dictyNews
Electronic Edition
Volume 47, number 21
November 5, 2021
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Abstracts
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Mg, K-containing microparticle: a possible active principle of
a culture extract produced by a microbial consortium
Toru Higashinakagawa1, Haruhisa Kikuchichi2 and
Hidekazu Kuwayama3
1 International Center for Molecular, Cellular and Immunological
Research, Tokyo Women’s Medical University, Tokyo, Japan
1 EM Research Organization, Okinawa, Japan
2 Laboratory of Natural Product Chemistry, Tohoku University,
Sendai, Japan
3 Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba,
Tsukuba, Japan
PLOS ONE, in press
A synthetic microbial consortium called Effective Microorganisms (EM)
consists mainly of photosynthetic bacteria, lactic acid bacteria and
yeast. Various effects of EM·XGOLD, a health drink produced by EM,
on life cycle of Dictyostelium discoideum were described previously.
Here, we report our attempt to identify the active principle, termed EMF,
that brought about the observed effects. Throughout the purification
processes, the presence of the active principle was monitored by
promoted fruiting body formation. By liquid-liquid separation the activity
was recovered in aqueous phase, which, after concentration, was
further subjected to reverse-phase column chromatography. No activity
was detected in any eluant, while almost all the activity was recovered
in residual insoluble material. The application of conventional organic
chemistry procedures to the residual fraction did not lead to any
informative results. Acid treatment of the insoluble material produced air
bubbles, suggesting it to be composed of some inorganic carbonate.
Viewed under scanning electronmicroscope, the residue revealed
spherical particles of µm size range. Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX)
Spectroscopy pointed to the existence, on the surface of the particles,
of magnesium and, to a certain extent, of potassium. In separate
experiments, acid treatment and alkali neutralization of EM·XGOLD
completely wiped out the stimulatory activity of fruiting body formation.
These lines of evidence indicate these Mg, K-containing microparticles
to be an active principle of EM culture extract. How these particles exert
their effect is currently under intensive investigation.
submitted by: Hidekazu Kuwayama [[log in to unmask]]
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