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I: Superoxide dismutase: improved assays and an assay applicable to acrylamide gels. Anal Biochem 1971, 44:276–287.CrossRefPubMed 29. Wayne LG, Diaz GA: A double staining method for differentiating between two classes of mycobacterial catalase in polyacrylamide electrophoresis gels. Anal Biochem 1986, 157:89–92.CrossRefPubMed Authors’ contributions TK performed most of the experiments, analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript. AM helped TK with cultivation of B23 and preparation of protein samples. SK and MM were co-supervisors of TK and AM. All authors have MM-102 in vivo read and approved the final version of the manuscript.”
“Background The fungal kingdom comprises a large group of organisms (estimated to consist of over 1.5 million species) selleck with only 5% identified thus far. Fungal species can survive

in virtually all biotopes on earth, as they have been identified in water and soil, and on plants and animals. Part of their success comes from the ability to use different reproductive strategies, which provide increased flexibility for diverse environmental requirements. Fungal species can produce sexual cells and/or this website asexual cells in distinct reproductive structures. Some fungi are able to reproduce both sexually and asexually depending on the circumstances, while others display one mode MRIP of reproduction, only. Sexual reproduction and recombination allows the repair of naturally occurring mutations and results in new genotypes and phenotypes that allow for natural selection [5]. On the other hand, asexual reproduction provides the ability to disperse numerous genetically identical mitospores, without the metabolic costs of sexual reproduction [5]. Aspergillus niger is an ascomycetous fungus that is considered to reproduce through asexual spores, only. Since A. niger is used as a host for the production of homologous and heterologous proteins and commercially

important compounds (such as citric acid), the potential presence of a sexual cycle is highly significant for strain improvement. Recent analysis of the A. niger genome has revealed the presence of a full complement of genes related to sexual reproduction [1]. It was therefore suggested that there could be a latent sexual potential in A. niger. A similar observation applies to Aspergillus fumigatus and Aspergillus oryzae, both only known to reproduce asexually, so far. Comparison of the two genomes to the genome of Aspergillus nidulans (please note that the holomorph is correctly named Emericella nidulans, but is hereafter mentioned as A. nidulans), which has a known sexual cycle, suggests that both A. fumigatus and A. oryzae may be capable of sexual reproduction [6]. It has yet to be determined whether genes related to sexual reproduction in supposedly asexual fungi are functional.