Search

The aim of this study was to screen and isolate soil bacteria capable of conducting xylose and glucose aerobic biotransformation. Four bacterial strains were isolated from green onions field and identified as Arthrobacter species IL01, IL02, IL03 and IL04. The maximum specific growth rates of IL01, IL02, IL03 and IL04 during xylose fermentation are 0.076, 0.094, 0.128 and 0.088 hr–1, respectively. Those four strains also present the ability to simultaneously conduct glucose and xylose biotransformation. This study indicated that the aerobic bacterial strains isolated could provide a potential bioprocess for bioenergy production in the future.

Background Chicken anaemia virus (CAV) is commonly found in poultry. VP1 is the sole structural protein of CAV, which is the major component responsible for capsid assembly. The CAV virion consists of the VP1 protein and a viral genome. However, there is currently no information on the protein-nucleic acid interactions between VP1 and DNA molecules. Results In this study, the recombinant VP1 protein of CAV was expressed and purified to characterize its DNA binding activity. When VP1 protein was incubated with a DNA molecule, the DNA molecule exhibited retarded migration on an agarose gel. Regardless of whether the sequence of the viral genome was involved in the DNA molecule, DNA retardation was not significantly influenced. This outcome indicated VP1 is a DNA binding protein with no sequence specificity. Various DNA molecules with different conformations, such as circular dsDNA, linear dsDNA, linear ssDNA and circular ssDNA, interacted with VP1 proteins according to the results of a DNA retardation assay. Further quantification of the amount of VP1 protein required for DNA binding, the circular ssDNA demonstrated a high affinity for the VP1 protein. The preferences arranged in the order of affinity for the VP1 protein with DNA are circular ssDNA, linear ssDNA, supercoiled circular dsDNA, open circular DNA and linear dsDNA. Conclusions The results of this study demonstrated that the interaction between VP1 and DNA molecules exhibited various binding preferences that were dependent on the structural conformation of DNA. Taken together, the results of this report are the first to demonstrate that VP1 has no sequence-specific DNA binding activity. The particular binding preferences of VP1 might play multiple roles in DNA replication or encapsidation during the viral life cycle. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12917-018-1465-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Chicken anaemia virus (CAV) is an important contagious agent that causes immunosuppressive disease in chickens. CAV Apoptin is a nucleoplasmic shuffling protein that induces apoptosis in chicken lymphoblastoid cells. In the present study, confocal microscopy revealed co-localisation of expressed CAV non-structural protein VP2 with Apoptin in the nucleus of MDCC-MSB1 cells and the nucleoplasmic compartment of CHO-K1 cells. In vitro pull-down and ex vivo biomolecular fluorescent complementation (BiFC) assays further showed that the VP2 protein directly interacts with Apoptin. Transient co-expression of VP2 and Apoptin in MDCC-MSB1 cells significantly decreased the rate of apoptosis compared with that in cells transfected with the Apoptin gene alone. In addition, the phosphorylation status of threonine 108 (Thr108) of Apoptin was found to decrease upon interaction with VP2. Although dephosphorylated Thr108 did not alter the subcellular distribution of Apoptin in the nucleus of MDCC-MSB1 cells, it did suppress apoptosis. These findings provide the first evidence that VP2 directly interacts with Apoptin in the nucleus to down-regulate apoptosis through alterations in the phosphorylation status of the latter. This information will be useful to further elucidate the underlying mechanism of viral replication in the CAV life cycle.

This work evaluates the addition of solid phase oxygen, a magnesium peroxide (MgO(2)) formulation manufactured by Regenesis (oxygen-releasing compounds, ORC), to inhibit the production of hydrogen sulfide (H(2)S) in an SRB-enriched environment. The initial rate of release of oxygen by the ORC was determined over a short period by adding sodium sulfite (Na(2)SO(3)), which was a novel approach developed for this study. The ability of ORCs to control H(2)S by releasing oxygen was evaluated in a bench-scale column containing cultured sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB). After a series of batch tests, 0.4% ORC was found to be able to inhibit the formation of H(2)S for more than 40 days. In comparison, the concentration of H(2)S dropped from 20 mg S/L to 0.05 mg S/L immediately after 0.1% hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) was added, but began to recover just four days later. Thus, H(2)O(2) does not seem to be able to inhibit the production of sulfide for an extended period of time. By providing long-term inhibition of the SRB population, ORC provides a good alternative means of controlling the production of H(2)S in water.

