Nisin, an antimicrobial peptide used in food preservation was
evaluated for thermal stability. Nisin retained antimicrobial
activity after having been heated at 121°C for seven hours.
Anhydrous nisin and concentrated nisin solutions (5-10 mg/ml) were
still active after having been heated up to 190°C or 230°C. When
exposed to high...
Coral reef ecosystems continue to be significantly altered by disease epizootics, but why some host populations remain resistant while others succumb to outbreaks remains unknown. Research across diverse animal and plant host systems has revealed that disease severity is strongly influenced by host genetics and by environmental influences on both...
Corals have multiple roles in maintaining ocean health and are some of the world’s most diverse ecosystems. The coral animal is host to a multitude of taxa, including symbiotic dinoflagellate algae, fungi, bacteria, protists, and viruses. Environmental stressors and disease agents can perturb the delicate balance of the coral host...
Diseases caused by parasites are recognized as significant sources of mortality in wild fish populations. I assessed the impacts of multispecies parasitism on a threatened stock of juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch). A crucial prerequisite to this research was proper identification of parasites, which can be difficult for species lacking...
Seagrasses and coral reefs play important roles in nutrient cycling, coastal protection, and maintaining marine biodiversity. However, these coastal marine organisms are declining globally due to anthropogenic stressors, such as rising ocean temperatures, ocean acidification, and eutrophication. These organisms live in close association with their microbiomes, which can be beneficial...
On coral reefs, disturbances rarely occur in isolation. Global stressors such as increasing seawater temperature often coincide with local stressors like nutrient pollution. In the face of increasing anthropogenic stress, corals can function as environmental sentinels, although little is known about how multiple stressors interact to disrupt their associated bacterial...
Some positive-strand RNA plant viruses possess a transfer RNA-like structure (TLS) at the 3'-terminus of their genomic RNAs. The closest mimicry to tRNA is exhibited by the valylatable TLSs from tymoviruses and furo-like viruses, which are able to interact with key cellular tRNA enzymes: [CTP, ATP]:tRNA nucleotidyltransferase (CCA NTase), valyl-tRNA...