New Deoxyenhygrolides from Plesiocystis pacifica Provide Insights into Butenolide Core Biosynthesis

Marine myxobacteria present a virtually unexploited reservoir for the discovery of natural products with diverse biological functions and novel chemical scaffolds. We report here the isolation and structure elucidation of eight new deoxyenhygrolides (1–8) from the marine myxobacterium Plesiocystis pacifica DSM 14875T. The herein described deoxyenhygrolides C–J (1–8) feature a butenolide core with an ethyl residue at C-3 of the γ-lactone in contrast to the previously described derivatives, deoxyenhygrolides A and B, which feature an isobutyl residue at this position. The butenolide core is 2,4-substituted with a benzyl (1, 2 and 7), benzoyl (3 and 4) or benzyl alcohol (5, 6 and 8) moiety in the 2-position and a benzylidene (1–6) or benzylic hemiketal (7 and 8) in the 4-position. The description of these new deoxyenhygrolide derivatives, alongside genomic in silico investigation regarding putative biosynthetic genes, provides some new puzzle pieces on how this natural product class might be formed by marine myxobacteria.

Global Diffusion of a New Product Class: A Study of New World Wine

<p>Understanding the drivers of product diffusion in global markets is a key determinant of success in marketing a product internationally. Factors such as national culture that are specific to a particular country market play a significant role in determining the speed of diffusion in that market. Examining the diffusion of New World wine provides an opportunity to test existing theories in the context of a new product class innovation as opposed to a new product innovation (as is the case in the existing literature). In addition, the study of diffusion of a new product class provides an opportunity to measure diffusion rates, within global markets, against a key explanatory variable in diffusion theory, 'prior experience of a previously introduced idea'. This is due to the fact that global markets have had previous experience with other wine product classes, before the advent of New World wine. This explanatory variable is an important part of classic diffusion theory however it has not been tested in a cross national sense. Through the study of 47 countries/regions that encompasses all countries in the world (at time of publication), the research found a strong negative correlation between 'prior experience of a previously introduced idea' and market share growth of New World wine across global markets. The author suggests that a key potential factor for this finding relates to the existence of a quality status hierarchy in existence in countries with higher levels of prior experience, resulting in a lower quality perception for a new product class in this market, when compared to a market that does not have an existing status hierarchy in place due to lower prior experience with a similar product. This concept potentially extends the cross national diffusion literature. In addition this research may provide important implications for managers in developing global marketing strategies.</p>

Global Diffusion of a New Product Class: A Study of New World Wine

<p>Understanding the drivers of product diffusion in global markets is a key determinant of success in marketing a product internationally. Factors such as national culture that are specific to a particular country market play a significant role in determining the speed of diffusion in that market. Examining the diffusion of New World wine provides an opportunity to test existing theories in the context of a new product class innovation as opposed to a new product innovation (as is the case in the existing literature). In addition, the study of diffusion of a new product class provides an opportunity to measure diffusion rates, within global markets, against a key explanatory variable in diffusion theory, 'prior experience of a previously introduced idea'. This is due to the fact that global markets have had previous experience with other wine product classes, before the advent of New World wine. This explanatory variable is an important part of classic diffusion theory however it has not been tested in a cross national sense. Through the study of 47 countries/regions that encompasses all countries in the world (at time of publication), the research found a strong negative correlation between 'prior experience of a previously introduced idea' and market share growth of New World wine across global markets. The author suggests that a key potential factor for this finding relates to the existence of a quality status hierarchy in existence in countries with higher levels of prior experience, resulting in a lower quality perception for a new product class in this market, when compared to a market that does not have an existing status hierarchy in place due to lower prior experience with a similar product. This concept potentially extends the cross national diffusion literature. In addition this research may provide important implications for managers in developing global marketing strategies.</p>

Agricultural by-products from Greece as feed for yellow mealworm larvae: circular economy at a local level

