Quantitative PCR reveals the frequency and distribution of 3 indigenous yeast species across a range of specialty cheeses.

Indigenous microorganisms are important components of the complex ecosystem of many dairy foods including cheeses, and they are potential contributors to the development of a specific cheese's sensory properties. Among these indigenous microorganisms are the yeasts Cyberlindnera jadinii, Pichia kudriavzevii, and Kazachstania servazzii, which were previously detected using traditional microbiological methods in both raw milk and some artisanal specialty cheeses produced in the province of Québec, Canada. However, their levels across different cheese varieties are unknown. A highly specific and sensitive real-time quantitative PCR assay was developed to quantitate these yeast species in a variety of specialty cheeses (bloomy-rind, washed-rind, and natural-rind cheeses from raw, thermized, and pasteurized milks). The specificity of the quantitative PCR assay was validated, and it showed no cross-amplification with 11 other fungal microorganisms usually found in bloomy-rind and washed-rind cheeses. Cyberlindnera jadinii and P. kudriavzevii were found in the majority of the cheeses analyzed (25 of 29 and 24 of 29 cheeses, respectively) in concentrations up to 104 to 108 gene copies/g in the cheese cores, which are considered oxygen-poor environments, and 101 to 104 gene copies/cm2 in the rind. However, their high abundance was not observed in the same samples. Whereas C. jadinii was present and dominant in all core and rind samples, P. kudriavzevii was mostly present in cheese cores. In contrast, K. servazzii was present in the rinds of only 2 cheeses, in concentrations ranging from 101 to 103 gene copies/cm2, and in 1 cheese core at 105 gene copies/g. Thus, in the ecosystems of specialty cheeses, indigenous yeasts are highly frequent but variable, with certain species selectively present in specific varieties. These results shed light on some indigenous yeasts that establish during the ripening of specialty cheeses.

[Henri Moissan: the man, the collector, the teacher]. / Henri Moissan: l'homme, le collectionneur, l'enseignant.

On December 10 1906, Henri Moissan was in Stockholm to receive the Nobel Prize for chemistry for his isolation of fluorine in 1886 and for his electric arc furnace he described for the first time in 1892 then later improved and which opened the way to the new field of high-temperature chemistry. This was the first Nobel Prize for chemistry awarded to a Frenchman and Moissan was the only French pharmacist to have received this high distinction. He died suddenly at the age of 54 years, two months after receiving his Nobel Prize. In this presentation, we report the main elements of his biography, recalling the man, the teacher and the great collector of paintings and autographs, particularly from the period of the French revolution. We have used several unpublished or little known documents concerning this great scientist who with is broad culture and malicious humor always found the time, despite his many obligations, to satisfy his literary and artistic tastes.

Chemometrical analysis of 18 metallic and nonmetallic elements found in honeys sold in france.

The elemental analysis of 86 honeys sold in France was performed with an inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometer in order to measure significant concentrations of Ag, Ca, Cr, Co, Cu, Fe, Li, Mg, Mn, Mo, P, S, Zn, Al, Cd, Hg, Ni, and Pb. Principal component analysis, correspondence factor analysis, and hierarchical cluster analysis were used to rationalize and interpret the analytical data. Crude relationships were found between the elemental profiles of the honeys and their botanical origin. Some honeys were highly polluted by heavy metals and/or other xenobiotics. Explanations for these contaminations are proposed.

OPLC and AMD, recent techniques of planar chromatography: their interest for separation and characterization of extractive and synthetic compounds.

It is always important for the chemist to have good methods of separation, characterization and quantitative evaluation for one or several compounds resulting from a chemical reaction or an extraction procedure. In this domain the chromatographic techniques are choice methods, in particular Over Pressured Layer Chromatography (OPLC) and Automated Multiple Development (AMD). They are relatively recent methods whose use is unfortunately not yet generalized although they give very clean separation. In this paper we present numerous examples of the use of these two new types of planar chromatographies and especially the results we have obtained in the field of natural products on a wide variety of different structures: coumarins, flavonoids, anthocyanins, alkaloids and essential oils.

Comparison of planar chromatographic methods (TLC, OPLC, AMD) applied to essential oils of wild thyme and seven chemotypes of thyme.

Essential oils analysis is more often realized by gas chromatography. However, thin-layer chromatography (TLC) remains the reference for Pharmacopoeia. Nevertheless classical TLC has its own limitations but it is always a good technique because it is simple, rapid and less expensive. Actually the reproducibility, the separation quality and the possibility to obtain good and reproducible quantitative determinations have been improved significantly with automated sample applicator, scanner densitometers and two new chromatographic planar methods: the optimum performance laminar chromatography (OPLC) and automated multiple development (AMD). In this work, we show and compare the performance of these methods and TLC through a study of seven thyme chemotypes and wild thyme essential oil.

[The old Issoudun's hospital pharmacy]. / Histoire d'une pharmacie hospitalière de l'Indre: l'apothicairerie d'Issoudun.

