Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-12T22:59:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 arquivo372_1.pdf: 1424769 bytes, checksum: b93a14ffc416b9f2e4e209057cf11851 (MD5) license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / A eficiência de tratamentos de biorremediação utilizando fertilizantes e um biossurfactante na redução da toxicidade de sedimento contaminado por petróleo e um derivado, ao longo do tempo, foi avaliada no presente trabalho por meio de bioensaios com o copépodo Tisbe biminiensis. O sedimento utilizado foi coletado no estuário do rio São Paulo-BA, área com histórico de contaminação por derivados de petróleo e na baía de Suape-PE. Em laboratório, os sedimentos foram acondicionados em provetas de vidro acomodadas em aquários. Para cada tratamento foram utilizados 3 aquários sujeitos à renovação de 1/3 da água a cada 12 horas. O sedimento do estuário do rio São Paulo foi homogeneizando e recebeu os fertilizantes NPK e OMOCOTE, aplicados em 3 vezes de 1,5 g em cada proveta. O sedimento de Suape foi contaminado com óleo diesel (40 g. kg-1) e recebeu biossurfactante ramnolipídeo (0,04 g. kg-1), produzido pela bactéria Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Os sedimentos contaminados por petróleo e derivado sujeitos à biorremediação foram comparados ao sedimento controle, proveniente de uma área sem contaminação. As coletas das provetas de sedimento para a avaliação ecotoxicológica foram realizadas 6 vezes durante os 90 dias do experimento com fertilizantes e 5 vezes durante os 111 dias do experimento com biossurfactante. Durante os bioensaios, cinco réplicas contendo sedimento controle, coletada em uma área livre de contaminação, foram utilizados para comparar o efeito tóxico. Os testes de toxicidade tiveram duração de 7 dias. Para cada réplica de sedimento foram utilizadas 10 fêmeas ovígeras, colocadas em recipientes-teste contendo 2g do sedimento em estudo e 20 ml de suspensão de diatomácea a uma concentração de 0,2μg Clorofila a. mL-1. A adição de alimento era realizada a cada dois dias. Ao término de cada experimento as fêmeas eram coradas com Rosa de Bengala e fixadas em formol para contagem e análise dos efeitos letais e sub-letais (sobre a prole). O sedimento coletado no estuário do Rio São Paulo, testado inicialmente após homogeneização não apresentou toxicidade letal às fêmeas de Tisbe biminiensis, porém reduziu significativamente a fecundidade total dos organismos expostos. A introdução do fertilizante NPK interferiu na sobrevivência das fêmeas nas coletas realizadas com 1 e 8 dias após o início do experimento, contudo este sinal de letalidade desaparece no decorrer do período de biorremediação com os fertilizantes. A fecundidade dos organismos aumenta gradativamente tanto nos tratamentos em que houve adição de fertilizantes quanto no tratamento sujeito apenas à atenuação natural, não havendo diferenças significativas entre tais tratamentos. O tratamento com biossurfactante apresentou efeito tóxico sub-letal na fecundidade do copépodo na primeira avaliação após a adição deste composto, aos 21 dias de experimento, possivelmente pela disponibilização do óleo, pela presença de metabólitos gerados após a degradação ou ainda pela toxicidade do biossurfactante. Este tratamento não demonstrou superioridade quanto à eficiência em relação ao sedimento sujeito apenas à atenuação natural. Desta forma, a adição de fertilizantes, bem como o uso de biossurfactante, nas concentrações utilizadas, não acelerou a redução da toxicidade dos sedimentos contaminados do estuário do rio São Paulo e da baía de Suape, respectivamente. Nestas circunstâncias, a atenuação natural dos hidrocarbonetos liberados por derivados do petróleo no sedimento resultará em uma degradação sem maiores prejuízos à biota

