Bacterial cultures enriched from sheep rumen fluid have demonstrated the ability to detoxify pyrrolizidine alkaloids (seneciphylline and jacobine) in tansy ragwort (Senecio jacobaea). The microbes are difficult to isolate using classical anaerobic techniques, therefore, microbes from two different enrichment cultures demonstrating similar degradation activity were identified using their 16S ribosomal...
In 1981, illegal processing of rapeseed oil by a Spanish oil refinery resulted in the mass foodborne illness epidemic known as Toxic Oil Syndrome (TOS). The toxic oil associated with this epidemic was sold in neighborhood markets and by itinerant salesmen as inexpensive olive oil. Ingestion of the toxic oil...
The effects of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) exposure on hepatic
pyruvate carboxylase (PC) gene expression were investigated in C57BL/6J Ah[superscipt b/b male
mice. A dose-dependent reduction of PC levels and activity occurred in animals given a
single intraperitoneal dose of TCDD in a corn oil carrier. The dose ranged from 1 to...
The toxic effects of degrading the chlorinated hydrocarbons trichloroethylene (TCE), chloroform (CF) and cis-1,2-dichloroethylene (cis-1,2-DCE) were studied in the bacterium Nitrosomonas europaea. N europaea is an ammonia-oxidizing bacterium that obtains all of its energy from the oxidation of ammonia to nitrite. This metabolic process involves two enzymes, ammonia monooxygenase (AMO)...
A declining population of ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) was
studied at Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge (TLNWR) from the summer of 1990
through the spring of 1993. Pheasant densities/50 ha at TLNWR in 1989, 1991, and
1992 were considerably lower (16.86, 8.49, and 6.81) than the >62 density seen in...