The Journal of General and Applied Microbiology
Online ISSN : 1349-8037
Print ISSN : 0022-1260
ISSN-L : 0022-1260
Volume 48, Issue 1
Displaying 1-7 of 7 articles from this issue
Full Papers
  • Nirupama Mallick, Friedrich H. Mohn, Carl J. Soeder, Johan U. Grobbela ...
    2002 Volume 48 Issue 1 Pages 1-7
    Published: 2002
    Released on J-STAGE: January 27, 2006
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    A concentration-dependent toxicity of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) was observed on growth yield, chlorophyll a content and chlorophyll fluorescence characteristics of the green microalga Scenedesmus obliquus under laboratory batch culture conditions. The addition of sodium nitroprusside, a nitric oxide (NO) donor, in combination with H2O2 prevented chlorophyll losses, and the inhibition level of growth yield, maximum quantum yield of photosystem II (PSII) and the light-adapted quantum yield of PSII were significantly reduced. The antioxidant compounds, penicillamine and thiourea also reduced the damage caused by H2O2 exposure. The protective actions of sodium nitroprusside were, however, arrested in cultures where sodium nitroprusside was supplemented in combination with 2-(4-carboxyphenyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide (c-PTIO), a specific scavenger of NO. The NO3-grown Scenedesmus depicted less sensitivity to H2O2 toxicity with respect to the quantum yields of PSII as compared to its NH4+-grown counterpart. The role of NO in providing protection against H2O2 toxicity to the processes under study was discussed.
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  • Krisztina Rigó, János Varga, Beáta Tóth, J ...
    2002 Volume 48 Issue 1 Pages 9-16
    Published: 2002
    Released on J-STAGE: January 27, 2006
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Sequences of the intergenic transcribed spacer regions and the 5.8S rRNA gene (455 nucleotides) of type strains or representative isolates of 23 species and subspecies either currently assigned to Aspergillus subgenus Circumdati section Flavi or other closely related sections, were analyzed. Parsimony analysis of sequence data indicated that species of Aspergillus section Flavi form distinct clades. The three main clades identified based on sequence data could also be distinguished based on colony color, and their ubiquinone systems. The ‘A. flavus’ clade includes species characterized with Q-10(H2) as their main ubiquinone, conidial colors in shades of green, and dark sclerotia. The ‘A. tamarii’ clade involves species with ubiquinone system Q-10(H2), and conidia in shades of olive to brown, while the ‘A. alliaceus’ clade consists of species with Q-10 ubiquinone system, and conidia in shades of ocher. The synnematous species A. coremiiformis was found to be closely related to species in the ‘A. tamarii’ clade. A. thomii and A. terricola var. americana were found to be related to the ‘A. flavus’ clade in spite of producing brownish colonies. Three species, A. nomius, A. avenaceus, and A. leporis were found to form separate lineages not closely related to any of the main clades identified. It is suggested that A. clavatoflavus and A. zonatus be excluded from Aspergillus section Flavi. Phylogenetic analysis of partial 26S rRNA gene sequences (564 nucleotides) supported our findings.
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  • Feng-Yan Bai, Masako Takashima, Jian-Hua Jia, Takashi Nakase
    2002 Volume 48 Issue 1 Pages 17-23
    Published: 2002
    Released on J-STAGE: January 27, 2006
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    As a result of conventional characterization of yeasts isolated from various plant leaves collected in Yunnan, China, six ballistoconidium-forming strains with orange-colored colonies were grouped together. Molecular phylogenetic analysis based on 18S rDNA sequencing showed that two representative strains of this group of yeasts, CH 2.068 and CH 2.497, were closely related to the species in the genus Dioszegia and had signature sequences typical of this genus. However, the six strains from Yunnan differed from the described Dioszegia species remarkably (14.5–17.7% nucleotide divergences) in the ITS (internal transcribed spacer) region sequences, which indicated that they represent a distinct species. Furthermore, among the six strains studied, the ITS region sequence comparison allowed the recognition of two subgroups represented by CH 2.068 and CH 2.497, which differ from each other in three bases in the ITS 2 region. DNA-DNA relatedness revealed that the two subgroups represent two varieties of a new species in the genus Dioszegia, for which Dioszegia zsoltii sp. nov. var. zsoltii and Dioszegia zsoltii var. yunnanensis var. nov. are proposed.
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  • Kihachiro Ogawa, Naoto Yoshida, Kunichi Kariya, Chikako Ohnishi, Ryuic ...
    2002 Volume 48 Issue 1 Pages 25-33
    Published: 2002
    Released on J-STAGE: January 27, 2006
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    One of the chitinases secreted in the culture filtrate of a gram-negative bacteria, Burkholderia cepacia strain KH2, which was isolated from the bed log of Lentinus edodes, Shiitake mushrooms, was purified by DEAE Sepharose CL-6B chromatography, followed by Sephacryl S-100 HR gel filtration. The purified enzyme was homogenous, determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), with an estimated molecular weight of 34,000 and an isoelectric point (pI) of 5.9. The enzyme was stable at pH values of 4.0–6.0, and at temperatures up to 50°C; the optimum pH and temperature were 4.5 and 50°C, respectively. The enzyme exhibited higher activities toward chitosan 7B, a 62% deacetylated chitosan, than toward the highly deacetylated chitosan substrates. The enzyme was observed to drastically hydrolyze partially deacetylated chitin substrates, with the subsequent formation of N-acetylchitooligosaccharides [(GlcNAc)n, n=2–7]. Separation and quantification of the hydrolysis products of (GlcNAc)n, n=2–6, by HPLC showed the splitting into (GlcNAc)n, n=3–6. Activity toward N-acetylchitobiose was not detected. Oligomers with a higher number of units than the starting substrate were also detected, which indicate transglycosylation activity.
