We exploited the unique ecological niche of oil fly larval guts to isolate a strain of Staphylococcus haemolyticus which may be the most solvent-tolerant gram-positive bacterium yet described. This organism is able to tolerate 100% toluene, benzene, and p-xylene on plate overlays and saturating levels of these solvents in monophasic liquid cultures. A comparison of membrane fatty acids by gas chromatography after growth in liquid media with and without toluene showed that in cells continuously exposed to solvent the proportion of anteiso fatty acids increased from 25.8 to 33.7% while the proportion of 20:0 straight-chain fatty acids decreased from 19.3 to 10.1%. No changes in the membrane phospholipid composition were noted. Thus, S. haemolyticus alters its membrane fluidity via fatty acid composition to become more fluid when it is exposed to solvent. This response is opposite that commonly found in gram-negative bacteria, which change their fatty acids so that the cytoplasmic membrane is less fluid. Extreme solvent tolerance in S. haemolyticus is not accompanied by abnormal resistance to anionic or cationic detergents. Finally, six strains of Staphylococcus aureus and five strains of Staphylococcus epidermidis, which were not obtained by solvent selection, also exhibited exceptional solvent tolerance. 相似文献
The soils of the Pampas are thought to be generally non-contaminated but there is growing evidence of trace element accumulation at some specific sites. The goal of this study was to measure the current levels of the main Potentially Toxic Elements (PTE) in the top horizon and in specific soil profiles so that we would establish the baseline concentrations of these elements. Eighty-eight top soils and three soil profiles were sampled. The samples were acid digested. Arsenic, boron, barium, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, lead, manganese, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, silver, selenium and zinc were determined with inductively coupled argon plasma emission spectrometry (ICPES).
All of the values found are within the normal range for uncontaminated soils as reported from several continents. Elements with high environmental risk potential are lower than the admissible range of the European Union and some of them are orders of magnitude lower than those of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US-EPA) 501 levels. Potentially Toxic Elements contents increased with depth or showed a maximum concentration at the B2 horizon. This is related to the parent material and the pedogenetic processes but not to recent contamination. Soil profiles showed higher concentrations of PTE in clayey horizons. However, these relationships did not appear in top soil samples in any soil Great Group studied. The shown data establishes a baseline for PTE concentrations for Pampas soils. 相似文献
Global maize production alters an enormous soil organic C (SOC) stock, ultimately affecting greenhouse gas concentrations and the capacity of agroecosystems to buffer climate variability. Inorganic N fertilizer is perhaps the most important factor affecting SOC within maize‐based systems due to its effects on crop residue production and SOC mineralization. Using a continuous maize cropping system with a 13 year N fertilizer gradient (0–269 kg N ha?1 yr?1) that created a large range in crop residue inputs (3.60–9.94 Mg dry matter ha?1 yr?1), we provide the first agronomic assessment of long‐term N fertilizer effects on SOC with direct reference to N rates that are empirically determined to be insufficient, optimum, and excessive. Across the N fertilizer gradient, SOC in physico‐chemically protected pools was not affected by N fertilizer rate or residue inputs. However, unprotected particulate organic matter (POM) fractions increased with residue inputs. Although N fertilizer was negatively linearly correlated with POM C/N ratios, the slope of this relationship decreased from the least decomposed POM pools (coarse POM) to the most decomposed POM pools (fine intra‐aggregate POM). Moreover, C/N ratios of protected pools did not vary across N rates, suggesting little effect of N fertilizer on soil organic matter (SOM) after decomposition of POM. Comparing a N rate within 4% of agronomic optimum (208 kg N ha?1 yr?1) and an excessive N rate (269 kg N ha?1 yr?1), there were no differences between SOC amount, SOM C/N ratios, or microbial biomass and composition. These data suggest that excessive N fertilizer had little effect on SOM and they complement agronomic assessments of environmental N losses, that demonstrate N2O and NO3 emissions exponentially increase when agronomic optimum N is surpassed. 相似文献
Harvesting of corn stover (plant residues) for cellulosic ethanol production must be balanced with the requirement for returning plant residues to agricultural fields to maintain soil structure, fertility, crop protection, and other ecosystem services. High rates of corn stover removal can be associated with decreased soil organic matter (SOM) quantity and quality and increased highly erodible soil aggregate fractions. Limited data are available on the impact of stover harvesting on soil microbial communities which are critical because of their fundamental relationships with C and N cycles, soil fertility, crop protection, and stresses that might be imposed by climate change. Using fatty acid and DNA analyses, we evaluated relative changes in soil fungal and bacterial densities and fungal-to-bacterial (F:B) ratios in response to corn stover removal under no-till, rain-fed management. These studies were performed at four different US locations with contrasting