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Experiments were performed to study the expression of N-terminal apolipoprotein fragments of oat phytochrome A (phyA) of 65kDa and potato phyb of 66 kDa in Escherichia coli and in the yeasts Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Pichia pastoris. Both oat phyA65 and potato phyB66 expressed larger amounts of N-terminal halves than full-length lipoproteins. Moreover, it was also observed that the difference absorption maxima and the kinetics of chromoproteins derived from E. coli and the two yeasts were similar.

Raman spectroscopy and nanosecond flash photolysis were used to study a recombinant phytochrome of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis. The findings indicate a resemblance between recombinant Synechocystis phytochrome and plant phytochrome with regard to Raman and visible spectral properties of the Pr and Pfr states. However, although the Synechocystis phytochrome undergoes a photoreversible conversion, red-shifted intermediates with kinetics different from those determined for the phytochrome intermediates were observed.

Nucleic acid amplification testing for hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA has become an essential tool for the prevention and clinical management of hepatitis C. We describe the development, validation and evaluation of a homogenous reverse transcriptase-initiated HCV-PCR assay with competitive internal control that is applicable to both the quantitative detection of HCV genomes in single patient samples and the screening of blood donations by mini-pool testing. For the implementation of a positive run control, a HCV RNA-positive plasma sample was calibrated against an international HCV RNA standard preparation. For quantification purposes, an in vitro-transcribed RNA calibrator sequence was used. The detection limit of the assay (95% positive cut-off) was determined by probit analysis and was calculated as 114 IU/mL. Comparable sensitivity to different HCV template sequences was verified for HCV genotypes 1–5. Quantitative test results correlated well with viral loads that had been previously determined by the Bayer VERSANT HCV RNA 3.0 bDNA assay (n=53, R=0.943, p<0.001). During more than 5 years of blood donation testing, the specificity of the assay was found to be 99.51%. All assay components showed constant performance during this time period. In conclusion, we introduce a well-proven method that allows fast and reliable quantification of HCV genomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]