Publications by authors named "Michelle M Gehringer"

The evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis during the Archean (4-2.5 Ga) required the presence of complementary reducing pathways to maintain the cellular redox balance. While the timing of the evolution of superoxide dismutases (SODs), enzymes that convert superoxide to hydrogen peroxide and O, within bacteria and archaea is not resolved, the first SODs appearing in cyanobacteria contained copper and zinc in the reaction center (CuZnSOD).

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Biological N fixation (BNF) is traced to the Archean. The nitrogen isotopic fractionation composition (δN) of sedimentary rocks is commonly used to reconstruct the presence of ancient diazotrophic ecosystems. While δN has been validated mostly using organisms grown under present-day conditions; it has not under the pre-Cambrian conditions, when atmospheric O was lower and CO was higher.

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Cycads are known to host symbiotic cyanobacteria, including species, as well as other sympatric bacterial taxa within their specialized coralloid roots. Yet, it is unknown if these bacteria share a phylogenetic origin and/or common genomic functions that allow them to engage in facultative symbiosis with cycad roots. To address this, we obtained metagenomic sequences from 39 coralloid roots sampled from diverse cycad species and origins in Australia and Mexico.

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Cyanobacteria oxygenated Earth's atmosphere ~2.4 billion years ago, during the Great Oxygenation Event (GOE), through oxygenic photosynthesis. Their high iron requirement was presumably met by high levels of Fe(II) in the anoxic Archean environment.

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The handling of oxygen sensitive samples and growth of obligate anaerobic organisms requires the stringent exclusion of oxygen, which is omnipresent in our normal atmospheric environment. Anaerobic workstations (aka. Glove boxes) enable the handling of oxygen sensitive samples during complex procedures, or the long-term incubation of anaerobic organisms.

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Microbial iron cycling influences the flux of major nutrients in the environment (e.g., through the adsorptive capacity of iron oxides) and includes biotically induced iron oxidation and reduction processes.

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Molecular nitrogen (N ) constitutes the majority of Earth's modern atmosphere, contributing ~0.79 bar of partial pressure (pN ). However, fluctuations in pN may have occurred on 10 -10  year timescales in Earth's past, perhaps altering the isotopic composition of atmospheric nitrogen.

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The oldest species of bacteria capable of oxygenic photosynthesis today are the freshwater Cyanobacteria Gloeobacter spp., belonging to the class Oxyphotobacteria. Several modern molecular evolutionary studies support the freshwater origin of cyanobacteria during the Archaean and their subsequent acquisition of salt tolerance mechanisms necessary for their expansion into the marine environment.

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This study utilised a proteomics approach to identify any differential protein expression in a glial cell line, rat olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs), treated with the cyanotoxin β-methylamino-l-alanine (BMAA). Five proteins of interest were identified, namely Rho GDP-dissociation inhibitor 1 (RhoGDP1), Nck-associated protein 1 (NCKAP1), voltage-dependent anion-selective channel protein 1 (VDAC1), 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase type-2 (3hCoAdh2), and ubiquilin-4 (UBQLN4). Four of these candidates, nuclear receptor subfamily 4 group A member 1 (Nur77), cyclophilin A (CyPA), RhoGDP1 and VDAC1, have been reported to be involved in cell growth.

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Harmful, bloom-forming cyanobacteria (CyanoHABs) are occurring with increasing regularity in freshwater and marine ecosystems. The most commonly occurring cyanobacterial toxins are the hepatotoxic microcystin and nodularin. These cyclic hepta- and pentapeptides are synthesised nonribosomally by the gene products of the toxin gene clusters mcy and nda, respectively.

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The amino acid variant β-methyl-amino-L-alanine (BMAA) has long been associated with the increased incidence and progression of the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/Parkinsonism dementia complex (ALS/PDC). Previous studies have indicated that BMAA damages neurons via excitotoxic mechanisms. We have challenged rat olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) with exogenous BMAA and found it to be cytotoxic.

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The toxicity of the cyanobacterial modified amino acid, BMAA, has been described in rat, mouse and leech neurons. Particular emphasis has been placed on the potential ability of BMAA to induce neuronal damage via excitotoxic mechanisms. Here we present data indicating that the effects observed on lower organisms are also evident in a human model.

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The nitrogen-fixing bacterium, Nostoc, is a commonly occurring cyanobacterium often found in symbiotic associations. We investigated the potential of cycad cyanobacterial endosymbionts to synthesize microcystin/nodularin. Endosymbiont DNA was screened for the aminotransferase domain of the toxin biosynthesis gene clusters.