After presentation of the history, functioning and administration of the pharmacy, the authors take an interest in the rich pharmaceutical things collection : pots in Nevers' earthenware of XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries, wooden boxes of herbals to XVIIth century, Venice's glass receptacles of the Renaissance, mortars and still, books, furniture.

[Evolution of phytochemical methods from XVIth to half-medium of XIXth century]. / Evolution des méthodes extractives et analytiques en phytochimie, du XVIe siécle à la seconde moitié du XIXe.

In this study, the author shows that chemistry of natural plant products, and more generally of natural compounds, has known more difficulties in elaboration of suitable techniques soft and selective, for extraction, purification and analysis. It is at the end of the XVIIIth century and at the beginning of XIXth that first efficacious extraction methods were proposed and were codified, and consequently the chemistry of natural products was in continuous progress.

Metabolism of ricinoleic acid into gamma-decalactone: beta-oxidation and long chain acyl intermediates of ricinoleic acid in the genus Sporidiobolus sp.

In order to study differences in gamma-decalactone production in yeast, four species of Sporidiobolus were cultivated with 5% of methyl ricinoleate as the lactone substrate. In vivo studies showed different time courses of intermediates of ricinoleic acid breakdown between the four species. In vitro studies of the beta-oxidation system were conducted with crude cell extracts of Sporidiobolus spp. and with ricinoleyl-CoA (RCoA) as substrate. The beta-oxidation was detected by measuring acyl-CoA oxidase, 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase activities, and acetyl-CoA production. The time courses of the CoA esters resulting from RCoA breakdown by crude extract of Sporidiobolus spp. permit the proposal of different metabolic models in the yeast. These models explained the differences observed during in vivo studies.

[The Norman Francois Rene Curaudau (1765-1813), pharmacist, unrecognized chemist]. / Le Normand Francois Rene Curaudau (1765-1813), pharmacien, chimiste meconnu.

Accepted as member of Paris' Pharmacist College at 22 years, Curaudau was born to Sees in Orne department. He settled pharmacist at Vendome, then in Paris in 1800 where he devoted entirely to chemistry and to adjustment of industrial processes and thermal apparatus. Industrial, he exploited some of his own inventions. Preparation methods for alkaline metals and alum, process adjustments for tanning, soap fabrication, laundering and liquids evaporation, construction of new types of economic stoves and furnaces, and particularly his determining experiments on the chlorine structure, constitute the more important scientific works of this unrecognized chemist which is the subject of this study.

Multivariate analysis of metal concentration profiles in mushrooms.

The present work is an overview of the levels of contamination of 92 macromycetes by 15 metals. Data were collected around Paris (France) in 1989 and 1990. A progressive approach involving the use of univariate followed by multivariate statistical analyses allowed to fully exploit the resulting data matrix. Thus, conclusions regarding the origin of the metals, the toxicological implications and the possible use of mushrooms as environmental markers of pollutions are drawn.

Sesquiterpene lactone glycosides from Lapsana communis L. subsp. communis.

From the latex of Lapsana communis L. subps. communis, five guaianolide glycosides were identified: crepiside E, tectoroside and three new ones: 3-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-8-O-beta-acetyl-1 alpha H,5 alpha H,6 beta H,7 alpha H-guai-4(15),10(14),11(13)-triene-6,12-olide, 3-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-8-O-beta-acetyl-1 alpha H,5 alpha H,6 beta H,7 alpha H-guai-3(4),10(14), 11(13)-triene-15-methyl-6,12-olide, and 3-O-beta-glucopyranosyl-8-O-beta-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-lactyl-1 alpha H,5 alpha H,6 beta H,7 alpha H-guai-3(4),10(14),11(13)-triene-15-methyl-6,12-olide. Their structures were established by spectroscopic methods.

[Henri Moissn, first French Nobel prize winner in chemistry: the man, the picture collector]. / Henri Moissan, premier Français prix Nobel de chimie: l'homme, le collectionneur de tableaux.

Born in Paris in September 1852, Henri Moisson died in February 1907, two months after receiving the Nobel prize for chemistry. After a short schooling at Meaux college, he was destined to be a clock maker. He owes his vocation for chemistry to Jules Plicque, a chemist and friend at the college. Henri Moisson attended Fremy's school of chemistry at the Paris Natural History Museum and undertook pharmaceutical studies. In this presentation, we take a look at Henri Moissan's child-hood and teenage years, his scientific education and offer a glimpse of the man and the picture collector.

[Chemistry and pharmacognosy education to apothecaries in the XVIIth and XVIII centuries]. / L'enseignement de la chimie et de la Matiere Medicale aux apothicaries aux XVII et XVIII siecles.

After call again the formation of apothecaries in XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries, under the corporation regimen, it is developed the theorical education of chemistry and pharmacognosy, in Paris and Province. Indispensable complement, the most important books of chemistry, pharmacognosy and pharmacy are exposed.

