Carolina M Rodrigues, Ana Bio, Francisco Amat, Natividade Vieira
Solar salinas are man-made systems exploited for the extraction of salt, by solar and wind evaporation of seawater. Salt production achieved by traditional methods is associated with landscapes and environmental and patrimonial values generated throughout history. Since the mid-twentieth century, this activity has been facing a marked decline in Portugal, with most salinas either abandoned or subjected to destruction, making it necessary to find a strategy to reverse this trend.It is, however, possible to generate revenue from salinas at several levels, not merely in terms of good quality salt production, but also by obtaining other products that can be commercialized, or by exploring their potential for tourism, and as research facilities, among others. Furthermore, with an adequate management, biodiversity can be restored to abandoned salinas, which constitute important feeding and breeding grounds for resident and migratory aquatic birds, many of which are protected by European Community Directives.The aims of this manuscript are to present a brief overview on the current state of sea salt exploitation in Portugal and to stress the importance of recovering these salinas for the conservation of this particular environment, for the regional economy, the scientific community and the general public. The Aveiro salina complex is presented in detail, to exemplify salina structure and functioning, as well as current problems and potential solutions for artisanal salinas.
{"title":"Artisanal salt production in Aveiro/Portugal - an ecofriendly process.","authors":"Carolina M Rodrigues, Ana Bio, Francisco Amat, Natividade Vieira","doi":"10.1186/1746-1448-7-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-1448-7-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p> Solar salinas are man-made systems exploited for the extraction of salt, by solar and wind evaporation of seawater. Salt production achieved by traditional methods is associated with landscapes and environmental and patrimonial values generated throughout history. Since the mid-twentieth century, this activity has been facing a marked decline in Portugal, with most salinas either abandoned or subjected to destruction, making it necessary to find a strategy to reverse this trend.It is, however, possible to generate revenue from salinas at several levels, not merely in terms of good quality salt production, but also by obtaining other products that can be commercialized, or by exploring their potential for tourism, and as research facilities, among others. Furthermore, with an adequate management, biodiversity can be restored to abandoned salinas, which constitute important feeding and breeding grounds for resident and migratory aquatic birds, many of which are protected by European Community Directives.The aims of this manuscript are to present a brief overview on the current state of sea salt exploitation in Portugal and to stress the importance of recovering these salinas for the conservation of this particular environment, for the regional economy, the scientific community and the general public. The Aveiro salina complex is presented in detail, to exemplify salina structure and functioning, as well as current problems and potential solutions for artisanal salinas.</p>","PeriodicalId":87359,"journal":{"name":"Saline systems","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-11-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1186/1746-1448-7-3","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"40127703","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Alkaline earth elements and alkali metals (Mg, Ca, Na and K) play an important role in the geochemical evolution of saline lakes as the final brine type is defined by the abundance of these elements. The role of major ions in brine evolution has been studied in great detail, but little has been done to investigate the behaviour of minor alkali elements in these systems despite their similar chemical affinities to the major cations. We have examined three major anionic brine types, chloride, sulphate, and bicarbonate-carbonate, in fifteen lakes in North America and Antarctica to determine the geochemical behaviour of lithium, rubidium, strontium, and barium. Lithium and rubidium are largely conservative in all water types, and their concentrations are the result of long-term solute input and concentration through evaporation and/or sublimation. Strontium and barium behaviours vary with anionic brine type. Strontium can be removed in sulphate and carbonate-rich lakes by the precipitation of carbonate minerals. Barium may be removed in chloride and sulphate brines by either the precipitation of barite and perhaps biological uptake.
{"title":"The fate of minor alkali elements in the chemical evolution of salt lakes.","authors":"Rebecca A Witherow, W Berry Lyons","doi":"10.1186/1746-1448-7-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-1448-7-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p> Alkaline earth elements and alkali metals (Mg, Ca, Na and K) play an important role in the geochemical evolution of saline lakes as the final brine type is defined by the abundance of these elements. The role of major ions in brine evolution has been studied in great detail, but little has been done to investigate the behaviour of minor alkali elements in these systems despite their similar chemical affinities to the major cations. We have examined three major anionic brine types, chloride, sulphate, and bicarbonate-carbonate, in fifteen lakes in North America and Antarctica to determine the geochemical behaviour of lithium, rubidium, strontium, and barium. Lithium and rubidium are largely conservative in all water types, and their concentrations are the result of long-term solute input and concentration through evaporation and/or sublimation. Strontium and barium behaviours vary with anionic brine type. Strontium can be removed in sulphate and carbonate-rich lakes by the precipitation of carbonate minerals. Barium may be removed in chloride and sulphate brines by either the precipitation of barite and perhaps biological uptake.</p>","PeriodicalId":87359,"journal":{"name":"Saline systems","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-10-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1186/1746-1448-7-2","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"30201043","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Halophile proteins can tolerate high salt concentrations. Understanding halophilicity features is the first step toward engineering halostable crops. To this end, we examined protein features contributing to the halo-toleration of halophilic organisms. We compared more than 850 features for halophilic and non-halophilic proteins with various screening, clustering, decision tree, and generalized rule induction models to search for patterns that code for halo-toleration. Up to 251 protein attributes selected by various attribute weighting algorithms as important features contribute to halo-stability; from them 14 attributes selected by 90% of models and the count of hydrogen gained the highest value (1.0) in 70% of attribute weighting models, showing the importance of this attribute in feature selection modeling. The other attributes mostly were the frequencies of di-peptides. No changes were found in the numbers of groups when K-Means and TwoStep clustering modeling were performed on datasets with or without feature selection filtering. Although the depths of induced trees were not high, the accuracies of trees were higher than 94% and the frequency of hydrophobic residues pointed as the most important feature to build trees. The performance evaluation of decision tree models had the same values and the best correctness percentage recorded with the Exhaustive CHAID and CHAID models. We did not find any significant difference in the percent of correctness, performance evaluation, and mean correctness of various decision tree models with or without feature selection. For the first time, we analyzed the performance of different screening, clustering, and decision tree algorithms for discriminating halophilic and non-halophilic proteins and the results showed that amino acid composition can be used to discriminate between halo-tolerant and halo-sensitive proteins.
