J Am Dent Assoc, 1977 Feb, 94(2), 311 - 4 Harmful effects of near-ultraviolet radiation used for polymerization of a sealant and a composite resin; Birdsell DC et al.; An electronic device used to polymerize a sealant and a composite resin has been found to emit 365-nanometer radiation at levels sufficient to kill the bacterium Escherichia coli rapidly (greater than 14,000 ergs per square millimeter per second) . Because of the absence of shielding on the probe, significant amounts of energy (up to 45% of that at the probe tip) were measured at the sides of the probe . These findings--supported by the well-documented findings of biological damage caused by near-ultraviolet radiation, including skin cancer, damage to the lens of the eye, and mutagenic effects--suggest that clinicians take appropriate precautions to avoid potential hazards to themselves and their patients. J Bacteriol, 1977 Feb, 129(2), 874 - 9 Control of morphogenesis in Arthrobacter crystallopoiets: effect of cyclic adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate; Hamilton RW et al.; The intracellular levels of cyclic adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate (cyclic AMP) were measured at various intervals during growth and morphogenesis in Arthrobacter crystallopoietes . Cyclic AMP levels remained relatively constant throughout growth in spherical cells grown in glucose-based media . Immediately after inoculation of spheres from glucose- to succinate-containing media, a 30-fold increase in intracellular cyclic AMP was detected . This dramatic rise in cyclic AMP preceded the observed change in cellular morphology from spheres to rods . The cyclic AMP level in rod-shaped cells rapidly dropped to a relatively stable concentration during the exponential growth phase . At the onset of stationary phase and rod-to-sphere morphological transition, a second peak of cyclic AMP was observed . Neither of these two peaks was detectable in a morphogenetic mutant that grew only as spheres . The intracellular levels of cyclic AMP in this mutant remained constant throughout exponential growth and decreased slightly during stationary phase . Effects of exogenously added cyclic nucleotides and their derivatives to both parent and mutant cultures were investigated . The data presented indicate that dramatic changes in intracellular cyclic AMP levels occur just before the morphological transitions characteristic of the morphogenetic cycle in A . crystallopoietes . It is suggested that cyclic AMP is a contributing factor in the regulatory phenomenon associated with morphogenesis in this bacterium. J Histochem Cytochem, 1977 Feb, 25(2), 104 - 14 Ultrastructural visualization of cellular carbohydrate components by means of lectins on ultrathin glycol methacrylate sections; Gros D et al.; A method for the visualization of cellular carbohydrate components by both light and electron microscopy using lectins on glycol methacrylate sections is proposed . This method, which is an application of the lectin-peroxidase affinity technique, solves the problem of limited penetration when it is attempted to demonstrated lectins receptors within the tissue block . Following partial dissolution of glycol methacrylate from thin sections using alcohol, they are incubated successively with lectin (Concanavalin A or wheat germ agglutinin), horseradish peroxidase (Sigma, type II), 3-3' diaminobenzidine and H2O2 and then with OsO4-Different kinds of tissues and cells have been used to test the method: mouse myocardium, rat epididymis, a protozoon Gregarina blaberae and the bacterium Escherichia coli . The localization of carbohydrate residues deomonstrated by this method within the different tissues and cells is consistent with the findings from other published studies . Controls have been performed (i.e., omission of the lectin, lectin and its inhibitor) and these demonstrate the specificity of the method. Biochim Biophys Acta, 1977 Jan 11, 480(1), 77 - 82 Transhydrogenase activity in the marine bacterium Beneckea natriegens; Collins PA et al.; The marine bacterium, Beneckea natriegens, which has previously been reported not to form transhydrogenase, has been shown to synthesize a soluble energy-independent transhydrogenase (NADPH:NADP+ oxidoreductase, EC 1.6.1.1), though no energy-linked activity could be detected . The transhydrogenase is induced maximally in stationary phase cells and its formation is 70-90% repressed by raising the medium phosphate level from 0.33 to 3.3 mM . The enzyme is inhibited by arsenate, inorganic ortho- and pyrophosphate and by a range of organic phosphate-containing compounds, including 2'-AMP, which is an activator of several bacterial transhydrogenases. Mikrobiologiia, 1977 Jan-Feb, 46(1), 55 - 61 {Photosynthetic development of purple sulfur bacteria during illumination with green light}; Osnitskaia LK et al.; The photosynthetic purple sulphur bacterium Chr . vinosum grows by assimilating carbon dioxide at the account of the energy of light of different spectral composition . Short wavelengths of physiological radiation, blue and green, the region of carotenoid absorption, as well as white light, are used by the bacterium for assimilation of carbon dioxide, biosynthesis of biomass, protein, and pigments . Therefore, the possibility of utilization of the energy of green light for bacterial photosynthesis was shown for the first time . Blue light is more favourable for growth of the bacterium than green light is, provided the energy (in ergs or incident quanta) is the same . An increase in the intensity both of long and short wavelength radiation activates biomass accumulation and CO2 assimilation . Photosynthetic growth of the bacterium during its illumination with wavelengths of 464, 497, and 535 nm etc . which are similar to the absorption maxima of carotenoid pigments, suggests the participation of the latter in the uptake of energy that is necessary for photosynthesis. J Bacteriol, 1977 Jan, 129(1), 115 - 23 Multiple-carbon-source-limited growth kinetics of a marine coryneform bacterium; Law AT et al.; The steady-state growth rate of a marine isolate was related to the concentrations of several carbon and energy source substrates when these substrates limited growth simultaneously in continuous culture . Glucose limitation was characterized by a threshold of 0.21 mg/liter for growth, a half-maximal growth rate at 0.48 mg/liter, U-shaped curves in extractable pool concentration-versus-growth velocity plots, and slow maximal growth rates . Arginine addition reduced the glucose threshold to 0.008 mg/liter, more than doubled the maximal growth rate, and stabilized pool concentrations at low growth rates . Addition of a third substrate, glutamate, caused further reduction of the glucose concentration a steady state . Maximal reduction of the glucose concentration was effected by adding a mixture of 20 amino acids . Steady-state limiting nutrient concentration was dependent on the specific identity of the auxiliary nutrients and on the concentration ratio at which they were supplied . When glucose was supplemented with an equal quantity of an amino acid mixture, the external steady-state glucose remained below 10 mug/liter . When 1 mug of glucose was added to a 2.5-mg/liter amino acid mixture, at least 70% of it was consumed at steady state in spite of the threshold observed . Lack of crossover between metabolic pathways, suggested by the absence of glucose carbon in pool glutamate of arginine-glucose-grown cells, may have been partly responsible for the mixed carbon source stimulation of nutrient accumulation observed . The affinity observed is sufficient to account for normal growth at a total organic substrate concentration of only 0.11 mg/liter when supplied from a suitable mixture. Z Allg Mikrobiol, 1977, 17(2), 91 - 7 Low temperature inhibition on binding, trasport, and incorporation of leucine, arginine, methionine, and histidine in Escherichia coli); Goodrich TD et al.; A multiple amino acid auxotroph and a wild type of Escherichia coli K12 were used to study the effects of near minimum growth temperatures on the binding, transport, and cellular incorporation of selected amino acids . Both strains of the bacterium showed the same minimum growth temperature (8 degrees C) when previously grown at 15 degrees C . At 8 degrees C and above, the auxotroph exhibited an overall greater ability to bind and transport amino acids than did the wild type . Below the minimum growth temperature, transport and cellular incorporation including respiration ((uptake) were significantly lower for either organism . The NEU and HEPPEL osmotic shock treatment indicated the removal of the specific histidine-binding protein and the ability to bind histidine was not recovered by further incubation below 8 degrees C . At 8 degrees C and above, the cells recovered their ability to bind histidine within one hour . The evidence presented indicates a direct relationship between the auxotroph's minimum growth temperature and its ability to bind amino acids, specifically methionine. J Nutr Sci Vitaminol (Tokyo), 1977, 23(1), 7 - 17 Uptake and utilization of vitamin B6 and its phosphate esters by Escherichia coli; Yamada RH et al.; Escherichia coli KG980, a vitamin B6 auxotroph derived from E . coli K12, utilized the three unphosphorylated forms of vitamin B6, more or less effectively, for growth, but did not utilize the three phosphate forms at concentrations ranging from 10(-7) to 10(-5) M in the minimum medium of Davis and Mingioli . The bacterium, however, utilized the phosphate forms, although less effectively than the unphosphorylated forms, in the phosphate starving medium of Garen and Levinthal which is known to derepress alkaline phosphatase . Correspondingly, the phosphate forms of 3H-labeled vitamin B6 in the minimum medium were not taken up by the bacterial cells grown in the same medium, but were taken up when the phosphate starving medium was used for growth and uptake experiments; the unphosphorylated forms were taken up with either of the media used . After 30-min incubation of the cells grown in the phosphate starving medium with 3H-pyridoxine phosphate added to the same medium, the main extracellular 3H-vitamin B6 was found to be pyridoxine, evidently indicating an involvement of alkaline phosphatase action . It is concluded from these results that the phosphate forms of vitamin B6 can be taken up and utilized only after dephosphorylation but not taken up in their intact form . The initial rate of 3H-pyridoxal and 3H-pyridoxamine uptake in the minimum medium showed saturation kinetics . The Km and Vmax values were 1.2 X 10(-6) M and 62 pmoles/min/mg (dry cell weight) for pyridoxal; 11 X 10(-6) M and 65 pmoles/min/mg for pyridoxamine . 3H-Pyridoxine uptake apparently consisted of a high-affinity saturable component, whose Km value was tentatively estimated to be 2.2 X 10(-6) M, and an unsaturable component . The uptake rates of these three unphosphorylated vitamin B6 compounds compared at limiting concentrations for the growth of E . coli KG980 appear to be essentially in good agreement with the response pattern of this bacterium to the three compounds. Microbios, 1977, 20(79), 7 - 14 Studies in valine biosynthesis . X . The acetolactate synthase from Rhodopseudomonas spheroides; Semeraro RJ et al.; The first committed enzyme in valine biosynthesis, acetolactate synthase, in the photosynthetic bacterium, Rhodopseudomonas spheroides, required added pyruvate (apparent Km--4.5 mM), Mg2+ (Km--1.01 mM), diphosphothiamine (Km--29.6 micrometer), flavin adenine dinucleotide, and a buffer pH of 7.2--7.4 for enzymatic activity . The synthase was affected by L-valine, an end-product inhibitor, in a competitive manner . The presence of acetolactate synthase, along with other earlier observed enzymes, completes the identification of the valine biosynthetic pathway in this photo-organotroph. J Bacteriol, 1977 Jan, 129(1), 30 - 8 Purification and characterization of cytochrome c3, ferredoxin, and rubredoxin isolated from Desulfovibrio desulfuricans Norway; Bruschi M et al.; Different electron carriers of the non-desulfoviridin-containing, sulfate-reducing bacterium Desulfovibrio desulfuricans (Norway strain) have been studied . Two nonheme iron proteins, ferredoxin and rubredoxin, have been purified . This ferredoxin contains four atoms of non-heme iron and acid-labile sulfur and six residues of cysteine per molecule . Its amino acid composition suggests that it is homologous with the other Desulfovibrio ferredoxins . The rubredoxin is also an acidic protein of 6,000 molecular weight and contains one atom of iron and four cysteine residues per molecule . The amino acid composition and molecular weight of the cytochrome c3 from D . desulfuricans (strain Norway 4) are reported . Its spectral properties are very similar to those of the other cytochromes c3 (molecular weight, 13,000) of Desulfovibrio and show that it contains four hemes per molecule . This cytochrome has a very low redox potential and acts as a carrier in the coupling of hydrogenase and thiosulfate reductase in extracts of Desulfovibrio gigas and Desulfovibrio desulfuricans (Norway strain) in contrast to D . gigas cytochrome c3 (molecular weight, 13,000) . A comparison of the activities of the cytochrome c3 (molecular weight, 13,000) of D . gigas and that of D . desulfuricans in this reaction suggests that these homologous proteins can have different specificity in the electron transfer chain of these bacteria. Vet Med Nauki, 1977, 14(10), 26 - 32 {Resorption of colostral gamma-globulins and detection of antibodies to Bact . rhusiopathiaesuis, S . cholerasuis and beta-hemolytic Esch . coli in newborn pigs}; Arsov R et al.; Traced was the resorption of colostral globulins and the