Growth of Pure and Mixed Cultures of Micro-organisms Concerned in the Treatment of Carbonization Waste Liquors

S ummary : Three strains of bacteria responsible for the destruction of the major constituents of carbonization waste liquor were isolated from a laboratory scale, activated sludge plant successfully treating such a liquor. Of the 3 strains one was able to grow on thiocyanate; the other 2 strains grew well on phenol. Behaviour of these organisms in pure and mixed culture showed marked differences: in pure culture, growth of the thiocyanate-degrading strain was unaffected by the presence of 100 mg of phenol/l, but in mixed culture, active growth of another organism on the phenol completely inhibited growth on the thiocyanate. Batch and continuous culture experiments were made with 2 organisms competing for phenol. Both stimulation and inhibition of growth were found, dependent on the ratio between the concentrations of organisms present.     

Growth Temperatures and Temperature Characteristics of Aeromonas

Six of the 13 Aeromonas hydrophila, 1 of 10 A. shigelloides, and none of 10 A. salmonicida were found to be psychrophiles. All of the rest of the strains were mesophiles. The mu values (temperature characteristics) could not be used to distinguish psychrophiles from mesophiles.     

Rapid Test for Urease and Phenylalanine Deaminase Production

A rapid urea-phenylalanine medium was effective for the identification of Proteus and, with one exception, Providencia. Most Klebsiella and a few Enterobacter were urease-positive with this method.     

Release of Envelope Glycoprotein from Rabies Virions by a Nonionic Detergent

Treatment of rabies virus with the nonionic detergent Nonidet P-40 resulted in solubilization of viral lipids and in a preferential release of the envelope glycoprotein. The other viral proteins and the viral ribonucleic acid remained associated in "core" particles sedimenting at a rate similar to that of intact virions. After fractionation of treated virus by velocity centrifugation in a sucrose density gradient, the amount of residual glycoprotein recovered in the "core" particle fraction and the extent of contamination of the glycoprotein fraction by other viral components were dependent on the ratio of detergent to viral protein used.     

Isolation and Characterization of Temperature-Sensitive Mutants of Vesicular Stomatitis Virus, New Jersey Serotype

Forty-eight temperature-sensitive (ts) mutants have been isolated from a wild-type strain of the New Jersey serotype of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) after exposure to the base analogue mutagen 5-fluorouracil. Of these mutants, 47 have been classified into 6 nonoverlapping complementation groups containing 21, 17, 4, 3, 2, and 1 mutant, respectively (1 mutant remaining unallocated). The ribonucleic acid (RNA) phenotype of 23 of these mutants has been established. Four of the six groups contain one or more mutants unable to synthesize detectable amounts of viral RNA under restrictive conditions (39 C). No complementation was observed in mixed infection with ts mutants from the five established complementation groups of the Indiana serotype of VSV.     

Transport as the Rate-Limiting Step in the Incorporation of Uridine into Mengovirus Ribonucleic Acid in Novikoff Rat Hepatoma Cells

The incorporation of uridine into the nucleotide pool of actinomycin-treated, mengovirus-infected Novikoff rat hepatoma cells in culture follows simple Michaelis-Menten kinetics, and the apparent V(max) and K(m) values are similar to those for uridine transport by uninfected cells. Incorporation of uridine into mengovirus-specific ribonucleic acid (RNA) also follows Michaelis-Menten kinetics, and the apparent K(m) (about 10 mum) is approximately the same as for uridine transport. Inhibition of uridine transport by the presence of adenosine, persantin, or phenethyl alcohol inhibits simultaneously and to the same extent the incorporation of uridine into the nucleotide pool and into viral RNA, without affecting viral RNA synthesis per se. Phenethyl alcohol, however, also inhibits virus maturation. The inhibition of uridine incorporation into the nucleotide pool and into viral RNA is of the simple competitive type, indicating that transport into the cells is the rate-limiting step in the incorporation of uridine into mengovirus RNA. The results also indicate that treatment with actinomycin D or mengovirus infection does not affect uridine transport.     

Distribution of Purple Photosynthetic Bacteria in Wetland and Woodland Habitats of Central and Northern Minnesota

Enrichment cultures for purple nonsulfur and sulfur photosynthetic bacteria were prepared from soil samples collected in central and northern Minnesota. The purple nonsulfur bacteria were found in most wetland soils sampled but were uncommon in woodland and grassland soils. The pH range of the soils in which these bacteria occurred was 3.8 to 7.8, and the oxidation-reduction potential (E(h)) range was +510 to -65 mV. Soils with a pH below 5.0 or an E(h) above +370 mV had few purple nonsulfur bacteria (<10/g of soil). Rhodopseudomonas viridis, a photosynthetic bacterium containing bacteriochlorophyll b, and the purple sulfur bacteria were common only in low-acidity wetland soils that were usually being reduced.     

The Distribution of Crossovers along Unreplicated Lambda Bacteriophage Chromosomes

The distribution of crossovers along unreplicated chromosomes of bacteriophage lambda has been examined by determining the density distributions and genotypes of particles in the progenies of crosses of density-labeled by ordinary parents in the presence of genetic blocks to replication. The Red and Rec systems combined produce crossovers primarily near the ends (especially the right end) of the chromosome. Removal of the generalized lambda recombination functions by red and gam mutations results in loss of these terminal crossovers; coupled with this loss is a disappearance of the differential dependence of recombination frequencies in terminal and central intervals on DNA synthesis. Removal of the bacterial system by a recA mutation results in severe depression of crossing over among unreplicated phage, with the few recombinants produced by the lambda system occurring near the right end.     

Revertants and Secondary arom-2 Mutants Induced in Non-Complementing Mutants in the arom Gene Cluster of Neurospora Crassa

Extensive genetical and biochemical studies have been performed with revertants and secondary arom-2 mutants induced in two different primary non-complementing mutants which map within the arom gene cluster of Neurospora crassa. These studies indicate that mutant M54 but not M25 can revert by super-suppressor mutations in unlinked genes, thus confirming previous evidence that M54 contains a nonsense codon. At least three new super suppressors of M54 have been detected. All four super suppressors (including one previously detected) when combined with M54 result in high levels of all five of the arom enzymic activities in the form of arom multienzyme complexes very similar to (but not necessarily identical with) that in wild type (WT).-Evidence has also been obtained that the two non-complementing mutants can yield revertants which appear to result from true back mutations and produce arom aggregates essentially indistinguishable from that of WT. In addition, M25, but not M54, when plated on quinic acid yields revertants (secondary mutants) some of which are phenotypically indistinguishable from arom-2 primary mutants and others of which, although also mapping within the arom-2 gene, exhibit unusual properties. Genetic evidence indicates that the M25 secondary mutants are localized within the arom-2 gene, but that they arise from mutational events more complex than ones resulting in single base pair changes in the M25 codon.-The recovery of secondary arom-2 mutants as revertants of non-complementing arom mutants provides strong evidence, independent of earlier recombination data, that non-complementing arom mutants are located within the arom-2 structural gene of the arom gene cluster. In addition, the occurrence and characteristics of these secondary arom-2 mutants provide strong evidence, independent of the results with nonsense suppressors, that the arom gene cluster is transcribed, beginning with the arom-2 gene, as a single polycistronic messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) molecule which is subsequently translated into the arom multienzyme complex.