Enzymic activity of salivary amylase when bound to the surface of oral streptococci

The enzymatic activity of salivary amylase bound to the surface of several species of oral streptococci was determined by the production of acid from starch and by the degradation of maltotetraose to glucose in a coupled, spectrophotometric assay. Most strains able to bind amylase exhibited functional enzyme on their surface and produced acid from the products of amylolytic degradation. These strains were unable to utilise starch in the absence of salivary amylase. Two strains failed to produce acid from starch, despite the presence of functional salivary amylase, because they could not utilise maltose. Strains that could not bind salivary amylase failed to produce acid from starch. In no case was all the bound salivary amylase active, and two strains of Streptococcus mitis which bound amylase did not exhibit any enzyme activity on their cell surface. The ability to bind amylase may confer a survival advantage on oral bacteria which inhabit hosts that consume diets containing starch.     

Extensive dermatophytoses caused by Trichophyton mentagrophytes and Microsporum canis in a patient with AIDS

Retrospective studies have shown the occurrence of episodes of deep or superficial fungal infections in 58 to 81% of HIV/AIDS patients as a result of impairment of cell immunity. We describe a case of disseminated cutaneous dermatophytoses caused by Trichophyton mentagrophytes and Microsporum canis in a patients with AIDS. Diagnostic and therapeutic problems in relation to this unsual presentation are emphasized as well as the importance of an early mycologic diagnosis to prescribe antifungal therapy.     

Cloning of poly(3-hydroxybutyric acid) synthase genes of Rhodobacter sphaeroides and Rhodospirillum rubrum and heterologous expression in Alcaligenes eutrophus

From genomic libraries of the purple non-sulfur bacteria Rhodospirillum rubrum Ha and Rhodobacter sphaeroides ATCC 17023 in the broad-host range cosmid pVK100, we cloned a 15- and a 14-kbp HindIII restriction fragment, respectively. Each of these fragments restored the ability to accumulate poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB), in the PHB-negative mutant Alcaligenes eutrophus PHB-4. These hybrid cosmids also complemented PHB-negative mutants derived from wild-type R. rubrum or R. sphaeroides. Both fragments hybridized with the PHB synthase structural gene of A. eutrophus H16 and conferred the ability to express PHB synthase activity. Only the 15-kbp HindIII fragment from R. rubrum conferred on the mutant PHB-4 the ability to form large PHB granules (length up to 3.5 microns).     

Production of molecular hydrogen with immobilized cells ofRhodospirillum rubrum

Summary Cells ofRhodospirillum rubrum have been immobilized in various gels and tested for photobiological hydrogen production. Agar proved to be the best immobilizing agent with respect to production rates as well as stability. Agar immobilized cells were also superior compared to liquid suspension cultures. Growth conditions of the cells prior to immobilization, e.g. cell age, light intensity or nutrient composition, were of primary importance for the activity in the later immobilized state. A reactor with agar immobilized cells has been operated successfully over 3000 h with a loss of the activity of about 60%. Mean rates for hydrogen production for immobilized cells in this work during the first 60 to 70 hours after immobilization were in the range of 18 to 34 μl H₂ mg⁻¹ d.w. h⁻¹ and thus by a factor of up to 2 higher than liquid cultures under the same conditions. Maximal rates of hydrogen production (57 μl H₂ ml⁻¹ immobilized cell suspension) were reached in agar gel beads with cells immobilized after 70 h growth in liquid culture in the light and a cell density of 1.0 mg ml⁻¹, 70 h after immobilization.     

Extraction of chromatophores from Rhodospirillum rubrum in aqueous two-phase systems: A method for large-scale isolation of membrane particles

Chromatophores, membrane vesicles with the capacity of cyclic photophosphorylation, have been isolated from Rhodospirillum rubrum cells on a pilot plant scale. Results of disintegration in a glass bead mill and in a high pressure homogenizer were compared. The chromatophores were isolated from the crude extract by extraction in aqueous two-phase systems. In systems of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and dextran the chromatophores were partitioned to the upper PEG phase by the addition of PEG-palmitate. Most of the proteins and nucleic acids were forced to the bottom phase by addition of sodium chloride. Methods to prevent precipitation of the chromatophores were studied.     

