Myxobacteria are non-photosynthetic bacteria distinguished among prokaryotes by a multicellular stage in their life cycle known as fruiting bodies that are formed in response to nutrient deprivation and stimulated by light. Here, we report an entrained, rhythmic pattern of Myxococcus macrosporus fruiting bodies, forming consistently spaced concentric rings when grown in the dark. Light exposure disrupts this rhythmic phenotype, resulting in a sporadic arrangement and reduced fruiting-body count.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: All eukaryotes and at least some prokaryotes express the capacity to anticipate and adapt to daily changes of light and temperature in their environments. These circadian programs are fundamental features of many forms of life. Cyanobacteria were the first prokaryotes to have demonstrated circadian gene expression.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFKlebsiella (nee Enterobacter) aerogenes is the first human gut commensal bacterium with a documented sensitivity to the pineal/gastrointestinal hormone melatonin. Exogenous melatonin specifically increases the size of macrocolonies on semisolid agar and synchronizes the circadian clock of K. aerogenes in a concentration dependent manner.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe gastrointestinal bacterium Klebsiella (née Enterobacter) aerogenes expresses an endogenously generated, temperature-compensated circadian rhythm in swarming motility. We hypothesized that this rhythm may be synchronized/entrained in vivo by body temperature (T). To determine entrainment, cultures expressing bioluminescence were exposed to temperature cycles of 1°C (35°C-36°C) or 3°C (34°C-37°C) in amplitude at periods (T-cycles) of T = 22, T = 24, or T = 28 h.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAn easy-to-operate membrane-based flow-through test for multiplex screening of four mycotoxins (zearalenone, deoxynivalenol, aflatoxin B, and ochratoxin A) in a variety of cereal-based feed ingredients and compound feeds, such as wheat, barley, soybean, wheat bran, rice, rice bran, maize, rapeseed meal, and sunflower meal, and various types of complete feed (duckling feed, swine feed, broiler feed, piglet feed) was developed and validated. First, the antibodies were evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and then employed in the membrane rapid test. The cutoff levels for zearalenone, deoxynivalenol, aflatoxin B, and ochratoxin A were 50, 200, 1, and 10 μg/kg, respectively, based on European regulations and consumers' requirements.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA highly sensitive, capacitive biosensor was developed to monitor trace amounts of an amphetamine precursor in aqueous samples. The sensing element is a gold electrode with molecular imprinted polymers (MIPs) immobilized on its surface. A continuous-flow system with timed injections was used to simulate flowing waterways, such as sewers, springs, rivers, etc.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMycotoxins are toxic, secondary metabolites produced by fungi. They occur in a wide variety of food and feed commodities, and are of major public health concern because they are the most hazardous of all food and feed contaminants in terms of chronic toxicity. In the past decades, it has become clear that in mycotoxin-contaminated commodities, many structurally related compounds generated by plant metabolism, fungi or food processing coexist with their free mycotoxins, defined as modified mycotoxins.
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