Talk:Thiaminase

Untitled
Is "goldfish" really a good example of oily fish? I know that non-ornamental carp are often eaten by people, but as far as I know, koi and goldfish are not commonly raised for food. Or is this vandalism? Fledchen 16:21, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

The goldfish comment is probably due to a fish-keeper; goldfish are currently being discredited as staple feeder-fish due to their high thiaminase content and the difficulty of giving fish vitamins. Also, I edited the bit about nardoo ferns to more accurately reflect the information provided on the Cornell page. (Scroll all the way to the bottom to see the original source.) 128.32.120.9 20:03, 18 October 2007 (UTC)done for now

Long-lived exoenzyme with unknown substrate
Been a quarter-century since my dissertation work in bacterial thiaminase I, so this is not so much "Thiaminase Discussion" as "Thiaminase Lore." Three things I'd like to toss out, wondering if someone else might run with them on the main page: (1) the enzyme from Bacillus thiaminolyticus is secreted, to what end it would be interesting to speculate; (2) it probably isn't to destroy thiamine, since, as one of my committee members insisted I include in my dissertation, the concentration of this vitamin in the human intestinal lumen is, if I recall, about an order of magnitude lower than the enzyme's Km; and (3) this particular thiaminase remains active for days at room temperature, which I discovered through sheer carelessness. (I suppose this counts as "original research" but it IS published: Biochemistry, 1987, 26 (7), pp 1969–1973.) Anyway, that seems a useful property for an enzyme that has been kicked outside the cell and is on its own. If only anyone knew what thiaminase's "use" is!

And a couple of lesser points, not necessarily to do with thiaminase but definitely "lore". In my researches I was struck by how the 1930's really were a halcyon era for vitamin research: figuring out thiamine in particular was cutting-edge chemistry back then. It sure isn't now, though I recall seeing a Cornell group publishing a spate of articles on thiaminase in the mid-1990's. That was, I believe, no thanks to the efforts of what I had thought was the only other group active in this field, the Biochemistry Institute in Grodno, Belarus. I visited them, unannounced and strictly as a tourist, in 1994. Not a real good time for them. I wonder if there ever was. I'd dilate on this but I already said what I can say in my website, and anyway there is a Wikipedia page for Science and technology in the Soviet Union, whose Russian version must be...a trip. Jahutter (talk) 12:28, 25 September 2011 (UTC)
 * I'm no expert with the subject matter, but I did want to reassure you that any journal published results, unless retracted or refuted by other "reliable sources," are fair game. In fact, the authors are encouraged to show up to contribute their expertise and distill the results! Foxyshadis (talk) 03:53, 15 February 2012 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Marine Molecular Science Fall 2023
— Assignment last updated by Kvannortwick (talk) 00:01, 24 October 2023 (UTC)