Evaluation of DNA extraction methods from complex phototrophic biofilms

Phototrophic biofilms are used in a variety of biotechnological and industrial processes. Understanding their structure, ie microbial composition, is a necessary step for understanding their function and, ultimately, for the success of their application. DNA analysis methods can be used to obtain information on the taxonomic composition and relative abundance of the biofilm members. The potential bias introduced by DNA extraction methods in the study of the diversity of a complex phototrophic sulfide-oxidizing biofilm was examined. The efficiency of eight different DNA extraction methods combining physical, mechanical and chemical procedures was assessed. Methods were compared in terms of extraction efficiency, measured by DNA quantification, and detectable diversity (16S rRNA genes recovered), evaluated by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). Significant differences were found in DNA yields ranging from 116 ± 12 to 1893 ± 96 ng of DNA. The different DGGE fingerprints ranged from 7 to 12 bands. Methods including phenol–chloroform extraction after enzymatic lysis resulted in the greatest DNA yields and detectable diversity. Additionally, two methods showing similar yields and retrieved diversity were compared by cloning and sequencing. Clones belonging to members of the Alpha-, Beta- and Gamma- proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Cyanobacteria and to the Firmicutes were recovered from both libraries. However, when bead-beating was applied, clones belonging to the Deltaproteobacteria were also recovered, as well as plastid signatures. Phenol–chloroform extraction after bead-beating and enzymatic lysis was therefore considered to be the most suitable method for DNA extraction from such highly diverse phototrophic biofilms.     

植物叶蛋白提取方法的比较

随着畜牧业的迅速发展,蛋白质饲料供应严重不足的问题日益突出。世界各国都在积极寻求开发利用蛋白质饲料资源［１］。其中开发利用植物叶蛋白是一条有效的途径［２］。我国有高等植物３００００余种,可作饲料的有２０００余种［３］,山东省有高等植物近２４００种,可...     

Impact of treated municipal wastewater irrigation on turnip (Brassica rapa)

The effect of treated municipal wastewater on the roots and the leaves of turnip was studied to compare the 50% and 100% wastewater of 34 ml/d Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) with different doses of potassic fertilizers. Turnip (Brassica rapa) was used as a test plant. A pot experiment was conducted, using a factorial randomized block design to investigate the growth and translocation of heavy metals to the leaves and the roots of turnip. The concentration of heavy metal in wastewater used for irrigation was within the limits. However, the concentration in the plant parts showed a significant rise due to continuous use of wastewater. The concentration of heavy metals in leaves and roots was at excessive levels at 40 and 55 days after sowing (DAS), while at 70 DAS, metal concentration was comparatively low. The range of heavy metals in wastewater irrigated plants was Cd = 1–16.3, Ni = 0–136, Fe = 263–1197, Cu = 0–18, Mn = 37–125, and Zn = 42–141 mg/kg. Concentration of heavy metals in plants was found in the order of Fe>Zn>Ni>Mn>Cu>Cd.     

Spatially resolved abundances of antibiotic resistance genes and intI1 in wastewater treatment biofilms

Attached growth bioprocesses that use biofilms to remove organic matter or nutrients from wastewater are known to harbor antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Biofilms in these processes are spatially heterogeneous, but little is known about depth stratification of ARGs in complex, mixed culture biofilms. To address this knowledge gap, we used an experimental approach combining cryosectioning and quantitative polymerase chain reaction to quantify the spatial distribution of three ARGs (sul1, ermB, and qnrS) and the class 1 integron-integrase gene intI1 in biofilms from a lab-scale rotating annular reactor fed with synthetic wastewater. We also used high throughput 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequencing to characterize community structure with depth in biofilms. The ARG sul1 and the integron-integrase gene intI1 were found in higher abundances in upper layers of biofilm near the fluid-biofilm interface than in lower layers and exhibited significant correlations between the distance from substratum and gene abundances. The genes ermB and qnrS were present in comparatively low relative abundances. Microbial community structure varied significantly by date of sampling and distance from the substratum. These findings highlight the genetic and taxonomic heterogeneity with distance from substratum in wastewater treatment biofilms and show that sul1 and intI1 are particularly abundant near fluid-biofilm interfaces where cells are most likely to detach and flow into downstream portions of treatment systems and can ultimately be released into the environment through effluent.     

