■　REVIEW

Recent Biotechnological Interventions for Developing Improved Penicillin G Acylases
JEYAPRAKASH RAJENDHRAN and PARAMASAMY GUNASEKARAN

■　GENETICS, MOLECULAR BIOLOGY, AND GENE ENGINEERING

Biochemical and Genetic Characterization of a D(-)-3-Hydroxybutyrate Dehydrogenase from Acidovorax sp. Strain SA1
MASAHIKO TAKANASHI, TADASHI SHIBAHARA, MARI SHIRAKI and TERUMI SAITO

■　ENZYMOLOGY, PROTEIN ENGINEERING, AND ENZYME TECHNOLOGY

Contribution of Protein-Surface Ion Pairs of a Hyperthermophilic Protein on Thermal and Thermodynamic Stability
KENTARO SHIRAKI, SHINGO NISHIKORI, SHINSUKE FUJIWARA, TADAYUKI IMANAKA and MASAHIRO TAKAGI

■　MICROBIAL PHYSIOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY

Denitrification Activity of the Bacterium Pseudomonas sp. ASM-2-3 Isolated from the Ariake Sea Tideland
HAMID-REZA KARIMINIAAE-HAMEDAANI, KOHZO KANDA and FUMIO KATO

Expression Profiles of Polyhydroxyalkanoate Synthesis-Related Genes in Paracoccus denitrificans
TAKAAKI KOJIMA, TATSUAKI NISHIYAMA, AKIRA MAEHARA, SHUNSAKU UEDA, HIDEO NAKANO and TSUNEO YAMANE

Oxidation of Rapeseed Oil in Waste Activated Bleaching Earth and Its Effect on Riboflavin Production in Culture of Ashbya gossypii
ENOCH Y. PARK and HWA MING

■　BREWING AND FOOD TECHNOLOGY

Cloning and Analysis of the AWA1 Gene of a Nonfoaming Mutant of a Sake Yeast
KOICHI MIYASHITA, KAZUTOSHI SAKAMOTO, HIROSHI KITAGAKI, KAZUHIRO IWASHITA, KIYOSHI ITO and HITOSHI SHIMOI

Effect of Ganoderma lucidum on the Quality and Functionality of Korean Traditional Rice Wine, Yakju
JAE HO KIM, DAE HYOUNG LEE, SEUNG HWAN LEE, SHIN YANG CHOI and JONG SOO LEE

■　ENVIRONMENTAL BIOTECHNOLOGY

Characteristics of Neutralization of Acids by Newly Isolated Fungal Cells
NAOFUMI SHIOMI, TAKAKO YASUDA, YOKO INOUE, NORIKO KUSUMOTO, SAORI IWASAKI, TOMOHISA KATSUDA and SHIGEO KATOH

Effect of Ammonium Addition on Methanogenic Community in a Fluidized Bed Anaerobic Digestion
SHIGEKI SAWAYAMA, CHIKA TADA, KENICHIRO TSUKAHARA and TATSUO YAGISHITA

Isolation of Dimethyl Sulfone-Degrading Microorganisms and Application to Odorless Degradation of Dimethyl Sulfoxide
KUNIKI KINO, TAKAKO MURAKAMI-NITTA, MASASHI OISHI, SEIJI ISHIGURO and KOHTARO KIRIMURA

■　BIOCHEMICAL ENGINEERING

Enhanced Production of L-Lactic Acid by Ammonia-Tolerant Mutant Strain Rhizopus sp. MK-96-1196
SHIGENOBU MIURA, LIES DWIARTI, TOMOHIRO ARIMURA, MINAKO HOSHINO, LIU TIEJUN and MITSUYASU OKABE

Electrochemical Detection of Nonlabeled Oligonucleotide DNA Using Biotin-Modified DNA(ss) on a Streptavidin-Modified Gold Electrode
JONG WAN PARK, HEA-YEON LEE, JONG MIN KIM, RYUJIRO YAMASAKI, TAKASHI KANNO, HIROYUKI TANAKA, HIDEKAZU TANAKA and TOMOJI KAWAI

Improvement of Bacterial Cellulose Production by Addition of Agar in a Jar Fermentor
SANGOK BAE, YASUSHI SUGANO and MAKOTO SHODA

Effect of Freeze-Thaw Repetitions upon the Supercooling Release Ability of Ice-Nucleating Bacteria
YOOKO TSUCHIYA, KAZUHIRO SASAKI and HIROMI HASEGAWA

■　PLANT BIOTHCHNOLOGY

Efficient Construction of cDNA Microarrays Utilizing Normalized cDNA Libraries of Arabidopsis thaliana
KOHEI ANDO, SEIYEI YAMAKAWA, KYOKO MIYASHITA, KAZUYA YOSHIDA, AKIHO YOKOTA, ATSUHIKO SHINMYO and TAKAYUKI KOHCHI