Clindamycin concentrations in gingival crevicular fluid and in blood were determined over a 7-h period and were related to the minimal inhibitory concentrations of this agent for 340 bacterial strains...Full Text Available
Strong inhibitory effects of the anionic surfactant linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS) on four strains of autotrophic ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) are reported. Two Nitrosospira...Full Text Available
We cloned and sequenced structural gene choM, which encodes an insecticidally active cholesterol oxidase in Streptomyces sp. strain A19249. The primary translation product was predicted to be a 547-amino-acid...Full Text Available
The aggregation substance (AS) of Enterococcus faecalis, encoded on sex pheromone plasmids, is a surface-bound glycoprotein that mediates aggregation between bacteria thereby facilitating...Full Text Available
Uteroglobin (UG) gene encodes a cytokine-like, multifunctional, antiinflammatory protein, with potent phospholipase A2-inhibitory activity. It has been suggested that during implantation this protein...Full Text Available
Abstract Alkali tolerance and the mechanism of microcystin (MC) degradation were investigated in the MC-degrading bacterial species, Sphingopyxis sp. C-1, to better understand the increased MC degradation under the alkaline conditions that arise during the disappearance of water blooms. MC-degrading bacteria harbour mlrA, mlrB and mlrC that encode MC-degrading enzymes. Sphingopyxis sp. C-1 also possesses these genes, as well as the mlrD gene that has been assumed to encode MC and its degradation transporter. This study demonstrated that MC degradation activity was promoted by the intermittent addition of microcystin-LR (MCLR) to cultures of strain C-1. That the expression of mlrA, mlrB and mlrC is induced by MCLR also was indicated, whereas that of mlrA and mlrB is induced by the MCLR degr...
Abstract Background: This study involves a multicentre surveillance of tigecycline and tetracycline activity against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria from primary care centres (PCCs), general hospital wards (GHWs) and intensive care units (ICUs) in Denmark (n == 9), Finland (n == 10), Norway (n == 7) and Sweden (n == 19). Methods: The hospitals were each asked to test 30 consecutive Gram-positive and 30 Gram-negative clinical isolates. Supportive information accompanying each isolate included the study centre, ward level (PCC, GHW, or ICU), patient identification and source of the isolate. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) for tetracycline and tigecycline were determined with the Etest. Results: The isolates collected comprised 1610 Gram-negative and 1767 Gram-positive clini...
This study was conducted to investigate the antibacterial effect of BSAP-254 on Bacillus cereus with the induced stress proteins. The BSAP-254 is an antimicrobial peptide isolated from soybean-fermenting bacteria, Bacillus subtilis SC-8. It had a narrow spectrum of activity against B. cereus group. The growth inhibitory effect of BSAP-254 (50??g/mL) reduced the population of B. cereus from >108 to 104 colony-forming units per milliliter within 30?min. In B. cereus exposed to BSAP-254, 14 intracellular proteins were differentially expressed as determined by 2-DE coupled with MS. Of the differentially expressed proteins identified, the stress protein GroEL, which is heat shock protein, was induced in B. cereus exposed to antibacterial peptide.
The structural organization of the genes encoding Bungarus multicinctus protease inhibitor-like proteins (PILPs), PILP-1, PILP-2 and PILP-3, are reported in this study. Unlike PILP-2 and PILP-3, recombinant PILP-1 exhibited inhibitory activity on trypsin. PILP genes and B chain genes shared identical organization with three exons interrupted by two introns in similar positions. On the contrary, intron 1 of these genes had a similar size, a notable variation with the size of intron 2 was observed. It was found that two regions at the second intron of B1 chain and B2 chain genes were absent in that of PILP genes. Noticeably, intronic insertion in the second intron of B chain genes appeared in the promoter region of PILP-1 gene, but not in that of PILP-2 and PILP-3 genes. Comparative analyses of PILP genes and B chain genes showed that the protein-coding regions of the exons are more diverse than introns, except for in the signal peptide domain. ...
The human CDC25 tyrosine phosphatases trigger activation of CDC2 by removing inhibitory phosphates; thus the genes encoding these phosphatases may be suspected as potential oncogenes due to their role in promoting cell division. To date, three human CDC25 genes have been identified: CDC25A, B, and C. This communication describes the mapping of CDC25A to chromosome 3p21 and CDC25B to chromosome 20p13 by fluorescence in situ hybridization with confirmation by the polymerase chain reaction of hamster-human somatic cell hybrid DNA. 3p21 is near an area frequently involved in karyotypic abnormalities in renal carcinomas, small cell carcinomas of the lung, and benign tumors of the salivary gland. 20p13 does not seem to be a common area for karyotypic alteration in tumors. Mapping of these genes to their chromosomal loci may help identify tumors with abnormal regulation of CDC25 genes due to genomic alterations. 15 refs., 3 figs.
Abstract TLR9 recognizes unmethylated CpG-containing DNA commonly found in bacteria. Synthetic oligonucleotides containing CpG-motifs (CpG ODNs) recapitulate the activation of TLR9 by microbial DNA, whereas inversion of the CG dinucleotide within the CpG motif to GC (GpC ODNs) renders such ODNs inactive. This difference cannot be attributed to binding of ODNs to the full-length TLR9 ectodomain, as both CpG and GpC ODNs bind comparably. Activation of murine TLR9 requires cleavage into an active C-terminal fragment, which binds CpG robustly. We therefore compared the ability of CpG and GpC ODNs to bind to full-length and C-terminal TLR9, and their impact on the cleavage of TLR9. We found that CpG binds better to C-terminal TLR9 when compared with GpC, despite comparably low binding of both O...
The acute acetoclastic methanogenic inhibition of several inorganic and organic arsenicals was assayed. Trivalent species, i.e., methylarsonous acid and arsenite, were highly inhibitory, with 50% inhibitory...Full Text Available
A dialyzable factor(s) in human serum is known to stimulate gonococcal oxygen consumption. Its effect on other human pathogens was investigated. A 10% serum solution increased peak O2 consumption for Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus to 157% (P less than 0.05) and 199% (P less than 0.02), respectively, of their O2 consumption when suspended in Hanks balanced salt solution, compared with a 356% increase for Neisseria gonorrhoeae with serum. Dialyzed serum lacked stimulatory capacity. Bacteria, serum, and neutrophils are often incubated to evaluate neutrophil bactericidal activity. Samples of 10(8) N. gonorrhoeae, S. aureus, and E. coli turned resazurin colorless (anaerobic conditions, Eh less than -42 mV) after 7.4, 13.3, and 15.1 min, respectively. Because neutrophil formation of reactive oxygen intermediates requires ambient O2, the effect of live bacteria and serum on this process was explored. After 5 min of incubation of 10(8) N. ...
The feasibility of containing genetically engineered bacteria with enhanced dehalogenating properties for in situ bioremediation was investigated. (1) An agarose matrix microbead protocol and a detection system for contained microorganisms or DNA were developed. Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) allowed tracking of a consortium of encapsulated organisms or several gene targets from a single species. Gene sequences encoding the enzymes responsible for initiating the biodegradation of toluene, octane, and 2,4-D were detected by multiplex PCR and nucleic acid probes from similar to 1-10 biodegradative cells/g soil. Improved DNA extraction methods resulted in PCR reactions detecting similar to 6 cells/g soil. (2) The pcpB gene (for the broad-spectrum detoxicant pentachlorophenol (PCP) hydroxylase) isolated from Flavobacterium sp. strain ATCC 39723 was used in attempts to develop an improved dehalogenating recombinant microorganism for ...
The mechanisms that contribute to the extinction of previously acquired memories are not well understood. These processes, often referred to as inhibitory learning, are thought to be parallel...Full Text Available
ObjectivesObjectives Not AvailableDescriptionA collaborative study of the anaerobic treatment of wastes containing recalcitrant and inhibitory compounds using the SERC Anaerobic facility, in particular biomass structure, monitoring and control, catabolism and toxicity, pre-acidification and microbial growth and mesophilic and thermophilic lignocellulose degradation.~%~
If we are to stand any chance of understanding the circuitry of the superficial dorsal horn, it is imperative that we can identify which classes of interneuron are excitatory and which are inhibitory....Full Text Available
The inhibitory effects of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) on elongation growth of pea (Pisum sativum L.) seedling roots were investigated...Full Text Available
The cell wall envelopes of gram-positive bacteria represent a surface organelle that not only functions as a cytoskeletal element but also promotes interactions between bacteria and their environment....Full Text Available
Three nucleic acid probes, two for autotrophic ammonia-oxidizing bacteria of the beta subdivision of the class Proteobacteria and one for alpha subdivision nitrite-oxidizing bacteria, were developed...Full Text Available
BackgroundClostridium botulinum produces seven distinct serotypes of botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs). The genes encoding different subtype neurotoxins of serotypes...Full Text Available
The antibacterial activities of different nitroheterocyclic compounds were assessed by an agar dilution method against aerobic, microaerophilic, and anaerobic bacteria. Nitronaphthofurans inhibited...Full Text Available
Bacterial attachment-effacement (att-eff) is emerging as an important virulence characteristic common to both enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) and enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC). The contribution of the plasmid-encoded EPEC adherence factor to the production of mucosal lesions and diarrhea was investigated in gnotobiotic piglets. Bacterial att-aff in the intestinal mucosa of piglets infected with plasmid-cured EPEC strain E2348/69 (O127) was indistinguishable from that in piglets infected with the parent strain, but the distribution of lesions was different; it occurred in the small intestines of 6 of 7 piglets infected with the parent strain compared with only 2 of 11 (P = 0.006) infected with the plasmid-cured strain. Plasmid-encoded factors in EPEC and EHEC strains did not appear to contribute to bacterial competition with normal gut microflora. Of 13 strains belonging to five EPEC serogroups, O55, O142, O26, O119, and O111, 3 ...
Genes encoding mutants of the thymine photodimer repair enzyme from bacteriophage T4 (T4 endonuclease V) having an amino acid substitution (T127M, W128A, W128S, Y129A, K130L, Y131A, Y132A) were constructed by use of a previously obtained synthetic gene and expressed in Escherichia coli under the control of the E. coli tryptophan promoter. An in vitro assay of partially fractionated mutant proteins for glycosylase activity was performed with chemically synthesized substrates containing a thymine photodimer. T127M and K130L showed almost the same activity as the wild-type protein. Although W128S, Y131A, and Y132A were slightly active, W128A and Y129A lost activity. The results indicated that the aromatic amino acids around position 130 may be important for the glycosylase activity. Mutant T127M was purified, and the Km value was found to be of the same order as that of the wild type (10(-8) M). In vivo activities for all mutants were characterized with UV-sensitive ...
Glycine is a major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the spinal cord and brainstem. Recently, in vivo analysis of glycinergic synaptic transmission has been pursued in zebrafish using...Full Text Available
The most classic information on the syntrophic microorganisms in an anaerobic bacteria symbiotic system may be methanobacillus omelianskii. These bacteria were isolated as ones degrading alcohols such as ethanol into methane and were stably preserved for more than 20 years. But, it was clarified by later researches that this was a kind of symbiotic cocultivation system of the bacteria (S strain) which oxidizes ethanol into acetic acid, hydrogen, and carbon dioxide, and a kind of bacteria of the methanobacterium genus which produces or synthesizes methane from hydrogen and carbon dioxide. Such a symbiotic system of two kinds of anaerobic bacteria is the one of a kind of bacteria which produces hydrogen by oxidizing substances and of another kind of bacteria which consume hydrogen. Various kinds of symbiotic systems including those of ...
In many dinoflagellate species, the plastid genome has been proposed to exist as a limited number of single-gene minicircles, and many genes normally found in the plastid genome are nuclear-encoded....Full Text Available
ColV plasmids of extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (ExPEC) encode a variety of fitness and virulence factors and have long been associated with septicemia and avian colibacillosis....Full Text Available
The recombinant product (rK39) of the 39-amino-acid repeats encoded by a kinesin-like protein-encoding gene of Leishmania chagasi was evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay...Full Text Available
The capability to image tissue motion such as blood flow through an endoscope could have many applications in medicine. Spectrally encoded endoscopy (SEE) is a recently introduced technique...Full Text Available
Recombinant mouse UDP-glucose pyrophosphatase (UGPPase), encoded by the Nudt14 gene, was produced in Escherichia coli and purified close to homogeneity. The...Full Text Available
PurposeWe previously reported a randomized phase II clinical trial combining a poxvirus-based vaccine encoding PSA with radiotherapy in patients with localized prostate...Full Text Available
Accumulated lines of evidence suggest that hyperimmune responses to periodontal bacteria result in the destruction of periodontal connective tissue and alveolar bone. The etiological roles of periodontal...Full Text Available
Pfister, Robert M. (Lamont Geological Observatory, Palisades, N.Y.), and Paul R. Burkholder. Numerical taxonomy of some bacteria isolated from Antarctic and tropical seawaters. J....Full Text Available
A multidisciplinary approach was used to study the effects of pollution from a marine fish farm on nitrification rates and on the community structure of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria in the underlying...Full Text Available
Bacterial processes in soil, including biodegradation, require contact between bacteria and substrates. Knowledge of the three-dimensional spatial distribution of bacteria at the microscale is necessary...Full Text Available
Enteropathogenic bacteria was isolated from 131 of 447 (29.4%) neotropical Panamanian lizards belonging to 34 species of seven families. Overall, 147 strains of bacteria were isolated comprising 26...Full Text Available
Two gram-negative, motile bacteria isolated from deep subsurface sediments mineralized the nitrogen-containing polyaromatic hydrocarbon quinoline under aerobic conditions and transformed quinoline to...Full Text Available
Marine sediments are frequently covered by mats of the filamentous Beggiatoa and other large nitrate-storing bacteria that oxidize hydrogen sulfide using either oxygen or nitrate, which...Full Text Available
Species of bacteria associated with Stylophora pistillata were determined by analyses of 16S ribosomal genes. Coral samples were taken from two distinct sites at Kenting, in the far...Full Text Available
BackgroundMastitis in dairy cattle results from infection of mammary tissue by a range of micro-organisms but principally coliform bacteria and Gram positive bacteria such as Staphylococcus...Full Text Available
Bacteria have the ability to adapt to different growth conditions and to survive in various environments. They have also the capacity to enter into dormant states and some bacteria form spores when...Full Text Available
Hydrolytic exoenzymes as indicators of metabolically active bacteria were investigated in four consecutive sapropel layers collected from bathyal sediments of the eastern Mediterranean Sea. For comparison,...Full Text Available
Broth disk elution procedures represent one of the most practical means for clinical laboratories to perform routine antibiotic susceptibility tests on anaerobic bacteria. The accuracy of five disk...Full Text Available
Thermophilic propionate-oxidizing, proton-reducing bacteria were enriched from the granular methanogenic sludge of a bench-scale upflow anaerobic sludge bed reactor operated at 55°C with a mixture...Full Text Available
Recently developed molecular methods have made it possible to characterize mixed microflora in their entirety, including the substantial numbers of bacteria which do not grow on artificial culture media....Full Text Available
BackgroundBacterial vaginosis (BV) is a common condition that is associated with preterm birth and acquisition of complex communities of vaginal bacteria that include several fastidious...Full Text Available
Lipopolysaccharides from different bacteria isolated from cotton were purified and chemically analyzed. Their pulmonary toxicity to animals was tested in inhalation tests. Lipopolysaccharides from Agrobacterium...Full Text Available
The antibiotic resistance patterns of gram-negative fecal bacteria from pigs in three herds with different histories of antibiotic exposure were examined. In general, smaller proportions of antibiotic-resistant...Full Text Available
Advanced Glycated End Products (AGEs) are formed by non-enzymatic protein glycation and are implicated in several physiological aspects including cell aging and diseases. Recent data indicate that bacteria...Full Text Available
Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 is a model environmental organism that possesses diverse respiratory capacities, including the ability to reduce soluble Cr(VI) to sparingly soluble, less toxic Cr(III). Effective bioremediation of Cr-contaminated sites requires knowledge of the molecular mechanisms and regulation of heavy metal resistance and biotransformation by dissimilatory metal-reducing bacteria. Towards this goal, our ERSP-funded work is focused on the identification and functional analysis of genes/proteins comprising the response pathways for chromate detoxification and/or reduction. Previous transcriptomic profiling and whole-cell proteomic analyses implicated the involvement of a functionally undefined DNA-binding response regulator (SO2426) and a putative azoreductase (SO3585) in the chromate stress response of MR-1. Here we describe a detailed functional analysis of SO2426 and SO3585 in order to begin to understand the role of these proteins in the cellular ...
A chromosome-encoded β-lactamase gene, cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli from Kluyvera georgiana reference strain CUETM 4246-74 (DSM 9408), encoded the...Full Text Available
We previously showed that very thin filamentous bacteria affiliated with the division green non-sulfur bacteria were abundant in the outermost layer of thermophilic methanogenic sludge granules fed...Full Text Available
Objective To evaluate the inhibitory property of de-glycyrrhizinated extract of Glycyrrhiza glabra root and its phytoconstituents (glabridin, isoliquiritigenin and glycyrrhizin) on LPS-induced production of pro-inflammatory mediators. Materials and methods Inhibitory effect of G. glabra extract and its phytoconstituents were studied on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nitric oxide (NO), interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels in J774A.1 murine macrophages. Results G. glabra and isoliquiritigenin significantly inhibited LPS stimulated NO, IL-1 beta and IL-6 production. Glabridin showed significant inhibition of NO and IL-1 beta release, but failed to attenuate IL-6 levels at the tested concentrations. In addition, glycyrrhizin did not exhibit inhibitory response towar...
The power?time curves of mice splenic lymphocytes growth at 37??C affected by ginsenoside Rh2 were determined by microcalorimetry using a 3114/3236 TAM air bioactivity monitor with ampoule mode. Then, the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of Rh2 on splenic lymphocytes growth was determined by serial dilution method. From factor analysis (FA) on six quantitative thermokinetic parameters from the power?time curves, the activity of Rh2 on splenic lymphocytes could be quickly evaluated by analyzing the changes in the two main parameters: growth rate constant k, and maximum heat-output power, P m. The results showed that Rh2 had strong inhibitory activity on splenic lymphocytes growth, and this inhibitory activity was strengthened with increasing concentration of Rh2 in the concentration r...
SUMMARYThe cytolytic activity of natural killer (NK) cells is regulated by inhibitory receptors that detect the absence of self molecules on target cells. Structural studies of...Full Text Available
Accumulation of certain nonmetabolizable sugar-phosphates (including α-methyl glucoside-6-phosphate) in Escherichia coli is growth inhibitory and elicits the glucose-phosphate...Full Text Available
The receptive field of a neuron reflects its function. For example, for parallel fiber (PF) inputs in C3 zone the cerebellar cortex, the excitatory and inhibitory receptive fields of a Purkinje cell...Full Text Available
Human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSC) are multipotent progenitor cells that have transient immunomodulatory properties on Natural Killer (NK) cells, Dendritic Cells (DC), and T cells. This...Full Text Available
BackgroundAlzheimer's disease, known to be associated with the gradual loss of memory, is characterized by low concentration of acetylcholine in the hippocampus and cortex part of...Full Text Available
To successfully grow, neurons need to overcome the effects of hostile environments, such as the inhibitory action of myelin. We have evaluated the potential of exercise to overcome the intrinsic...Full Text Available
The hypothesis that the antiarrhythmic drug amiodarone slows down the heart rate by its inhibitory action on the intracellular conversion of thyroxine (T4) to 3,5,3' triiodothyronine (T3) was investigated....Full Text Available
A solid-phase radioimmunoassay employing 125I-labeled enterotoxins and polystyrene tubes coated with specific antibody has been developed for assaying the relative concentrations of antibodies...Full Text Available
BackgroundMost rapidly evolving gene families are involved in immune responses and reproduction, two biological functions which have been assigned to the carcinoembryonic antigen...Full Text Available
Zinc modulates the activity of glutamic acid decarboxylase, the rate limiting enzyme in the synthesis of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which is a major inhibitory neurotransmitter. Low cerebrospinal...Full Text Available
The mechanism by which enzyme IIIglc of the bacterial phosphotransferase system regulates the activity of crystalline glycerol kinase from Escherichia coli has been studied, and the inhibitory effects...Full Text Available
Neocortical columns are functional and morphological units whose architecture may have been under selective evolutionary pressure in different mammalian lineages in response to encephalization and specializations...Full Text Available
This paper develops a fluid dynamic model using finite difference methods characterizing flow in phantoms simulating in vivo conditions and to compare those results with velocity encoded MR images. The phantom consisted of 1-inch (2.5-cm) tubing with semicircular insert and fluid with viscosity, T1, and T2 comparable to blood. Numeric solutions to Navier-Stokes equations for this system were obtained using finite difference methods, with velocity input function of zero at walls and parabolic at both ends. In resulting color raster (CR) images, color temperature represented velocity value. In velocity-encoded MR images acquired under the same flow conditions, phase is proportional to average velocity during application of flow-encoding gradients. Because these gradients are applied along one direction per acquisition, magnitude and direction of velocity are obtained.
The chemiosmotic model of energy transduction offers a satisfying and widely confirmed understanding of the action of uncouplers on such processes as oxidative phosphorylation; the uncoupler, by facilitating...Full Text Available
The growth power-time curves of a strain of petroleum bacteria, B-2, in various kinds of cultures containing different kinds of carbon sources, glucose, n-tetradecane, n-hexadecane and n-octadecane, and different kinds of microemulsions have been determined by using a 2277 Thermal Activity Monitor. The curves showed a single peak for cultures containing a single carbon source, glucose, and two peaks for cultures containing two kinds of carbon sources, glucose and one of the n-alkanes. The first peak indicated that bacteria grew by consuming glucose and the second peak indicated that bacteria grew by consuming n-alkane. The curves were complex when the bacterium grows in a microemulsion culture. According to a kinetic equation of bacterial growth under limited conditions, the rate constants of bacterial growth were obtained. The results showed that the microemulsion culture was more appropriate to ...
The Sirtuins are a family of orthologues of yeast Sir2 found in a wide range of organisms from bacteria to man. They display a high degree of conservation between species, in both sequence and function,...Full Text Available
There is an urgent need in aquaculture to develop microbial control strategies, since disease outbreaks are recognized as important constraints to aquaculture production and trade and since the development...Full Text Available
This final report for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) presents the results of studies made on the regulation of the growth of Legionella Pneumophila bacteria in biofilms and amoebae. In a first project, the formation of biofilms by Legionella Pneumophila bacteria was analysed in static and dynamic systems using a complex growth medium. Under static and dynamic clinical and environmental conditions, the adherence of the biofilms on polystyrene tissue was studied. This was also examined under dynamic flow conditions. In a second part of the project, the regulation of growth of Legionella Pneumophila in amoebae was examined in that changes were made to the genome of the bacteria. The importance of the work for the de-activation of Legionella Pneumophila bacteria in biofilms is noted in the conclusions of the report.
Techniques for culturing, harvesting, and testing bacteria to evaluate bactericidal chemicals for swimming pools are described. Concentrations of 25, 50, and 100 mg of the chlorine stabilizer cyanuric...Full Text Available
Eukaryotes may influence pollutant degradation processes in groundwater ecosystems by activities such as predation on bacteria and recycling of nutrients. Culture-independent community profiling and...Full Text Available
Ether extracts of cultures of 29 strains representing 6 species of Bacillus, and of individual strains of Escherichia coli, Aerobacter aerogenes, and Pseudomonas...Full Text Available
Numerous bacteria from a salt-marsh environment are capable of degrading malathion, an organophosphate insecticide, when supplied with additional nutrients as energy and carbon sources. Seven isolates...Full Text Available
A fundamental study of the application of bacteria to the recovery of toxic heavy metals from aqueous environments was carried out. The biosorption characteristics of cadmium and lead ions were determined with purple nonsulfur bacteria, Rhodobacter sphaeroides and hydrogen bacteria, Alcaligenes eutrophus H16 that were inactivated by steam sterilization. A simplified version of the metal binding model proposed by Plette et al. was used for the description of meal binding data. The results showed that the biosorption of bivalent metal ions to whole cell bodies of the bacteria was due to monodentate binding to two different types of acidic sites: carboxilic and phosphatic-type sites. The number of metal binding sites of A. eutrophus was 2.4-fold larger than that of R. sphaeroides.
The principle aim of the program was to produce a novel, non-leaching antimicrobial surface for commercial development and future use in the liquid food packaging industry. Antimicrobial surfaces which exist presently have been produced to combat the growth of prokaryotic organisms and usually function as slow release systems. A system which could inhibit eukaryotic growth without contaminating the surrounding 'environment' with the inhibitor was considered of great commercial importance. The remit of this study was concerned with creating a surface which could control the growth of eukaryotic organisms found in fruit juice with particular interest in the yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Putative antimicrobial surfaces were created by the chemical modification of the test substrate polymers; nylon and ethylvinyl alcohol (EVOH). Surfaces were chemically modified by the covalent coupling of antimicrobial agents known to be active against the yeast Saccharomyces ...
