The enzymes of the ammonia assimilation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Glutamine synthetase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa is regulated by repression/derepression of enzyme synthesis and by adenylylation/deadenylylation control. High levels of deadenylylated biosynthetically active glutamine synthetase were observed in cultures growing with limiting amounts of nitrogen while synthesis of the enzyme was repressed and that present was adenylylated in cultures with excess nitrogen.NADP-and NAD-dependent glutamate dehydrogenase could be separated by column chromatography and showed molecular weights of 110,000 and 220,000, respectively. Synthesis of the NADP-dependent glutamate dehydrogenase is repressed under nitrogen limitation and by growth on glutamate. In contrast, NAD-dependent glutamate dehydrogenase is derepressed by glutamate. Glutamate synthase is repressed by glutamate but not by excess nitrogen.     

Responses of photosynthesis to irradiance and temperature in soybean,Glycine max (L.) Merr

The response of photosynthesis to irradiance and temperature during growth was investigated in two soybean genotypes. Soybean is a species that can modify its structure and metabolism so as to adapt to differing light conditions; its responses to rapid changes in irradiance are characterized by their flexibility. However, the temperature during growth can change the response to irradiance: moreover, there may be a marked interaction with genotype.The response of photosynthesis to irradiance consists of changes in leaf thickness, which bring about variations in the mesophyll resistance to CO₂ transfer. The increase in net photosynthesis per unit of leaf area is due to the increase in the amount of assimilating material beneath unit of area, as corroborated by the stability of the net photosynthesis per unit volume. Moreover, the response of photosynthesis to temperature is due to the mesophyll diffusion constant which decreases with the growth temperature.     

The feeding of the larvae of Simulium austeni Edwards and Simulium (Wilhelmia) spp.

The possibility that the feeding rates of larvae of S. austeni and S. lineatum are influenced by the nature of the food material is considered in relation to natural river conditions and laboratory feeding experiments. Diatoms appeared to be the most satisfactory food source and bacteria (Pseudomonas) the poorest. Simuliid larvae attain high assimilation efficiencies when feeding on diatoms but the proportion of river suspended solids which they assimilate is probably very low.     

Ribulose 1,5-diphosphate carboxylase and Chlorobium thiosulfatophilum

1. Cell-free extracts of the photosynthetic bacterium Chlorobium thiosulfatophilum, strains 8327 and Tassajara, were assayed for ribulose 1,5-diphosphate (RuDP) carboxylase and phosphoribulokinase-the two enzymes peculiar to the reductive pentose phosphate cycle. 2. RuDP carboxylase was consistently absent in strain 8327. The Tassajara strain showed a low RuDP-dependent CO₂ fixation activity that was somewhat higher in cells following transatlantic air shipment than in freshly grown cells. The stability and behaviour of this activity in sucrose density gradients were similar to those described by other workers. 3. The radioactive carboxylation products formed in the presence of RuDP by enzyme preparations from the Tassajara strain did not include 3-phosphoglycerate-the known product of the RuDP carboxylase reaction, but instead consisted of the unrelated acids glutamate, aspartate and malate. 4. Phosphoribulokinase was absent in all preparations of the two Chlorobium strains tested. By contrast, phosphoribulokinase as well as RuDP carboxylase were readily demonstrated in preparations from pea chloroplasts and the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodospirillum rubrum. 5. It is concluded that C. thiosulfatophilum appears to lack RuDP carboxylase, phosphoribulokinase, and hence, the reductive pentose phosphate cycle.Support of a J. S. Guggenheim Fellowship is gratefully acknowledged     

Aluminium Stress Affects Nitrogen Fixation and Assimilation in Soybean (Glycine max L.)

Nitrogen fixation and assimilation in nodules and roots were studied in soybean (Glycine max L.) exposed to different levels of aluminium (Al) stress (0, 50, 200 and 500 μM). Al at 500 μM induced oxidative stress, which became evident from an increase in lipid peroxidation accompanied by a concomitant decline in antioxidant enzyme activities and leghaemoglobin breakdown. Consequently, there was also a reduction in nitrogenase activity. However, the leghaemoglobin levels and nitrogenase activity were unexpectedly found to be higher in nodules when the plants were treated with 200 μM Al. Of the enzymes involved in nitrogen assimilation, the activity of glutamate dehydrogenase-NADH was reduced in nodules under Al stress, but it was significantly higher in roots at 500 μM Al as compared to that in the control. In nodules, the glutamine synthetase/glutamate synthase-NADH pathway, assayed in terms of activity and expression of both the enzymes, was inhibited at >50 μM Al; but in roots this inhibitory effect was apparent only at 500 μM Al. No significant changes in ammonium and protein contents were recorded in the nodules or roots when the plants were treated with 50 μM Al. However, Al at ≥200 μM significantly increased the ammonium levels and decreased the protein content in the nodules. But these contrasting effects on ammonium and protein contents due to Al stress were observed in the roots only at 500 μM Al. The results suggest that the effect of Al stress on nitrogen assimilation is more conspicuous in nodules than that in the roots of soybean plants.     