{"title":"Protein attributes contribute to halo-stability, bioinformatics approach.","authors":"Esmaeil Ebrahimie, Mansour Ebrahimi, Narjes Rahpayma Sarvestani, Mahdi Ebrahimi","doi":"10.1186/1746-1448-7-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-1448-7-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p> Halophile proteins can tolerate high salt concentrations. Understanding halophilicity features is the first step toward engineering halostable crops. To this end, we examined protein features contributing to the halo-toleration of halophilic organisms. We compared more than 850 features for halophilic and non-halophilic proteins with various screening, clustering, decision tree, and generalized rule induction models to search for patterns that code for halo-toleration. Up to 251 protein attributes selected by various attribute weighting algorithms as important features contribute to halo-stability; from them 14 attributes selected by 90% of models and the count of hydrogen gained the highest value (1.0) in 70% of attribute weighting models, showing the importance of this attribute in feature selection modeling. The other attributes mostly were the frequencies of di-peptides. No changes were found in the numbers of groups when K-Means and TwoStep clustering modeling were performed on datasets with or without feature selection filtering. Although the depths of induced trees were not high, the accuracies of trees were higher than 94% and the frequency of hydrophobic residues pointed as the most important feature to build trees. The performance evaluation of decision tree models had the same values and the best correctness percentage recorded with the Exhaustive CHAID and CHAID models. We did not find any significant difference in the percent of correctness, performance evaluation, and mean correctness of various decision tree models with or without feature selection. For the first time, we analyzed the performance of different screening, clustering, and decision tree algorithms for discriminating halophilic and non-halophilic proteins and the results showed that amino acid composition can be used to discriminate between halo-tolerant and halo-sensitive proteins.</p>","PeriodicalId":87359,"journal":{"name":"Saline systems","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-05-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1186/1746-1448-7-1","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"40091989","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Satyajit L Dassarma, Melinda D Capes, Priya Dassarma, Shiladitya Dassarma
Background: Complete genome sequencing together with post-genomic studies provide the opportunity for a comprehensive 'systems biology' understanding of model organisms. For maximum effectiveness, an integrated database containing genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic data is necessary.
Description: To improve data access and facilitate functional genomic studies on haloarchaea in our laboratory, a dedicated database and website, named HaloWeb, was developed. It incorporates all finished and publicly released haloarchaeal genomes, including gene, protein and RNA sequences and annotation data, as well as other features such as insertion element sequences. The HaloWeb database was designed for easy data access and mining, and includes tools for tasks such as genome map generation, sequence extraction, and sequence editing. Popular resources at other sites, e.g., NCBI PubMed and BLAST, COG and KOG protein clusters, KEGG pathways, and GTOP structures were dynamically linked. The HaloWeb site is located at http://halo4.umbi.umd.edu, and at a mirror site, http://halo5.umbi.umd.edu, with all public genomic data and NCBI, KEGG, and GTOP links available for use by the academic community. The database is curated and updated on a regular basis.
Conclusions: The HaloWeb site includes all completely sequenced haloarchaeal genomes from public databases. It is currently being used as a tool for comparative genomics, including analysis of gene and genome structure, organization, and function. The database and website are up-to-date resources for researchers worldwide.
