Carotenogenesis in Phycomyces

Time course studies of carotenoid production and of mycelial growth in liquid cultures of Phycomyces blakesleeanus wild type [NRRL 1555 (?)], red mutants C9, C10 and C13 and the heterokaryon C2 * C9 are reported. The ratios of the concentrations of lycopene, γ-carotene and β-carotene in the red mutant C13 and in the heterokaryon C2 * C9 during the growth periods were measured. In these strains the concentration of lycopene is close to its final value after 2 days of growth, at a time at which β-carotene is just beginning to be produced. It is suggested that the β-carotene produced late is possibly synthesized via β-zeacarotene.     

Sugarcane mosaic virus in plantlets regenerated from diseased leaf tissue

Plantlets produced from sugarcane leaf tissue were examined to determine the effect of propagation on the frequency of occurrence of sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV).Explants from immature leaf tissues of the sugarcane variety CP 72-356 (Saccharum interspecific hybrid), healthy or SCMV-infected, were cultured on Murashige-Skoog medium to which a combination of cytokinin and auxin had been added. Plantlets developed on healthy and infected leaf tissue within 6 weeks. The juice from plantlets was assayed for SCMV on Rio sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench, var. Rio) seedlings and on sugarcane varieties CP 31-294 and CO 31-588 for SCMV-strain identification. Results indicated that SCMV strain H was transmitted from the donor tissue to the regenerated plantlets. Observation on plantlets reared in the greenhouse showed that 23% had symptoms of SCMV. In a second replicated experiment, the leaf tissue from plants of POJ 234 free of mosaic or infected with SCMV strain A, B, D, H, or I was cultured. Each of the five strains was transmitted from donor to plantlet as indicated by assays on sorghum and sugarcane varieties. From 11 to 88% of the plantlets had mosaic symptoms, depending on the strain infecting the donor plant. In this experiment, SCMV-strain M was transmitted from an unidentified donor variety to 23% of the regenerated plantlets.Portions of this paper have been presented to the American Society of Sugar Cane Technologists, at the meeting in Clearwater, Florida in June, 1984.     

The Genetic Basis of Morphological Diversity in Domesticated Goldfish

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A Microfluidic Device for Studying Multiple Distinct Strains

The study of cell responses to environmental changes poses many experimental challenges: cells need to be imaged under changing conditions, often in a comparative manner. Multiwell plates are routinely used to compare many different strains or cell lines, but allow limited control over the environment dynamics. Microfluidic devices, on the other hand, allow exquisite dynamic control over the surrounding conditions, but it is challenging to image and distinguish more than a few strains in them. Here we describe a method to easily and rapidly manufacture a microfluidic device capable of applying dynamically changing conditions to multiple distinct yeast strains in one channel. The device is designed and manufactured by simple means without the need for soft lithography. It is composed of a Y-shaped flow channel attached to a second layer harboring microwells. The strains are placed in separate microwells, and imaged under the exact same dynamic conditions. We demonstrate the use of the device for measuring protein localization responses to pulses of nutrient changes in different yeast strains.     

Ice‐‐bacteria as antagonists in biological frost protection

Investigated was the efficacy of 4 ice nucleation‐inactive (ice^‐) bacterial strains (A506, GSPB 1147, 1181, 2357) at 4 ice nucleation active (ice⁺) strains (553, 554, GSPB 1139, 2035) on the surface of 4 culture crops (corn, tomato, bush‐ and field bean). Examinated was the reduction of frost damage at the used culture crops by inoculation with ice⁺ and ice^‐ strains at 4 different variants (A‐D) under laboratory conditions. The ice nucleation activity was determined by the tube‐freezing‐assay. An effective reduction of ice⁺ bacteria was possible, when plant surfaces were preinoculated (3days) with ice^‐bacteria before ice⁺ bacterial strains colonized the surfaces of plants. A statistical comparison of mean values of obtained results showed, the ice crystallization (INT) by inoculation started at ‐3°C and in mean (MNT) below ‐5°C independent of the used ice⁺ and ice^‐ strains. Obtained differences were not significant. As untreated as colonized plants with antagonists started to freeze at ‐5 and ‐6°C and in average at ‐7°C. However, the preinoculation resulted in 1.38 K differences for the temperatures, at which 50% of leaves were frozen (PROZ 50) in favour of preinoculated plants. This difference in freeze temperatures by preinoculation with ice^‐ bacteria was discussed as a possible method of frost protection.     

Intraspecific Variation in Cryptocaryon irritans

ABSTRACT. Intraspecific variation in the ciliate Cryptocaryon irritans was examined using sequences of the first internal transcribed spacer region (ITS-1) of ribosomal DNA (rDNA) combined with developmental and morphological characters. Amplified rDNA sequences consisting of 151 bases of the flanking 18 S and 5.8 S regions, and the entire ITS-1 region (169 or 170 bases), were determined and compared for 16 isolates of C. irritans from Australia, Israela and the USA. There was one variable base between isolates in the 18 S region nd 11 variables indicate that Australian C. irritans isolates from estuarine (Moreton Bay) and coral reef (Heron Island) environments are distinct. The Heron Island isolate was genetically closer to morphologically dissimilar isolates from Israel (1.8% divergence) and USA (2.3 % divergence) than it was to the Moreton Bay isolates. Three isolates maintained in our laboratory since February 1994 originated from the same source. During this time the sequence of the isolates from wild fish in Moreton Bay remained unchanged. These genetic differences indicate the existence of a founder effects in laboratorty populations of C. irritans . The genetic variation found here, combined with known morphological and developmental differences, is used to characterise four strains of C. irritans .     

