Stoichiometry of aerobic mineralization (O/C) of aquatic macrophytes leachate from a tropical lagoon (São Paulo –Brazil)

The temporal variation of stoichiometry between consumed oxygen and oxidized carbon was investigated for the aerobic mineralization of leachates from aquatic macrophytes. Seven species of aquatic plants, viz. Cabomba piauhyensis, Cyperus giganteus, Egeria najas, Eichhornia azurea, Salvinia auriculata, Scirpus cubensisand Utricularia breviscapa, were collected from Òleo lagoon located in the floodplain of Mogi-Guacu river (São Paulo State, Brazil). After being collected, the plants were washed, oven-dried and triturated. In order to obtain the leachate, the fragments were submitted to an aqueous extraction (cold). Mineralization chambers were incubated at 20 °C containing leachates dissolved in water samples from Òleo lagoon to a final concentration of ca. 200 mg l^–1on carbon basis. The chambers were maintained under aerobic conditions; the concentrations of the organic carbon (particulate and dissolved) and the dissolved oxygen were measured during approximately 80 days. Elemental analysis of the detritus and the concentrations of the remaining material (DOC and POC) were used to determine the amounts of mineralized organic carbon. The data were analyzed with first-order kinetics models, from which the daily rates of consumption (carbon and oxygen) and the stoichiometry (O/C) were determined. In the early phase of mineralization the O/C rates increased before reaching a maximum, after which they tended to decrease. For the mineralization of leachates from C. giganteus, S. auriculata and U. breviscapa, the decrease was relatively slow. For all substrata the initial values were smaller than 1, and ranged from 0.42 (S. cubensis) to 0.81 (C. piauhyensis). The maximum values were within the range from 0.58 (U. breviscapa) to 23.1 (E. najas) and at their highest 26th (C. piauhyensis) and 106th (C. giganteus) days. These variations are believed to be associated with the chemical composition of the leachates, with their transformations and alterations of metabolic pathways involved in the mineralization.     

Increased demand for NAD+ relative to ATP drives aerobic glycolysis

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Nitrosating activity in Escherichia coli

Nitrosation activity was measured in Escherichia coli isolates and a range of nitrite reductase (nir) mutants. Activity was only detected in intact cells and could be inhibited by a number of treatments such as sonication and osmotic shock. Aerobically-grown cells had highest nitrosation activity compared to oxygen-limited ones. Inclusion of nitrite in growth media induced high activities of nitrite reductase and for some isolates, nitrosation. Analysis of nir mutants identified two which were unable to nitrosate. This result suggested that NADH-dependent nitrite reductase was implicated either directly or indirectly in nitrosation.     

Gut Microbiome Fermentation Determines the Efficacy of Exercise for Diabetes Prevention

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人体单臂间歇运动对发汗调定点的影响

本工作系在微小气候相对恒定条件下,对10名健康男青年每人进行四项实验。实验 Ⅰ 为测定双侧腿足浸入43℃水中,诱发左前臂屈侧显现定量汗点时的口腔温度(舌下)阈值,作为发汗调定点参考值(ToSSP);实验 Ⅱ 为 Ⅰ 附加右臂间歇轻负荷运动(77W)时测定 ToSSP,部分对象还记录了皮肤电反应;实验 Ⅲ、Ⅳ 为 Ⅰ、Ⅱ 均附加4.5m/s 气流(22—25℃)直吹头面部,再分别测定 ToSSP。实验 Ⅰ 与 Ⅱ 同体对照22人次,Ⅲ 与 Ⅳ 同体对照24人次。结果表明,实验 Ⅱ、Ⅳ 的 ToSSP 均值及其潜伏期均值分别较 Ⅰ、Ⅲ 者降低(P<0.01)或缩短(P<0.001);Ⅰ、Ⅱ间的 ToSSP 均值差、潜伏期均值差,分别与 Ⅲ、Ⅳ 之间者无显著差异(P>0.2);Ⅱ、Ⅳ 的ToSSP 均值各与其实验开始前的口温均值亦无明显差异(P>0.5)。此结果支持运动时体温调定点下降的论点,并提示在研究体温调定点活动时,以 ToSSP 为指标较用发汗速率为优越,因 ToSSP 不为许多干扰因素所影响。     

Aerobic nitrate and nitrite reduction in continuous cultures of Escherichia coli E4

Nitrate and nitrite was reduced by Escherichia coli E4 in a l-lactate (5 mM) limited culture in a chemostat operated at dissolved oxygen concentrations corresponding to 90–100% air saturation. Nitrate reductase and nitrite reductase activity was regulated by the growth rate, and oxygen and nitrate concentrations. At a low growth rate (0.11 h^–1) nitrate and nitrite reductase activities of 200 nmol · mg^–1 protein · min^–1 and 250 nmol · mg^–1 protein · min^–1 were measured, respectively. At a high growth rate (0.55 h^–1) both enzyme activities were considerably lower (25 and 12 nmol mg^–1 · protein · min^–1). The steady state nitrite concentration in the chemostat was controlled by the combined action of the nitrate and nitrite reductase. Both nitrate and nitrite reductase activity were inversely proportional to the growth rate. The nitrite reductase activity decreased faster with growth rate than the nitrate reductase. The chemostat biomass concentration of E. coli E4, with ammonium either solely or combined with nitrate as a source of nitrogen, remained constant throughout all growth rates and was not affected by nitrite concentrations. Contrary to batch, E. coli E4 was able to grow in continuous cultures on nitrate as the sole source of nitrogen. When cultivated with nitrate as the sole source of nitrogen the chemostat biomass concentration is related to the activity of nitrate and nitrite reductase and hence, inversely proportional to growth rate.     

