The Hydrogen Molecular Ion Revisited

The numerical solution of the hydrogen molecular cation problem is described. The Schrödinger equation is set up in confocal ellipsoidal coordinates. After separation of variables, two ordinary eigenvalue equations are obtained. They are related to the angular and to the radial part of the wave function and involve two separation constants. Both are solved in detail, using the shooting algorithm running on a personal computer. The electronic energy is computed as a function of the internuclear distance for the two lowest molecular states--the symmetric, bonding level and the antisymmetric, antibonding level. Plots of the corresponding electron densities are displayed

NMR for microbiology: in vivo and in situ applications.

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Metabolic pathway to propionate of Pectinatus frisingensis, a strictly anaerobic beer-spoilage bacterium

International audiencePectinatus frisingensis, a recently described species of anaerobic mesophilic beer-spoilage bacteria, grows by fermenting various organic compounds, and produces mainly propionate, acetate, and succinate. Although acrylate and succinate were both dismutated by dense resting-cell suspensions, propionate production proceeded through the succinate pathway: [3-13C]pyruvate consumption led to equal 13C-labeling of propionate on methyl and methylene groups. Growth on glucose or glycerol led to a similar propionate to acetate ratio, suggesting dihydroxyacetone phosphate as being a common metabolic intermediate. Diacetyl, 1,3-propanediol, and 2,3-butanediol were not growth substrates or fermentation products, but they were all dismutated by dense resting-cells suspensions to acetate and propionate. Acetoin was a minor fermentation product. The consumption of [2-13C] or [3-13C]pyruvate by dense resting-cell suspensions demonstrated the involvement of two equivalent pyruvate molecules during acetoin production. Key enzymes involved in this metabolism were measured in anoxic cell-free extracts. A tentative metabolic pathway to the main fermentation products was proposed from the above results

Investigation by 13C-NMR and tricarboxylic acid (TCA) deletion mutant analysis of pathways for succinate formation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae during anaerobic fermentation

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Physiology and development of Pectinatus cerevisiiphilus and Pectinatus frisingensis, two strict anaerobic beer spoilage bacteria

International audienc

The binding of monosaccharides to wheat germ agglutinin: Fluorescence and NMR investigations

International audienceThe synthesis of N-acetyl- and N-trifluoroacetyl-glucosaminides was reported. The interaction of these compounds with wheat germ agglutinin, a plant lectin specific for N-acetyl-glucosamine and sialic acid, was investigated by two complementary approaches: 1H and 19F NMR, and fluorescence spectroscopy. This last technique relies on the existence of a competitive equilibrium involving the protein, the ligand and O-(methylumbelliferyl)-N-acetyl-glucosaminide, a fluorescent saccharide. The binding constants and the chemical shifts in the complex were determined and were related to the protein structure

Mise en évidence de la fermentation du glycerol en 1,3 propanediol chez Enterobacter agglomerans

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13C-NMR study of glucose and pyruvate catabolism in four acetogenic species isolated from the human colon

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Clostridium neopropionicum sp. nov., a strict anaerobic bacterium fermenting ethanol to propionate through acrylate pathway

International audienceStrain X4 was isolated several years ago from an anaerobic mesophilic plant treating vegetable cannery waste waters. It was the first example of propionic fermentation from ethanol. Morphologic and physiologic characterizations of the strain are presented here. This strain is described as type strain of a new species, Clostridium neopropionicum sp. nov. Whole cells of strain X4 ferment [1-13C]ethanol and CO2 to [2-13C]propionate, [1-13C]acetate and [2-13C]propanol, suggesting the absence of a randomizing pathway during the propionate formation. Enzymes involved in this fermentation were assayed in cell-free extracts of cells grown with ethanol as sole substrate. Alcohol dehydrogenase, aldehyde dehydrogenase, phosphate acetyl transferase, acetate kinase, pyruvate synthase, lactate dehydrogenases, and the enzymes of the acrylate pathway were detected at activities sufficient to be involved in ethanol fermentation. The same pathway may be used for the degradation of lactate or acrylate to acetate

Glycerol fermentation by a new 1,3-propanediol-producing microorganism: Enterobacter agglomerans

International audienceAccording to their ability to synthesize 1,3-propanediol from glycerol, two species were isolated from the anoxic mud of a distillery waste-water digestor:Clostridium butyricum andEnterobacter agglomerans. The latter, a facultatively anaerobic gram-negative bacterium, is described for the first time as a microorganism producing 1,3-propanediol from glycerol. The products of glycerol conversion byE. agglomerans were identified using nuclear magnetic resonance. A 20-g/l glycerol solution was fermented mainly to 1,3-propanediol (0.51 mol/mol) and acetate (0.18 mol/mol). Ethanol, formate, lactate and succinate were formed as by-products. Gas production was very low; 1,3-propanediol production perfectly balanced the oxido-reduction state of the microorganism. Acetate was the predominant metabolite generating energy for growth. High-glycerol-concentration fermentations (71 g/l and 100 g/l) resulted in an increase of the 1,3-propanediol yield (0.61 mol/mol) at the expense of lactate and ethamol production. Specific rates of glycerol consumption and 1,3-propanediol and acetate production increased whereas the growth rate decreased. The decreased in ATP yield was linearly correlated with the specific rate of 1,3-propanediol production. Incomplete glycerol consumption (about 40 g/l) was systematically observed when high glycerol concentrations were used. The unbalanced oxido-reduction state, the low carbon recovery and the detection of an unknown compound by HPLC observed in these cases indicate the formation of another metabolite, which is possibly an inhibitory factor