production of antibodies against Bacterium rhusiopathiae suis, S . choleraesuis, and beta-hemolytic Escherichia coli organisms in newborn pigs . It was found that in the newborn pigs that had not yet started sucking there were no gamma-globulins and specific antibodies against the agents mentioned above . Such were observed after the animals had begun to suck, the titers of antibodies reaching their peak levels by the 10th--15th hour (erysipelothrix and paratyphoid) and the 24th--48th hour (hemolytic Escherichia coli) . As against their mothers the titer of the antibodies in the sucklings was two to four times as lower . The gamma-lactoglobulins are resorbed along the whole intestinal mucous membrane, however, resorption is most intense in the duodenum and the jejunum in the course of the first 2 days after farrowing; from the fifth day on it ceases. Zentralbl Bakteriol Parasitenkd Infektionskr Hyg, 1977, 132(3), 196 - 203 {Researches to the conversion of sorbit into sorbose by Acetobacter suboxydans (author's transl)}; Kolblin R et al.; The production of sorbose by Acetobacter suboxydans (4) is closely related to the concentration of sorbit in the medium . An increasing concentration of sorbit gives rise to the inhibition of cell reproduction; followed by a decrease of sorbose content in the culture medium . The decrease of sorbose yield in concentrations of about 15% sorbit in medium indicates the decreasing metabolism rate of the total population of Acetobacter suboxydans (4) culture and does not refer to the ability of the individual bacterium cell to produce sorbose . Relevant research work showed, that sorbose production for each bacterium cell distinctly increased with the decrease of the number of cells in a population of Acetobacter suboxydans (4) as a consequence of the application of an increased sorbit concentration . An unrestrained reproduction of bacteria could be obtained by exluding all factors involved in the contamination of sorbit and exhibiting toxic effects . Therefore the organisms could be offered a greater concentration of sorbit for conversion into sorbose . Thus sorbose yield would be increased, respectively . The total conversion of the C-source into sorbose could not be obtained with Acetobacter ruboxydans (4). Mikrobiologiia, 1977 Jan-Feb, 46(1), 46 - 50 {Properties of the hexulose phosphate synthase of methylotrophic yeasts and bacteria}; Bydovskaia SV et al.; Properties of hexulose phosphate synthase (HPS) were studied in extracts of the methanol assimilating yeast Candida methylica and the bacterium Arthrobacter globiformis B-175 assimilating methylated amines . HPS is an inducible enzyme which is localized in the soluble fraction of the cells . The effect of the pH of the reaction mixture, temperature, metal ions, and the concentration of substrates on the activity of HPS was studied . Properties of the enzyme were different in the yeast and the bacterium . The activity of HPS was strongly stimulated by ATP in C . methylica and was not affected in A . globiformis. J Biol Chem, 1976 Dec 25, 251(24), 7739 - 45 Lipid-protein interactions in Escherichia coli . Membrane-associated f1 bacteriophage coat protein and phospholipid metabolism; Chamberlain BK et al.; The effects of insertion of the major coat protein of f1 bacteriophage into Escherichia coli membranes were investigated . The relative level of phosphatidylethanolamine decreased due to the failure to accumulate phosphatidylethanolamine when the cellular levels of phosphatidylglycerol and cardiolipin were increasing . This decreased accumulation was correlated with a 4-fold reduction in phosphatidylethanolamine synthesis . A 10- to 20-fold increase in cardiolipin content resulted from both a 3-fold increase in cardiolipin synthesis and a decrease in cardiolipin turnover . As long as cell division and protein synthesis continued, the number of cardiolipin molecules per coat protein molecules in the bacterium attained a constant value . The coat protein had little effect of phosphatidylglycerol synthesis . This data suggests that the coat protein froms a specific association with cardiolipin in the host membranes . Additional evidence suggests that cardiolipin also may facilitate the entry of coat protein into membranes. Biochim Biophys Acta, 1976 Dec 14, 455(3), 605 - 20 Chemical modification by trinitrobenzenesulfonate of a lipid and proteins of intracytoplasmic membranes isolated from Chromatium vinosum and Azotobacter vinelandii; Shimada K et al.; 1 . The structure of intracytoplasmic membranes of a photosynthetic bacterium chromatium vinosum and a nitrogen-fixing bacterium Azotobacter vinelandii was studied by chemical modification of amino groups of phosphatidylethanolamine and proteins with trinitrobenzenesulfonate . 2 . Almost all the constituents of intracytoplasmic membranes of C . vinosum were solubilized in a mixture of chloroform, methanol and trichloroacetic acid . One-third of proteins in the intracytoplasmic membranes of C . vinosum was found solubilized in a mixture of chloroform and methanol . By using a column chromatography with Sephadex LH-20 in organic solvents, the unmodified as well as the trinitrophenylated proteins and also the trinitrophenylated phosphatidylethanolamine were separated from the other colored substances . 3 . In the chemical modification of the intracytoplasmic membrane preparations, 30% of phosphatidylethanolamine and 15% of protein amino groups in C . vinosum and 45% of phosphatidylethanolamine and 20% of protein amino groups in A . vinelandii were estimated to be exposed to the aqueous phase . In the single-layered liposomes composed of phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylglycerol with a ratio of 2:1, 40% of phosphatidylethanolamine were estimated to be exposed to the aqueous phase. MMW Munch Med Wochenschr, 1976 Dec 10, 118(50), 1631 - 4 {Minor diphtheria epidemic in a Cologne children's home (author's transl)}; Sorgo W et al.; Between May and July 1972, 12 children aged from 7 to 14 were admitted to the Cologne University Children's Hospital suspected of having diphtheria . In 10 cases the tonsils or pharyngeal cavity were affected . One case of wound diphtheria and one of nasal diphtheria were observed . The clinical suspicion was confirmed in 8 of 12 cases by detection of the pathogen Coryne-bacterium diphtheroides mitis . 11 patients were discharged from the hospital after being treated for between 2 to 6 weeks, but 5 of them needed ambulant cardiac observation . One patient died of malignant diphtheria with symptoms of cardiovascular failure . He had not been treated specifically for 1 week at first . Not one of the 12 patients had been satisfactorily immunized by active inoculation with diphtheria toxoid. J Exp Biol, 1976 Dec, 65(3), 577 - 602 Spirillum swimming: theory and observations of propulsion by the flagellar bundle; Winet H et al.; The hydrodynamics and energetics of helical swimming by the bacterium Spirillum sp . is analysed using observations from medium speed cine photomicrography and theory . The photographic records show that the swimming organism's flagellar bundles beat in a helical fashion just as other bacterial flagella do . The data are analysed according to the rotational resistive theory of Chwang & Wu (1971) in a simple-to-use parametric form with the viscous coefficients Cs and Cn calculated according to the method of Lighthill (1975) . Results of the analysis show that Spirillum dissipated biochemical energy in performing work against fluid resistance to motion at an average rate of about 6 X 10(-8) dyne cm s-1 with some 62-72% of the power dissipation due to the non-contractile body . These relationships yield a relatively low hydromechanical efficiency which is reflected in swimming speeds much smaller than a representative eukaryote . In addition the Cn/Cs ratio for the body is shown to lie in the range 0-86-1-51 and that for the flagellar bundle in the range 1-46-1-63 . The implications of the power calculations for the Berg & Anderson (1973) rotating shaft model are discussed and it is shown that a rotational resistive theory analysis predicts a 5-cross bridge M ring for each flagellum of Spirillum. Arch Microbiol, 1976 Dec 1, 111(1-2), 93 - 7 Accumulation, mobilization and turn-over of glycogen in the blue-green bacterium Anacystis nidulans; Lehmann M et al.; 1 . Accumulation of glycogen up to a constant amount per cell was observed during the postexponential phase of growth, in the presence of an excess of a utilizable carbon source . Cell multiplication was reproducibly controlled by growth of the organism in a nitrogen-limiting medium under photoautotrophic conditions (presence of light, air plus CO2) . 2 . Temporary starvation, i.e . by removal of light or by the addition to an illuminated culture of DCMU, 3-(3',4'-dichlorophenyl)-1,1'-dimethylurea, a specific inhibitor of photosystem II, lead to a mobilization of glycogen in the cell . Furthermore, Anacystis nidulans, having accumulated glycogen by virtue of preculture under nitrogen-limiting conditions, will resume cell division when the culture medium is complemented with a nitrogen source . The ability of the organism to use glycogen as an endogenous carbon source for growth was observed by addition of a nitrogen source to nitrogen-starving cells and simultaneous removal of CO2 . 3 . During the period of constant amount of glycogen per cell the reserve polysaccharide was subject to turnover as demonstrated with a pulse chase-labelling technique . The demonstration of a turnover--for the first time with a bacterial species--indicated a strict balance in the relative rate of synthesis and degradation. Biochim Biophys Acta, 1976 Nov 12, 454(1), 86 - 96 Structure, synthesis, and post-transcriptional modification of ribosomal ribonucleic acid in Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus; Meier JR et al.; The structure, synthesis, and post-transcriptional modifications of 23-S and 16-S ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs) have been studied in the facultatively parasitic bacterium, Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus . The mature 23-S and 16-S type of rRNAs in Bdellovibrio are larger than the analogous molecules in Escherichia coli by at least 1.0 - 10(5) and 0.5 - 10(5) daltons, respectively, and have a conformation different from E . coli rRNAs as judged by relative electrophoretic mobilities in polyacrylamide gels with and without denaturing conditions . Studies on the kinetics of synthesis and maturation of ribosomal RNA in Bdellovibrio show that precursor forms analogous to p23-S and p16-S in E . coli are synthesized . In addition, some earlier precursor rRNAs in Bdellovibrio are seen that appear analogous to the 25S and 17.5-S pre-rRNAs that have only been observed in the RNAase III deficient mutant of E . coli strain AB301-105 (Nikolaev, Birenbaum, M . and Schlessinger, D . (1975) Biocheim, Biophys . Acta 395, 478-489) . These early precursor stages have not been observed in other procaryotic species, including E . coli that have normal levels of RNAase III . The results from the Bdellovibrio system provide that the 25-s and 17.5-S pre-rRNAs are normal stages of rRNA modification and are part of a multiple step maturation process, and therefore are not aberrations associated with the RNase III deficient mutation. Biochim Biophys Acta, 1976 Nov 9, 449(2), 275 - 84 Purification, characterization and biological activity of three forms of ferredoxin from the sulfate-reducing bacterium Desulfovibrio gigas; Bruschi M et al.; Three forms of ferredoxin FdI, FdI', and FdII have been isolated from Desulfovibrio gigas, a sulfate reducer . They are separated by a combination of DEAE-cellulose and gel filtration chromatographic procedures . FdI and FdI' present a slight difference in isoelectric point which enables the separation of the two forms over DEAE-cellulose, while FdII is easily separated from the two other forms by gel filtration . The three forms have the same amino acid composition and are isolated in different aggregation states . Molecular weight determinations by gel filtration gave values of 18 000 for FdI and FdI' and 24 000 for FdII, whereas a value of 6000 is determined when dissociation is accomplished with sodium dodecyl sulfate . The electronic spectra are different and their ultraviolet-visible absorbance rations are 0.77, 0.87 and 0.68 respectively for FdI, FdI' and FdII . Despite these differences, the physiological activities of the three forms are similar as far as the reduction of sulfite by molecular hydrogen is concerned. Lancet, 1976 Nov 6, 2(7993), 1001 - 4 Activation of complement by the alternative pathway as a factor in the pathogenesis of periodontal disease; Allison AC et al.; Dental plaque and a bacterium, Actinomyces viscosus, isolated from plaque that can reproduce periodontal disease in germ-free rats, are activators of complement by the alternative pathway . It is suggested that this process is involved in the pathogenesis of chronic inflammatory periodontal disease. Arch Microbiol, 1976 Nov 2, 110(23), 239 - 45 Growth and pigment production by Arthrobacter pyridinolis n . sp; Kolenbrander PE et al.; A new bacterium capable of growing on 2-hydroxypyridine as sole source of carbon and nitrogen was isolated from soil . During its growth on solid medium, approximately 50% of this substrate was converted to a brilliant blue crystalline pigment which was deposited extracellularly in the colony mass . The pigment was identical to that produced by Arthrobacter crystallopoietes during its growth on 2-hydroxypyridine . The new isolate exhibited the typical cycle of morphogenesis characteristic of the genus Arthrobacter . The organism is different from all other reported species of