Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) assays that target the human-associated HF183 bacterial cluster within members of the genus Bacteroides are among the most widely used methods for the characterization of human fecal pollution in ambient surface waters. In this study, we show that a current TaqMan HF183 qPCR assay (HF183/BFDrev) routinely...
Inhibition of apoptotic death of macrophages by Mycobacterium tuberculosis represents an important mechanism of virulence that results in pathogen survival both in vitro and in vivo. To identify M. tuberculosis virulence determinants involved in the modulation of apoptosis, we previously screened a transposon bank of mutants in human macrophages, and...
Intact core tetraether membrane lipids of marine planktonic Crenarchaeota were quantified in water column-suspended particulate matter obtained from four depth intervals (~70, 500, 1,000 and 1,500 m) at seven stations in the northwestern Arabian Sea to investigate the distribution of the organisms at various depths. Maximum concentrations generally occurred at...
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...
A previous study showed that ammonia oxidation by the Thaumarchaeota Nitrosopumilus maritimus (group 1.1a) was resistant
to concentrations of the C₈ 1-alkyne, octyne, which completely inhibits activity by ammonia-oxidizing bacteria. In this study, the
inhibitory effects of octyne and other C₂ to C₁₀ 1-alkynes were evaluated on the nitrite production...
Clostridium difficile is the causative agent of the majority of antibiotic associated diarrheas. C.
difficile spores are recognized as the morphotype of transmission, infection and persistence.
However, there is a lack of knowledge on how C. difficile spores interact with the host’s
epithelial surfaces. In this context, we have characterized...
Plum pox virus (PPV) is a member of the Potyvirus genus that, in nature, infects trees of the Prunus genus.
Although PPV infects systemically several species of the Nicotiana genus, such as N. clevelandii and N.
benthamiana, and replicates in the inoculated leaves of N. tabacum, it is unable to...
Bench scale column studies were used to examine the partitioning of microorganisms between groundwater
and a geologic medium and to examine the effect of hydrogeology (i.e., porous- versus fracture-flow) on
organism partitioning. Replicated columns were constructed with intact basalt core segments that contained
natural fractures and with the same basalt...
PCR amplification, restriction fragment length polymorphism, and phylogenetic analysis of oxygenase genes
were used for the characterization of in situ methane- and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria from free-living and
attached communities in the Eastern Snake River Plain aquifer. The following three methane monooxygenase
(MMO) PCR primer sets were used: A189-A682, which amplifies...