Initial steps of phloroglucinol metabolism in Penicillium simplicissimum

The pathway for the aerobic catabolism of 1,3,5-trihydroxybenzene (phloroglucinol) by a new strain of Penicillium was investigated using both in vivo and in vitro cell-free systems. The fungal strain was isolated by enrichment on phloroglucinol and identified as P. simplicissimum (Oud) Thom. It grew optimally at pH 5.5 and 27°C with 119 mM (1.5%w/v) of phloroglucinol in a basal mineral salts medium. Vapours of the crystalline substrate placed in a Petri-plate lid supported the growth of the fungal colonies on the agar surface. Mycelia grown on phloroglucinol accumulated 1,2,4-trihydroxybenzene and resorcinol in the medium. Washed, resting mycelia grown on phloroglucinol, when resuspended in a buffer utilized oxygen in the presence of catechol, resorcinol, pyrogallol and phloroglucinol. A NADPH-dependent reductase in the cell-free extract reduced phloroglucinol to dihydrophloroglucinol. This electron donor could not be replaced by NADH. Resorcinol hydroxylase, phloroglucinol reductase, catechol-1,2-oxygenase, and catechol-2,3-oxygenase were detected in cell-free extracts of mycelia grown on phloroglucinol. The possible steps in the degradation of phloroglucinol are discussed.     

Comparison of incremental and steady state tests of endurance training

To compare the results obtained by incremental or constant work load exercises in the evaluation of endurance conditioning, a 20-week training programme was performed by 9 healthy human subjects on the bicycle ergometer for 1 h a day, 4 days a week, at 70-80% VO2max. Before and at the end of the training programme, (1) the blood lactate response to a progressive incremental exercise (18 W increments every 2nd min until exhaustion) was used to determine the aerobic and anaerobic thresholds (AeT and AnT respectively). On a different day, (2) blood lactate concentrations were measured during two sessions of constant work load exercises of 20 min duration corresponding to the relative intensities of AeT (1st session) and AnT (2nd session) levels obtained before training. A muscle biopsy was obtained from vastus lateralis at the end of these sessions to determine muscle lactate. AeT and AnT, when expressed as % VO2max, increased with training by 17% (p less than 0.01) and 9% (p less than 0.05) respectively. Constant workload exercise performed at AeT intensity was linked before training (60% VO2max) to a blood lactate steady state (4.8 +/- 1.4 mmol.l-1) whereas, after training, AeT intensity (73% VO2max) led to a blood lactate accumulation of up to 6.6 +/- 1.7 mmol.l-1 without significant modification of muscle lactate (7.6 +/- 3.1 and 8.2 +/- 2.8 mmol.kg-1 wet weight respectively). It is concluded that increase in AeT with training may reflect transient changes linked to lower early blood lactate accumulation during incremental exercise.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

The acute effect of 30 min of moderate exercise on high density lipoprotein cholesterol in untrained middle-aged men

Fifteen middle-aged, untrained (defined as no regular exercise) men (mean age 49.9 years, range 42-67) cycled on a cycle ergometer at 50 rpm for 30 min at an intensity producing 60% predicted maximum heart rate [(fc,max), where fc,max = 220 - age]. Total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and triglyceride (Tg) concentrations were measured from fasting fingertip capillary blood samples collected at rest, after 15 and 30 min of exercise, and at 15 min post-exercise. The mean HDL-C level increased significantly from the resting level of 0.85 mmol.l-1 to 0.97 mmol.l-1 (P < 0.05) after 15 min of exercise, increased further to 1.08 mmol.l-1 (P < 0.01) after 30 min of exercise and remained elevated at 1.07 mmol.l-1 (P < 0.01) at 15 min post-exercise. These increases represented changes above the mean resting level of 14.1%, 27.1% and 25.9% respectively. The HDL-C/LDL-C ratio increased significantly from a resting ratio of 0.20 to 0.26 after 30 min of exercise (P < 0.01) and to 0.24 at 15 min post-exercise (P < 0.05). The mean Tg level increased significantly from a resting level of 0.88 mmol.l-1 to 1.05 mmol.l-1 after 15 min, and to 1.06 mmol.l-1 after 30 min of exercise (P < 0.05 at each time). The TC/HDL-C ratio decreased significantly (P = 0.05) after 30 min of exercise and at 15 min post-exercise by 18.8% and 14%, respectively. No significant changes were observed in the levels of TC or LDL-C over time.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Mineralization budgets in sediment microcosms: Effect of the infauna and anoxic conditions

Abstract A number of sediment incubations were set up to reproduce some of the conditions used by Kristensen and Blackburn [1] and to make a comparison with their results. There were three types of microcosm: aerobic (OX), anaerobic (AN) and aerobic with Nephtys (NOX). In addition to other measurements, dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) pools and fluxes, were measured. The sediment in this experiment contained more particulate organic matter (POM). Nephtys (NOX) had the same effect as Nereis in increasing the rate of mineralization of POC and PON, compared with the OX-cores (2.1 and 2.6 times, respectively). Again, the AN-cores had a higher mineralization rate (loss of POM) than that of the OX-cores, but in addition, mineralization in NOX-cores was not significantly different from AN-cores. It was thus confirmed that anoxic mineralization could be as high, or higher, than the oxic process. Both the temporal patterns of O₂-and and CO₂-fluxes and their magnitudes were very similar to those reported earlier. This contrasts with the higher loss of POM in the present experiment. However, the loss of C in DOC (associated with the measured DON) can account for the extra POM loss. The pore-water profiles of σCO₂ and NH₄⁺ were similar to those in the earlier report, and the fluxes of σCO₂, O₂, NH₄⁺ and NO₃⁻ followed the same temporal pattern.