Rates of Production of Individual Volatile Fatty Acids in the Rumen of Lactating Cows

The rumen fermentation rates in individual lactating cows were measured in four different experiments. The results disclosed that the amounts and proportions of volatile acids formed could vary widely. In one case, a marked difference in the proportions of the acids produced arose within the experiment and correlated with a difference in the proportion of methane formed.

The average rate of production per day was 10.5 moles butyric acid, 12.8 moles propionic acid, and 40 moles acetic acid. Manometric estimations of rate gave lower results than those obtained by the zero-time method, due to delay after sampling and to failure of the acids to liberate stoichiometric quantities of carbon dioxide.

For those experiments in which zero-time rates were estimated, the average specific absorption rates, i.e., the amount absorbed per hour per micromole of acid in the rumen, were 0.37 for butyric acid, 0.38 for propionic acid, and 0.26 for acetic acid.

The carbon dioxide, acids, and microbial cells produced in the rumen fermentation are estimated to account for about 90% of the carbon found in the milk and respiratory CO₂ of the cows. The carbon dioxide from the fermentation was about 27% of the carbon dioxide exhaled.

     

Rapid coral colonization of a recent lava flow following a volcanic eruption,Banda Islands,Indonesia

Compared to the catastrophic impacts of various environmental disturbances and the subsequent recovery of scleractinian coral communities from these events, little is known about the early successional dynamics of coral communities following major volcanic eruptions. The 1988 volcanic eruption of Gunung Api, Banda Islands, Indonesia, provided a unique opportunity to study the rate at which a reef-building coral community develops on an andesitic lava flow. Coral colonization was studied at three locations varying in substrate characteristics. Five years after the eruption, the sheltered lava flow supported a diverse coral community (124 species) with high coral cover . Tabulate acroporids were a dominant component of the lava flow coral community, with some colonies measuring over 90 cm in diameter. Higher average coral diversity, coral abundance and cover were recorded on the andesitic lava flow than on an adjacent carbonate reef not covered by the lava, and on a substrate of unstable pyroclastic deposits located on the southwestern coast of the volcano. In some areas of high coral diversity and environmental stability, andesitic lava flows may create local hot-spots of coral diversity by providing a structurally complex, predator-free and stable substrate for the recruitment of coral species from the adjacent and regional species pools.     

Reevaluating the classification of Halobacteroides and Haloanaerobacter species based on sequence comparisons of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene

Abstract The 16S rRNA gene (rDNA) sequence analysis of four halophilic anaerobes: Halobacteroides halobius, H. lacunaris, Haloanaerobacter (Hb.) chitinovorans and H. acetoethylicus confirmed that they were all members of the family Haloanaerobiaceae. H. lacunaris and H. halobius were found to be more closely related to each other and were distantly related to Sporohalobacter lortetti and the members of the genera Haloanaerobium and Halothermothrix . These data are in agreement with their assignment to the genus Halobacteroides . Further analysis indicated that Hb. chitinovorans was closely affiliated to members of the genus Halobacteroides , and therefore we propose to transfer it to the genus Halobacteroides as H. chitinovorans comb. nov. This transfer would invalidate the genus Haloanaerobacter , as Hb. chitinovorans is the only member of this genus. The 16S rDNA sequence analysis of H. acetoethylicum indicated that it was very closely related to members of the genus Haloanaerobium , viz. Haloanaerobium (Ha.) praevalens, Ha. salsugo , and Ha. alcaliphilum , and hence we propose to transfer it to the genus Haloanaerobium as Ha. acetoethylicus comb. nov.     

Methanogenesis from acetate: a nonmethanogenic bacterium from an anaerobic acetate enrichment

A methanogenic acetate enrichment was initiated by inoculation of an acetate-mineral salts medium with domestic anaerobic digestor sludge and maintained by weekly transfer for 2 years. The enrichment culture contained a Methanosarcina and several obligately anaerobic nonmethanogenic bacteria. These latter organisms formed varying degrees of association with the Methanosarcina, ranging from the nutritionally fastidious gram-negative rod called the satellite bacterium to the nutritionally nonfastidious Eubacterium limosum. The satellite bacterium had growth requirements for amino acids, a peptide, a purine base, vitamin B12, and other B vitamins. Glucose, mannitol, starch, pyruvate, cysteine, lysine, leucine, isoleucine, arginine, and asparagine stimulated growth and hydrogen production. Acetate was neither incorporated nor metabolized by the satellite organism. Since acetate was the sole organic carbon source in the enrichment culture, organism(s) which metabolize acetate (such as the Methanosarcina) must produce substrates and growth factors for associated organisms which do not metabolize acetate.     

