A total of 150 fungal and 150 bacterial isolates were screened qualitatively and quantitatively for their ability to produce the enzyme, tannase.

Screening and selection of potential tannase producers

This method was used to isolate highly pure genomic DNA. Briefly, 10 ml overnight grownC. glabratacultures were spun downandwashed with 10 ml sterile water. Washed cells wereresuspended in500 μl sterile water and transferred toa1.5 ml microcentrifuge tube. Tubes were spundownat 4,000 rpm for 5 min, supernatant was discarded andcell pellet was resuspended in 500 μl of buffer containing 100 mM EDTA and 5% β-mercaptoethanol and incubatedat 42°C for 10 min. Post incubation, cells were spun down at 4,000 rpm for 5 min and resuspended in freshly prepared Buffer B. To this, one tip-full of lyticase (Sigma, L4025) was added and incubated at 37°C for 1 h.After incubation, spheroplasts were collected by spinning downtubes at 6,000 rpm for 5 min, supernatant was discarded and the pellet was resuspended in 500 μl of Buffer C. DNA was extracted twice with 500 μl of PCI (25:24:1) solution and the aqueous layer was transferred toa new1.5 ml microcentrifuge tube. To this, 2.5 volume of absolute ethanol and 1/10thvolume of 3 M sodium acetate (pH 5.3) wereadded. Tubes were spundownat 13,000 rpm for 10 min, DNA pellet was resuspended in 200 μl of 1X TE buffer containing0.3 μl of RNase cocktail (Ambion) and incubated at 37°C for30 min. DNA was precipitated again by adding absolute ethanol and sodium acetate as mentioned above. DNA pellet was washed once with 70% ethanol, centrifuged at 13,000 rpm for 10 min, air-dried at room temperature and was resuspended in 100-200 μl of 1X TE buffer by gently tapping the tube. DNAwas stored at -20°C until use

Spheroplast lysis method

Yeast genomic DNA was isolated by mechanically lysing the yeast cells. Briefly, 10 ml of overnight grown yeast culture was transferred toa 15 ml centrifuge tube andcells were spun down at 4,000 rpm for 5 min. Media was decanted and cells were washed with 10 ml sterile water. Washedcells were resuspended in 500 μl of Buffer A and transferred to a 1.5 ml microcentrifuge tube. Tubes were incubated at 65°C for 15 min. Post incubation,500 μl of PCI (25:24:1) solution was added. To this, 0.5 g of 0.5 mm glass beads were added and cells were lysed mechanically in a bead-beatinghomogenizer (MP Biomedicals,FastPrep®-24) thrice, 45 seceach, with intermittent cooling on ice. Tubes were spun at 12,000 rpm for 5 min and the aqueous layer was transferred to a new 1.5 ml microcentrifuge tube. To this, 500 μl of PCI solution was addedand mixed gently by inverting the tubes.Tubes were centrifuged again at 12,000 rpm for 5 min and aqueous layer was transferred to another 1.5 ml microcentrifuge tube. Next, 2.5 volume of absolute ethanol was added to the aqueous layer, mixed well and centrifuged at 13,000 rpm for 10 min. Supernatant was decanted and the DNA pellet was washed once with 70% ethanol and centrifuged at 13,000 rpm for 10min. Washed DNA pellet was air-dried and dissolved in 100-200 μl of 1X TE buffer by gently tapping the tubes

Glass bead lysis method

This method was used to isolate highly pure genomic DNA. Briefly, 10 ml overnight grownC. glabratacultures were spun downandwashed with 10 ml sterile water. Washed cells wereresuspended in500 μl sterile water and transferred toa1.5 ml microcentrifuge tube. Tubes were spundownat 4,000 rpm for 5 min, supernatant was discarded andcell pellet was resuspended in 500 μl of buffer containing 100 mM EDTA and 5% β-mercaptoethanol and incubatedat 42°C for 10 min. Post incubation, cells were spun down at 4,000 rpm for 5 min and resuspended in freshly prepared Buffer B. To this, one tip-full of lyticase (Sigma, L4025) was added and incubated at 37°C for 1 h.After incubation, spheroplasts were collected by spinning downtubes at 6,000 rpm for 5 min, supernatant was discarded and the pellet was resuspended in 500 μl of Buffer C. DNA was extracted twice with 500 μl of PCI (25:24:1) solution and the aqueous layer was transferred toa new1.5 ml microcentrifuge tube. To this, 2.5 volume of absolute ethanol and 1/10thvolume of 3 M sodium acetate (pH 5.3) wereadded. Tubes were spundownat 13,000 rpm for 10 min, DNA pellet was resuspended in 200 μl of 1X TE buffer containing0.3 μl of RNase cocktail (Ambion) and incubated at 37°C for30 min. DNA was precipitated again by adding absolute ethanol and sodium acetate as mentioned above. DNA pellet was washed once with 70% ethanol, centrifuged at 13,000 rpm for 10 min, air-dried at room temperature and was resuspended in 100-200 μl of 1X TE buffer by gently tapping the tube. DNAwas stored at -20°C until use

