Macrolepiota procera, one of edible mushrooms belongs to Agaricaceae of Basidiomycota, has a good taste and good medicinal value. As a preliminary study for the development of artificial cultivation method of edible mushroom, cultural characteristics of M. procera was investigated on various culture media under different environmental conditions. Mycelial growth was compared on culture media composed of various carbon and nitrogen sources, and C/N ratios. The optimal conditions for the mycelial growth were 30℃ and pH 7. M. procera showed the rapid mycelial growth in the PDA media. The optimal carbon and nitrogen sources were maltose and glycine, respectively. The optimum C/N ratio was about 10 : 1 in case that 1% glucose was supplemented to the basal media as carbon source.

Mushroom cultivation has been started recently in Bangladesh. Awareness of the nutritional and medicinal importance of mushrooms is not extensive. In this study, the nutritional values of dietary mushrooms- Pleurotus ostreatus, Pleurotus sajorcaju, Pleurotus florida and Calocybe indica that are very popular among the cultivated mushrooms in Bangladesh have been determined. These mushrooms were rich in proteins (20~25%) and fibers (13~24% in dry samples) and contained a lower amount of lipid (4 to 5%). The carbohydrate contents ranged from 37 to 48% (on the basis of dry weight). These were also rich in mineral contents (total ash content is 8~13%). The pileus and gills were protein and lipid rich and stripe was carbohydrate and fiber-rich. The moisture content of mushrooms ranged from 86 to 87.5%. Data of this study suggest that mushrooms are rich in nutritional value.

Endonasal dacryocystorhinostomy may be a useful option in the treatment of acute dacryocystitis with abscess formation.

Mutants with deletion mutations in the glg and mal gene clusters of Escherichia coli MC4100 were used to gain insight into glycogen and maltodextrin metabolism. Glycogen content, molecular mass, and branch chain distribution were analyzed in the wild type and in ⌬malP (encoding maltodextrin phosphorylase), ⌬malQ (encoding amylomaltase), ⌬glgA (encoding glycogen synthase), and ⌬glgA ⌬malP derivatives. The wild type showed increasing amounts of glycogen when grown on glucose, maltose, or maltodextrin. When strains were grown on maltose, the glycogen content was 20 times higher in the ⌬malP strain (0.97 mg/mg protein) than in the wild type (0.05 mg/mg protein). When strains were grown on glucose, the ⌬malP strain and the wild type had similar glycogen contents (0.04 mg/mg and 0.03 mg/mg protein, respectively). The ⌬malQ mutant did not grow on maltose but showed wild-type amounts of glycogen when grown on glucose, demonstrating the exclusive function of GlgA for glycogen synthesis in the absence of maltose metabolism. No glycogen was found in the ⌬glgA and ⌬glgA ⌬malP strains grown on glucose, but substantial amounts (0.18 and 1.0 mg/mg protein, respectively) were found when they were grown on maltodextrin. This demonstrates that the action of MalQ on maltose or maltodextrin can lead to the formation of glycogen and that MalP controls (inhibits) this pathway. In vitro, MalQ in the presence of GlgB (a branching enzyme) was able to form glycogen from maltose or linear maltodextrins. We propose a model of maltodextrin utilization for the formation of glycogen in the absence of glycogen synthase.The synthesis of glycogen in bacteria occurs when they are grown with limited nutrients but an abundance of a carbon source (33,34). Escherichia coli accumulates glycogen at levels of more than half of its cell mass under optimal conditions. The glycogen gene cluster in E. coli consists of two operons oriented in tandem, glgBX and glgCAP, encoding enzymes that synthesize and degrade glycogen (12). The encoded enzymes are a branching enzyme (glgB), a debranching enzyme (glgX), an ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (glgC), a glycogen synthase (glgA), and a glycogen phosphorylase (glgP). The polymerization of the ␣-1,4-linked glucosyl chain is mediated via the transfer of glucose from ADP-glucose by GlgA, the glycogen synthase, onto the nonreducing ends of linear dextrins that are subsequently branched (formation of ␣-1,6-glycosyl linkage) by GlgB, the branching enzyme. The expression of the glg gene cluster is complicated. It involves the global carbon storage regulator CsrA (2, 53), the cyclic AMP (cAMP)/catabolite gene activator protein (CAP) system (39), and the stringent response (38). In addition, the two-component regulatory system PhoP-PhoQ (29) connects the system to Mg 2ϩ levels, and even the phosphotransferase system appears to affect the glycogen phosphorylase involved in the degradation of glycogen (42,43). glgS, an additional gene involved in glycogen synthesis, is not part of the glg gene cluster. It is not essential for ...

In this paper, we have developed a pneumatically controllable polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based microfluidic valve. This valve regulates 'On/Off' of flow using the thick centered membrane. To integrate the freely moving thick centered membrane, regional bonding of the PDMS layer is required. Here, we integrated such a membrane employing a water soluble mask as a regional bonding method, and the mask was washed out by flowing distilled water. The fabricated valve showed good 'On/Off' operations in accordance with the applied pneumatic pressure source. The flow rate could be regulated by the pressure applied to the inlet (regulated by changes in the height of the water column) and the compression-/vacuumperiod ratio (this means the ratio of 'On' and 'Off' periods in each cycle) in the range of a few microliters per minute. For the durability test, ten valves were operated simultaneously one million times, and no failed valves were observed.