Isolation and Characterization of Haloanaerobacter chitinovorans gen. nov., sp. nov., a Halophilic, Anaerobic, Chitinolytic Bacterium from a Solar Saltern

Two halophilic anaerobic bacteria, one of which had chitinolytic activity, were isolated from a solar saltern in southern California. These organisms were long, gram-negative, motile, flexible rods. The biochemical and physiological characteristics of these bacteria were very similar but were different from the characteristics of other haloanaerobic bacteria. Both grew at salt concentrations ranging from 0.5 to 5 M and at temperatures ranging from 23 to 50 degrees C. They were sensitive to chloramphenicol but resistant to penicillin, carbenicillin, d-cycloserine, streptomycin, and tetracycline. An analysis of DNAs and whole-cell proteins showed that they were closely related taxonomically and distinguishable from other halophilic anaerobic bacteria. They exhibited 92.3 to 100% DNA homology as determined by DNA-DNA hybridization. The guanine-plus-cytosine contents of their DNAs were 34.8+/-1 mol%. The two isolates, strains W5C8 and W3C1, differed from other halophilic anaerobic bacteria sufficiently to support establishment of a new genus and species, Haloanaerobacter chitinovorans. Strain W5C8 exhibited chitinolytic activity and is designated the type strain. Two chitin-induced extracellular proteins with molecular weights of 38 x 10 and 40 x 10 were detected in strain W5C8.     

Antiabsorptive effects of 16, 16 dimethyl prostaglandin E2 and isolated rat colon

Ulcerative colitis is distinguished by abundant prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂) in the stools and by severe diarrhea. To determine whether luminal PGE₂ alters normal colonic absorption, Na⁺ and Cl⁻transport across isolated rat proximal colon were studied before and after 16, 16 dimethyl PGE₂ (dmPGE₂) addition to flux chambers. Luminal administration of dmPGE₂ significantly reduced the net mucosal to serosal fluxes of Na⁺ and Cl⁻. These antiabsorptive tive effects of dmPGE₂ on Na⁺ and Cl⁻ active transport were reflected by a reduced metabolic rate of colonic tissue slices incubated with dmPGE₂. Addition of dmPGE₂ significantly reduced oxidation of glucose by the colon. Structurally, dmPGE₂ reduced the length of colonic mucosal microvilli, thereby decreasing absorptive surface area. These results suggest that PGE₂ released into the colonic lumen of patients with ulcerative colitis exerts antiabsorptive effects on the colon and in this way contributes to the associated diarrhea.     

Studies on an acetate-fermenting strain of Methanosarcina.

An acetate-fermenting strain of Methanosarcina was isolated from an acetate enrichment culture inoculated with anaerobic sludge from a waste treatment digestor. In pure culture, this organism fermented acetate in the absence of added hydrogen at rates comparable in magnitude to those found in digestor systems. This rate was significantly higher than previously obtained for pure cultures of this genus. Mineral components of yeast extract were highly stimulatory for cultures growing on methanol. Comparable stimulation was not observed for cultures growing on acetate. Labeling studies indicated that acetate was converted to methane and CO2 as predicted by previous studies on mixed cultures. Total oxidation or reduction of acetate was not the mechanism of conversion of acetate to methane by the pure culture. The ability of this strain to form colonies or to produce methane from acetate was apparently influenced by the choice of substrate and conditions used for growing the inoculum.     

Recovery of Yersinia enterocolitica from streams and lakes of California.

Stream and lake water from the Mammoth Lakes region of California was sampled for Yersinia enterocolitica. From 10 of the 34 sites examined, organisms were isolated that were biochemically identified as Y. enterocolitica. Only one of the ten strains could be serologically confirmed. This strain was identified as Y. enterocolitica serotype 16. Although an outbreak of enteritis in the area prompted this study, no correlation with gastrointestinal disease could be established since the majority of the strains were untypeable.