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Nepenthesin
Nepenthesin (also spelled nepenthacin or nepenthasin) is an aspartic protease of plant origin that has so far been identified in the pitcher secretions of '' Nepenthes'' and in the leaves of ''Drosera peltata''. It is similar to pepsin, but differs in that it also cleaves on either side of Asp residues and at Lys┼ Arg. While more pH and temperature stable than porcine pepsin A, it is considerably less stable in urea or guanidine hydrochloride. It is the only known protein with such a stability profile. The name ''nepenthesin'' was coined in 1968 by Shigeru Nakayama and Shizuko Amagase. Alternative names for this enzyme include ''Nepenthes'' acid proteinase and ''Nepenthes'' aspartic proteinase. Two isozymes have been identified in ''Nepenthes'': nepenthesin I and nepenthesin II. The production of large quantities of nepenthesin-1 through heterologous expression in ''Escherichia coli'' was described in 2014. The names cephalotusin, dionaeasin and droserasin have been propos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nepenthes
''Nepenthes'' () is a genus of carnivorous plants, also known as tropical pitcher plants, or monkey cups, in the monotypic family Nepenthaceae. The genus includes about 170 species, and numerous natural and many cultivated hybrids. They are mostly liana-forming plants of the Old World tropics, ranging from South China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines; westward to Madagascar (two species) and the Seychelles (one); southward to Australia (four) and New Caledonia (one); and northward to India (one) and Sri Lanka (one). The greatest diversity occurs on Borneo, Sumatra, and the Philippines, with many endemic species. Many are plants of hot, humid, lowland areas, but the majority are tropical montane plants, receiving warm days but cool to cold, humid nights year round. A few are considered tropical alpine, with cool days and nights near freezing. The name "monkey cups" refers to the fact that monkeys were once thought to drink rainwater from the pitchers. Description ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aspartic Protease
Aspartic proteases are a catalytic type of protease enzymes that use an activated water molecule bound to one or more aspartate residues for catalysis of their peptide substrates. In general, they have two highly conserved aspartates in the active site and are optimally active at acidic pH. Nearly all known aspartyl proteases are inhibited by pepstatin. Aspartic endopeptidases of vertebrate, fungal and retroviral origin have been characterised. More recently, aspartic endopeptidases associated with the processing of bacterial type 4 prepilin and archaean preflagellin have been described. Eukaryotic aspartic proteases include pepsins, cathepsins, and renins. They have a two-domain structure, arising from ancestral duplication. Retroviral and retrotransposon proteases (retroviral aspartyl proteases) are much smaller and appear to be homologous to a single domain of the eukaryotic aspartyl proteases. Each domain contributes a catalytic Asp residue, with an extended active site cl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IntEnz
IntEnz (Integrated relational Enzyme database) contains data on enzymes organized by enzyme EC number and is the official version of the Enzyme Nomenclature system developed by the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB) is an international non-governmental organisation concerned with biochemistry and molecular biology. Formed in 1955 as the International Union of Biochemistry (IUB), the union .... References External links * {{cite web , url = http://www.ebi.ac.uk/intenz/index.jsp , title = Integrated Enzyme Database (IntEnz) , publisher = European Bioinformatics Institute , access-date = 2009-07-19 Enzyme databases Science and technology in Cambridgeshire South Cambridgeshire District ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chromatography
In chemical analysis, chromatography is a laboratory technique for the separation of a mixture into its components. The mixture is dissolved in a fluid solvent (gas or liquid) called the ''mobile phase'', which carries it through a system (a column, a capillary tube, a plate, or a sheet) on which a material called the ''stationary phase'' is fixed. Because the different constituents of the mixture tend to have different affinities for the stationary phase and are retained for different lengths of time depending on their interactions with its surface sites, the constituents travel at different apparent velocities in the mobile fluid, causing them to separate. The separation is based on the differential partitioning between the mobile and the stationary phases. Subtle differences in a compound's partition coefficient result in differential retention on the stationary phase and thus affect the separation. Chromatography may be preparative or analytical. The purpose of preparati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sydney Howard Vines
