Ajinomoto Co., Ltd.

Katsunori Kobayashi

Kenzo Yokozeki

Shigeru Yamanaka

Shunichi Suzuki

Yuko Tanita

Koichi Ishii

Kiyoshi Miwa

Yuzuru Eto

Kenichi Hashiguchi

Naoto Koyama

Kanna Kuribayashi

Hiroshi Shiragami

Yasuo Irie

Kohki Ishikawa

Hiroshi Miyano

Hideyuki Shirae

Ryosuke Fudo

Junko Shinozaki

Ryosuke Fudou

Naoko Tsuyoshi

Tomomi Kuwahara

The present invention provides a composition obtained by organic solvent extraction of defatted plant seed which is an atherosclerosis preventative agent. The present invention further provides a food and a pharmaceutical composition containing the composition, as well as a method of preventing an atherosclerotic disease.

Composition for preventing atherosclerosis

The spore germination inhibitor of the invention is 6-carbamoyl-2-pyridine carboxylic acid which is produced by a microorganism of genus Bacillus, such as and can inhibit germination of sporogenous bacteria resulting in the prevention of spoilage and putrefaction of foods, particularly in combination with D-alanine.

Spore germination inhibitor and food containing the same

The present invention provides a process for producing a transglutaminase, which comprises culturing microorganisms of any of the genus Micrococcus, Clostridium, Torulopsis, Rhizopus and Monascus in a medium to produce the intended transglutaminase in the medium or in the cells of the microorganisms and then isolating the transglutaminase, and a process for producing a gelled proten with the thus-obtained transglutaminase. According to the process of the present invention, transglutaminase can be rapidly produced at a low cost.

Process for producing transglutaminase by microorganism

A method for processing a protein, a non-proteinaceous amino acid polymer, or a non-proteinaceous amino acid polymer, or a peptide or derivatives thereof having a crosslinked structure, which entails contacting glutamine and lysine residues in a protein, a non-proteinaceous amino acid polymer, a peptide or derivatives thereof with a transglutaminase obtained from Bacillus subtilus to form intermolecular or intramolecular, crosslinked .epsilon.(.delta.-Glu)-Lys bonds between or in the molecules of the protein, non-proteinaceous amino acid polymer, peptide or derivatives thereof, wherein the transglutaminase has the physicochemical properties described herein.

Bacillus-derived transglutaminase

The present invention relates to (1) a transglutaminase (hereinafter referred to as TG) isolated from a Bacilli such as those of Bacillus subtilis, (2) a fraction having transglutaminase activity, and (3) a method for producing a protein, a non-proteinaceous amino acid polymer, a peptide or derivatives thereof having a crosslinked structure, by crosslinking the glutamine and lysine residues in the same with the TG or the fraction having TG activity to thereby form intermolecular or intramolecular, crosslinked .epsilon.-(.gamma.-Glu)-Lys bonds. The present invention also relates to (4) a DNA coding for a TG derived from a Bacilli such as Bacillus subtilis, (5) a vector comprising said DNA coding for the TG, (6) a cell transformed with the vector, and (7) a method for producing a Bacillus-derived transglutaminase by incubating the transformant. The crosslinked polymers produced using the Bacillus-derived TG of the present invention can be used in foods such as tofu (soybean curd), pudding, yogurt, cheese, ground fish meat, boiled fish paste, sausage and other fish and meat products and also in cosmetics, etc.

A method of producing dideoxyinosine involving contacting as a substrate 2',3'-dideoxyadenosine with a microorganism which is capable of converting the substrate into 2',3'-dideoxyinosine.

Method of producing 2',3'-dideoxyinosine

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Kawasaki, Japan

Katsunori Kobayashi