Convenient treatment of acetonitrile-containing wastes using the tandem combination of nitrile hydratase and amidase-producing microorganisms.

This study aimed to construct an acetonitrile-containing waste treatment process by using nitrile-degrading microorganisms. To degrade high concentrations of acetonitrile, the microorganisms were newly acquired from soil and water samples. Although no nitrilase-producing microorganisms were found to be capable of degrading high concentrations of acetonitrile, the resting cells of Rhodococcus pyridinivorans S85-2 containing nitrile hydratase could degrade acetonitrile at concentrations as high as 6 M.

Formation of dioxins from incineration of foods found in domestic garbage.

There has been great concern about the large amounts of garbage produced by domestic households in the modern world. One of the major sources of dioxins (PCDDs, PCDFs, and coplanar PCBs) in the environment is the combustion of domestic waste materials. Exhaust gases from an incinerator, in which mixtures of 67 food items--including fruits, vegetables, pasta, seafoods, meats, and processed foods and seasoned foods--were analyzed for dioxins.

Determination of gene copy number and genotype of transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana by competitive PCR.

A simple and rapid method is described for determining the integrated T-DNA copy number and the genotype in transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana by two-step competitive PCR. First, the amount of genomic DNA in the extracts, obtained from an individual A. thaliana transformant, was accurately determined by the 1st competitive PCR using a known single copy gene, 4HPPD (4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase), as a target.

Effects of various insecticides on the development of the egg parasitoid Trichogramma dendrolimi (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae).

The toxicity of six insecticides, acephate, methomyl, ethofenprox, cartap, chlorfluazuron, and Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) was tested on different developmental stages of the egg parasitoid, Trichogramma dendrolimi (Matsumura). Each of the insecticides tested showed different degrees of toxicity to the parasitoid, Ethofenprox showed the highest toxicity and cartap showed relatively higher toxicity compared with the other insecticides. The development of the parasitoids treated with these two insecticides was normal, similar to that of the control group.

Nucleotide sequence analysis and development of consensus primers of RT-PCR for detection of Norwalk-like viruses prevailing in Japan.

A total of 177 different nucleotide sequences of the RNA polymerase region of Norwalk-like viruses (NLVs) genomes, collected via a nation-wide survey project in Japan between 1989 and 1998, were examined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) employing various primer pairs. The nucleotide sequences of different strains showed great diversity, with a range of 57 to 100% identities among strains. The strains could be classified into five clusters: Norwalk (NV), Snow Mountain agent/Bristol virus (SMA/BV), Toronto virus/Mexico virus (TV/MX), and Japan specific cluster 1 and 2 (JP-1 and JP-2).