{"title":"HaloWeb: the haloarchaeal genomes database.","authors":"Satyajit L Dassarma, Melinda D Capes, Priya Dassarma, Shiladitya Dassarma","doi":"10.1186/1746-1448-6-12","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-1448-6-12","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Complete genome sequencing together with post-genomic studies provide the opportunity for a comprehensive 'systems biology' understanding of model organisms. For maximum effectiveness, an integrated database containing genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic data is necessary.</p><p><strong>Description: </strong>To improve data access and facilitate functional genomic studies on haloarchaea in our laboratory, a dedicated database and website, named HaloWeb, was developed. It incorporates all finished and publicly released haloarchaeal genomes, including gene, protein and RNA sequences and annotation data, as well as other features such as insertion element sequences. The HaloWeb database was designed for easy data access and mining, and includes tools for tasks such as genome map generation, sequence extraction, and sequence editing. Popular resources at other sites, e.g., NCBI PubMed and BLAST, COG and KOG protein clusters, KEGG pathways, and GTOP structures were dynamically linked. The HaloWeb site is located at http://halo4.umbi.umd.edu, and at a mirror site, http://halo5.umbi.umd.edu, with all public genomic data and NCBI, KEGG, and GTOP links available for use by the academic community. The database is curated and updated on a regular basis.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The HaloWeb site includes all completely sequenced haloarchaeal genomes from public databases. It is currently being used as a tool for comparative genomics, including analysis of gene and genome structure, organization, and function. The database and website are up-to-date resources for researchers worldwide.</p>","PeriodicalId":87359,"journal":{"name":"Saline systems","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-12-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1186/1746-1448-6-12","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"29564837","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
W N Brostoff, J G Holmquist, J Schmidt-Gengenbach, P V Zimba
Background: Fairy shrimps (Anostraca), tadpole shrimps (Notostraca), clam shrimps (Spinicaudata), algae (primarily filamentous blue-green algae [cyanobacteria]), and suspended organic particulates are dominant food web components of the seasonally inundated pans and playas of the western Mojave Desert in California. We examined the extent to which these branchiopods controlled algal abundance and species composition in clay pans between Rosamond and Rogers Dry Lakes. We surveyed branchiopods during the wet season to estimate abundances and then conducted a laboratory microcosm experiment, in which dried sediment containing cysts and the overlying algal crust were inundated and cultured. Microcosm trials were run with and without shrimps; each type of trial was run for two lengths of time: 30 and 60 days. We estimated the effect of shrimps on algae by measuring chlorophyll content and the relative abundance of algal species.
Results: We found two species of fairy shrimps (Branchinecta mackini and B. gigas), one tadpole shrimp (Lepidurus lemmoni), and a clam shrimp (Cyzicus setosa) in our wet-season field survey. We collected Branchinecta lindahli in a pilot study, but not subsequently. The dominant taxa were C. setosa and B. mackini, but abundances and species composition varied greatly among playas. The same species found in field surveys also occurred in the microcosm experiment. There were no significant differences as a function of experimental treatments for either chlorophyll content or algal species composition (Microcoleus vaginatus dominated all treatments).
Conclusions: The results suggest that there was no direct effect of shrimps on algae. Although the pans harbored an apparently high abundance of branchiopods, these animals had little role in regulating primary producers in this environment.
{"title":"Fairy, tadpole, and clam shrimps (Branchiopoda) in seasonally inundated clay pans in the western Mojave Desert and effect on primary producers.","authors":"W N Brostoff, J G Holmquist, J Schmidt-Gengenbach, P V Zimba","doi":"10.1186/1746-1448-6-11","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-1448-6-11","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Fairy shrimps (Anostraca), tadpole shrimps (Notostraca), clam shrimps (Spinicaudata), algae (primarily filamentous blue-green algae [cyanobacteria]), and suspended organic particulates are dominant food web components of the seasonally inundated pans and playas of the western Mojave Desert in California. We examined the extent to which these branchiopods controlled algal abundance and species composition in clay pans between Rosamond and Rogers Dry Lakes. We surveyed branchiopods during the wet season to estimate abundances and then conducted a laboratory microcosm experiment, in which dried sediment containing cysts and the overlying algal crust were inundated and cultured. Microcosm trials were run with and without shrimps; each type of trial was run for two lengths of time: 30 and 60 days. We estimated the effect of shrimps on algae by measuring chlorophyll content and the relative abundance of algal species.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We found two species of fairy shrimps (Branchinecta mackini and B. gigas), one tadpole shrimp (Lepidurus lemmoni), and a clam shrimp (Cyzicus setosa) in our wet-season field survey. We collected Branchinecta lindahli in a pilot study, but not subsequently. The dominant taxa were C. setosa and B. mackini, but abundances and species composition varied greatly among playas. The same species found in field surveys also occurred in the microcosm experiment. There were no significant differences as a function of experimental treatments for either chlorophyll content or algal species composition (Microcoleus vaginatus dominated all treatments).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The results suggest that there was no direct effect of shrimps on algae. Although the pans harbored an apparently high abundance of branchiopods, these animals had little role in regulating primary producers in this environment.</p>","PeriodicalId":87359,"journal":{"name":"Saline systems","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-12-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1186/1746-1448-6-11","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"29523206","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Basilio Zafrilla, Rosa M Martínez-Espinosa, María A Alonso, María J Bonete
Background: The extraction of salt from seawater by means of coastal solar salterns is a very well-described process. Moreover, the characterization of these environments from ecological, biochemical and microbiological perspectives has become a key focus for many research groups all over the world over the last 20 years. In countries such as Spain, there are several examples of coastal solar salterns (mainly on the Mediterranean coast) and inland solar salterns, from which sodium chloride is obtained for human consumption. However, studies focused on the characterization of inland solar salterns are scarce and both the archaeal diversity and the plant communities inhabiting these environments remain poorly described.
