No abstract

SUMMARYPlant phenolic compounds are known to be inducers of virulence genes in plant-pathogen interactions such as those involving Agrobacterium, and flavonoids are known to be inducers or inhibitors of Nod genes in Rhizobium-legume symbiosis. More recent studies suggest that some of these compounds act as molecular signals in the development of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizas (VAM). The present study has shown that hyphal growth of the VAM fungus, Gigaspora margarita Becker & Hall, is affected by both stimulatory and inhibitory flavonoids, when applied at 10//M together with an optimal carbon dioxide enrichment. Stimulatory compounds were all flavonols (kaempferol, quercetin and morin) and possessed at least one hydroxyl group on the B ring. Conversely, two isofla\'ones (biochanin A, and genistein), a single flavanone (hesperetin) and two compounds without any hydroxyl group on the B ring, galangin (flavonol) and chrysin (flavone), were all inhibitors of hyphal growth.

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Rosmarinic acid (RA) was identified as one of the main components of rosemary extracts and has been ascribed to a number of health benefits. Several studies suggested that after ingestion, RA is metabolized by gut microflora into caffeic acid and derivatives. However, only limited information on the microorganisms and enzymes involved in this biotransformation is available. In this study, we investigated the hydrolysis of RA from rosemary extract with enzymes and a probiotic bacterium Lactobacillus johnsonii NCC 533. Chlorogenate esterase from Aspergillus japonicus (0.02 U/mg) hydrolyzed 90% of RA (5 mg/mL) after 2 h at pH 7.0 and 40 degrees C. Complete hydrolysis of RA (5 mg/mL) was achieved with a preparation of L. johnsonii (25 mg/mL, 3.3 E9 cfu/g) after 2 h of incubation at pH 7.0 and 37 degrees C. No hydrolysis of RA was observed after the passage of rosemary extract through the gastrointestinal tract model (GI model). Thus, RA is hydrolyzed neither chemically under the conditions of the GI model (temperature, pH, and bile salts) nor by secreted enzymatic activity (lipase and pancreatic enzymes). The addition of L. johnsonii cells to rosemary extract in the GI model resulted in substantial hydrolysis of RA (up to 99%).

We report here a two-step process for the high-yield enzymatic synthesis of 2-monoacylglycerides (2-MAG) of saturated as well as unsaturated fatty acids with different chain lengths. The process consists of two steps: first the unselective esterification of fatty acids and glycerol leading to a triacylglyceride followed by an sn1,3-selective alcoholysis reaction yielding 2-monoacylglycerides. Remarkably, both steps can be catalyzed by lipase B from Candida antarctica (CalB). The whole process including esterification and alcoholysis was scaled up in a miniplant to a total volume of 10 l. With this volume, a two-step process catalyzed by CalB for the synthesis of 1,3-oleoyl-2-palmitoylglycerol (OPO) using tripalmitate as starting material was established. On a laboratory scale, we obtained gram quantities of the synthesized 2-monoacylglycerides of polyunsaturated fatty acids such as arachidonic-, docosahexaenoic- and eicosapentaenoic acids and up to 96.4% of the theoretically possible yield with 95% purity. On a technical scale (>100 g of product, >5 l of reaction volume), 97% yield was reached in the esterification and 73% in the alcoholysis and a new promising process for the enzymatic synthesis of OPO was established.