The biocatalytic conversion of 5-monosubstituted hydantoin derivatives to optically pure amino acids involves two reaction steps: the hydrolysis of hydantoin to N-carbamylamino acid by an hydantoinase or dihydropyrimidinase enzyme, followed by conversion of the Ncarbamylamino acid to the corresponding amino acid by an N-carbamoylase enzyme. This biocatalytic process has been successfully applied in several industrial processes for the production of enantiomerically pure amino acids used in the synthesis of pharmaceuticals, insecticides, hormones, and food additives. P. putida RU-KM3S was selected for study based on inherent high levels of hydantoinase and N-carbamoylase activity. Subsequent biocatalytic analysis of the enzyme activity within this strain revealed unique properties thus prompting further characterization. The main focus of this research was the isolation of the genes encoding the hydantoin-hydrolysing pathway in RU-KM3S. A genomic library was constructed and screened for heterologous expression of the hydantoin-hydrolysing enzymes. However, this approach was unsuccessful prompting the use of transposon mutagenesis in order to circumvent the drawbacks associated with complementation studies. The enzymes responsible for hydantoin-hydrolysis were identified by insertional inactivation as a dihydropyrimidinase and b-ureidopropionase encoded by dhp and bup respectively. A third open reading frame, encoding a putative transport protein, was identified between the dhp and bup genes and appeared to share a promoter with bup. Analysis of the amino acid sequence deduced from bup and dhp substantiated the distinctive properties and potential industrial application of the L-enantioselective b-ureidopropionase and provided targets for potential optimisation of the substrate-selectivity and activity of the dihydropyrimidinase by site directed mutagenesis. Several transposon-generated mutants with an altered phenotype for growth on minimal medium with hydantoin as the sole source of nitrogen were also isolated. Analysis of the insertion events in these mutants revealed disruptions of genes encoding key elements of the Ntr global regulatory pathway. However, inactivation of these genes had no effect on the dihydropyrimidinase and b-ureidopropionase activity levels. An additional mutant in which the gene coding for the dihydrolipoamide succinyltransferase, which is involved in the TCA cycle, was isolated with reduced levels of both dihydropyrimidinase and b-ureidopropionase activities. These results indicated that the hydantoin-hydrolysis pathway in RU-KM3S is regulated by carbon rather than nitrogen catabolite repression. This was confirmed by the reduction of hydantoin-hydrolysis in cells grown in excess carbon as opposed to nitrogen. Identification of a putative CRP-binding site within the promoter region of these enzymes further supported the regulatory role of carbon catabolite repression (CCR). As CCR in Pseudomonads is poorly understood, elucidation of the mechanism by which the hydantoinhydrolysing pathway in RU-KM3S is regulated would provide valuable insight into this complex process.

Identifica los tipos de RL contenidos en las bandas de un halo revelado en agar CTAB/MB. Desarrolla una técnica para extraer RL a partir del agar CTAB/MB implementando, además, una metodología de superficie de respuesta Box-Behnken que maximizó las separaciones entre las 4 bandas de un patrón de RL producidos por P. aeruginosa 6K-11. Identifica, mediante UPLC-MS/MS, 9 congéneres de RL en la banda 1 (RC8C10, RC10C8, RC10C10, RRC8C10, RRC10C8, RRC10C10, RRC10C12:1, RRC12C10 y RRC10C12), 7 en la banda 2 (RC8C10, RC10C8, RC10C10, RRC8C10, RRC10C8, RRC10C10 y RRC10C12:1), 4 en la banda 3 (RC10C10, RRC8C10, RRC10C8 y RRC10C10) y 3 en la banda 4 (RRC8C10, RRC10C8, RRC10C10). La estructura molecular es probablemente el factor más importante en la migración de los RL puesto que se observa que la relación de la presencia de isómeros se mantiene en las cuatro bandas. Además de existir predominancia de diRL. Concluye que la cantidad y la diversidad de tipos de RL disminuye en la migración de cada banda según su complejidad estructural (cantidad de ramnosas, isomería y masa) lo que comprueba las diferencias en cuanto a composición química y abundancia de los RL que se encuentran dentro de cada banda. / Tesis