Results: Two of the inland solar salterns (termed Redonda and Penalva), located in the Alto Vinalopó Valley (Alicante, Spain), were characterized regarding their geological and physico-chemical characteristics and their archaeal and botanical biodiversity. A preliminary eukaryotic diversity survey was also performed using saline water. The chemical characterization of the brine has revealed that the salted groundwater extracted to fill these inland solar salterns is thalassohaline. The plant communities living in this environment are dominated by Sarcocornia fruticosa (L.) A.J. Scott, Arthrocnemum macrostachyum (Moris) K. Koch, Suaeda vera Forsk. ex Gmelin (Amaranthaceae) and several species of Limonium (Mill) and Tamarix (L). Archaeal diversity was analyzed and compared by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based molecular phylogenetic techniques. Most of the sequences recovered from environmental DNA samples are affiliated with haloarchaeal genera such as Haloarcula, Halorubrum, Haloquadratum and Halobacterium, and with an unclassified member of the Halobacteriaceae. The eukaryote Dunaliella was also present in the samples.
Conclusions: To our knowledge, this study constitutes the first analysis centered on inland solar salterns located in the southeastern region of Spain. The results obtained revealed that the salt deposits of this region have marine origins. Plant communities typical of salt marshes are present in this ecosystem and members of the Halobacteriaceae family can be easily detected in the microbial populations of these habitats. Possible origins of the haloarchaea detected in this study are discussed.
背景:利用海岸太阳能盐田从海水中提取盐是一种很好的方法。此外,从生态学、生物化学和微生物学的角度对这些环境进行表征已成为近20年来世界各地许多研究小组关注的重点。在西班牙等国家,有几个沿海太阳能盐场(主要在地中海沿岸)和内陆太阳能盐场的例子,从中获得氯化钠供人类消费。然而,对内陆太阳盐沼特征的研究很少,对古细菌多样性和居住在这些环境中的植物群落的描述仍然很差。结果:两个内陆太阳盐沼(Redonda和Penalva)位于Alto Vinalopó山谷(Alicante, Spain),具有地质和物理化学特征以及古细菌和植物多样性特征。用盐水对真核生物多样性进行了初步调查。卤水的化学特征表明,抽取来填满这些内陆太阳盐沼的含盐地下水是海盐。生活在该环境下的植物群落主要为石竹(Sarcocornia fruticosa, L.)。A.J. Scott, arthrorocnemum macrostachyum (Moris) K. Koch, Suaeda vera Forsk。采用基于聚合酶链反应(PCR)的分子系统发育技术,对苋菜科(Amaranthaceae)的ex Gmelin、Limonium (Mill)和柽柳(Tamarix)的几种古菌多样性进行了分析比较。从环境DNA样本中恢复的大部分序列属于盐古菌属,如Haloarcula, Halorubrum, Haloquadratum和Halobacterium,以及一个未分类的盐杆菌科成员。真核生物杜氏菌也存在于样品中。结论:据我们所知,这项研究构成了对位于西班牙东南部地区的内陆太阳盐沼的第一次分析。结果表明,该地区的盐矿具有海相成因。该生态系统中存在典型的盐沼植物群落,在这些栖息地的微生物种群中可以很容易地检测到盐杆菌科的成员。讨论了本研究中发现的盐古菌的可能起源。
{"title":"Biodiversity of Archaea and floral of two inland saltern ecosystems in the Alto Vinalopó Valley, Spain.","authors":"Basilio Zafrilla, Rosa M Martínez-Espinosa, María A Alonso, María J Bonete","doi":"10.1186/1746-1448-6-10","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-1448-6-10","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The extraction of salt from seawater by means of coastal solar salterns is a very well-described process. Moreover, the characterization of these environments from ecological, biochemical and microbiological perspectives has become a key focus for many research groups all over the world over the last 20 years. In countries such as Spain, there are several examples of coastal solar salterns (mainly on the Mediterranean coast) and inland solar salterns, from which sodium chloride is obtained for human consumption. However, studies focused on the characterization of inland solar salterns are scarce and both the archaeal diversity and the plant communities inhabiting these environments remain poorly described.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Two of the inland solar salterns (termed Redonda and Penalva), located in the Alto Vinalopó Valley (Alicante, Spain), were characterized regarding their geological and physico-chemical characteristics and their archaeal and botanical biodiversity. A preliminary eukaryotic diversity survey was also performed using saline water. The chemical characterization of the brine has revealed that the salted groundwater extracted to fill these inland solar salterns is thalassohaline. The plant communities living in this environment are dominated by Sarcocornia fruticosa (L.) A.J. Scott, Arthrocnemum macrostachyum (Moris) K. Koch, Suaeda vera Forsk. ex Gmelin (Amaranthaceae) and several species of Limonium (Mill) and Tamarix (L). Archaeal diversity was analyzed and compared by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based molecular phylogenetic techniques. Most of the sequences recovered from environmental DNA samples are affiliated with haloarchaeal genera such as Haloarcula, Halorubrum, Haloquadratum and Halobacterium, and with an unclassified member of the Halobacteriaceae. The eukaryote Dunaliella was also present in the samples.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>To our knowledge, this study constitutes the first analysis centered on inland solar salterns located in the southeastern region of Spain. The results obtained revealed that the salt deposits of this region have marine origins. Plant communities typical of salt marshes are present in this ecosystem and members of the Halobacteriaceae family can be easily detected in the microbial populations of these habitats. Possible origins of the haloarchaea detected in this study are discussed.</p>","PeriodicalId":87359,"journal":{"name":"Saline systems","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1186/1746-1448-6-10","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"29349412","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Background: The halophilic archaeon Haloferax mediterranei is able to accumulate large amounts of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) with high molar fraction of 3-hydroxyvalerate (3HV) from unrelated carbon sources. A Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) synthase composed of two subunits, PhaCHme and PhaEHme, has been identified in this strain, and shown to account for the PHBV biosynthesis.
