers and commercial entities to manufacture a large variety of proteins. However, many proteins are not produced efficiently in ...
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The pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis causes tuberculosis, one of the world’s deadliest diseases.  Because the desaturase DesA3 is essential for survival of M. tuberculosis, this enzyme i...
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The main form of RNA polymerase in E. coli is Eσ70. One of the recognition elements within the promoter region for Eσ70 is the UP element. This element is situated upstream of the RNA tran...
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Acyl carrier protein (ACP) is a small lipid carrier protein involved in fatty acid biosynthesis and in the solubilization of fats to make them metabolically available. The molecule is difficult to obt...
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Phosphoglucomutase (PGM) is a glycolytic enzyme that converts glucose 1-phosphate to glucose 6-phosphate. This enzyme plays a major role in directing the flow of carbon toward either anabolic or catab...
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Promoters are genetic regulatory elements that drive gene expression in cells under certain conditions. One way to identify promoters is to use a promoter-trap vector, which is a plasmid containing a ...
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Plasmid R6K is an antibiotic resistance plasmid of E. coli and a popular cloning vector. The R6K protein pi, which is encoded by the pir gene, plays a key role in R6K replication.
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The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a member of the Herpes family of viruses.  The EBV origin of plasmid synthesis, oriP, efficiently supports DNA synthesis in higher eukaryotic cells.  This ori...
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The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a member of the Herpes family of viruses.  The genome of this virus usually is maintained as a nuclear plasmid in the cells it infects.  A replication origin ...
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Human embryonic stem (ES) cells are potentially capable of supplying cells and tissues for replacement of defective human tissue. However, procedures currently used to culture human ES cells involve t...
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