Tesis presentada a la Universidad de Chile para optar al grado académico de Magíster en Bioquímica, área de especialización Toxicología y Diagnóstico Molecular y Memoria para optar al Título de Bioquímico / Las bacteriocinas son péptidos antimicrobianos de síntesis ribosomal producidos por microorganismos, principalmente del dominio bacteria. Las bacteriocinas producidas por bacterias Gram positivo o Gram negativo, presentan una actividad tóxica sobre especies bacterianas estrechamente relacionadas con la bacteria productora. Para ejercer su acción antimicrobiana las bacteriocinas utilizan receptores específicos localizados exclusivamente en la bacteria blanco, por lo tanto raramente se observa actividad citotóxica sobre células eucariontes. No obstante, algunas bacteriocinas inhiben específicamente el crecimiento de líneas celulares neoplásicas. Debido a estas propiedades, las bacteriocinas tienen una potencial aplicación biotecnológica por su posible uso como alternativa a los tratamientos con antibióticos tradicionales, o como nuevos antibióticos contra patógenos multirresistentes, como preservantes o desinfectantes en la industria alimenticia, y en el área biomédica como antineoplásicos para combatir algunos tipos de cáncer. En nuestro laboratorio encontramos un nuevo compuesto antimicrobiano del tipo bacteriocina producido por la cepa de Pseudomonas aeruginosa O400, al que hemos denominado gicina A. Este compuesto es capaz de inhibir, selectivamente, el crecimiento de bacterias Gram positivo. Debido a que no existen informes en la literatura de bacteriocinas producidas por bacterias Gram negativo que presenten actividad antimicrobiana solamente sobre bacterias Gram positivo, el estudio del mecanismo de acción y las propiedades bioquímicas de gicina A constituye un valioso aporte en la búsqueda de nuevas sustancias antimicrobianas. El objetivo general de esta tesis fue “Purificar, caracterizar bioquímicamente, y evaluar tanto el mecanismo de acción antibacteriano de gicina A, como su toxicidad in vitro sobre líneas celulares eucariontes”. Para lograr este objetivo se realizó la purificación de gicina A mediante cromatografías en columnas hidrofóbicas y HPLC. Mediante electroforesis de proteínas y espectrometría de masas se determinó que esta proteína tiene una masa molecular de 7925 Da. La evaluación de sus propiedades bioquímicas demostró que la actividad de gicina A es estable a un amplio rango de temperaturas, conserva su actividad al ser solubilizada en una amplia gama de solventes y presenta una mayor actividad al ser solubilizada a un pH neutro. Por otra parte empleado gicina A purificada se confirmó que esta posee una actividad antibacteriana selectiva por bacterias Gram positivo. Estudios de alteración de la cinética de crecimiento de la bacteria blanco y ensayos de microscopía de fluorescencia indicaron que gicina A posee un efecto bactericida sobre bacterias Gram positivo y que este efecto es producido por una permeabilización en la membrana celular. La evaluación de la citotoxicidad in vitro de gicina A sobre células eucariontes mostró que esta bacteriocina ejerce una leve toxicidad en las líneas de origen tumoral, sin embargo no se observó efecto citotóxico sobre las líneas celulares no tumorales. / Bacteriocins are antimicrobial peptides ribosomally synthesized produced by microorganisms, mainly from Bacteria domain. Bacteriocins produced by Gram positive or Gram negative bacteria, present a toxic activity on bacterial species closely related to the bacteriocin producing bacteria. To exert its antimicrobial action, bacteriocins use specific receptors exclusively located in the target bacteria, therefore rarely cytotoxic activity on eukaryotic cells can be observed. However, some bacteriocins specifically inhibit growth of neoplastic cell lines. Because of these properties, bacteriocins have a potential for biotechnological application for its possible use as an alternative to the traditional antibiotic treatments, or as new antibiotics against multi-resistant pathogens, also as preservatives or disinfectants in food industry, and in biomedical field as antineoplastics. In our laboratory we have found a new antibacterial compound with bacteriocin properties produced by the Pseudomonas aeruginosa O400 strain, which we called gicin A. This compound is able to selectively inhibit the growth of Gram positive bacteria. Because there are no reports in the literature of bacteriocins produced by Gram negative bacteria that have antimicrobial activity only on Gram-positive bacteria, the study of the mechanism of action and biochemical properties of gicin A is a very valuable contribution to the search of new antimicrobial substances. The overall aim of this thesis was to “Purify, characterize biochemically, and assess both the antibacterial action mechanism of gicin A, and its in vitro toxicity on eukaryotic cell lines”. To achieve this objective the purification of gicin A was performed by a hydrophobic column chromatography and HPLC. Protein electrophoresis and mass spectrometry determined that this protein has a molecular mass of 7925 Da. The evaluation of its biochemical properties showed that the activity of gicin A is stable at a wide temperature range, it retains its activity when is solubilized in a wide range of solvents and has a higher activity when is solubilized at a neutral pH. Moreover, employing purified gicin A was confirmed that it has a selective antibacterial activity against Gram positive bacteria. Alteration studies of the growth kinetics of the target bacteria and fluorescence microscopy indicated that gicin A has a bactericidal effect on Gram positive bacteria and that this effect is produced by cell membrane permeabilization. The evaluation of cytotoxicity in vitro of gicin A on eukaryotic cells shows that this bacteriocin has a mild toxicity on tumoral origin cell lines, however we noticed no cytotoxic effect on non tumoral origin cell lines.

