Soluble butane monooxygenase (sBMO), a three-component di-iron monooxygenase complex
expressed by the C2–C9 alkane-utilizing bacterium Thauera butanivorans, was kinetically
characterized by measuring substrate specificities for C1–C5 alkanes and product inhibition
profiles. sBMO has high sequence homology with soluble methane monooxygenase (sMMO) and
shares a similar substrate range, including gaseous and...
The placement of ‘Pseudomonas butanovora’ in the genus Thauera was proposed previously, based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, upon further studies of taxonomical characteristics. In this study, physiological characteristics and DNA–DNA reassociation data are presented and the transfer of ‘P. butanovora’ to the genus Thauera is proposed. The original...
Oxidative damage is a common and early feature of Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other neurodegenerative disorders. Dr. Mark Smith and his colleagues have built the case for oxidative stress being a primary progenitor rather than a secondary end-stage epiphenomenon of neurodegeneration. They proposed that reactive...
Nitrosomonas sp. Is79 is a chemolithoautotrophic ammonia-oxidizing bacterium that belongs to the family Nitrosomonadaceae within the phylum Proteobacteria. Ammonia oxidation is the first step of nitrification, an important process in the global nitrogen cycle ultimately resulting in the production of nitrate. Nitrosomonas sp. Is79 is an ammonia oxidizer of high...
Ammonia (NH₃)-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and thaumarchaea (AOA) co-occupy most soils, yet no short-term growth-independent method exists to determine their relative contributions to nitrification in situ. Microbial monooxygenases differ in their vulnerability to inactivation by aliphatic n-alkynes, and we found that NH₃ oxidation by the marine thaumarchaeon Nitrosopumilus maritimus was unaffected...
Microglia and reactive astrocytes accumulate in the spinal cord of rats expressing the Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)-linked SOD1ᴳ⁹³ᴬ mutation. We previously reported that the rapid progression of paralysis in ALS rats is associated with the appearance of prolifer- ative astrocyte-like cells that surround motor neurons. These cells, designated as Aberrant...
The use of clonal varieties in forestry offers great potential to improve growth traits (quantity) and wood properties (quality) of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.). Loblolly pine trees established via somatic embryogenesis (clones), full-sib zygotic crosses, and half-sib zygotic open-pollinated families were sampled to identify variation in growth and wood...
Agricultural land management, such as fertilization, liming, and tillage affects soil properties, including pH, organic matter content, nitrification rates, and the microbial community. Three different study sites were used to identify microorganisms that correlate with agricultural land use and to determine which factors regulate the relative abundance of the microbial...
Biological invasions create complex ecological and societal issues worldwide. Most of the knowledge about invasions comes only from successful invaders, but less is known about which processes determine the differential success of invasions. In this review, we develop a framework to identify the main dimensions driving the success and failure...
The impact of herbivores on primary producers in differing oceanographic regimes is a matter of intense ecological interest due to ongoing changes in their abundance, that of their predators, and anthropomorphic alteration of nutrient cycles and climatic patterns. Interactions between productivity and herbivory in marine habitats have been studied on...