Abundance and structure of actinomycete complexes in the rhizosphere of winter rye, oats, and red clover

Actinomycete complexes were studied in the rhizosphere of three crop species using luminescence microscopy and plating. The concentration of the total prokaryotic biomass and the length of actinomycete mycelium proved higher in the rhizosphere than in root-free soil. Actinomycetes in the rhizosphere of oats (Avena sativa L.), winter rye (Secale cereale L.), and red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) were represented by the genera Streptomyces and Micromonospora and oligosporous species. The length and biomass of actinomycete mycelium proved to decrease while the generic diversity increased in the following sequence: winter rye—oats—red clover. Increasing soil suppression and plant resistance to phytopathogens using mycelial prokaryotes is discussed in the context of environmental safety.     

Discovery of XEN445: A potent and selective endothelial lipase inhibitor raises plasma HDL-cholesterol concentration in mice

Endothelial lipase (EL) activity has been implicated in HDL metabolism and in atherosclerotic plaque development; inhibitors are proposed to be efficacious in the treatment of dyslipidemia related cardiovascular disease. We describe here the discovery of a novel class of anthranilic acids EL inhibitors. XEN445 (compound 13) was identified as a potent and selective EL inhibitor, that showed good ADME and PK properties, and demonstrated in vivo efficacy in raising plasma HDLc concentrations in mice.     

Actinomycetes of the genus Micromonospora in meadow ecosystems

Investigations showed that micromonosporas, along with streptomycetes, are the major inhabitants of floodplain meadow ecosystems, where their population varies from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of CFU per g substrate. In spring, the population of micromonosporas in soil and on the plant roots was found to be denser than that of streptomycetes.     

Acidophilic soil actinomycetes

A clear-cut dependence of the distribution of acidophilic actinomycetes on the pH value of soil was established. Acidophilic actinomycetes were found to be present in soils whose pH does not exceed 6.8 (acid forest soils, lowland peaty soil, and ordinary chernozem) and not in slightly alkaline soils (chestnut sodic and alluvial meadow soils). In the acid lowland peaty soil, the species diversity of acidophilic streptomycetes was lesser than the species diversity of streptomycetes revealed in the same soil by using neutral medium.     

Temperature as a factor of development of psychrotolerant mycelial bacteria complexes in soils of north regions

It has been demonstrated that complexes of mycelial bacteria (actinomycetes), in which the amount of psychrotolerant actinomycetes reaches hundreds of thousands of CFU/g of the soil (frequently exceeding the portion of mesophilic forms), are developed in peat and podzolic soils of the tundra and taiga at low temperatures. As actinomycetes grow and develop in cold soils, their mycelium increases in length. Use of the molecular in situ hybridization method (fluorescent in situ hybridization, FISH) demonstrated that the portion of metabolically active mycelial actinobacteria exceeds the portion of unicellular actinobacteria in the Actinobacteria phylum. Specific peculiarities of psychrotolerant populations in relation to the spectrum of consumed substrates (histidine, mannitol, saccharose) were established by the method of multirespirometric testing.     

Methodological aspects of assessing chitin utilization by soil microorganisms

A computational method for estimating specific activity of chitin decomposition by microorganisms is proposed. Spectrophotometric and gas chromatographic methods have been used to determine the rates of chitinase production, biomass accumulation, and carbon dioxide emission by pure cultures of microorganisms grown on a chitin-containing medium. Among dominants of the chitinolytic community of chernozem (Trichoderma viride, Stretomyces albolongus, Alcaligenes, and Arthrobacter), the highest chitinolytic activity is characteristic of prokaryotes. In brown desert-steppe soil, the main destructor prokaryotes are actinomycetes (S. roseolilacinus). The biomass of the fungus T. viride growth on the chitin-containing medium markedly exceeds that of prokaryotes, but the specific activity of respiration and chitinase production in actinomycetes S. roseolilacinus and S. albolongus is an order of magnitude higher than in T. viride.     

Morphological and physiological modifications of cyanobacteria in experimental cyanobacterium-actinomycete associations

Associations of cyanobacteria and actinomycetes were formed experimentally from the cyanobacterium Anabaena variabilis ATCC 29413 and the streptomycetes isolated from apogeotropic roots of sago plants. Based on their phenotypic properties and the 16S rRNA gene sequencing, the streptomycetes were identified as representatives of Streptomyces pluricolorescens (strains 1 and 2). Cyanobacteria developing in monoculture and in association with an actinomycete were essentially different in their morphological and physiological-biochemical characteristics. In associations, cyanobacteria showed a higher (by tens of times) nitrogen-fixing activity compared to the monoculture and the morphological modifications of which were not observed in the monoculture (increase in cell size, increase in the portion of heterocysts among vegetative cells, appearance of the forms of unbalanced growth of cyanobacteria as giant, disc-shaped, curved, and rhomboid cells). At extremely low humidity (a_w 0.50), associated cyanobacterial cells remained viable, whereas in the monoculture, chlorophyll decomposition and cells death occurred. The methods of high-resolution (H¹ 600 MHz) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and pulsed-gradient spin echo NMR revealed a fraction of mobile protons in lyophilized samples of the cyanobacterium-actinomycete association, which was evidence of the presence of free water. This fraction was not found in the lyophilized samples of cyanobacterial and streptomycete monocultures. The revealed differences can explain the survival of cyanobacterial cells in associations.