Sydney Howard Vines Royal Society, FRS (31 December 1849 – 4 April 1934) was a British botanist and academic. He was Sherardian Professor of Botany at Oxford University from 1888 to 1919, and served as President of the Linnean Society of London from 1900 to 1904.Allen G. Debus (dir.) (1968). World Who’s Who in Science''. Debus (ed.) (1968). ''World Who's Who in Science. A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Scientists from Antiquity to the Present. Marquis-Who’s Who (Chicago) : xvi + 1855 p. A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Scientists from Antiquity to the Present.-Marquis Who's Who (Chicago): xvi + 1855 p. He directed the publication of the ''Annals of Botany'' from 1887 to 1899. Education and career Vines studied at Christ's College, Cambridge, obtaining his Bachelor of Science in 1873, Bachelor of Arts in 1876, Master of Arts in 1879, and his doctorate in 1883. He became a member of the Linnean Society of London in 1885. Works Vines' works include: * * *''Science Lectu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Drosera
''Drosera'', which is commonly known as the sundews, is one of the largest genera of carnivorous plants, with at least 194 species. 2 volumes. These members of the family Droseraceae lure, capture, and digest insects using stalked mucilaginous glands covering their leaf surfaces. The insects are used to supplement the poor mineral nutrition of the soil in which the plants grow. Various species, which vary greatly in size and form, are native to every continent except Antarctica.McPherson, S.R. 2008. ''Glistening Carnivores''. Redfern NaturalHistory Productions Ltd., Poole. Charles Darwin performed much of the early research into ''Drosera'', engaging in a long series of experiments with Drosera rotundifolia which were the first to confirm carnivory in plants. In an 1860 letter, Darwin wrote, “…at the present moment, I care more about ''Drosera'' than the origin of all the species in the world.” Both the botanical name (from the Greek δρόσος: ''drosos'' = "dew, de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dionaea Muscipula
The Venus flytrap (''Dionaea muscipula'') is a carnivorous plant native to subtropical wetlands on the East Coast of the United States in North Carolina and South Carolina. It catches its prey—chiefly insects and arachnids—with a trapping structure formed by the terminal portion of each of the plant's leaves, which is triggered by tiny hairs (called "trigger hairs" or "sensitive hairs") on their inner surfaces. When an insect or spider crawling along the leaves contacts a hair, the trap prepares to close, snapping shut only if another contact occurs within approximately twenty seconds of the first strike. Triggers may occur with a tenth of a second of contact. The requirement of redundant triggering in this mechanism serves as a safeguard against wasting energy by trapping objects with no nutritional value, and the plant will only begin digestion after five more stimuli to ensure it has caught a live bug worthy of consumption. ''Dionaea'' is a monotypic genus closely relat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cephalotus
''Cephalotus'' ( or ; Greek: ''κεφαλή'' "head", and ''οὔς''/''ὠτός'' "ear", to describe the head of the anthers) is a genus which contains one species, ''Cephalotus follicularis'' the Albany pitcher plant, a small carnivorous pitcher plant. The pit-fall traps of the modified leaves have inspired the common names for this plant, which include 'Albany pitcher plant", "Western Australian pitcher plant", "Australian pitcher plant", or "fly-catcher plant." It is an evergreen herb that is endemic to peaty swamps in the southwestern corner of Western Australia. Description ''Cephalotus follicularis'' is a small, low growing, herbaceous species. Evergreen leaves appear from underground rhizomes, are simple with an entire leaf blade, and lie close to the ground. The insectivorous leaves are small and have the appearance of moccasins, forming the 'pitcher' of the common name. The pitchers develop a dark red colour in high light levels but stay green in shadier conditions ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carnivorous Plant
Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans, typically insects and other arthropods. Carnivorous plants still generate some of their energy from photosynthesis. Carnivorous plants have adapted to grow in places where the soil is thin or poor in nutrients, especially nitrogen, such as acidic bogs. They can be found on all continents except Antarctica, as well as many Pacific islands. In 1875 Charles Darwin published '' Insectivorous Plants'', the first treatise to recognize the significance of carnivory in plants, describing years of painstaking research. True carnivory is believed to have evolved independently at least 12 times in five different orders of flowering plants, and is represented by more than a dozen genera. This classification includes at least 583 species that attract, trap, and kill prey, absorbing the resulting available nutrients. Venus flytrap (''Dionaea muscipula''), p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
