Biodegradation of dichloromethane and its utilization as a growth substrate under methanogenic conditions.

Biodegradation of dichloromethane (DCM) to environmentally acceptable products was demonstrated under methanogenic conditions (35 degrees C). When DCM was supplied to enrichment cultures as the sole organic compound at a low enough concentration to avoid inhibition of methanogenesis, the molar ratio of CH4 formed to DCM consumed (0.473) was very close to the amount predicted by stoichiometric conservation of electrons. DCM degradation was also demonstrated when methanogenesis was partially inhibited (with 0.5 to 1.5 mM 2-bromoethanesulfonate or approximately 2 mM DCM) or completely stopped (with 50 to 55.5 mM 2-bromoethanesulfonate). Addition of a eubacterial inhibitor (vancomycin, 100 mg/liter) greatly reduced the rate of DCM degradation. 14CO2 was the principal product of [14C]DCM degradation, followed by 14CH4 (when methanogenesis was uninhibited) or 14CH3COOH (when methanogenesis was partially or completely inhibited). Hydrogen accumulated during DCM degradation and then returned to background levels when DCM was consumed. These results suggested that nonmethanogenic organisms mediated DCM degradation, oxidizing a portion to CO2 and fermenting the remainder to acetate; acetate formation suggested involvement of an acetogen. Methanogens in the enrichment culture then converted the products of DCM degradation to CH4. Aceticlastic methanogens were more easily inhibited by 2-bromoethanesulfonate and DCM than were CO2-reducing methanogens. When DCM was the sole organic-carbon and electron donor source supplied, its use as a growth substrate was demonstrated. The highest observed yield was 0.085 g of suspended organic carbon formed per g of DCM carbon consumed. Approximately 85% of the biomass formed was attributable to the growth of nonmethanogens, and 15% was attributable to methanogens.     

Yeast redoxyendonuclease, a DNA repair enzyme similar to Escherichia coli endonuclease III

A DNA repair endonuclease (redoxyendonuclease) was isolated from bakers' yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). The enzyme has been purified by a series of column chromatography steps and cleaves OsO4-damaged, double-stranded DNA at sites of thymine glycol and heavily UV-irradiated DNA at sites of cytosine, thymine, and guanine photoproducts. The base specificity and mechanism of phosphodiester bond cleavage for the yeast redoxyendonuclease appear to be identical with those of Escherichia coli endonuclease III when thymine glycol containing, end-labeled DNA fragments of defined sequence are employed as substrates. Yeast redoxyendonuclease has an apparent molecular size of 38,000-42,000 daltons and is active in the absence of divalent metal cations. The identification of such an enzyme in yeast may be of value in the elucidation of the biochemical basis for radiation sensitivity in certain yeast mutants.     

Ecology and management of mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla King) in the Chimanes Forest, Bed, Bolivia

Mahogany ( Swietenia macrophylla King) regenerates in areas of erosion on high terraces and in forest killed by flooding and deposition of alluvial sediments in the Chimanes Forest, Bolivia. These hydrological disturbances are patchy, and only one of five stands of mahogany that we inventoried was regenerating. Mahogany survives these disturbances significantly better than the common tree species. The long time between disturbances appears to favour late maturation. Mahogany trees allocate little photosynthates to reproduction until they are very large emergents, at least 80 cm in diameter. The episodic nature of the regeneration sites means that mahogany stands are composed of one or a few cohorts, which are vulnerable to overharvesting, particularly with the current use of a minimum cutting diameter to regulate harvest. The delayed onset of fecundity means that the small trees that escape harvest are not very fecund, resulting in minimal seed input to logged forest. Only 7–9% of the gaps created by logging contain natural regeneration after 20 + yr. A successful management plan for mahogany would entail a monocyclic harvest, with a rotation age of 100 + years, the estimated time that it takes for trees to achieve commercial size in natural forest. Since the number of seed trees that will be left is small, they should be concentrated in sites that are likely to be conducive to natural regeneration, such as near rivers and flood damaged forest. Seed production will be maximized for a given basal area (opportunity cost to loggers) if trees c. 110 cm dbh are selected as seed trees. The mahogany stocks in the Chimanes Forest are nearly exhausted, but the findings of this study could be used to help rebuild the mahogany populations, or to design management plans for the commercial species that have similar ecologies to mahogany.     