A series of 2-alkylthiopyrine-4-carbothioamides were synthesized, and their anti-fungal potency was tested. The chemical structures were proved by infrared spectroscopy (IR) and {sup 1}H nuclear magnetic resonance ({sup 1}H-NMR) data and by elemental analysis. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal fungicidal concentration (MFC) assessment were used for the estimation of potential activity in vitro. The study comprising 21 clinical isolates of fungi showed that two compounds exhibited fair inhibitory activity against some yeasts and dermatophytes. Selective fungistatic activity against non-dermatophytes (MIC = 3.12-25.0 {mu}g/mL) was found also in another compound. None of the above compounds showed inhibitory activity against non-dermatophyte filamentous fungi. Microbiological activity of 2-alkylthiopyridine-4-carbothioamides appears to be mainly related to hydrophobicity of alkyl in position 2. (authors). ...
Several early genes of murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) encode proteins that mediate immune evasion by interference with the major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I) pathway of antigen presentation...Full Text Available
Protein tyrosine phosphatase nonreceptor type 22 (PTPN22) gene polymorphisms are associated with many autoimmune diseases. The major risk allele encodes an R620W amino acid change that...Full Text Available
A 269-kilobase conjugative plasmid, pK29, from a Klebsiella pneumoniae strain was sequenced. The plasmid harbors multiple antimicrobial resistance genes, including those encoding CMY-8...Full Text Available
AtCBR, a cDNA encoding NADH-cytochrome (Cyt) b5 reductase, and AtB5-A and AtB5-B, two cDNAs encoding Cyt b5, were isolated from Arabidopsis....Full Text Available
BackgroundThe human endogenous retrovirus HERV-K(HML-2) family is associated with testicular germ cell tumors (GCT). Various HML-2 proviruses encode viral proteins such as Env and...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe frequency of transfer of genes encoding resistance to antimicrobial agents was determined by conjugation in ESBL-producing and/or fluoroquinolone or aminoglycoside...Full Text Available
We studied how the introduction of an additional ATP-consuming reaction affects the metabolic fluxes in Lactococcus lactis. Genes encoding the hydrolytic part of the F1 domain...Full Text Available
The gene encoding N epsilon-(indole-3-acetyl)-L-lysine synthetase, iaaL, from Pseudomonas savastanoi was localized within a 4.25-kilobase EcoRI fragment derived from pIAA1 of oleander strain EW 2009....Full Text Available
The Epstein-Barr virus nuclear antigen (EBNA I) present in latently infected cells is encoded in a 2-kilobase exon contained in the BamHI K viral genomic fragment. This exon is, however, found within...Full Text Available
This report discusses the activities of two major groups of forest soil microorganisms, the bacteria and the fungi. Special attention is paid to their participation in the decay of major forest litter substrates, including leaves, branches and roots. The influence of bacteria and fungi in symbiotic associations with woody plant roots upon the cycles of carbon and nitrogen is described. The impacts of certain forest mamagement alternatives are assessed in terms of the creation of elimination of suitable environments for the activity of soil microorganisms. A bibliography is included. 507 refs., 1 tab.
BackgroundResistance to third generation cephalosporins due to acquisition and expression of extended spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) enzymes among Gram-negative bacteria is...Full Text Available
DescriptionThe importance of inorganic nitrate for the nutrition and growth of marine and freshwater autotrophic phytoplankton has long been recognised, in particularly because of the 'blooms' formed in nitrate and phosphate polluted water and their possible roles as carbon dioxide sinks. By contrast, the utilisation of nitrate by heterotrophic bacteria has historically received less attention. Up until now, the primary role of heterotrophic bacteria has classically been considered to be the decomposition [continued...
Fifteen strains of CDC group 1 coryneform and biochemically similar bacteria were isolated from clinical specimens. Of the 15 strains isolated, 11 were derived from abscesses and purulent lesions, mostly...Full Text Available
Phillips Petroleum Company recently completed a microbial selective plugging (MSP) pilot at the North Burbank Unit (NBU), Shidler, Oklahoma. Nutrients were selected for the pilot that could stimulate indigenous microflora in the reservoir brine to grow and produce exopolymer. It was found that soluble corn starch polymers (e.g., maltodextrins) stimulated the indigenous bacteria to produce exopolymer, whereas simple sugars (e.g., glucose and sucrose), as well as complex media (e.g., molasses and Nutrient Broth), did not. Injection of maltodextrin into rock cores in the presence of indigenous NBU bacteria resulted in stable permeability reductions (> 90%) across the entire length, while injection of glucose resulted only in face plugging. In addition, it was found that organic phosphate esters (OPE) served as a preferable source of phosphorus for the indigenous bacteria, since orthophosphates and condensed phosphates ...
By using the continuation theorem of coincidence degree theory and constructing suitable Lyapunov functions, we study the existence and stability of periodic solution for shunting inhibitory cellular neural networks (SICNNs) with delays x-bar {sub ij}(t)=-a{sub ij}(t)x{sub ij}(t)--bar B{sup kl}-bar Nr(i,j)B{sub ij}{sup kl}(t)f{sub ij}(x{sub kl}(t))x{sub ij}(t)--bar C{sup kl}-bar Nr(i,j)C{sub ij}{sup kl}(t)g{sub ij}(x{sub kl}(t-{tau}{sub kl}))x{sub ij}(t)+L{sub ij}(t)
By using the continuation theorem of coincidence degree theory and constructing suitable Lyapunov functions, we study the existence and stability of periodic solution for shunting inhibitory cellular neural networks (SICNNs) with delays x-bar _i_j(t)=-a_i_j(t)x_i_j(t)--bar B"k"l-bar Nr(i,j)B_i_j"k"l(t)f_i_j(x_k_l(t))x_i_j(t)--bar C"k"l-bar Nr(i,j)C_i_j"k"l(t)g_i_j(x_k_l(t-#tau#_k_l))x_i_j(t)+L_i_j(t).
Rare earth elements (REEs) are widely used to increase crop production in China. However, little attention has been paid to their impacts on aquatic ecology. Batch cultivation was used here to study the effects of lanthanum (La) and EDTA on the growth and competition of the cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa and the green alga Scenedesmus quadricauda. When EDTA was present at a very low concentration (0.269mmolL-1), low lanthanum concentrations (7.2mmolL-1) had little stimulative effect on the growth of M. aeruginosa and S. quadricauda, whereas a high lanthanum concentration (72mmolL-1) had significant inhibitory effect on both of them. The results of cultivation experiments suggested that the inhibitory effect on M. aeruginosa was higher than that on S. quadricauda and S. quadricauda c...
To analyze the proposed growth-inhibitory function of wild-type p53, we compared simian virus 40 (SV40) DNA replication in primary rhesus monkey kidney (PRK) cells, which express wild-type p53, and...Full Text Available
The authors have shown previously that the domain recognizing receptors on activated human platelets is located on the human fibrinogen {gamma} chain between residues 400 and 411. To study the correlation between the structure of this segment of the {gamma} chain and its reactivity toward receptors on ADP-activated human platelets, they designed a series of analogues containing replacements at 9 out of 12 positions. A double substitution of the normal His{sup 400}-His{sup 401} sequence by Ala-Ala reduced the inhibitory potency of the dodecapeptide 3-fold. When Lys{sup 406} was replaced by Arg, the inhibitory potency of the dodecapeptide decreased 15 times. On the other hand, substitution of Ala{sup 408} with Arg increased the inhibitory potency of the dodecapeptide 6-fold. A drastic decrease in the reactivity of the dodecapeptide toward platelet receptors was observed when Val{sup 411} was replaced by leucine or cysteine or ...
Caffeine and related xanthines were identified as potent stimulators for the bacterial cellulose production in A. xylinum. These compounds are present in several plants whose infusions are useful as culture-medium supplements for this acetobacterium. The proposed target for these native purine-like inhibitory substances is the novel diguanyl nucleotide phosphodiesterase(s) that participates in the bacterial cellulogenic complex.
We study the growth of colonies of the yeast Pichia membranaefaciens on agarose film. The growth conditions are controlled in a setup where nutrients are supplied through an agarose film suspended over a solution of nutrients. As the thickness of the agarose film is varied, the morphology of the front of the colony changes. The growth of the front is modeled by coupling it to a diffusive field of inhibitory metabolites. Qualitative agreement with experiments suggests that such a coupling is responsible for the observed instability of the front.
The catecholamine release-inhibitory catestatin [Cts; human chromogranin (Cg) A352-372, bovine CgA344-364] is a vasoreactive and anti-hypertensive peptide derived...Full Text Available
Epidermal growth factor (EGF) stimulates adenylyl cyclase in the heart via activation of the stimulatory GTP-binding protein Gs. Therefore, employing peptides corresponding to regions in the cytosolic...Full Text Available
Non-thermal (low-temperature) physical plasma is under intensive study as an alternative approach to control superficial wound and skin infections when the effectiveness of chemical agents is weak due to natural pathogen or biofilm resistance. The purpose of this study was to test the individual susceptibility of pathogenic bacteria to non-thermal argon plasma and to measure the effectiveness of plasma treatments against bacteria in biofilms and on wound surfaces. Overall, Gram-negative bacteria were more susceptible to plasma treatment than Gram-positive bacteria. For the Gram-negative bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Burkholderia cenocepacia and Escherichia coli, there were no survivors among the initial 10(5) c.f.u. after a 5 min plasma treatment. The susceptibility of Gram-positive bacteria was species- and strain-specific. Streptococcus pyogenes was the ...
Abstract Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is always a devastating and unexpected occurrence. SIDS is the leading cause of death in the first 6 months after birth in the industrialized world. Since the discovery in 1998 of long QT syndrome as an underlying substrate for SIDS, around 10-20% of SIDS cases have been proposed as being caused by genetic variants in either ion channel or ion channel-associated proteins. Until now, 10 cardiac channelopathy susceptibility genes have been found to be implicated in the pathogenesis of SIDS. Four of the genes encode cardiac ion channel a-subunits, 3 genes encode ion channel b-subunits, and 3 genes encode other channel-interacting proteins. All 10 genes have been associated with primary electrical heart diseases. SIDS may hereby be the initial sympt...
Microbiological comparison between irradiated and non-irradiated foodstuff has been studied for a long time as a way to detect whether a foodstuff has been irradiated or not. Generally, the proposed methods are based on the fact that ionization select species of bacteria which are recognized to be radioresistant. So reduction or elimination of known radiation sensitive microbes from the normal endogenous microflora could give an indication that the foodstuff has been irradiated, predominance of known radioresistant bacteria should be another indication. In the present work, we try to develop a test based on the radiosensitivity of the bacteria independently of their place. These first experiments show that the determination of radiosensitivity of strains isolated from a product or even of global radioresistance of mesophilic microflora could indicate if this product has been previously submitted to ionizing radiations. (4 ...
Mobility reduction induced by the growth and metabolism of bacteria in high-permeability layers of heterogeneous reservoirs is an economically attractive technique to improve sweep efficiency. This paper describes an experimental study conducted in sandpacks using an injected bacterium to investigate the strength and stability of microbial plugs in porous media. Successful convective transport of bacteria is important for achieving sufficient initial bacteria distribution. The chemotactic and diffusive fluxes are probably not significant even under static conditions. Mobility reduction depends upon the initial cell concentrations and increase in cell mass. For single or multiple static or dynamic growth techniques, permeability reduction was approximately 70% of the original permeability. The stability of these microbial plugs to increases in pressure gradient and changes in cell physiology in a nutrient-depleted ...
Abstract Preparation of antibacterial alginate films incorporating extruded white ginseng (EWG) extracts was attempted. The antibacterial effect of EWG extract on six selected food pathogenic bacteria was compared with the effect of red ginseng (RG) and white ginseng (WG) extracts. The EWG was processed in a twin-screw extruder with feed moisture of 20% and barrel temperature of 115 and 130C. The data obtained by agar diffusion assay demonstrated that the film containing 1-g/mL of EWG at barrel temperatures of 115 (EWG-115) and 130C (EWG-130) exhibited stronger antibacterial activity against the four strains of bacteria than the other extracts RG and WG. All films sampled showed reduction in bacteria cell counts (log cycle) compared with the control. After 24-h of incubation, Pseudomonas a...
Abstract Bioluminescent bacteria have been used for many years for biotoxicological analysis. One of the main concerns with this microorganism is the low experimental repeatability when subjected to external factors. The aim of the present study was to obtain accurate, sensitive, and repeatable measurements with stable signals (during the detection and over days) for application in a water-analysis device for the detection of pollutants. Growth conditions were tested and optimized. An optimal freeze-drying procedure for the constitutive bioluminescent bacteria Vibrio fischeri and Photobacterium phosphoreum was developed. The luminescence stability after rehydration was also investigated. Freeze drying was found to be a critical process in survival and signal stability of luminescent bacter...
This paper reports the results of leaching experiments conducted with and without Thiobacillus ferroxidans at the same conditions in solution. The extent of leaching of ZnS with Bacteria is significantly higher than that without bacteria at high concentrations of ferrous ions. A porous layer of elemental sulfur is present on the surfaces of the chemically leached particles, which no sulfur is present on the surfaces of the bacterially leached particles. The analysis of the data using the shrinking-core model shows that the chemical leaching of ZnS is limited by the diffusion of ferrous ions through the sulfur product layer at high concentrations of ferrous ions. The analysis of the data shows that diffusion through the product layer does not limit the rate of dissolution when bacteria are present. This suggests that the action of T.ferroxidans in oxidizing the sulfur formed on the particle surface is to remove the barrier ...
Studies were carried out on the decolorization of textile azo dyes by newly isolated halophilic and halotolerant bacteria. Among the 27 strains of halophilic and halotolerant bacteria isolated from effluents of textile industries, three showed remarkable ability in decolorizing the widely utilized azo dyes. Phenotypic characterization and phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rDNA sequence comparisons indicate that these strains belonged to the genus Halomonas. The three strains were able to decolorize azo dyes in a wide range of NaCl concentration (up to 20%w/v), temperature (25-40degreeC), and pH (5-11) after 4 days of incubation in static culture. They could decolorize the mixture of dyes as well as pure dyes. These strains also readily grew in and decolorized the high concentrations of dy...
In previous studies it has been established that in Escherichia coli the three known subunits of anaerobic nitrate reductase are encoded by the narGHI operon. From the nucleotide sequence of the narI...Full Text Available
Atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS) is a heterogeneous disease that is caused by defective complement regulation in over 50% of cases. Mutations have been identified in genes encoding both complement...Full Text Available
Werner syndrome (WS) is characterized by premature onset of age-associated disorders and predisposition to cancer. The WS protein, WRN, encodes 3′ → 5′ DNA helicase and 3′...Full Text Available
The Ty transposable elements of Saccharomyces cerevisiae form a heterogeneous family within which two broad structural classes (I and II) exist. The two classes differ by two large substitutions and...Full Text Available
The genes which encode glycosomal glyceraldehyde-phosphate dehydrogenase (gGAPDH) of Trypanosoma cruzi are arranged as a tandemly repeated pair on a single chromosome and are identical at the level...Full Text Available
The rolB gene of Agrobacterium rhizogenes, whose expression stimulates the formation of roots by transformed plant tissues and other growth alterations in transgenic plants, codes for a beta-glucosidase...Full Text Available
OBJECTIVETo determine if ProL1, a member of the opiorphin family of genes, can modulate erectile physiology, as it encodes a peptide which acts as...Full Text Available
DNA methylation of cytosine residues is a widespread phenomenon and has been implicated in a number of biological processes in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. This methylation occurs at the 5-position...Full Text Available
Pseudomonas putida encodes 20 extracytoplasmic sigma factors (ECFs). In this study, we show that one of these ECFs, known as ECF-Pp12...Full Text Available
We recently identified a cDNA encoding a putative isovaleryl-coenzyme A (CoA) dehydrogenase in Arabidopsis (AtIVD). In animals, this homotetrameric enzyme is located in mitochondria and catalyzes the...Full Text Available
The Arabidopsis ref2 mutant was identified in a screen for plants having altered fluorescence under UV light. Characterization of the ref2 mutants showed that they...Full Text Available
BackgroundTwenty-eight genes putatively encoding cytosolic glutathione transferases have been identified in the Anopheles gambiae genome. We manually annotated these...Full Text Available
Understanding the mechanisms whereby information encoded within patterns of action potentials is deciphered by neurons is central to cognitive psychology. The multiprotein complexes formed by...Full Text Available
PurposeIt has been demonstrated that mutations in deafness, autosomal recessive 31 (DFNB31), the gene encoding whirlin, is responsible for nonsyndromic hearing loss...Full Text Available
A DNA sequence encoding the A chain of ricin toxin (RTA) from the castor bean plant, Ricinus communis, was placed under GAL1 promoter control and transformed into Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Induction...Full Text Available
A protein evolution strategy is described by which double-stranded DNA fragments encoding defined E. coli protein secondary structural elements (α-helices, β-strands...Full Text Available
We have constructed a deletion-mutant rabies virus encoding EGFP and find it to be an excellent tool for studying detailed morphology and physiology of neurons projecting to injection sites...Full Text Available
The DUR3 gene, which encodes a component required for active transport of urea in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, has been isolated, and its sequence has been determined. The deduced DUR3 protein profile...Full Text Available
URA5 genes encode orotidine-5′-monophosphate pyrophosphorylase (OMPpase), an enzyme involved in pyrimidine biosynthesis. We cloned the Histoplasma capsulatum URA5...Full Text Available
The speA gene in Bacillus subtilis encodes arginine decarboxylase, which catalyzes the conversion of arginine to agmatine. Arginine decarboxylase is an important enzyme...Full Text Available
How transcription factors interpret the cis-regulatory logic encoded within enhancers to mediate quantitative changes in spatiotemporally restricted expression patterns during animal...Full Text Available
Three homeologous genes encoding a sucrose (Suc) transporter (SUT) in hexaploid wheat (Triticum aestivum), TaSUT1A, 1B, and 1D, were...Full Text Available
Menin, which is encoded by the multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) gene, is a tumor suppressor and transcriptional regulator. Menin controls proliferation and apoptosis of cells, especially pancreatic...Full Text Available
BackgroundZhx1 to 3 (zinc-fingers and homeoboxes) form a set of paralogous genes encoding multi-domain proteins. ZHX proteins consist of two zinc fingers followed...Full Text Available
The chaperone-encoding groESL and dnaK operons constitute the CIRCE regulon of Bacillus subtilis. Both operons are under negative control of the repressor...Full Text Available
Klebsiella oxytoca can use nitrate and nitrite as sole nitrogen sources. The enzymes required for nitrate and nitrite assimilation are encoded by the nasFEDCBA operon....Full Text Available
Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a heterogeneous group of inherited retinal dystrophies characterised ultimately by the loss of photoreceptor cells. We have recently identified a new gene (EYS) encoding...Full Text Available
Genes of the S100 fused-type protein (SFTP) family are clustered within the epidermal differentiation complex and encode essential components that maintain epithelial homeostasis and barrier functions....Full Text Available
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenously encoded small noncoding RNAs, derived by processing of short RNA hairpins, that can inhibit the translation of mRNAs bearing partially complementary target sequences....Full Text Available
Objective:The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) on procedural and declarative memory encoding in the evening prior to sleep, on memory...Full Text Available
SummaryThe general transcription factor TFIID is a large multi-subunit complex required for the transcription of most protein-encoding genes by RNA polymerase II. Taking advantage...Full Text Available
Mutations in SPTBN2, the gene encoding β-III spectrin, cause spinocerebellar ataxia type 5 in humans (SCA5), a neurodegenerative disorder resulting in loss of motor...Full Text Available
We show how one can associate to a given class of finite type G-structures a classifying Lie algebroid. The corresponding Lie groupoid gives models for the different geometries that one can find in the class, and encodes also the different types of symmetry groups.
Dysregulation of the alternative pathway of complement activation, caused by mutations or polymorphisms in the genes encoding factor H, membrane co-factor protein, factor I or factor B, is associated...Full Text Available
We describe the lethal, recessive accelerated-cell-death11 Arabidopsis mutant (acd11). Cell death in acd11 exhibits characteristics of animal apoptosis...Full Text Available
BackgroundRecent data show aberrant and altered expression of regulatory noncoding micro (mi) RNAs in prostate cancer (PCa). A large number of miRNAs are encoded in organized intronic...Full Text Available
Exploring the possibility of enhancing the properties of baculoviruses as biological control agents of insect pests, we tested the effect of expressing an insect gene (jhe) encoding juvenile hormone...Full Text Available
As the result of genetic alterations and tumor hypoxia, many cancer cells avidly take up glucose and generate lactate through lactate dehydrogenase A (LDHA), which is encoded by a target gene of c-Myc...Full Text Available
Auxin autonomous growth of most crown gall tumor cells requires the expression of two auxin biosynthesizing genes (tms 1 and tms 2) from the T-DNA of Agrobacterium...Full Text Available
BackgroundA large fraction of the human genome is attributable to L1 retrotransposon sequences. Not only do L1s themselves make up a significant portion of the genome, but L1-encoded...Full Text Available
Francisella tularensis is a highly infectious bacterium causing the zoonotic disease tularaemia. During its infectious cycle, F. tularensis is not only exposed to the...Full Text Available
Using a genetic screen we have identified two chromosomal genes, cusRS (ylcA ybcZ), from Escherichia coli K-12 that encode a two-component, signal...Full Text Available
The hyaluronic acid capsule of Streptococcus uberis has been implicated in conferring resistance to phagocytosis by bovine neutrophils. Construction of a bank of random insertion mutants...Full Text Available
BACKGROUND: Mitochondrial changes have been described in muscle tissue in acquired hypothyroidism. Among the molecular mechanisms by which thyroid hormones regulate expression of nuclear genes encoding...Full Text Available
The identification of host cell factors for virus replication holds great promise for the development of new anti-viral therapies. Recently, high-throughput screening methods have emerged as...Full Text Available
SUMMARYA gene eam in Clostridium difficile encodes a protein that is homologous to lysine 2,3-aminomutase (LAM) in many other species but does...Full Text Available
A genomic clone that specifies a single polypeptide precursor for ricin, a toxic lectin of Ricinus communis (castor bean), was isolated, sequenced and Sl mapped. The gene encodes a 64 kDa precursor...Full Text Available
Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) results from mutations in the NF1 tumor suppressor gene, which encodes the protein neurofibromin. NF1 patients display diverse clinical manifestations,...Full Text Available
Werner Syndrome (WS) is an inherited disease characterized by premature onset of aging, increased cancer incidence, and genomic instability. The WS gene encodes a 1,432-amino acid polypeptide (WRN)...Full Text Available
The murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) M33 gene is conserved among all betaherpesviruses and encodes a homologue of seven-transmembrane receptors (7TMR) with the capacity for constitutive signaling. Previous...Full Text Available
Rapid place encoding by hippocampal neurons, as reflected by place-related firing, has been intensely studied, whereas the substrates that translate hippocampal place codes into behavior have received...Full Text Available
Infection with the Ad5-SVR4 virus was used to introduce the large T antigen encoding region of the SV40 virus into bovine and human corneal endothelial cells. Expression of large T antigen occurred...Full Text Available
Human apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease (hApe1) encodes two important functional activities: an essential base excision repair (BER) activity and a redox activity that regulates expression...Full Text Available
The Japanese medaka fish Oryzias latipes has an XX/XY sex-determination system. The Y-linked sex-determination gene DMY is a duplicate of the autosomal gene DMRT1, which encodes a DM-domain-containing...Full Text Available
We have identified five acyl coenzyme A (CoA) oxidase isozymes (Aox1 through Aox5) in the n-alkane-assimilating yeast Yarrowia lipolytica, encoded by the POX1...Full Text Available
Higher plants use photoperiodic cues to regulate many aspects of development, including the transition from vegetative to floral development. The EARLY FLOWERING3 (ELF3)...Full Text Available
We have isolated a second gene (MLS1), which in addition to DAL7, encodes malate synthase from S. cerevisiae. Expression of the two genes is specific for their physiological roles in carbon and nitrogen...Full Text Available
Since current microbiology methods are not suitable to detect Clostridium perfringens in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue samples, we developed a PCR assay to detect toxin-encoding...Full Text Available
Recently reported technologies for DNA-directed organic synthesis and for DNA computing rely on routing DNA populations through complex networks. The reduction of these ideas to practice has been limited...Full Text Available
The extensive diversity of Plasmodium falciparum antigens is a major obstacle to a broadly effective malaria vaccine but population genetics has rarely been used to guide vaccine design....Full Text Available
BackgroundThe emergence of plasmid-mediated carbapenemases, such as NDM-1 in Enterobacteriaceae is a major public health issue. Since they mediate resistance to...Full Text Available
Computer-assisted analysis revealed a striking sequence similarity between the putative 24-kDa protein (p24) encoded by open reading frame (ORF) 5 of beet yellows closterovirus and the coat protein...Full Text Available
Two overlapping cDNA clones encoding human DNA topoisomerase II were identified by two independent methods. In one, a human cDNA library in phage {lambda} was screened by hybridization with a mixed oligonucleotide probe encoding a stretch of seven amino acids found in yeast and Drosophila DNA topoisomerase II; in the other, a different human cDNA library in a {lambda}gt11 expression vector was screened for the expression of antigenic determinants that are recognized by rabbit antibodies specific to human DNA topoisomerase II. The entire coding sequences of the human DNA topoisomerase II gene were determined from these and several additional clones, identified through the use of the cloned human TOP2 gene sequences as probes. Hybridization between the cloned sequences and mRNA and genomic DNA indicates that the human enzyme is encoded by a single-copy gene. The location of the gene was mapped to chromosome 17q21-22 by in ...
