39 research outputs found
In vitro antimicrobial activity of natural toxins and animal venoms tested against Burkholderia pseudomallei
BACKGROUND: Burkholderia pseudomallei are the causative agent of melioidosis. Increasing resistance of the disease to antibiotics is a severe problem in treatment regime and has led to intensification of the search for new drugs. Antimicrobial peptides are the most ubiquitous in nature as part of the innate immune system and host defense mechanism. METHODS: Here, we investigated a group of venoms (snakes, scorpions and honey bee venoms) for antimicrobial properties against two strains of Gram-negative bacteria Burkholderia pseudomallei by using disc-diffusion assay for in vitro susceptibility testing. The antibacterial activities of the venoms were compared with that of the isolated L-amino acid oxidase (LAAO) and phospholipase A(2 )(PLA(2)s) enzymes. MICs were determined using broth dilution method. Bacterial growth was assessed by measurement of optical density at the lowest dilutions (MIC 0.25 mg/ml). The cell viability was measured using tetrazolium salts (XTT) based cytotoxic assay. RESULTS: The studied venoms showed high antimicrobial activity. The venoms of C. adamanteus, Daboia russelli russelli, A. halys, P. australis, B. candidus and P. guttata were equally as effective as Chloramphenicol and Ceftazidime (30 ÎŒg/disc). Among those tested, phospholipase A(2 )enzymes (crotoxin B and daboiatoxin) showed the most potent antibacterial activity against Gram-negative (TES) bacteria. Naturally occurring venom peptides and phospholipase A(2 )proved to possess highly potent antimicrobial activity against Burkholderia pseudomallei. The XTT-assay results showed that the cell survival decreased with increasing concentrations (0.05â10 mg/mL) of Crotalus adamanteus venom, with no effect on the cell viability evident at 0.5 mg/mL. CONCLUSION: This antibacterial profile of snake venoms reported herein will be useful in the search for potential antibacterial agents against drug resistant microorganisms like B. pseudomallei
Extent and Causes of Chesapeake Bay Warming
Coastal environments such as the Chesapeake Bay have long been impacted by eutrophication stressors resulting from human activities, and these impacts are now being compounded by global warming trends. However, there are few studies documenting long-term estuarine temperature change and the relative contributions of rivers, the atmosphere, and the ocean. In this study, Chesapeake Bay warming, since 1985, is quantified using a combination of cruise observations and model outputs, and the relative contributions to that warming are estimated via numerical sensitivity experiments with a watershedâestuarine modeling system. Throughout the Bayâs main stem, similar warming rates are found at the surface and bottom between the late 1980s and late 2010s (0.02 +/- 0.02C/year, mean +/- 1 standard error), with elevated summer rates (0.04 +/- 0.01C/year) and lower rates of winter warming (0.01 +/- 0.01C/year). Most (~85%) of this estuarine warming is driven by atmospheric effects. The secondary influence of ocean warming increases with proximity to the Bay mouth, where it accounts for more than half of summer warming in bottom waters. Sea level rise has slightly reduced summer warming, and the influence of riverine warming has been limited to the heads of tidal tributaries. Future rates of warming in Chesapeake Bay will depend not only on global atmospheric trends, but also on regional circulation patterns in mid-Atlantic waters, which are currently warming faster than the atmosphere.
Supporting model data available at: https://doi.org/10.25773/c774-a36
Phosphorusâiron interaction in sediments : can an electrode minimize phosphorus release from sediments?