Arthrobacter . It is proposed that the organism be named Arthorbacter pyridinolis n . sp. Arch Microbiol, 1976 Nov 2, 110(23), 149 - 56 Enzymatic synthesis of poly-beta-hydroxybutyrate in Zoogloea ramigera; Fukui T et al.; The enzyme activity synthesizing poly-beta-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) was mainly localized in the PHB-containing particulate fraction of Zoogloea ramigera I-16-M, when it grew flocculatedly in a medium supplemented with glucose . On the other hand, the enzyme activity remained in the soluble fraction when the bacterium grew dispersedly in a glucose-starved medium . The soluble PHB synthase activity became associated with the particulate fraction as PHB synthesis was initiated on the addition of glucose to the dispersed culture . Conversely, the enzyme activity was released from the PHB-containing granules to the soluble fraction when the flocculated culture was kept incubated without supplementing the medium with glucose . PHB synthase was also incorporated into the newly formed PHB fraction when partially purified soluble PHB synthase was incubated with D(-)-beta-hydroxybutyryl CoA in vitro . Although attempts to solubilize the particulate enzyme were unsuccessful, and the soluble enzyme became extremely unstable in advanced stages of purification, both PHB synthases had the same strict substrate specificity for D(-)-beta-hydroxybutyryl CoA, and showed the same pH optimum at 7.0. Mikrobiologiia, 1976 Nov-Dec, 45(6), 960 - 5 {Enzymes involved in thiosulfate metabolism in Thiocapsa roseopersicina under various conditions of growth}; Petushkova IuP et al.; Cell-free preparations of the purple sulphur bacterium Thiocapsa roseopersicina grown in the light under anaerobic conditions and in the dark under aerobic conditions contain thiosulphate reductase and rhodanase . Dihydrolipoate is an electron donor in the cleavage of thiosulphate catalysed by thiosulphate reductase . Lipoate dehydrogenase (NADH: lipoate oxidoreductase) found in extracts of the cells of T . roseopersicina catalyses the reduction of lipoate . The activity of the enzymes involved in thiosulphate metabolism increases in the cells of T . roseopersicina growing under aerobic conditions in the dark on a mineral medium containing thiosulphate. Mikrobiologiia, 1976 Nov-Dec, 45(6), 946 - 50 {Photoassimilation of organic compounds by Thiocapsa roseopersicina}; Zhukov VG et al.; The cells of the purple sulphur bacterium Thiocapsa roseopersicina, strain BBS, incorporate 14C contained in succinate, lactate, pyruvate, and acetate . Organic compounds with an exception of pyruvate and fumarate produce no considerable effect on the rate of carbon dioxide photoassimilation by the cells though propionate, glycerol, glucose, lactate, and succinate decrease in the same conditions the rate of sulphide oxidation by 20-50% . The rate of 14C-bicarbonate incorporation into the cells in the absence of inorganic H-donor is highest in the presence of propionate, glycerol, glucose as well as lactate and pyruvate after growth of the bacterium on media containing these substrates . A possibility of utilization by T . roseopersicina, strain BBS, of exogenous organic substrates is discussed. Biochem J, 1976 Nov, 159(2), 267 - 71 Delta8(14)-steroids in the bacterium Methylococcus capsulatus; Bouvier P et al.; The 4,4-dimethyl and 4alpha-methyl sterols of the bacterium Methylococcus capsulatus were identified as 4,4-dimethyl- and 4alpha-methyl-5alpha-cholest-8(14)-en-3beta-ol and 4,4-dimethyl- and 4alpha-methyl-5alpha-cholesta-8(14),24-dien-3beta-ol . Sterol biosynthesis is blocked at the level of 4alpha-methyl delta8(14)-sterols. J Am Vet Med Assoc, 1976 Nov 1, 169(9), 991 - 4 Immune response of channel catfish under different environmental conditions; Collins MT et al.; Channel catfish were maintained under conditions of low (15.4 C) and fluctuating (15.4 to 26.9 C/24 hours) temperatures, low (126 mg/L NO3-N) and high (289 mg/L NO3-N) nitrate in recirculating systems, crowding (171 g body mass/L), and fasting . They were vaccinated with formalin-killed enteric red-mouth bacterium, and antibody titers were monitored weekly for 10 weeks . Only those fish maintained in low or fluctuating temperature environments had significant (P less than 0.01) immunosuppression . The other environmental conditions studies, which are commonly encountered in intensive fish culture operations, did not compromise the humoral immune response of channel catfish. J Biochem (Tokyo), 1976 Nov, 80(5), 923 - 8 Metabolism of triacylglycerol in Mycobacterium smegmatis; Nakagawa H et al.; Mycobacterium smegmatis cells incorporated {1-14C}oleic acid into triacylglycerols (TG) from the medium more rapidly than shorter chain fatty acids, caprilic and butyric acids . This incorporation was inhibited more strongly by 10(-3) M N-ethylmaleimide than by 10(-3) M KCN . {14C}TG in the bacterial cells was utilized when the cells were in poor nutritional conditions, such as phosphate buffer (pH 7.0) containing oleic acid . Accumulation of TG was observed in the cells at late stages of growth . Diglyceride acyltransferase {EC 2.3.1.20} activity was detected in a cell-free extract from this bacterium . The pH optimum of this enzyme was between pH 7 and 9 . F- and Tween 20 showed remarkable enhancing and inhibitory effects, respectively. J Bacteriol, 1976 Nov, 128(2), 683 - 8 Inorganic nitrogen assimilation by the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodopseudomonas capsulata; Johansson BC et al.; The photosynthetic bacterium Rhodopseudomonas capsulata lacks glutamate dehydrogenase and normally uses the glutamine synthetase/glutamate synthase sequence of reactions for assimilation of N2 and ammonia . The glutamine synthetase in cell-free extracts of the organism is completely sedimented by centrifugation at 140,000 X g for 2 h, is inhibited by L-alanine but not by adenosine 5'-monophosphate, and exhibits two apparent Km values for ammonia (ca . 13 muM and 1 mM). Ann Microbiol (Paris), 1976 Oct, 127B(3), 393 - 409 {Isolation and study of a new marine bacterium growing on hydrocarbons . II . Mechanism of lysis and viability (author's transl)}; Bertrand JC et al.; The growth of the marine bacterium (L.16.1) is strictly dependent on the presence of well-defined NaCl concentrations (100 mM on alkanes and 75 mM on acetate, pyruvate or propionate) in the medium . L.16.1 cells undergo lysis on transfer from high to low ionic environment . This lytic phenomenon, which can be prevented by the presence of Na+ or divalent cations, appears to be due to the loss of Mg++ and Ca++ by the cells . Evidence for this hypothesis is provided by the assays of intracellular and extracellular Na+, K+, Mg++ and Ca++ concentrations . The maintenance of the cell integrity of the organism does not depend on the medium osmolarity, since osmotic compounds such as sucrose, glycerol or mannitol cannot prevent lysis . All of the ions which can maintain the cell integrity are not likewise able to keep viability; this has been found to be a function of Na+ concentration (70% survival after 24 hours in 400 mM NaCl, only 10% in 50 mM MgSO4). J Biochem (Tokyo), 1976 Oct, 80(4), 811 - 20 Light-induced oxidation-reduction reactions of cytochromes in the green sulfur photosynthetic bacterium Prosthecochloris aesturarii; Shioi Y et al.; The light-induced oxidation-reduction reactions of cytochromes in intact cells, starved cells, and chlorobium vesicle fractions of the green sulfur photosynthetic bacterium Prosthecochloris aesturarii were studied under anaerobic conditions . On the basis of both kinetic and spectral properties, at least three cytochrome species were found to be involved in the light-induced oxidation-reduction reactions of intact cells . These cytochromes were designated according to the positions of alpha-band maxima as C555 (rapid and slow components) and C552 (intermediate) . By comparing the light-minus-dark difference spectra with the reduced-minus-oxidized difference spectra of purified cytochromes of this organism, rapid component C555 and intermediate component C552 are suggested to correspond to the purified cytochromes c-555(550) and c-551.5, respectively . Although the identity of the slow-phase component is uncertain, one possibility is that the slow phase is due to the bound form of c-555(550) . In substrate-depleted (starved) cells, only one cytochrome species, C555 remained in the reduced state in the dark and oxidized upon actinic illumination . This corresponds to the rapid C555 component in intact cells . In the case of chlorobium vesicle fractions, one cytochrome species having an alpha-band maximum at 554 nm was oxidized by actinic light . The effects of several inhibitors on the absorbance changes of intact cells were studied . Antimycin A decreased the rate of the dark reduction of rapid C555 component . The complex effects of CCCP (carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone) on the oxidation-reduction reactions of cytochromes were interpreted as the results of inhibition of the electron donation to oxidized C552 and C555 (slow), and a shift of the dark steady-state redox levels of cytochromes . Based on these findings, it is suggested that the rapid C555 component is located in a cyclic electron transfer pathway . The other two cytochromes, C552 and C555 (slow), may be located in non-cyclic electron transfer pathways and receive electrons from exogenous substrates such as sodium sulfide . A tentative scheme for the electron transfer system in Prosthecochloris aestuarii is presented and its nature is discussed. Appl Environ Microbiol, 1976 Oct, 32(4), 598 - 602 Desulfovibrio of the sheep rumen; Howard BH et al.; A sulfate-reducing bacterium has been isolated in pure culture from sheep rumen contents . Its properties agree in all respects tested with those ascribed to Desulfovibrio desulfuricans . The populations observed (about 10(8)/ml) are sufficient to account for published rates of ruminal sulfide production. J Biol Chem, 1976 Sep 10, 251(17), 5386 - 90 Identification of the covalently bound flavin of thiamin dehydrogenase; Kenney WC et al.; Thiamin dehydrogenase, a flavoprotein isolated from an unidentified soil bacterium, contains 1 mol of covalently bound FAD/mol of enzyme . A flavin peptide, isolated from tryptic-chymotryptic digests of the enzyme and hydrolyzed to the FMN level, shows a pH-dependent fluorescence yield being maximal at pH 3.5 to 4.0 and decreasing over 90% at pH 7.5 with a pKa of 5.8 . Acid hydrolysis of the peptide results in an aminoacylflavin which shows a pKa of fluorescence quenching of 5.2 . Absorption and electron paramagnetic resonance spectral data show the covalent substituent to be at the 8alpha position of the flavin as is the case with all known enzymes containing covalently bound flavin . The aminoacylflavin gives a negative Pauly reaction but yields 1 mol of histidine on drastic acid hydrolysis thus showing an imidazole ring nitrogen as the 8alpha substituent of the flavin . The aminoacylflavin differs from synthetic 8alpha-{N(3)-histidyl}riboflavin or its acid-modified form in pKa of fluorescence quenching, in electrophoretic mobility, in being reduced by borohydride, and in being labile to storage, yielding 8-formylriboflavin . In all of these properties, however, the 8alpha-histidylriboflavin isolated from thiamin dehydrogenase is indistinguishable from 8alpha-{N(1)-histidyl}riboflavin . It is therefore concluded that the FAD moiety of thiamin dehydrogenase is covalently linked via the 8alpha-methylene group to the N(1) position of the imidazole ring of histidine. Mikrobiologiia, 1976 Sep-Oct, 45(5), 812 - 6 {A new triangular bacterium}; Lafitskaia TN et al.; A new bacterium has been isolated; its cells are of a triangle shape and have a radial symmetry . The organism was compared with two other bacteria of a triangle shape described earlier: it differs from them by morphology and physiology. Mikrobiologiia, 1976 Sep-Oct, 45(5), 808 - 11 {Production of biologically active compounds by S, R and M forms of Mycobacterium lacticolum on a medium with n-hexadecane}; Mil'ko ES et al.; The rate of growth and production of exopolysaccharides, vitamin B2 and cetyl alcohol by different clones of S, R and M variants of Mycobacterium lacticolum 104 was studied on a medium containing n-hexadecane . A constant correlation was found to exist between the shape of the colony and the physiologo-biochemical characteristics of the bacterium . The cells of R variant had the highest growth rate, the cells of M variant, the lowest . The cell suspension of M form accumulated 0.1 mg of cetyl alcohol per 1 mg of protein during four hours; S and R forms accumulated 1.5 times less of this substance during the same time . The highest amount of flavins (2.4 mg/litre) was synthesized by the clones of S variant, the lowest amount of flavins was produced by the clones of M form . The cells of M form synthesized 4 g/litre of polysaccharides, the cells of S and R forms produced by 70 and 170% less, respectively. Mikrobiologiia, 1976 Sep-Oct, 45(5), 806 - 7 {Morphology and growth cycle of Hyphomicrobium with a screw-like prostheca}; Monosov EZ et al.; Hyphomicrobium with a screw-like prostheca was isolated from a mixed culture of soil bacteria . Its morphology and growth cycle were studied by electron microscopy . The adult organisms are 1.6-1.8 mcm long and 0.8 mcm thick . The diameter of the prostheca is 0.2-0.3 mcm and sometimes up to 10-12 mcm . It has a peculiar screw-like structure of the cell wall surface and forms branches at whose ends daughter organisms develop . The bacterium multiplies not only by vegetative growth but also by conjugation. Mikrobiologiia, 1976 Sep-Oct, 45(5), 757 - 62 {Fractionation of sulfur isotopes by phototrophic sulfur bacterium Ectothiorhodospira shaposhnikovii}; Ivanov MV et al.; Two processes of sulphur isotope fractionation have been found in experiments with the sulphur purple bacterium Ectothiorhodospira shaposhnikovii . As a result, a light isotope, 32S, is concentrated in residual hydrogen sulphide, and a heavy isotope, 34S, in elementary suphur which is deposited outside the cell . The sulphate produced is lighter than elementary sulphur . Fractionation of sulphur isotopes is observed in natural conditions and is confined to places of mass growth of photosynthetic sulphur bacteria. J Laryngol Otol, 1976 Sep, 90(9), 871 - 5 Rhinoentomophthoromycosis; Singh D et al.; A rare case of Rhinophycomycosis entomophthora treated with a combination of Bacterium, potassium iodide and steroid is reported . Clinical features, epidemiology, mycology, and management are discussed. Mikrobiologiia, 1976 Sep-Oct, 45(5), 831 - 8 {Chemotaxonomic characteristics of bacteria belonging to the genus Nocardia isolated from Ukrainian SSR soils}; Nesterenko OA et al.; From soils of the Ukrainian SSR bearing oil and without it, 241 strains of Nocardia were isolated on mineral media containing n-alkanes C12-C22 . The strains were divided into two groups: actinoid (N . asteroides, N . flavescens) and bacterium-like (N . rubropertincta, N . flava, N . ucrainica, N . salmonicolor, N . rubra, N . erythropolis, Nocardia ssp) . Chemotaxonomic characteristics (the presence in the cells of galactose, arabinose, mesodiaminopimelic acid, lipid LCN-A) were used to differentiate Nocardia from other genera of actinomycetes and coryneforms and to confirm the taxonomy of museum strains . The majority of the Nocardia cultures belongs to the groups "asteroides" and "rhodochrous" according to location of spots of lipid LCN-A on chromatograms . The strains of N . asteroides and complex "M." rhodochrous may belong to both groups . A small number of strains belongs to the group which is represented by N . calcarea 41 (NCIB 8863). Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 1976 Sep, 73(9), 3126 - 30 The identification of the mot gene product with Escherichia coli-lambda hybrids; Silverman M et al.; Molecular cloning techniques were used to construct lambda-E . coli hybrid bacteriophage carrying genes involved in bacterial flagellar motility (mot) and chemotaxis (cheA) . A series of hybrid bacteriophage without each of these genes was also prepared.When paralyzed mutants of E . coli were infected with lambda that carried the mot gene, the ability of the bacterium to swim was rapidly restored . The restoration of motility was the result of the synthesis and insertion into the cell membrane of a protein with an apparent molecular weight of 31,000 (the Mot protein) . Another polypeptide with a mobility on acrylamide gel electrophoresis which corresponded to a molecular weight of 39,000 was associated with the cheA gene . The presence of this polypeptide alone was not sufficient to restore chemotactic activity to mutant cheA strains . It was suggested that only a portion of the cheA gene was cloned, and thus the 39,000 protein may be a partial product of the cheA gene, or the product of a second mot gene. Arch Microbiol, 1976 Sep 1, 109(3), 205 - 8 Utilization of 35S-thiosulphate and an appraisal of the role of ATP-sulphurylase in chemolithotrophic Thiobacillus ferrooxidans; Kelley BC et al.; Differentially labelled 35S-thiosulphate was taken up by washed cells of Thiobacillus ferrooxidans which were previously grown on thiosulphate . The uptake was proportional to the biomass over the range 0.5-4.0 mg dry wt . of bacteria and showed typical saturation kinetics with an estimated Km value of 0.5 mM for 35S-thiosulphate . Dithionate and Group VI anions inhibited the uptake, which was under pH control and had a temperature optimum of 50 degrees C . In the absence of thiosulphate, the cells bound 35S-sulphate but the binding did not increase on prolonged incubation and the label could be removed completely by washing with dilute sulphuric acid . Increasing amounts of the label were incorporated from {outer-35S}thiosulphate into cellular materials over a 60-min period, whereas little or no assimilation was observed from either the {inner-35S}thiosulphate or 35S-sulphate . The kinetic properties of the sulphate-activating enzyme ATP-sulphurylase enriched from bacteria grown with either thiosulphate or ferrous-iron were similar although this enzyme has an assimilatory function only when the bacterium is grown with ferrous-iron. Experientia, 1976 Aug 15, 32(8), 1040 - 1 Action of stannous and stannic chlorides on bacteria; Aickin RM et al.; Stannous or stannic chlorides reduced the growth rate of K . aerogenes, Ps . reptilovora and an unidentified bacterium in a minimal liquid medium and on agar plates . The greatest effect was observed with K . aerogenes and was accompanied by a decreased viability, but 100% survival occurred with other strains . The metal was loosely bound to the cells and there was no direct correlation between the amount adsorbed and the biological response. Biokhimiia, 1976 Aug, 41(8), 1435 - 41 {Bacteriochlorophyll fluorescence changes related to the bacteriopheophytin photoreduction in the chromatophores of purple sulfur bacteria}; Klimov VV et al.; It is shown that illumination of chromatophores of sulfur bacterium Chromatium minutissimum at Eh of the medium --200 mV divided by --620 mV (when the photooxidation of pigment P890 is completely inhibited) induces a decrease in bacteriochlorophyll fluorescence yield, reversible in the dark . Under these conditions a reversible photoreduction of bacteriopheophytin is detected (bleaching of absorption bands at 543 and 760 nm and development of a band at 650 nm), which is accompanied by a blue shift of the absorption band at 8 nm . As a possible interpretation of these effects the suggestion is made on the function of bacteriopheophytin as a primary electron acceptor in reaction centers of bacteria . The bacteriopheophytin photoreduction, followed by a decrease in fluorescence yield, is also observed in other sulfur bacteria, Thiocapsa roseopersicina and Ectothiorodospira shaposhnikovii, but it is not detected in nonsulfur bacteria, Rhodospirillum rubrum and Rhodopseudomonas spheroides . This is considered as an evidence for the difference in the functional organization of the reaction centers of these two groups of bacteria, J Gen Virol, 1976 Aug, 32(2), 249 - 59 Ultrastructure and life cycle of the lipid-containing bacteriophage phi 6; Bamford DH et al.; An electron microscopic study of the lipid-containing bacteriophage phi 6 revealed an electron dense compact inner core of 30 nm in diam., which apparently contains the nucleic acid of the virus . This inner particle is surrounded by a complex polyhedral capsid with an outer diam . of 50 nm . Outside this is the envelope, which gives the virus a total diam . of 65 to 75 nm . The envelope, which has a thickness of a unit membrane, could be removed by treating the phage with Triton X-100 . A definite structure is seen inside the envelope of the phage tail . In infection, phages are attached by their tails to the host cell pili . Occasional pili with a few attached phages were seen in a phage resistant mutant . In the course of the infection phages were also seen attached to the outer membrane of the cell . In a phage-tolerant mutant many normal-looking pili with adsorbed phages were visible, but we could never see phage-cell membrane associations . The membrane of the phage appears to fuse with the bacterial outer membrane and 50 nm virus particles could be seen in the periplasmic space of the bacterium, probably attached to the cytoplasmic membrane . Newly formed 50 nm particles appeared 45 min post infection (p.i.) cnetrally in the host cell . Assembly of the envelope also began at this time and by 80 minutes p.i . all the 50 nm particles were covered by the virus membrane . At no stage were phages seen in the periphery of the bacterium . Mature phages were finally released by a rupture of the host cell without spheroplast formation. Arch Microbiol, 1976 Aug, 109(1-2), 15 - 9 Ribulose 1,5-diphosphate carboxylase and Cholorobium thiosulfatophilum; Buchanan BB et al.; 1 . Cell-free extracts of the photosynthetic bacterium Cholorobium thiosulfatophilum, strains 8327 and Tassajara, were assayed for ribulose 1,5-diphosphate (RuDP) carboxylase and phosphoribulokinase--the two enzymes peculiar to the reductive pentose phosphate cycle . 2 . RuDP carboxylase was consistently absent in strain 8327 . The Tassajara strain showed a low RuDP-dependent CO2 fixation activity that was somewhat higher in cells following transatlantic air shipment than in freshly grown cells . The stability and behaviour of this activity in sucrose density gradients were similar to those described by other workers . 3 . The radioactive carboxylation products formed in the presence of RuDP by enzyme preparations from the Tassajara strain did not include 3-phosphoglycerate--the known product of the RuDP carboxylase reaction, but instead consisted of the unrelated acids glutamate, aspartate and malate . 4 . Phosphoribulokinase was absent in all preparations of the two Chlorobium strains tested . By contrast, phosphoribulokinase as well as RuDP carboxylase were readily demonstrated in preparations from pea chloroplasts and the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodospirillum rubrum . 5 . It is concluded that C . thiosulfatophilum appears to lack RuDP carboxylase, phosphoribulokinase, and hence, the reductive pentose phosphate cycle. Biochim Biophys Acta, 1976 Jul 21, 437(2), 333 - 44 Mechanism of inhibition of Chromatium D growth by L-methionine . Regulation of L-threonine biosynthesis by the intracellular level of S-adenosylmethionine; Sugimoto Y et al.; (1) An unusual accumulation of S-adenosyl-L-methionine in Chromatium D was associated with a marked growth inhibition by L-methionine . The inhibition was overcome by L-isoleucine, L-leucine, L-phyenylalanine, L-threonine, L-valine and putrescien . Based on their effects, these compounds are classified into 3 types . (2) L-Isoleucine, L-leucine, L-phyenylalanine and L-valine (Type I) inhibited the L-methionine uptake and consequently prevented the bacterium from the unusual accumulation of S-adenosyl-L-methionine even in the presence of L-methionine in the medium . Putrescine (Type II) stimulated the consumption of S-adenosyl-L-methionine, but did not influence the L-methionine uptake . Hence, the effect of putrescine would be explained by the action to diminish the intracellular level of S-adenosyl-L-methionine . L-Threonine (Type III) neither inhibited the L-methionine uptake nor affected the content of S-adenoxyl-L-methionine due to the addition of L-methionine . (3) The specific activity of homoserine kinase (EC 2.7.1.39) was greatly lowered by the addition of L-methionine under conditions in which Chromatium D unusually accumulates S-adenoxyl-L-methionine . Homoserine dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.3) activity was inhbitied by S-adenosyl-L-methionine (50% inhibition index, 3.5 mM) . These facts strongly suggest that the growth inhibition by L-methionine is associated with the L-threonine deficiency caused by the unusual accumulation of S-adenosyl-L-methionine. Zentralbl Bakteriol {Orig B}, 1976 Jul, 162(1-2), 184 - 7 {Degradation of (-)-ephedrine by Arthrobacter globiformis (author's transl)}; Klamann E; A bacterium which grows on and completely degrades ephedrine as the only source of carbon was isolated from soil . This bacterium was identified as Arthrobacter globiformis . From the culture medium the following metabolites were isolated: 1-hydroxy-1-phenyl acetone, benzoic acid, pyrocatechol, cis-cis-muconic acid and methylamine . The mechanism of metabolism is discussed and compared with that in mammals. Arch Microbiol, 1976 Jul, 108(3), 287 - 92 The capacity of phototrophic sulfur bacterium Thiocapsa roseopersicina for chemosynthesis; Kondratieva EN et al.; Purple sulfur bacterium Thiocapsa roseopersicina strain BBS requiring vitamin B12 may grow in the dark in media containing no other organic compounds . Under such conditions the cells oxidize sulfide and thiosulfate with the use of O2 and assimilate carbon dioxide . After 10--30s assimilation of NaH14CO3 about 60% of radioactivity is found in phosphorylated compounds characteristic for the reductive pentose phosphate cycle . The possibility of the function of this cycle in the dark in the presence of O2 is confirmed by the capacity of cells grown under such conditions to synthesize ribulose-1,5-diphosphate carboxylase . All this evidence suggests the ability of T . roseopersicina to change from phototrophy to aerobic chemolithoautotrophy. J Bacteriol, 1976 Jul, 127(1), 572 - 83 Evidence for a complex life cycle and endospore formation in the attached, filamentous, segmented bacterium from murine ileum; Chase DG et al.; Light and electron microscope observations showed that the filamentous, segmented bacterium commonly found attached to the ileal epithelium of rats and mice undergoes a complex life cycle . Filaments comprising up to 90 segments were attached to the microvillous border of absorptive epithelial cells by a specialized terminal holdfast segment . Starting at the free end of the filament and progressing toward the attached end, undifferentiated segments were converted into reproductive or mother segments . Within each mother cell two new holdfast segments developed . As the holdfasts matured, their mother cells degenerated and released them into the intervillar space where they attached, grew, and divided to produce new segmented filaments . Alternately, in some filaments, newly formed but not