In Pseudomonas paucimobilis UT26, gamma-hexachlorocyclohexane (gamma-HCH) is converted by two steps of dehydrochlorination to a chemically unstable intermediate, 1,3,4,6-tetrachloro-1,4-cyclohexadiene...Full Text Available
The cDNA encoding the B chain of the plant toxin ricin has been cloned and expressed in monkey kidney COS-M6 cells. The recombinant B chain was detected by labeling the transfected cells with [35S]methionine...Full Text Available
A chromosomally located β-lactamase gene, cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli from a reference strain of the enterobacterial species Kluyvera cryocrescens,...Full Text Available
The molecular diversity of the gene encoding the outer membrane protein A (OmpA) of Haemophilus parasuis has been unclear. In this study, the structural characteristics, sequence types,...Full Text Available
RNA is involved in a variety of chromatin modification events, ranging from large-scale structural rearrangements to subtle local affects. Here, we extend the evidence for RNA–chromatin interactions...Full Text Available
The complete nucleotide sequences of two alleles of cellobiose dehydrogenase, cdh-1 (3,627 bp) and cdh-2 (3,623 bp), from Phanerochaete chrysosporium OGC101 are reported. The nucleotide sequences of...Full Text Available
SummaryDNA-based tests are increasingly being used to predict a blood group phenotype. This is possible because genes encoding 29 of the 30 blood group systems have been cloned and sequenced,...Full Text Available
BmpA, BmpB, BmpC, and BmpD are homologous Borrelia burgdorferi lipoproteins of unknown functions, encoded by the bmp genes of paralogous chromosomal gene family 36....Full Text Available
In filamentous fungi, RNA silencing is an attractive alternative to disruption experiments for the functional analysis of genes. We adapted the gene encoding the autofluorescent DsRed protein as a reporter...Full Text Available
We develop a statistical framework to study the relationship between chromatin features and gene expression. This can be used to predict gene expression of protein coding genes, as well as microRNAs....Full Text Available
We show that the expression of an indole-3-acetic acid (IAA)-modified protein from bean seed, IAP1, is correlated to the developmental period of rapid growth during seed development. Moreover, this...Full Text Available
A pentapeptide open reading frame equipped with a canonical ribosome-binding site is present in the Escherichia coli 23S rRNA. Overexpression of 23S rRNA fragments containing the mini-gene renders cells...Full Text Available
A cDNA encoding a cytochrome P450 enzyme was isolated from a cDNA library of the corpora allata (CA) from reproductively active Diploptera punctata cockroaches. This P450 from the endocrine...Full Text Available
During complementary chromatic adaptation (CCA), cyanobacterial light harvesting structures called phycobilisomes are restructured in response to ambient light quality shifts. Transcription of genes...Full Text Available
In the cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120, open reading frames (ORFs) alr3026, alr3027, and all3028 encode a tripartite ATP-independent...Full Text Available
The global acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) pandemic is thought to have arisen by the transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1)-like viruses from chimpanzees in southeastern...Full Text Available
The full-length gene encoding the histone deacetylase (HDAC)-like amidohydrolase (HDAH) from Bordetella or Alcaligenes (Bordetella/Alcaligenes) strain...Full Text Available
The nuo-6 and isp-1 genes of C. elegans encode, respectively, subunits of complex I and III of the mitochondrial respiratory chain. Partial loss-of-function...Full Text Available
Synthetic complementary oligonucleotides are useful hybridization probes for the detection of mRNAs and genes encoding proteins for which only a partial amino acid sequence is known. Usually this involves...Full Text Available
An enantio-specific polyphenol oxidase (PPO) was purified ≈1,700-fold to apparent homogeneity from the creosote bush (Larrea tridentata), and its encoding gene was cloned. The...Full Text Available
Bloodstream infection by highly antibiotic-resistant bacteria, such as vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE), is a growing clinical problem that increasingly defies medical intervention....Full Text Available
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Type IV secretion systems (T4SSs) play a central role in the pathogenicity of many important pathogens, including Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Helicobacter pylori, and...Full Text Available
Methanol dehydrogenases isolated from bacteria belonging to different classes of methylotrophs contain the same prosthetic group. A procedure for its purification from whole cells is given. The reduced...Full Text Available
Many bacteria, both gram positive and gram negative, extrude in an energy-dependent manner the fluorescent pH indicator 2',7'-bis-(2-carboxyethyl)-5[and -6]-carboxyfluorescein (BCECF) (D. Molenaar,...Full Text Available
1. An enzyme from Escherichia coli 9723 that reduces adenosine 3′-phosphate 5′-sulphatophosphate to inorganic sulphite is described. Extracts of E. coli...Full Text Available
Interkingdom signaling is established in the gastrointestinal tract in that human hormones trigger responses in bacteria; here, we show that the corollary is true, that a specific bacterial signal,...Full Text Available
The RNA-binding protein Hfq is recognized as an important regulatory factor in a variety of cellular processes, including stress resistance and pathogenesis. Hfq has been shown in several bacteria to...Full Text Available
Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a common inhabitant of soil and water, is an opportunistic pathogen of growing clinical relevance. Its genome, one of the largest among bacteria [5570 open reading...Full Text Available
A facile synthetic protocol for the production of neomycin B derivatives with various modifications at the 5″ position has been developed. Structural activity relationship (SAR) against...Full Text Available
Several dissimilatory, sulfate-reducing bacteria were isolated from the rumen fluid of sheep fed purified diets containing sulfate. One isolate, strain D, was selected for characterization. This organism...Full Text Available
In recent years, the interest in the use of bacteria for biological control of plant-pathogenic fungi has increased. We studied the possible side effects of coating barley seeds with the antagonistic...Full Text Available
The second messenger signaling molecule bis-(3′-5′)-cyclic dimeric guanosine monophosphate (c-di-GMP) regulates many processes in bacteria, including motility, pathogenesis,...Full Text Available
Organisms ranging from bacteria and corals to plants and vertebrates can form intransitive competitive networks, in which coexistence can be maintained because no one species or genotype is superior...Full Text Available
Bacteria expressing type III secretion systems (T3SS) have been responsible for the deaths of millions worldwide, acting as key virulence elements in diseases ranging from plague to typhoid...Full Text Available
Washed cell suspensions of Desulfovibrio desulfuricans subsp. aestuarii were capable of reducing nanomolar levels of selenate to selenide as well as sulfate to sulfide....Full Text Available
The pathogenesis of Pseudomonas aeruginosa disseminated infections depends on bacterial interaction with blood vessels. We have hypothesized that in order to traverse the endothelial barrier, bacteria...Full Text Available
We have examined the expression and structure of several genes belonging to two classes of vegetative specific genes of the simple eukaryote, Dictyostelium discoideum. In amebae grown on bacteria, deactivation...Full Text Available
Preterm and low birthweight (PTLBW) continues to be a major cause of mortality and morbidity across the world. In recent years, maternal periodontal disease has been implicated as a risk factor for...Full Text Available
The aim of this study was to investigate the supposed vertical diel migration and the accompanying physiology of Beggiatoa bacteria from hypersaline microbial mats. We combined microsensor,...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe genus Vibrio is a diverse group of Gram-negative bacteria comprised of 74 species. Furthermore, the genus has and is expected to continue expanding...Full Text Available
The evolution of drug resistant bacteria is a severe public health problem, both in hospitals and in the community. Currently, some countries aim at concentrating highly specialized services in large...Full Text Available
Sewage waste disposal facilities in the Florida Keys include septic tanks and individual package plants in place of municipal collection facilities in most locations. In Key Largo, both facilities discharge...Full Text Available
Up-flow anaerobic attached-growth bioreactors filled with pre-treated coir fibres ...coir-fibre arranged in bottle-brush configuration bounded by a novel plastic binding technique ...-three anaerobic filter reactors in series -coir fibre as the bacteria growth media a sedimentation
The mutagenic and cytotoxic activity of two newly synthesized doxorubicin derivatives and of one daunorubicin derivative were studied in V79 Chinese hamster cells and bacteria (Salmonella typhimurium...Full Text Available
The overall objective of this project was to use molecular genetics to develop strains of bacteria with enhanced ability to remove sulfur from coal, and to obtain data that will allow the performance and economics of a coal biodesulfurization process to be predicted. (VC)
Microbial indicators in the environmental water are categorized as follows. 1. Index for pathogenic microbial contamination, especially enteric canal based ones. 2. Index for the ordinary microbial contamination. 3. Index for nutritive assessment. 4. Index for the treating effect of final effluent discharged into an environmental water. 5. Index for distinction of of the contamination source. Above 1 and 2'' are among the indices which cannot be replaced by other physico-chemical substances or indices. Up to the present time, 1'' is assessed by a coliform group and 2'' by the bacteria. Recently, however, the status on the microbial contamination of the environmental water is changing, thus urging the reexamination of the assessment systems. This report describes the following items. Characteristics and the elements of the indices (enteric canal based pathogenic microbial contamination); indices under examination ...
The natural biotic capacity of soils to degrade gamma-hexachlorocyclohexane (gamma-HCH, lindane) was estimated using an enrichment technique based on the ability of soil bacteria to develop on synthetic...Full Text Available
Unless relaxation of the stringent response is achieved, all nongrowing bacteria rapidly develop resistance to autolysis induced by a variety of agents, including all classes of cell wall synthesis...Full Text Available
CTX-M extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) are increasingly prevalent worldwide among Escherichia coli bacteria, mostly in community-acquired urinary tract infections. Finding...Full Text Available
The electrokinetic patterns of four bacterial species (Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus megaterium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Agrobacterium radiobacter), two yeasts (Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida...Full Text Available
The genetic systems of bacteria that have the ability to use organic pollutants as carbon and energy sources can be adapted to create bacterial biosensors for the detection of industrial pollution....Full Text Available
Extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL) constitute a key antibiotic-resistance mechanism affecting Gram-negative bacteria, and also an excellent model for studying evolution in real time. A shift in...Full Text Available
Antimicrobial resistance is an emerging problem among nosocomial bacteria. Risk factors for the recovery of ceftriaxone-resistant (CRCF) or -susceptible (CSCF) Citrobacter freundii...Full Text Available
This study examines the results of bacterial culture from 159 endometrial biopsy samples from 97 commercial dairy cows and correlations between bacteriological and histological findings. Bacteria were...Full Text Available
Bacterial nitric oxide synthases (bNOS) are present in many Gram-positive species and have been demonstrated to synthesize NO from arginine in vitro and in vivo. However, the physiological role...Full Text Available
Periodontal diseases are infections of the tissues supporting the dentition. Recognition that relatively specific microfloras are associated with distinct clinical forms of periodontal disease has prompted...Full Text Available
In response to reports that the contamination of food can occur during the on-farm primary phase of food production, we report data that describes a possible cost-effective intervention measure. The...Full Text Available
We studied the dynamics of microbial communities attached to model aggregates (4-mm-diameter agar spheres) and the component processes of colonization, detachment, growth, and grazing mortality. Agar...Full Text Available
Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a parasitic disease characterized by single or multiple ulcerations. Secondary bacterial infections are one of the complications that can increase the tissue destruction...Full Text Available
Proteins that metabolize or bind the nucleotide second messenger cyclic diguanylate regulate a wide variety of important processes in bacteria. These processes include motility, biofilm formation, cell...Full Text Available
Magnetotactic bacteria contain chains of magnetically interacting crystals (magnetosome crystals), which they use for navigation (magnetotaxis). To improve magnetotaxis efficiency, the magnetosome crystals...Full Text Available
Coryneform isolates from clinical specimens frequently cannot be identified by either reference laboratories or research laboratories. Many of these organisms are skin flora that belong to a large number...Full Text Available
Maintenance energy expenditures were mesured for five rumen bacteria, Selenomonas ruminantium, Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens, Bacteroides ruminicola, Megasphaera elsdenii, and Streptococcus bovis, by using a complex medium with glucose as the carbon source. Large differences (as high as 8.5-fold) in maintenance energy expenditures were seen among these bacteria. The suggestion is made that maintenance requirements could be a significant determinant of bacterial competition in the rumen. Theoretical maximum growth yields, calculated from double reciprocal plots of yield versus dilution rate, were compared to theoretical Y(ATP) values in order to estimate minimum molar adenosine 5'-triphosphate yields from glucose for each bacterium. Results showed that relative yield among the bacteria was growth rate dependent. At high dilution rates, both S. ruminantium and S. bovis produced lactate as their principal fermentation product. At ...
BackgroundMeropenem is a carbapenem that has an excellent activity against many gram-positive and gram-negative aerobic, facultative, and anaerobic bacteria. The major objective...Full Text Available
BackgroundStructured noncoding RNAs perform many functions that are essential for protein synthesis, RNA processing, and gene regulation. Structured RNAs can be detected by comparative...Full Text Available
The potential for oxidation of ammonia in anoxic marine sediments exists through anaerobic oxidation by Nitrosomonas-like organisms, utilizing nitrogen dioxide, coupling of nitrification,...Full Text Available
Paratuberculosis (Johne's disease), an endemic mycobacteriosis of cattle that is caused by Mycobacterium paratuberculosis, is characterized by incoercible diarrhea and fecal shedding of bacteria. The...Full Text Available
The pilot area of the Vyngapour oil field allotted for MIOR tests contains three injection and three producing wells. These wells were treated in summer 1993 and 1994. Before, during, and after MIOR treatments on the pilot area the chemical compounds of injected and formation waters were studied, as well as the amount and species of microorganisms entering the stratum with the injected water and indigenous bacteria presented in bottomhole zones of the wells. The results of monitoring showed that the bottomhole zone of the injection well already had biocenosis of heterotrophic, hydrocarbon-oxidizing, methanogenic, and sulfate-reducing bacteria, which were besides permanently introduced into the reservoir during the usual waterflooding. The nutritious composition activated vital functions of all bacterial species presented in the bottomhole zone of the injection well. The formation waters from producing wells showed the increase of the content of ...
Bacteria and fungi are ubiquitous in the atmosphere. The diversity and abundance of airborne microbes may be strongly influenced by atmospheric conditions or even influence atmospheric conditions themselves...Full Text Available
A randomized intervention study was conducted to determine if discontinuing use of calf milk replacer medicated with oxytetracycline results in increased tetracycline susceptibility in Salmonella...Full Text Available
Several isolates of bacteria and fungi from soil, together with cells released directly from soil, were studied with respect to buoyant density and dry weight. The specific volume (cubic centimeters...Full Text Available
This study examined the hypothesis that solid surfaces may stimulate attached bacteria to produce exopolymers. Addition of sand to shake-flask cultures seemed to induce exopolymer synthesis by a number...Full Text Available
Acute Otitis Media occurs mostly after upper respiratory tract infection; the causative bacteria are those colonized in the nasopharynx. We studied 709 URI episodes and found that children with...Full Text Available
A total of 193 bacterial strains were tested for their susceptibilities to 14 antimicrobial agents. Penicillin G was active at 2 U/ml against 98% of the oral isolates. Other antibiotics with good activity...Full Text Available
The distribution and activity of communities of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) and methanogenic archaea in two contrasting Antarctic sediments were investigated. Methanogenesis dominated in freshwater...Full Text Available
BackgroundType A1 Clostridium botulinum strains are a group of Gram-positive, spore-forming anaerobic bacteria that produce a genetically, biochemically, and biophysically...Full Text Available
The in vitro activity of chephaloridine, cephalexin, cefatrizine (BL-S640), and cephapirin (BL-P-1322) was evaluated by the serial dilution method against pathogenic gram-positive and gram-negative...Full Text Available
The accumulation of α-1,4-polyglucans is an important strategy to cope with transient starvation conditions in the environment. In bacteria and plants, the synthesis of glycogen and starch occurs...Full Text Available
The sensitivities to cefuroxime and cephradine of potentially pathogenic bacteria isolated in two British general hospitals comprising 900 beds have been assessed. In a three-month period 2537 strains...Full Text Available
Siderophores are essential factors for iron (Fe) acquisition in bacteria during colonization and infection of eukaryotic hosts, which restrain iron access through iron-binding protein, such as lactoferrin...Full Text Available
Plumbagin is found in many herbal plants and inhibits the growth of various bacteria. Escherichia coli strains are relatively resistant to this drug. The mechanism of resistance is...Full Text Available
We extend the pi-calculus with polyadic synchronisation, a generalisation of the communication mechanism which allows channel names to be composite. We show that this operator embeds nicely in the theory of pi-calculus, we suggest that it permits divergence-free encodings of distributed calculi, and we show that a limited form of polyadic synchronisation can be encoded weakly in pi-calculus. After showing that matching cannot be derived in pi-calculus, we compare the expressivity of polyadic synchronisation, mixed choice and matching. In particular we show that the degree of synchronisation of a language increases its expressive power by means of a separation result in the style of Palamidessi's result for mixed choice.
We analyse the capacity of a simultaneous quantum secure direct communication scheme between the central party and other M parties via M+1-particle GHZ states and swapping quantum entanglement. It is shown that the encoding scheme should be secret if other M parties wants to transmit M+1 bit classical messages to the centre party secretly. However, when the encoding scheme is announced publicly, we prove that the capacity of the scheme in transmitting the secret messages is 2 bits, no matter how large M is.
We describe a compact ultrafiltration system for the removal of pyrogens and bacteria from water labeled with the stable isotopes of deuterium and oxygen-18. The ultrafiltration system is constructed from readily available commercial components and can achieve complete removal of pyrogens and bacteria from 1L contaminated water within 30 min. By use of our procedure, loss of the isotopically labeled water by retention in the filtration system was minimal. The purified water is suitable for both oral and intravenous administration to healthy human subjects participating in nutrition studies.
Some bacteria move inside cells by recruiting the actin filaments of the host cells. The filaments are polymerized at the back surface of the bacteria, and they move away, forming a "comet" tail behind the bacterium, which consists of gel network. We develop a one-dimensional mathematical model of the gel based on partial differential equations which involve the number of filaments, the density and velocity of the gel, and the pressure. The two end-points of the gel form two free boundaries. The resulting free boundary problem is rather non-standard. We prove local existence and uniqueness.
The microbial safety of foods cooked in microwave ovens was investigated. The mechanisms of microwave destruction of microorganisms were examined. Effects of time and temperature on microorganisms in different food systems were described. Studies showed that: microwave heating of food is more ''''food dependent'' than conventional heating; recommended microwave treatment time for some foods may not destroy high levels of bacteria; use of microwaves in combination with conventional heating methods results in more uniform heating of foods and destruction of bacteria; and microwaves exert different killing effects on individual bacterial species. (78 references, 2 tables)
Summary Although many antibiotics are available for the treatment of bacterial infections, the emergence and global spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is a community-wide problem. To overcome this problem, we must explore alternative antimicrobials. This study investigated the antibacterial properties of quercetin, a flavonoid present in vegetables and fruits. Quercetin was tested against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria and was found to exert selective antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, including methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), and Staphylococcus epidermidis. Some clinical MRSA strains showed remarkable susceptibility to quercetin. In combination with antibiotics, such as oxacillin, ampicillin, vancomycin, gentamicin, and erythromycin, quercetin sho...
The inhibitory activity of chicken and crocodilian ovomacroglobulins against trypsin was measured before and after their incubation with methylamine. The result for crocodilian ovomacroglobulin showed that methylamine treatment destroyed half of its activity, in unique contrast to human alpha 2-macroglobulin and chicken ovomacroglobulin for which methylamine either destroys the inhibitory activity of the former completely or does not affect that of the latter at all. Free sulfhydryl groups of chicken and crocodilian ovomacroglobulins were titrated with 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) before and after incubation with trypsin. Prior to the incubation with trypsin the chicken and crocodilian proteins respectively had 0 and 1 titratable sulfhydryl per molecule of Mr 720,000. After treatment with trypsin the crocodilian protein had 3.5-4 titratable sulfhydryls, whereas there were no titratable sulfhydryls in the chicken protein. After ...
Functional activation of {beta}-catenin/Tcf signaling plays an important role in early events in carcinogenesis. We examined the effect of naringenin against {beta}-catenin/Tcf signaling in gastric cancer cells. Reporter gene assay showed that naringenin inhibited {beta}-catenin/Tcf signaling efficiently. In addition, the inhibition of {beta}-catenin/Tcf signaling by naringenin in HEK293 cells transiently transfected with constitutively mutant {beta}-catenin gene, whose product is not phosphorylated by GSK3{beta}, indicates that its inhibitory mechanism was related to {beta}-catenin itself or downstream components. To investigate the precise inhibitory mechanism, we performed immunofluorescence, Western blot, and EMSA. As a result, our data revealed that the {beta}-catenin distribution and the levels of nuclear {beta}-catenin and Tcf-4 proteins were unchanged after naringenin treatment. Moreover, the binding activities of Tcf complexes to ...
The goal of the present study is to elucidate the effect of lipid domain formation on activities of Naja naja atra and Bungarus multicinctus phospholipase A(2) (PLA(2)) enzymes. Sphingomyelin inhibited enzymatic activity and membrane-damaging activity of PLA(2) against egg yolk phosphatidylcholine (EYPC), while cholesterol and cholesterol sulfate abrogated the inhibitory effect of sphingomyelin. The ability of cholesterol and cholesterol sulfate to abolish the inhibitory effect of sphingomyelin was closely related to their capacity to induce domain formation in EYPC/sphingomyelin vesicles. Laurdan fluorescence measurement revealed that membrane packing of EYPC/sphingomyelin vesicles was differently affected by cholesterol and cholesterol sulfate. Unlike cholesterol, cholesterol sulfate was unable to promote domain formation in dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) vesicles. Cholesterol increased but cholesterol sulfate reduced PLA(2) activity ...
The thiazolidinedione (TZD) or glitazone class of peroxisome proliferator-activated-#gamma# (PPAR-#gamma#) ligands not only induce adipocyte differentiation and increase insulin sensitivity, but also exert growth inhibitory effects on several carcinoma cell lines in vitro as well as in vivo. In the current study the in vitro effect of four PPAR-#gamma# agonists (ciglitazone, pioglitazone, troglitazone, rosiglitazone) on the cell growth of seven human neuroblastoma cell lines (Kelly, LAN-1, LAN-5, LS, IMR-32, SK-N-SH, SH-SY5Y) was investigated. Growth rates were assessed by a colorimetric XTT-based assay kit. Expression of PPAR-#gamma# protein was examined by immunohistochemistry and Western blot analysis. All glitazones inhibited in vitro growth and viability of the human neuroblastoma cell lines in a dose-dependent manner showing considerable effects only at high concentrations (10 #mu#M and 100 #mu#M). Effectiveness of the glitazones on neuroblastoma cell growth ...
Tau is a microtubule-associated protein that promotes microtubule assembly and stability. In Alzheimer's disease and related tauopathies, tau fibrillizes and aggregates into neurofibrillary tangles. Recently, oleocanthal isolated from extra virgin olive oil was found to display non-steroidal anti-inflammatory activity similar to ibuprofen. Since our unpublished data indicates an inhibitory effect of oleocanthal on A? fibrillization, we reasoned that it might inhibit tau fibrillization as well. Herein we demonstrate that oleocanthal abrogates fibrillization of tau by locking tau into the naturally unfolded state. Using PHF6 consisting of the amino acid residues VQIVYK, a hexapeptide within the third repeat of tau that is essential for fibrillization, we show that oleocanthal forms an adduct with the lysine via initial Schiff base formation. Structure and function studies demonstrate that the two aldehyde groups of oleocanthal are required for the ...
Those materials that can be extracted from pine or oak by ether, ethanol, methyl methacrylate (MMA), or benzene--alcohol all act as inhibitors in the #gamma# polymerization of MMA--wood composites. It was found that preirradiation of either the wood or of the wood--monomer combination reduces or eliminates the inhibitory effect. The most practical industrial solution to this problem is to increase the dose, thereby achieving high molecular polymer in the composite. However, the presence of a maximum in the molecular weight--dose curves means that each wood--monomer pair may have a different optimum dose.
The addition of ZnO, depleted in the Zn-64 isotope, to the water of boiling water nuclear reactors lessens the accumulation of Co-60 on the reactor interior surfaces, reduces radioactive wastes and increases the reactor service-life because of the inhibitory action of zinc on inter-granular stress corrosion cracking. To the same effect depleted zinc in the form of acetate dihydrate is used in pressurized water reactors. Gas centrifuge isotope separation method is applied for production of depleted zinc on the industrial scale. More than 20 years of depleted zinc application history demonstrates its benefits for reduction of NPP personnel radiation exposure and combating construction materials corrosion.
This study compares the effectiveness of potassium chloride with guanidine chlorhydrate in the prevention of clay swelling. The results given on various swelling tests on calcic montmorillonite led to the conclusions that (1) guanidine chlorhydrate is more effective than potassium chloride, especially in low concentrations, and (2) water immersion of samples treated by both solutions shows the permanent feature of the inhibitive action of guanidine chlorhydrate in swelling on one hand and the important increase in swelling of immersed samples treated by potassium chloride on the other. The viscosity measure of montmorillonite suspensions, before and after solution ion elimination by dialysis, confirms these observations.