莲种子蛋白质提取方法比较与双向电泳分析

莲(Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.)不仅是重要的水生蔬菜作物之一,而且是进行基础研究的好材料。本文采用4种蛋白质提取方法(新型TCA/丙酮法、传统TCA/丙酮法、改良的Tris-HCl法、Tris-饱和酚法)并结合双向电泳技术,对莲子蛋白质提取方法进行筛选与优化。双向电泳实验结果显示,所得蛋白质图谱与莲种子蛋白质组成分布特点一致。通过PDQuest软件分析表明,新型TCA/丙酮法适用于莲子叶和胚芽组织的双向电泳蛋白质提取,而传统TCA/丙酮法则适用于莲胚轴组织双向电泳的蛋白质提取。研究结果为进一步利用质谱进行莲子蛋白质组研究奠定了基础。     

塔玛亚历山大藻双向电泳蛋白的三种提取方法比较

【目的】比较3种蛋白质提取方法,找到适用于塔玛亚历山大藻蛋白的最佳的提取方法,为后续用双向电泳(2-DE)技术研究不同条件下塔玛亚历山大藻蛋白的差异表达奠定基础。【方法】以塔玛亚历山大藻为研究对象,运用Tris-HCl提取法、TCA沉淀法和lysis buffer提取法分别提取塔玛亚历山大藻蛋白,并通过双向电泳技术,对这3种方法进行了比较分析,筛选出最适于塔玛亚历山大藻的蛋白提取方法。并运用以上得出的方法,以不加杀藻物质的无菌塔玛亚历山大藻为对照,比较分析了塔玛亚历山大藻在加入杀藻物质后的蛋白差异表达状况。【结果】在这3种方法中,lysis buffer提取法得到的蛋白溶解性好,进行双向电泳时,可得到干净的背景、清晰的蛋白点,并且蛋白点的数目较多,酸性蛋白、碱性蛋白、大分子量和小分子量的蛋白均有提出来,蛋白点在胶面上分布均匀。用这种方法初步分析了加入杀藻物质后塔玛亚历山大藻蛋白的差异表达情况,并鉴定出14个与塔玛亚历山大藻生理活动密切相关的蛋白质。【结论】lysis buffer提取法获得了最多的蛋白点,双向电泳图谱清晰,适于用来提取塔玛亚历山大藻蛋白。     

An extraction free modified o-phthalaldehyde assay for quantifying residual protein and microbial biofilms on surfaces

Abstract

Biological contamination of surfaces in industry and healthcare is an important vector of disease transmission. Current assays for detecting surface-adherent contamination require extraction of biological soil. However, physical inaccessibility or poor solubility may limit recovery. Here, how the o-phthalaldehyde (OPA) protein assay can be modified to measure residual protein (modeled with bovine serum albumin) or biofilm on a surface without extraction is described. The assay limit of detection (LOD) for protein was 1.6 µg cm^?2. The detection threshold for Staphylococcus epidermis biofilm was 117 µg cm^?2. The clinical utility of the method was demonstrated for measurements taken from clinically used endoscopes. Since this method is more sensitive than extraction-based testing, clinical results should not be compared with conventional benchmarks. By enabling direct detection and quantification of soils in complex or hard-to-reach areas, this method has potential to improve the margin of safety in medical and industrial cleaning processes.     

Novel application of oxygen-transferring membranes to improve anaerobic wastewater treatment

Anaerobic biological wastewater treatment has numerous advantages over conventional aerobic processes; anaerobic biotechnologies, however, still have a reputation for low-quality effluents and operational instabilities. In this study, anaerobic bioreactors were augmented with an oxygen-transferring membrane to improve treatment performance. Two anaerobic bioreactors were fed a synthetic high-strength wastewater (chemical oxygen demand, or COD, of 11,000 mg l(-1)) and concurrently operated until biomass concentrations and effluent quality stabilized. Membrane aeration was then initiated in one of these bioreactors, leading to substantially improved COD removal efficiency (> 95%) compared to the unaerated control bioreactor (approximately 65%). The membrane-augmented anaerobic bioreactor required substantially less base addition to maintain circumneutral pH and exhibited 75% lower volatile fatty acid concentrations compared to the unaerated control bioreactor. The membrane-aerated bioreactor, however, failed to improve nitrogenous removal efficiency and produced 80% less biogas than the control bioreactor. A third membrane-augmented anaerobic bioreactor was operated to investigate the impact of start-up procedure on nitrogenous pollutant removal. In this bioreactor, excellent COD (>90%) and nitrogenous (>95%) pollutant removal efficiencies were observed at an intermediate COD concentration (5,500 mg l(-1)). Once the organic content of the influent wastewater was increased to full strength (COD = 11,000 mg l(-1)), however, nitrogenous pollutant removal stopped. This research demonstrates that partial aeration of anaerobic bioreactors using oxygen-transferring membranes is a novel approach to improve treatment performance. Additional research, however, is needed to optimize membrane surface area versus the organic loading rate to achieve the desired effluent quality.     

