■　REVIEWS

Solubilization and Refolding of Bacterial Inclusion Body Proteins.
Surinder Mohan Singh and Amulya Kumar Panda

Bioartificial Liver Systems: Current Status and Future Perspective.
Jung-Keug Park and Doo-Hoon Lee

Hypothesis: Structures, Evolution, and Ancestor of Glucose Kinases in the Hexokinase Family.
Shigeyuki Kawai, Takako Mukai, Shigetarou Mori, Bunzo Mikami, and Kousaku Murata 　

■　ACCELERATED PUBLICATION

Identification, Cloning, and Characterization of a Sporobolomyces singularis β-Galactosidase-like Enzyme Involved in Galacto-Oligosaccharide Production.
Eiji Ishikawa, Takafumi Sakai, Haruo Ikemura, Keisuke Matsumoto, and Hiroshi Abe 　

Identification of Chemosensory Proteins for Trichloroethylene in Pseudomonas　aeruginosa.
Maiko Shitashiro, Hirohide Tanaka, Chang Soo Hong, Akio Kuroda, Noboru Takiguchi, Hisao Ohtake, and Junichi Kato

Development of a Genetic Transformation System for Benzene-Tolerant Rhodococcus opacus Strains.
Kyung-Su Na, Kan Nagayasu, Akio Kuroda, Noboru Takiguchi, Tsukasa Ikeda, Hisao Ohtake, and Junichi Kato

Cellulose Production from Glucose Using a Glucose Dehydrogenase Gene (gdh)-Deficient Mutant of Gluconacetobacter xylinus and Its Use for Bioconversion of Sweet Potato Pulp.
Toru Shigematsu, Kazunori Takamine, Masaya Kitazato, Tetsuya Morita, Takaaki Naritomi, Shigeru Morimura, and Kenji Kida

Cloning and Sequencing of an Exoglucanase Gene from Streptomyces sp. M23, and Its Expression in Streptomyces lividans TK-24.
Chang-Su Park, Takashi Kawaguchi, Jun-ichi Sumitani, Goro Takada, Ken Izumori, and Motoo Arai 　

Enzymology, Protein Engineering, and Enzyme Technology

Optimization of Adsorptive Immobilization of Alcohol Dehydrogenases.
Archana Trivedi, Matthias Heinemann, Antje C. Spiess, Thomas Daussmann, and Jochen Buchs

Purification and Characterization of Intracellular and Extracellular, Thermostable and Alkali-Tolerant Alcohol Oxidases Produced by a Thermophilic Fungus, Thermoascus aurantiacus NBRC 31693.
Hee-Sun Ko, Yuichi Yokoyama, Nobuko Ohno, Miho Okadome, Seigo Amachi, Hirofumi Shinoyama, and Takaaki Fujii

Liposome-Assisted Activity of Superoxide Dismutase under Oxidative Stress.
Hideto Nagami, Noriko Yoshimoto, Hiroshi Umakoshi, Toshinori Shimanouchi, and Ryoichi Kuboi

Microbial Physiology and Biotechnology

Deletion of MCD4 Involved in Glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) Anchor Synthesis Leads to an Increase in β-1,6-Glucan Level and a Decrease in GPI-Anchored Protein and Mannan Levels in the Cell Wall of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
Jaruwan Maneesri, Masayuki Azuma, Yumiko Sakai, Koichi Igarashi, Takeshi Matsumoto, Hideki Fukuda, Akihiko Kondo, and Hiroshi Ooshima

Isolation and Characterization of Benzene-Tolerant Rhodococcus opacus Strains.
Kyung-Su Na, Akio Kuroda, Noboru Takiguchi, Tsukasa Ikeda, Hisao Ohtake, and Junichi Kato

Production of Human Metabolites of Cyclosporin A, AM1, AM4N and AM9, by Microbial Conversion.
Kazuo Ohta, Hitosi Agematu, Tomoya Yamada, Katsura Kaneko, and Toshio Tsuchida

Brewing and Food Technology

A Novel Vitamin C Analog, 2-O-(β-D-Glucopyranosyl)Ascorbic Acid: Examination of Enzymatic Synthesis and Biological Activity.
Yoshiko Toyada-Ono, Mitsuru Maeda, Masahiro Nakao, Makiko Yoshimura, Namino Sugiura-Tomimori, Harukazu Fukami, Hitomi Nishioka, Yayoi Miyashita, and Shosuke Kojo

Effect of Amino Acids on Peptide Transport in Sake Yeast.
Tasuku Yamada, Keiji Furukawa, Shodo Hara, and Haruhiko Mizoguchi 　

Environmental Biotechnology

Improvement of Selective Removal of Heavy Metals in Cyanobacteria by NaOH Treatment.
Hiroyasu Nagase, Duangrat Inthorn, Aiko Oda, Jun Nishimura, Yumiko Kajiwara, Myong-Oku Park, Kazumasa Hirata, and Kazuhisa Miyamoto

Characterization of Denitrifying Polyphosphate-Accumulating Organisms in Activated Sludge Based on Nitrite Reductase Gene.
Satoshi Tsuneda, Ryuki Miyauchi, Takashi Ohno, and Akira Hirata

Screening of Novel Cellulose-Degrading Bacterium and Its Application to Denitrification of Groundwater.
Toshiaki Nakajima-Kambe, Norihisa Okada, Mie Takeda, Yukie Akutsu-Shigeno, Masatoshi Matsumura, Nobuhiko Nomura, and Hiroo Uchiyama 　

Plant Biotechnology

Antagonism of Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus (a Sugarcane Endosymbiont) against Xanthomonas albilineans (Pathogen) Studied in Alginate-Immobilized Sugarcane Stalk Tissues.
Yolanda Blanco, Maria Blanch, Dolores Pinon, Maria-Estrella Legaz, and Carlos Vicente