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Does the diversity of cyanobacteria in the cycad rhizosphere relate to the cyanobiont species found in the coralloid roots of these ancient plants? The aim of this study was to identify the diversity of soil cyanobacteria occurring in the immediate vicinity of 22 colonized coralloid roots belonging to members of the cycad genera: Macrozamia, Lepidozamia, Bowenia and Cycas. The majority of coralloid roots were sampled at depths > 10 cm below the soil surface. A total of 32 cyanobacterial isolates were cultured and their 16S rRNA gene partially sequenced.

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The association of α-amino-β-methylaminopropionic acid (BMAA) with elevated incidence of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/Parkinson's disease complex (ALS/PDC) was first identified on the island of Guam. BMAA has been shown to be produced across the cyanobacterial order and its detection has been reported in a variety of aquatic and terrestrial environments worldwide, suggesting that it is ubiquitous. Various in vivo studies on rats, mice, chicks and monkeys have shown that it can cause neurodegenerative symptoms such as ataxia and convulsions.

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Mycobacteria have thwarted detection by scientists for centuries. Mycobacterium paratuberculosis is one of the most fastidious of the Mycobacteriaceae, and has been implicated in both animal and human diseases. In domestic livestock, M.

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The nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium Nostoc is a commonly occurring terrestrial and aquatic cyanobacterium often found in symbiosis with a wide range of plant, algal, and fungal species. We investigated the diversity of cyanobacterial species occurring within the coralloid roots of different Macrozamia cycad species at diverse locations throughout Australia. In all, 74 coralloid root samples were processed and 56 endosymbiotic cyanobacteria were cultured.

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To measure genetic variation within and among populations of the bloom-forming cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa, we surveyed a suite of lakes in the southern peninsula of Michigan that vary in productivity (total phosphorus concentrations of approximately 10 to 100 microg liter(-1)). Survival of M. aeruginosa isolates from lakes was relatively low (i.

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Microcystins (MCs) are cyclic heptapeptide compounds [where X(2) (position 2) and Z(4) (position 4) are variable l-aminoacids] produced by cyanobacteria and responsible for severe liver damage in animals ingesting acute doses of the toxic compounds. Certain variants of microcystins are more toxic than others, the differences being commonly ascribed to the hydrophobic nature of the variant. Microcystin-LR (MCLR) [X = l-leucine (L); Z = l-arginine (R); R1 = R2 = CH(3)] is the most toxic of all the microcystins investigated to date.

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The increasing presence of toxic cyanobacteria in drinking and recreational water bodies, and their potential to impact on human and animal health is cause for concern. Recent work suggests that apoptosis plays a major role in the toxic effects induced by microcystin-LR (MCLR) in the gastrointestinal tract; however, the biochemical pathway remains elusive. Exposure of CaCo2, a human colon carcinoma cell line, and MCF-7, a cell line deficient in pro-caspase-3, cells to 50 microM MCLR induced similar reductions in cell viability as measured by MTT and LDH leakage.

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Microcystin-LR (MCLR) has been associated with the development of gastrointestinal complaints in people ingesting cyanobacterial bloom contaminated water. The symptoms usually present a day or two after exposure raising questions as to the toxic effects of MCLR on the gastrointestinal tract. This study investigated the apoptotic effect of ip administered MCLR over time on the duodenum, jejenum and ileum of mice receiving a single 75% LD(50) dose.

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Toxin-producing cyanobacteria pose a world-wide health threat to humans and animals due to their increasing presence in both drinking and recreational waters. The predominant cyanotoxin, microcystin-LR (MCLR), targets the liver and its toxicity depends on the uptake and removal rates in the liver. The role of the glutathione detoxification pathway in protecting the liver from the effects of MCLR was investigated.

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Microcystins, potent heptapeptide hepatotoxins produced by certain bloom-forming cyanobacteria, are strong protein phosphatase inhibitors. They covalently bind the serine/threonine protein phosphatases 1 and 2A (PP1 and PP2A), thereby influencing regulation of cellular protein phosphorylation. The paralytic shellfish poison, okadaic acid, is also a potent inhibitor of these PPs.

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Toxin-producing cyanobacteria pose a worldwide health threat to humans and animals due to their increasing presence in both drinking and recreational waters. Detection of microcystins in water generally relies on specialised equipment and a delay of several days for transport and analysis. Little work has, however, been done on establishing a simple, cost-effective and sensitive plant bioassay for the detection of microcystin-LR (MCLR) in water at the WHO Tolerable Daily Intake guideline level of 1 microg/l.

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Toxin-producing cyanobacteria pose a worldwide health threat to humans and animals due to their increasing presence in both drinking and recreational waters. Little work has, however, been done on a preventative therapy for anyone at risk of exposure to cyanobacterial toxins. The potential benefits of dietary supplementation of selenium, an antioxidant, to protect against the mouse liver injury induced by the toxin, microcystin-LR, has been investigated.

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