yet released holdfasts were converted into endospores, which were released in the same manner as holdfasts, presumably to spread the bacterial colony to other members of the rodent population. Can J Microbiol, 1976 Jun, 22(6), 826 - 31 The effect of ribonuclease on the penetration of R17 phage A-protein and RNA; Wong K et al.; In an attempt to throw further light on the relationship of R17 phage RNA and A-protein during the early stages of infection, studies were carried out to determine the effect of ribonuclease (ribonuclease I, EC 3.1.4.22) on the ability of these two phage components to penetrate into host bacteria . It was found that the penetration of phage RNA is affected by ribonuclease concentrations as low as 0.1 mug/ml, while the penetration of phage A-protein was unaffected by ribonuclease concentrations as high as 20 mug/ml . In addition, it was found that a significant fraction of the phage RNA is resistant to the ribonuclease effect . This RNase-resistant portion of the phage population increased with increasing phage concentrations, and gave rise to the penetration of intact, 28S RNA molecules that produced the expected number of infectious centers . These findings are discussed in terms of a model for phage RNA injection in which the A-protein functions both as an attachment organelle and a pilot protein that guides the RNA from the capsid to the exterior surface of the F pilus, and thence into the host bacterium. J Virol, 1976 Jun, 18(3), 873 - 84 Absence of interparental recombination in multiplicity reconstitution from incomplete bacteriophage T4 genomes; Kozinski AW et al.; Interparental recombination between injected T4 DNA molecules is indetectable for incomplete petite phages (carrying a terminally deficient genome and therefore unable to circularize) as well as for genetically complete phages . The nonvialbe petite phages can individually replicate their DNA repeatedly, and they aso undergo multiplicity reconstitution, producing complete phages, provided that a host bacterium is infected by several petite particles that carry genetically complementary segments of DNA . The formation of complete phages in multiplicity reconstitution must be due to recombination among incomplete progeny fragments, i.e., partial replicas of the T4 genomes . It evidently does not result from interparental recombination . To test for interparental recombination, light bacteria (containing no bromouracil) were simultaneously infected in light medium with light radioactive phage in minority (usually less than one per cell) and heavy (bromouracil-labeled) phage in majority (usually about nine per cell) . Any interparental recombination should, under these circumstances of infection, head to movement of the radioactive label of the minority light phage DNA to a position of higher density . That possibility was not observed. Rev Can Biol, 1976 Jun, 35(2), 61 - 7 Base competition of DNA isolated from Thiobacillus ferrooxidans grown on different substrates; Guay R et al.; The present study indicates some anomalies with respect to the DNA base composition of Thiobacillus ferrooxidans when it is cultured on different substrates . The % GC of the DNA of this bacterium has been calculated by three different methods (melting temperature, CsCl density gradient centrifugation and ultra-violet absorbancy ratios) using Escherichia coli and Rhodospirillum rubrum as references . The main values for T . ferrooxidans grown on ferrous iron, chalcopyrite and lead sulfide concentrates were calculated to be 56.0, 60.1 and 54.4% GC respectively . Although these large differences are not completely understood, an attempt has been made to explain this phenomenon. J Bacteriol, 1976 Jun, 126(3), 1305 - 15 Structure of Caulobacter deoxyribonucleic acid; Wood NB et al.; The deoxyribonucleic acid of the dimorphic bacterium Caulobacter crescentus contains a component that renatures with rapid, unimolecular kinetics . This component was present in both swarmer and stalked cells and exhibited the sensitivity to endonuclease S1 expected for hairpin loops . Double-stranded side branches between 100 and 600 nucleotide pairs in length were visible in electron micrographs of rapidly reassociating deoxyribonucleic acid isolated by hydroxyapatite chromatography . No extrachromosomal elements were found in spite of systematic attempts to detect their presence . These results indicate that the rapidly reassociating fraction derives from inverted repeat sequences within the chromosome and not from cross-links or plasmids . We estimate that there are approximately 350 inverted repeat regions per Caulobacter genome . The kinetic complexity of Caulobacter deoxyribonucleic acid, however, is no greater than that of other bacteria. Biochim Biophys Acta, 1976 May 14, 430(2), 244 - 52 Iron-sulfur proteins of the green photosynthetic bacterium Chlorobium; Knaff DB et al.; The iron-sulfur proteins of the green photosynthetic bacterium Chlorobium have been characterized by oxidation-reduction potentiometry in conjunction with low-temperature electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy . Chlorobium ferredoxin was the only iron-sulfur protein detected in the soluble fraction; no high-potential iron-sulfur protein was observed . In addition, high-potential iron-sulfur protein was not detected in the chromatophores . Four chromatophore-bound iron-sulfur proteins were detected . One is the "Rieske" type iron-sulfur protein with a g-value of 1.90 in the reduced state; the protein has a midpoint potential of + 160 mV (pH 7.0), and this potential is pH dependent . Three g=1.94 chromatophore-bound iron-sulfur proteins were observed, with midpoint potentials of -25, -175, and about -550 mV . A possible role for the latter iron-sulfur protein in the primary photochemical reaction in Chlorobium is considered. Biochim Biophys Acta, 1976 May 13, 429(3), 705 - 19 Trimethylamine dehydrogenase from a methylotrophic bacterium . I . Isolation and steady-state kinetics; Steenkamp DJ et al.; 1 . The isolation of trimethylamine dehydrogenase (EC 1.5.99.7) from a restricted facultative methylotroph to electrophoretic homogeneity is described . 2 . The molecular weight and subunit molecular weights were found to be 146800 for the enzyme by sedimentation equilibrium ultracentrifugation and 70000-80000 for the two non-identical subunits by sodium dodecyl sulphate gel electrophoresis . 3 . Initial velocity studies indicate that the enzymatic reaction proceeds by a Ping-Pong mechanism . 4 . Further kinetic evidence was obtained by analysis of product inhibition patterns using the alternate substrate diethylamine and the products acetaldehyde and ethylamine as product inhibitors, for the release of ethylamine before the addition of phenazine methosulphate and for the existence of an enzyme-two-carbon unit complex as a stable form of the enzyme . 5 . Some properties of the unusual prosthetic group of trimethylamine dehydrogenase and its photodegradation product are described in preliminary form. Biokhimiia, 1976 May, 41(5), 836 - 42 {Purification and properties of hydrogenase from phototrophic bacterium Thiocapsa roseopersicina}; Gogotov IN et al.; The isolation method and some peoperties of purple sulphur bacteria (Thiocapsa roseopersicina strain BBS) hydrogenase are described Hydrogenase molecular weight is found to be 66000; it contains 3.7 moles of S2- and 3.9 moles of Fe2+ per one mole of the enzyme;pI=4.2 . The enzyme absorption spectrum has the maximum at 400-412 nm which is characteristic of proteins containing non-haem iron . Hydrogenase is suggested to consist pf 4 subunits of two types: with molar weight 27000 and 6000 . Unlike other hydrogenases, this enzyme is rather resistant to O2 and is more thermostable: the inactivation of the enzyme was observed at the temperature above 80 degrees C; Hydrogenase preparation catalyses D2-H2O exchange reaction, H2 evolution from the reduced methyl viologene (MV) and H2 absorption in the presense of MV or benzylviologene but not in the presense of NAD(P), FAD, FMN, azocarmine, methylene blue and ferricyanide. Mikrobiologiia, 1976 May-Jun, 45, 512 - 4 {Utilization of nitrogen compounds by phototrophic bacteria}; Malofeeva IV et al.; Phototrophic purple and green bacteria differ by their ability to assimilate nitrogen compounds . Thiocapsa roseopersicina utilizes not only ammonium and nitrates, as a source of nitrogen, but also urea, azoguanine, cytosine and some amino acids . The non-sulphur bacterium Rhodopseudomonas palustris grows at the account of amine nitrogen of a larger number of amino acids than the sulphur bacterium . Chlorobium limicola 1 . thiosulfatophilum grows only on media containing urea and methylamines . Formation of amino acids by the studied phototrophic bacterial cultures is related to amination of alpha-ketoglutarate . Purple bacteria possess also the activity of aspartate dehydrogenase. Biull Eksp Biol Med, 1976 May, 81(5), 564 - 6 {Study of the virustatic action of rimantadine based on a phage-bacterium model}; Rybakov NI et al.; The action of rimantadin on the lambda phages was studied . The maximal inhibitory effect on the compound was observed on the 1st-6th minutes after the infection . There was no such effect on the T-4 and lambda phage replication . According to the data of incorporation of the radioactive precursors into the phage DNA, RNA, and proteins, and the manifestation of the rimantadin action on phage replication it was supposed that the inhibitory effect of rimantadin was determined by its influence on the RNA-polymerases, preponderantly on the phage RNA-polymerase. J Bacteriol, 1976 May, 126(2), 751 - 7 Fatty acid transport by the lipophilic bacterium Nocardia asteroides; Calmes R et al.; Hexadecanoate was translocated in Nocardia asteroides by a constitutive transport system(s), which transported short, medium, and long-chain fatty acids . Inhibition of hexadenocanoate transport by homologues suggested that at least two systems are present: one specific for short-chain fatty acids and the other specific for medium- and long-chain fatty acids . Saturation kinetics typical of a carrier-mediated transport system (Kt = 870 muM)were observed, and concentration of fatty acids against a gradient was achieved . Inhibitor studies indicated that free sulfhydryl groups, a functional respiratory chain, and energy are required for translocation . Efflux of {14C}hexadecanoate in the presence of excess unlabeled hexadecanoate or 2,4-dinitrophenol and the cytoplasmic localization of acyl-coenzyme A synthetase (acid:coenzyme A ligase {adenosine monophosphate}; EC 6.2.1.3) (Calmes and Deal, 1973) are consistent with the hypothesis that fatty acids are transported and released intracellularly as free fatty acids. J Gen Microbiol, 1976 May, 94(1), 90 - 6 Stability of enzymes in starving Arthrobacter crystallopoietes; Meganathan R et al.; Cell-free extracts prepared from spherical and rod-shaped cells of Arthrobacter crystallopoietes were assayed for enzymes during various periods of starvation . The level of NADH oxidase dropped to 20 and 30%, respectively, in spherical and rod-shaped cells during the first 1 to 2 days of starvation and then remained constant for 9 days . Catalase activity decreased continuously and reached a low level in 9 days . Enzymes involved in glucose metabolism and the tricarboxylic acid cycle were stable for the duration of the experiment (about 1 week) . Succinic dehydrogenase, fumarase and aconitase were stable during 21 days of starvation, which is the longest time enzymes have been shown to be stable in any bacterium under conditions of total starvation. Med Klin, 1976 Apr 9, 71(15), 631 - 4 {Severe course of an infection with Leptospira grippotyphosa (author's transl)}; Meuter KP et al.; In a 22 years old female patient severe jaundice, renal failure and myocarditis developed 3 days after the onset of fever and other uncharacteristic symptoms . In dark-field microscopy leptospires were found . Inspite of high-dose penicillin therapy exitus letalis occurred in myocardial and circulatory failure, due to a severe interstitial myocarditis . Leptospira grippotyphosa could be proven serologically as the causative bacterium . It is pointed out, that leptospirosis inspite of their rare occurrence should be included in the differential diagnosis of infections of undetermined origin, especially if jaundice develops . The demonstration of leptospira in blood, cerebro-spinal fluid or urin by means of darkfield microscopy may quickly support the diagnosis . Since the course of severe leptospirosis can be influenced significantly only up to the 4th day after the onset, high-dose penicillin G or tetracycline therapy should be initiated already when the clinical suspicion is present. Am J Clin Pathol, 1976 Apr, 65(4), 504 - 7 Detection of methionine in pernicious anemia megaloblasts and other types of erythroid precursors; Kass L; Utilizing a bacterial-agar overlay technic incorporating the methionine-requiring bacterium Leukonostoc mesenteroides, little or no bacterial growth was seen surrounding the megaloblasts and proerythroblasts of eight patients who had severe untreated pernicious anemia . Similarly, scant bacterial growth was observed in five cases of chronic erythremic myelosis (DiGuglielmo syndrome) . Heavy bacterial growth, indicating ample amounts of methionine, was seen in two cases of autoimmune hemolytic anemia, and in two cases of severe untreated folate-deficiency anemia . The results are consistent with the "methyltetrahydrofolate trap" hypothesis in pernicious anemia, in which a defect in the methylcobalamin-dependent methyltransferase leads to reduced amounts of methionine . These studies also suggest that a similar methyltransferase defect does not occur in