The estimation of micro-algal protein content and its meaning to the evaluation of algal biomass I. Comparison of methods for extracting protein

The spectrophotometric evaluation of micro-algal protein needs a prior extraction from cells in order to liberate protein for measurement. The conditions of extraction (temperature, duration, normality of sodium hydroxide, pretreatment) which yield optimal protein content are tested with three algal cultures (Scenedesmus, Synechococcus, Asterionella). A standard method of extraction is presented. Comparison of this method with nine published methods reveals markedly lower protein yields for easy extractable (43–100%) and hard extractable (5–75%) algal species, relative to this method, depending on ease of cell wall breakage. The application of this standard method to field investigations is demonstrated and compared to other biochemical parameters. The advantages of this method over other protein extraction methods, with respect to field material, are discussed.     

Method for recovery of intact DNA for community analysis of marine intertidal microbial biofilms

A protocol is described for rapid DNA isolation from marine biofilm microorganisms embedded in large amounts of exopolysaccharides. The method is a modification of the hot phenol protocol used for plants tissues, where nonexpensive and easily available enzymes were used. The method is based on the incubation of biofilm biomass samples in an extraction buffer mixed with phenol preheated at 65°C. The procedure can be completed in 2 h and up to 20 samples can be processed simultaneously with ease and DNA of excellent quality, as shown by successfully amplification of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products. DNA was recovered from a range of intertidal marine biofilms with varying amounts of exopolysaccharides.     

红豆杉属植物三种不同总DNA提取方法的分析比较

红豆杉属植物均为濒危物种,也是国家一级保护植物.以红豆杉属植物叶片为材料,利用三种不同的DNA提取方法提取总DNA,用分光光度计和琼脂糖凝胶电泳方法检测所得总DNA的得率和纯度,用PCR扩增的方法检测所得总DNA的质量,并对三种不同提取方法的结果进行了比较分析.结果表明:CTAB法提取的DNA纯度和得率均较高,可直接用...     

适合SDS-PAGE分析的黑根霉菌丝蛋白质提取方法

为制备适合SDS-聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳（SDS-PAGE）分析的黑根霉菌丝蛋白样品,采用不同的提取方法对黑根霉的茵丝进行蛋白质提取。结果表明：黑根霉菌丝经低温冷冻过夜后,直接用0．2mol／LNaOH处理10min,再加入上样缓冲液沸水浴,这一方法能快速、方便、有效的提取蛋白质。利用该方法比较了黑根霉与黑根霉甲苯耐受茵菌丝蛋白组成上的差异。     

再生水灌溉对黄瓜和西红柿养分元素分布特征及果实品质的影响

通过田间试验,研究再生水不同灌溉处理对黄瓜、西红柿植株各部位养分元素的分布特征及果实品质的影响.结果表明:再生水灌溉对西红柿的生长发育有促进作用,对黄瓜的生长发育有一定的抑制作用.再生水灌溉后,氮具有向植株地上部分运输的特征;钾易于在黄瓜叶片中富集,不易于在西红柿根部富集;钠主要富集在根系中,叶片中的浓度较低,不会对作物造成伤害;对各部位Ca2+、Mg2+、Cl-的分配没有显著影响.再生水灌溉对黄瓜、西红柿品质无显著影响,果实中硝态氮浓度分别增加了5.3%和32.9%,但均低于国家标准限值.     

新生隐球菌基因组DNA不同抽提方法的比较

目的 DNA是进行分子生物学研究的重要基础。在本研究中,我们建立了2种简单快速抽提基因组DNA的方法并可用作PCR扩增的模板。通过比较4种不同的DNA抽提方法以确定哪种更适合进行下一步的基因分析。方法这4种方法是:玻璃珠法,酶法,3%SDS法和氯化苄法。玻璃珠法是用玻璃珠在混漩器上剧烈振荡破碎细胞壁;3%SDS法是将细胞在含10mmol/LDTT的3%SDS溶液中加热,然后用5mmol/LKAc和异丙醇抽提,DNA的产量通过A260测定。结果 3%SDS溶解法、经典酶法、玻璃珠法和氯化苄法的DNA产量分别为0.4154±0.0367、0.8484±0.0756、1.2636±0.2040、0.4070±0.0339(g/L×108CFU/mL)。结论玻璃珠法是最敏感、重复性好、简单、费用合理的抽提方法 。     

Computational methods in protein structure prediction

This review presents the advances in protein structure prediction from the computational methods perspective. The approaches are classified into four major categories: comparative modeling, fold recognition, first principles methods that employ database information, and first principles methods without database information. Important advances along with current limitations and challenges are presented.     