Uptake kinetics of 99Tc in common duckweed

The uptake of the nuclear waste product technetium-99 was studied in common duckweed (Lemna minor). In addition to measurements, a model involving two compartments in duckweed with different chemical forms of technetium was derived. The model was tested by chemical speciation, i.e. differentiating between reduced Tc-compounds and Tc(VII)O(4)(-). The TcO(4)(-) concentrations measured were in good agreement with those predicted by the model. Two processes determine technetium uptake: (1) transport of Tc(VII)O(4)(-) across the cell membrane, and (2) reduction of Tc(VII). The TcO(4)(-) concentration in duckweed reaches a steady state within 2 h while reduced Tc-compounds are stored, as a result of absence of release or re-oxidation processes. Bioaccumulation kinetic properties were derived by varying 99Tc concentration, temperature, nutrient concentrations, and light intensity. The reduction of technetium in duckweed was highly correlated with light intensity and temperature. At 25 degrees C the maximum reduction rate was observed at light intensities above 200 μmol m(-2) s(-1) while half of the maximum transformation rate was reached at 41 μmol m(-2) s(-1). Transport of TcO(4)(-) over the cell membrane requires about 9.4 kJ mol(-1), indicating an active transport mechanism. However, this mechanism behaved as first-order kinetics instead of Michaelis-Menten kinetics between 1x10(-14) and 2.5x10(-5) mol l(-1) TcO(4)(-). Tc uptake could not be inhibited by 10(-3) mol l(-1) nitrate, phosphate, sulphate or chloride.     

Muscle differentiation in normal and cleavage-arrested mutant embryos of Caenorhabditis elegans

The differentiation of body-wall muscle cells was studied in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Specific antibodies to myosin and paramyosin, major protein constituents of differentiated muscle, react with mesodermal cells in wild-type embryos towards the end of the first half of embryogenesis. Immunoreactive cells (2–16) first appear in embryos with 400–450 of the 550 cells present at hatching. Such embryos have developed at 25.5°C for $\text{3–4}\text{1}\text{2}$ hr beyond the two-cell stage. As development proceeds, a maximum of 81 immunoreactive cells forms four columns running anterior-posterior. Each column is composed of two lines of tightly opposed round cells, which then elongate into spindle-shaped cells. Mutant embryos in which cleavage arrests prematurely also generate cells that produce myosin and paramyosin. The initiation of muscle differentiation appears to be independent of the number of cell or nuclear divisions within a lineage or of the proliferation of other cells. These results suggest that the biosynthesis of muscle-specific proteins by nematode embryonic muscle cells is regulated by mechanisms intrinsic to these cells.     

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

Although many secondary metabolites with diverse biological activities have been isolated from myxobacteria, most strains of these biotechnologically important gliding prokaryotes remain difficult to handle genetically. In this study we describe the new fast growing myxobacterial thermophilic isolate GT-2 as a heterologous host for the expression of natural product biosynthetic pathways isolated from other myxobacteria. According to the results of sequence analysis of the 16S rDNA, this moderately thermophilic isolate is closely related to Corallococcus macrosporus and was therefore named C. macrosporus GT-2. Fast growth of moderately thermophilic strains results in shorter fermentation and generation times, aspects which are of significant interest for molecular biological work as well as production of secondary metabolites. Development of a genetic manipulation system allowed the introduction of the complete myxochromide biosynthetic gene cluster, located on a transposable fragment, into the chromosome of GT-2. Genetic engineering of the biosynthetic gene cluster by promoter exchange leads to much higher production of myxochromides in the heterologous host C. macrosporus GT-2 in comparison to the original producer Stigmatella aurantiaca and to the previously described heterologous host Pseudomonas putida (600 mg/L versus 8 mg/L and 40 mg/L, respectively).     

Characterization of an H2-utilizing enrichment culture that reductively dechlorinates tetrachloroethene to vinyl chloride and ethene in the absence of methanogenesis and acetogenesis.

We have been studying an anaerobic enrichment culture which, by using methanol as an electron donor, dechlorinates tetrachloroethene (PCE) to vinyl chloride and ethene. Our previous results indicated that H2 was the direct electron donor for rductive dechlorination of PCE by the methanol-PCE culture. Most-probable-number counts performed on this culture indicated low numbers (< or equal to 10(4)/ml)) of methanogens and PCE dechlorinators using methanol and high numbers (> or equal to 10(6)/ml)) of sulfidogens, methanol-utilizing acetogens, fermentative heterotrophs, and PCE dechlorinators using H2. An anaerobic H2-PCE enrichment culture was derived from a 10(-6) dilution of the methanol-PCE culture. This H2-PCE culture used PCE at increasing rates over time when transferred to fresh medium and could be transferred indefinitely with H2 as the electron donor for the PCE dechlorination, indicating that H2-PCE can serve as an electron donor-acceptor pair for energy conservation and growth. Sustained PCE dechlorination by this culture was supported by supplementation with 0.05 mg of vitamin B12 per liter, 25% (vol/vol) anaerobic digestor sludge supernatant, and 2 mM acetate, which presumably served as a carbon source. Neither methanol nor acetate could serve as an electron donor for dechlorination by the H2-PCE culture, and it did not produce CH4 or acetate from H2-CO2 or methanol, indicating the absence of methanogenic and acetogenic bacteria. Microscopic observatios of the pruified H2-PCE culture showed only two major morphotypes: irregular cocci and small rods.