folate deficiency or autoimmune hemolytic anemia . The generation of methionine, as estimated by the present technic, may also be defective in chronic erythremic myelosis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 1976 Mar, 73(3), 887 - 90 Significance of constitutive integrase synthesis; Campbell A; One conceivable function for constitutive integrase formation by lambda prophage is to stabilize the inserted state by catalyzing reinsertion of prophages that are accidentally excised . As this hypothesis implies a dynamic equilibrium betwen inserted and noninserted DNA, the existence of such an equilibrium is explored . By examining the frequency with which prophages appear in an initially unoccupied chromosomal site of a lysogenic bacterium in which the prophage attachment site is duplicated, the off-rate is estimated as less than 10(-2) per generation for wild-type lambda, and less than 4 x 10(-4) for N- mutants of lambda . From the rate of integrase-catalyzed haploidization of certain partial diploid strains, the rate of spontaneous integrase activity is estimated as 3 x 10(-3) per generation . From these values I conclude that constitutive integrase will not appreciably stabilize the inserted state by virtue of its known activity. Appl Environ Microbiol, 1976 Mar, 31(3), 415 - 22 Physiology and ecology of bacteriophages of the marine bacterium Beneckea natriegens: salinity; Zachary A; The effects of variation in ionic levels on the stability and replication of two bacteriophages (nt-1 and nt-6) host specific for the marine bacterium Beneckea natriegens were examined . Monovalent cations influenced the adsorption of the nt-1 but not the nt-6 phage; however, one-step growth studies showed that NaCl was required for replication of both phage . The NaCl optimum for nt-1 production was 0.25 M NaCl, the same as the growth optimum for B . natriegens . However, the optimum for nt-6 production was 0.16 M NaCl . These NaCl optima for host and phage are at estuarine rather than oceanic levels . The nt-1 phage was better suited to replicate at NaCl levels typical of higher salinity areas (18-35%) and the nt-6 phage was better suited to replicate at lower salinities (5-18%) . The nt phage were more resistant to low NaCl levels than their host bacterium and appeared limited to marine waters by the lower survival salinity of B . natriegens coupled with phage inactivation processes occurring in natural estuarine waters. Mikrobiologiia, 1976 Mar-Apr, 45(2), 229 - 33 {Raffinose metabolism in Gluconobacter oxydans}; Loitsianskaia MS et al.; Metabolism of raffinose has been examined in experiments with the growing culture and washed cells of Gluconobacter oxydans L-1 . Degradtion of the trisaccharide was found to be catalyzed by levansucrase, levan being synthesized, and melibiose and small quantitites of fructose being liberated in the reaction . Melibiose is not hydrolyzed and is not used by the bacterium as a source of carbon, but is oxidized to melibionic acid . Fructose is assimilated by the bacterium in constructive metabolism, being oxidized to gluconic, 2-ketogluconic acids and 5-ketofructose. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol, 1976 Mar-Apr, 85(2 Suppl 25 Pt 2), 130 - 4 Immunology and microbiology in acute otitis media; Sloyer JL Jr et al.; Various immunological parameters were measured in serum, middle ear fluid (MEF), and lymphocytes from peripheral blood and MEF of infants with acute otitis media due to S . pneumoniae or H . influenzae . Approximately half of 131 patients had IgE specific antibody to the infecting bacterium as determined by the indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA) technique . Seventy-one percent of these IgE positive patients had IgE specific antibody in the MEF . Total IgE concentration was found to be from an average of 1.5 to 3.0 times higher in the MEF when compared to the simultaneously drawn serum . In addition, antibody to pneumococcal capsular polysaccharides and to pneumococcal C-carbohydrate was demonstrated in the MEF by radioimmunoassay . When MEF specific antibody was compared to serum antibody it appeared that antibody to C-carbohydrate was more concentrated in the MEF . That this antibody was of the IgE class was suggested by IFA but not conclusively proven . Evidence exists that conditions for enhanced IgE synthesis is concomitantly associated with a decrease in T-cell activity . T-cell function in MEF derived lymphocytes as determined by rosette formation and by phytohemagglutinin (PHA) stimulation was approximately one-tenth that of the peripheral blood lymphocytes . However, that T-cells may participate in the immune response to polysaccharides was suggested by the observation that polysaccharide stimulated peripheral blood lymphocytes from infants immunized with octavalent pneumococcal capsular vaccine underwent protein synthesis two to three times that of the PHA stimulated cells . The clinical significance of this finding as well as the nature of the cell responsible for the increased protein synthesis remains to be established . It is hypothesized that acute otitis media results from local synthesis of bacteria specific IgE antibody which is enhanced by a paucity of local T-cell activity. Biochim Biophys Acta, 1976 Feb 16, 423(2), 238 - 48 Kinetic studies of phototransients in bacteriorhodopsin; Sherman WV et al.; Aqueous suspensions of bacteriorhodopsin in purple membrane fragments from Halobacterium halobium have bben subjected to microsecond flash photometry utilizing both unpolarized and polarized light . Depletion of the ground state chromophore centered at 570 nm is accompanied by the formation of transients absorbing maximally at 410 nm and 660 nm with rise times of about 0.4 and 6 ms, respectively . Decay of both transients and reformation of the ground state chromophore occurs with identical first-order kinetics with a half life of about 6 ms . All three chromophores are polarized with dichroic ratios which remain constant throughout the transient lifetimes, indicating that Brownian rotation of the chromophore within the membrane is considerably restricted . Whereas agents which induce permeability of membranes to protons (2,4-dinitrophenol, carbonylcyanide-m-chlorophenylhydrazone) and non-specific univalent cations (gramicidin) or inhibit ATPase (ouabain) had no influence, the K+-specific ionophore valinomycin in the presence of K+ inhibited and quenched the formation of the 660 nm transient with concomitant increase in lifetime of the 410 nm transient and delay in recovery of the 570 nm chromophore . High concentrations of Na+ produced an effect similar to that of valinomycin . The relationship of these data to the mechanism of the proton pump in the intact bacterium is discussed, with the conclusion that the 410 nm transient performs a key role. Biochim Biophys Acta, 1976 Feb 16, 423(2), 357 - 62 Some thermodynamic and kinetic properties of the primary photochemical reactants in a complex from a green photosynthetic bacterium; Prince RC et al.; We have examined the bacteriochlorophyll reaction-center complex of Chlorobium limicola f . thiosulfatophilum, strain Tassajara . Our results indicate that the midpoint potential of the primary electron donor bacteriochlorophyll of the reaction center is +250 mV at pH 6.8, while that of cytochrome c-553 is +165 mV . There are two cytochrome c-553 hemes per reaction center, and the light-induced oxidation of each is biphasic (t1/2 of less than 5 mus and approximately 50 mus) . We belive that this indicates a two state equilibrium with each cytochrome heme being either close to, or a little removed from, the reaction-center bacteriochlorophyll . We have also titrated the primary electron acceptor of the reaction center . Its equilibrium midpoint potential at pH 6.8 is below -450 mV . This is very much lower than the previous estimate for green bacteria, and also substantially lower than values obtained for purple bacteria . Such a low-potential primary acceptor would be thermodynamically capable of direct reduction of NAD+ via ferredoxin in a manner analagous to photosystem I in chloroplasts and blue-green algae. J Biochem (Tokyo), 1976 Feb, 79(2), 361 - 71 Isolation and some properties of NAD+ reductase of the green photosynthetic bacterium Prosthecochloris aestuarii; Shioi Y et al.; NAD+ reductase of the green photosynthetic bacterium Prosthecochloris aestuarii was isolated and purified by ammonium sulfate fractionation, DEAE-cellulose column chromatography, and Sephadex G-200 gel filtration . This enzyme is an FAD-containing flavoprotein and has absorption maxima at 485 (shoulder0 452, 411, and 385 nm (the 411 nm band is due to cytochrome) . The molecular weight of the enzyme as determined by gel filtration using Sephadex G-200 is 119,000 . The enzyme catalyzes the reduction of NAD+ and NADP+ by photoreduced spinach ferredoxin or reduced benzyl viologen... J Biol Chem, 1976 Jan 25, 251(2), 389 - 96 Rickettsial permeability . An ADP-ATP transport system; Winkler HH; The obligate intracellular parasitic bacterium, Rickettsia prowazeki, has a carrier-mediated transport system for ADP and ATP . The transport of nucleotides was measured by membrane filtration assays; the assay was shown not to harm the relatively labile rickettsiae . The nucleotide transport system was shown to reside in the rickettsiae, not in the contaminating yolk sac mitochondria of the preparation . The influx of nucleotide had an activation energy of 12 to 13 kcal above 22 deg-rees (an apparent transition temperature), and 30 kcal below this value . The uptake of nucleotide was independent of the Mg2+ concentration, but was markedly stimulated by the phosphate concentration . The pH optimum of the influx of nucleotide was pH 7 . The specificity of the transport system was remarkable in that it required a specific moiety in each portion of the nucleotide, i.e . an adenine base, a ribose sugar, and two or three, but not one, phosphates . Of the wide variety of compounds tested, the system could transport only ADP, ATP, and (beta, gamma-methylene) adenosine 5'-triphosphate . The influx of nucleotide was a saturable process; half-maximum velocity was achieved at a nucleotide concentration of about 75 muM . ADP and ATP were competitive inhibitors of each other's transport . Although at least 95% of the labeled intracellular nucleotide was exchangeable, efflux of labeled nucleotide was observed only in the presence of unlabeled nucleotide in the medium . Half-maximum efflux was achieved at a concentration of about 75 muM . A large intracellular to extracellular concentration gradient of labeled nucleotide was maintained in the presence of metabolic inhibitors and uncouplers, which completely abolished rickettsial hemolysis . While having no effect on the steady state, KCN and DNP accelerated both influx and efflux . Measurements of the endogenous pool of adenine nucleotides in isolated rickettsiae show that is was large (5 mM), and that these unlabeled nucleotides exchanged, on approximately a 1/1 basis, with exogenously added nucleotide . These studies support the proposal that rickettsiae are not "leaky" to adenine nucleotides or to small molecules in general, and that they have a carrier-mediated transport system which allows an exchange of host and parasite ADP and ATP. Biochim Biophys Acta, 1976 Jan 15, 423(1), 133 - 40 Stimulation of ATP synthesis in Halobacterium halobium R1 by light-induced or artifically created proton electrochemical potential gradients across the cell membrane; Danon A et al.; The relationship between proton movement and phosphorylation in Halo-bacterium halobium R1 has been investigated under anaerobic conditions . The light-induced changes in the bacteriorhodopsin are accompanied by proton movements across the membrane which result in pH changes in the suspending medium . The initial alkaline shift is shown to be closely paralleled by (and hence correlated with) ATP synthesis . Acidification of the medium in the presence of valinomycin, under conditions of low external potassium, brings about ATP synthesis in the dark. J Supramol Struct, 1976, 4(3), 343 - 53 Perturbation of the chemotactic tumbling of bacteria; Taylor BL et al.; The bacterial sensing system has been studied on three levels . First, a quantitative method has been devised for measuring the "action spectrum" of the bacterium in response to a sudden addition of attractant . Second, a technique has been developed for the rapid isolation of mutants defective in the transmission part of the sensing system . Third, a study of the effects of light on the transmission system reveals two components, one which generates, tumbling and another which inhibits it. J Biol Chem, 1976 Jan 10, 251(1), 129 - 36 Primary structure of a high potential iron-sulfur protein from the purple non-sulfur photosynthetic bacterium Rhodopseudomonas gelatinosa; Tedro SM et al.; The third amino acid sequence of a high potential iron-sulfur protein, that of the non-sulfur purple photosynthetic bacterium Rhodopseudomonas gelatinosa, has been determined . It consists of a single polypeptide chain of 74 amino acid residues, which is slightly smaller than the high potential iron-sulfur proteins from the sulfur purple bacteria Chromatium vinosum (85 residues) and Thiocapsa pfennigii (81 residues) . The sequence of the gelatinosa protein is similar to the C . vinosum and T . pfennigii proteins with 38% and 37% identically matching residues, although six gaps are proposed for the comparison (the C . vinosum and T . pfennigii proteins have 44% identically matching residues out of 73 positions compared with only one 4-residue gap) . Only 17 redisues, including the 4 cystein residues essential for binding the four-iron-sulfur chromophore, are