Glabridin, an active constituent of Glycyrrhiza glabra roots, was found to be active against both yeast and filamentous fungi. Glabridin also showed resistance modifying activity against drug resistant mutants of Candida albicans at a minimum inhibitory concentration of 31.25-250 g/mL. Although the compound was reported earlier to be active against Candida albicans, but this is the first report of its activity against drug resistant mutants. Copyright Copyright 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Exposure of cells to light of less than 320 nanometers wavelengths may lead to lethal lesions and perhaps carcinogenesis. Many organisms have evolved mechanisms to repair U.V. light-induced damage. Organisms such as deep-sea bacteria are presumably never exposed to U.V. light and perhaps occasionally to visible from bioluminescence. Thus, the repair of U.V. damage in deep-sea bacterial DNA might be inefficient and repair by photoreactivation unlikely. The bacteria utilized in this investigation are temperature sensitive and barophilic. Four deep-sea isolates were chosen for this study: PE-36 from 3584 m, CNPT-3 from 5782 m, HS-34 from 5682 m, and MT-41 from 10,476 m, all are from the North Pacific ocean. The deep-sea extends from 1100 m to depths greater than 7000 m. It is a region of relatively uniform conditions. The temperature ranges from 5 to -1"0C. There is no solar light in the deep-sea. Deep-sea bacteria are ...
We studied the interaction of Pu(VI) with Pseudomonas stutzeri ATCC 17588 and Bacillus sphaericus ATCC 14577, representatives of the main aerobic groups of soil bacteria present in the upper soil layers. The accumulation studies have shown that these soil bacteria accumulate high amounts of Pu(VI). The sorption efficiency toward Pu(VI) decreased with increasing biomass concentration due to increased agglomeration of the bacteria resulting in a decreased total surface area and number of available complexing groups. Spores of Bacillus sphaericus showed a higher biosorption than the vegetative cells at low biomass concentration which decreased significantly with increasing biomass concentration. At higher biomass concentrations (> 0.7 g/L), the vegetative cells of both strains and the spores of B. sphaericus showed comparable sorption efficiencies. Investigations on the pH dependency of the biosorption and extraction ...
During secondary oil recovery, water is injected into the formation to sweep out the residual oil. The injected water, however, follows the path of least resistance through the high-permeability zones, leaving oil in the low-permeability zones. Selective plugging of these their zones would divert the waterflood to the residual oil and thus increase the life of the well. Bacteria have been suggested as an alternative plugging agent to the current method of polymer injection. Starved bacteria can penetrate deeply into rock formations where they attach to the rock surfaces, and given the right nutrients can grow and produce exo-polymer, reducing the permeability of these zones. The application of microbial enhanced oil recovery has only been applied to shallow, cool, onshore fields to date. This study has focused on the ability of bacteria to enhance oil recovery offshore in the North Sea, where the environment can be ...
CNPT-3 is the laboratory designation of a strain of bacteria that reproduces best at deep-sea pressures. It was isolated from a sample collected at a 5800 m depth of the Pacific Ocean. This isolation was achieved from a sample that had been retrieved without warning. This year we demonstrated that there are similarly behaving bacteria that can be isolated from samples even when retrieved with decompression. The purpose of this project was to define the temperatures and pressures over which CNPT-3 can exist and function. (1) At 2"0C CNPT-3 is eurybathic from about 1000 to 6500 m, as judged from an only slightly pressure dependent generation time. (2) CNPT-3 is unquestionably barophilic at 2"0C, with doubling times of 9 hours at 580 bars and over 18 hours at 1 bar. (3) At 10"0C, reproduction is adversely affected at 1 bar to the extent that CNPT-3 becomes obligately barophilic at 10"0C. Yet reproduction is enhanced above 280 bars and occurs with ...
We aim to examine the spectrum of bacteria causing corneal infections and their antibiotic susceptibility patterns. This will serve as a guideline for empiric therapy of corneal infections. We conducted the study over a period of 18 months from March 2001 through December 2002 in King Abdul-Aziz University Hospital, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Corneal specimens taken from 200 patients were inoculated directly onto different types of media. The isolates were identified and then tested against the appropriate topical or systemic antibiotics. Sixty-seven (33.5%) of the total specimens were culture positive and 133 (66.5%) were culture negative. Fourteen (7%) of these showed organisms in the Gram stained smears and correlated well with the culture reports. Of the 67 positive cultures, 53 (79.1%) were Gram-positive bacteria mostly coagulase-negative Staphylococci 29 (43.3%) followed by Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae) 13 (19.4%). Among ...
The authors characterized nine human actin genes that they isolated from a library of cloned human DNA. Measurements of the thermal stability of hybrids formed between each cloned actin gene and ..cap alpha..-, ..beta..-, and ..gamma..-actin mRNA demonstrated that only one of the clones is most homologous to sarcomeric actin mRNA, whereas the remaining eight clones are most homologous to cytoplasmic actin mRNA. By the following criteria they show that these nine clones represent nine different actin gene loci rather than different alleles or different parts of a single gene: (i) the restriction enzyme maps of the coding regions are dissimilar; (ii) each clone contains sufficient coding region to encode all or most of an entire actin gene; and (iii) each clone contains sequences homologous to both the 5' and 3' ends of the coding region of a cloned chicken ..beta..-actin cDNA. They conclude, therefore, that the human cytoplasmic actin proteins are ...
Low expression of osmotically responsive genes 2 (LOS2) encodes an enolase (2-phospho-D-glycerate hydrolase, EC 4.2.1.11) that converts 2-phospho-D-glycerate (PGA) to phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) in the glycolytic pathway in Arabidopsis. Meanwhile, it is a transcriptional activator of cold-responsive gene, negatively controlling the expression of STZ/ZAT10, a zinc finger transcriptional repressor of cold-responsive gene from Arabidopsis. A novel LOS2 gene, designated PtrLOS2 (GenBank accession number GQ144341), was isolated from trifoliate orange [Poncirus trifoliata (L.) Raf.]. The PtrLOS2 cDNA is 1 662 bp in length with a 1 338 bp open reading frame (ORF), encoding a deduced 445 amino acid residue protein with a predicted molecular mass of 47.79 kDa and an isoelectric point of 5.54. The ded...
The objective of the study was to investigate neuronal processing during the encoding, retention and retrieval phases of a serial visual working memory task. Particularly, we were interested in how these phases are affected by working memory load and how processing is modulated by methylphenidate. Healthy adults were asked to memorize the order of four, five or six pictures under methylphenidate (20mg) and under placebo while brain electrical activity was recorded. On the performance level, the number of correct responses decreased with increasing working memory load. Concerning brain electrical activity, in the encoding phase P3 amplitudes increased at midline electrodes with increasing memory load while load had no effect in the retention and retrieval phase. Medication neither influenced performance nor the different processing stages significantly. Our data provide evidence that during the encoding phase more ...
Chemoheterotrophic thermophilic bacteria were used to achieve enhanced hydrocarbon degradation during slurry-phase treatment of oily waste sludges from petroleum refinery operations. Aerobic and anaerobic bacterial cultures were examined under thermophilic conditions to assess the effects of mode of metabolism on the potential for petroleum hydrocarbon degradation. The study determined that both aerobic and anaerobic thermophilic bacteria are capable of growth on petroleum hydrocarbons. Thermophilic methanogenesis is feasible during the degradation of hydrocarbons when a strict anaerobic condition is achieved in a slurry bioreactor. Aerobic thermophilic bacteria achieved the largest apparent reduction in chemical oxygen demand, freon extractable oil, total and volatile solid,s and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) when treating oily waste sludges. The observed shift with time in the molecular weight distribution of ...
Chemoheterotrophic thermophilic bacteria were used to achieve enhanced hydrocarbon degradation during slurry-phase treatment of oily waste sludges from petroleum refinery operations. Aerobic and anaerobic bacterial cultures were examined under thermophilic conditions to assess the effects of mode of metabolism on the potential for petroleum hydrocarbon degradation. The study determined that both aerobic and anaerobic thermophilic bacteria are capable of growth on petroleum hydrocarbons. Thermophilic methanogenesis is feasible during the degradation of hydrocarbons when a strict anaerobic condition is achieved in a slurry bioreactor. Aerobic thermophilic bacteria achieved the largest apparent reduction in chemical oxygen demand, freon extractable oil, total and volatile solid,s and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) when treating oily waste sludges. The observed shift with time in the molecular weight distribution of ...
Increasing economic and recreational opportunities, attractive scenery and a perception of a better quality of life are luring people to the coast. Unfortunately, these activities together with the commensurate increase in population in the area inevitably result in pollution of coastal waters with excessive microorganisms and other pollutants. Microbial pollutants not only contaminate the coastal water but also aquatic food sources, thus posing a health risk to consumers. Fish is a major source of protein in Cameroon, especially in the coastal areas. In this study, we investigated the microbiological quality of fish from the Limbe and Tiko beaches in South West Cameroon from May to October 2007. We isolated human pathogenic bacteria from three anatomic sites (skin, gills, intestine) of 50 fish (150 specimens) and investigated their susceptibility patterns to a battery of antibiotics. Data were analyzed statistically using chi2 with significance set at p South West ...
The generation of acidic mine drainage is based on the oxidation dissolution of sulfide minerals due to the contact of ores with the natural water and the air. Namely, the sulfuric acid promotes the dissolution of sulfide minerals and gangue minerals, and Fe{sup 2+} is further oxidized to turn into Fe{sup 3+}, which acts as an oxidizer for other sulfide minerals and promotes the dissolution of the same. This paper roughly describes a mine drainage treatment focusing on an Fe{sup 2+} neutralization method and an iron bacteria oxidation method. The iron bacteria oxidation method is a method of oxidizing Fe{sup 2+} into Fe{sup 3+} by using iron bacteria, and then removing Fe{sup 3+} with calcium carbonate. This method has been used for treating the drainage in the Sakuhara Mine and the former Matsuo Mine, with good results. The paper finally introduces, as power-saving low-cost mine drainage treatment methods, a method of ...
In this article we describe the identification of endophytic bacteria belonging to three groups isolated from shoot tip cultures of banana cv. Grand Naine in a recent study (Thomas et?al. 2008) based on partial 16S rRNA gene sequence homology analysis. The first group included banana stocks that displayed obvious colony growth on MS based tissue culture medium during the first in?vitro passage. The second group constituted stocks that were tissue index-negative for cultivable bacteria initially but turned index-positive after a few to several (4?8) in?vitro passages while the third group formed one sub-stock that turned index-positive after about 18 passages. The organisms belonged to about 20 different genera comprising of ?, ?, ?-proteobacteria, Gram-positive firmicutes and actinobacteri...
This paper elucidates morphological characteristics, reproduction forms and ecological characteristics of Plectus sp. and Rhabditis sp. which are most frequently detected nematodes separated from tap water. The paper also discussed experimentally establishment of cultivating conditions for these nematodes, and behavior and reproduction characteristics of nematodes under widely ranging conditions of temperatures, bacteria concentrations and pH. Plectus sp. grows in hermaphroditic individuals, while Rhabditis sp. grows only in female. An LE culture medium can cultivate nematodes that appear in tap water, and is suitable for subculture of nematodes. Conditions of temperatures from 20{degree}C to 25{degree}C, pH and inoculated concentration of bacteria at 10{sup 8} cell {center_dot} ml{sup -1} are suitable for reproduction of Plectus sp. and Rhabditis sp. Plectus sp. and Rhabditis sp. prefer mild temperatures for reproduction, cannot reproduce ...
Since microwaves are used in human cancer therapy, information on specific biological effects of microwaves at elevated temperatures is important. To help supply this information, we exposed mammalian cells (CHO) and bacteria (Serratia marcescens) to hyperthermal temperatures (43, 44, and 45/sup o/C for CHO and 48, 49, and 50/sup o/C for the bacteria) with and without microwave irradiation. Temperature control was maintained by a refrigeration-reheat system and high-velocity water recirculation. The 2450-MHz microwave source was operated in a pulsed mode with power density up to 500 mW/cm/sup 2/. As expected, the survival curve slopes for both cell types increased rapidly with temperature, doubling for each degree Celsius. Microwave irradiation produced no significant change in extrapolation number for either cell type. However, survival curves of CHO cells which received microwaves were steeper by a factor of 1.25 than their sham-irradiated ...
Biocatalytic Desulfurization (BDS) represents an alternative approach to the reduction of sulfur in fossil fuels. The objective is to use bacteria to selectively remove sulfur from petroleum and middle distillate fractions, without the concomitant release of carbon. Recently, bacteria have been developed which have the ability to desulfurize dibenzothiophene (DBT) and other organosulfur molecules. These bacteria are being developed for use in a biocatalyst-based desulfurization process. Analysis of preliminary conceptual engineering designs has shown that this process has the potential to complement conventional technology as a method to temper the sulfur levels in crude oil, or remove the recalcitrant sulfur in middle distillates to achieve the deep desulfurization mandated by State and Federal regulations. This paper describes the results of initial feasibility studies, sensitivity analyses and conceptual design work. ...
Building complex knowledge based applications requires encoding large amounts of domain knowledge. After acquiring knowledge from domain experts, much of the effort in building a knowledge base goes into verifying that the knowledge is encoded correctly. We consider the problem of verifying hybrid knowledge bases that contain both Horn rules and a terminology in a description logic. Our approach to the verification problem is based on showing a close relationship to the problem of query containment. Our first contribution, based on this relationship, is presenting a thorough analysis of the decidability and complexity of the verification problem, for knowledge bases containing recursive rules and the interpreted predicates =, {le}, < and {ne}. Second, we show that important new classes of constraints on correct inputs and outputs can be expressed in a hybrid setting, in which a description logic class hierarchy is also considered, and we ...
We present a quantum secure direct communication scheme achieved by swapping quantum entanglement. In this scheme a set of ordered Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) pairs is used as a quantum information channel for sending secret messages directly. After insuring the safety of the quantum channel, the sender Alice encodes the secret messages directly by applying a series local operations on her particle sequences according to their stipulation. Using three EPR pairs, three bits of secret classical information can be faithfully transmitted from Alice to remote Bob without revealing any information to a potential eavesdropper. By both Alice and Bob's GHZ state measurement results, Bob is able to read out the encoded secret messages directly. The protocol is completely secure if perfect quantum channel is used, because there is not a transmission of the qubits carrying the secret message between Alice and Bob in the public channel.
We introduce a novel scheme for one-way quantum computing (QC) based on the use of information encoded qubits in an effective cluster state resource. With the correct encoding structure, we show that it is possible to protect the entangled resource from phase damping decoherence, where the effective cluster state can be described as residing in a decoherence-free subspace (DFS) of its supporting quantum system. One-way QC then requires either single or two-qubit adaptive measurements. As an example where this proposal can be realized, we describe an optical lattice set-up where the scheme provides robust quantum information processing. We also outline how one can adapt the model to provide protection from other types of decoherence.
The authors have cloned and determined the entire nucleotide sequence of cDNAs corresponding to the putative {alpha} subunits of the human and rat mast cell high-affinity IgE receptors. Both human and rat cDNAs encode an NH{sub 2}-terminal signal peptide, two immunoglobulin-like extracellular domains (encoded by discrete exons), a hydrophobic transmembrane region, and a positively charged cytoplasmic tail. The human and rat {alpha} subunits share an overall homology with one another and the immunoglobulin gene family, suggesting that they arose from a common ancestral gene and continue to share structural homology with their ligands. In addition, the rat gene is transcribed into at least three distinct forms, each of which yields a somewhat different coding sequence.
Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal (Family, Solanaceae), commonly known as Ashwagandha is one of the most valuable medicinal plants synthesizing large number of pharmacologically active secondary metabolites known as withanolides. Though the plant has been well characterized in terms of phytochemical profiles as well as pharmaceutical activities, not much is known about the genes responsible for biosynthesis of these compounds. In this study, we have characterized a gene encoding farnesyl diphosphate synthase (FPPS; EC 2.5.1.10), a key enzyme in the pathway of biosynthesis of isoprenoids, from W. somnifera. The full-length cDNA of Withania somnifera FPPS (WsFPPS) of 1,253?bps encodes a polypeptide of 343 amino acids. The amino acid sequence homology and phylogenetic analysis suggest that WsFPPS...
A clone encoding a human D{sub 2} dopamine receptor was isolated from a pituitary cDNA library and sequenced. The deduced protein sequence is 96% identical with that of the cloned rat receptor with one major difference: the human receptor contains an additional 29 amino acids in its putative third cytoplasmic loop. Southern blotting demonstrated the presence of only one human D{sub 2} receptor gene. Two overlapping phage containing the gene were isolated and characterized. DNA sequence analysis of these clones showed that the coding sequence is interrupted by six introns and that the additional amino acids present in the human pituitary receptor are encoded by a single exon of 87 base pairs. The involvement of this sequence in alternative splicing and its biological significance are discussed.
Eugenol, the principal chemical component of clove oil from Eugenia aromatica has been long known for its analgesic, local anesthetic, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial effects. The interaction of the eugenol with ten different hydrophobic and hydrophilic antibiotics was studied against five different Gram negative bacteria. The MIC of the combination was found to decrease by a factor of 5-1000 with respect to their individual MIC. This synergy is because of the membrane damaging nature of eugenol, where 1mM of its concentration is able to damage nearly 50% of the bacterial membrane. Eugenol was also able to enhance the activities of lysozyme, Triton X-100 and SDS in damaging the bacterial cell membrane. The hydrophilic antibiotics such as vancomycin and b-lactam antibiotics which have ...
Bark beetles that colonize living conifers and their microbial associates encounter constitutive and induced chemical defenses of their host. Monoterpene hydrocarbons comprise a major component of these allelochemicals, and many are antibiotic to insects, fungi, and bacteria. Some bark beetle species exhaust these defenses by killing their host through mass attacks mediated by aggregation pheromones. Others lack adult aggregation pheromones and do not engage in pheromone-mediated mass attacks, but rather have the ability to complete development within live hosts. In the former species, the larvae develop in tissue largely depleted of host terpenes, whereas in the latter exposure to these compounds persists throughout development. A substantial literature exists on how monoterpenes affect b...
Pit lakes form when open-pit mining operations are discontinued and dewatering ceases. The increase in open-pit metal mining since the 1970s will lead to the formation of numerous pit lakes over the next 50 years. Many of these lakes will develop acid sulfate conditions with high levels of dissolved metals. Approaches to remediation of these conditions that have been recommended include the addition of lime or other alkaline materials and the stimulation of sulfate-reducing bacteria. However, prevention rather than remediation is probably the preferable approach. Measures to prevent oxidation of mining waste and wall rocks, including measures to fill pits quickly with water, to inhibit the activity of acidophilic sulfur-oxidizing bacteria, and to promote anoxic conditions at the lake bottoms may minimize the formation of acids and dissolved metals. (orig.)
The present study describes the screening of five lactic acid bacteria (LAB) for use as probiotics based on their competitive adhesion and production of antagonistic substances against some fish pathogens. A reduction of adhesion of all pathogenic strains tested was obtained with three of the LAB strains (Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis CLFP100, Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris CLFP102 and Lactobacillus curvatus CLFP150). With the exception of fish pathogens Flavobacterium psychrophilum and Renibacterium salmoninarum that were not inhibited by LAB strains, production of antagonistic compounds by all tested LAB was observed against at least one of the indicator strains. Based on mucus adhesion, competitive exclusion, and suppression of fish pathogen growth, the selected LAB strains can b...
The development of 'Green Chemistry' requires new materials to replace the conventional organic chemistry by biological catalysts, to produce fine chemicals in an environmentally friendly manner. Microbial whole cells can be directly used as biocatalysts, providing a simple and cheap methodology since enzyme isolation and purification are avoided. High-density polyethylene (HDPE) is a very stable polymer though it can be activated by gamma radiation to induce grafting. Glycidyl methacrylate was grafted onto macroporous HDPE and PP in the range of 1-6%, proportional to the initial monomer concentration. Grafted polymers were further chemically modified with ethylenediamine to generate a cationic hydrogel of micron-size thickness onto the internal polymer surfaces. Modified polymers were able to immobilize Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria that can catalyze a chemical reaction as efficient as free cells do.
Abstract In the 1990s, significant efforts were invested in the research and development of food-grade expression systems in lactic acid bacteria (LAB). At this time, Lactococcus lactis in particular was demonstrated to be an ideal cell factory for the food-grade production of recombinant proteins. Steady progress has since been made in research on LAB, including Lactococcus, Lactobacillus and Streptococcus, in the areas of recombinant enzyme production, industrial food fermentation, and gene and metabolic pathway regulation. Over the past decade, this work has also led to new approaches on chromosomal integration vectors and host/vector systems. These newly constructed food-grade gene expression systems were designed with specific attention to self-cloning strategies, food-grade selection...
Using carbon-paste-CuFeS{sub 2} electrodes and a cyclic voltammetric technique, it was found that a large number of intermediate electrochemical oxidation reactions were associated with the dissolution of chalcopyrite in presence and absence of bacteria. The effects of concentrations of copper, ferrous and ferric ions, as well as of agitation on the peaks of cyclic voltammograms were measured. It was established that chalcopyrite oxidation was solid-state controlled as suggested by the data of chronopotentiometric and chronoamperometric measurements. The activation energy of solid state diffusion of chalcopyrite leaching was determined by the Sand's method to be {triangle}E{sub a} = 20.5 kJ. The leaching mechanism is discussed in terms of solid-state properties (energy bonding) of the n-type semiconductor chalcopyrite and energy density states of redox systems of acidic bacterial leach media. A generalized model for the mechanism of chalcopyrite leaching ...
One proposed solution to the problem of ballast-mediated aquatic invasions involves chemically treating ballast water to kill key target organisms. Here, we examine the efficacy of three commercially available ballast water biocides using vegetative microalgae, dinoflagellate resting cysts and bacteria as test organisms. Chemicals tested were the ballast water biocides SeaKleen and Peraclean Ocean, and the chlorine dioxide biocide Vibrex. Results demonstrate that the applicability of each of the three chemical biocides as a routine ballast water treatment is limited by factors such as cost, biological effectiveness and possible residual toxicity of the discharged ballast water (assessed on the basis of impact on motility of vegetative marine microalgae). Of the three biocides tested, Perac...
In this work, silver-montmorillonite (Ag-MMT) antimicrobial nanoparticles have been obtained by allowing silver ions from nitrate solutions to replace the Na^+ of natural montmorillonite and then to be reduced by a thermal treatment. Ag-MMT were used as active antimicrobial compounds to improve the shelf life of fresh fruit salad. In order to assess their influence on product shelf life, sensorial and microbiological quality has been monitored during the storage. The microbiological quality was determined by monitoring the principal spoilage microorganisms (mesophilic and psychrotrophic bacteria, coliforms, lactic acid bacteria, yeasts and molds). Additionally, the evolution of sensorial quality was assessed by monitoring color, odor, firmness and product overall quality. The Ag-MMT nanopa...
Beside yeasts, lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are the most abundant microbes in must during vinification. Whereas Oenococcos oeni is commercially used as a starter culture for the biological acid reduction in wines, other species are responsible for different types of wine spoilage. Members of the genera Pediococcus, Weissella, Leuconostoc, and Lactobacillus are producers of exopolysaccharide slimes, biogenic amines, acetic acid, and other off-flavors. In order to control microbial growth, different procedures such as heating of must and addition of sulfite or lysozyme from egg white are generally applied. Yet, because of health risks, the application of sulfite should be reduced and lysozyme is not effective against all LAB. In this study, we describe exoenzymes from a Streptomyces sp. strain...
Molybdopterin (MPT) is not produced by the Escherichia coli mutants chlA1, chlM, or chlN or by the Neurospora crassa mutant nit-1. Extracts of E. coli chlA1 contain an activity, the converting factor,...Full Text Available
Brassica napus is an allotetraploid (AACC) formed from the fusion of two diploid progenitors, Brassica rapa (AA) and Brassica oleracea...Full Text Available
Lethal alleles of the Drosophila k43 gene result in small or missing imaginal discs, greatly reduced mitotic index, and fragmented and abnormally condensed chromosomes. A female-sterile...Full Text Available
We have isolated and sequenced cDNA clones encoding the human U1-70K snRNP protein, and have mapped this locus (U1AP1) to human chromosome 19. The gene produces two size classes of RNA, a major 1.7-kb...Full Text Available
Pseudomonas syringae is a gram-negative bacterial plant pathogen that is dependent on a type III protein secretion system (TTSS) and the effector proteins it translocates into plant...Full Text Available
In this paper we establish a fundamental structural result for formal series encoding the total non-archimedean masses of quadratic lattices of varying determinant squareclasses, but with fixed rank $n$ and signature over any fixed number field. We conclude with some local computations for $n=2$, and use these to derive an analytic class number formula for CM extensions.
Targeted genome capture combined with next-generation sequencing was used to analyze 2.9 Mb of the DFNB79 interval on chromosome 9q34.3, which includes 108 candidate genes. Genomic...Full Text Available
Three transcription units are present in the adenovirus type 2 region EII. Transcription units EIIaE and EIIaL encode the mRNA for the 72,000-dalton DNA binding protein, early and late in the lytic...Full Text Available
Larvae of the sunburst diving beetle, Thermonectus marmoratus, have a cluster of six stemmata (E1-6) and one eye patch on each side of the head. Each eye has two retinas: a...Full Text Available
BackgroundLand plant genomes contain multiple members of a eukaryote-specific gene family encoding proteins with pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) motifs. Some PPR proteins were shown...Full Text Available
We have identified two novel, very closely related genes, SAS1 and SAS2, from Dictyostelium discoideum. These encode small, approximately 20-kilodaton proteins with amino acid sequences thought to be...Full Text Available
Adenovirus vaccine vectors derived from rare human serotypes have been shown to be less potent than serotype 5 (Ad5) at inducing immune responses to encoded antigens. To identify highly immunogenic...Full Text Available
Pseudomonas syringae pv. glycinea PG4180 produces the polyketide phytotoxin coronatine. The coronatine synthesis genes in PG4180 were previously shown to reside on a 90-kb plasmid designated p4180A....Full Text Available
A 13.1-kb DNA fragment carrying Pseudomonas denitrificans cob genes has been sequenced. The nucleotide sequence and genetic analysis revealed that this fragment contained five different cob genes named...Full Text Available
BackgroundPlasmid encodedblaCTX-M enzymes represent an important sub-group of class A β-lactamases causing the ESBL phenotype which is increasingly...Full Text Available
Several cDNA clones encoding Δ1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate reductase (P5CR, l-proline:NAD[P]+ 5-oxidoreductase, EC 1.5.1.2), which catalyzes the terminal step in...Full Text Available
A measuring-basis encrypted quantum key distribution scheme is proposed by using twelve nonorthogonal states in a four-state system and the measuring-basis encryption technique. In this scheme, two bits of classical information can be encoded on one four-state particle and the transmitted particles can be fully used.
