The covalent and tertiary structure of bovine liver rhodanese

Bovine liver rhodanese is a single polypeptide of 293 amino acids in which the halves of the molecule assume analogous tertiary structures in the absence of substantial sequence homology. The sulphur atom transferred during catalysis is bound in persulphide linkage to Cys-247. Substrate binding seems to involve Arg-186 and Lys-249.     

Intercepting the first rat ashore

A single Norway rat released on to a rat-free island was not caught for more than four months, despite intensive efforts to trap it. The rat first explored the 9.5-hectare island and then swam 400 metres across open water to another rat-free island, evading capture for 18 weeks until an aggressive combination of detection and trapping methods were deployed simultaneously. The exceptional difficulty of this capture indicates that methods normally used to eradicate rats in dense populations are unlikely to be effective on small numbers, a finding that could have global implications for conservation on protected islands.     

Revival of heat-damagedEscherichia coli

Résumé Une recherche a été faite sur quelques facteurs ayant une influence sur le retour à la vied'Escherichia coli endommagé par la chaleur. On a obtenu plus de survivants par la méthode «pour-plate» que par la méthode «surface-viable». C'est l'extrait du ferment Difco, et non celui de l'Oxoid, qui a stimulé la guérison des bactéries chauffées. Dans un milieu synthétique, il y a eu peu de survivants.