invariant in the three known sequences . A discussion of the role of conserved residues in maintenance of the three-dimensional structure and in electron transport is presented. J Biol Chem, 1976 Jan 10, 251(1), 174 - 81 An endo-alpha1 leads to 6-D-mannanase from a soil bacterium . Purification, properties, and mode of action; Nakajima T et al.; A soil organism, isolated by enrichment culture on unbranched alpha1 leads to 6-mannan backbone from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, secretes and endo-alpha1 leads to 6-mannanase . We have purified this mannanase to homogeneity and find it to consist of a single polypeptide chain with a molecular weight of about 131,000 . The enzyme is unusually heat-stable and appears to be highly extended in shape, possessing very little alpha helicity but with a high proportion of beta structure . The mannanase acts on unbranched alpha1 leads to 6-mannan to produce mannose and alpha1 leads to 6-mannobiose, with the intermediate formation of alpha1 leads to 6-mannooligosaccharides of various sizes . Calcium ion is required for full activity . The smallest substrate is the alpha1 leads to 6-mannotriose, whereas the reduced mannotriose is an inhibitor . The combining site appears to encompass 6 to 8 mannose units. Fed Proc, 1976 Jan, 35(1), 51 - 3 Tunable laser resonance Raman spectroscopic investigations of the transduction process in vertebrate rod cells; Lewis A; Tunable laser resonance Raman spectroscopy has been applied to probe (in vivo) the role of rhodopsin in transducing light energy into the chemical necessary to generate a neural response . These in vivo experiments have suggested that the Schiff base linkage through which retinal is attached to opsin in rhodopsin is protonated . Furthermore, it appears that light eventually stimulates the deprotonation of the Schiff base linkage between the Meta I and Meta II steps in the intermediate sequence which is the result of light interacting with rhodopsin . Our data suggest that this deprotonation of the Schiff base occurs on the same time scale as overall proton release and uptake by the rhodopsin molecule . It is interesting to note that this series of protonations and deprotonations also occurs within the same time scale as the neural response generation in vertebrates and the generation of a proton gradient by bacteriorhodopsin, which is used by the bacterium, Halobacterium halobium, for ATP synthesis . If these data are analyzed within the context of the in vivo resonance Raman experiments (which seem to indicate that proton release is stimulated in the disc membrane during transduction) then there is a strong suggestion that the proton will assume an important role in any working hypothesis of visual transduction . In essence it appears that protons along with ATP and calcium ions must all be essential elements in the transduction process. J Gen Microbiol, 1976 Jan, 92(1), 25 - 31 The dispersal of an initial concentration of motile bacteria; Thonemann PC et al.; The dispersal of an initial concentration of identical Brownian particles is accurately described by the solution of the conventional diffusion equation, and a diffusion coefficient can be assigned to the assembly of particles . However, the dispersal of an initial concentration of motile bacteria is not well described by the same solution, in spite of the similarity between the random motion of a bacterium and a Brownian particle . Reasons for the failure of the Gaussian solution of the diffusion equation to describe the dispersal of Escherichia coli are discussed . An equation is formulated which gives the concentration of dispersing organisms as a function of space and time if the speed distribution function of the assembly of organism is known and reproduction is suppressed . For three assumed speed distributions the results are compared with concentrations measured by previous authors. Zentralbl Bakteriol Parasitenkd Infektionskr Hyg, 1976, 131(8), 697 - 702 The longest symbiotic bacterium as found in a membracid insect; Mahdihassan S; An insect tumour cell, carrying germs, contains nuclei and also cellular debris as protoplasmic and nuclear degradation bodies . In histological sections the nucleus may be seen surrounded by such bodies, cut across, which then appear round in form . They have therefore been mistaken for yeast-like germs, called "Cicadomyces" . But in smears the protoplasmic debris is stained blue and reveals bizarre shapes . T . assamensis is an exception and offers the key to properly interpret the bodies named Cicadomyces . Its symbiote is a long filamentous bacterium and persists in protoplasmic debris, the so-called Cicadomyces . Since Cicadomyces themselves cannot be infected by germs as long as themselves, the former can only represent cellular degradation bodies. Microbios, 1976, 15(61-62), 177 - 89 Degradation of quinoline by a soil bacterium; Grant DJ et al.; From garden soil a bacterium was isolated which grew aerobically in mineral salts medium with quinoline as sole C source and NH4+ as N source . During growth with quinoline, 2-hydroxyquinoline accumulated in the culture fluid and later disappeared . Whole cells oxidized 2-hydroxyquinoline, 2,6-dihydroxyquinoline and 2,7,8,-trihydroxyquinoline as rapidly as quinoline and without a lag . Catechol was oxidized more slowly by meta-cleavage but at an increasing rate indicative of adaptation . A number of derivatives of benzene and pyridine were not attacked . Whole cells oxidized 2,7,8,-trihydroxyquinoline to a yellow meta-cleavage product which was not further degraded . The following pathway is proposed: quinoline leads to 2-hydroxyquinoline leads to 2,6-dihydroxyquinoline leads to a trihydroxyquinoline (probably not the 2,7,8-compound, but possibly the 2,5,6-compound). Mikrobiologiia, 1976 Jan-Feb, 45(1), 9 - 14 {Respiration in Thiocapsa roseopersicina cells}; Petushkova IU et al.; Oxygen is taken up by the cells of purple sulphur bacterium Thiocapsa roseopersicina BBS grown in the light under anaerobic conditions and in the darkness under aerobic conditions . Respiration is stimulated by sulphide and thiosulphate but not by organic substrates which increase the yield of the cultures . Azide and cyanide inhibit oxygen uptake by the cells in the presence of sulphide and thiosulphate, and also utilization of these compounds . Amytal, atebrin, and rotenone inhibit oxygen uptake by the cells in the presence of sulphide but have no effect on their respiration in the presence of thiosulphate . Light produces reversible inhibiting action on respiration of the cells . Therefore, Thiocapsa roseopersicina can grow in the darkness by oxidizing sulphur compounds with the participation of oxygen. Mikrobiologiia, 1976 Jan-Feb, 45(1), 15 - 9 {Dark metabolism of Rhodospeudomonas sulfidophila}; Keppen OI et al.; A new strain of phototrophic purple bacterium Rhodopseudomonas sulfidophila RP-6 has been isolated from samples of the salty meromictic lake Repnoye . The bacterium utilizes thiosulphate yielding sulphates and assimilates molecular hydrogen in the darkness under aerobic conditions . Thiosulphate stimulates fixation of 14C-bicarbonate by the cells both in the light and darkness . Organic compounds are necessary for growth of the bacterium in the darkness . R . sulphidophila RP-6, R . palustus, and Rhodomicrobium vanniellii CO-1 do not grow in the presence of carbon monoxide neither in the light or in the darkness. Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek, 1976, 42(3), 255 - 9 Hydrogenase activity in nitrogen-fixing methane-oxidizing bacteria; Bont JA; Hydrogenase activity in cells of the nitrogen-fixing methane-oxidizing bacterium strain 41 of the Methylosinus type increased markedly when growth was dependent upon the fixation of gaseous nitrogen . A direct relationship may exist between hydrogenase and nitrogenase in this bacterium . Acetylene reduction was supported by the presence of hydrogen gas. Mikrobiologiia, 1976 Jan-Feb, 45(1), 178 - 9 {ATP concentration in the cells of the hydrogen bacterium Hydrogenomonas eutropha}; Petrova GV et al.; The maximum content of ATP in the cells of the hydrogen bacterium Hydrogenomonas eutrophia Z-1 was found, with the aid of luciferase technique, during the exponential phase of growth . The content of ATP decreases from the middle of the proportional phase . Inhibition of the enzymes of the first stages of anabolism by high concentrations of ATP was found in vitro but not in vivo . Compartmentalization of the ATP pool is presumed to take place in the cells of Hydrogenomonas eutropha. J Bacteriol, 1976 Jan, 125(1), 369 - 71 Potassium requirement for cell division in Anacystis nidulans; Ingram LO et al.; A potassium requirement for growth can be readily demonstrated in the autotrophic blue-green bacterium Anacystis nidulans strain TX20 equivalent to 0.7% of the cellular dry weight . Starvation of this organism for potassium partially dissociates growth from cell division, thereby inducing 50% of the population to form filaments. Genetika, 1976, 12(3), 119 - 25 {Detection of the products of several T4B phage genes among the proteins of infected Escherichia}; Iankovskii NK et al.; Proteins of wild-type phate T4 and its mutants in genes rII, su(30), stII, stIII, rVI-39 and 60 are studied by means of polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecylsulphate of membrane fractions and lysates of infected bacteria . Physiological studies of mutants in these genes carried out by the authors and other investigators allow to suggest that when functions are realized, the products of these genes interact with the plasmatic membrane of the infected bacteria . The product of rIIB cystrone has been indentified as the protein of the membrane of an infected bacterium, its molecular weight being about 30 000 . The products of genes su(30), stII, stIII and rVI could not be identified either in lysate or in membrane fraction . The function of gene stII is "superstoichiometric", which may be due to the involvement of a very small product amount when the function of gene stII is realized . Mutants in genes 39 and 60 lack one and the same protein with molecular weight of about 40 000 which is a protein of the membrane of an infected bacterium . This protein may be a product of gene 39, and the functional product of gene 60 is necessary to synthesize it. ZFA, 1976, 31(1), 65 - 71 {Morphology of the cells in the peritoneal exsudate and phosphatase activity of the peritoneal macrophages experimentally aged rats treated with the intracellular bacterium Brucella abortus 19 (author's transl)}; Janev E et al.; The authors study the morphology of the cells in the peritoneal exsudate and the phosphatase activity of the peritoneal macrophages, obtained from rats with Selye's Progeria-like syndrome . Judging by their morphologic characteristics the macrophages of the experimentally aged rats, before and after contact with Brucella abortus 19 do not differ from those obtained from the unsubjected to experimental ageing rats . The acid phosphatase activity and the adenosinetriphosphatase activity of the macrophages prior to contact with Brucella abortus 19 are nearly identical for both groups of animals . Following contact the activity of the enzymes increases but this increase is slower by aged rats and reaches its maximum 1--2 days later. ZFA, 1976, 31(1), 53 - 7 {Cellular immunity against bacteria (intracellular and extracellular parasites) in experimentally aged rats (author's transl)}; Janev E et al.; The authors study the activity of RES in rats with Progeria-like syndrome of Selye, at the occasion of a repeated infection with bacteria--intracellular parasites (Brucella abortus 19) and bacteria--extracellular parasites (Diplococcus pneumoniae) . They establish that immunization improves the activity of RES of the experimentally aged rats; still, its phagocytic and digestive functions remain by far feebler than those of the rats unsubjected to experimental ageing . By the aged animals the RES insufficiency is more pronounced towards the intracellular bacterium Brucella abortus 19, than towards the extracellular Diplococcus pneumoniae. Arch Microbiol, 1975 Dec 31, 106(3), 147 - 57 Growth and morphology of Asticcacaulis biprosthecum in defined media; Larson RJ et al.; The growth and morphology of cells of Asticcacaulis biprosthecum were studied in defined media to determine the effects of various compounds on the growth rate and on the expression of morphological events of the life cycle . The length of prosthecae could not be controlled by varying the concentration of inorganic phosphate as has been shown for other caulobacters . In defined media, growth was inhibited during conditions favoring rapid metabolism, apparently due to an absolute requirement for cells to complete all stages of the life cycle before cell division could occur . The morphology of cells grown under these conditions was aberrant, i.e., cells appeared elongated and branched and few prosthecae or swarmer cells were produced . Growth of a related bacterium, Asticcacaulis strain S-3, was not inhibited by conditions favoring rapid metabolism . During rapid growth, cell division in this organism occurs in the swarmer stage and prosthecae are not produced . Cell division in S-3 is not obligately coupled to completion of all stages in the complex life cycle, and morphogenesis can be controlled by cultural conditions. Mol Gen Genet, 1975 Dec 29, 142(2), 155 - 70 Control of gene expression in bacteriophage lambda: suppression of N mutants by mutations of the antirepressor; Galland P et al.; The lysogenization and induction properties of phages lambdasusN7CI857Ai7 and lambdasusN53cro27 are described . Both phages, at 32 degrees kill little, but show only a moderate frequency