Mice lacking Kv1.1 Shaker-like potassium channels encoded by the Kcna1 gene exhibit severe seizures and die prematurely. The channel is widely expressed in...Full Text Available
Mycoreovirus 1 (MyRV1), a member of the Reoviridae family possessing a genome consisting of 11 dsRNA segments (S1–S11), and the prototype hypovirus (CHV1-EP713)...Full Text Available
The rapidly activating and inactivating voltage-dependent outward K+ (Kv) current, IA, is widely expressed in central and peripheral neurons. IA has long been...Full Text Available
We have identified another Drosophila GTP-binding protein (G protein) alpha subunit, dGq alpha-3. Transcripts encoding dGq alpha-3 are derived from alternative splicing of the dGq alpha locus previously...Full Text Available
The H-D exchange reaction has been measured with the D2-H2O system, for Rhodobacter capsulatus JP91, which lacks the hupSL-encoded hydrogenase, and R. capsulatus BSE16, which lacks the HupUV proteins....Full Text Available
A full-length complementary DNA clone encoding tryptophan decarboxylase (TDC; EC 4.1.1.28) from Catharanthus roseus (De Luca V, Marineau C, Brisson N [1989] Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 86:...Full Text Available
Among important candidates for babesial vaccines are apical complex proteins, including rhoptry-associated protein 1 (RAP-1) from Babesia bovis and B. bigemina, which...Full Text Available
Helicobacter pylori, a major cause of human gastric disease, is a microaerophilic bacterium that contains neither pyruvate nor 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase activity. Previous studies...Full Text Available
The ntpJ gene, a cistron located at the tail end of the vacuolar-type Na+-ATPase (ntp) operon of Enterococcus hirae, encodes a transporter...Full Text Available
We analyzed 43 CTX-M-15–producing Escherichia coli isolates and 6 plasmids encoding the blaCTX-M-15 gene from Canada, India, Kuwait, France, Switzerland,...Full Text Available
X-linked sideroblastic anemia with ataxia (XLSA/A) is a rare inherited disorder characterized by mild anemia and ataxia. XLSA/A is caused by mutations in the ABCB7 gene, which encodes...Full Text Available
An unusual S1-nuclease sensitive microsatellite (STMS) has been found in the single copy, rat polymeric immunoglobulin receptor gene (PIGR) terminal exon. In Fisher rats, elements within or beyond the...Full Text Available
The proteins encoded by polar-localized mRNAs play an important role in cell fate specification along the anteroposterior axis of the Drosophila embryo. The only maternally synthesized mRNA known previously...Full Text Available
Using an anti-receptor mAb that blocks the attachment of echovirus 7 and related viruses (echoviruses 13, 21, 29 and 33), we have isolated a complementary DNA clone that encodes the human decay-accelerating...Full Text Available
Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is the etiologic agent of adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL), HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP), and other diseases....Full Text Available
The gene Rv1885c from the genome of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rvencodes a monofunctional and secreted chorismate mutase (*MtCM) with a 33-amino-acid...Full Text Available
The definition of episodic memory includes the concept of mental time travel: the ability to re-experience a previously experienced trajectory through continuous dimensions of space and time, and to recall specific events or stimuli along this trajectory. Lesions of the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex impair human episodic memory function and impair rat performance in tasks that could be solved by retrieval of trajectories. Recent physiological data suggests a novel model for encoding and retrieval of trajectories, and for associating specific stimuli with specific positions along the trajectory. During encoding in the model, external input drives the activity of head direction cells. Entorhinal grid cells integrate the head direction input to update an internal representation of location, and drive hippocampal place cells. Trajectories are encoded by Hebbian modification of excitatory synaptic connections between ...
4.5S RNA is a group of RNAs 90 to 94 nucleotides long (length polymorphism due to a varying number of UMP residues at the 3' end) that form hydrogen bonds with poly(A)-terminated RNAs isolated from...Full Text Available
Aerobic chemoheterotrophic bacteria were isolated from surface soils and coastal plain subsurface (including deep aquifer) sediments (depths to 265 m) at a study site near Aiken, S.C., by plating on...Full Text Available
Telavancin is a bactericidal lipoglycopeptide with a multifunctional mechanism of action. We conducted a randomized, double blind, active-control phase II trial. Patients ≥18 years of age with...Full Text Available
An enterotoxin D (SED)-producing strain of Staphylococcus aureus was used to infect one mammary gland of each of 17 lactating dairy cows. All glands became infected and shed bacteria...Full Text Available
Food irradiation is the process of exposing food to an ionizing energy to kill harmful bacteria and other organisms and extend shelf-life. It is a safe process and has been approved by some 50 countries worldwide and applied commercially in the USA, Japan, China and several European countries for many years. Trends law regulations and new applications in Europe and another countries has been described. (author)
Brief summaries are given of research carried out in the following areas: absorption spectroscopy of titanium, niobium, and molybdenum in uranium alloys; atomic absorption spectroscopy of selenium in stainless steel, computer program improvements for spectrophotometer control, and detection of beryllium in stack gases; electrolysis for inactivation of bacteria in cooling-tower water; improved solvent analysis by gas chromatography; sequential radionuclide separation for various sample matrices; progress on an electron microprobe analyzer; and miscellaneous projects.
Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum, M. ruminantium, and Methanosarcina barkeri were labeled with 14CO2 (14CO2 + H14CO3- + 14CO32-) for from 2 to 45 s. Radioactivity was recovered in coenzyme M derivatives,...Full Text Available
Biological cells of the nitrogen fixating bacteria Xanthobacter autotrophicus GZ 29 have been cultivated with 57-Fe, and from the nitrogenase of these cells the 57-Fe marked molybdenum-iron-protein is extracted. The Moessbauer spectra of this enzyme show that the structure of the iron cluster is similar to the structure in the molybdenum-iron-proteins of Azotobacter vinelandii, Klebsiella pneumoniae or Clostridium pasteurianum.
A pilot-scale model was constructed to determine if a wetland treatment system (WTS) could effectively remove low-level mercury from an outfall located at the Department of Energy's Savannah River Site.
The diverse microenvironments of foods, changing with processing and preservation, might provide conditions that would enhance the growth of microorganisms which are the principal cause of spoilage, off-odor and unpleasant flavor in foods. Radiation is a potential process which may provide a product with far superior microbial quality for food preservation, by reduction of microbial population; elimination of food-borne pathogens; extension of shelf-life; and reduction of spoilage. The aim of irradiation at low dose level is to eliminate certain microorganisms, especially spoilage types and those of public health significance. But, the radurization dose allows the outgrowth of radioresistant bacteria. Certain strains of Moraxella-Acinetobacter (M-A) groups have been recognized as radioresistant bacteria (Welch and Maxcy, 1975), which may have gone unnoticed by food microbiologists, since these bacteria have not been ...
All organisms examined to date possess a dUTPase that performs the important function of efficiently hydrolyzing dUTP to dUMP in order to prevent the incorporation of dUTP into DNA. Three putative dUTPases...Full Text Available
Antimicrobial susceptibilities of 233 Gram-positive and 180 Gram-negative strains to two novel bis-indoles were evaluated. Both compounds were potent inhibitors of Gram-positive bacteria, with MIC90...Full Text Available
Fatty acid biosynthesis is crucial for all living cells. In contrast to higher organisms, bacteria use a type II fatty acid synthase (FAS II) composed of a series of individual proteins, making...Full Text Available
Biosorption means the storage of substances at the cell envelope. Different microbial biomasses were tested for the separation of radionuclides from mining waters. Results of a pilot plant demonstrate the ability of these techniques for water cleaning processes. An effluent concentration of lower than 1 mg/l (in most cases 0.1 mg/1) could be realized in a pilot plant by using pure cells of a methylotrophic strain of bacteria as well as using of a fungal mycelia.
Full text: Chemical-technology approaches allowing to intensification the prevention processes of gas hydrates formation at motion of gas-liquid stream of natural gas in system natural gas well - gas wire have been worked up. Technological regimes of treatment of gas stream have been determined. Linear correlation dependences inhibitor electrolytes contained hydrated ions with different ion radii and charges of subgroups of alkali elements with one - type electron configuration were obtained. Important physico-chemical parameters of electrolytes have been determined: activity; coefficients of activity, viscosity, diffusion; density; heat capacity; heat conductivity; surface tension and freezing-point. The features of continuous influence of inhibitory factors on process of gas flow at low temperatures and relatively high pressure differences ?P have been studied by using of technological installation modulating the system natural gas well - gas wire. The ...
We investigate the variation of the out-of-phase periodic rhythm produced by two chaotic neurons {bold (}Hindmarsh-Rose neurons [J. L. Hindmarsh and R. M. Rose, Proc. R. Soc. London B {bold 221}, 87 (1984)]{bold )} coupled by electrical and reciprocally synaptic connections. The exploration of a two-parametric bifurcation diagram, as a function of the strength of the electrical and inhibitory coupling, reveals that the periodic rhythms associated to the limit cycles bounded by saddle-node bifurcations, undergo a strong variation as a function of small changes of electrical coupling. We found that there is a scaling law for the bifurcations of the limit cycles as a function of the strength of both couplings. From the functional point of view of this mixed typed of coupling, the small variation of electrical coupling provides a high sensitivity for period regulation inside the regime of out-of-phase synchronization. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical ...
This work reports the development of an automatic methodology based on the use of 1-anilinonaphthalene-8-sulfonate (ANS) as an interfacial fluorescent probe for detecting the hydrophobic environment shift around the probe, caused by the hydrolytic action of PLA2 on the liposomes. The implementation of this reaction in a sequential injection analysis (SIA) system along with the use of the mixing chambers permitted the evaluation of PLA2 activity and assessment of the inhibitory effect of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) on PLA2 activity. Several studies were performed with the aim of establishing the appropriate flow system configuration: the liposome substrate; PLA2 and ANS optimum concentrations and incubation times before and after the enzyme addition. Based on these st...
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has been used for relieving chronic pain in patients that have been through other existing options. The septum has been one of the targets for such treatment. The purpose of this study was to determine the inhibitory effect of electrical stimulation in the medial septum diagonal band of broca (MSDB) on neuronal activity in the spinal cord of rats anesthetized with sodium pentobarbital. While unilaterally stimulating the MSDB, wide dynamic range neurons in the lumbar region of the spinal cord were recorded in response to graded mechanical stimulation of the hind paws (brush, pressure, and pinch). Stimulation was at 1, 5, 10, and 20V, at 100Hz, and 0.1ms duration. Significant bilateral reduction was observed in response to pressure (ipsilaterally: 0.90+/-0.05, 0....
We study the spike statistics of neurons in a network with dynamically balanced excitation and inhibition. Our model, intended to represent a generic cortical column, comprises randomly connected excitatory and inhibitory leaky integrate-and-fire neurons, driven by excitatory input from an external population. The high connectivity permits a mean field description in which synaptic currents can be treated as gaussian noise, the mean and autocorrelation function of which are calculated self-consistently from the firing statistics of single model neurons. Within this description, a wide range of Fano factors is possible. We find that the irregularity of spike trains is controlled mainly by the strength of the synapses relative to the difference between the firing threshold and the postfiring reset level of the membrane potential. For moderately strong synapses, we find spike statistics very similar to those observed in primary visual cortex.
In this study, we investigated the kinetics of linoleic acid production via lipase-mediated hydrolysis of corn DDGS oil in a batch reactor with continuous mechanical agitation and developed a kinetic model that incorporated the product inhibition to study the complete hydrolysis. The model agreed very well with observed data; though situations with low enzyme dosage or low stirring rates were modeled successfully without product inhibition, actual product concentration in such situations was too low to exert any inhibitory effects. Increasing the enzyme concentration increased hydrolysis, and beyond certain enzyme concentrations, effects tended to fade away because of excessive enzyme desorption from the interface. An enzyme dosage within the range of 40-60KLU/L of oil dispersion could be ...
The cephalosporin class antibacterial agent, cefazolin, was intercalated into layered double hydroxides (LDHs) in order to improve the drug efficiency as well as to achieve the controlled release property. Cefazolin molecules were incorporated into LDH through conventional ion exchange reaction. X-ray diffraction pattern analyses confirmed that cefazolin molecules were intercalated between the interlayer spaces of LDH. Fourier-transform infrared spectra and high performance liquid chromatographs clearly showed that the drug molecules were stabilized in LDH lattice through electrostatic interaction and released without any changes in their chemical integrity. Antibacterial activity of the cefazolin-LDH nanohybrid was also examined by an in vitro test, such as the minimal inhibitory concentr...
The effect of ?/?-carrageenan from red alda Tichocarpus crinitus on the development of a potato virus X (PVX) infection in the leaves of Datura stramonium L. has been studied. The treatment of leaves with carrageenan stimulates a protein synthesis in the cells, causing an increase in the size of nucleoli and in the number of mitochondria and membranes of the rough endoplasmic reticulum. At the same time, such treatment slightly stimulates lytic processes, causing an increase in the number of smooth endoplasmic reticulum cisternae, dictyosomes, and cytoplasmic vacuoles and the formation of cytoplasmic electron-transparent zones. The carrageenan-induced stimulation of lytic processes results in the destruction of viral particles and can be considered as one of the defense mechanisms, prevent...
Abstract A Pseudomonas sp. isolate MSB1 efficiently inhibited the growth of Flavobacterium psychrophilum of different serotypes on agar medium. A significant difference in the inhibition was observed between isolates of the less virulent FpT serotype compared to the Fd and Th serotypes. In broth coculture experiments, a low number of cells of MSB1 inhibited and outcompeted the F.psychrophilum cells. Also cell-free culture supernatant of MSB1 clearly repressed the growth of F.psychrophilum. A chromoazurol S assay suggested that MSB1 produced efficient siderophores, which most probably were responsible for the iron deficiency in the supernatant. The limited growth of F.psychrophilum in the supernatant was found to be partly because of the lack of available iron, but the results also indicate...
Prepulse inhibition (PPI) is a measure of sensorimotor gating, a pre-attentional inhibitory brain mechanism that filters extraneous stimuli. Prepulse inhibition is correlated with measures of cognition and executive functioning, and is considered an endophenotype of schizophrenia and other psychiatric illnesses in which patients show PPI impairments. As a first step toward identifying genes that regulate PPI, we performed a quantitative trait locus (QTL) screen of PPI phenotypes in a panel of mouse chromosome substitution strains (CSSs). We identified five CSSs with altered PPI compared with the host C57BL/6J strain: CSS-4 exhibited decreased PPI, whereas CSS-10, -11, -16 and -Y exhibited higher PPI compared with C57BL/6J. These data indicate that A/J chromosomes 4, 10, 11, 16 and Y harbor...
We describe a simple one-pot thermal decomposition method for the production of a stable colloidal suspension of narrowly dispersed superparamagnetic Fe3O4-Ag core-shell nanostructures. These biocompatible nanostructures are highly toxic to microorganisms. Antimicrobial activity studies were carried out on both Gram negative (Escherichia coli and Proteus vulgaris) and Gram positive (Bacillus megaterium and Staphylococcus aureus) bacterial strains. Efforts have been made to understand the underlying molecular mechanism of such antibacterial actions. The effect of the core-shell nanostructures on Gram negative strains was found to be better than that observed for silver nanoparticles. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of these nanostructures were found to be considerably lowe...
Background, aim and scope Treatment performance of constructed wetlands (CWs) is largely dependent on the characteristics of the wastewater. Although livestock wastewater is readily biodegradable in general, its variety in biodegradability can still be significant in practice. In addition, it is a common practice to periodically use disinfectants in livestock activities for health concerns. Obviously, the residual of the disinfectants in livestock wastewater may have serious inhibitory effect on the microbial activities during wastewater treatment. Thus, the main objective of this study was to examine the variety of livestock wastewater in biodegradability and its effect on the performance of a pilot scale tidal flow CWs (TFCWs) in organic matter and nitrogen removal. Furthermore, investig...
Abstract BACKGROUND: Dietary plant materials have attracted much attention because of their health benefits to humans. Acrylamide is found in various heated carbohydrate-rich foods. Our previous results showed that crude aqueous extracts from diverse dietary plants and some phenolic compounds could mitigate acrylamide formation in an asparagine-glucose model system. Based on our previous study, several plant materials were selected to further investigate their inhibitory effects on acrylamide formation in cookies and starch-based model systems. RESULTS: Addition of raw powders from selected dietary plants and their crude aqueous extracts could considerably reduce acrylamide formation in both cookie and potato starch-based models. Aqueous extracts of clove at 4% caused the largest reduction...
Abstract This study aimed at developing a suitable cryopreservation protocol for embryonic stem (ES)-like cells of a tiny freshwater fish Leopard danio (Brachydanio frankei). Embryonic stem (ES)-like cells derived from blastomeres of the early blastulae stage of the developing embryo were cultured in vitro in a medium containing Leibowitz-15 supplemented with 10% foetal bovine serum, leopard danio embryo extract, sodium bicarbonate, sodium selenite, basic fibroblast growth factor, epidermal growth factor and leukaemia inhibitory factor. The ES-like cells showed properties similar to ES cells in other species. They were morphologically small, round to polygonal and present in patches and extensively expressed alkaline phosphatase and stage-specific embryonic antigen. The toxicity and chilli...
Conformationally constrained analogue synthesis was undertaken to aid in pharmacophore mapping and 3D-QSAR analysis of nitrobenzylmercaptopurine riboside (NBMPR) congeners as equilibriative nucleoside transporter 1 (ENT1) inhibitors. In our previous study [J. Med. Chem. 2003, 46, 831-837], novel regioisomeric nitro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline conformationally constrained analogues of NBMPR were synthesized and evaluated as ENT1 ligands. 7-NO2-1,2,3,4-Tetrahydroisoquino-2-yl purine riboside was identified as the analogue with the nitro group in the best orientation at the NBMPR binding site of ENT1. In the present study, further conformational constraining was introduced by synthesizing 5prime-O,8-cyclo derivatives. The flow cytometrically determined binding affinities indicated that the...
Coral populations have precipitously declined on Caribbean reefs while algal abundance has increased, leading to enhanced competitive damage to corals, which likely is mediated by the potent allelochemicals produced by both macroalgae and benthic cyanobacteria. Allelochemicals may affect the composition and abundance of coral-associated microorganisms that control host responses and adaptations to environmental change, including susceptibility to bacterial diseases. Here, we demonstrate that extracts of six Caribbean macroalgae and two benthic cyanobacteria have both inhibitory and stimulatory effects on bacterial taxa cultured from the surfaces of Caribbean corals, macroalgae, and corals exposed to macroalgal extracts. The growth of 54 bacterial isolates was monitored in the presence of l...
Abstract The inhibitory effect of the extract from Magnolia officinalis (MOE) against L. monocytogenes, S. faecalis, E. coli, S. typhimurium, S. aureus and B. anthracis by paper-diffusion methods and the characterization of the mutton immersed in different concentrations of the MOE during storage were evaluated in this paper. The results showed that MOE could significantly inhibit the growth of S. aureus, S. faecalis, B. anthracis and E. coli, and their MIC was 0.02-mg/mL, 0.03-mg/mL, 0.05-mg/mL and 0.10-mg/mL, respectively. MOE showed weak inhibition for the S. typhimurium. The mutton treated with 2%, 4% and 6% MOE resulted in suppression in the increase of total volatile base nitrogen, thiobarbituric acid reactive substance, and the growth of Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonas. The cooled m...
The effect of in vitro and in vivo administration of ethanol on the binding of "3"5S-t-butyl-bicyclophosphorothionate ("3"5S-TBPS) to cortical brain membranes of C57B1 mice was investigated using KCl (100 mM) containing assay media. The in vitro addition of ethanol produced a dose-dependent inhibition of basal "3"5S-TBPS binding. In the presence of chloride ions, GABA and pentobarbital had a biphasic action (stimulation followed by inhibition) on "3"5S-TBPS binding, whereas diazepam only stimulated the binding. Ethanol reduced the stimulatory effects of GABA and pentobarbital in a dose-dependent manner, but had no effect on the enhancement of "3"5S-TBPS binding produced by diazepam. "3"5S-TBPS binding to cortical brain membranes was inhibited by the putative Cl"- channel blocking agent DIDS. This inhibitory action of DIDS was significantly, and dose-dependently reduced by ethanol (#<=# 100 mM ethanol). Chronic ethanol ingestion in vivo, which produced tolerance ...
To investigate mechanisms responsible for positive and negative transcriptional control, the authors have utilized two types of promoters that are diffferentially regulated by thyroid hormone (T{sub 3}) receptors. Promoters containing the palindromic T{sub 3} response element TCAGGTCA TGACCTGA are positively regulated by the T{sub 3} receptor after the administration of T{sub 3}, whereas otherwise identical promoters containing the estrogen response element TCAGGTCA CTG TGACCTGA can be regulated negatively; converse effects are observed with the estrogen receptor. They describe evidence that the transcriptional inhibitory effects of the T{sub 3} or estrogen receptors on the estrogen or T{sub 3} response elements, respectively, are imposed by amino acid sequences in the C'-terminal region that colocalize with dimerization and hormone-binding domains and that these sequences can transfer inhibitory functions to other classes of ...
Aldosterone has been suggested to elicit vessel contraction via a nongenomic mechanism. We tested this proposal in microdissected, perfused rabbit renal afferent arterioles. Aldosterone had no effect on internal diameter in concentrations from 10(-10) to 10(-5) mol/L, but aldosterone abolished the ability of 100 mmol/L KCl to induce vascular contraction. The inhibitory effect of aldosterone was observed from 1 pmol/L. The inhibitory effect was significant after 5 minutes and maximal after 20 minutes and was fully reversible. Actinomycin D (10(-6) mol/L) prolonged the effect of aldosterone. The effect was abolished by the mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist spironolactone (10(-7) mol/L) but not by the glucocorticoid receptor antagonist mifepristone (10(-6) mol/L). The K+-mediated increase of intracellular calcium concentration in afferent arterioles was not affected by aldosterone. Mineralocorticoid receptor was detected by reverse ...
Four trypsin inhibitor homologs, the first known from Dendroaspis angusticeps venom, were characterized using a combination of gel filtration, cation exchange, reverse-phase liquid chromatography, Edman degradation and mass spectrometry. The four toxins comprise two 57 residue and two 59 residue isoforms. The long toxins possess a Lys-Gln N-terminal extension lacked by the short toxins. The only other structural difference is an Arg/His replacement at position 55. The long Arg55 variant is identical to trypsin inhibitor E from the venom of Dendroaspis polylepis. The name epsilon-dendrotoxin is suggested so as to follow the nomenclature of Benishin, C.G., Sorensen, R.G., Brown, W.E., Krueger, B.K., Blaustein, M.P., 1988. Four polypeptide components of green mamba venom selectively block certain potassium channels in rat brain synaptosomes. Mol. Pharmacol. 34, 152-159. Among snake venom protease inhibitors, the epsilon-dendrotoxins are structurally most like the delta-dendrotoxins, with ...
Spice extracts under the form of essential oils were tested for their efficiency to increase the relative radiosensitivity of Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli O157H7 in culture media. The two pathogens were treated by gamma-irradiation alone or in combination with oregano essential oil to evaluate their mechanism of action. The membrane murein composition, and the intracellular and extracellular concentration of ATP was determined. The bacterial strains were treated with two irradiation doses: 1.2 kGy to induce cell damage and 3.5 kGy to cause cell death for L. monocytogenes. A dose of 0.4 kGy to induce cell damages, 1.1 kGy to obtain viable but nonculturable (VBNC) state and 1.3 kGy to obtain a lethal dose was also applied on E. coli O157H7. Oregano essential oil was used at 0.020% and 0.025% (w/v), which is the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for L. monocytogenes. For E. coli O157H7, a concentration of 0.006% and 0.025% (w/v) which is the ...
To investigate the growth inhibitory effects, and the underlying mechanism of human colon cancer cell (HT-29) death, induced by a new synthetic bile derivative (HS-1200). Human colon cancer cells (HT-29), in exponential growth phase, were treated with various concentrations of a new synthetic bile acid derivative (HS-1200). The growth inhibitory effects on HT-19 cells were examined using a trypan blue exclusion assay. The extent of apoptosis was determined using agarose gel electrophoresis, TUNEL assays and Hoechst staining. The apoptotic cell death was also confirmed by Western blotting of PARP, caspase-3 and DNA fragmentation factor (DFF) analysis. To investigate the involvement of mitochondria, we employed immunofluorescent staining of cytochrome c and mitochondrial membrane potential analyses. The dose required for the half maximal inhibition (IC_5_0) of the HT-29 cell growth was 100 #approx# 150 #mu# M of HS-1200. Several changes, ...