Results: With the aid of the genome sequence of Hfx. mediterranei CGMCC 1.2087, three additional phaC genes (designated phaC1, phaC2, and phaC3) were identified, which encoded putative PhaCs. Like PhaCHme (54.8 kDa), PhaC1 (49.7 kDa) and PhaC3 (62.5 kDa) possessed the conserved motifs of type III PHA synthase, which was not observed in PhaC2 (40.4 kDa). Furthermore, the longer C terminus found in the other three PhaCs was also absent in PhaC2. Reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) revealed that, among the four genes, only phaCHme was transcribed under PHA-accumulating conditions in the wild-type strain. However, heterologous coexpression of phaEHme with each phaC gene in Haloarcula hispanica PHB-1 showed that all PhaCs, except PhaC2, could lead to PHBV accumulation with various 3HV fractions. The three kinds of copolymers were characterized using gel-permeation chromatography (GPC), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Their thermal properties changed with the variations in monomer composition as well as the different molecular weights (Mw), thus might meet various application requirements.
Conclusion: We discover three cryptic phaC genes in Hfx. mediterranei, and demonstrate that genetic engineering of these newly identified phaC genes has biotechnological potential for PHBV production with tailor-made material properties.
{"title":"Comparison of four phaC genes from Haloferax mediterranei and their function in different PHBV copolymer biosyntheses in Haloarcula hispanica.","authors":"Jing Han, Ming Li, Jing Hou, Linping Wu, Jian Zhou, Hua Xiang","doi":"10.1186/1746-1448-6-9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-1448-6-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The halophilic archaeon Haloferax mediterranei is able to accumulate large amounts of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) with high molar fraction of 3-hydroxyvalerate (3HV) from unrelated carbon sources. A Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) synthase composed of two subunits, PhaCHme and PhaEHme, has been identified in this strain, and shown to account for the PHBV biosynthesis.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>With the aid of the genome sequence of Hfx. mediterranei CGMCC 1.2087, three additional phaC genes (designated phaC1, phaC2, and phaC3) were identified, which encoded putative PhaCs. Like PhaCHme (54.8 kDa), PhaC1 (49.7 kDa) and PhaC3 (62.5 kDa) possessed the conserved motifs of type III PHA synthase, which was not observed in PhaC2 (40.4 kDa). Furthermore, the longer C terminus found in the other three PhaCs was also absent in PhaC2. Reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) revealed that, among the four genes, only phaCHme was transcribed under PHA-accumulating conditions in the wild-type strain. However, heterologous coexpression of phaEHme with each phaC gene in Haloarcula hispanica PHB-1 showed that all PhaCs, except PhaC2, could lead to PHBV accumulation with various 3HV fractions. The three kinds of copolymers were characterized using gel-permeation chromatography (GPC), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Their thermal properties changed with the variations in monomer composition as well as the different molecular weights (Mw), thus might meet various application requirements.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>We discover three cryptic phaC genes in Hfx. mediterranei, and demonstrate that genetic engineering of these newly identified phaC genes has biotechnological potential for PHBV production with tailor-made material properties.</p>","PeriodicalId":87359,"journal":{"name":"Saline systems","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1186/1746-1448-6-9","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"29201087","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Background: Sundarbans is the largest chunk of mangrove forest and only tiger mangrove land in the world. Compared to the rich species diversity and uniqueness, very few studies have so far been conducted here, mainly due to its inaccessibility. This study explores water quality, density of biomass, species diversity, phytoplankton abundance and bacterial population of a tidal creek in Sunderban estuary during the post and pre monsoon period of 2008-09.
Results: Phytoplankton community was observed to be dominated by diatoms (Biacillariophyceae) followed by Pyrrophyceae (Dinoflagellates) and Chlorophyceae. A total of 46 taxa belonging to 6 groups were recorded. Other algal groups were Cyanophyceae, Euglenophyceae and Chrysophyceae. Species diversity was highest in summer (March) and lowest in winter season (November) in all the sample stations indicating its close correlation with ambient temperature. Species evenness was fairly high in all five stations throughout the study period. Present study indicated that dissolved oxygen, nutrients and turbidity are the limiting factors for the phytoplankton biomass. The estuary was in eutrophic condition (Chlorophyll-a >/=10 mug/L) in winter. During the month of May phytoplankton biomass declined and at high salinity level (21.2PSU) new phytoplankton species take over, which are definitely better resilient to the high saline environment. Bio-indicator species like Polykrikos schwartzil, Dinophysis norvegica and Prorocentrum concavum points to moderately polluted water quality of the estuary.
Conclusion: Eutrophication as well as presence of toxic Dinoflagellates and Cyanophyceae in the tidal creek of Sundarban estuary definitely revealed the deteriorated status of the water quality. The structure and function of the mangrove food web is unique, driven by both marine and terrestrial components. But little attention has been paid so far to the adaptive responses of mangrove biota to the various disturbances, and now our work unfolds the fact that marine status of Sundarban estuary is highly threatened which in turn will affect the ecology of the mangrove. This study indicates that ecosystem dynamics of the world heritage site Sundarban may facilitate bioinvasion putting a question mark on the sustainability of mangroves.