Spheroplast lysis method

Yeast genomic DNA was isolated by mechanically lysing the yeast cells. Briefly, 10 ml of overnight grown yeast culture was transferred toa 15 ml centrifuge tube andcells were spun down at 4,000 rpm for 5 min. Media was decanted and cells were washed with 10 ml sterile water. Washedcells were resuspended in 500 μl of Buffer A and transferred to a 1.5 ml microcentrifuge tube. Tubes were incubated at 65°C for 15 min. Post incubation,500 μl of PCI (25:24:1) solution was added. To this, 0.5 g of 0.5 mm glass beads were added and cells were lysed mechanically in a bead-beatinghomogenizer (MP Biomedicals,FastPrep®-24) thrice, 45 seceach, with intermittent cooling on ice. Tubes were spun at 12,000 rpm for 5 min and the aqueous layer was transferred to a new 1.5 ml microcentrifuge tube. To this, 500 μl of PCI solution was addedand mixed gently by inverting the tubes.Tubes were centrifuged again at 12,000 rpm for 5 min and aqueous layer was transferred to another 1.5 ml microcentrifuge tube. Next, 2.5 volume of absolute ethanol was added to the aqueous layer, mixed well and centrifuged at 13,000 rpm for 10 min. Supernatant was decanted and the DNA pellet was washed once with 70% ethanol and centrifuged at 13,000 rpm for 10min. Washed DNA pellet was air-dried and dissolved in 100-200 μl of 1X TE buffer by gently tapping the tubes

Glass bead lysis method

Yeast genomic DNA isolation

phorbol myristateacetate (PMA) (Tsuchiya et al., 1982). For PMA treatment, THP-1 cells were allowed to grow till 70-80% confluence and were collectedin a centrifuge tube by centrifugationat 1,000 rpm for 3 min. THP-1 cell pelletswere resuspended in 4-5 ml of pre-warmed complete RPMI-1640 medium, 100 μl of this cell suspension was appropriately diluted in PBS (1X) and viability was determined by counting trypan blue stained cellsusing hemocytometer. THP-1 cell suspension was diluted appropriately to obtainafinal cell density of 106cells/ml with pre-warmed complete RPMI-1640 medium. PMA was added totheTHP-1 cell suspension at a final concentration of 16 nM and mixed well by gently inverting the tubes. PMA-treated cells were seeded either in 24-well cell culture plates or in cell culture dishes and allowed to grow for 12 h under tissue culture conditions i.e. at 37°C and 5% CO2.After 12 h incubation, spent medium was replaced withfresh pre-warmed complete RPMI-1640 medium and cells were allowed to recover for another 12 h

THP-1 monocytes getdifferentiated intophagocytic macrophages upon treatment with

PMA (Phorbol myristateacetate) treatment of THP-1 monocytic cells

For high fidelity PCR, Herculase II fusion DNA polymerase (AgilentTechnologies)was used. Approximately 0.5μg of chromosomal DNAwas used as a template in a 50μl reaction volume

The PCRs were normally performed using Taqpolymerasefrom Roche or Fermentas. Approximately 1-5ng of plasmid or 5-100ng of chromosomal DNA was used as a template in a50μlreaction volume containing 200μM of each dNTP, 20pM each of the forward and reverse primers and 1 unit of Taq DNA polymerase. For colony PCR E. coli cells from a freshly grown plate were resuspended in 10μl of sterile Milli-Q water to get a cell suspension and this was used as a template in a PCR reaction at a final volume of 50μl. The samples were typically subjected to 30 cycles of amplification with the following general conditions: Initial denaturation 95ºC5minutes Denaturation 95ºC 1 minute Annealing 55ºC 1 minute Extension 72ºC 1 minute/kb of DNA template to be amplified Final extension 72ºC 10 minutes

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)

desired temperaturefor 45 minutes and plated on an appropriate selective medium at various dilutions. An aliquot of cell suspension to which plasmid DNA was not added served as a negative control. B. Inoue method i. Preparation of high efficiency competent cells Competent cells for high efficiency transformation were prepared by the method of (Inoueet al., 1990)with few modifications. An overnight culture of the strain (routinely DH5α) was subculturedinto fresh sterile LB broth in 1:100 dilutions and grown at 18ºC to anA600of 0.55. The cells were harvested by centrifugation at 2500rpm for 10 minutes at4ºC. Thesecells wereresuspended in0.4 volumes of INOUE buffer andincubated in ice for 10 minutes. The cells were recovered by centrifugation at 2500rpm at 4ºC for 10 minutes and finally resuspended in 0.01 volume of the same buffer. Sterile DMSO was added to a final concentration of 7%. After incubating for 10 minutes in ice, the cells were aliquoted in 100μl volumes, snap frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at –80ºC. ii. Transformation protocolFor transformation, the required number of vials wasthawed on ice and the transformation protocol as described for CaCl2method was employed

A. Calcium chloride(CaCl2)method For routine plasmid transformation, following method which is a modification of that described by(Cohenet al.,1972)was used. An overnight culture of recipient strain was subcultured 1:100 in fresh LB medium and grown till mid-exponential phase. The culture was chilled on ice for 20 minutes, and the steps thereafter performed at 4ºC. 10 ml of culture was centrifuged and pelletwas resuspended in 5 ml of 0.1M CaCl2. After 5 minutes of incubation on ice, the cells were again centrifuged and resuspended in 1ml of 0.1M CaCl2. The suspension was incubated onice for 45 minutes. To the 100μl aliquot of the cellsuspension plasmid DNA (20-200ng in less than 10μl volumes) was added, incubated for 30-40 minutes on ice and given a heat shock for 90 seconds at 42ºC. The cultures were rapidly chilled for 1 minute, mixed with 0.9ml of LB broth and incubated at

Transformation

foolish imaginations of his heart

mostra

and Frank R.

Chapter 1, The Art of Community We begin the book with a bird’s-eye view of how communities function at a social science level. We cover the underlying nuts and bolts of how people form communities, what keeps them involved, and the basis and opportunities behind these interactions. Chapter 2, Planning Your Community Next we carve out and document a blueprint and strategy for your community and its future growth. Part of this strategy includes the target objectives and goals and how the community can be structured to achieve them. PREFACE xix Chapter 3, Communicating Clearly At the heart of community is communication, and great communicators can have a tremendously positive impact. Here we lay down the communications backbone and the best practices associated with using it