Latest Polyamines Stories

For years brain scientists have puzzled over the shadowy role played by the molecule putrescine, which always seems to be present in the brain following an epileptic seizure, but without a clear indication whether it was there to exacerbate brain damage that follows a seizure or protect the brain from it. A new Brown University study unmasks the molecule as squarely on the side of good: It seems to protect against seizures hours later.Putrescine is one in a family of molecules called...

Tomatoes spend so much time on shelves and in refrigerators that an estimated 20 percent are lost to spoilage, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). But scientists with USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) are working with colleagues at Purdue University to extend the shelf life of tomatoes. The research also may lead to tomatoes that taste better and are more nutritious.ARS is USDA's principal intramural scientific research agency, and the research results support the...

A Purdue University researcher has found a sort of fountain of youth for tomatoes that extends their shelf life by about a week.Avtar Handa, a professor of horticulture, found that adding a yeast gene increases production of a compound that slows aging and delays microbial decay in tomatoes. Handa said the results, published in the early online version of The Plant Journal, likely would transfer to most fruits."We can inhibit the aging of plants and extend the shelf life of fruits by an...

In an advance toward the first portable device for detecting human bodies buried in disasters and at crime scenes, scientists today report early results from a project to establish the chemical fingerprint of death. Speaking here at the 238th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), they said a profile of the chemicals released from decomposing bodies could also lead to a valuable new addition to the forensic toolkit: An electronic device that could determine the time...

By Marina, Maria Maiale, Santiago Javier; Rossi, Franco Ruben; Romero, Matias Fernando; Rivas, Elisa Isabel; Garriz, Andres; Ruiz, Oscar Adolfo; Pieckenstain, Fernando Luis The role of polyamine (PA) metabolism in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) defense against pathogens with contrasting pathogenic strategies was evaluated. Infection by the necrotrophic fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum resulted in increased arginine decarboxylase expression and activity in host tissues, as well as putrescine and...

By Todd, Brian A Parsegian, V Adrian; Shirahata, Akira; Thomas, T J; Rau, Donald C ABSTRACT By combining single-molecule magnetic tweezers and osmotic stress on DNA assemblies, we separate attractive and repulsive components of the total intermolecular interaction between multivalent cation condensed DNA. Based on measurements of several different cations, we identify two invariant properties of multivalent cation-mediated DNA interactions: repulsive forces decay exponentially with a 2.3 +-...