一株联苯降解菌的特性及鉴定*

从华北油田污染土壤中筛选出一株能够以联苯为唯一碳源和能源生长的菌株。该菌生长的最适联苯浓度为0．2％～0．4％,在联苯浓度为0．1％的培养基中培养36h后降解率达99．8%。该菌还可以降解苯甲酸钠、邻苯二酚、间苯二酚、对苯二酚和多氯联苯Aroclorl221、Aroclorl242等芳香族化合物。通过16S rDNA基因序列分析鉴定该菌为嗜吡啶红球菌(Rhodococcus pyridinovorans)。     

Taxonomic Study of a Marine Bacterium Producing Guluronate Lyase

A marine bacterium that secretes a novel guluronate lyase that is heat- and denaturants-durable, has been isolated from the intestine contents of a red sea bream, Pagrus major. To characterize this marine bacterium, we attempted taxonomic study with respect to eleven characteristics used for the specification with an electron microscope photograph. The findings showed that the marine bacterium is a member of the genus Vibrio.     

The basis of the alkalophilic property of a species of bacillus.

An alkalophilic bacterium belonging to the genus Bacillus was isolated from an indigo ball. The bacterium exhibited a maximum growth rate at pH 10-0 TO 10-5. The incorporation of 14C-labelled amino acids or [14C]uracil, uptake of 14C-labelled alpha-amino isobutyric acid into the bacterium and oxygen consumption of the bacterium with amino acids as substrates were all maximum at pH 9-0 to 10-5. The uptake of [U-14C]glucose into the organism and oxygen consumption with carbohydrates, on the other hand, showed little variation of rate in the pH 8 to 10 region. The oxygen consumption of intact bacteria or protoplasts in culture medium was maximum at pH 10. The membrane of the bacterium oxidized NADH maximally at pH 7-5, and ATPase bound to the membrane exhibited maximum activity at pH 7.L-Lactate, L-alanine and malate dehydrogenases in the soluble fraction exhibited maximum activities at pH 7-4 to 8-4. The alkalophilic property of the bacterium may be due to the behaviour of the membrane towards charged substances admitted into the organisms.     

CO2 supply induces the growth of Symbiobacterium thermophilum, a syntrophic bacterium

Symbiobacterium thermophilum is a unique syntrophic bacterium that exhibits marked growth only in coculture with a cognate Bacillus sp. In this study, we found that the bacterium is capable of marked mono-growth when supplied with CO2 or bicarbonate. The evidence suggests that the genetic defect for carbonic anhydrase in this bacterium is a reason for the syntrophic property based on CO2 requirement.     

A Stochastic Analysis of a Brownian Ratchet Model for Actin-Based Motility

In recent single-particle tracking (SPT) measurements on Listeria monocytogenes motility in cells [Kuo and McGrath (2000)], the actin-based stochastic dynamics of the bacterium movement has been analyzed statistically in terms of the mean-square displacement (MSD) of the trajectory. We present a stochastic analysis of a simplified polymerization Brownian ratchet (BR) model in which motions are limited by the bacterium movement. Analytical results are obtained and statistical data analyses are investigated. It is shown that the MSD of the stochastic bacterium movement is a monotonic quadratic function while the MSD for detrended trajectories is linear. Both the short-time relaxation and the long-time kinetics in terms the mean velocity and effective diffusion constant of the propelled bacterium are obtained from the MSD analysis. The MSD of the gap between actin tip and the bacterium exhibits an oscillatory behavior when there is a large resistant force from the bacterium. For comparison, a continuous diffusion formalism of the BR model with great analytical simplicity is also studied.     

Reductive dechlorination of beta-hexachlorocyclohexane (beta-HCH) by a Dehalobacter species in coculture with a Sedimentibacter sp

An anaerobic coculture was enriched from a hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) polluted soil. The coculture reductively dechlorinates the beta-HCH isomer to benzene and chlorobenzene in a ratio of 0.5-2 depending on the amount of beta-HCH degraded. The culture grows with H(2) as electron donor and beta-HCH as electron acceptor, indicating that dechlorination is a respiratory process. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the coculture consists of two bacteria that are both related to gram-positive bacteria with a low G + C content of the DNA. One bacterium was identified as a Dehalobacter sp. This bacterium is responsible for the dechlorination. The other bacterium was isolated and characterized as being a Sedimentibacter sp. This strain is not able to dechlorinate beta-HCH. The Dehalobacter sp. requires the presence of Sedimentibacter for growth and dechlorination, but the function of the latter bacterium is not clear. This is the first report on the metabolic dechlorination of beta-HCH by a defined anaerobic bacterial culture.     

