NEW TUBE-BEARING ANTILLOCAPRINID RUDIST BIVALVES FROM THE MAASTRICHTIAN OF JAMAICA

Abstract:  Two genera of tube-bearing antillocaprinid rudist bivalves from the Maastrichtian of Jamaica are recognised: Titanosarcolites Trechmann and Parasarcolites gen. nov. Titanosarcolites is recumbent, broadly equivalve and coils parallel to the myocardinal line, with tubes on the anteriodorsal, anterior, and anterioventral regions of the inner layer; there are two teeth and two teeth-like myophores in the left valve. Sockets for teeth have conical tabulae, those for myophores are filled with normal shell structure. A ligamental cavity is lacking. Parasarcolites is recumbent, with equal, subequal or moderately inequal valves, and the plane of coiling is at an angle of 34–63 degrees to the mediocardinal line. It has tubes in the dorsal and anterior-dorsal regions, and a myocardinal structure with blade like myophores, with the posterior tooth and socket strongly flattened. The position of the ligament is indicated by a comma-shaped cavity situated dorsalwards of the posterior tooth. Additional toothlets are present in the left valve. All sockets are filled with canal-bearing shell-structure. Five new species of Parasarcolites are described from the Upper Maastrichtian of Jamaica: Parasarcolites atkinsoni , P. baileyi , P. greeni , P. monotubularis and P. quadratus .     

Medical bioremediation of age-related diseases

Catabolic insufficiency in humans leads to the gradual accumulation of a number of pathogenic compounds associated with age-related diseases, including atherosclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, and macular degeneration. Removal of these compounds is a widely researched therapeutic option, but the use of antibodies and endogenous human enzymes has failed to produce effective treatments, and may pose risks to cellular homeostasis. Another alternative is "medical bioremediation," the use of microbial enzymes to augment missing catabolic functions. The microbial genetic diversity in most natural environments provides a resource that can be mined for enzymes capable of degrading just about any energy-rich organic compound. This review discusses targets for biodegradation, the identification of candidate microbial enzymes, and enzyme-delivery methods.     

Microbial production host selection for converting second-generation feedstocks into bioproducts

Background  

Increasingly lignocellulosic biomass hydrolysates are used as the feedstock for industrial fermentations. These biomass hydrolysates are complex mixtures of different fermentable sugars, but also inhibitors and salts that affect the performance of the microbial production host. The performance of six industrially relevant microorganisms, i.e. two bacteria (Escherichia coli and Corynebacterium glutamicum), two yeasts (Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Pichia stipitis) and two fungi (Aspergillus niger and Trichoderma reesei) were compared for their (i) ability to utilize monosaccharides present in lignocellulosic hydrolysates, (ii) resistance against inhibitors present in lignocellulosic hydrolysates, (iii) their ability to utilize and grow on different feedstock hydrolysates (corn stover, wheat straw, sugar cane bagasse and willow wood). The feedstock hydrolysates were generated in two manners: (i) thermal pretreatment under mild acid conditions followed by enzymatic hydrolysis and (ii) a non-enzymatic method in which the lignocellulosic biomass is pretreated and hydrolyzed by concentrated sulfuric acid. Moreover, the ability of the selected hosts to utilize waste glycerol from the biodiesel industry was evaluated.