The sulfur cycle

Author Posting. © Oceanography Society, 2007. This article is posted here by permission of Oceanography Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Oceanography 20, 2 (2007): 117-123.The ocean represents a major reservoir of sulfur on Earth, with large quantities in the form of dissolved sulfate and sedimentary minerals (e.g., gypsum and pyrite). Sulfur occurs in a variety of valence states, ranging from –2 (as in sulfide and reduced organic sulfur) to +6 (as in sulfate). Sulfate is the most stable form of sulfur on today’s oxic Earth; weathering and leaching of rocks and sediments are its main sources to the ocean. In addition, the reduced inorganic forms of sulfur, with oxidation states of –2 and 0 (as in elemental sulfur) are quite common in anoxic environments, with sulfur compounds of mixed valence states (e.g., thiosulfate and polythionates) produced transiently. The natural release of volatile organic sulfur compounds from the ocean, mainly as dimethyl sulfide (DMS), transports sulfur from the ocean to terrestrial regions, and it also affects atmospheric chemistry and the climate system. While they remain very important, natural sulfur emissions have currently been overtaken by anthropogenic emissions, primarily from the burning of fossil fuels.Preparation of this manuscript was partially supported by National Science Foundation grant OCE-0452333 and a fellowship from the Hanse- Wissenschaftskolleg (http://www. h-w-k.de) to SMS, National Science Foundation grants OPP-0230497 and OPP-0083078 to RPK, as well as the Research Center Ocean Margins (RCOM) of the University of Bremen (Germany) to HNSV (RCOM-Nr. 0476)

Evolutionary Relationships of Microbial Aromatic Prenyltransferases

The linkage of isoprenoid and aromatic moieties, catalyzed by aromatic prenyltransferases (PTases), leads to an impressive diversity of primary and secondary metabolites, including important pharmaceuticals and toxins. A few years ago, a hydroxynaphthalene PTase, NphB, featuring a novel ten-stranded β-barrel fold was identified in Streptomyces sp. strain CL190. This fold, termed the PT-barrel, is formed of five tandem ααββ structural repeats and remained exclusive to the NphB family until its recent discovery in the DMATS family of indole PTases. Members of these two families exist only in fungi and bacteria, and all of them appear to catalyze the prenylation of aromatic substrates involved in secondary metabolism. Sequence comparisons using PSI-BLAST do not yield matches between these two families, suggesting that they may have converged upon the same fold independently. However, we now provide evidence for a common ancestry for the NphB and DMATS families of PTases. We also identify sequence repeats that coincide with the structural repeats in proteins belonging to these two families. Therefore we propose that the PT-barrel arose by amplification of an ancestral ααββ module. In view of their homology and their similarities in structure and function, we propose to group the NphB and DMATS families together into a single superfamily, the PT-barrel superfamily

Surfacing Times and Dive Rates for Narwhals (Monodon monoceros) and Belugas (Delphinapterus leucas)

Time spent at and near the sea surface was measured for 25 narwhals, Monodon monoceros, and 39 belugas or white whales, Delphinapterus leucas, in West Greenland and Canada from 1993 through 1999, using satellite-linked data recorders. Narwhals spent less time at the surface than belugas did, and the surfacing time of belugas also varied between localities. No clear differences in surfacing time were associated with the time of day, but belugas tended to make more dives during the night than during the day. Despite large variability in surfacing behaviour among individual whales, time spent at the surface by both species declined from August through November. The few data collected from narwhals from November to February indicate that surfacing times remained low during this period although more than 25% of each 6 h period was spent at the surface. Whales made between 2 and 20 dives per hour, and narwhals made significantly fewer dives than did belugas, for which number of dives varied with locality. The number of dives deeper than 8 m declined substantially during the autumn for belugas and narwhals that were moving offshore. When travelling, the whales apparently made fewer dives than at other times.De 1993 à fin 1999, on a mesuré le temps passé à la surface de la mer ou près de celle-ci par 25 narvals, Monodon monoceros, et 39 bélougas ou baleines blanches, Delphinapterus leucas, dans le Groenland occidental et au Canada, en recourant à des enregistreurs de données en liaison avec un satellite. Les narvals passaient moins de temps que les bélougas à la surface, et le temps passé par ces derniers en surface variait d'un endroit à un autre. Aucune différence marquée dans le temps de surface n'a été associé avec le moment de la journée, mais les bélougas avaient tendance à faire plus de plongées la nuit que le jour. Malgré une grande variabilité dans le comportement de surface parmi les baleines prises individuellement, le temps passé en surface par les deux espèces a diminué d'août à fin novembre. Les quelques données provenant des narvals de novembre à février indiquent que, durant cette période, les durées à la surface sont restées brèves, même si plus de 25 p. cent de chaque période de 6 h se passait en surface. Les baleines effectuaient de 2 à 20 plongées par heure, et les narvals effectuaient un nombre de plongées bien moindre que celui des bélougas, pour lesquels le nombre de plongées variait selon l'endroit. Au cours de l'automne, le nombre de plongées effectuées à plus de 8 m de profondeur diminuait sensiblement pour les bélougas et les narvals qui se déplaçaient au large. Il semble que, lorsqu'elles se déplaçaient, les baleines effectuaient moins de plongées qu'à d'autres moments