Trapping, loss and annihilation of excitations in a photosynthetic system: II. Experiments with the purple bacteria Rhodospirillum rubrum and Rhodopseudomonas capsulata

In this paper a number of experiments with the purple bacteria Rhodospirillum rubrum and Rhodopseudomonas capsulata is described in which the total fluorescence yield and/or the total fraction of reaction centers closed after a picosecond laser pulse were measured as a function of the pulse intensity. The conditions were such that the reaction centers were either all in the open or all in the closed state before the pulse arrived. These experiments are analysed using the theoretical formalism discussed in the preceding paper (Den Hollander, W.T.F., Bakker J.G.C., and Van Grondelle, R., Biochim. Biophys. Acta 725, 492–507). From the experimental results the number of connected photosynthetic units, λ, the rate of energy transfer between neighboring antenna molecules, k_h, and the rate of trapping by an open reaction center, k^o_t, can be estimated. For R. rubrum it is found that λ = 14−17, k_h = (1−2)·10¹² s⁻¹ and k^o_t = (4−6)·10¹¹ s⁻¹, for Rps. capsulata λ ≈ 30, k_h ≈ 4·10¹¹ s⁻¹ and k^o_t ≈ 3·10¹¹ s⁻¹. The findings are discussed in terms of current models for the structure of the antenna and the kinetic properties of the decay processes occurring in these purple bacteria.     

Inactivation of Rhodospirillum rubrum coupling factor by 7-chloro-4-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole. Modification of a tyrosine protected by phosphate

Chemical modification of Rhodospirillum rubrum chromatophores by 7-chloro-4-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole (NBD-Cl) results in inactivation of photophosphorylation, Mg²⁺-ATPase, oxidative phosphorylation and ATP-driven transhydrogenase, with apparent first-order kinetics. Other energy-linked reactions such as light-driven transhydrogenase and light-dependent proton uptake were insensitive to NBD-Cl. The Ca²⁺-ATPase activity of the soluble coupling factor from chromatophores (R. rubrum F₁) was inactivated by NBD-Cl with kinetics resembling those described for Mg²⁺-ATPase and photophosphorylation activities of chromatophores. Both NBD-chromatophores and NBD-R. rubrum F₁ fully recovered their activities when subjected to thiolysis by dithioerythritol. Phosphoryl transfer reactions of chromatophores and Ca²⁺-ATPase activity of R. rubrum F₁ were fully protected by 5 mM P_i against modification by NBD-Cl. ADP or ATP afforded partial protection. Analysis of the protection of Ca²⁺-ATPase activity by P_i indicated that NBD-Cl and P_i are mutually exclusive ligands. Spectroscopic studies revealed that tyrosine and sulfhydryl residues in R. rubrum F₁ underwent modification by NBD-Cl. However, the inactivation was only related to the modification of tyrosine groups.     

Changes in distribution of chloroplast adenylate kinase isoforms during floral induction

In the short day plant Chenopodium rubrum and the long day plant Nicotiana tabacum cv. Havana 425, adenylate kinase (EC 2.7.4.3) occurs as a family of isoforms, with at least two members localized in the chloroplast representing the main isoforms. In this work, isoforms were separated by anion exchange chromatography and relative isoform activities were compared between vegetative plants and plants induced to flowering. In both species examined, a light regime leading to floral induction resulted in a significant decrease in the activity of one chloroplast isoform. This decrease modified considerably the relative distribution of isoform activities, especially that between the two chloroplast activities.     

Fluctuation of free IAA under inductive and non-inductive photoperiods in Chenopodium rubrum

Fluctuation in levels of endogenous free IAA has been followed in the SD plant Chenopodium rubrum under photoperiodic conditions inductive or not inductive of flowering. Endogenous IAA was measured fluorimetrically as -pyrone. The level of IAA shows little fluctuation under continuous illumination. An endogenous rhythm of IAA fluctuation was found in plants transferred from light to continuous darkness, with a natural period of 30 hrs. The troughs of minimum IAA level within the endogenous rhythm coincided with the peaks in the endogenous rhythm of flowering response, which possessed the same period length. The concentration of IAA in the shoot always decreased at the end of cycles of dark period that induce flowering. The results are discussed in relation to the role of IAA in flowering of SD plants.