Category: P

The six-membered ring forms of sugars are called pyranoses. This is because they are derivatives of the heterocyclic compound pyran. A cyclic sugar or glycoside with a structure similar to a pyran.  

An insect that is also known as the European corn borer (os-thnia nubialis).  

A culture containing only one species of microorganism. An aggregation of microorganisms, all of one kind, and isolated to prevent contamination with other types of organisms. A culture of a single form of microorganism uncontaminated by other organisms.  

An organism that requires 0°C (32°F) for growth. Cold-loving. Refers to organisms that grow at relatively low temperatures. A microorganism that can thrive in exceptionally cold environments, e.g., from 0° to 10°C.  

A normally harmless soil microorganism (bacteria) that colonizes the roots of certain plants. At least one company has incorporated the gene for a protein that is toxic to insects (taken from Bacillus thuringiensis) into a. Pseudomonasfluorescens. This was done in order to confer insect resistance to the plants the roots of which the genetically engineered…

A chemical compound that only becomes a toxin after it is altered in some way. For example, the B.t. protoxins (e.g., Cry9C, CrylA (b), CrylA (c), etc.) only become toxic after they are chemically altered by the alkaline environment inside the gut of certain insects.  

A structure consisting of the cell membrane and all of the intracellular components, but devoid of a cell wall. This (removal of cell’s outer wall) can be done to plant cells via treatment with cell-walldegrading enzymes or electroporation. Under specific conditions (e.g., electroporation), certain DNA sequences (genes) prepared by man, can enter protoplasts. The cell…

A general term referring to the entire contents of a living cell; living substance. The essential material of all plants and animal cells is composed of nucleic acids, proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, and inorganic salts. A substance like a jelly which makes up the largest part of each cell. A thick, mucuslike substance that constitutes the…

Enzymes which catalyze the hydrolysis (breakdown) of proteins or peptides. Proteins (enzymes) that destroy the structure (by peptide bond cleavage) and hence the function of other proteins. These other proteins may or may not themselves be enzymes. Enzymes which split proteins into simpler compounds during digestion. An enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of proteins into…

A polypeptide chain may take on a certain structure in and of itself because of the amino acid monomers it contains and their location within the chain. The chain may furthermore interact with other polypeptide chains to form larger proteins known as oligomeric proteins. In what follows, the levels of protein structure normally encountered will…