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document / Dissertation (MSc(Microbiology))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Microbiology and Plant Pathology / unrestricted

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen capable of infecting the human cornea. Such infections are difficult to treat, and are often fulminative, in that the infected eye is lost, or severely scarred. The use of alternative therapeutic agents has been necessitated by the frequent failure of conventional antibiotic therapy. Equine hyperimmune antilipopolysaccharide plasma (Anti-LPS) was obtained by the plasmapheresis of suitably immunized horses. The plasma contained 1,O- 1 ,5g/ml of LPS-precipitible IgG antibodies. Topical administration of Anti-LPS as a lavage was shown to be effective against Pseudomonas keratitis in rabbits and guinea pigs. Subsequent use of topical corticosteroids was found to further reduce corneal pathology. The improvement noted in these experimental infections involved all three parameters measured, area of keratitis, depth of lesion, and degree of vascularization. In vitro , Anti-LPS was shown to be rapidly bactericidal for Gram negative bacteria. The plasma can therefore be said to have a dual mechanism of action: antitoxic, and antibacterial. Ocular administration of Anti-LPS, by both the topical and subconjunctival routes, was well tolerated by both rabbits and baboons. In conclusion, Anti-LPS is a potentially useful immunotherapeutic agent with many applications in both veteriary and human medicine, particularly in the treatment of surface infections involving antibiotic-resistant Gram negative bacteria / KMBT_363 / Adobe Acrobat 9.53 Paper Capture Plug-in

Pseudomonas is the most common cause of chronic lung infections leading to death in cystic fibrosis patients. While chronic infection is extremely difficult to eradicate, the initial bacterial-host interactions prior to biofilm formation and establishment of chronic infections represents an attractive therapeutic target. It is clear that interaction between pathogens and the host is a very complex process and successful adaptation requires tight control of virulence factor expression. The aim of this project was to look for early changes in P. aeruginosa global gene expression in response to attachment to epithelial cells. P. aeruginosa PA01 was incubated with polarized HBE cells at a MOI of 100 for 4 hours and bacteria attached to epithelial cells (interacting) were collected separately from those in the supernatant (non-interacting). To minimize media effects observed by others, iron and phosphate were supplemented at appropriate levels to avoid expression changes due to limitation of these nutrients, as confirmed in our microarray experiments. Analysis of 3 independent experiments demonstrated that 766 genes were up or down regulated by more than 1.5 fold during attachment. Among these, 371 genes, including ion, oprC, as well as 3 genes in quorum-sensing systems and 9 genes involved in the pmrAB and phoPQ two-component regulatory systems were found to be induced in the interacting bacteria. On the other hand, 395 genes, including oprG outer membrane porin and pscP involved in type III secretion system were down regulated. To understand the roles of these differentially expressed genes, a cytotoxicity (LDH release) assay was performed and demonstrated that oprG and ion mutants were less capable than the wild type of killing HBE epithelial cells. These findings suggest that, under these interaction assay conditions, regulation of the expression of certain virulence factors provides a potential advantage for successful adaptation. In addition, a mutant lacking a filamentous hemagglutinin like protein was found to be less cytotoxic to HBE cells and also deficient in A549 epithelial cell binding, indicating that this probable non-pilin adhesin has multiple functions in P. aeruginosa. / Science, Faculty of / Microbiology and Immunology, Department of / Graduate

The nature of the reserves of Pseudomonas aeruginosa that are oxidized during endogenous respiration was studied by following the changes in the chemical constituents and in the distribution of radioactivity of starving cells that had been grown on C¹⁴-labeled substrates. The total protein and nucleic acid of cell suspensions decreased during starvation. Deoxyribonucleic acid increased slightly, whereas ribonucleic acid decreased. C¹⁴O₂ was evolved from endogenously respiring cells specifically labeled in the nucleic acid fraction and from cells specifically labeled in the protein fraction. Chemical fractionation of C¹⁴-labeled cells showed a decrease in hot trichloroacetic acid-soluble and insoluble compounds, indicating that the C¹⁴O₂ arose from the degradation of RNA and protein and not from free pool compounds. A decrease in ribosomal RNA and protein was evident from physical fractionations of starved labeled cells. An enzyme responsible for the initiation of ribosomal degradation was found to be associated with the ribosome fraction and was identified as polynucleotide phosphorylase. The enzyme was inactive in high magnesium concentrations but was active under conditions which allowed the dissociation of the large ribosomal units into 50S and 30S components. Polynucleotide phosphorylase was not solubilized by the dissociation of the 70S ribosomes but remained firmly attached to the 50S subunit. The oxidation of exogenous substrates resulted in varying degrees of suppression of the oxidation of endogenous RNA and this suppression was attributed to the relative stabilizing effect that the exogenous substrates exerted on the ribosomes. The oxidation of endogenous protein was depressed during the oxidation of exogenous glucose, aspartic acid and adenosine and was increased during the oxidation of α-ketoglutaric acid. The response of endogenous respiration to the oxidation of exogenous substrates appeared to be related to a requirement for ammonium ions for assimilation of carbon. / Land and Food Systems, Faculty of / Graduate