soil-climatic conditions. At one location, residue removal significantly decreased F:B ratios. At this location, cover cropping significantly increased F:B ratios at the highest level of residue removal and thus may be an important practice to minimize changes in soil microbial communities where corn stover is harvested. We also found that in these no-till systems, the 0- to 5-cm depth interval is most likely to experience changes, and detectable effects of stover removal on soil microbial community structure will depend on the duration of stover removal, sampling time, soil type, and annual weather patterns. No-till practices may have limited the rate of change in soil properties associated with stover removal compared to more extensive changes reported at a limited number of tilled sites. Documenting changes in soil microbial communities with stover removal under differing soil-climatic and management conditions will guide threshold levels of stover removal and identify practices (e.g., no-till, cover cropping) that may mitigate undesirable changes in soil properties. 相似文献
The Gram negative anaerobic bacterium Porphyromonas gingivalis has long been recognized as a causative agent of periodontitis. Periodontitis is a chronic infectious disease of the tooth
supporting tissues eventually leading to tooth-loss. Capsular polysaccharide (CPS) of P. gingivalis has been shown to be an important virulence determinant. Seven capsular serotypes have been described. Here, we used micro-array
based comparative genomic hybridization analysis (CGH) to analyze a representative of each of the capsular serotypes and a
non-encapsulated strain against the highly virulent and sequenced W83 strain. We defined absent calls using Arabidopsis thaliana negative control probes, with the aim to distinguish between aberrations due to mutations and gene gain/loss. 相似文献
We report on the identification, molecular cloning, and characterization of
an alpha1,3 fucosyltransferase (alpha1,3FT) expressed by the nematode,
Caenorhabditis elegans . Although C. elegans glycoconjugates do not express
the Lewis x antigen Galbeta1-- >4[Fucalpha1-->3]GlcNAcbeta-->R,
detergent extracts of adult C.elegans contain an alpha1,3FT that can
fucosylate both nonsialylated and sialylated acceptor glycans to generate
the Lexand sialyl Lexantigens, as well as the lacdiNAc-containing acceptor
GalNAcbeta1-->4GlcNAcbeta1-- >R to generate GalNAcbeta1-->4
[Fucalpha1-->3]GlcNAcbeta1-->R. A search of the C.elegans genome
database revealed the existence of a gene with 20-23% overall identity to
all five cloned human alpha1,3FTs. The putative cDNA for the C.elegans
alpha1,3FT (CEFT-1) was amplified by PCR from a cDNA lambdaZAP library,
cloned, and sequenced. COS7 cells transiently transfected with cDNA
encoding CEFT-1 express the Lex, but not sLexantigen. The CEFT-1 in the
transfected cell extracts can synthesize Lex, but not sialyl Lex, using
exogenous acceptors. A second fucosyltransferase activity was detected in
extracts of C. elegans that transfers Fuc in alpha1,2 linkage to Gal
specifically on type-1 chains. The discovery of alpha-fucosyltransferases
in C. elegans opens the possibility of using this well-characterized
nematode as a model system for studying the role of fucosylated glycans in
the development and survival of C.elegans and possibly other helminths.
相似文献
Vibrational communication is important for successful mating in various stink bugs species. The vibrational signals from males and females of Dichelops melacanthus Dallas (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) are recorded from a nonresonant substrate (i.e. a loudspeaker membrane) to characterize the temporal and spectral properties of these vibrational signals, as well as on a resonant substrate (i.e. bean plants) to obtain information about how these signals are altered when they are transmitted through the plants. On the loudspeaker membrane, D. melacanthus males and females emit only one male or one female song, respectively. However, when the insects are placed on bean leaves, a more complex repertoire is recorded, with three different songs for each sex. The first female and male songs appear to have calling functions and the third male and female songs are emitted during courtship. The second female and male songs are emitted after the first song, although their functions in mating behaviour are not clear. The identified repertoire is similar to those of other Neotropical stink bugs, starting with songs 1 and 2 and developing into song 3. Frequency modulation is observed in the female songs recorded from the loudspeaker membrane and the plants. The signals recorded from plants present higher harmonic peaks compared with the signals recorded from the loudspeaker membrane. The presence of species and sex‐specific songs during mating confirms the important role of vibrational communication in mate location and recognition. The temporal and spectral characteristic signals are influenced by the substrate used to record the songs emitted by D. melacanthus. 相似文献
We address the problem of the possible significance of biological
speciation to the magnitude and pattern of divergence of asexually
transmitted characters in bisexual species. The empirical data for this
report consist of restriction endonuclease site variability in maternally
transmitted mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) isolated from 82 samples of
Peromyscus polionotus and P. leucopus collected from major portions of the
respective species' ranges. Data are analyzed together with previously
published information on P. maniculatus, a sibling species to polionotus.
