Damages Caused by Irradiation in the Presence of NaCl in Macromolecular Components of E. coli

Damages in macromolecular components and in their functions of E. coli produced by gamma irradiation in the presence of higher concentration of NaCl were determined with reference to the basic mechanism for NaCl radiosensitization. As the results, inhibitions of DNA repair, of DNA degradation, of macromolecular syntheses and of RNA species formation were found in DNA repair proficient strains. The number of radiation-induced DNA-strand breaks was not increased by the presence of 1 m NaCl during irradiation. It was suggested that inhibition of DNA repair may be of primary importance among these lesions for NaCl radiosensitization.     

Two Steady‐Entrainment Phases and Graded Masking Effects by Light Generate Different Circadian Chronotypes in Octodon degus

Processes involved in the operation of the circadian pacemaker are well characterized; however; little is known about what mechanisms drive the overt diurnal, nocturnal, or crepuscular behavior in a species. In this context, dual‐phasing rodents, such as Octodon degus, emerge as a useful model to decipher these keys. Two main chronotypes, nocturnal and diurnal, have been traditionally described in laboratory‐housed degus based on the percentage of activity displayed by the animals during the scotophase or photophase. However, if one considers also the entrainment phase angle during the first days following a change from LD to DD conditions, a third chronotype (intermediate)—or more properly, a continuous grading of circadian expressions between diurnal and nocturnal chronotype—can be observed. Our experiments suggest the pacemaker of the diurnal animal is entrained to the photophase, and light does not exert a negative masking effect. The pacemaker of the nocturnal degus, on the other hand, is entrained to the scotophase, and light exerts a strong negative masking effect. Finally, the intermediate chronotype is characterized by variable negative masking effect of light overlapping a pacemaker entrained to the photophase. The phase shift inversion from diurnal to nocturnal chronotype is related to the availability of a wheel in the cage, and the effect may be located downstream from the clock. However, body temperature rhythm recordings, less affected by masking effects, point to an involvement of the circadian pacemaker in chronotype differentiation, as transient entrainment cycles, and not an abrupt phase shift, were detected after providing access to the wheel. The diurnality of degus seems to be the result of a variety of mechanisms, which may explain how different processes can lead to similar chronotypes.     

N-acyl homoserine lactone mediated interspecies interactions between A. baumannii and P. aeruginosa

Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa are pathogens capable of colonizing the same infection sites and employing N-acyl homoserine lactone (AHL) based quorum-sensing systems to co-ordinate biofilm formation. Hence, the effect of P. aeruginosa AHLs on biofilm formation by A. baumannii and vice versa were investigated using the biofilm impaired quorum sensing mutants, A. baumannii M2 (abaI::Km) and P. aeruginosa PAO-JP2. Complementing the mutants with heterologous, extracted and pure AHLs increased biofilm mass significantly. The surface area coverage and biovolume also increased significantly as observed by confocal scanning laser microscopy which corroborated scanning electron microscope analysis. Autoinducer synthase gene promoters of A. baumannii, P _abaI-lacZ, and P. aeruginosa, P _lasI-lacZ, were induced (p < 0.05) by heterologous AHLs. Growth of A. baumannii was not inhibited by pyocyanin of P. aeruginosa which may allow their co-existence and interaction in the clinical setting, thereby affecting the severity of combined infections and therapeutic measures to control them.     

Controlling persister cells of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PDO300 by (Z)-4-bromo-5-(bromomethylene)-3-methylfuran-2(5H)-one

