Draft Genome Sequence of Environmental Isolate Acinetobacter nosocomialis U20-HoPe-S34-3 from Germany

The draft genome sequence of Acinetobacter nosocomialis U20-HoPe-S34-3, isolated from soil sampled from the banks of the river Holtemme in Germany, is provided. The strain has an average nucleotide identity of 98.3% to the type strain of the species.Peer Reviewe

Thermodynamic availability analysis of controlled air revitalization systems

This work investigates thermodynamic lost work and several of the factors influencing its production. Lost work is a measure of irreversibilities within a process, and its characterization can aid in improving the design of a system. Lost work is equivalent to consumed availability, where availability is a measure of the capacity of a system to perform useful work;Lost work is a function of mass flows, chemical species and their relative concentrations, temperature, and pressure. To examine how these variables influence lost work production, systems of different levels of complexity were studied. The simplest system was comprised of three isothermal tank reactors in series which were studied to investigate the effect of process control systems on lost work production. Lost work was shown to depend most strongly on mass flow rates. Process control acted to return the mass flow rates within the system and the lost work production to near their steady state values;The next systems examined were commercial chemical plants previously studied by other authors. Attempts were made to replicate the results of their availability analyses to check that the calculational methods utilized in this work resulted in values for lost work that were comparable to the given values for consumed availability. It was difficult to arrive at the authors\u27 results using their given data and formulas. This indicates that it is difficult to interpret and replicate the results presented in this relatively new area of research;The most complex system investigated was the air revitalization portion of a closed life support system (ARS). This system is in place to remove excess carbon dioxide and water vapor from the cabin of a spacecraft and to replenish oxygen consumed by the crew. This system is comprised of many different subsystems which interact with one another. Many different technologies exist to perform the functions of the ARS. To investigate the effects of technology on lost work production, two different technologies for carbon dioxide reduction were included in the computer-based dynamic model of the ARS. Simulations showed that the Sabatier subsystem is superior to the Bosch subsystem in that it requires less heating and cooling and produces less lost work;The main disruption to the cabin conditions is changing levels of crew activity. A process control system is included in the system to keep the cabin conditions safe for its inhabitants at all times. The effects of these parameters on the magnitude and distribution of lost work production were investigated using simulations for three different levels of crew activity, with and without process control. Increased crew activity acts to increase lost work production, but not proportionately, and does little to influence its distribution throughout the system. The presence of a control system magnifies the increases in lost work and also changes its distribution

Interrelationship between type three secretion system and metabolism in pathogenic bacteria

Before the advent of molecular biology methods, studies of pathogens were dominated by analyses of their metabolism. Development of molecular biology techniques then enabled the identification and functional characterisation of the fascinating toolbox of virulence factors. Increasing, genomic and proteomic approaches form the basis for a more systemic view on pathogens’ functions in the context of infection. Re-emerging interest in the metabolism of pathogens and hosts further expands our view of infections. There is increasing evidence that virulence functions and metabolism of pathogens are extremely intertwined. Type three secretion systems (T3SSs) are major virulence determinants of many Gram-negative pathogens and it is the objective of this review to illustrate the intertwined relationship between T3SSs and the metabolism of the pathogens deploying them

Flagellin genes of Yersinia enterocolitica biotype 1A: playground of evolution towards novel flagellin functions

Yersinia enterocolitica strain 8081, representing the high-pathogenic biotype 1B, harbours three flagellin genes arranged in tandem in the order fliC3, fliC, fliC2. The genes are organized monocistronic but coordinately expressed under the control of the flagellar sigma factor. No sequence data is available on flagellins of low-pathogenic Y. enterocolitica biotypes 2-5 and of biotype 1A strains, appearing non-pathogenic in the mouse infection model. We sequenced the flagellin genes of ten biotype 1A and biotype 4 isolates, respectively. While we could not identify any sequence polymorphism among flagellin genes of biotype 4 isolates, we found that biotype 1A strains harbour three variable flagellin genes. Moreover, three biotype 1A isolates exhibited a rearranged flagellin gene order and at least one rearranged flagellin gene was apparently acquired by horizontal gene transfer. The variability of flagellin genes seems to mirror evolution towards novel flagellin functions. By contrast, strictly conserved flagellins of biotype 4 isolates point at a strong selection pressure such as expected to be imposed by an important function in the context of infection