甲醇的生物利用与转化*

甲醇作为一种来源广泛、价格低廉、还原度高的非粮原料有望成为下一代生物制造的关键原料。利用合成生物学技术构建能够高效利用甲醇的重组微生物以实现从甲醇到高值化学品的生物转化已成国内外研究热点,但由于甲醇代谢过程的特殊性及复杂性,目前人工设计的甲基营养菌还难以实现以甲醇为唯一碳源进行生长及产物合成。基于对天然甲基营养菌甲醇代谢过程的分析,从甲醇脱氢酶的筛选与改造、甲醛同化途径的重构与优化、甲醇到化学品的生物转化几个方面对合成型甲基营养菌的构建策略及面临的挑战进行总结与分析,以期为今后合成型甲基营养菌的人工设计和利用提供一定的借鉴。     

Blue light effects on rose photosynthesis and photomorphogenesis

Through its impact on photosynthesis and morphogenesis, light is the environmental factor that most affects plant architecture. Using light rather than chemicals to manage plant architecture could reduce the impact on the environment. However, the understanding of how light modulates plant architecture is still poor and further research is needed. To address this question, we examined the development of two rose cultivars, Rosa hybrida‘Radrazz’ and Rosa chinensis‘Old Blush’, cultivated under two light qualities. Plants were grown from one‐node cuttings for 6 weeks under white or blue light at equal photosynthetic efficiencies. While plant development was totally inhibited in darkness, blue light could sustain full development from bud burst until flowering. Blue light reduced the net CO₂ assimilation rate of fully expanded leaves in both cultivars, despite increasing stomatal conductance and intercellular CO₂ concentrations. In ‘Radrazz’, the reduction in CO₂ assimilation under blue light was related to a decrease in photosynthetic pigment content, while in both cultivars, the chl a/b ratio increased. Surprisingly, blue light could induce the same organogenetic activity of the shoot apical meristem, growth of the metamers and flower development as white light. The normal development of rose plants under blue light reveals the strong adaptive properties of rose plants to their light environment. It also indicates that photomorphogenetic processes can all be triggered by blue wavelengths and that despite a lower assimilation rate, blue light can provide sufficient energy via photosynthesis to sustain normal growth and development in roses.     

Resting Stages of Skeletonema marinoi Assimilate Nitrogen From the Ambient Environment Under Dark,Anoxic Conditions

The planktonic marine diatom Skeletonema marinoi forms resting stages, which can survive for decades buried in aphotic, anoxic sediments and resume growth when re-exposed to light, oxygen, and nutrients. The mechanisms by which they maintain cell viability during dormancy are poorly known. Here, we investigated cell-specific nitrogen (N) and carbon (C) assimilation and survival rate in resting stages of three S. marinoi strains. Resting stages were incubated with stable isotopes of dissolved inorganic N (DIN), in the form of ¹⁵N-ammonium (NH₄⁺) or -nitrate (NO₃⁻) and dissolved inorganic C (DIC) as ¹³C-bicarbonate (HCO₃⁻) under dark and anoxic conditions for 2 months. Particulate C and N concentration remained close to the Redfield ratio (6.6) during the experiment, indicating viable diatoms. However, survival varied between <0.1% and 47.6% among the three different S. marinoi strains, and overall survival was higher when NO₃⁻ was available. One strain did not survive in the NH₄⁺ treatment. Using secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), we quantified assimilation of labeled DIC and DIN from the ambient environment within the resting stages. Dark fixation of DIC was insignificant across all strains. Significant assimilation of ¹⁵N-NO₃⁻ and ¹⁵N-NH₄⁺ occurred in all S. marinoi strains at rates that would double the nitrogenous biomass over 77–380 years depending on strain and treatment. Hence, resting stages of S. marinoi assimilate N from the ambient environment at slow rates during darkness and anoxia. This activity may explain their well-documented long survival and swift resumption of vegetative growth after dormancy in dark and anoxic sediments.