The activity of phospholipase A$_2$ (PLA$_2$) was identified and characterized from cytosolic and membrane fractions of oat cells, respectively. PLA$_2$ activity was determined fluorometrically in the presence of serum albumin using phospholipids labeled at sn-2-acyl position with 10-pyrenyldecanoic acid. When the cell-free extracts of oat tissues were fractionated by ultracentrifugation at 100,000 x g and the PLA$_2$ activity was assayed, we found that most of the PLA$_2$ activity was revealed from the cytoplasmic fraction rather than from the membrane fraction. The activity of cytosolic PLA$_2$ was dependent on Ca$^{2+}$ concentration and the optimum concentration of Ca$^{2+}$ was found to be 100 $\mu$M. It was also found that PLA$_2$ could be translocated toward the membrane site from the cytosol upon increasing Ca$^{2+}$ concentration. These results might suggest that an increased [Ca$^{2+}$]$_i$ by phytochrome action could promote the translocation of the cytosolic PLA$_2$ toward the membrane site.

Powders of artificial crystallites of titanium(IV) oxide, TiO$_2$(B), were synthesized by the calcination of tetratitanic acid (hydrate, $H_2Ti_4O_9H_2O$; TTA). The relating titanates, potassium octatitanate ($K_2Ti_8O_{17}$) and octatitanic acid($H_2Ti_8O_{17}$), were also prepared. These powders, loaded with small amount of Pt, were suspended in an aqueous solution of 2-propanol and irradiated under argon atmosphere at 298 K + 0.5 deg. All the photocatalysts tested in this study produced almost equimolar amount of acetone and molecular hydrogen (H$_2$). Among them TiO$_2$(B) and TYA showed the higher photocatalytic activity but rather lower than commercial titanium(IV) oxide (TiO$_2$) powders. The photocatalytic activity of TiO$_2$(B) for 2-propanol dehydrogenation in deaerated aqueous suspension increased with the elevating calcination temperature. Comparison of rate of H$_2$ formation from methanol and 2-propanol solutions by the TiO$_2$(B) photocatalyst suggested a possibility of selection of substrate with its molecular size by TiO$_2$(B)

The steady-state emission spectra of dicoumarol (DC) in ethanol and EPA have been examined at various temperatures (77-298 K). At room temperature, a fluorescence spectrum of DC in ethanol shows a emission maximum at 350 nm. In EPA a Stokes-shifted emission band appears around 470 nm in addition to the 350 nm emission, and its intensity is enhanced as temperature decreases. This emission is attributed to a zwitterionic tautomer of DC formed by a single excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) along the internal hydrogen-bonding. The fluorescence lifetimes have been measured at 350 and 450 nm as a function of temperature. The fluorescence decay at 350 nm is single exponential at any temperature, whereas the one at 450 nm becomes biexponential at temperatures below 250 K. These results are discussed in terms of a conformational change followed by the ESIPT. The activation energy barrier for the conformational change has been determined to be 3.7 $\pm$ 0.2 kJ/mole.

Picosecond time-resolved and static protein fluorescence spectra and absorption spectra of octopus rhodopsin, a photorecepting protein, are measured and compared with those of bacteriorhodopsin, a photon-induced proton pumping protein, to understand the protein conformations and functions of octopus rhodopsin and its deprotonated photocycle intermediate. The bluer and weaker absorption of retinal indicates that octopus rhodopsin is better in thermal noise suppression but less efficient in light harvesting than bacteriorhodopsin. The protein fluorescence of octopus rhodopsin shows the characteristic of Trp only and the uantum efficiency and lifetime variations may result primarily from variations in the coupling strength with the retinal. The stronger intensity by four times and larger red shift by 12 nm of fluorescence suggest that octopus rhodopsin has more open and looser structure compared with bacteriorhodopsin. Fluorescence decay profiles reveal two decay components of 300 ps (60%) and 2 ns (40%). The deprotonation of protonated Schiff's base increases the shorter decay time to 500 ps and enhances the fluorescence intensity by 20%. The fluorescence and its decay time from Trp residues near retinal are influenced more by the deprotonation. The increase of fluorescence intimates that protein structure becomes loosened and relaxed further by the deprotonation of protonated Schiff's base. The driving force of sequential changes initiated by absorption of a photon is too exhausted after the deprotonation to return the intermediate to the ground state of the begun rhodopsin form.

Site directed mutagenesis has been introduced to determine active site(s) and molecular structure of E. coli RecA protein. Recombinant DNAs were constructed by point mutation of Tyr-264 to Phe which assumed active site for binding and hydrolysis of ATP. RecA proteins were purified from recombinants containing wild type and mutant genes and analyzed for ATPase activity assay. Result suggests that Tyr-264 is involved in ATP binding rather than ATP hydrolysis.

Light signals in the form of intensity gradient, propagation direction, and wavelength elicit diverse mechanical responses ("photomechanical responese") in most organisms. The single cell ciliates, Stentor coeruleus and Blepharisma japonicum, are particularly sensitive to the light of visible wavelengths. In this paper, the way in which the seemingly sophisticated light signal transduction is triggered by the photosensory apparatus will be described in terms of the photoreceptor structure and photochemical function.

INTRODUCTION : Psoralens are planar tricyclic furocoumarins present in numerous plants and fungi found throughout the world.' Naturally occurring and synthesized psoralen derivatives(see Figure 1) are photosensitizers of UVA especially from 320 nm to 400 nm, a range at which cellular nucleic acids and proteins are weakly absorbing if any at all. Because of their skinphotosensitizing properties, these compounds have been used in the photochemotherapy of psoriasis and vitiligo. However, undesirable side effects such as carcinoma development in hairless mice as well as possible liver damage from the use of 8-methoxypsoralen(8-MOP) have been reported. The other photobiological effects include inactivation of DNA viruses, killing and mutagenesis of bacteria, inhibition of tumor transmitting capacity of various cells, and hyperpigmentation on human and guinea pig skin. PUVA(psoralen+UVA) photochemotherapy is in fact thousands of years old, having been used in Egypt and India since B.C. 1200-2000. Photochemotherapy for a common disfiguring disease, vitiligo, was practiced in the ancient world by physicians and herbalists who used boiled extracts of the fruits of certain umbelliferous plants, e.g. Ammi majus Linnaeus in Egypt or the leguminous plants, Psoralea corylifolia L. in India. It was first described by Kuske in 19388 that photosensitization of skin by plants was related to the presence of psoralen. He identified natural psoralens in plants as photosensitizers and isolated bergapten(5methoxypsoralen) from the oil of bergamot. The scientific interest in photosensitizing psoralens, however, has grown considerably after the introduction into clinics of the psoralen photochemotherapy for the treatment of psoriasis and of other skin (abbreviation)