{"title":"Dynamics of Sundarban estuarine ecosystem: eutrophication induced threat to mangroves.","authors":"Suman Manna, Kaberi Chaudhuri, Somenath Bhattacharyya, Maitree Bhattacharyya","doi":"10.1186/1746-1448-6-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-1448-6-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Sundarbans is the largest chunk of mangrove forest and only tiger mangrove land in the world. Compared to the rich species diversity and uniqueness, very few studies have so far been conducted here, mainly due to its inaccessibility. This study explores water quality, density of biomass, species diversity, phytoplankton abundance and bacterial population of a tidal creek in Sunderban estuary during the post and pre monsoon period of 2008-09.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Phytoplankton community was observed to be dominated by diatoms (Biacillariophyceae) followed by Pyrrophyceae (Dinoflagellates) and Chlorophyceae. A total of 46 taxa belonging to 6 groups were recorded. Other algal groups were Cyanophyceae, Euglenophyceae and Chrysophyceae. Species diversity was highest in summer (March) and lowest in winter season (November) in all the sample stations indicating its close correlation with ambient temperature. Species evenness was fairly high in all five stations throughout the study period. Present study indicated that dissolved oxygen, nutrients and turbidity are the limiting factors for the phytoplankton biomass. The estuary was in eutrophic condition (Chlorophyll-a >/=10 mug/L) in winter. During the month of May phytoplankton biomass declined and at high salinity level (21.2PSU) new phytoplankton species take over, which are definitely better resilient to the high saline environment. Bio-indicator species like Polykrikos schwartzil, Dinophysis norvegica and Prorocentrum concavum points to moderately polluted water quality of the estuary.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Eutrophication as well as presence of toxic Dinoflagellates and Cyanophyceae in the tidal creek of Sundarban estuary definitely revealed the deteriorated status of the water quality. The structure and function of the mangrove food web is unique, driven by both marine and terrestrial components. But little attention has been paid so far to the adaptive responses of mangrove biota to the various disturbances, and now our work unfolds the fact that marine status of Sundarban estuary is highly threatened which in turn will affect the ecology of the mangrove. This study indicates that ecosystem dynamics of the world heritage site Sundarban may facilitate bioinvasion putting a question mark on the sustainability of mangroves.</p>","PeriodicalId":87359,"journal":{"name":"Saline systems","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-08-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1186/1746-1448-6-8","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"29179680","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Background: Henrich Klebahn was a German linguist, mycologist and phytopathologist, who was known as Dr. Dr. h. c. Henrich Klebahn, Hauptcustos a. D., Honorarprofessor an der Hanischen Universität. He was born February 20, 1859 in Bremen, and died October 5, 1942 in Hamburg. He taught linguistics from 1885-1899, studied Natural Science at the Universities of Jena and Berlin (1881) and received his PhD from the University of Jena. In 1899, he was appointed scientific assistant at the Hamburg botanical garden, where he worked until 1905. From 1905 to 1930, he was at the agricultural institute of Bromberg. In 1921, he was named honorary professor and lecturer in cryptogams and soil biology at the Institut für Allgemeine Botanik where he taught until 1934. He is well known for his work on gas vesicles and halophiles, among other topics.This re-print of 'Die Schädlinge des Klippfisches. Ein Beitrag zur Kenntnis der salzliebenden Organismen. Von H. Klebahn. Mit zwei Tafeln und vier Abbildungen im Text.' was originally published in 1919 in the Jahrbuch der Hamb. Wissensch. Anstaltes. XXXVI. Beiheft pages 11-69, by Latcke & Waltt, E. H. Buchdrucker. The translators have tried to remain faithful to the contents and to the original sense of the article by minimizing modifications.
Results: The original paper reported the conclusions of a 3 year long study of the microbes causing damage to the fish industry as well as a summation of work on the subject up until 1919. The findings were that the causative agents were fungi and other microbes, the chief of which was a red, Gram-negative rod-shaped bacillus, Bacillus halobius ruber, that formed pale reddish colonies and was found to oscillate, but after extensive testing, was found not possess flagella. The initial appearance of "a shiny corpuscle" at the ends of cells was determined not to be spores; rather that it was the "result of the coherence of the light beams due to a total reflection of the light in the optically denser little rods". The cells were osmotically sensitive to the addition of water. In addition, a Gram-negative, red Sarcina morrhuae that appeared pinker in color, was less salt-sensitive than the red bacillus, in fact surviving the transfer to water. These were "round individual cells or groups of only two or four cells, usually; however, there are eight or more round cells that are arranged like cube corners to great cube-like or irregular packages lying together, just in the same manner as with the familiar Sarcina ventriculi." This organism was also identified from the walls of a fish storage room. Finally, a third, red microorganism was isolated: a Gram-negative micrococcus, Micrococcus (Diplococcus) morrhuae, which was "spherically rounded" and barely sensitive to water: "If one distributes a sample of a colony in water, the cells partly separate, to a great degree; however, they stay together in groups of two or four cells."