The non-phosphorylated oxidative pathway of glucose dissimilation has been established in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and evidence for phosphorylated pathways, other than the Embden-Meyerhof scheme, has been obtained. In the present study the non-phosphorylated and phosphorylated pathways of glucose degradation have been investigated with cell-free extracts of this organism. Gluconolactone was shown to be an intermediate in the oxidation of glucose to gluconic acid. The enzymatic hydrolysis of the lactone ring has an absolute magnesium ion, or divalent cation requirement. In the presence of phosphate buffer magnesium was chelated and effectively removed from participation in the enzymatic reaction. As has been reported in the literature, the product of glucose and gluconic acid oxidation was identified as 2-ketogluconate. In the presence of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), glucose and gluconate are phosphorylated and the kinases involved, therefore, link the non-phosphorylated with the phosphorylated pathways. The demonstration of triphosphopyridine nucleotide (TPN) linked dehydrogenases for glucose-6-phosphate and 6-phosphogluconate, as well as the production of glucose-6-phosphate and 3-phosphoglyceraldehyde from cell-free extracts with gluconate or ribose plus ATP, illustrated the presence of a functional pentose phosphate cycle in this organism. An active 6-phosphogluconate dehydrase and a 2-keto-3-deoxy-6-phosphogluconate aldolase were demonstrated by the production of pyruvic acid from 6-phosphogluconate and indicated the presence of the Entner-Doudoroff pathway. The oxidation of 3-phosphoglyceraldehyde to 3-phosphoglyceric acid initiated by a TPN specific 3-phosphoglyceraldehyde dehydrogenase, and the conversion of phospho-enol-pyruvate to pyruvic acid was shown. It is suggested that the trioses are immediately concerned in the observed CO₂ fixation by this organism. Fructose-1,6-diphosphate aldolase, fructose-1,6-diphosphate phosphatase and phosphohexoisomerase may be involved in the formation of glucose-6-phosphate from triose phosphates. A direct link between 2-ketogluconate and the phosphorylated pathways could not be shown but the reduction of the phosphate ester of the compound was demonstrated. The feasibility of 2-ketogluconate undergoing a 3:3 split is presented. No attempt has been made to estimate the relative importance of the various pathways of glucose dissimilation as it is felt that this is determined by the conditions and stages of growth of the organism. / Land and Food Systems, Faculty of / Graduate

An effort has been made to demonstrate that the major pathway for glucose oxidation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 9027) involves the sequence of reactions: glucose →gluconate → 2-ketogluconate → 2-keto-6- phosphogluconate → 6-phosphogluconate. It appears however, that extracts of this organism are capable of phosphorylating glucose directly, that is, to yield glucose-6-phosphate and subsequently 6-phosphogluconate. A study of this latter pathway was felt to be necessary in order to evaluate the likelihood of it being a major alternative to the established non-phosphorylated pathway. Since it is known that glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase from P. aeruginosa and other microorganisms as well as from certain animal tissues exhibits a marked sensitivity to various nucleotides particularly to adenosine triphosphate. A study of this inhibition was made in order to assess the possible role that this sensitivity may play in determining the importance of this pathway as the major route of glucose oxidation. Enzyme fractionation studies revealed that hexokinase and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase could be separated either by an ethanol fractionation or by an alkaline ammonium sulfate fractionation. The best separation of dehydrogenase was obtained using ethanol although hexokinase could only be isolated using the alkaline ammonium sulfate method. Cell free extracts of P. aeruginosa oxidize glucose to 2-keto-gluconate but carry the reaction no further. This represents a consumption of l µM of oxygen per µM glucose. In the presence of ATP the amount of oxygen consumed was reduced to a maximum of 0.5 µM per µM glucose, indicating the accumulation of a compound less oxidized than 2-ketogluconic acid. 6-phosphogluconate appeared to conform to the requirements of such a compound. Chromatographic analysis of reaction mixtures containing ATP revealed the accumulation of a phosphorylated compound which could not be identified. Under in vitro conditions both pathways appear to be operable but the non-phosphorylated pathway accounts for most of the glucose in the metabalizing organism. / Land and Food Systems, Faculty of / Graduate