Alkanindiges hongkongensis sp. nov. A novel Alkanindiges species isolated from a patient with parotid abscess

A bacterium was isolated from the abscess pus of a 72-year-old patient with Warthin's tumor and parotid abscess. The cells were aerobic, non-motile, Gram-negative but difficult to be destained, non-sporulating, coccobacillus. The bacterium grew poorly on sheep blood agar and MacConkey agar as non-hemolytic colonies of 0.5 mm in diameter after 24h of incubation at 37 degrees C in ambient air. Growth was enhanced by Tween 80. It produces catalase but not cytochrome oxidase. Sequencing of the cloned 16S rRNA PCR products of the bacterium revealed three different 16S rRNA gene sequences, with 12 - 31 bp differences among them. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the bacterium is closely related to Alkanindiges illinoisensis, with 5.0 - 5.9% differences between the 16S rRNA gene sequence of the bacterium and that of A. illinoisensis. Tryptophan auxotrophic strain of Acinetobacter trpE27 transformed with DNA extracted from the bacterium was unable to grow on tryptophan deficient medium, indicating that the bacterium was not a strain of Acinetobacter. The G+C content of the bacterium (mean +/-SD) was 46.9+4.3%. A new species, Alkanindiges hongkongensis sp. nov., is proposed, for which HKU9T is the type strain. Isolates with "small colonies" that are apparently Acinetobacter-like species should be carefully identified. Growth enhancement with aliphatic hydrocarbons should be looked for and 16S rRNA gene sequencing performed in order to find more potential cases of Alkanindiges infections, as well as to define the epidemiology, clinical spectrum, and outcome of infections associated with this genus.     

Corynebacterium aquatimens sp. nov., a lipophilic Corynebacterium isolated from blood cultures of a patient with bacteremia

An unknown lipophilic coryneform bacterium isolated from the blood cultures of a patient with bacteremia was characterized by phenotypic and molecular genetic methods. Chemical analysis revealed the presence of short chain mycolic acids consistent with the genus Corynebacterium. The DNA G+C content was 60.8mol%. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis demonstrated that the isolate represents a new subline within the genus Corynebacterium. The closely phylogenetic relative of the unknown bacterium was found to be C. tuscaniense (97.8% sequence similarity). Partial rpoB gene sequence revealed that strain IMMIB L-2475(T) exhibited 13.5% sequence divergence with C. tuscaniense. The unknown bacterium was distinguished from C. tuscaniense by, DNA-DNA hybridization, cellular fatty acid profiles, MALDI-TOF analyses of cell extracts and biochemical tests. Based on the phylogenetic and phenotypic criteria, it is proposed that this bacterium be classified as new species, Corynebacterium aquatimens sp. nov., and is represented by strain IMMIB L-2475(T) (=DSM 45632(T)=CCUG 61574(T)).     

Microbiological corrosion of a Sn base alloy

Babbitt alloy is generally used as an antifriction coating of bearings in plate mills. Samples of corroded alloy which were analyzed showed a localized attack which penetrated the whole thickness in small areas.The bacterium Pseudomonas maltophilia was isolated from the rolling solution and from the lubricant oil in contact with the coating of the bearings. The damage which occurred in service was electrochemically reproduced. Cultures of the bacterium in a nutrient medium were used as electrolyte in the presence of the different substrates.By SEM and EDAX analysis it was shown that the attack nucleates and propagates selectively in the Sn-Sn matrix, while the Cu rich phase remains unaffected.The oligodynamic action of the Sn²⁺ ion on the growth of the bacterium was related to the nutritional requirements of the bacterium and to the selectivity of the attack on the alloy.     

Characterization of a methane-utilizing bacterium from a bacterial consortium that rapidly degrades trichloroethylene and chloroform.