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  • Tadao Kunihiro, Hong-Ying Hu, Byung-Ran Lim, Naohiro Goto, Koichi Fuji ...
    2002 Volume 48 Issue 1 Pages 35-41
    Published: 2002
    Released on J-STAGE: January 27, 2006
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    In this study, a quinone profiling method was applied to clarify the differences in community structure between suspended and sessile microorganisms in rivers. The compositions of microbial quinone of 6 sites for 4 rivers were analyzed. Ubiquinone (UQ)-8, UQ-10, menaquinone (MK)-7, and plastoquinone (PQ)-9 were observed in all samples of suspended and sessile microorganisms for the sites investigated. The dominant quinone species in suspended microorganisms was ubiquinone, and that in sessile microorganism was photosynthetic quinones (namely PQ-9 and vitamin K1). This indicated that aerobic bacteria were abundant in the suspended microorganisms, and photosynthetic microorganisms such as micro-algae and cyanobacteria dominated in the sessile microorganisms. The quinone concentration in the river waters tested, which reflects the concentration of suspended microorganisms, ranged from 0.045 to 1.813 nmol/L. The microbial diversities of suspended and sessile microorganisms calculated based on the composition of all quinones were in the range from 3.4 to 7.5, which was lower than those for activated sludge and soils. Moreover, the diversity of heterotrophic bacteria for sessile microorganisms in the rivers was higher than that for the suspended microorganisms.
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  • Shin Onda, Akira Hiraishi, Yoshitaka Matsuo, Susumu Takii
    2002 Volume 48 Issue 1 Pages 43-54
    Published: 2002
    Released on J-STAGE: January 27, 2006
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    By combination of denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis of PCR-amplified 16S rDNA (PCR-DGGE), quinone profiling, and 16S rRNA-targeted fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), a polyphosphate-accumulating organism (PAO) responsible for phosphate (P)-removal was identified in activated sludge with high P-removal ability from a laboratory-scale anaerobic/aerobic continuous flow reactor. The DNA fragment from the most dense band on the DGGE gel was closely related to that of ‘Candidatus Accumulibacter phosphatis’ (β-Proteobacteria). Quinone profiling also suggested the predominance of β-Proteobacteria. FISH with a specific oligonucleotide probe designed for the sequence showed that the targeted bacterium was dominant in the activated sludge, and the accumulation and consumption of polyphosphate were observed by dual staining with 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole. The bacterium was concluded to be the responsible PAO in the reactor. However, when the P-removal ability per cell slightly decreased, the dominance of the PAO greatly diminished in the activated sludge. Such sludge might be dominated by other types of PAOs.
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  • Motofumi Suzuki, Takashi Nakase
    2002 Volume 48 Issue 1 Pages 55-65
    Published: 2002
    Released on J-STAGE: January 27, 2006
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    To clarify phylogenetic relationships among ubiquinone 7 (Q7)-forming species of the genus Candida, we analyzed the nearly complete sequences of 18S ribosomal RNA genes (18S rDNAs) from fifty strains (including 46 type strains) of Candida species, and from 8 type strains of species/varieties of the genera Issatchenkia, Pichia and Saturnispora. Q7-forming Candida species were divided into three major groups (Group I, II, and III) and were phylogenetically distant from a group that includes the type species of the genus Candida. Group I included four clusters with basal branches that were weakly supported. The first cluster comprised C. vartiovaarae, C. maritima, C. utilis, C. freyschussii, C. odintsovae, C. melinii, C. quercuum, Williopsis saturnus var. saturnus, and W. mucosa. The second cluster comprised C. norvegica, C. montana, C. stellimalicola, C. solani, C. berthetii, and C. dendrica. Williopsis pratensis, W. californica, Pichia opuntiae and 2 related species, P. amethionina (two varieties), and P. caribaea were also included in this cluster. The third cluster comprised C. pelliculosa (anamorph of P. anomala), C. nitrativorans, and C. silvicultrix. The fourth cluster comprised C. wickerhamii and C. peltata, which were placed in the P. holstii-C. ernobii clade with Q8-containing species. Group II comprised C. pignaliae, C. nemodendra, C. methanolovescens, C. maris, C. sonorensis, C. pini, C. llanquihuensis, C. cariosilignicola, C. ovalis, C. succiphila (including its two synonyms), C. methanosorbosa, C. nitratophila, C. nanaspora, C. boidinii (including its two synonyms), W. salicorniae, and P. methanolica. Group III was composed of four clusters with strong bootstrap support. The first cluster comprised C. valida (anamorph of P. membranifaciens), C. ethanolica, C. pseudolambica, C. citrea, C. inconspicua, C. norvegensis, C. rugopelliculosa, and C. lambica. Three species and two varieties of the genus Issatchenkia were also included in this cluster. The second cluster comprised C. diversa, C. silvae, 4 Saturnispora species, and P. besseyi. The third comprised C. sorboxylosa, and the fourth comprised C. vini. Based on this 18S rDNA sequence analysis, it is evident that Q7-forming Candida species and the genera Pichia and Williopsis are polyphyletic. The genus Issatchenkia is suggested to be congeneric with the genus Pichia. The genus Saturnispora is phylogenetically definable.
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