What brain mechanisms underlie learning of new knowledge from single events? We studied encoding in long-term memory of a unique type of one-shot experience, induced perceptual insight. While undergoing an fMRI brain scan, participants viewed degraded images of real-world pictures where the underlying objects were hard to recognize ("camouflage"), followed by brief exposures to the original images ("solution"), which led to induced insight ("Aha!"). A week later, the participants' memory was tested; a solution image was classified as "remembered" if detailed perceptual knowledge was elicited from the camouflage image alone. During encoding, subsequently remembered images were associated with higher activity in midlevel visual cortex and medial frontal cortex, but most pronouncedly, in the amygdala, whose activity could be used to predict which solutions will remain in long-term memory. Our findings extend the known roles of amygdala in memory ...
Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) is a demyelinating disease of the central nervous system caused by the JC virus (JCV), a human papovavirus. PML is a relatively rare disease seen predominantly in immunocompromised individuals and is a frequent complication observed in AIDS patients. The significantly higher incidence of PML in AIDS patients than in other immunosuppressive disorders has suggested that the presence of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in the brain may directly or indirectly contribute to the pathogenesis of this disease. In the present study the authors have examined the expression of the JCV genome in both glial and non-glial cells in the presence of HIV-1 regulatory proteins. They find that the HIV-1-encoded trans-regulatory protein tat increases the basal activity of the JCV late promoter, JCV{sub L}, in glial cells. They conclude that the presence of the HIV-1-encoded tat protein may positively ...
The uncoupling protein (UCP) is a proton/anion transporter found in the inner mitochondrial membrane of brown adipocyte. Although UCP has nor been detected in mitochondria from any other tissue, it shares structural and catalytic properties with several other mitochondrial carrier proteins. Although UCP was discovered only recently it is one of the most extensively studied mitochondrial carrier proteins.More recently, the mouse, rat, and human genes encoding for UCP have been isolated and sequenced. The availability of these various tools has led to several significant observations. UCP gene expression is strongly controlled at the level of transcription by signals that are activated after the stimulation of brown adipocytes by norepinephrine. The comparison of UCP gene with the genes encoding the adenine nucleotide translocator revealed the existence of structural and evolutionary homologies. Moreover, in humans the UCP gene and one form of ...
[alpha]-Melanocyte stimulating hormone ([alpha]-MSH), a hormone originally named for its ability to regulate pigmentation of melanocytes, is a 13-amino-acid post-translational product of the pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) gene. [alpha]-MSH and the other products of POMC processing, which share the core heptapeptide amino acid sequence Met-Glu (Gly)-His-Phe-Arg-Trp-Gly (Asp), the adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), [beta]-MSH, and [gamma]-MSH, are collectively referred to as melanocortins. While best known for their effects on the melanocyte (pigmentation) and adrenal cortical cells (steroidogenesis), melanocortins have been postulated to function in diverse activities, including enhancement of learning and memory, control of the cardiovascular system, analgesia, thermoregulation, immunomodulation, parturition, and neurotrophism. To identify the chromosomal band encoding the human melanocortin-1 receptor gene, 1 [mu]g of an EMBL clone coding region of the human MC1R ...
Synthesis genes encoding the human #alpha#- and #beta#-globin polypeptides have been expressed from a single operon in Escherichia coli. The #alpha#- and #beta#-globin polypeptides associate into soluble tetramers, incorporate heme, and accumulate to >5% of the total cellular protein. Purified recombinant hemoglobin has the correct stoichiometry of #alpha#- and #beta#-globin chains and contains a full complement of heme. Each globin chain also contains an additional methionine as an extension to the amino terminus. The recombinant hemoglobin has a C_4 reversed-phase HPLC profile essentially identical to that of human hemoglobin A_0 and comigrates with hemoglobin A_0 on SDS/PAGE. The visible spectrum and oxygen affinity are similar to that of native human hemoglobin A_0. The authors have also expressed the #alpha#- and #beta#-globin genes separately and found that the expression of the #alpha#-globin gene alone results in a marked decrease in the accumulation of ...
Abstract Plant annexins represent a multigene family involved in cellular elongation and development. A cDNA encoding a novel annexin was isolated from a cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) fiber cDNA library and designated-GhAnx1. This gene encodes a 316 amino acid protein with a theoretical molecular mass of 36.06 kDa and a theoretical pI of 6.19. At the amino acid level, it shares high sequence similarity and has evolutionary relationships with annexins from higher plants. The purified recombinant protein expressed in-Escherichia coli-was used to investigate its physicochemical properties. Circular dichroism spectrum analyses showed a positive peak rising to the maximum at 196 nm and a broad negative band rounding 215 nm, suggesting that the GhAnx1 protein was prominently -helical. The fluoresc...
The PMS2 gene encodes a protein that is involved in DNA mismatch repair and is mutated in a subset of patients with hereditary nonpolyposis colon cancer (HNPCC). The previously published PMS2 cDNA sequence lack an upstream in-frame stop codon preceding the presumptive initiating methionine. To evaluate the 5` terminus of the PMS2 coding region further, we isolated additional cDNA clones, RT-PCR products, and the corresponding 5` genomic segment of the PMS2 locus. The PMS2 gene transcripts were found to have heterogeneous but colinear 5` termini, one of which contained an in-frame termination codon preceding the initiating methionine. In addition, a novel gene encoding a 34.5-kDa polypeptide was found to initiate transcriptionally within PMS2 from the opposite strand. 23 refs., 5 figs., 2 tabs.
Specific {sup 32}P-labeled DNA probes were prepared and used to evaluate the distribution of tetracycline resistance determinants carried by gram-negative enteric bacteria isolated from pigs in 3 swine herds with different histories of antibiotic exposure. Plasmid DNA, ranging in size from 2.1 to 186 Kb, was observed in over 84% of 114 isolates studied. Two of 78 tetracycline resistant strains did not harbor plasmids. The DNA probes were isolated from plasmids pSL18, pRT29/Tn10, pBR322 and pSL106, respectively, and they represented class A, B, C and D tetracycline resistance determinants. Hybridization conditions using 0.5X SSPE at 65{degrees}C minimize cross-hybridization between the different class of tetracycline resistance genes. Cross-hybridization between class A and class C determinants could be distinguished by simultaneous comparison of the intensity of their hybridization signals. Plasmids from over 44% of the tetracycline resistant isolates did not ...
The microbial process of converting organic matter into methane and carbon dioxide is so complex that anaerobic digesters have long been treated as {open_quotes}black boxes.{close_quotes} Research into this process during the past few decades has gradually unraveled this complexity, but many questions remain. The major biochemical reactions for forming methane by methanogens are largely understood, and evolutionary studies indicate that these microbes are as different from bacteria as they are from plants and animals. In anaerobic digesters, methanogens are at the terminus of a metabolic web, in which the reactions of myriads of other microbes produce a very limited range of compounds - mainly acetate, hydrogen, and formate - on which the methanogens grow and from which they form methane. {open_quotes}Interspecies hydrogen-transfer{close_quotes} and {open_quotes}interspecies formate-transfer{close_quotes} are major mechanisms by which methanogens obtain their ...
High energy radiation was studied as a means for destroying hazardous organic chemical wastes. Tests were conducted at bench scale with a {sup 60}Co source, and at full scale (387 l/min) with a 1.5 MV electron beam source. Bench scale tests for both benzene and phenol included 32 permutations of water quality factors. For some water qualities, as much as 99.99% of benzene or 90% of phenol were removed by 775 krads of {sup 60}Co irradiation. Full scale testing for destruction of benzene in a simulated waste-water mix showed loss of 97% of benzene following an 800 krad dose and 88% following a 500 krad dose. At these loss rates, approximately 5 Mrad of electron beam irradiation is required to reduce concentrations from 100 g/l to drinking water quality (5 {mu}g/l). Since many waste streams are also inhabited by bacterial populations which may affect filtering operations, the effect of irradiation on those populations was also studied. {sup 60}Co and electron beam irradiation were both ...
New tetradentate N(2)O(2) donor Schiff bases and their mononuclear Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), and Pd(II) complexes were synthesized and characterized extensively by IR, (1)H-, (13)C-NMR, mass, ESR, conductivity measurements, elemental and thermal analysis. Specifically the magnetic and electronic spectral measurements demonstrate the octahedral structures of cobalt(II), nickel(II) complexes and square planar geometries of copper(II), palladium(II) complexes. All the ligands and complexes were screened for their in vitro antibacterial activity against two gram-positive bacteria (Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus) and two gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia). In this study, Pd(II) complexes exhibited potent antibacterial activity against B. subtilis, S. aureus whereas other metal complexes also exerted good activity towards all tested strains even than standard drugs streptomycin and ampicillin. PMID:21297294
Both ammonium and nitrite act as substrates as well as potential inhibitors of anoxic ammonium-oxidizing (Anammox) bacteria. To satisfy demand of substrates for Anammox bacteria and to prevent substrate inhibition simultaneously; two strategies, namely high or low substrate concentration, were carefully compared in the operation of two Anammox upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors fed with different substrate concentrations. The reactor working at relatively low influent substrate concentration (NO(2)(-)-N, 240 mg-NL(-1)) was shown to avoid the inhibition caused by nitrite and free ammonia. Using the strategy of low substrate concentration, a record super high volumetric nitrogen removal rate of 45.24 kg-Nm(-3) day(-1) was noted after the operation of 230 days. To our knowledge, such a high value has not been reported previously. The evidence from transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed that the morphology and ultrastructure of ...
Acanthamoeba castellanii is a free-living amoeba found in soil, freshwater, and marine environments and an important predator of bacteria. Acanthamoeba castellanii is also an opportunistic pathogen of clinical interest, responsible for several distinct diseases in humans. In order to provide a genomic platform for the study of this ubiquitous and important protist, we generated a sequence survey of approximately 0.5 x coverage of the genome. The data predict that A. castellanii exhibits a greater biosynthetic capacity than the free-living Dictyostelium discoideum and the parasite Entamoeba histolytica, providing an explanation for the ability of A. castellanii to inhabit adversity of environments. Alginate lyase may provide access to bacteria within biofilms by breaking down the biofilm matrix, and polyhydroxybutyrate depolymerase may facilitate utilization of the bacterial storage compound polyhydroxybutyrate as a food source. Enzymes for the ...
The objectives of this study are to make a biosensor on a trial basis which can instantaneously measure the nitrogen in wastewater, and to develop a wastewater treatment system which is capable of on-line measurement and controlling. The system provides easier operational control relating to such a high efficient treatment as the removal of nitrogen content in wastewater, serving as a solution to the eutrophication problem. It can be applied also to the analysis of fertilizer components for agriculture. Ammonia oxidizing bacteria were immobilized with cellulose acetate film, which is mounted on a diaphragm type oxygen electrode to make a sensor, and its responsibility was studied. The gradient is slow in high concentration but sharp in low concentration, and it seems possible to use it for the measurement for less than 20 ppm nitrogen concentration. The dependence of the sensor including electrodes and activity of bacteria on temperature is ...
This project is concerned with the structure and function of the unique antenna system found in the green photosynthetic bacteria. The antenna system in these organisms is contained within a vesicle known as a chlorosome, which is attached to the cytoplasmic side of the cell membrane. Additional antenna pigments and reaction centers are contained in integral membrane proteins. Energy absorbed by the bacteriochlorophyll c (BChl c) pigments in the chlorosome is transferred via a ``baseplate`` array of BChl a antenna pigments into the membrane and to the reaction center. This system is similar in some respects to the phycobilisome antenna system found in cyanobacteria and some types of algae, in that a membrane-associated structure absorbs light and transfers it to the membrane where conversion to chemical energy takes place. However, the overall structure, the type of pigments utilized and the nature of the proteins in these two types of membrane-associated antenna ...
A quantum secure direct communication scheme using dense coding is proposed. At first, the sender (Alice) prepares four-particle genuine entangled states and shares them with the receiver (Bob) by sending two particles in each entangled state to him. Secondly, Alice encodes secret information by performing the unitary transformations on her particles and transmits them to Bob. Finally, Bob performs the joint measurements on his particles to decode the secret information. The two-step security test guarantees the security of communication.
We propose to encode a register of quantum bits in different collective electron spin wave excitations in a solid medium. Coupling to spins is enabled by locating them in the vicinity of a superconducting transmission line cavity, and making use of their strong collective coupling to the quantized radiation field. The transformation between different spin waves is achieved by applying gradient magnetic fields across the sample, while a Cooper pair box, resonant with the cavity field, may be used to carry out one- and two-qubit gate operations.
Open descendants extend conformal field theory to unoriented surfaces with boundaries. The construction rests on two types of generalizations of the fusion algebra. The first is needed even in the relatively simple case of diagonal models. It leads to a new tensor that satisfies the fusion algebra, but whose entries are signed integers. The second is needed when dealing with non-diagonal models, where Cardy's ansatz does not apply. It leads to a new tensor with positive integer entries, that satisfies a set of polynomial equations and encodes the classification of the allowed boundary operators. (orig.).
We investigate the parametrization issue for discrete-time stable all-pass multivariable systems by means of a Schur algorithm involving a Nudelman interpolation condition. A recursive construction of balanced realizations is associated with it, that possesses a very good numerical behavior. Several atlases of charts or families of local parametrizations are presented and for each atlas a chart selection strategy is proposed. The last one can be viewed as a nice mutual encoding property of lossless functions and turns out to be very efficient. These parametrizations allow for solving optimization problems within the fields of system identification and optimal control.
In this talk, we explore the feasibility of quantum computation using continuous-variable systems by means of local measurements only. In the first part of the talk, we will identify crucial limitations that arise when starting from Gaussian cluster states. This is done by resorting to a Gaussian projected entangled pair picture as well as to notions of continuous-variable quantum repeater networks. In the second part, we look at instances in which these limitations can be overcome, and how suitable encodings of qubits in oscillators and feasible non-Gaussian resource states give rise to universal schemes for quantum computing.
In this paper, we proposed a novel quantum secure direct communication scheme with one-time pad in stabilizer formalism. Based on the reuse of qubit sequence, an efficient secure communication of secret messages without first producing a shared secret key can be achieved. One hence may find that the amount of private key needed for quantum communication is smaller than that in the general case. Therefore, the present protocol which is feasible with the present-day techniques may be applied to quantum communication with short-length encoding.
We present a protocol for quantum key distribution using discrete modulation of coherent states of light. Information is encoded in the variable phase of coherent states which can be chosen from a regular discrete set ranging from binary to continuous modulation similar to phase-shift keying in classical communication. Information is decoded by simultaneous homodyne measurement of both quadratures and requires no active choice of basis. The protocol utilizes either direct or reverse reconciliation both with and without postselection. We analyze the security of the protocol and show how to enhance it by the optimal choice of all variable parameters of the quantum signal.
Human BTEB cDNA clones have been isolated, sequenced, and the corresponding gene has been assigned to human chromosome 9, region q13, by fluorescent in situ hybridization and DNA blot analysis using DNAs from hybrid cell clones containing a single human chromosome. The cDNA clone encodes a polypeptide of 244 amino acids whose sequence shows a high sequence similarity with the rat BTEB (98% amino acid identity).
The tet repressor regulated expression of the Tn-10-encoded tetracycline resistance determinant in a tetracycline-dependent manner. In the absence of tetracycline, the tet repressor binds as a dimer to the 19-base-pair palindromic tet operator sequence. Amino acid homologies and genetic studies with trans-dominant mutants suggest that sequence-specific recognition of the tet operator involves the extensively studied helix-turn-helix motif. We have used the uracil-DNA glycosylase (UDG) footprinting systems to identify thymine contacts in the tet operator that are essential for the formation of tet repressor-operator complexes.
Background The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) guidelines recommend that antibiotic prophylaxis should be instituted in any patient with cirrhosis and gastrointestinal hemorrhage, and that oral norfloxacin, intravenous ciprofloxacin, and ceftriaxone are preferable. However, the antimicrobial spectrum of the first generation of cephalosporins (cefazolin) covers a wide range of bacteria species, including community-acquired strains of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae, but their efficacy as prophylactic antibiotics in cirrhotic patients with acute hemorrhage was seldom warranted in the literature. This study aimed to explore the effects of cefazolin on the outcome of cirrhotic patients with acute variceal hemorrhage after endoscopic interventions. Method...
The C isotopic composition of CH4 emissions are strongly influenced by the pathway of CH4 formation. Contrary to data from other freshwater systems, soil gas and surface flux measurements made in the tropical rain forests of Puerto Rico strongly suggest that CH4 produced in these environments was derived from CO2 reduction, rather than from acetate consumption. This study explored the effects of bacterial competition for acetate, pH, and soil structure on the pathways of CH4 formation in tropical rain forest soils. Our goal was to test two principal hypotheses: (1) ferric iron-reducing bacteria out-competed methanogens for acetate, resulting in greater CO2 reduction rather than aceticlastic methanogenesis, and (2) the low pH of tropical rain forest soils favors CO2 reduction rather than aceticlastic methanogenesis. In addition, this study also investigated the effect of destroying soil aggregate structure on the pathways and rates of CH4 production. Ferric ...
Cultured fish and human cells have been used as bioassay systems for the evaluation of the toxicity of aquatic pollutants. Numerous assays using bacteria and yeast have also been used for such purposes. The authors report the toxicity of aquatic pollutants (Cd, Hg, and Ni), using cell culture systems and the yeast Saccharomyces cervisiae test. Cd, Hg, and Ni were chosen as model compounds of pollutants because the related toxicity is now fairly well established.
The present study was aimed to investigate antimicrobial potential of Glycyrrhiza glabra roots. Antimycobacterial activity of Glycyrrhiza glabra was found at 500mg/mL concentration. Bioactivity guided phytochemical analysis identified glabridin as potentially active against both Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra and H37Rv strains at 29.16mg/mL concentration. It exhibited antimicrobial activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Our results indicate potential use of licorice as antitubercular agent through systemic experiments and sophisticated anti-TB assay.
The emergence of bacterial antibiotic resistance is a growing problem, yet the variables that influence the rate of emergence of resistance are not well understood. In a microfluidic device designed to mimic naturally occurring bacterial niches, resistance of Escherichia coli to the antibiotic ciprofloxacin developed within 10 hours. Resistance emerged with as few as 100 bacteria in the initial inoculation. Whole-genome sequencing of the resistant organisms revealed that four functional single-nucleotide polymorphisms attained fixation. Knowledge about the rapid emergence of antibiotic resistance in the heterogeneous conditions within the mammalian body may be helpful in understanding the emergence of drug resistance during cancer chemotherapy. PMID:21940899
Screening of a human placenta lambdagt11 library has led to the isolation of the cDNA for the human ..beta../sub 1/-adrenergic receptor (..beta../sub 1/AR). Used as the probe was the human genomic clone termed G-21. This clone, which contains an intronless gene for a putative receptor, was previously isolated by virtue of its cross hybridization with the human ..beta../sub 2/-adrenergic receptor (..beta../sub 2/AR). The 2.4-kilobase cDNA for the human ..beta../sub 1/AR encodes a protein of 477 amino acid residues that is 69% homologous with the avian ..beta..AR but only 54% homologous with the human ..beta../sub 2/AR. This suggests that the avian gene encoding ..beta..AR and the human gene encoding ..beta../sub 1/AR evolved from a common ancestral gene. RNA blot analysis indicates a message of 2.5 kilobases in rat tissues, with a pattern of tissue distribution consistent with ..beta../sub 1/AR binding. This pattern is quite ...
The Drosophila sequence-specific DNA binding protein, Adf-1, is capable of activating transcription of the alcohol dehydrogenase gene, Adh, and is implicated in the transcriptional control of other developmentally regulated genes. We have cloned the cDNA encoding Adf-1 by generating specific DNA probes deduced from partial amino acid sequence of the protein. Several cDNA clones encoding an extended open reading frame were isolated from a phage lambda library. The complete amino acid sequence of Adf-1 deduced from the longest cDNA reveals structural similarities to the putative helix-turn-helix DNA binding motif of Myb and Myb-related proteins. DNA sequence analysis of genomic clones and Northern blot analysis of mRNA suggest that Adf-1 is a single-copy gene encoding a 1.9-kb transcript. Purified recombinant Adf-1 expressed in Escherichia coli binds specifically to Adf-1 recognition sites and activates transcription of a ...
Microorganisms associated with fractured basalt core were compared to those suspended in groundwater pumped from the same well in the eastern Snake River Plain Aquifer (Idaho, USA). Two wells influenced to different degrees by a mixed-waste plume in the fractured basalt aquifer were examined. In one well, an array of dialysis cells filled with either deionized water or crushed basalt was equilibrated to compare the microorganisms collected in this fashion with those from core and groundwater samples collected in a traditional manner from the same well. Analyses were performed to characterize these samples and to provide a basis for comparison. These included total cell counts by microscopy; total biomass by phospholipid fatty acid analysis; enumerations of viable aerobic heterotrophs, groups of putative aerobic co-metabolic TCE-degraders and aerobic H2-oxidizing bacteria; mineralization of 14C- labeled acetate; and enrichments for dissimilatory iron-reducing ...
A Norwegian Research Program on Improved Oil Recovery (IOR) in North Sea reservoirs was launched in 1992. Microbial methods, applied in this context, is a part of this program. The scope, the methodological approach, and results from the three first years are presented. Water profile control, using biomass to block high permeable zones of a reservoir, has been investigated using nitrate-reducing bacteria in the injected sea water as plugging agents. Emphasis has been put on developing a process that does not have disadvantages secondary to the process itself, such as souring and impairment of the overall injectivity of the field. Data from continuous culture studies indicate that souring may successfully be mitigated by adding nitrite to the injected seawater. The morphology and size of generic-nitrate-reducing seawater bacteria have been investigated. Screening of growth-promoting nutrients has been carried out, and some sources were detected ...
Immidacloprid is a cyclodiene organochlorine used as an insecticide all over the world and possessing a serous environmental threat. It is mostly used for cotton insects (bollworm, aphid and white fly). For isolation of imidacloprid degrading bacteria, two soil samples were collected from industrial contaminated sites of Kala Shah Kahu district sheikupura, having ten year history of use. Soil samples were analyzed by measuring pH and electric conductivity. The isolation of imidacroprid degrading bacteria was performed by enrichment technique. Eight bacterial strains, S/sub 1-a/ S/2-2-b/ S/2-c/ S/2-d/ S/2-e/ S/sub 2-f/ and S/sub 2-g/ and S/sub e-a/ were isolated on the basis of their colony morphologies. The purified colonies were characterized morphologically, physiologically and biochemically. Gram staining was done and Gram negative strain were confirmed on MacConkey agar and Eosin Methylene Blue. Bacterial strains were also checked for ...
The kinetics of benzoate degradation by the anaerobic syntrophic bacterium, Syntrophus buswellii, was studied in coculture with Desulfovibrio strain G11. The threshold value for benzoate degradation was dependent on the acetate concentration with benzoate threshold values ranging from 2.4 [mu]M at 20 mM acetate to 30.0 [mu]M at 65 mM acetate. Increasing acetate concentrations also inhibited the rate of benzoate degradation with a apparent K[sub i] for acetate inhibition of 7.0 mM. Lower threshold values were obtained when nitrate rather than sulfate was the terminal electron acceptor. These data are consistent with a thermodynamic explanation for the threshold, and suggest that there is a minimum Gibbs free energy value required for the degradation of benzoate. An acetoacetyl-CoA thiolase has been isolated from Syntrophomonas wolfei; it is apparently a key enzyme controlling the synthesis of poly-B-hydroxyalkanoate from acetyl-CoA in this organism. Kinetic characterization of the ...
The effects of lead on the development of the nervous system are of immediate concern to human health. While it is clear that lead can affect neuronal development at levels of exposure within the range found in the environment, the particular mechanism of the disruption is not readily ascertained. The goal of the authors research is to develop a model system in which the effects of lead on central nervous system development can be demonstrated. To study neuronal development in a system that minimizes such difficulties, the authors have grafted discrete brain regions derived from rat fetuses into the anterior chamber of the eye of adult hosts. The brain pieces continue organotypic development in the eye, but are isolated from possible secondary changes due to alterations in the development of the endocrine and other somatic systems because the adult host has these systems already fully developed. Using this system, they have discovered that lead induces a hypernoradrenergic innervation ...
Several series of pyrimidine nucleosides were evaluated as part of a larger program to develop non-invasive brain imaging agents. The interaction of these antitumor/antiviral nucleosides with an NBMPR-sensitive murine erythroctye nucleoside transporter was evaluated by determining their inhibitory effect (K_i) on zero-trans influx of thymidine. Within each series of compounds, which had F, Cl, Br or I as halogen substituents, an increase in size of the halogen atom or a decrease in electronegativity decreased affinity for the transporter. Partition coefficients (P) of these pyrimidine nucleosides were measured to determine their potential to diffuse across the blood-brain-barrier (BBB). Most of the pyrimidine nucleosides had lower P values (log P < 0.9), and were considered to be poor candidates for simple diffusion across the BBB, although an active BBB transport mechanism for some nucleosides could be operative. For a given series, it was found that log P ...