Sulfur Respiration in a Marine Chemolithoautotrophic Beggiatoa Strain

The chemolithoautotrophic strain Beggiatoa sp. 35Flor shows an unusual migration behavior when cultivated in a gradient medium under high sulfide fluxes. As common for Beggiatoa spp., the filaments form a mat at the oxygen–sulfide interface. However, upon prolonged incubation, a subpopulation migrates actively downward into the anoxic and sulfidic section of the medium, where the filaments become gradually depleted in their sulfur and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) inclusions. This depletion is correlated with the production of hydrogen sulfide. The sulfur- and PHA-depleted filaments return to the oxygen–sulfide interface, where they switch back to depositing sulfur and PHA by aerobic sulfide oxidation. Based on these observations we conclude that internally stored elemental sulfur is respired at the expense of stored PHA under anoxic conditions. Until now, nitrate has always been assumed to be the alternative electron acceptor in chemolithoautotrophic Beggiatoa spp. under anoxic conditions. As the medium and the filaments were free of oxidized nitrogen compounds we can exclude this metabolism. Furthermore, sulfur respiration with PHA under anoxic conditions has so far only been described for heterotrophic Beggiatoa spp., but our medium did not contain accessible organic carbon. Hence the PHA inclusions must originate from atmospheric CO2 fixed by the filaments while at the oxygen–sulfide interface. We propose that the directed migration of filaments into the anoxic section of an oxygen–sulfide gradient system is used as a last resort to preserve cell integrity, which would otherwise be compromised by excessive sulfur deposition occurring in the presence of oxygen and high sulfide fluxes. The regulating mechanism of this migration is still unknown

Are Ecosystem Engineering Traits Fixed or Flexible : A Study on Clonal Expansion Strategies in Co-occurring Dune Grasses

Many vegetated coastal ecosystems are formed through ecosystem engineering by clonal vegetation. Recent work highlights that the spatial shoot organization of the vegetation determines local sediment accretion and subsequently emerging landscape morphology. While this key engineering trait has been found to differ between species and prevailing environmental conditions, it remains unknown how the interplay of both factors drive shoot organization and therefore landscape morphology. Here, we compared the spatial shoot organization of young, clonally expanding plants of the two dominant European dune grass species: sand couch (Elytrigia juncea) and marram grass (Ammophila arenaria) across a range of coastal dune environments (from Denmark to France). Our results reveal that, on average, sand couch deployed a more dispersed shoot organization than marram grass, which has a patchy (Lévy-like) organization. Whereas sand couch exhibited the same expansion strategy independent of environmental conditions, marram grass demonstrated a large intraspecific variation which correlated to soil organic matter, temperature and grain size. Shoot patterns ranged from a clumped organization correlating to relatively high soil organic matter contents, temperature and small grain sizes, to a patchy configuration with intermediate conditions, and a dispersed organization with low soil organic matter, temperature and large grain size. We conclude that marram grass is flexible in adjusting its engineering capacity in response to environmental conditions, while sand couch instead follows a fixed expansion strategy, illustrating that shoot organization results from the interaction of both species-specific and environmental-specific trait expression

Spin controlled atom-ion inelastic collisions

The control of the ultracold collisions between neutral atoms is an extensive and successful field of study. The tools developed allow for ultracold chemical reactions to be managed using magnetic fields, light fields and spin-state manipulation of the colliding particles among other methods. The control of chemical reactions in ultracold atom-ion collisions is a young and growing field of research. Recently, the collision energy and the ion electronic state were used to control atom-ion interactions. Here, we demonstrate spin-controlled atom-ion inelastic processes. In our experiment, both spin-exchange and charge-exchange reactions are controlled in an ultracold Rb-Sr$^+$ mixture by the atomic spin state. We prepare a cloud of atoms in a single hyperfine spin-state. Spin-exchange collisions between atoms and ion subsequently polarize the ion spin. Electron transfer is only allowed for (RbSr)$^+$ colliding in the singlet manifold. Initializing the atoms in various spin states affects the overlap of the collision wavefunction with the singlet molecular manifold and therefore also the reaction rate. We experimentally show that by preparing the atoms in different spin states one can vary the charge-exchange rate in agreement with theoretical predictions

Out of the boxes, out of the silos: The need of interdisciplinary collaboration to reduce poor-quality medical products in the supply chain

In this paper, we argue that understanding and addressing the problem of poor-quality medical products requires a more interdisciplinary approach than has been evident to date. While prospective studies based on rigorous standardized methodologies are the gold standard for measuring the prevalence of poor-quality medical products and understanding their distribution nationally and internationally, they should be complemented by social science research to unpack the complex set of social, economic, and governance factors that underlie these patterns. In the following sections, we discuss specific examples of prospective quality surveys and of social science studies, highlighting the value of cross-sector partnerships in driving high-quality, policy-relevant research in this area