Organic side-streams and agricultural wastes represent a big pool of untapped and underrated resources which could be efficiently exploited for insect rearing. We evaluated the suitability of eleven agricultural by-products, stemming from the production of cotton, sugar beet, sunflower, barley, oats, peas and vetch, for the development of larvae of the yellow mealworm, Tenebrio molitor. In a first bioassay, by-products were screened singly to evaluate their potential to support the development of middle sized (4th-6th instar) larvae. In a second bioassay, by-products were supplemented with carrot, and their potential to support complete larval development (first instar until first pupation) was evaluated. Lastly, a third bioassay was conducted in which the more promising by-products were used as components of isonitrogenous diets for middle sized larvae, at two nitrogen levels (2.7 and 3.2%). Our results show the suitability of several agricultural by-products from Greece for T. molitor larvae. The best results though were obtained with the oat and the barley by-product (class II), tested either singly or mixed in diets. These by-products can be utilised singly or in composed diets and can greatly decrease the feed costs of mealworm production. Moreover, the results obtained from the isonitrogenous diets bioassay, show that besides nitrogen content, other factors need to be considered when formulating optimal diets. Our study aims to implement circular economy practices in insect farming at a local level.

Determinant of Difficulty in Purchasing Decisions for Local Coffee Brands: Testing Knowledge of Product Class as Moderator

<p>Coffee is one of the leading commodities in the plantation sub-sector in Indonesia because it has good market opportunities both locally and globally. The purpose of this research was to find out how the effect of perceived product similarity, product choices overload in the market toward decisions making difficulty, and knowledge of product classes as moderating variable. Data were collected using Google Forms and a self-administered questionnaire. Respondents in this study were 300 coffee consumers which were drawn using the purposive sampling method. Moderated regression was used to analyze this study. The results showed that perceived product similarity influences product choices overload positively and decision-making difficulties negatively. Choice overload had an insignificant effect on decision-making difficulties, and product class knowledge moderates the effect of perceived product similarity on decision-making difficulty. These findings provide insight into the importance of the brand as a distinguishing identity from other products.</p>

Evolution of combinatorial diversity in trans-acyltransferase polyketide synthase assembly lines across bacteria

Trans-acyltransferase polyketide synthases (trans-AT PKSs) are bacterial multimodular enzymes that biosynthesize diverse pharmaceutically and ecologically important polyketides. A notable feature of this natural product class is the existence of chemical hybrids that combine core moieties from different polyketide structures. To understand the prevalence, biosynthetic basis, and evolutionary patterns of this phenomenon, we developed transPACT, a phylogenomic algorithm to automate global classification of trans-AT PKS modules across bacteria and applied it to 1782 trans-AT PKS gene clusters. These analyses reveal widespread exchange patterns suggesting recombination of extended PKS module series as an important mechanism for metabolic diversification in this natural product class. For three plant-associated bacteria, i.e., the root colonizer Gynuella sunshinyii and the pathogens Xanthomonas cannabis and Pseudomonas syringae, we demonstrate the utility of this computational approach for uncovering cryptic relationships between polyketides, accelerating polyketide mining from fragmented genome sequences, and discovering polyketide variants with conserved moieties of interest. As natural combinatorial hybrids are rare among the more commonly studied cis-AT PKSs, this study paves the way towards evolutionarily informed, rational PKS engineering to produce chimeric trans-AT PKS-derived polyketides.

PENGARUH KESADARAN MEREK, CITRA MEREK DAN KOMUNIKASI PEMASARAN TERHADAP EKUITAS MEREK

The brand in a product has a very important role as an identity and differentiator from other products. A brand is said to have equity if it can be recognized and remembered and embedded in the minds of consumers in one product class over other product brands. This study aims to determine the factors that influence brand equity of Herborist products at PT. Victoria Care Indonesia (VCI). This type of research used in this research is explanatory research with a quantitative approach. Samples were taken of 100 respondents from the consumer population of Herborist products. The results showed that both partially and simultaneously brand awareness was obtained, brand image and marketing communications had a significant effect on brand equity. With an influence contribution of 67%.Keywords : brand awareness, brand image, marketing communications, brand equity

The untapped potential of plant sesterterpenoids: chemistry, biological activities and biosynthesis

An overall coverage of plant sesterterpenoids including the distribution, chemistry, biological activities, biosynthesis and evolution is provided, highlighting the untapped potential of this enigmatic but promising natural product class in plants.