A practical overview of protein disorder prediction methods

In the past few years there has been a growing awareness that a large number of proteins contain long disordered (unstructured) regions that often play a functional role. However, these disordered regions are still poorly detected. Recognition of disordered regions in a protein is important for two main reasons: reducing bias in sequence similarity analysis by avoiding alignment of disordered regions against ordered ones, and helping to delineate boundaries of protein domains to guide structural and functional studies. As none of the available method for disorder prediction can be taken as fully reliable on its own, we present an overview of the methods currently employed highlighting their advantages and drawbacks. We show a few practical examples of how they can be combined to avoid pitfalls and to achieve more reliable predictions.     

Evaluation of methods for extraction of bacteria from soil

Abstract Several methods for dispersion of soil were tested for possible use in procedures for extraction of bacteria. Physical cell damage on cells and efficiency in extraction of indigenous cells from soil, were investigated. Cell damage by the dispersion methods was investigated by measuring the physical cell integrity and viability of pure cultures of Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis , as well as soil bacteria extracted from soil, when dispersed in slurries of γ-sterilized soil. Separation of bacteria and soil particles on the basis of buoyant density was conducted with the nonionic density gradient medium Nycodenz. When slurries of γ-sterilized soil with added pure cultured cells were centrifuged (10000 × g ) over cushions of Nycodenz (1.3 g ml⁻¹), practically all the added cells were recovered in a layer on top of the cushion. This proves that a reversible attachment and cosedimentation is not an important phenomenon in this procedure. The efficiency of the different dispersion methods for the extraction of indigenous soil bacteria, was assessed after separation of dislodged and attached soil bacteria. This separation was done either on the basis of sedimentation rate by low speed centrifugation, or buoyant density by Nycodenz density gradient centrifugation. The physical dispersion by ultrasonic treatment and chemical dispersion by the use of a chelating agent together with a detergent, were inferior to physical dispersion either by Waring blender (for large volumes) or a rotating rubber pestle treatment (for smaller volumes). The physical dispersion did not appear to be destructive to the cells tested.     

一种适合稻水象甲双向电泳的蛋白质提取方法

【背景】蛋白样品制备是2-DE蛋白组学研究的关键步骤,无杂质、高纯度的蛋白样品是获得良好的2-DE结果的基础。选择合适于昆虫蛋白组学研究的常规蛋白提取方法是2-DE研究的前提。【方法】通过饱和酚法和TCA-丙酮法提取稻水象甲成虫总蛋白,比较2种方法的优缺点,以回避昆虫组织蛋白提取时可能出现的问题。【结果】TCA-丙酮法的蛋白质产率(14.55μg·mg-1)显著高于饱和酚法(9.30μg·mg-1),2种方法获得的SDS-PAGE条带结果相近,且高丰度表达蛋白在TCA-丙酮中更高表达;饱和酚的2-DE图谱蛋白点清晰,TCA-丙酮法2-DE图谱蛋白点规则但背景模糊,出现多条横纹。【结论与意义】饱和酚法适合稻水象甲成虫蛋白组学的研究。这2种方法也能适用于其他昆虫,但不同的昆虫体内有不同的干扰组分来干扰蛋白质的提取,所以获得的蛋白纯度及提取得率可能并不一样。试验结果说明了2种蛋白提取方法对2-DE研究的影响,并为稻水象甲成虫的蛋白组学研究提供了一定的参考依据。     

Evaluation of comparative protein modeling by MODELLER

We evaluate 3D models of human nucleoside diphosphate kinase, mouse cellular retinoic acid binding protein I, and human eosinophil neurotoxin that were calculated by MODELLER , a program for comparative protein modeling by satisfaction of spatial restraints. The models have good stereochemistry and are at least as similar to the crystallographic structures as the closest template structures. The largest errors occur in the regions that were not aligned correctly or where the template structures are not similar to the correct structure. These regions correspond predominantly to exposed loops, insertions of any length, and non-conserved side chains. When a template structure with more than 40% sequence identity to the target protein is available, the model is likely to have about 90% of the mainchain atoms modeled with an rms deviation from the X-ray structure of ≈ 1 Å, in large part because the templates are likely to be that similar to the X-ray structure of the target. This rms deviation is comparable to the overall differences between refined NMR and X-ray crystallography structures of the same protein. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

适用于盐生植物的双向电泳样品制备方法

比较了三氯乙酸,丙酮沉淀法（TCA）、三氯乙酸沉淀法（E-TCA）和酚抽法（Phe）3种方法对盐生植物盐角草（Salicornia europaea L．）总蛋白的提取效果。3种方法分别得到579、343和535个蛋白点;TCA和E-TCA法所得图谱均存在严重的横向纹理,Phe法所得图谱则背景干净,基本上没有纹理。说明Phe法不仅能很好地提取盐角草蛋白,而且能有效去除样品中的盐分。对Phe法的提取液进行了改进,所得图谱背景更加清晰,蛋白点数增加。为其他盐生植物以及嗜盐微生物蛋白质的提取提供了重要参考。