Con
背景:Henrich Klebahn是德国语言学家、真菌学家和植物病理学家,被称为Dr. h.c. Henrich Klebahn博士,Hauptcustos a. D.荣誉教授和der Hanischen Universität。他于1859年2月20日出生在不来梅,1942年10月5日在汉堡去世。1885年至1899年,他在耶拿大学和柏林大学学习自然科学(1881年),并在耶拿大学获得博士学位。1899年,他被任命为汉堡植物园的科学助理,一直工作到1905年。从1905年到1930年,他在布朗伯格农业研究所工作。1921年,他被任命为高等植物研究所(Institut fr Allgemeine Botanik)的名誉教授和cryptogams和土壤生物学讲师,并在那里任教至1934年。他以在气体囊泡和亲盐菌等方面的研究而闻名。这是'Die Schädlinge des Klippfisches '的再版。在《肯尼迪的秘密》一书中。冯·h·克莱巴恩。Mit zwei Tafeln and vier Abbildungen in Text。最初发表于1919年的《议院报》(Jahrbuch der Hamb)。Wissensch。Anstaltes。38。《北海夫特》第11-69页,作者:拉克和沃尔特,e·h·布赫鲁克。译者通过尽量减少修改,尽量忠实于文章的内容和原意。结果:最初的论文报告了对造成渔业损害的微生物进行了长达3年的研究的结论,以及对该主题直到1919年的工作的总结。结果发现,病原体是真菌和其他微生物,其中主要是一种红色的革兰氏阴性杆状芽孢杆菌,即嗜盐芽孢杆菌,它形成淡红色的菌落,并被发现振荡,但经过广泛的测试,发现没有鞭毛。最初出现在细胞末端的“闪亮小体”被确定为不是孢子;相反,它是“由于光在光学密度更大的小棒中全反射而导致的光束相干性的结果”。细胞对水的加入具有渗透敏感性。此外,革兰氏阴性的红色mormorhuaa看起来更粉红色,对盐的敏感性低于红色杆菌,实际上在转移到水中后存活了下来。它们通常是圆形的单个细胞或只有两个或四个细胞的群;然而,有8个或更多的圆形细胞像立方体的角一样排列,到巨大的立方体或不规则的包裹在一起,就像我们熟悉的脑室肌一样。”这种生物也在一个鱼库的墙壁上被鉴定出来。最后,第三种红色微生物被分离出来:一种革兰氏阴性微球菌,莫氏微球菌(双球菌),它呈球形,对水几乎不敏感:“如果把一个菌落的样本放在水中,细胞会在很大程度上部分分离;然而,它们以两个或四个细胞为一组呆在一起。结论:本文为鉴定嗜盐微生物是鱼类腐败的主要原因提供了证据,是嗜盐微生物学领域最早的出版物之一。
{"title":"Translation of Henrich Klebahn's 'Damaging agents of the klippfish - a contribution to the knowledge of the salt-loving organisms'.","authors":"Priya Dassarma, Günther Klebahn, Helga Klebahn","doi":"10.1186/1746-1448-6-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-1448-6-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Henrich Klebahn was a German linguist, mycologist and phytopathologist, who was known as Dr. Dr. h. c. Henrich Klebahn, Hauptcustos a. D., Honorarprofessor an der Hanischen Universität. He was born February 20, 1859 in Bremen, and died October 5, 1942 in Hamburg. He taught linguistics from 1885-1899, studied Natural Science at the Universities of Jena and Berlin (1881) and received his PhD from the University of Jena. In 1899, he was appointed scientific assistant at the Hamburg botanical garden, where he worked until 1905. From 1905 to 1930, he was at the agricultural institute of Bromberg. In 1921, he was named honorary professor and lecturer in cryptogams and soil biology at the Institut für Allgemeine Botanik where he taught until 1934. He is well known for his work on gas vesicles and halophiles, among other topics.This re-print of 'Die Schädlinge des Klippfisches. Ein Beitrag zur Kenntnis der salzliebenden Organismen. Von H. Klebahn. Mit zwei Tafeln und vier Abbildungen im Text.' was originally published in 1919 in the Jahrbuch der Hamb. Wissensch. Anstaltes. XXXVI. Beiheft pages 11-69, by Latcke & Waltt, E. H. Buchdrucker. The translators have tried to remain faithful to the contents and to the original sense of the article by minimizing modifications.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The original paper reported the conclusions of a 3 year long study of the microbes causing damage to the fish industry as well as a summation of work on the subject up until 1919. The findings were that the causative agents were fungi and other microbes, the chief of which was a red, Gram-negative rod-shaped bacillus, Bacillus halobius ruber, that formed pale reddish colonies and was found to oscillate, but after extensive testing, was found not possess flagella. The initial appearance of \"a shiny corpuscle\" at the ends of cells was determined not to be spores; rather that it was the \"result of the coherence of the light beams due to a total reflection of the light in the optically denser little rods\". The cells were osmotically sensitive to the addition of water. In addition, a Gram-negative, red Sarcina morrhuae that appeared pinker in color, was less salt-sensitive than the red bacillus, in fact surviving the transfer to water. These were \"round individual cells or groups of only two or four cells, usually; however, there are eight or more round cells that are arranged like cube corners to great cube-like or irregular packages lying together, just in the same manner as with the familiar Sarcina ventriculi.\" This organism was also identified from the walls of a fish storage room. Finally, a third, red microorganism was isolated: a Gram-negative micrococcus, Micrococcus (Diplococcus) morrhuae, which was \"spherically rounded\" and barely sensitive to water: \"If one distributes a sample of a colony in water, the cells partly separate, to a great degree; however, they stay together in groups of two or four cells.\"</p><p><strong>Con","PeriodicalId":87359,"journal":{"name":"Saline systems","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-06-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1186/1746-1448-6-7","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"29073710","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Balakrishnan Priya, Reddi K Sivaprasanth, Vincent Dhivya Jensi, Lakshmanan Uma, Gopalakrishnan Subramanian, Dharmar Prabaharan
Background: Cyanobacteria are recognized as the primordial organisms to grace the earth with molecular oxygen ~3.5 billion years ago as a result of their oxygenic photosynthesis. This laid a selection pressure for the evolution of antioxidative defense mechanisms to alleviate the toxic effect of active oxygen species (AOS) in cyanobacteria. Superoxide dismutases (SODs) are metalloenzymes that are the first arsenal in defense mechanism against oxidative stress followed by an array of antioxidative system. Unlike other living organisms, cyanobacteria possess multiple isoforms of SOD. Hence, an attempt was made to demonstrate the oxidative stress tolerance ability of marine cyanobacterium, Leptolyngbya valderiana BDU 20041 and to PCR amplify and sequence the SOD gene, the central enzyme for alleviating stress.