In this study, silver nanoparticles were formed on a natural macroporous matrix, the stem of rice-paper plant, by reducing Ag{sup +} in aqueous solution through in situ processing without using any other stabilizers. The pores of the matrix, with their size of about 100 {mu}m, were thought to act as reaction compartments for the nucleation and growth of silver nanoparticles, and the control of nucleation of silver crystal during the reduction reaction was found to be important to the successful formation of nanosized silver particles onto the matrix. The diameter and amount of resultant silver particles can be controlled by changing the reaction conditions. Under optimized conditions, the content of silver particles in the matrix can reach as high as 1.8 wt% with the particle diameters being kept below 100 nm. The anti-microbial activities in terms of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for the silver nanoparticle composites against Escherichia coli and Candida ...
Conditioned medium from Sertoli cells, prepared from testes of 20-day-old rats, contains component(s) that inhibit the incorporation of (3H)-thymidine into DNA of peritubular myoid cells (PMC) and inhibit the proliferation of PMC. These components are trypsin-resistant, heat-stable compounds having a molecular weight less than 30,000. The active inhibitory components in Sertoli cell conditioned medium are inactivated by treatment with heparinase, but not by treatment with hyaluronidase or chondroitin sulfate lyases. Addition of heparin or heparan sulfate results in inhibition of DNA synthesis by PMC in a dose-dependent manner, whereas other glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) examined (hyaluronic acid, keratan sulfate, and chondroitin sulfate) have no detectable effects. Heparin and heparan sulfate are unique among GAGs tested in inhibiting the characteristic multilayer growth pattern of PMC following the attainment of confluence in serum-rich medium. On the basis of these ...
Proteomic changes in proteins secreted by human hepatocellular carcinomas (HepG2) cells exposed to butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP) were evaluated. HepG2 cells were treated with three different concentrations of BBP (0, 10, or 25 ?M) for 24 or 48 h. Following incubation, the cells were subjected to proteomic analysis using two different pI ranges (4-7 and 6-9) and large-size two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Results showed resolution of a total of 2776 protein spots. Of these, 29, including 19 upregulated and 10 downregulated proteins, were identified by electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry-mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS). Among these, the identities of cystatin C, Rho guanine nucleotide dissociation inhibitor, gelsolin, DEK protein, Raf kinase inhibitory protein, triose phosphate ...
NFAT involvement in adipocyte physiological processes was examined by treatment with CsA and/or GSK3{beta} inhibitors (Li{sup +} or TZDZ-8), which prevent or increase NFAT nuclear translocation, respectively. CsA treatment reduced basal and TNF{alpha}-induced rates of lipolysis by 50%. Adipocytes preincubated with Li{sup +} or TZDZ-8 prior to CsA and/or TNF{alpha}, exhibited enhanced basal rates of lipolysis and complete inhibition of CsA-mediated decreased rates of lipolysis. CsA treatment dramatically reduced the mRNA levels of adipocyte-specific genes (aP2, HSL, PPAR{gamma}, ACS and Adn), compared with control or TNF{alpha}-treatment, whereas Li{sup +} pretreatment blocked the inhibitory effects of CsA, and mRNA levels of aP2, HSL, PPAR{gamma}, and ACS were found at or above control levels. NFAT nuclear localization, assessed by EMSA, confirmed that CsA or Li{sup +} treatments inhibited or increased NFAT nuclear translocation, respectively. These results show ...
We report the isolation of a new bacterium species (named as DN-06) that degrades pyridine, a model compound containing both carbon and nitrogen, from the aerobic activated sludge in a coking wastewater treatment plant. DN-06 was identified as Achromobacter sp. using 16S rDNA sequence analysis. In batch culture, more than 95% of pyridine (500?mg/L) was degraded within 18?h by DN-06 grown at 35?C and pH?8 with agitation at 170?rpm. Degradation experiments of pyridine at different initial concentrations (50?4,300?mg/L) revealed that pyridine was an inhibitory substrate, and that neither yield coefficient Y nor endogenous decay coefficient K d was a constant. The values of Y and K d were 0.55?0.74 and 0.0032?0.0057?h?1, respectively. Five kinetic models (Haldane, Yano, Aiba, Webb, and Monod) ...
Objective: To study the effects of minocycline hydrochloride (MINO) on the formation of tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) staining-positive multinucleated osteoclast-like cells in mouse bone marrow cells (BMCs) treated with 1@a,25(OH)"2D"3 or soluble receptor activator of nuclear factor-@kB ligand (s-RANKL). Materials and methods: Mouse BMCs were cultured in alpha-modified minimum essential medium containing foetal calf serum (10%) and tetracyclines (2.5, 5 and 10@mM), such as MINO, tetracycline hydrochloride (TC), oxytetracycline hydrochloride (OXT) or doxycycline (DOXY) in the presence of 1@a,25(OH)"2D"3 (10nM) or s-RANKL (20ng/ml) for 7 days, and the number of TRAP staining-positive osteoclast-like cells was counted. In RNA isolated from BMCs treated with 1@a,25(OH)"2D"3 or s-R...
The effect of chronic administration of phenobarbital on the binding of phorbol-12,13-dibutyrate (({sup 3}H)PDBu), an activator of protein kinase C (PKC), was examined in rat liver microsomes. A significant increase in the number of binding sites was observed in microsomes of Fisher 344 rats. However, no change appeared in liver cytosol binding of PDBu. Consequently, a translocation process of PKC is unlikely. The increase in ({sup 3}H)PDBu binding in liver microsomes is significant 24 h. after one injection of phenobarbital and reaches its maximum in 2 days. In other strains of rats (ACI and lean Zucker), significant differences were found in the increase of ({sup 3}H)PDBu binding in microsomes. Fisher 344 were the most sensitive, lean Zucker rats, the least sensitive. Those results parallel the pentoxy-resorufin O demethylase activity in the microsomes of the same animals. EC{sub 50} values for inhibition of ({sup 3}H)PDBu binding by pentobarbital were determined in control ...
The objective of this work was to investigate the efficiency of imidazole and its derivatives 4-methylimidazone, 4-methyl-5-hydroxymethylimidazone, 1-phenyl-4-methylimidazone, and 1-(p-tolyl)-4-methylimidazole for corrosion inhibition of copper in 0.5 M hydrochloric acid. Corrosion inhibition was studied using potentiodynamic methods. These studies have shown that 1-(p-tolyl)-4-methylimidazole has the best inhibitory efficiency. Activation energies were obtained by measuring the temperature dependence of the corrosion current. The activation energies in the presence of the various inhibitors are low (3--5 kJ/mol), with the best inhibitor showing the highest value. The adsorptive behavior of the imidazole derivatives on the copper electrode surface follows a Freundlich-type isotherm. The standard free energies of adsorption are also low (14--16 kJ/mol), indicating that imidazole and its derivatives physisorb on the copper surface. Possible mechanisms of corrosion ...
Eight patients, one male and seven females, with no pre-existing hypothalamic-pituitary disease, who developed symptoms of hypopituitarism following cranial irradiation for nasopharyngeal carcinoma were studied 5 years or more after radiotherapy. All were GH deficient. Four of the patients with no GH response during insulin tolerance tests (ITT) showed increased GH in response to synthetic human growth hormone releasing factor (GRF-44). Four patients had impaired cortisol responses to ITT, and gradual but diminished cortisol responses to ovine corticotrophin releasing factor (CRF-41). There was no significant difference between mean peak increments in response to ITT and those in response to CRF-41. TSH responses to TRH were delayed in five and absent in two patients; four of these had low free T4 index. Prolactin was raised in all seven women and increased further in response to TRH. Two patients had impaired gonadotrophin responses to LHRH. None of the patients had clinical or ...
This study describes the role of "inflammatory" oxidized (Ox) phospholipids in regulation of rahU (PA0122) expression and biofilm formation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa (383) wild type (rahU+) and rahU mutant (rahU-) strains. Functional analysis of RahU protein from P. aeruginosa in presence of Ox-phospholipids show: (a) LysoPC modulates RahU gene/and protein expression in rahU+ cells; (b) rahU promoter activity is increased by lysoPC and inhibited by PAPC, Ox-PAPC and arachidonic acid; the latter inhibitory effect can be reversed by lysoPC, which was enzymatically derived from PAPC; (c) biofilm formation increased in rahU- cells as compared to rahU+; and (d) inhibition of rahU promoter activity by PAPC and AA (but not lysoPC) showed significantly augmented biofilm formation in rahU+ but not ...
Effects of cell concentrations on the survival and repopulation of haemopoietic stem cells after irradiation were studied in the long-term culture of mouse bone marrow cells in vitro. No difference was observed in the survival of the stem cells among cultures in which 0 - 10/sup 7/ cells were re-inoculated on the adherent cell colonies in the culture flask. Stem cells showed a significant proliferation within 1 week and the number of the stem cells exceeded the control in 3 weeks after irradiation in the cultures with less than 10/sup 6/ re-inoculated cells per flask. In contrast, there was a considerable delay in the onset of stem cell proliferation after irradiation in the culture with 10/sup 7/ cells per flask. Based on these results, a possibility that a stimulator of stem cell proliferation, released from irradiated stromal cells, is cancelled by an inhibitory factor produced by irradiated or unirradiated haemopoietic cells is postulated.
Rat lung and liver microsomes did not undergo lipid peroxidation in the absence of iron when incubated with NADPH and concentrations of paraquat ranging from 10/sup -7/ to 10/sup -2/ M. Paraquat also did not stimulate rat liver and lung microsomal peroxidation induced by added iron and NADPH, and was inhibitory at concentrations above 10 ..mu..M. Similarly, no stimulation of peroxidation was produced by paraquat in rabbit or human lung microsomes; however, under similar conditions, paraquat enhanced NADPH/iron-dependent peroxidation in mouse lung and liver microsomes obtained from rats sacrificed at 12, 18, and 24 hr following a lethal dose of paraquat (50 mg/kg, ip), there was no loss of vitamin E or increase in susceptibility to in vitro peroxidation which would be expected if lipid peroxidation had occurred in vivo although extensive lung damage developed during this time period. These results indicate that paraquat does not cause pulmonary toxicity by ...
The accumulation of osmolytes in leaf tissues and the abscisic acid-induced stomatal closure are well-recognized mechanisms associated with drought tolerance in crop plants. We determine the response in terms of osmotic potential and the contents of leaf proline, glycine betaine and soluble sugar at booting and grain filling stages of four wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars to drought and exogenously applied abscisic acid (ABA) in a pot study. Leaf sample were collected 3, 6 and 9 days after drought induction and at 48 and 72 h of re-watering (recovery). Marked decreases in osmotic potential associated with the accumulation of proline, glycine betaine and soluble sugars occurred under conditions of drought stress Accession 011320 was most sensitive to drought and showed the largest decrease in osmotic potential and least accumulation of proline, sugar and glycine betaine The inhibitory effects of drought stress were ameliorated by exogenous application of ABA. ...
Treatment of cultures of 3T3-L1 cells with methylisobutyl-xanthine and dexamethasone has been shown to result in accumulation of lipid and conversion to the morphology of adipocytes in more than 90% of the cells. The status of the stimulatory (Gs), inhibitory (Gi) and Go-proteins during the course of 3T3-L1 differentiation was examined. The amount of alpha subunit of Gs (#alpha#Gs), assayed by radiolabeling in the presence of cholera toxin and ["3"2P]NAD"+, increased upon differentiation as previously described by others. The amounts of #alpha#Gi and #alpha#Go assayed by radiolabeling in the presence of pertussis toxin and ["3"2P]NAD"+ increased 3-fold upon differentiation. Immunoblots of cell membranes subjected to gel electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulfate were probed with two rabbit antisera raised against bovine brain #alpha#Go and with one raised against the#beta#-subunit of the bovine rod-outer-segment G-protein, referred to as transducin. The ...
Abstract Four new dimeric naphtho--pyrones, named rubasperone D (1), rubasperone E (2), rubasperone F (3), and its atropisomer rubasperone G (4), together with four known monomeric naphtho--pyrones, TMC 256 A1 (5), rubrofusarin B (6), fonsecin (7), and flavasperone (8), were isolated from the mangrove endophytic fungus Aspergillus tubingensis (GX1-5E) cultivated in solid rice medium. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods, including IR, 1D- and 2D-NMR, and MS. In the in vitro cytotoxicity assays, 5 displayed inhibitory activities against tumor cell lines of MCF-7, MDA-MB-435, Hep3B, Huh7, SNB19, and U87-MG with IC50 values between 19.92 and 47.98-M. Compounds 1, 6, and 8 also showed mild cytotoxic activity.
The present study investigated the effects of peppermint (Mentha piperita), dill (Anethum graveolens) and basil (Ocimum basilicum) on yogurt formation, proteolysis and inhibition of angiotensin-1 converting enzyme (ACE). Herbal-yogurts had faster rates of pH reduction than plain-yogurt. All herbal-yogurts had higher (p < 0.05) antioxidant activities than plain-yogurt, both at the end of fermentation and throughout the storage period. The o-phthalaldehyde (OPA) peptides in herbal-yogurts increased by 28-36% after 7 days of storage. All herbal-yogurts showed higher anti-ACE activity than plain-yogurt at corresponding storage periods. M. piperita yogurt had highest inhibitory effect on ACE activity throughout the storage period. Peppermint, dill and basil may be used to modify microbial ferme...
Purified protein kinase C (C-kinase) from guinea pig pancreas and rat brain stimulated adenylate cyclase activity in purified rat adipocyte membranes. Cyclase stimulation occurred over 100 to 1000 mU/ml of C-kinase activity, required greater than 10 ..mu..M calcium, proceeded without a lag, was not readily reversible, and required no exogenous phospholipid. Moreover, C-kinase inhibitors, such as chlorpromazine and palmitoyl carnitine, inhibited selectively adenylate cyclase which was activated by C-kinase and calcium. Depending on assay conditions, 10 nM 12-0-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) either enhanced or was required for kinase action on cyclase. Also, TPA plus calcium promoted the quantitative association of C-kinase with membranes. Adenylate cyclase activation by C-kinase was seen both in the presence and absence of exogenous GTP, indicating that the kinase effect does not result from an action on the GTP-binding, inhibitory regulatory component (N/sub ...
The inducible transcription factor NF-#kappa#B regulates divergent signaling pathways including inflammatory response and cancer development. Selective inhibitors for NF-#kappa#B signaling are potentially useful for treatment of inflammation and cancer. NF-#kappa#B is canonically activated by preferential disposal of its inhibitory protein; I#kappa#B, which suppresses the nuclear translocation of NF-#kappa#B. I#kappa#B#alpha# (a major member of I#kappa#B family proteins) is phosphorylated with an I#kappa#B kinase (IKK) and subsequently polyubiquitylated by SCF"#beta#"T"r"C"P"1 ubiquitin-ligase in the presence of E1 and E2 prior to proteasomal degradation. Here, we describe a novel inhibitor termed GS143, which suppressed I#kappa#B#alpha# ubiquitylation, but not I#kappa#B#alpha# phosphorylation, MDM2-directed p53 ubiquitylation, and proteasome activity in vitro. GS143 markedly suppressed the destruction of I#kappa#B#alpha# stimulated by TNF#alpha# and a set of ...
Materials and methods: 12 patients with 22 coronary bypass grafts underwent intraoperative flow quantification using the transit time ultrasound method. These values were compared to postoperative MR phase shift measurements. Flow measurements were performed preoperatively in 28 coronary arteries of 20 patients. For flow measurement, we used a velocity-encoded k-space segmented gradient echo sequence with a temporal resolution of 110 or 125 ms, respectively. 6-8 pase shift images could be acquired during one cardiac cycle. Results: There was a significant correlation between intraoperative and flow measurements using velocity-encoded MR imaging (r=0.76, p<0.0001, t-test). Flow volumes determined by MR imaging were systematically larger than those determined by the transit time ultrasound method. Mean flow in coronary arteries was reduced in severely stenosed vessels (>70%) compared to normal vessels. Intra- and interobserver ...
We have determined the actual RNA sequence of four mitochondrial genes: pcf, nad3, rps12, and coxII. Because plant mitochondrial proteins cannot be predicted from DNA sequences, the actual primary structures of the encoded proteins were unknown. We have gained information concerning the process of RNA editing. Editing can occur before splicing. Our data is consistent with the hypothesis that RNA editing is not simultaneous with transcription. Unlike other systems, the process of editing in plant does not exhibit a discernable direction. As a result of our RNA editing studies, we have produced a number of clones of the proper coding regions tube used for incorporating these mitochondrial genes into the nucleus. 6 refs., 4 figs.
Drosophila melanogaster is a model organism rich in genetic tools to manipulate and identify neural circuits involved in specific behaviors. Here we present a technique for two-photon calcium imaging in the central brain of head-fixed Drosophila walking on an air-supported ball. The ball's motion is tracked at high resolution and can be treated as a proxy for the fly's own movements. We used the genetically encoded calcium sensor, GCaMP3.0, to record from important elements of the motion-processing pathway, the horizontal-system lobula plate tangential cells (LPTCs) in the fly optic lobe. We presented motion stimuli to the tethered fly and found that calcium transients in horizontal-system neurons correlated with robust optomotor behavior during walking. Our technique allows both behavior ...
The human genome encodes 11 cysteine cathepsins belonging to the papain-like family of cysteine peptidases that are known predominantly as endo-lysosomal enzymes. However, it is now understood that the functions and activities of cysteine cathepsins are not limited to endo-lysosomal compartments, as they are also active in the peri- and extracellular space. The thyroid gland is an endocrine organ where such intra- and extracellular proteolytic activities are required to solubilize the prohormone thyroglobulin from its luminal, covalently cross-linked storage forms for subsequent processing into smaller protein fragments and thyroid hormone liberation. Cathepsin K has been identified as one of the cysteine cathepsins with a crucial role in thyroglobulin processing. However, cathepsin K has ...
If a closed smooth manifold $M$ with an action of a torus $T$ satisfies certain conditions, then a labeled graph $\\mG_M$ with labeling in $H^2(BT)$ is associated with $M$, which encodes a lot of geometrical information on $M$. For instance, the "cohomology" ring $\\mHT^*(\\mG_M)$ of $\\mG_M$ is defined to be a subring of $\\bigoplus_{v\\in V(\\mG_M)}H^*(BT)$, where $V(\\mG_M)$ is the set of vertices of $\\mG_M$, and is known to be often isomorphic to the equivariant cohomology $H^*_T(M)$ of $M$. In this paper, we determine the ring structure of $\\mHT^*(\\mG_M)$ when $M$ is a flag manifold of classical type directly without using the fact that $\\mHT^*(\\mG_M)$ is isomorphic to $H^*_T(M)$.
Purpose The paired-like homeodomain transcription factor 2 (PITX2) gene encodes a transcription factor controlled by the WNT/Dvl/CTNNB1 and Hedgehog/TGFB pathways in the pathogenesis of colorectal cancer (CRC). Although PITX2 is reportedly involved in various functions, including tissue development by controlling cell growth, its significance in CRC remains unclear. We report our findings regarding abnormal PITX2 expression in human CRC. Methods PITX2 expression was evaluated in 5 human CRC cell lines and 92 primary CRC samples. Cell growth was evaluated after inhibition of PITX2 expression or after exogenous introduction of PITX2. Results PITX2 expression was seen in all the five CRC cell lines. The study of tissue samples indicated that PITX2 expression was significantly higher in cancer...
DFNA5 was first identified as a gene causing autosomal dominant hearing loss (HL). Different mutations have been found, all exerting a highly specific gain-of-function effect, in which skipping of exon 8 causes the HL. Later reports revealed the involvement of the gene in different types of cancer. Epigenetic silencing of DFNA5 in a large percentage of gastric, colorectal and breast tumors and p53-dependent transcriptional activity have been reported, concluding that DFNA5 acts as a tumor suppressor gene in different frequent types of cancer. Despite these data, the molecular function of DFNA5 has not been investigated properly. Previous transfection studies with mutant DFNA5 in yeast and in mammalian cells showed a toxic effect of the mutant protein, which was not seen after transfection ...
Most heat shock proteins (Hsps) function as molecular chaperones that help organisms to cope with stress. Although the best empirical evidence is related to heat shock, there is evidence that Hsps and their encoding genes are involved in resistance to other ecologically relevant types of stresses such as those imposed by high population density. We quantified density-dependent gene expression of large (i.e. Hsp40, Hsc70 and Hsp90) and small (Hsp20.5, Hsp20.6 and Hsp20.7) heat shock genes in neural tissue of fifth-instar nymphs of the Australian plague locust, Chortoicetes terminifera, using reverse transcription-quantitative PCR. Locusts are of particular interest when studying the influence of stress induced by high population density since they show an extreme form of phenotypic plastici...
Sleep after learning is often beneficial for memory. Reinstating an environmental context that was present at learning during subsequent retrieval also leads to superior declarative memory performance. This study examined how post-learning sleep, relative to wakefulness, impacts upon context-dependent memory effects. Thirty-two participants encoded word lists in each of two rooms (contexts), which were different in terms of size, odour and background music. Immediately after learning and following a night of sleep or a day of wakefulness, memory for all previously studied words was tested using a category-cued recall task in room one or two alone. Accordingly, a comparison could be made between words retrieved in an environmental context which was the same as, or different to, that of the ...
We propose a quantum secure direct communication scheme based on non-orthogonal entangled pairs and local measurement. In this scheme, we use eight non-orthogonal entangled pairs to act as quantum channels. Due to the non-orthogonality of the quantum channels, the present protocol can availably prohibit from all kinds of valid eavesdropping and acquire a secure quantum channel. By local measurement, the sender acquires a secret random sequence. The process of encoding on the random sequence is identical to the one in one-time-pad. So the present protocol is secure. Even for a highly lossy channel, our scheme is also valid. The scheme is feasible with present-day techniques.
Atomic ensembles, comprising clouds of atoms addressed by laser fields, provide an attractive system for both the storage of quantum information and the coherent conversion of quantum information between atomic and optical degrees of freedom. We describe a scheme for full-scale quantum computing with atomic ensembles, in which qubits are encoded in symmetric collective excitations of many atoms. We consider the most important sources of error-imperfect exciton-photon coupling and photon losses-and demonstrate that the scheme is extremely robust against these processes: the required photon emission and collection efficiency threshold is #approx#>86%. Our scheme uses similar methods to those already demonstrated experimentally in the context of quantum repeater schemes and yet has information processing capabilities far beyond those proposals.
An analysis is made of the basic principles and methods of construction of integrated optical circuits (IOC) for data processing, which are optical waveguide processors in the integrated form. A classification is provided of IOC in accordance with the nature of the input connections to optical components and in accordance with their intended function. An analysis is made of the current status of research and development of analog IOC for handling analog and digital signals, IOC for computing technology, and switching IOC. A detailed analysis is made of IOC with different functions in data processing: spectrum analyzers and correlators, analog-digital converters, circuits for identification of data sets and for encoding of signals, threshold and multistable circuits, logic and arithmetic units, and switching arrays. Descriptions are given of IOC for optically controlled data handling: bistable purely optical logic circuits, multivibrators, flip-flops, and optical ...
Mimivirus is the prototype of a new family (the Mimiviridae) of nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses (NCLDVs), which already include the Poxviridae, Iridoviridae, Phycodnaviridae and Asfarviridae. Mimivirus specifically replicates in cells from the genus Acanthamoeba. Proteomic analysis of purified mimivirus particles revealed the presence of many subunits of the DNA-directed RNA polymerase II complex. A fully functional pre-transcriptional complex appears to be loaded in the virions, allowing mimivirus to initiate transcription within the host cytoplasm immediately upon infection independently of the host nuclear apparatus. To fully understand this process, a systematic study of mimivirus proteins that are predicted (by bioinformatics) or suspected (by proteomic analysis) to be involved in...
Toxigenic Clostridium sordellii strains are increasingly recognized to cause highly lethal infections in humans that are typified by a toxic shock syndrome (TSS). Two glucosylating toxins, lethal toxin (TcsL) and hemorrhagic toxin (TcsH) are believed to be important in the pathogenesis of TSS. While non-toxigenic strains of C. sordellii demonstrate reduced cytotoxicity in vitro and lower virulence in animal models of infection, there are few data regarding their behavior in humans. Here we report a non-TSS C. sordellii infection in the context of a polymicrobial bacterial cholangitis. The C. sordellii strain associated with this infection did not carry either the TcsL-encoding tcsL gene or the tcsH gene for TcsH. In addition, the strain was neither cytotoxic in vitro nor lethal in a murine...
Summary. Ratiometric fluorescent dyes are often used to monitor free ion concentrations in vivo, especially in cells that are recalcitrant to transformation with genetically encoded fluorescent markers. Although intracellular dye distributions are often found to be cytosolic, dye localisation has often not been examined in detail. We began exploring the use of BCECF (2?,7?-bis(2-carboxyethyl)-5(6)-carboxyfluorescein) to monitor pH in the giant alga Chara australis and discovered that younger leaf cells could be loaded using the acetoxymethyl ester of BCECF. However, we were puzzled to find in microphotometric measurements that the fluorescence ratio appeared insensitive to manipulations affecting cytosolic pH. Confocal imaging of C. australis cells loaded with BCECF showed an accumulation ...
Protein motions on all timescales faster than molecular tumbling are encoded in the spectral density. The dissection of complex protein dynamics is typically performed using relaxation rates determined at high and ultra-high field. Here we expand this range of the spectral density to low fields through field cycling using the nucleocapsid protein of the SARS coronavirus as a model system. The field-cycling approach enables site-specific measurements of R{sub 1} at low fields with the sensitivity and resolution of a high-field magnet. These data, together with high-field relaxation and heteronuclear NOE, provide evidence for correlated rigid-body motions of the entire {beta}-hairpin, and corresponding motions of adjacent loops with a time constant of 0.8 ns (mesodynamics). MD simulations substantiate these findings and provide direct verification of the time scale and collective nature of these motions.