A mixed culture of bacteria grown in a bioreactor with methane as a carbon and energy source rapidly oxidized trichloroethylene and chloroform. The most abundant organism was a crescent-shaped bacterium that bound the fluorescent oligonucleotide signature probes that specifically hybridize to serine pathway methylotrophs. The 5S rRNA from this bacterium was found to be 93.5% homologous to the Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b 5S RNA sequence. A type II methanotrophic bacterium, isolated in pure culture from the bioreactor, synthesized soluble methane monooxygenase during growth in a copper-limited medium and was also capable of rapid trichloroethylene oxidation. The bacterium contained the gene that encodes the soluble methane monooxygenase B component on an AseI restriction fragment identical in size to a restriction fragment present in AseI digests of DNA from bacteria in the mixed culture. The sequence of the 16S rRNA from the pure culture was found to be 92 and 94% homologous to the 16S rRNAs of M. trichosporium OB3b and M. sporium, respectively. Both the pure and mixed cultures oxidized naphthalene to naphthol, indicating the presence of soluble methane monooxygenase. The mixed culture also synthesized soluble methane monooxygenase, as evidenced by the presence of proteins that cross-reacted with antibodies prepared against purified soluble methane monooxygenase components from M. trichosporium OB3b on Western blots (immunoblots). It was concluded that a type II methanotrophic bacterium phylogenetically related to Methylosinus species synthesizes soluble methane monooxygenase and is responsible for trichloroethylene oxidation in the bioreactor.     

Characterization of a methane-utilizing bacterium from a bacterial consortium that rapidly degrades trichloroethylene and chloroform.

A mixed culture of bacteria grown in a bioreactor with methane as a carbon and energy source rapidly oxidized trichloroethylene and chloroform. The most abundant organism was a crescent-shaped bacterium that bound the fluorescent oligonucleotide signature probes that specifically hybridize to serine pathway methylotrophs. The 5S rRNA from this bacterium was found to be 93.5% homologous to the Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b 5S RNA sequence. A type II methanotrophic bacterium, isolated in pure culture from the bioreactor, synthesized soluble methane monooxygenase during growth in a copper-limited medium and was also capable of rapid trichloroethylene oxidation. The bacterium contained the gene that encodes the soluble methane monooxygenase B component on an AseI restriction fragment identical in size to a restriction fragment present in AseI digests of DNA from bacteria in the mixed culture. The sequence of the 16S rRNA from the pure culture was found to be 92 and 94% homologous to the 16S rRNAs of M. trichosporium OB3b and M. sporium, respectively. Both the pure and mixed cultures oxidized naphthalene to naphthol, indicating the presence of soluble methane monooxygenase. The mixed culture also synthesized soluble methane monooxygenase, as evidenced by the presence of proteins that cross-reacted with antibodies prepared against purified soluble methane monooxygenase components from M. trichosporium OB3b on Western blots (immunoblots). It was concluded that a type II methanotrophic bacterium phylogenetically related to Methylosinus species synthesizes soluble methane monooxygenase and is responsible for trichloroethylene oxidation in the bioreactor.     

Colicin diversity: a result of eco-evolutionary dynamics

Colicins are plasmids that are carried in Escherichia coli. They code for a toxic protein and for proteins that confer on the host immunity against this toxin. When bacteria carry plasmids their growth rate is reduced. At the same time, the production of toxins makes it possible for colicinogenic bacteria to invade bacterium strains that are not immune. In natural bacterium populations there is a high diversity of colicin types. The reason for the maintenance of this diversity has been the subject of much recent debate. We have studied a simple eco-evolutionary model of the interaction of bacteria with colicins and show that high diversity of colicins is to be expected. We find two different dynamical modes each with a high diversity: a hyperimmunity mode and a multitoxicity mode. Bacteria are immune to most toxins in the first mode but in fact produce very few toxins. In the second mode bacteria are immune only to those toxins that they actually produce. In the second mode toxin levels per bacterium are much higher, whereas immunity levels per bacterium are lower.     

家白蚁中肠具有内切葡聚糖酶活性菌株的分离和鉴定

从家白蚁中肠分离得到了一株具有内切β-1,4-葡聚糖酶活性的细菌Streptomyces sp.Cf1,并经过16S rRNA和形态分析确定为属于链霉菌属(Streptomyces)一种.该菌具有内切β-1,4-葡聚糖酶活性但不具有糖苷酶活性.该菌所分泌的内切β-1,4-葡聚糖酶活性最大可达8.25 U/mg.菌株分泌酶活性的最适pH值为6～7,最适温度为60℃.从家白蚁中肠分离得到这一具内切葡聚糖酶活性的菌株表明,家白蚁中肠细菌可以通过分泌内切葡聚糖酶与白蚁内源性内切葡聚糖酶一道参与食物中纤维素的降解.     

Effects of antibiotics on the early infection process of a macronuclear endosymbiotic bacterium Holospora obtusa of Paramecium caudatum

We examined the effects of antibiotics involved in bacterial DNA, RNA and protein synthesis and host protein synthesis on the early infection process of the bacterium Holospora obtusa, a macronucleus-specific symbiont of the ciliate Paramecium caudatum. Infection of the host macronucleus by the bacterium was not inhibited by mitomycin C, rifampicin and chloramphenicol. However, ingestion of the bacterium into the host digestive vacuoles and escape of the bacterium from the vacuoles to the host cytoplasm were significantly arrested with emetine. The results suggest that newly synthesized host proteins play an important role in the early infection process.     