[Beetroot sugar and the development of its industry; from the first works until the postwar period 1914-1918]. / Le sucre de betterave et l'essor de son industrie, des premiers travaux jusqu'a la fin de la guerre de 1914-1918.

The research on beetroot sugar began in Germany with Marggraf and Achard and gained in importance in France during the Continental Blocade, more directly with the work of Chaptal and Delessert. The industry born from this sugar, the only product which could favorable replace cane sugar from the West Indian colonies, was developed thanks to Napoleon I. The Emperor brought his support and large grants to the manufacturers who had launched themselves in the production of this sugar substitute. If Chaptal, a former minister who was certainly one of the most significant pioneers in this field, was a beetroot grower and sugar manufacturer on the grounds of Chanteloup near Amboise; numerous other industrialists established themselves in France in areas of beetroot cultivation which quickly occupied vast surfaces in certain regions. It is the history of beetroot sugar, its economic importance and the beetroot industry in France, from its origins until the end of the First World War, that we will present here.

Update on metal content profiles in mushrooms--toxicological implications and tentative approach to the mechanisms of bioaccumulation.

Fifteen metals (macroelements, heavy metals and trace elements) have been investigated using inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) on 92 specimens of mushrooms collected in France, in the Paris region. Their levels and distributions are given. Taking in account the respective contents and bioaccumulation abilities, the data reveal that different mechanisms are involved depending on fungi species and genera besides physicochemical influences. Moreover, they suggest that the different elements might accumulate through various ways that are successively mentioned. Metabolic, toxicological and environmental significances are discussed.

A comparative study of the effects of sparteine, lupanine and lupin extract on the central nervous system of the mouse.

Lupin is toxic because of its alkaloid content, sparteine and lupanine in particular. Although the pharmacological properties of sparteine are well known those of lupanine have not been much studied. This paper reports procedures for extraction, purification and crystallization of lupanine, and methods for the preparation of an extract for injection of Lupinus mutabilis Sweet, and for the determination of the acute toxicity and maximum non-lethal dose (DL0) of lupanine, sparteine and lupin extract in the mouse. The three substances were tested on the central nervous system (CNS) for locomotor activity, for interaction with specific drugs used for treatment of the CNS (the stimulant drugs amphetamine and pentetrazol and the depressant drugs pentobarbital and chlorpromazine) and for analgesic activity. The results indicate that lupanine and lupin extract are less toxic than sparteine and that at the doses studied the three products have a weak sedative effect on the CNS.

Study of the age and sex dependence of trace elements in hair by correspondence analysis.

The aim of the study was to examine the potential of multidimensional analysis, and in particular of correspondence analysis (CA), in bringing to light the influence of sex and age on trace element (TE) concentrations in hair from an unselected French population. Sixteen elements (S, Hg, Se, Zn, Pb, Cd, Ni, Co, Mn, Fe, Cr, Mg, Al, Ca, Cu, Ag) were assayed by inductively coupled argon plasma (ICAP) emission spectroscopy in the scalp hair of 135 men and 346 women. In spite of the high background noise, CA was able to reveal the differing patterns in males and females. For instance, in this population, higher relative levels of the essential elements, Ca, Mg, Zn, and Cu, but also of Ag, characterized women's hair, whereas higher relative levels of the heavy metals, Fe and Pb, were associated with men's hair. Al and Ag were unexplainedly high in the hair of the youngest members of the population. The Cu and Co of youth seemed to give way to a predominance of Zn in maturity. The hair of individuals in their forties tended to be richest in Ca and Mg, but these elements decreased with advancing age. Heavy metals (Hg, Pb, Fe) accumulated with age, whereas Se, Mn, and Cr seemed independent of age. CA is manifestly a very useful tool for revealing underlying dimensions in complex dynamic systems and unsuspected relationships among variables. Clearly, the significance of the high Al and Ag contents in the hair of certain members of the population, especially of the very young, needs to be investigated from both physiological and toxicological aspects.

[Two personalities of the Touraine's pharmaceutic medium: Thibault Lespleigney and Maurice Javillier]. / Deux figures du monde pharmaceutique tourangeau: Thibault Lespleigney et Maurice Javillier.

Notes on the life, works and pharmaceutical contribution of Thibault Lespleigney, Touraine's Renaissance apothecary, and of Maurice Javillier, notable searcher and universitary teaching, professor at the Tours School of Medicine and Pharmacy at the lead of this century.

[Brief notes on the life and works of the Bordeaux pharmacist Jean-Pierre Prat]. / Notes brèves sur la vie et les travaux du pharmacien bordelais Jean-Pierre Prat.

After a short biography of Jean-Pierre Prat, pharmacist, chemist and industrial unjustly forgotten, we discuss his scientific work which comprised varied fundamental scientific studies (fluor isolation essays, research on gold derivatives, on a mineral of Ariege, on the volumetric dosage of nitrogen on the nature of the sweet principle of the Bordeaux white wines ...). We emphasize also his work in the field of applied chemistry.