Abstract Host-microorganism interactions in the intestinal tract are complex, and little is known about specific nonpathogenic microbial factors triggering host responses in the gut. In this study, mannose-specific interactions of Lactobacillus plantarum 299v with jejunal epithelium were investigated using an in situ pig Small Intestinal Segment Perfusion model. The effects of L. plantarum 299v wild-type strain were compared with those of two corresponding mutant strains either lacking the gene encoding for the mannose-specific adhesin (msa) or sortase (srtA; responsible for anchoring of cell surface proteins like Msa to the cell wall). A slight enrichment of the wild-type strain associated with the intestinal surface could be observed after 8 h of perfusion when a mixture of wild-type and...
Sensory stimuli are encoded differently across cortical layers and it is unknown how response characteristics relate to the morphological identity of responding cells. We therefore juxtasomally recorded action potential (AP) patterns from excitatory cells in layer (L) 2/3, L4, L5 and L6 of rat barrel cortex in response to a standard stimulus (e.g. repeated deflection of single whiskers in the caudal direction). Subsequent single-cell filling with biocytin allowed for post hoc identification of recorded cells. We report three major conclusions. First, sensory-evoked responses were layer- and cell-type-specific but always
Abstract Background: G proteins are ubiquitously expressed signal transduction proteins playing a key role in multiple signal transduction pathways. The Gas subunit has been considered as an apoptosis factor. In this study the role of GNAS T393C genotypes of the GNAS gene encoding Gas was analyzed for its influence on the development and progression of prostate cancer. Methods: Genotyping of the GNAS T393C polymorphism in 196 prostate cancer patients and 200 healthy controls was performed by DNA extraction followed by PCR and restriction analysis. Results: We observed no evidence of effects related to GNAS T393C genotype as demonstrated by a comparison of the genotype distribution in prostate cancer patients and healthy controls, the genotype distribution dependent on grade of the primary ...
The response regulator protein is a core element of two-component signaling pathway. In this study, we investigated functions of BRRG-1 of Botrytis cinerea, a gene that encodes a putative response regulator protein, which is homologous to Rrg-1 in Neurospora crassa. The BRRG-1 gene deletion mutant ?Brrg1-62 was unable to produce conidia. The mutant showed increased sensitivity to osmotic stress mediated by NaCl and KCl, and to oxidative stress generated by H2O2. Additionally, the mutant was more sensitive to the fungicides iprodione, fludioxonil, and triadimefon than the parental strain. Western-blot analysis showed that the Bos-2 protein, the putative downstream component of Brrg-1, was not phosphorylated in the ?Brrg1-62. Real-time polymerase chain reaction assays showed that expression ...
Abstract The heterotetrameric K++-channel KCNQ1/KCNE1 is expressed in heart, skeletal muscle, liver and several epithelia including the renal proximal tubule. In the heart, it contributes to the repolarization of cardiomyocytes. The repolarization is impaired in ischemia. Ischemia stimulates the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), a serine/threonine kinase, sensing energy depletion and stimulating several cellular mechanisms to enhance energy production and to limit energy utilization. AMPK has previously been shown to downregulate the epithelial Na++ channel ENaC, an effect mediated by the ubiquitin ligase Nedd4-2. The present study explored whether AMPK regulates KCNQ1/KCNE1. To this end, cRNA encoding KCNQ1/KCNE1 was injected into Xenopus oocytes with and without additional injection o...
Normal human foreskin keratinocytes cotransfected with the neomycin resistance gene and recombinant human papillomavirus (HPV) DNAs (types 16, 18, 31, and 33) that have a high or moderate association with cervical malignancy acquired immortality and contained integrated and transcriptionally active viral genomes. Only transcripts from the intact E6 and E7 genes were detected in at least one cell line, suggesting that one or both of these genes are responsible for immortalization. Recombinant HPV DNAs with low or no oncogenic potential for cervical cancer (HPV1a, -5, -6b, and -11) induced small G418-resistant colonies that senesced as did the nontransfected cells. These colonies contained only episomal virus DNA; therefore, integration of HPV sequences is important for immortalization of keratinocytes. This study suggests that the virus-encoded immortalization function contributes to the pathogenesis of cervical carcinoma.
Background In chordates, retinoid metabolism is an important target of short-chain dehydrogenases/reductases (SDRs). It is not known whether SDRs play a role in retinoid metabolism of protostomes, such as Drosophila melanogaster. Methods Drosophila genome was searched for genes encoding proteins with ?50% identity to human retinol dehydrogenase 12 (RDH12). The corresponding proteins were expressed in Sf9 cells and biochemically characterized. Their phylogenetic relationships were analyzed using PHYLIP software. Results A total of six Drosophila SDR genes were identified. Five of these genes are clustered on chromosome 2 and one is located on chromosome X. The deduced proteins are 300 to 406 amino acids long and are associated with microsomal membranes. They recognize all-trans-retinaldehyd...
The gene encoding the human type I pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide receptor (ADCYAP1R1) was mapped to chromosome 7 by PCR analysis of genomic DNA from a human/rodent somatic cell hybrid mapping panel. This assignment was confirmed and the gene localized to chromosome band 7p14 by fluorescence in situ hybridization. A yeast artificial chromosome containing ADCYAP1R1 was identified in the CEPH {open_quotes}B{close_quotes} Mega-YAC library. This YAC includes two highly polymorphic dinucleotide repeat sequences that will facilitate genetic studies of the contribution of ADCYAP1R1 in disease states of the central nervous and neuroendocrine systems. 13 refs., 1 fig.
Deformations of topological open string theories are described, with an emphasis on their algebraic structure. They are encoded in the mixed bulk-boundary correlators. They constitute the Hochschild complex of the open string algebra - the complex of multilinear maps on the boundary Hilbert space. This complex is known to have the structure of a Gerstenhaber algebra (Deligne theorem), which is also found in closed string theory. Generalising the case of function algebras with a B-field, we identify the algebraic operations of the bulk sector, in terms of the mixed correlators. This gives a physical realisation of the Deligne theorem. We translate to the language of certain operads (spaces of d-discs with gluing) and d-algebras, and comment on generalisations, notably to the AdS/CFT correspondence. The formalism is applied to the topological A- and B-models on the disc. (author)
Gravitational lensing distorts the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature and polarization fields and encodes valuable information on distances and growth rates at intermediate redshifts into the lensed power spectra. The non-Gaussian bandpower covariance induced by the lenses is negligible to l=2000 for all but the B polarization field where it increases the net variance by up to a factor of 10 and favors an observing strategy with 3 times more area than if it were Gaussian. To quantify the cosmological information, we introduce two lensing observables, characterizing nearly all of the information, which simplify the study of non-Gaussian impact, parameter degeneracies, dark energy models, and complementarity with other cosmological probes. Information on the intermediate redshift parameters rapidly becomes limited by constraints on the cold dark matter density and initial amplitude of fluctuations as observations improve. Extraction of this information ...
The full length cDNA of the Brn1 was first cloned, and then expression of the Brn1 was analyzed and the function was identified by silencing technology. Results show that the full length cDNA of the C. lunata Brn1 gene contains 1001 base pairs and an 801?bp open reading frame encoding 267 amino acids. Semi-quantitative PCR analysis shows that the expression of Brn1 at 96?h is significantly higher than at 24 and 72?h (p?Brn1-silenced transformants were light brown in culture filtrate, and have significantly reduced toxin production relative to the wild-type. These results imply that Brn1 gene in C. lunata is not only involved in 1,8-dihydroxynaphthalene melanin synthesis, but is also relatively associated with toxin biosynthesis of the pathogen.
We determined the chromosomal localization and structure of the gene encoding human type II inosine 5{prime}-monophosphate dehydrogenase (IMPDH, EC 1.1.1.205), an enzyme associated with cellular proliferation, malignant transformation, and differentiation. Using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primers specific for type II IMPDH, we screened a panel of human-Chinese hamster cell somatic hybrids and a separate deletion panel of chromosome 3 hybrids and localized the gene to 3p21.1{yields}p24.2. Two overlapping yeast artificial chromosome clones containing the full gene for type II IMPDH were isolated and a physical map of 117 kb of human genomic DNA in this region of chromosome 3 was constructed. The gene for type II IMPDH was localized and oriented on this map and found to span no more than 12.5 kb.
Banana bunchy top virus (BBTV), family Nanaviridae, genus Babuvirus, is a single stranded DNA virus (ssDNA) that causes banana bunchy top disease (BBTD) in banana plants. It is the most common and most destructive of all viruses in these plants and is widespread throughout the Asia-Pacific region. In this study we isolated, cloned and sequenced a BBTV sample from Hainan Island, China. The results from sequencing and bioinformatics analysis indicate this isolate represents a satellite DNA component with 12 DNA sequences motifs. We also predicted the physical and chemical properties, structure, signal peptide, phosphorylation, secondary structure, tertiary structure and functional domains of its encoding protein, and compare them with the corresponding quantities in the replication initiatio...
Linear-optical passive (LOP) devices and photon counters are sufficient to implement universal quantum computation with single photons, and particular schemes have already been proposed. In this paper we discuss the link between the algebraic structure of LOP transformations and quantum computing. We first show how to decompose the Fock space of N optical modes in finite-dimensional subspaces that are suitable for encoding strings of qubits and invariant under LOP transformations (these subspaces are related to the spaces of irreducible unitary representations of U (N). Next we show how to design in algorithmic fashion LOP circuits which implement any quantum circuit deterministically. We also present some simple examples, such as the circuits implementing a cNOT gate and a Bell state generator/analyser.
Abstract Gelatinization temperature (GT) is an important parameter in evaluating the cooking and eating quality of rice. Indeed, the phenotype, biochemistry and inheritance of GT have been widely studied in recent times. Previous map-based cloning revealed that GT was controlled by ALK gene, which encodes a putative soluble starch synthase II-3. Complementation vector and RNAi vector were constructed and transformed into Nipponbare mediated by Agrobacterium. Phenotypic and molecular analyses of transgenic lines provided direct evidence for ALK as a key gene for GT. Meanwhile, amylose content, gel consistency and pasting properties were also affected in transgenic lines. Two of four nonsynonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms in coding sequence of ALK were identified as essential for GT. ...
A very simple theoretical scheme is proposed to implement two- and three-qubit controlled-phase gates firstly only using a single resonant interaction between ladder-type three-level atoms and the single-mode cavity. In the presented protocol, the quantum information is encoded on the stable ground states of the atoms (as the controlling qubits) and the zero- and one-photon Fock states of cavity-field (as the target qubit). Under the influence of the atomic spontaneous emission, the decay of the cavity-mode, and deviation of the coupling strength, the three-qubit controlled-phase gate may have a comparatively high fidelity. The experimental feasibility of controlled-phase gate and the case that is extended to realize N-qubit controlled-phase gate are also discussed. (general)
The human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is a closed circular, 16,569-bp double-stranded DNA, encoding 13 genes whose protein products are subunits of the oxidative phosphorylation system required for synthesis of most of the ATP consumed by eukaryotic cells. Point mutations of the mtDNA that cause multi-tissue, loss-of-energy syndromes, called mitochondrial encephalomyopathies (e.g., MERRF and MELAS), have been identified. In addition, large-scale deletions of the human mtDNA have been identified and are the molecular bases for the neonatal and adolescent onset loss-of-energy syndromes Pearson and Kearns-Sayer, respectively. 5 refs., 1 fig.
Logic Programming languages and combinational circuit synthesis tools share a common "combinatorial search over logic formulae" background. This paper attempts to reconnect the two fields with a fresh look at Prolog encodings for the combinatorial objects involved in circuit synthesis. While benefiting from Prolog's fast unification algorithm and built-in backtracking mechanism, efficiency of our search algorithm is ensured by using parallel bitstring operations together with logic variable equality propagation, as a mapping mechanism from primary inputs to the leaves of candidate Leaf-DAGs implementing a combinational circuit specification. After an exhaustive expressiveness comparison of various minimal libraries, a surprising first-runner, Strict Boolean Inequality "<" together with constant function "1" also turns out to have small transistor-count implementations, competitive to NAND-only or NOR-only libraries. As a practical outcome, a more realistic ...
Agricultural runoff is a major non-point source pollutant and is the leading impairment of streams and rivers in the USA. This study examined the effects of agricultural, forest and urban land cover on water quality at the watershed level. Forty-three catchments ranging from 12 to 50?km2 were selected based on a land cover gradient within Lower Kaskaskia River Watershed in Illinois. Grab samples were collected and analyzed for nutrients, bacteria, and total suspended solids (TSS). Forest land cover was included in six of the ten regression models produced. Four of these regression models were for base flow conditions, suggesting that forest land cover had a significant impact on base flow water quality. Urban land cover was also included in six of the regression models. However, the majori...
The type III secretion system among Gram-negative bacteria is known to deliver effectors into host cell to interfere with host cellular processes. The type III secretion system in Yersina, Pseudomonas and Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli have been well documented to be involved in the bacterial pathogenicity. The existence of type III secretion system has been demonstrated in neuropathogenic E. coli K1 strains. Here, it is observed that the deletion mutant of type III secretion system in E. coli strain EC10 exhibited defects in the invasion and intracellular survival in Acanthamoeba castellanii (a keratitis isolate) compared to its parent strain. Next, it was determined whether type III secretion system plays a role in E. coli K1 survival inside Acanthamoeba during the encystment process...
An uncomfortable thermal climate, draft complaints and a bad airquality are often related to the climate installation. To avoid badfunctioning of the system a number of preconditions has to be fulfilledwith regard to design, planning and execution, adjustments, completion,control, maintenance and management of the installations. First threetypes of health problems in buildings are shortly discussed: buildingrelated illness, sick building syndrome and building or installationrelated complaints. Then some functions of the climate installationsare described: air filtration, filter classes and filter quality, aswell as investment costs for better filters. Next the causes for thecomplaints are dealt with: air conditioning, ventilation, air quality,and temperatures. Subsequently health affecting aspects in relation tothe climate systems are discussed: outdoor air pollution,microorganisms, bacteria (legionella pneumophila), allergies, ionneutralization and performance of ...
The Na+-driven bacterial flagellar motor is a molecular machine powered by an electrochemical potential gradient of sodium ions across the cytoplasmic membrane. The marine bacterium Vibrio alginolyticus has a single polar flagellum that enables it to swim in liquid. The flagellar motor contains a basal body and a stator complexes, which are composed of several proteins. PomA, PomB, MotX, and MotY are thought to be essential components of the stator that are required to generate the torque of the rotation. Several mutations have been investigated to understand the characteristics and function of the ion channel in the stator and the mechanism of its assembly around the rotor to complete the motor. In this review, we summarize recent results of the Na+-driven motor in the polar flagellum of ...
Abstract Lyme disease is a perfect model of the complex relationship between host, vector, and the vector-borne bacteria. Both dogs and horses in Romania are exposed to infection. The aim of the present study was to assess the seroreactivity against Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in dogs and horses from different regions of Romania. 276 samples from dogs and 260 samples from horses located in different regions of Romania were analyzed by ELISA and IFA, respectively. The effect of several factors potentially affecting seroreactivity (location, age, gender, occupation, and vector exposition risk) was evaluated using Fisher's exact test (R 2.12.0). The overall prevalence of anti-Borrelia antibodies was 6.52% (18/276) in dogs, with a significantly higher positivity (46.15%, 6/13, p=0.0005) re...
Plasmid pRK404-a smaller derivative of RK2-is a tetracycline-resistant broad-host-range vector that carries a multiple cloning site and the lacZ(alpha) peptide that enables blue/white selection for cloned inserts in Escherichia coli. We present herein the complete and annotated sequence of pRK404 and three related vectors-pRK437, pRK442, and pRK442(H). These derivatives have proven to be valuable tools for genetic manipulation in Gram-negative bacteria. The knowledge of their complete sequences will facilitate efficient future engineering of them and will enhance their general applicability to the design of genetic systems for use in organisms for which new genomic sequence data are becoming available.
We present a simple discrete model for the non-linear spatial interaction ofdifferent kinds of ``subpopulations'' composed of identical moving entitieslike particles, bacteria, individuals, etc. The model allows to mimic a varietyof self-organized agglomeration and segregation phenomena. By relating it togame-theoretical ideas, it can be applied not only to attractive and repulsiveinteractions in physical and chemical systems, but also to the much richercombinations of positive and negative interactions found in biological andsocio-economic systems. Apart from investigating symmetric interactions relatedto a continuous increase of the ``overall success'' within the system(``self-optimization''), we will focus on cases, where fluctuations further orinduce self-organization, even though the initial conditions and theinteractions are assumed homogeneous in space (translation invariant).
The use of indigenous bacterial root endophytes with biocontrol activity against soil-borne phytopathogens is an environmentally-friendly and ecologically-efficient action within an integrated disease management framework. The earliest steps of olive root colonization by Pseudomonas fluorescens PICF7 and Pseudomonas putida PICP2, effective biocontrol agents (BCAs) against Verticillium wilt of olive (Olea europaea L.) caused by the fungus Verticillium dahliae Kleb., are here described. A gnotobiotic study system using in vitro propagated olive plants, differential fluorescent-protein tagging of bacteria, and confocal laser scanning microscopy analysis have been successfully used to examine olive roots?Pseudomonas spp. interactions at the single-cell level. In vivo simultaneous visualization...
The leaf extract from the plant Piliostigma reticulatum was found to exhibit antimicrobial activity against some bacteria and fungi such as Staphylococcus aureus (NCTC 6571), Escherichia coli (NCTC 10418), Bacillus subtilis (NCTC 8236), Proteus vulgaris (NCTC 4175), Aspergillus niger (ATCC 10578) and Candida albicans (ATCC 10231). Upon investigation of the chemical constituents present in the leaf extract, a total of seven compounds were isolated and their structures were unambiguously established by spectroscopic methods including HR-MS and NMR spectrometry. Four of the isolated compounds were novel, namely 6-C-methyl-2-p-hydroxyphenyloxychromonol (piliostigmol), 1, 6,8-di-C-methylquercetin-3,3prime,7-trimethyl ether, 2, 6,8-di-C-methylquercetin-3,3prime-dimethyl ether, 3 and 3prime,6,8,-...
Endophytes are microorganisms that live within healthy plant tissues, and include fungi and bacteria. They can be mutualists, comensals or even latent pathogens. Presence of these endosymbionts may affect host physiology, for example by consuming products of photosynthesis (endophytes are heterotrophs) or producing toxic metabolites. In this work two fungicides were used to eliminate fungal endophytes from seedlings of guarea guidonia. light saturated photosynthesis (Amax) was measured in endophytefree plants and compared with control plants. Each fungicide killed different fungal endosymbionts. phomopsis was more susceptible to benomyl while colletotrichum was more susceptible to propiconazole. Although suggestive, values of Amax were not significantly different for each treatment compared with control plants. No prediction can be made at this point about the final outcome of a given plantendophytic fungi interaction
The role of adaptation in the divergence of lineages has long been a central question in evolutionary biology, and as multilocus sequence data sets have become available for a wide range of taxa, empirical estimates of levels of adaptive molecular evolution are increasingly common. Estimates vary widely among taxa, with high levels of adaptive evolution in Drosophila, bacteria, and viruses but very little evidence of widespread adaptive evolution in hominids. Although estimates in plants are more limited, some recent work has suggested that rates of adaptive evolution in a range of plant taxa are surprisingly low and that there is little association between adaptive evolution and effective population size in contrast to patterns seen in other taxa. Here, we analyze data from 35 loci for si...
Several lines of evidence are presented that indicate that the level of tetracycline resistance of Esherichia coli strains harboring plasmid pBR322 varies according to whether the SOS system of the host bacteria has been induced. These include use of strains in which the SOS system is expressed constitutively (lexA def.), is thermoinducible (recA441) or noninducible (lexA ind-), or is highly repressed (multiple copies of lexA+). Similar induction was observed with the product of another plasmid gene, beta-lactamase. The amounts of extractable plasmid DNA were also increased by SOS induction, and we propose that the SOS-induced increases in levels of tetracycline resistance and beta-lactamase activity are due to an increased plasmid copy number.
Acidification is one of the most common and serious problems inducing process failure in anaerobic digesters. The production of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) mainly triggers acidic shock. However, little is known about the bacteria involved in the processes of acidogenic metabolism, such as fermentation and reductive acetogenesis. Here, the metabolic responses of a methanogenic community to the acidification and resulting process deterioration were investigated using transcriptional profiling of both the 16S rRNA and formyltetrahydrofolate synthetase (FTHFS) genes. The 16S rRNA-based analyses demonstrated that the dynamic shift of bacterial populations was closely correlated with reactor performance, especially with VFA accumulation levels. The pH drop accompanied by an increase in VFAs stim...
Ionizing radiation has been used to treat poultry to remove harmful microorganisms, mainly Salmonella, which contaminates chicken, goose and other fresh and frozen poultry. This microorganism is sensitive to low dose radiation. Thus, irradiating these foods with doses between 1 to 7 kGy results in a large reduction of bacteria. Since it is necessary to determine whether irradiation has occurred and to what extend, this work studied the signal produced by ionizing radiation within the hard crystalline matrix of chicken`s bone to establish a control method. Chicken`s drumsticks were irradiated and bones separated from flesh were lyophilized and milled. ESR spectrum was then obtained. The ESR signal increased linearly with dose over the range 0.25 to 8.0 kGy. Free radicals evaluated during 30 days after irradiation showed stable in this period. (Author).
Among the numerous free-living amoebae (FLA) of soil and water habitats, certain species belonging to two genera Acanthamoeba and Naegleria are facultative parasites of man.They cause disease called primary amoebic meningoencephalitis where history of contact with water was recorded in most of the cases especially with Naegleria species. The present work aimed to search for presence of free-living amoebae in the water and trials for its control by Ultraviolet-radiation (UV-radiation). Samples from different water sources were examined for the presence of free-living amoebae. These samples were cultured on non-nutrient agar streaked with bacteria. Amoebae were detected and identified by means of their morphological characters. Twelve positive cases of one hundred and twenty examined samples could be detected. The positive samples were exposed to different doses of UV-radiation for different times.
Brucella melitensis is a Gram-negative coccobacillus bacteria belonging to the Alphaproteobacteria subclass. It is an important zoonotic pathogen that causes brucellosis, a disease affecting sheep, cattle, and sometimes humans. The B. melitensis strain M5-90, a live attenuated vaccine cultured from the B. melitensis virulent strain M28, has been an effective tool to control brucellosis in goats and sheep in China. Here we report the complete genome sequences of B. melitensis M28 and M5-90, strains with different virulence backgrounds, which will serve as a valuable reference for future studies. PMID:21478357
Seven villages in southeastern Kenya surround Mt. Kasigau and depend on the mountain's cloud forest for their water supply. Five of these villages have regularly experienced water shortages, and all village water supplies were contaminated with Escherichia coli bacteria. There is a need to economically find new sources of fresh ground water. Remote sensing offers a relatively quick and cost-effective way of identifying areas with high potential for ground water development. This study used spectral properties of features on Landsat remote sensing imagery to map linear features, soil types, surface moisture, and vegetation. Linear features represented geologic or geomorphologic features indicating either shallow ground water or areas of increased subsurface hydraulic conductivity. Regarding...
Abstract Introduction.- Infection is the worst complication seen with inflatable penile prosthesis (IPP). Both the American Medical Systems (AMS) and Coloplast IPP have infection retardant coatings. AMS is coated at the factory with rifampicin and minocycline (InhibiZone). The Coloplast IPP has a hydrophilic coating covalently bonded to its components that will absorb any aqueous solution before implantation and provides increased surface lubricity to decrease bacterial adherence. Aim.- We tested several antibiotic dips comparing zones of inhibition (ZOI) against five commonly infecting bacteria with coated Coloplast implants. Results were compared with those ZOI created with strips of an AMS IPP precoated with InhibiZone. Methods.- Pieces of sterile Coloplast Titan IPP were dipped in (i) ...
Experimental wetlands are being constructed on mined lands in the United States as an inexpensive alternative to conventional acid mine water treatment facilities. The US Bureau of Mines is conducting an inventory of these constructed wetlands as part of a long-term evaluative study. Preliminary results, based on the 20 sites surveyed to date, indicate that the wetlands dominated by emergent species are out-performing the Sphagnum-dominated wetlands, and that much of the water treatment is accomplished by other aspects of the wetland, including bacteria, algae, amendments and other plants. Iron concentrations as high as 85 mg/l are reduced to less than 3 mg/l after flow through the constructed wetlands. Manganese is also removed, though somewhat less efficiently. 12 refs., 1 fig., 1 tab.
We compared an idealised mathematical model of the lower part of the pelagic food web to experimental data from a mesocosm experiment in which the supplies of mineral nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorous), bioavailable dissolved organic carbon (BDOC, as glucose), and silicate were manipulated. The central hypothesis of the experiment was that bacterial consumption of BDOC depends on whether the growth rate of heterotrophic bacteria is limited by organic-C or by mineral nutrients. In previous work, this hypothesis was examined qualitatively using a conceptual food web model. Here we explore the extent to which a ?simplest possible?? mathematical version of this conceptual model can reproduce the observed dynamics. The model combines algal?bacterial competition for mineral nutrients (phosphor...