Effects of increasing concentrations of fungicide Quadris on bacterial functional profiling in loamy sand soil.

A mesocosm experiment was conducted to assess the side effects of the fungicide Quadris on soil bacterial functioning. Quadris was applied to a loamy sand soil at increasing concentrations (0.0-35.

Effects of long-term radionuclide and heavy metal contamination on the activity of microbial communities, inhabiting uranium mining impacted soils.

Ore mining and processing have greatly altered ecosystems, often limiting their capacity to provide ecosystem services critical to our survival. The soil environments of two abandoned uranium mines were chosen to analyze the effects of long-term uranium and heavy metal contamination on soil microbial communities using dehydrogenase and phosphatase activities as indicators of metal stress. The levels of soil contamination were low, ranging from 'precaution' to 'moderate', calculated as Nemerow index.

Phylogenetic diversity of archaea and the archaeal ammonia monooxygenase gene in uranium mining-impacted locations in Bulgaria.

Uranium mining and milling activities adversely affect the microbial populations of impacted sites. The negative effects of uranium on soil bacteria and fungi are well studied, but little is known about the effects of radionuclides and heavy metals on archaea. The composition and diversity of archaeal communities inhabiting the waste pile of the Sliven uranium mine and the soil of the Buhovo uranium mine were investigated using 16S rRNA gene retrieval.

Community level physiological profiles of bacterial communities inhabiting uranium mining impacted sites.

Bacterial activity and physiological diversity were characterized in mining and milling impacted soils collected from three abandoned uranium mine sites, Senokos, Buhovo and Sliven, using bacterial dehydrogenase activity and Biolog (EcoPlate) tests. The elemental composition of soils revealed high levels of uranium and heavy metals (sum of technogenic coefficients of contamination; TCC(sum) pollution as follows: Sliven (uranium - 374 mg/kg; TCC(sum) - 23.40) >Buhovo (uranium - 139.

Combined chemical and enzymatic stable isotope labeling for quantitative profiling of detergent-insoluble membrane proteins isolated using Triton X-100 and Brij-96.

Effective quantitative profiling of detergent-insoluble membrane proteins using high-throughput mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics would allow a better understanding of physiological and pathological processes that take place at the cell surface. To increase the coverage of proteins present in detergent-resistant membrane microdomains (DRMMs), a combination of 16O/18O and isotope coded affinity tags (ICAT) labeling was used in a comparative analysis of detergent-insoluble membrane proteins isolated from rat basophilic leukemia cells (RBL-2H3), with either Triton X-100 or Brij-96. The analysis resulted in the quantification of 738 unique proteins from Triton X-100 and Brij-96 isolated DRMMs, significantly exceeding the number of proteins quantified from either single labeling technique.

Bacterial diversity in water samples from uranium wastes as demonstrated by 16S rDNA and ribosomal intergenic spacer amplification retrievals.

Bacterial diversity was assessed in water samples collected from several uranium mining wastes in Ger many and in the United States by using 16S rDNA and ribosomal intergenic spacer amplification retrievals. The results obtained using the 16S rDNA retrieval showed that the samples collected from the uranium mill tailings of Schlema/Alberoda, Germany, were predominated by Nitrospina-like bacteria, whereas those from the mill tailings of Shiprock, New Mexico, USA, were predominated by gamma-Pseudomonas and Frauteria spp. Additional smaller populations of the Cytophaga-Flavobacterium-Bacteroides group and alpha- and delta-Proteobacteria were identified in the Shiprock samples as well.

P-Glycoprotein is localized in intermediate-density membrane microdomains distinct from classical lipid rafts and caveolar domains.

P-glycoprotein (Pgp), a member of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) superfamily responsible for the ATP-driven extrusion of diverse hydrophobic molecules from cells, is a cause of multidrug resistance in human tumours. Pgp can also operate as a phospholipid and glycosphingolipid flippase, and has been functionally linked to cholesterol, suggesting that it might be associated with sphingolipid-cholesterol microdomains in cell membranes. We have used nonionic detergent extraction and density gradient centrifugation of extracts from the multidrug-resistant Chinese hamster ovary cell line, CH(R)B30, to address this question.

Novel surface layer protein genes in Bacillus sphaericus associated with unusual insertion elements.

The surface layer (S-layer) protein genes of the uranium mining waste pile isolate Bacillus sphaericus JG-A12 and of its relative B. sphaericus NCTC 9602 were analysed. The almost identical N-termini of the two S-layer proteins possess a unique structure, comprising three N-terminal S-layer homologous (SLH) domains.

GPI-anchored protein cleavage in the regulation of transmembrane signals.

The structure of covalently-linked glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchors of membrane proteins displayed on the cell surface is described. Evidence of how the GPI-anchors are sorted into membrane rafts in the plasma membrane is reviewed. Proteins are released by hydrolysis of the linkage to the GPI anchor and phospholipases from different sources involved in this process are characterised.

Isolation and characterization of lipid rafts with different properties from RBL-2H3 (rat basophilic leukaemia) cells.

Lipid rafts are plasma-membrane microdomains that are enriched in certain lipids (sphingolipids, glycosphingolipids and cholesterol), as well as in lipid-modified proteins. Rafts appear to exist in the liquid-ordered phase, which contributes to their partitioning from the surrounding liquid-disordered glycerophospholipid environment. DRM (detergent-resistant membrane) fractions isolated from cells are believed to represent coalesced lipid rafts.