Cyanobacterial mats: Microanalysis of community metabolism

The microbial communities in two sites were studied using several approaches: (1) light microscopy; (2) the measurement of microprofiles of oxygen and sulfide at the surface of the microbial mat; (3) the study of diurnal variation of oxygen and sulfides; (4) in situ measurement of photosynthesis and sulfate reduction and study of the coupling of these two processes; (5) measurement of glutathione in the upper layers of the microbial mat as a possible oxygen quencher; (6) measurement of reduced iron as a possible intermediate electron donor along the established redoxcline in the mats; (7) measurement of dissolved phosphate as an indicator of processes of break down of organic matter in these systems; and (8) measurement of carbon dioxide in the interstitial water and its delta C-13 in an attempt to understand the flow of CO2 through the systems. Microbial processes of primary production and initial degradation at the most active zone of the microbial mat were analyzed

Farnesylated Nuclear Proteins Kugelkern and Lamin Dm0 Affect Nuclear Morphology by Directly Interacting with the Nuclear Membrane

Nuclear shape changes are observed during a variety of developmental processes, pathological conditions and ageing. Here, the molecular mechanism is analyzed how the farnesylated nuclear proteins interact with the nuclear envelope and deform the phospholipid bilayer

Meiosis in Mice without a Synaptonemal Complex

The synaptonemal complex (SC) promotes fusion of the homologous chromosomes (synapsis) and crossover recombination events during meiosis. The SC displays an extensive structural conservation between species; however, a few organisms lack SC and execute meiotic process in a SC-independent manner. To clarify the SC function in mammals, we have generated a mutant mouse strain (Sycp1−/−Sycp3−/−, here called SC-null) in which all known SC proteins have been displaced from meiotic chromosomes. While transmission electron microscopy failed to identify any remnants of the SC in SC-null spermatocytes, neither formation of the cohesion axes nor attachment of the chromosomes to the nuclear membrane was perturbed. Furthermore, the meiotic chromosomes in SC-null meiocytes achieved pre-synaptic pairing, underwent early homologous recombination events and sustained a residual crossover formation. In contrast, in SC-null meiocytes synapsis and MLH1-MLH3-dependent crossovers maturation were abolished, whereas the structural integrity of chromosomes was drastically impaired. The variable consequences that SC inactivation has on the meiotic process in different organisms, together with the absence of SC in some unrelated species, imply that the SC could have originated independently in different taxonomic groups

Abundances of Iron-Binding Photosynthetic and Nitrogen-Fixing Proteins of Trichodesmium Both in Culture and In Situ from the North Atlantic

Marine cyanobacteria of the genus Trichodesmium occur throughout the oligotrophic tropical and subtropical oceans, where they can dominate the diazotrophic community in regions with high inputs of the trace metal iron (Fe). Iron is necessary for the functionality of enzymes involved in the processes of both photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation. We combined laboratory and field-based quantifications of the absolute concentrations of key enzymes involved in both photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation to determine how Trichodesmium allocates resources to these processes. We determined that protein level responses of Trichodesmium to iron-starvation involve down-regulation of the nitrogen fixation apparatus. In contrast, the photosynthetic apparatus is largely maintained, although re-arrangements do occur, including accumulation of the iron-stress-induced chlorophyll-binding protein IsiA. Data from natural populations of Trichodesmium spp. collected in the North Atlantic demonstrated a protein profile similar to iron-starved Trichodesmium in culture, suggestive of acclimation towards a minimal iron requirement even within an oceanic region receiving a high iron-flux. Estimates of cellular metabolic iron requirements are consistent with the availability of this trace metal playing a major role in restricting the biomass and activity of Trichodesmium throughout much of the subtropical ocean

Phenotypic and phylogenetic analyses show Microcoleus chthonoplastes to be a cosmopolitan cyanobacterium

We used micromanipulation to isolate from their environment representative samples of seven geographically distant field populations fitting the description of Microcoleus chthonoplastes (a cyanobacterium) and obtained seven corresponding cultured strains, Samples of both field populations and cultures were phenotypically characterized by microscale techniques, and their partial 16S rRNA gene sequences were compared by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and in some cases by sequencing, All field populations and strains were phenotypically extremely coherent, and their 16S rRNA sequences were indistinguishable by DGGE, The sequences determined were identical or virtually identical. Thus, M. chthonoplastes represents a single, well-delimited taxon with a truly cosmopolitan distribution, Comparison with three culture collection strains originally assigned to M. chthonoplastes revealed that strain PCC 7420 belongs to the same tightly delimited group, both phenotypically and in 16S rRNA gene sequence, but that strains SAG 3192 and 10mfx do not

Alkaline phosphatase activities among populations of the colony-forming Diazotrophic Cyanobacterium Trichodesmium Spp. (Cyanobacteria) in the Red Sea

Alkaline phosphatase activities of the diazotrophic marine cyanobacterium Trichodesmium were studied among natural populations in the northern Red Sea and in laboratory cultures of Trichodesmium sp. strain WH9601. Open‐water tuft‐shaped colonies of Trichodesmium showed high alkaline phosphatase activities with 2.4–11.7 μmol p‐nitrophenylphosphate (PNPP) hydrolyzed·μg chl a−1·h−1, irrespective of date or origin of the sample. Coastal populations of the Trichodesmium tuft colonies had low alkaline phosphatase activities with 0.2–0.5 μmol PNPP·μg chl a−1·h−1. An exception was the Trichodesmium fall maximum, when both tuft colonies and the plankton community (<100 μm) had alkaline phosphatase activities of 0.6–7.4 μmol PNPP·μg chl a−1·h−1. Likewise, the more rare puff and bow‐tie colonies of Trichodesmium spp. in coastal waters had elevated alkaline phosphatase activities (0.8–1.6 μmol PNPP·μg chl a−1·h−1) as compared with tuft colonies coinhabiting the same waters. Intact filaments of tuft‐forming Trichodesmium sp. strain WH9601 from phosphate‐replete cultures had a base alkaline phosphatase activity of 0.5 μmol PNPP·μg chl a−1·h−1. This activity underwent a 10‐fold increase in phosphate‐deplete cultures and in cultures supplied with glycerophosphate as the sole P source. The elevated level of alkaline phosphatase activity was sustained in P‐deplete cultures, but it declined in cultures with glycerophosphate. The decline is suggested to result from feedback repression of alkaline phosphatase synthesis by the phosphate generated in the glycerophosphate hydrolysis. The enhanced alkaline phosphatase activities of Trichodesmium spp. populations provide evidence that P stress is an important factor in the ecology of Trichodesmium in the northern Red Sea