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a major pathogen causing chronic pulmonary infections; for example, 80% of cystic fibrosis patients get infected by this bacterium as the disease progresses. Such chronic infections are challenging because P. aeruginosa exhibits high-level tolerance to antibiotics by forming biofilms (multicellular structures attached to surfaces), by entering dormancy and forming antibiotic tolerant persister cells, and by conversion to the mucoid phenotype. Recently, we reported that a synthetic quorum sensing inhibitor, (Z)-4-bromo-5-(bromomethylene)-3-methylfuran-2(5H)-one (BF8), can sensitize both planktonic and biofilm-associated persister cells of P. aeruginosa PAO1 to antibiotics at the concentrations non-inhibitory to its growth. In this study, we further characterized the effects of this compound on the mucoid strain P. aeruginosa PDO300. BF8 was found to reduce persistence during the growth of PDO300 and effectively kill the persister cells isolated from PDO300 cultures. In addition to planktonic cells, BF8 was also found to inhibit biofilm formation of PDO300 and reduce associated persistence. These findings broaden the activities of this class of compounds and indicate that BF8 also has other targets in P. aeruginosa in addition to quorum sensing.     

Movement of the S4 segment in the hERG potassium channel during membrane depolarization

Abstract

The hERG potassium channel is a member of the voltage gated potassium (Kv) channel family, comprising a pore domain and four voltage sensing domains (VSDs). Like other Kv channels, the VSD senses changes in membrane voltage and transmits the signal to gates located in the pore domain; the gates open at positive potentials (activation) and close at negative potentials, thereby controlling the ion flux. hERG, however, differs from other Kv channels in that it is activated slowly but inactivated rapidly – a property that is crucial for the role it plays in the repolarization of the cardiac action potential. Voltage-gating requires movement of gating charges across the membrane electric field, which is accomplished by the transmembrane movement of the fourth transmembrane segment, S4, of the VSD containing the positively charged arginine or lysine residues. Here we ask if the functional differences between hERG and other Kv channels could arise from differences in the transmembrane movement of S4. To address this, we have introduced single cysteine residues into the S4 region of the VSD, expressed the mutant channels in Xenopus oocytes and examined the effect of membrane impermeable para-chloromercuribenzene sulphonate on function by the two-electrode voltage clamp technique. Our results show that depolarization results in the accessibility of seven consecutive S4 residues, including the first two charged residues, K525 and R528, to extracellularly applied reagent. These data indicate that the extent of S4 movement in hERG is similar to other Kv channels, including the archabacterial KvAP and the Shaker channel of Drosophila.     

Quorum sensing inhibitors: An overview

Excessive and indiscriminate use of antibiotics to treat bacterial infections has lead to the emergence of multiple drug resistant strains. Most infectious diseases are caused by bacteria which proliferate within quorum sensing (QS) mediated biofilms. Efforts to disrupt biofilms have enabled the identification of bioactive molecules produced by prokaryotes and eukaryotes. These molecules act primarily by quenching the QS system. The phenomenon is also termed as quorum quenching (QQ). In addition, synthetic compounds have also been found to be effective in QQ. This review focuses primarily on natural and synthetic quorum sensing inhibitors (QSIs) with the potential for treating bacterial infections. It has been opined that the most versatile prokaryotes to produce QSI are likely to be those, which are generally regarded as safe. Among the eukaryotes, certain legumes and traditional medicinal plants are likely to act as QSIs. Such findings are likely to lead to efficient treatments with much lower doses of drugs especially antibiotics than required at present.     

鄱阳湖采砂南移扩大影响范围——多源遥感的证据

采砂是一项具有巨大生态影响的经济活动.利用多源遥感影像描述鄱阳湖中部的采砂分布,分析其对悬浮泥沙浓度的影响.2011年7月28日的Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM)5用于采砂相关船只的识别,2009-2011年7-8月的Terra卫星中分辨率成像光谱仪(MODIS)影像用于悬浮泥沙浓度的反演,(Before-after-control-impact,BACI)方法用于采砂影响评价.Landsat TM 5影像解译结果发现鄱阳湖中部的两个采砂区和90余艘船只,MODIS Terra反演结果显示在采砂区及其下游区域悬浮泥沙浓度剧增,BACI评价结果揭示采砂是导致此区域悬浮泥沙浓度增加的主要因素.平衡经济发展与生态保护之间的关系,将因采砂而造成的负面影响降到最低,使鄱阳湖的各种生态功能全面发挥是紧要的.