Search results for "Microscopy."

Intracellular signal transduction pathways in sponges.

1990

Abstract Sponges are the lowest multicellular eukaryotic organisms. Due to the relatively low specialization, and concomitantly the high differentiation and dedifferentiation potency of their cells, the sponge cell system has proven to be a useful model to study the mechanism of cell-cell adhesion on molecular levels. Results of detailed biochemical and cell biological studies with the main cell adhesion molecules, the aggregation factor (AF) and the aggregation receptor, led to the formation of the modulation theory of cell adhesion. The events of cell adhesion are contigent on a multiplicity of precisely coordinated intracellular signal transduction pathways. Using the marine sponge Geodi…

Freezing Induces Biased Results in the Molecular Detection of Flavobacterium columnare

2006

ABSTRACT Specific PCR detection and electron microscopy of Flavobacterium columnare revealed the risk of false-negative results in molecular detection of this fish pathogen. Freezing and thawing destroyed the cells so that DNA was for the most part undetectable by PCR. The detection of bacteria was also weakened after prolonged enrichment cultivation of samples from infected fish.

Manganese/polymetallic nodules: Micro-structural characterization of exolithobiontic- and endolithobiontic microbial biofilms by scanning electron mi…

2009

Polymetallic/ferromanganese nodules (Mn-nodules) provide a rich source for manganese. It is not yet known if the nodules have a biogenic or an abiogenic origin. Here we applied the technique of high-resolution scanning electron microscopy, in combination with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopical (EDX) analysis, to trace the existence of microbial biofilms. Two spatially separated assemblies exist, the exolithobiontic- and endolithobiontic colonizations. The exolithobiontic colonization is seen in the micro-canals, which traverse the outer surface layer of the nodules and are formed by elongated filamentous organisms, which show no signs of mineralization. In the center of the nodules thr…

Psychrotolerant Sulfate-reducing Bacteria from an Oxic Freshwater Sediment Description of Desulfovibrio cuneatus sp. nov. and Desulfovibrio litoralis…

1998

The most abundant culturable sulfate-reducing bacteria were isolated from the littoral sediment of the oligotrophic Lake Stechlin. The strains STL1 and STL4 were obtained from the oxic uppermost layer, while strain STL6 was isolated from the anoxic zone in 20 to 30 mm depth. The isolates showed a striking morphological feature in tapering off at one end of the cell. Physiological characteristics related them to the genus Desulfovibrio. They contained desulfoviridin. H2, formate, pyruvate, lactate, and fumarate were utilized with sulfate, sulfite, thiosulfate, or elemental sulfur as electron acceptors. All isolates were able to reduce oxygen and survived 120 h of aeration. However, aerobic g…

Description of Alcanivorax venustensis sp. nov. and reclassification of Fundibacter jadensis DSM 12178T (Bruns and Berthe-Corti 1999) as Alcanivorax …

2003

Two strains of a novel bacterium were isolated independently of each other, from different depths in the Mediterranean Sea, within a time period of 7 months, using two different isolation approaches that were focused on different objectives. Both strains, designated ISO1 and ISO4T, were halophilic, Gram-negative, strictly aerobic, straight rods that were oxidase- and catalase-positive. Both strains produced mucoid colonies in some defined minimal media and were able to grow with organic acids and some alkanes; they were also able to accumulate intracellular poly-beta-hydroxybutyrate granules. The G + C content of the DNA of strain ISO4T was 66 mol%. Comparative analysis of 16S rRNA gene seq…

Multiple Site-Specific Binding of Fis Protein to Escherichia coli nuoA-N Promoter DNA and its Impact on DNA Topology Visualised by Means of Scanning …

2004

Identification of Beijerinckia fluminensis strains CIP 106281T and UQM 1685T as Rhizobium radiobacter strains, and proposal of Beijerinckia doeberein…

2009

During the course of a research project with free-living, nitrogen-fixing bacteria, we determined the 16S rRNA gene sequence of Beijerinckia fluminensis strains UQM 1685T and CIP 106281T and discovered that they were only 90.6–91.2 % similar to the sequences of strains of other Beijerinckia species and subspecies. Moreover, the highest similarity to these sequences (99.7 %) corresponded to strains of Rhizobium radiobacter (including Agrobacterium tumefaciens). Other diagnostic features confirmed that the two strains have the same origin but do not descend from the nomenclatural type. At the same time, B. fluminensis LMG 2819 was characterized and it was found that its properties also do not…

Isolation of methanotrophic bacteria from termite gut.

2015

The guts of termites feature suitable conditions for methane oxidizing bacteria (MOB) with their permanent production of CH4 and constant supply of O2 via tracheae. In this study, we have isolated MOB from the gut contents of the termites Incisitermes marginipennis, Mastotermes darwiniensis, and Neotermes castaneus for the first time. The existence of MOB was indicated by detecting pmoA, the gene for the particulate methane monooxygenase, in the DNA of gut contents. Fluorescence in situ hybridization and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction supported those findings. The MOB cell titer was determined to be 10(2)-10(3) per gut. Analyses of the 16S rDNA from isolates indicated clos…

Arginine kinase in the demosponge Suberites domuncula:regulation of its expression and catalytic activity by silicic acid

2005

SUMMARY In Demospongiae (phylum Porifera) the formation of the siliceous skeleton,composed of spicules, is an energetically expensive reaction. The present study demonstrates that primmorphs from the demosponge Suberites domuncula express the gene for arginine kinase after exposure to exogenous silicic acid. The deduced sponge arginine kinase sequence displays the two characteristic domains of the ATP:guanido phosphotransferases; it can be grouped to the `usual' mono-domain 40 kDa guanidino kinases (arginine kinases). Phylogenetic studies indicate that the metazoan guanidino kinases evolved from this ancestral sponge enzyme; among them are also the `unusual'two-domain 80 kDa guanidino kinas…

Myosin VIIa, harmonin and cadherin 23, three Usher I gene products that cooperate to shape the sensory hair cell bundle

2002

Deaf-blindness in three distinct genetic forms of Usher type I syndrome (USH1) is caused by defects in myosin VIIa, harmonin and cadherin 23. Despite being critical for hearing, the functions of these proteins in the inner ear remain elusive. Here we show that harmonin, a PDZ domain-containing protein, and cadherin 23 are both present in the growing stereocilia and that they bind to each other. Moreover, we demonstrate that harmonin b is an F-actin-bundling protein, which is thus likely to anchor cadherin 23 to the stereocilia microfilaments, thereby identifying a novel anchorage mode of the cadherins to the actin cytoskeleton. Moreover, harmonin b interacts directly with myosin VIIa, and i…