All restoration strategies to mitigate eutrophication depend on the success of phosphorus (P) removal from the water body. Therefore, the inputs from the watershed and from the enriched sediments, that were the sink of most P that has been discharged in the water body, should be controlled. In sediments, iron (hydr)oxides minerals are potent repositories of P and the release of P into the water column may occur upon dissolution of the iron (hydr)oxides mediated by iron reducing bacteria. Several species of these bacteria are also known as electroactive microorganisms and have been recently identified in lake sediments. This capacity of bacteria to transfer electrons to electrodes, producing electricity from the oxidation of organic matter, might play a role on P release in sediments. In the present work it is discussed the relationship between phosphorus and iron cycling as well as the application of an electrode to work as external electron acceptor in sediments, in order to prevent metal bound P dissolution under anoxic conditions.The authors are grateful to two anonymous reviewers of a previous version of the manuscript for the constructive comments and suggestions. The authors also acknowledge the Grant SFRH/BPD/80528/2011 from the Foundation for Science and Technology, Portugal, awarded to Gilberto Martins
The tropical Atlantic observing system
The tropical Atlantic is home to multiple coupled climate variations covering a wide
range of timescales and impacting societally relevant phenomena such as continental
rainfall, Atlantic hurricane activity, oceanic biological productivity, and atmospheric
circulation in the equatorial Pacific. The tropical Atlantic also connects the southern and northern branches of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation and receives
freshwater input from some of the worldâs largest rivers. To address these diverse,
unique, and interconnected research challenges, a rich network of ocean observations
has developed, building on the backbone of the Prediction and Research Moored Array
in the Tropical Atlantic (PIRATA). This network has evolved naturally over time and out of
necessity in order to address the most important outstanding scientific questions and
to improve predictions of tropical Atlantic severe weather and global climate variability
and change. The tropical Atlantic observing system is motivated by goals to understand
and better predict phenomena such as tropical Atlantic interannual to decadal variability
and climate change; multidecadal variability and its links to the meridional overturning
circulation; air-sea fluxes of CO2 and their implications for the fate of anthropogenic CO2;
the Amazon River plume and its interactions with biogeochemistry, vertical mixing, and
hurricanes; the highly productive eastern boundary and equatorial upwelling systems;
and oceanic oxygen minimum zones, their impacts on biogeochemical cycles and
marine ecosystems, and their feedbacks to climate. Past success of the tropical
Atlantic observing system is the result of an international commitment to sustained
observations and scientific cooperation, a willingness to evolve with changing research
and monitoring needs, and a desire to share data openly with the scientific community
and operational centers. The observing system must continue to evolve in order to
meet an expanding set of research priorities and operational challenges. This paper
discusses the tropical Atlantic observing system, including emerging scientific questions
that demand sustained ocean observations, the potential for further integration of the
observing system, and the requirements for sustaining and enhancing the tropical
Atlantic observing system
Earth: Atmospheric Evolution of a Habitable Planet
Our present-day atmosphere is often used as an analog for potentially
habitable exoplanets, but Earth's atmosphere has changed dramatically
throughout its 4.5 billion year history. For example, molecular oxygen is
abundant in the atmosphere today but was absent on the early Earth. Meanwhile,
the physical and chemical evolution of Earth's atmosphere has also resulted in
major swings in surface temperature, at times resulting in extreme glaciation
or warm greenhouse climates. Despite this dynamic and occasionally dramatic
history, the Earth has been persistently habitable--and, in fact,
inhabited--for roughly 4 billion years. Understanding Earth's momentous changes
and its enduring habitability is essential as a guide to the diversity of
habitable planetary environments that may exist beyond our solar system and for
ultimately recognizing spectroscopic fingerprints of life elsewhere in the
Universe. Here, we review long-term trends in the composition of Earth's
atmosphere as it relates to both planetary habitability and inhabitation. We
focus on gases that may serve as habitability markers (CO2, N2) or
biosignatures (CH4, O2), especially as related to the redox evolution of the
atmosphere and the coupled evolution of Earth's climate system. We emphasize
that in the search for Earth-like planets we must be mindful that the example
provided by the modern atmosphere merely represents a single snapshot of
Earth's long-term evolution. In exploring the many former states of our own
planet, we emphasize Earth's atmospheric evolution during the Archean,
Proterozoic, and Phanerozoic eons, but we conclude with a brief discussion of
potential atmospheric trajectories into the distant future, many millions to
billions of years from now. All of these 'Alternative Earth' scenarios provide
insight to the potential diversity of Earth-like, habitable, and inhabited
worlds.Comment: 34 pages, 4 figures, 4 tables. Review chapter to appear in Handbook
of Exoplanet
Origin and fate of methane in the Eastern Tropical North Pacific oxygen minimum zone
This work was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (grant NE/E01559X/1)
A incorporação de novas tecnologias nos serviços de saĂșde: o desafio da anĂĄlise dos fatores em jogo
Advancing Marine Biogeochemical and Ecosystem Reanalyses and Forecasts as Tools for Monitoring and Managing Ecosystem Health
Modeling the structure and variability of the southern Benguela upwelling using QuikSCAT wind forcing
International audienc