The biotransformation of octylphenol polyethoxylate surfactant (Triton X-100) and bacterial communities in soil microcosms was investigated. The soil microcosms were designed to simulate real sites of bioremediation. The soil used in this study was contaminated with pesticides and alkylphenol polyethoxylate surfactants over a long period of time. The nitrogen source, (NH4)2SO4 and the mineral salt basal solution were added to the microcosm and the water content was adjusted to 50% with distilled water. The microcosms were aerated using an aeration system with an air flow rate of 0.3 l min(-1). The exogenous bacterial strain Pseudomonas sp. SH4 was added to the microcosms to increase the rate of biotransformation of the Triton X-100. The number of microorganisms and the theoretical extent of formation of carbon dioxide were estimated to evaluate the biotransformation of Triton X-100 in the microcosms. The analytical results revealed that the exogenous bacteria could increase the rate of transformation of Triton X-100 by approximately 50%. Aeration of the microcosm increased the biotransformation of Triton X-100 by 45%. Bacterial count of 6.8x10(10) MPN g(-1) of soil was achieved in the M5 microcosm. Analysis of the bacterial community by 16S rDNA sequences revealed that Pseudomonas sp. SH4 could dominate all the microcosms to which it was added as an exogenous bacteria. The quantity of the indigenous bacterial strains Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Stenotrophomonas sp. and clone 4-70 were also enhanced in the microcosms by the aeration, and the addition of carbon and nitrogen source.

The growth properties and biodegradation mechanism of a Gram-negative bacterium, Pseudomonas nitroreducens TX1 that was able to grow on branched octylphenol polyethoxylates (OPEO(n), average n=9.5) as the sole carbon source over a wide concentration range (1-100,000 mgl(-1)) were studied. Analysis of growth factors indicated the highest specific growth rate (micro) of 0.53 h(-1) was obtained at an initial concentration of 5,000 mgl(-1) OPEO(n). An optimal C/N ratio of 12 was obtained for (NH(4))(2)SO(4) as the nitrogen source in a cultivated medium at pH 7. The kinetic analysis demonstrated that bacterial growth and OPEO(n) degradation followed the Monod equation and were based on a substrate concentration inhibition model and pseudo-first-order reaction, respectively. The substrate inhibition coefficient was over 18,000 mgl(-1) and this indicates that the strain has an ability to sustain growth at high concentrations of OPEO(n) and use it as the sole carbon source under such a stress condition. Furthermore, LC-MS analysis showed that the biodegradation mechanism of dodecyl octaethoxylate (AEO8) by P. nitroreducens TX1 was the sequential cleavage of the ethoxylate chain.

Octylphenol polyethoxylate (OPEO(n)) surfactants are used in numerous commercial and industrial products. Large amounts of such surfactants and their various residual biodegradation by-products are ultimately released into the environment. OPEO(n) biodegradation was performed in this study using pure cultures of Pseudomonas species and strains under different environmental conditions. Environmental factors including the pH, nitrogen sources, and growth kinetics of the cells were investigated. The intermediates of Triton X-100 biotransformation were detected by high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrophotograph (HPLC-MS). We found the highest specific growth rate (mu) was 0.56 h(-1) and this was achieved by strain E with an initial concentration of Triton X-100 of 5000 mg L(-1). A pH level of 7 was most favorable for cell growth for all five strains. The highest specific growth rate was achieved using (NH(4))(2)SO(4) as the sole nitrogen source for strain E. Strain A showed an enhancement of growth when between 0.2 and 1.4 mg L(-1) of H(2)O(2) was added. Detection of intermediates was possible after four days of transformation and the octylphenol triethoxylate (OPEO(3)) peak was predominant, while the high molecular weight peaks had all disappeared. The kinetic analysis demonstrated that the greatest maximum specific growth rate (mu(max)) and the greatest saturation constant (K(s)) of 0.83 h(-1) and 5.24 mg L(-1), respectively, were obtained for strain E in 5000 mg L(-1) Triton X-100. The higher K(i) revealed that strain A was resistant to higher Triton X-100 concentrations.