Characterization of Archaeal Community in Contaminated and Uncontaminated Surface Stream Sediments

Archaeal communities from mercury and uranium-contaminated freshwater stream sediments were characterized and compared to archaeal communities present in an uncontaminated stream located in the vicinity of Oak Ridge, TN, USA. The distribution of the Archaea was determined by pyrosequencing analysis of the V4 region of 16S rRNA amplified from 12 streambed surface sediments. Crenarchaeota comprised 76% of the 1,670 archaeal sequences and the remaining 24% were from Euryarchaeota. Phylogenetic analysis further classified the Crenarchaeota as a Freshwater Group, Miscellaneous Crenarchaeota group, Group I3, Rice Cluster VI and IV, Marine Group I and Marine Benthic Group B; and the Euryarchaeota into Methanomicrobiales, Methanosarcinales, Methanobacteriales, Rice Cluster III, Marine Benthic Group D, Deep Sea Hydrothermal Vent Euryarchaeota 1 and Eury 5. All groups were previously described. Both hydrogen- and acetate-dependent methanogens were found in all samples. Most of the groups (with 60% of the sequences) described in this study were not similar to any cultivated isolates, making it difficult to discern their function in the freshwater microbial community. A significant decrease in the number of sequences, as well as in the diversity of archaeal communities was found in the contaminated sites. The Marine Group I, including the ammonia oxidizer Nitrosopumilus maritimus, was the dominant group in both mercury and uranium/nitrate-contaminated sites. The uranium-contaminated site also contained a high concentration of nitrate, thus Marine Group I may play a role in nitrogen cycle

Formation of diagenetic siderite in modern ferruginous sediments

Ferruginous conditions prevailed in the world’s deep oceans during the Archean and Proterozoic Eons. Sedimentary iron formations deposited at that time may provide an important record of environmental conditions, yet linking the chemistry and mineralogy of these sedimentary rocks to depositional conditions remains a challenge due to a dearth of information about the processes by which minerals form in analogous modern environments. We identified siderites in ferruginous Lake Towuti, Indonesia, which we characterized using high-resolution microscopic and spectroscopic imaging combined with microchemical and geochemical analyses. We infer early diagenetic growth of siderite crystals as a response to sedimentary organic carbon degradation and the accumulation of dissolved inorganic carbon in pore waters. We suggest that siderite formation proceeds through syntaxial growth on preexisting siderite crystals, or possibly through aging of precursor carbonate green rust. Crystal growth ultimately leads to spar-sized (>50 μm) mosaic single siderite crystals that form twins, bundles, and spheroidal aggregates during burial. Early-formed carbonate was detectable through microchemical zonation and the possible presence of residual phases trapped in siderite interstices. This suggests that such microchemical zonation and mineral inclusions may be used to infer siderite growth histories in ancient sedimentary rocks including sedimentary iron formations

Observation of a decoupled band in 123 Cs

The methods of in-beam γ -ray spectroscopy have been used to study 123 Cs produced by the 115 In( 12 C, 4 n ) reaction. Five coincident stretched E 2 transitions, previously assigned in the literature to 123 Ba, have been identified as members of a decoupled band in 123 Cs.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45822/1/10050_2005_Article_BF01422105.pd

Mild Mitochondrial Uncoupling and Calorie Restriction Increase Fasting eNOS, Akt and Mitochondrial Biogenesis

Enhanced mitochondrial biogenesis promoted by eNOS activation is believed to play a central role in the beneficial effects of calorie restriction (CR). Since treatment of mice with dinitrophenol (DNP) promotes health and lifespan benefits similar to those observed in CR, we hypothesized that it could also impact biogenesis. We found that DNP and CR increase citrate synthase activity, PGC-1α, cytochrome c oxidase and mitofusin-2 expression, as well as fasting plasma levels of NO• products. In addition, eNOS and Akt phosphorylation in skeletal muscle and visceral adipose tissue was activated in fasting CR and DNP animals. Overall, our results indicate that systemic mild uncoupling activates eNOS and Akt-dependent pathways leading to mitochondrial biogenesis