Maps of restriction sites indicate that all of the variation observed can
be reasonably attributed to base substitutions leading to loss or gain of
particular recognition sites. Magnitude of mtDNA sequence divergence within
polionotus (maximum approximately equal to 2%) is roughly comparable to
that observed within any of five previously identified mtDNA assemblages in
maniculatus. Sequence divergence within leucopus (maximum approximately
equal to 4%) is somewhat greater than that within polionotus. Consideration
of probable evolutionary links among mtDNA restriction site maps allowed
estimation of matriarchal phylogenies within polionotus and leucopus.
Clustering algorithms and qualitative Wagner procedures were used to
generate phenograms and parsimony networks, respectively, for the
between-species comparisons. Three simple graphical models are presented to
illustrate some conceivable relationships of mtDNA differentiation to
speciation. In theoretical case I, each of two reproductively defined
species (A and B) is monophyletic in matriarchal genealogy; the common
female ancestor of either species can either predate or postdate the
speciation. In case II, neither species is monophyletic in matriarchal
genotype. In case III, species B is monophyletic but forms a subclade
within A which is thus paraphyletic with respect to B. The empirical
results for mtDNA in maniculatus and polionotus appear to conform closely
to case III. These theoretical and empirical considerations raise a number
of questions about the general relationship of the speciation process to
the evolution of uniparentally transmitted traits. Some of these
considerations are presented, and it is suggested that the distribution
patterns of mtDNA sequence variation within and among extant species should
be of considerable relevance to the particular demographies of speciation.
相似文献
Chromosome segregation depends on sister chromatid cohesion which is established by cohesin during DNA replication. Cohesive cohesin complexes become acetylated to prevent their precocious release by WAPL before cells have reached mitosis. To obtain insight into how DNA replication, cohesion establishment and cohesin acetylation are coordinated, we analysed the interaction partners of 55 human proteins implicated in these processes by mass spectrometry. This proteomic screen revealed that on chromatin the cohesin acetyltransferase ESCO2 associates with the MCM2‐7 subcomplex of the replicative Cdc45‐MCM‐GINS helicase. The analysis of ESCO2 mutants defective in MCM binding indicates that these interactions are required for proper recruitment of ESCO2 to chromatin, cohesin acetylation during DNA replication, and centromeric cohesion. We propose that MCM binding enables ESCO2 to travel with replisomes to acetylate cohesive cohesin complexes in the vicinity of replication forks so that these complexes can be protected from precocious release by WAPL. Our results also indicate that ESCO1 and ESCO2 have distinct functions in maintaining cohesion between chromosome arms and centromeres, respectively. 相似文献
The destruction of periodontal tissues during periodontitis is the result of the immune-inflammatory reactions to the bacteria of dental biofilm. Probiotics may reduce dysbiosis by the modification of the dental microbiome, which can influence the immune-inflammatory mechanisms. The aim of this study was to estimate the clinical and microbiological parameters, before and after 30 days of application of the dietary supplement containing Lactobacillus salivarius SGL03 or placebo. The study was conducted in 51 patients with stage I or II periodontitis during the maintenance phase of treatment. The clinical parameters and the number of colony forming units (CFU) of bacteria in supragingival plaque were assessed before and after 30 days of the oral once daily administration of the dietary supplement in the form of suspension containing L. salivarius SGL03 or placebo. There were no changes in the PI scores between and within the groups. The value of BOP decreased in both groups. In the study group the significant reduction of the mean pocket depth was revealed (from 2.5 to 2.42, p = 0,027) but without the difference between the groups. There were no significant changes in the number of bacteria within the groups. In the control, but not the study group, positive correlations were observed between the clinical parameters (variables) and the number of bacteria. The use of the dietary supplement containing L. salivarius SGL03 may reduce pocket depth despite the lack of changes in other clinical parameters and the number of bacteria in supragingival plaque.Key words: probiotics, periodontal treatment, Lactobacillus salivarius相似文献