of lysogenization whether an amber suppressor is present or absent in the host bacterium . In the latter case, lysogens for lambdasusN7CI857Ai7 or lambdasusN53CI857cro27 can exist in two different regulatory states, here called P r- and Pr+ . The Pr+ phase is characterized by phage release and cell death at 40 degrees; conversely, cells in the Pr- phase are similarly killed but release no or very little phage . Pr- is the phase usually obtained at lysogenization . Each phase may be transmitted at 32 degrees for an unlimited number of generations, however, shifts to the opposite phase take place from time to time with a low probability . Two previously described antirepressor defective mutants . Ai7 and cro27, were found to suppress specifically the growth defect caused by an amber mutation in gene N . This suppression is observed in non-suppressing hosts at 40 or 42 degrees . Apparent revertants of N- mutants were shown to be often (80%) caused by a second mutation, in the Ai gene (also called tof, cro and fed) . All the revertants so far examined appeared to be recessive . Lambda phages bearing a double amber mutation in gene N did not acquire full N independence by the acquisiton of an Ai mutation; this could be achieved, however, in the presence of a CII mutation . The above findings are discussed in terms of a direct interaction between the N, Ai and CII products. J Chromatogr, 1975 Dec 10, 115(1), 205 - 12 Purification of Escherichia coli B-specific p-aminobenzoate "pick-up" protein to homogeneity by affinity chromatography; Toth-Martinez BL et al.; Of the satellite fractions of Escherichia coli B dihydrofolate synthetases, a non-enzymic protein that is specifically able to bind p-aminobenzoate and sulphonamides has been purified 6000-fold by p-aminobenzoylcellulose affinity chromatography . The protein was named p-aminobenzoate "pick-up" protein according to its function, i.e., to bring p-aminobenzoate into reaction with L-glutamate and pteridine during dihydrofolate biosynthesis . About 4 mg of pure protein (0.532% recovery, calculated from the total p-aminobenzoate binding capacity of the unfractionated supernatant separated from the crude bacterium plasma) can be obtained from 500 g of harvested cells . The product is homogeneous in polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis both in the absence and presence of sodium dodecyl sulphate, and has a molecular weight of 15,000 daltons +/- 5% as measured by sodium dodecyl sulphate gel electrophoresis and Sephadex G-75 gel column chromatography . p-Aminobenzoate and sulphonamide ligand binding studies showed a single binding site per p-aminobenzoate pick-up protein molecule . KD values for p-aminobenzoate and some sulphonamides as well as for L-glutamate, L-gamma-glutamyl oligopeptides, some pteridines and folate antagonists are also presented in order to illustrate the specificity of the receptor protein. Jpn J Microbiol, 1975 Dec, 19(6), 441 - 6 Synchronous cell differentiation in Caulobacter crescentus; Iba H et al.; The growth of a stalked bacterium, Caulobacter crescentus, has been synchronized easily and reproducibly by a new method . When this bacterium is grown to a late log phase in nutrient broth at 30 C with aeration, swarmer cells are accumulated in the culture to 80% of the whole cell population . When this culture is inoculated into fresh pre-warmed broth at twentyfold dilution, it immediately initiates synchronous cell growth . Simultaneously, synchronous cell differentiation is monitored by the susceptibility of the cells to RNA phage infection . The swarmer cells accumulated in the late log phase of growth possess nearly the same susceptibility to RNA phage infection as those in the early log phase of growth while RNA phage-adsorbing capacity is lower in such swarmer cells . It is suggested that the swarmer cells accumulated in the late log phase of growth have lost some pili. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 1975 Dec, 72(12), 4928 - 32 Effects of bacteriophage T4-induced modification of Escherichia coli RNA polymerase on gene expression in vitro; Mailhammer R et al.; After T4 bacteriophage infection of E . coli a complex series of events take place in the bacterium, including gross inhibition of host transcription and discrete changes in the classes of the genes of T4 that are transcribed . Accompanying these changes in the pattern of transcription one finds T4-induced changes in the RNA polymerase (EC 2.7.7.6; nucleosidetriphosphate:RNA nucleotidyltransferase) . The effects of modified polymerase on transcription can be advantageously analyzed in a DNA-directed cell-free system for protein synthesis . In this system gene activity is measured indirectly by the amounts and types of proteins sythesized . In the DNA-directed cell-free system this modified polymerase, like normal polymerase, transcribes T4 DNA with a high efficiency but transcribes bacteriophage lambda and host DNA very poorly . Polymerase reconstruction experiments show that modification of the alpha subunit of the RNA polymerase is sufficient for inhibition of host transcription . Host transcription is also inhibited in vitro by T4 DNA . This latter type of inhibition is presumed to involve competition between host DNA and T4 DNA for some factor essential for transcription . The T4-modified polymerase transcribes from T4 DNA many of the same genes as normal unmodified polymerase; it also shows a capability for transcribing certain "non-early" T4 genes which is enhanced in the presence of protein-containing extracts from T4-infected cells. J Biol Chem, 1975 Nov 10, 250(21), 8330 - 6 Characterization of two soluble ferredoxins as distinct from bound iron-sulfur proteins in the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodospirillum rubrum; Yoch DC et al.; In an earlier investigation (Shanmugam, K . T., Buchanan, B . B., and Arnon, D . I . (1972) Biochim . Biophys . Acta 256, 477-486) the extraction of ferredoxin from Rhodospirillum rubrum cells with the aid of a detergent (Triton X-100) and acetone revealed the existence of two types of ferredoxin (I and II) and led to the conclusion that both are membrane-bound . In the present investigation, ferredoxin and acid-labile sulfur analyses of photosynthetic membranes (chromatophores) and soluble protein extracts of the photosynthetic bacteria R . rubrum and Rhodopseudomonas spheroides showed that ferredoxins I and II are primarily components of the soluble protein fraction . After their removal, washed R . rubrum chromatophores were found to contain a considerable amount of tightly bound iron-sulfur protein(s), as evidenced by acid-labile sulfur and electron paramagnetic resonance analyses . Thus, like all other photosynthetic cells examined to date, R . rubrum cells contain both soluble ferredoxins and iron-sulfur proteins tightly bound to photosynthetic membranes . The molecular weights of ferredoxins I and II from photosynthetically grown R . rubrum cells were found to be 8,800 and 14,500, respectively . Using these molecular weights, the molar extinction coefficients at 390 nm for ferredoxins I and II were determined to be 30.3 and 17.2 mM-1 CM-1, respectively . Ferredoxin I contains 8 non-heme iron and 8 acid-labile sulfur atoms per molecule; ferredoxin II contains 4 non-heme iron and 4 acid-labile sulfur atoms per molecule . Ferredoxin I was found only in photosynthetically grown cells whereas ferredoxin II was present in both light- and dark-grown cells . Ferredoxin II from both light- and dark-grown cells has the same molecular weight (14,500) and absorption spectrum and has 4 iron and 4 acid-labile sulfur atoms per molecule . Low temperature electron paramagnetic resonance spectra of oxidized and photoreduced ferredoxins I and II from R . rubrum were recorded . The EPR spectrum of oxidized ferredoxin II exhibited a single resonance line at g = 2.012 . Oxidized ferredoxin I, however, exhibited a spectrum that may arise from the superimposition of two resonance lines near g = 2.012 . Photoreduced ferredoxin II displayed a rhombic EPR spectrum with a g value of 1.94 . Photoreduced ferredoxin I exhibited a similar EPR spectrum at a temperature of 16 K, but when the temperature was lowered to 4.5 K the spectrum of ferredoxin I changed . This temperature-dependent spectrum may result from a weak spin-spin interaction between two iron-sulfur clusters . These results are consistent with the conclusion that R . rubrum ferredoxins I and II are, respectively, 8 iron/8 sulfur and 4 iron/4sulfur proteins. Arch Microbiol, 1975 Nov 7, 105(3), 249 - 56 Purification and properties of thiosulfate reductase from Desulfovibrio gigas; Hatchikian EC; Thiosulfate reductase of the dissimilatory sulfate-reducing bacterium Desulfovibrio gigas has been purified 415-fold and its properties investigated . The enzyme was unstable during the different steps of purification as well as during storage at - 15 degrees C . The molecular weight of thiosulfate reductase estimated from the chromatographic behaviour of the enzyme on Sephadex G-200 was close to 220000 . The absorption spectrum of the purified enzyme exhibited a protein peak at 278 nm without characteristic features in the visible region . Thiosulfate reductase catalyzed the stoichiometric production of hydrogen sulfide and sulfite from thiosulfate, and exhibited tetrathionate reductase activity . It did not show sulfite reductase activity . The optimum pH of thiosulfate reduction occurred between pH 7.4 and 8.0 and its Km value for thiosulfate was calculated to be 5 - 10(-4)M . The sensitivity of thiosulfate reductase to sulfhydryl reagent and the reversal of the inhibition by cysteine indicated that one or more sulfhydryl groups were involved in the catalytic activity . The study of electron transport between hydrogenase and thiosulfate reductase showed that the most efficient coupling was obtained with a system containing cytochromes c3 (Mr = 13000) and c3 (Mr = 26000). Mikrobiologiia, 1975 Nov-Dec, 44(6), 987 - 92 {Facultative methylotroph belonging to the genus Arthrobacter}; Loginova NV et al.; A bacterial strain has been isolated and identified, on the basis of its morphological and physiologo-biochemical properties, as Arthrobacter globiformis . The bacterium is a facultative methylotroph and grows not only on media with various organic compounds but also in the presence of methylated amines as a sole source of carbon, nitrogen, and energy . Other C1-substrates were not utilized. Can J Microbiol, 1975 Nov, 21(11), 1842 - 8 Cultural, morphological, and physiological characteristics of Thermomonospora fusca (strain 190Th); Crawford DL; The cultural, morphological, and physiological properties of Thermomonospora fusca (strain 190Th) are described . Its physiological properties show that this species is primarily a carbohydrate-degrading actinomycete which can use a wide range of plant sugars and polymeric carbohydrates as sources of carbon and energy . The culture does not use proteins or amino acids for carbon and energy, or as a nitrogen source . A few organic acids are utilized . Ammonia is the preferred nitrogen source . The culture has trace nutrient requirements which include biotin and an undetermined number of amino acids . These and other physiological characteristics are discussed in relation to the roles that T . fusca carries out as a saprophytic bacterium in nature . Its cultural and morphological properties are discussed in relation to the taxonomic status of this species in the literature. Can J Microbiol, 1975 Nov, 21(11), 1733 - 50 Fine structure of the cell envelope layers of Flexibacter polymorphus; Ridgway HF et al.; Electron microscopy of the filamentous gliding marine bacterium Flexibacter polymorphus demonstrated that the cell envelope consists of an electron-dense intermediate layer located between two unit-type membranes: an outer membrane, presumably of lipopolysaccharide, and an inner cytoplasmic membrane . Separation of living filaments into single cells by lysozyme suggests that a peptidoglycan moiety, possibly corresponding to the intermediate layer, might be situated between the two membranes . Cell division proceeds by invagination of the cytoplasmic membrane and intermediate layer forming a transverse septum . Cells generally fail to separate after the division process, so that a common outer membrane encloses all of the cells in a single filament . There is a continuous layer of macromolecular cup-shaped elements ('goblets') attached to the outermost surface of the lipopolysaccharide membrane . Tangential thin sections, as well as negatively stained preparations of envelope fragments (produced by sonication of autolyzed cells), showed that the goblets are arranged in a close-packed hexagonal array . The presence of electron-dense structures located between the outer and inner membranes, and exhibiting the same periodicity as the goblets, suggests that some part of the goblets penetrates the outer membrane and extends across the periplasmic space to the dense intermediate layer or cytoplasmic membrane . Spontaneous autolysis in aging cultures is accompanied by the formation and release into the culture medium of large numbers of outer membrane vesicles coated with globlets . A tentative reconstruction of the envelope of F . polymorphus, based on the fine-structural data, is presented. Mikrobiologiia, 1975 Nov-Dec, 44(6), 1116 - 9 {Effect of oxygen on the transformation of ribulose-1,5-diphosphate in the hydrogen bacterium Hydrogenomonas eutropha}; Vedenina IIa et al.; Oxygenase transforamtion of ribulose-1,5-diphosphate was found in the hydrogen bacterium Hydrogenomonas eutropha Z-1 . Oxygen inhibits the carboxylating activity of ribulose-1,5-diphosphate carboxylase by 42% at a low concentration of t