The main significance of the Seattle group's work is the development of a very mild procedure for removing PLP which allows a structural comparison between the apoenzyme and the holoenzyme. Any difference between the two stems only from the presence or absence of PLP and not from structural changes caused by the removal process itself. The Seattle group's approach to removing PLP from phosphorylase b may find a variety of applications in selectively modifying proteins and in preparing other apoenzymes. The method may provide another tool in studies that correlate protein structure with biological function.
cu. ft.—about 4 tons—of natural gas. In most protein-from-petroleum development work, a heavy crude fraction, rather than the less reactive light fractions or gas, is the source of carbon for growing protein-rich microorganisms. British Petroleum, for example, uses heavy gas oils to produce about a ton a day of protein concentrate at its Lavera, France, pilot plant and smaller quantities at Grangemouth, Scotland. And in the U.S., Esso Research and Engineering has been studying approaches to making protein from petroleum. The company admits only that its approach appears "promising," but that the work is still at a relatively early stage. The work has not yet progressed to where "we can be sure of the feasibility of the product as an ingredient for foodstuffs for man or animal," the company said last week.
Harris elected ACS Chairman At a special meeting June 9 in Boston the Board of Directors of the American Chemical Society elected Dr. Milton Harris, 60, Chairman of the Board to fill the unexpired term of the late Arthur C. Cope. Dr. Cope died June 4 in Washington, D.C. (C&EN, June 13, page 2 5 ) . All members of the Board were in Boston for his funeral. The directors also voted that a resolution appear in C&EN expressing their grief at the loss of Dr. Cope (see below). In addition, they created the Arthur C. Cope Memorial Fund and will receive contributions for it. The income from the fund will be used for
Tribute to the m e m o r y of Dr. Arthur C. Cope The Board of Directors of the American Chemical Society pays tribute to the memory of Arthur day Cope, a distinguished chemist and an outstanding leader of the Society and the chemical profession. As a member of the Board since 1951, as its Chairman for seven years, as ACS President in 1961, and as an active participant in numerous other official capacities, he made unparalleled contributions to the spectacular expansion of the Society and its programs. As a scientist, educator, and administrator of international stature, he rendered invaluable service to other learned societies, to universities, and to the Government The officers and directors feel a deep sense of personal grief at the sudden termination of their intimate association of many years with a colleague of such keen intelligence, rare judgment, and unique qualities of leadership. His death at the pinnacle of his career is an incalculable loss to the Society, the profession, the nation, and the world scientific community.
20 C&EN JUNE 20, 1966
Dr. Milton Harris To fill unexpired term
scientific and educational projects in areas in which Dr. Cope took an interest. Dr. Harris, 60, was vice president of Gillette Corp., a post he left May 1. Currently he maintains his office in Washington, D . C , and he is serving on a number of company boards of directors as well as on several educational and government boards. He was elected a director-at-large last fall by mail vote of the ACS councilors. He is serving a four-year term (1966-69). As Chairman of the Board he automatically becomes chairman of the Executive Committee, which also includes Dr. Robert Cairns and Dr. Charles Overberger. Dr. Harris's term as Chairman expires Dec. 3 1 ; the Board elects a chairman annually at its meeting in December. The vacancy on the Board will be filled by a new director-at-large who will be elected by the Council via mail ballot; he will serve until Dec. 31. This fall the Council will elect a director-at-large who will serve a full four-year term starting Jan. 1, 1966.
Bacteria metabolize methane Bacteria that metabolize methane have put Shell Research, Ltd., on the track of a simplified route from petroleum stocks to protein. Laboratory work with pure cultures of the bacteria has yielded a powdered product, roughly half protein, with a nutritionally satisfactory amino acid makeup. Dr. J. R. Norris and Dr. D. W. Ribbons, who isolated the as-yet-unnamed strains at Shell's Milstead, England, chemical enzymology laboratory, estimate that production-scale operation could make a ton of protein per 200,000 standard
About a year and a half ago, Esso Research disclosed some information concerning its biosynthesis. The process then was in the intermediate pilotplant stage and involved use of a liquid hydrocarbon feed. The product contained all 10 essential amino acids and many vitamins, with a substantial B vitamin content. At the time, the company described the product as a white powder, odorless, and rather bland. In the BP process, microorganisms selectively metabolize straight-chain hydrocarbons, thus upgrade the gas oil stocks while growing protein. Centrifuging and washing steps are required to remove oil contamination from the protein product. BP has in the past talked about what would be a typical commercial method (but not necessarily the one used in its own pilot-plant process) for producing proteins from petroleum. The process would be continuous, with the hydrocarbons and other nutrients fed into an aerated fermentor. Broth would be withdrawn and yeast cells removed by centrifuging the broth. Remaining nutrient would be recycled to the fermentor. Cells would have to be washed to remove all traces of the hydrocarbon. Sufficient hydrocarbon would have to be available in the fermentor at all times (although too much would be undesirable). The oil phase would keep nutritive salts and oxygen away from the cells to produce a kind of suffocation. Cell densities would run about 10 to 15 grams (or more) per liter. The nutrient medium would be completely synthetic. It would contain nitrogen compounds, phosphates, potassium, and magnesium. Iron, zinc, copper, manganese, and other elements—available in fresh w a t e r would also be used. Shell's methane route eliminates separation steps and promises a process simplification. The methane-oxidizing