Role of the acquisition of a type 3 secretion system in the emergence of novel pathogenic strains of Xanthomonas

Cases of emergence of novel plant-pathogenic strains are regularly reported that reduce the yields of crops and trees. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying such emergence are still poorly understood. The acquisition by environmental non-pathogenic strains of novel virulence genes by horizontal gene transfer has been suggested as a driver for the emergence of novel pathogenic strains. In this study, we tested such an hypothesis by transferring a plasmid encoding the type 3 secretion system (T3SS) and four associated type 3 secreted proteins (T3SPs) to the non-pathogenic strains of Xanthomonas CFBP 7698 and CFBP 7700, which lack genes encoding T3SS and any previously known T3SPs. The resulting strains were phenotyped on Nicotiana benthamiana using chlorophyll fluorescence imaging and image analysis. Wild-type, non-pathogenic strains induced a hypersensitive response (HR)-like necrosis, whereas strains complemented with T3SS and T3SPs suppressed this response. Such suppression depends on a functional T3SS. Amongst the T3SPs encoded on the plasmid, Hpa2, Hpa1 and, to a lesser extent, XopF1 collectively participate in suppression. Monitoring of the population sizes in planta showed that the sole acquisition of a functional T3SS by non-pathogenic strains impairs growth inside leaf tissues. These results provide functional evidence that the acquisition via horizontal gene transfer of a T3SS and four T3SPs by environmental non-pathogenic strains is not sufficient to make strains pathogenic. In the absence of a canonical effector, the sole acquisition of a T3SS seems to be counter-selective, and further acquisition of type 3 effectors is probably needed to allow the emergence of novel pathogenic strains.     

氨氮降解菌的筛选、鉴定与复合菌水质调控效果研究

为寻找高效降解水体中氨氮的菌株并对其进行应用评价,研究从多种水产养殖池塘水体和底泥的混合物中筛选出2株氨氮降解菌,降解率分别达97.8%和98.5%,经鉴定均为凝结芽孢杆菌(Bacillus coagulans)。对筛选出的2菌株培养条件进行优化,2菌株pH、C/N适应范围广,并且耐高温、高盐。通过灌服试验表明所筛选菌株对养殖动物是安全的。在此基础上,将筛选菌株与本实验室前期诱变菌株B38复配后制成复合菌,通过养殖试验评价了复合菌对氨氮、亚硝酸盐及藻类数量的调控效果。与4种商品微生态制剂(光合细菌、酵母菌、强效EM和芽孢杆菌)相比,泼洒复合菌的池塘氨氮含量逐渐降低。在氨氮含量下降的同时,亚硝酸盐含量有上升的趋势,但在试验的第18天,复合菌组与酵母菌组亚硝酸盐含量有所降低。对藻类数量的影响结果显示,从第9天开始添加复合菌与芽孢杆菌组藻类数量高于其他各组,在第14天,这2组藻类数量大约为其他组的2倍。由此可见,复合菌具有明显的降氨氮特性,并能有效增加藻类数量,但对亚硝酸盐降解效果不显著。研究为复合型微生态制剂的开发提供了技术支撑。     

Pheromone peptide cOB1 from native Enterococcus faecalis forms amyloid‐like structures: A new paradigm for peptide pheromones

Pheromone peptides are an important component of bacterial quorum‐sensing system. The pheromone peptide cOB1 (VAVLVLGA) of native commensal Enterococcus faecalis has also been identified as an antimicrobial peptide (AMP) and reported to kill the prototype clinical isolate strain of E. faecalis V583. In this study, the pheromone peptide cOB1 has shown to form amyloid‐like structures, a characteristic which is never reported for a pheromone peptide so far. With in silico analysis, the peptide was predicted to be highly amyloidogenic. Further, under experimental conditions, cOB1 formed aggregates displaying characteristics of amyloid structures such as bathochromic shift in Congo red absorbance, enhancement in thioflavin T fluorescence, and fibrillar morphology under transmission electron microscopy. This novel property of pheromone peptide cOB1 may have some direct effects on the binding of the pheromone to the receptor cells and subsequent conjugative transfer, making this observation more important for the therapeutics, dealing with the generation of virulent and multidrug‐resistant pathogenic strains.     

一株解磷细菌的筛选、鉴定及其溶磷培养条件的优化

从土壤作物根际筛选分离出的一株解磷能力较强的溶磷菌P0417,对其进行16S r DNA基因水平上的初步鉴定,测定其溶解磷的能力,并对该菌的溶磷培养基条件进行优化。结果表明,经序列分析,确定该菌株P0417为洋葱伯克霍尔德氏菌。且其溶磷能力与培养液p H呈显著相关性,当培养基条件为葡萄糖10 g/L、草酸铵0.5 g/L、Na Cl 1.0 g/L时,菌株P0417对Ca3(PO4)2盐培养基具有较好的解磷能力,其解磷能力可达791.84μg/m L。