Applied and Environmental Science
Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceSuperoxide Dismutase and Pseudocatalase Increase Tolerance to Hg(II) in Thermus thermophilus HB27 by Maintaining the Reduced Bacillithiol PoolThermus thermophilus is a deep-branching thermophilic aerobe. It is a member of the Deinococcus-Thermus phylum that, together with the Aquificae, constitute the earliest branching aerobic bacterial lineages; therefore, this organism serves as a model for early diverged bacteria (R. K. Hartmann, J. Wolters, B. Kröger, S. Schultze, et al.,...
Author Reply | Applied and Environmental ScienceReply to Mortazavi, “Acquired Antibiotic Resistance in Escherichia coli Exposed to Simulated Microgravity: Possible Role of Other Space Stressors and Adaptive Responses”
Letter to the Editor | Applied and Environmental ScienceAcquired Antibiotic Resistance in Escherichia coli Exposed to Simulated Microgravity: Possible Role of Other Space Stressors and Adaptive Responses
Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceTight Regulation of Extracellular Superoxide Points to Its Vital Role in the Physiology of the Globally Relevant Roseobacter CladeFormation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) through partial reduction of molecular oxygen is widely associated with stress within microbial and marine systems. Nevertheless, widespread observations of the production of the ROS superoxide by healthy and actively growing marine bacteria and phytoplankton call into question the role of superoxide in the health and physiology of marine microbes. Here, we show that superoxide is produced by...
Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceMethane-Linked Mechanisms of Electron Uptake from Cathodes by Methanosarcina barkeriMethanogenic archaea are of fundamental applied and environmental relevance. This is largely due to their activities in a wide range of anaerobic environments, generating gaseous reduced carbon that can be utilized as a fuel source. While the bioenergetics of a wide variety of methanogens have been well studied with respect to soluble substrates, a mechanistic understanding of their interaction with solid-phase redox-active compounds is...
Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceLong-Term Warming in Alaska Enlarges the Diazotrophic Community in Deep SoilsWith the likelihood that changes in global climate will adversely affect the soil C reservoir in the northern circumpolar permafrost zone, an understanding of the potential role of diazotrophic communities in enhancing biological N2 fixation, which constrains both plant production and microbial decomposition in tundra soils, is important in elucidating the responses of soil microbial communities to global climate change. A...
Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceLarge Circular Plasmids from Groundwater Plasmidomes Span Multiple Incompatibility Groups and Are Enriched in Multimetal Resistance GenesPlasmidomes have been typically studied in environments abundant in bacteria, and this is the first study to explore plasmids from an environment characterized by low cell density. We specifically target groundwater, a significant source of water for human/agriculture use. We used samples from a well-studied site and identified hundreds of circular plasmids, including one of the largest sizes reported in plasmidome studies. The striking...
Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceFunctional Metagenomics Reveals an Overlooked Diversity and Novel Features of Soil-Derived Bacterial Phosphatases and PhytasesPhosphorus (P) is a key element involved in numerous cellular processes and essential to meet global food demand. Phosphatases play a major role in cell metabolism and contribute to control the release of P from phosphorylated organic compounds, including phytate. Apart from the relationship with pathogenesis and the enormous economic relevance, phosphatases/phytases are also important for reduction of phosphorus pollution. Almost all...
Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceEngineering Clostridial Aldehyde/Alcohol Dehydrogenase for Selective Butanol ProductionRenewable biofuel represents one of the answers to solving the energy crisis and climate change problems. Butanol produced naturally by clostridia has superior liquid fuel characteristics and thus has the potential to replace gasoline. Due to the lack of efficient genetic manipulation tools, however, clostridial strain improvement has been slower than improvement of other microorganisms. Furthermore, fermentation coproducing various by-...
Observation | Applied and Environmental ScienceTactic Response of Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 toward Insoluble Electron AcceptorsPrevious hypotheses of tactic behavior of exoelectrogenic bacteria are based on techniques that do not accurately control the electrochemical potential, such as chemical-in-plug assays or microscopy tracking experiments in two-electrode cells. Here, we have revisited previous experiments and, for the first time, performed microscopy cell-tracking experiments in three-electrode electrochemical cells, with defined electrode potentials....