Characterization of a bacterium isolated from amber

A bacterium has been isolated from Baltic amber, after it was soaked in ethanol and flamed. The bacterium was a Gram-positive aerobic spore-forming rod whose 16S rDNA sequence had a 99.6% homology to that of Bacillus subtilis. Accordingly, the bacterium was identified as a strain in the species Bacillus subtilis. Considering the isolation procedure that was employed, the isolate should not be a contaminant of the contemporary Bacillus population; however, it may not be considered as a bacterium trapped when the amber was formed. These results suggest that amber might contain bacteria that were derived from the environments in which the amber had been located.     

Determination of phenanthrene bioavailability by using a self-dying reporter bacterium: test with model solids and soil

The present study was conducted to investigate the performance and feasibility of a self-dying reporter bacterium to visualize and quantify phenanthrene bioavailability in soil. The self-dying reporter bacterium was designed to die on the initiation of phenanthrene biodegradation. The viability of the reporter bacterium was determined by a fluorescence live/dead cell staining method and visualized by confocal laser scanning microscopic observation. Phenanthrene was spiked into four types of model solids and a sandy loam. The bioavailability of phenanthrene to the reporter bacterium was remarkably declined with the hydrophobicity of the model solids: essentially no phenanthrene was biodegraded in the presence of 9-nm pores and about 35.8% of initial phenanthrene was biodegraded without pores. Decrease in bioavailability was not evident in the nonporous hydrophilic bead, but a small decrease was observed in the porous hydrophilic bead at 1000 mg/kg of phenanthrene. The fluorescence intensity was commensurate with the extent of phenanthrene biodegradation by the reporter bacterium at the concentration range from 50 to 500 mg/kg. Such a quantitative relationship was also confirmed with a sandy loam spiked up to 1000 mg/kg of phenanthrene. This reporter bacterium may be a useful means to determine phenanthrene bioavailability in soil.     

Isolate 761M: a New Type I Methanotroph That Possesses a Complete Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle

A methanotrophic bacterium, isolate 761M, grows slowly with methane as the sole carbon and energy source. Growth was stimulated by peptone, casein hydrolysate, glucose, and acetate plus malate. Sugars other than glucose did not stimulate growth. Growth yields, based on the amount of methane consumed, increased when other carbon sources were present, and less methane carbon was assimilated under these conditions. Methane was obligately required for growth of isolate 761M. This bacterium does not grow on rich media. Isolate 761M was found to possess hexulose phosphate synthase and intracytoplasmic membranes characteristic of other type I methanotrophs. Unlike other type I methanotrophs, this bacterium possessed alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase and oxidized [2-¹⁴C]acetate to carbon dioxide.     

Competitive PCR for quantitation of a Cytophaga-Flexibacter-Bacteroides phylum bacterium associated with the Tuber borchii Vittad. mycelium

An uncultured bacterium associated with the ectomycorrhizal fungus Tuber borchii Vittad. was identified as a novel member of the Cytophaga-Flexibacter-Bacteroides group. Utilizing a quantitative PCR targeting the 16S rRNA gene, we relatively quantified this bacterium in the host. The estimated number of bacteria was found to be approximately 10(6) cells per 30-day-old T. borchii mycelium culture. This represents the first molecular attempt to enumerate an uncultured bacterium associated with a mycorrhizal fungus.     

A New Isolation Method for Labyrinthulids Using a Bacterium, Psychrobacter phenylpyruvicus

A new isolation method for labyrinthulids, marine microbes with spindle-shaped vegetative cells and gliding movement, is presented. The method for isolating labyrinthulids has been found to be more difficult and less reproducible than that for thraustochytrids, classified in the same order. So far serum seawater agar fortified with antibiotics has been proposed to be the best for isolation of labyrinthulids. The method presented here involves placing plant samples on an agar medium on which a marine bacterium, Psychrobacter phenylpyruvicus, has been grown. The new method, which utilizes fallen mangrove leaves as source material, was more than twice as effective as isolation agar medium without the bacterium. The increased effectiveness appears to derive partly from the bacterial colonies' delaying extension of fungal mycelium. The bacterium was more effective for the isolation of labyrinthulids than either the bacterium Shewanella sp. or the yeast Rhodotorula rubra.