Result: L. valderiana BDU 20041, a filamentous, non-heterocystous marine cyanobacterium showed tolerance to the tested dye (C.I. Acid Black 1) which is evident by increased in biomass (i.e.) chlorophyll a. The other noticeable change was the total ROS production by culture dosed with dye compared to the control cultures. This prolonged incubation showed sustenance, implying that cyanobacteria maintain their antioxidant levels. The third significant feature was a two-fold increase in SOD activity of dye treated L. valderiana BDU20041 suggesting the role of SOD in alleviating oxidative stress via Asada-Halliwell pathway. Hence, the organism was PCR amplified for SOD gene resulting in an amplicon of 550 bp. The sequence analysis illustrated the presence of first three residues involved in motif; active site residues at H4, 58 and D141 along with highly conserved Mn specific residues. The isolated gene shared 63.8% homology with MnSOD of bacteria confirmed it as Mn isoform. This is the hitherto report on SOD gene from marine cyanobacterium, L. valderiana BDU20041 of Indian subcontinent.
Conclusion: Generation of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) coupled with induction of SOD by marine cyanobacterium, L. valderiana BDU20041 was responsible for alleviating stress caused by an azo dye, C. I. Acid Black 1. The partial SOD gene has been sequenced and based on the active site, motif and metal specific residues; it has been identified as Mn metalloform.
{"title":"Characterization of manganese superoxide dismutase from a marine cyanobacterium Leptolyngbya valderiana BDU20041.","authors":"Balakrishnan Priya, Reddi K Sivaprasanth, Vincent Dhivya Jensi, Lakshmanan Uma, Gopalakrishnan Subramanian, Dharmar Prabaharan","doi":"10.1186/1746-1448-6-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-1448-6-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Cyanobacteria are recognized as the primordial organisms to grace the earth with molecular oxygen ~3.5 billion years ago as a result of their oxygenic photosynthesis. This laid a selection pressure for the evolution of antioxidative defense mechanisms to alleviate the toxic effect of active oxygen species (AOS) in cyanobacteria. Superoxide dismutases (SODs) are metalloenzymes that are the first arsenal in defense mechanism against oxidative stress followed by an array of antioxidative system. Unlike other living organisms, cyanobacteria possess multiple isoforms of SOD. Hence, an attempt was made to demonstrate the oxidative stress tolerance ability of marine cyanobacterium, Leptolyngbya valderiana BDU 20041 and to PCR amplify and sequence the SOD gene, the central enzyme for alleviating stress.</p><p><strong>Result: </strong>L. valderiana BDU 20041, a filamentous, non-heterocystous marine cyanobacterium showed tolerance to the tested dye (C.I. Acid Black 1) which is evident by increased in biomass (i.e.) chlorophyll a. The other noticeable change was the total ROS production by culture dosed with dye compared to the control cultures. This prolonged incubation showed sustenance, implying that cyanobacteria maintain their antioxidant levels. The third significant feature was a two-fold increase in SOD activity of dye treated L. valderiana BDU20041 suggesting the role of SOD in alleviating oxidative stress via Asada-Halliwell pathway. Hence, the organism was PCR amplified for SOD gene resulting in an amplicon of 550 bp. The sequence analysis illustrated the presence of first three residues involved in motif; active site residues at H4, 58 and D141 along with highly conserved Mn specific residues. The isolated gene shared 63.8% homology with MnSOD of bacteria confirmed it as Mn isoform. This is the hitherto report on SOD gene from marine cyanobacterium, L. valderiana BDU20041 of Indian subcontinent.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Generation of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) coupled with induction of SOD by marine cyanobacterium, L. valderiana BDU20041 was responsible for alleviating stress caused by an azo dye, C. I. Acid Black 1. The partial SOD gene has been sequenced and based on the active site, motif and metal specific residues; it has been identified as Mn metalloform.</p>","PeriodicalId":87359,"journal":{"name":"Saline systems","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1186/1746-1448-6-6","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"29037581","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}