The inhibition of S-aden.osylmethionine: Δ²⁴-sterol methyltransferase
(EC 2.1.1.41) activity by endogenous cellular components has
been studied in vitro. The principal inhibitors were Na⁺ and K⁺; Cs⁺,
NH₄⁺ and Li⁺ were also shown to inhibit the reaction. The inhibition
by potassium cation has been studied, and we have found that energy...
The generation of the methyl group of methionine, and is also involved in thymidylic acid and purine biosynthesis. The understanding of the mechanisms and controls involved in one-carbon metabolism is incomplete, and is complicated by the existence of conjugated folate cofactors containing up to seven glutamic acid residues. The information...
The aerobic transformation of TCE and cis-DCE by a tetrabutoxysilane-grown microorganism (Vancheeswaran et al., 1999) led to the investigation of novel substrates, including benzyl alcohol, for promoting cometabolism. The culture grew on carboxylic compounds and alcohols, but did not grow on formate, methanol, methane, propane, butane, ethylene, benzene, toluene, or...
Myxobacteria represent an interesting class of Gram-negative soil bacteria. These bacteria utilize organic materials from the environment as a food source by the action of their extracellular hydrolytic enzymes. They grow vegetatively in the presence of adequate nutrients. During starvation conditions, however, they aggregate and form multicellular structures called fruiting...
Methane is a flammable gas that is the main component of natural gas. It is a highly potent greenhouse gas, and accounts for about 20% of greenhouse gas emissions. Methane is routinely flared in many industrial processes without harnessing any of its energy. The environmental impact and wasted energy potential...
Further enhancement of energy generation is desired for practical application of anaerobic microbial systems such as microbial fuel cells (MFC) and anaerobic digesters (AD). A possible approach is to enhance the ability of microbial communities to transfer electron extracellularly in the form of electrical current. Critical to perform direct extracellular...