Study of the Extremely-Tolerant Brevibacterium linens AE038-8 with Antiviral Activity Against Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1.

Brevibacterium linens AE038-8 is an arsenic hyper-tolerant bacterial strain, previously isolated from well water in Tucumán, Argentina. The aim of this study was to characterize this strain regarding its resistance to different stress factors and to evaluate its antiviral activity against Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1). We found that B.

Comparative survival analysis of Deinococcus radiodurans and the haloarchaea Natrialba magadii and Haloferax volcanii exposed to vacuum ultraviolet irradiation.

The haloarchaea Natrialba magadii and Haloferax volcanii, as well as the radiation-resistant bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans, were exposed to vacuum UV (VUV) radiation at the Brazilian Synchrotron Light Laboratory. Cell monolayers (containing 10(5) to 10(6) cells per sample) were prepared over polycarbonate filters and irradiated under high vacuum (10(-5) Pa) with polychromatic synchrotron radiation. N.

Archaea-based microbial fuel cell operating at high ionic strength conditions.

In this work, two archaea microorganisms (Haloferax volcanii and Natrialba magadii) used as biocatalyst at a microbial fuel cell (MFC) anode were evaluated. Both archaea are able to grow at high salt concentrations. By increasing the media conductivity, the internal resistance was diminished, improving the MFC's performance.

Microbial fuel cells applied to the metabolically based detection of extraterrestrial life.

Since the 1970s, when the Viking spacecrafts carried out experiments to detect microbial metabolism on the surface of Mars, the search for nonspecific methods to detect life in situ has been one of the goals of astrobiology. It is usually required that a methodology detect life independently from its composition or form and that the chosen biological signature point to a feature common to all living systems, such as the presence of metabolism. In this paper, we evaluate the use of microbial fuel cells (MFCs) for the detection of microbial life in situ.

Solar forcing of the stream flow of a continental scale South American river.

Solar forcing on climate has been reported in several studies although the evidence so far remains inconclusive. Here, we analyze the stream flow of one of the largest rivers in the world, the Paraná in southeastern South America. For the last century, we find a strong correlation with the sunspot number, in multidecadal time scales, and with larger solar activity corresponding to larger stream flow.