Carbon Dioxide and the Carbamate Post-Translational Modification.

Carbon dioxide is essential for life. It is at the beginning of every life process as a substrate of photosynthesis. It is at the end of every life process as the product of post-mortem decay.

The microbiology of rebuilding soils with water treatment residual co-amendments: Risks and benefits.

Water treatment residual (WTR) is composed of sludges from the potable water treatment process, currently largely destined for landfill. This waste can be diverted to rebuild degraded soils, aligning with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals 12 (Consumption and Production) and 15 (Terrestrial Ecosystems). Biosolids are tested against stringent pathogen guidelines, yet few studies have explored the microbial risk of WTR land application, despite anthropogenic impacts on water treatment.

An Unexpectedly Broad Thermal and Salinity-Tolerant Estuarine Methanogen Community.

Moderately thermophilic (T, ~55 °C) methanogens are identified after extended enrichments from temperate, tropical and low-temperature environments. However, thermophilic methanogens with higher growth temperatures (T ≥ 60 °C) are only reported from high-temperature environments. A microcosm-based approach was used to measure the rate of methane production and methanogen community structure over a range of temperatures and salinities in sediment from a temperate estuary.

The toxicity of the methylimidazolium ionic liquids, with a focus on M8OI and hepatic effects.

Ionic liquids are a diverse range of charged chemicals with low volatility and often liquids at ambient temperatures. This characteristic has in part lead to them being considered environmentally-friendly replacements for existing volatile solvents. However, methylimidazolium ionic liquids are slow to break down in the environment and a recent study at Newcastle detected 1 octyl 3 methylimidazolium (M8OI) - an 8 carbon variant methylimidazolium ionic liquid - in soils in close proximity to a landfill site.

Identification of a xenobiotic as a potential environmental trigger in primary biliary cholangitis.

Background & Aims: Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) is an autoimmune-associated chronic liver disease triggered by environmental factors, such as exposure to xenobiotics, which leads to a loss of tolerance to the lipoic acid-conjugated regions of the mitochondrial pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, typically to the E2 component. We aimed to identify xenobiotics that might be involved in the environmental triggering of PBC.

Methods: Urban landfill and control soil samples from a region with high PBC incidence were screened for xenobiotic activities using analytical, cell-based xenobiotic receptor activation assays and toxicity screens.

Distribution of thermophilic endospores in a temperate estuary indicate that dispersal history structures sediment microbial communities.

Endospores of thermophilic bacteria are found in cold and temperate sediments where they persist in a dormant state. As inactive endospores that cannot grow at the low ambient temperatures, they are akin to tracer particles in cold sediments, unaffected by factors normally governing microbial biogeography (e.g.

Environmental Xenoestrogens Super-Activate a Variant Murine ER Beta in Cholangiocytes.

High systemic levels of oestrogens are cholestatic and primary biliary cholangitis (PBC)-which is characterized by hepatic ductular inflammation-is thought to be triggered by exposure to xenobiotics such as those around landfill sites. Xenoestrogens may be a component of this chemical trigger. We therefore hypothesized that xenoestrogens are present at higher levels in the proximity of landfill sites.

Response of Methanogens in Arctic Sediments to Temperature and Methanogenic Substrate Availability.

Although cold environments are major contributors to global biogeochemical cycles, comparatively little is known about their microbial community function, structure, and limits of activity. In this study a microcosm based approach was used to investigate the effects of temperature, and methanogenic substrate amendment, (acetate, methanol and H2/CO2) on methanogen activity and methanogen community structure in high Arctic wetlands (Solvatnet and Stuphallet, Svalbard). Methane production was not detected in Stuphallet sediment microcosms (over a 150 day period) and occurred within Solvatnet sediments microcosms (within 24 hours) at temperatures from 5 to 40°C, the maximum temperature being at far higher than in situ maximum temperatures (which range from air temperatures of -1.