It was the purpose of this investigation to present laboratory data concerning the assimilation of inorganic nitrogen by the aquatic actinomycetes. The strains of aquatic actinomycetes under consideration represented a cross section of those currently under culture at North Texas State University.

The purpose then of this paper has been to expand our knowledge of these aquatic forms by investigating the cultural, physiological, morphological, and chemical characteristics of an actinomycete isolated from the water supply, Lake Waco, of Waco, Texas.

Most legume-nodulating rhizobia release hydrogen into the surrounding soil. The effect of hydrogen on soil bacterial communities in microcosms and surrounding legume roots was investigated by generating Terminal Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (T-RFLP) profiles of bacterial 16S rRNA genes. (For complete abstract open document).

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Actinomycetes are ubiquitous in many environments such as soil, activated sludge and water.Besides the genus Streptomyces, which has been extensively exploited, members of other genera including Micromonospora have been shown to be a promising source of novel secondary metabolites and enzymes.The biocatalytic conversion of 5-monosubstituted hydantoin derivatives to optically pure amino acids involves two reaction steps. The first step, catalysed by a hydantoinase, yields an N-carbamylamino acid intermediate, which is subsequently broken down by an Ncarbamoylase to the amino acid. This process has been successfully applied in industry for the production of optically pure amino acids which are used in the synthesis of pharmaceuticals,insecticides, hormones, and food additives. The need for novel hydantoinases to hydrolyse a wider variety of substrates is increasing. This thesis describes the search for a novel hydantoinase from environmental isolates obtained from two Zambian hot-springs. The aim of this study was to isolate, characterise and screen novel actinobacteria for industrially relevant enzymes including hydantoinases. Fifty one actinobacteria were isolated. Isolates were characterized by a polyphasic approach using standard methods, combining phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene, chemotaxonomic and phenotypic characterization. Results revealed that these sites were dominated by actinobacteria belonging to the family Micromonosporaceae, and a potentially novel Verrucosispora species was identified. Screening the isolate identified a Streptomyces species which has hydantoinase, carbamoylase, amidase and nitrilase activities.The Streptomyces sp. hydantionase was cloned and functionally expressed in E.coli. The recombinant enzyme showed 49 % similarity to a crystallised hydantoinase from a Bacillus species. Homology modelling revealed that the enzyme had the TIM barrel topology which is characteristic of hydantoinases. Amino acid residues predicted to be involved in the catalytic activity as well as substrate orientation were identified. The partially purified hydantoinase was characterised and showed optimally activity at 45 °C and pH 8. This study revealed that hot springs may represent a previously unexplored source of novel actinobacterial diversity. However, it also revealed that novel secondary metabolites are not only limited to novel organisms but that some of the answers for the challenges we face today maybe found in organisms we have already encountered and characterised.

Since Actinomycetes have been isolated from finished public drinking water, it is believed that the organisms are unaffected by the chlorination and flocculation of water treatment plants and pass as spores through the filters into the general distribution system. For this reason it was deemed imperative to study the toxic effects of these organisms.

This thesis attempts, first, to correlate pigmentation of actinomycetes with the degree of antibiocity; second, to establish the most favorable means of producing a rich luxuriant pigmentation in the individual organism studied by enriching favorable media with specific types of proteins and amino acids.

The purpose of this problem was to determine the cause of tastes and odors in the Breckenridge water supply and to isolate and culture the organisms responsible for the offensive chemicals.

The purpose of this investigation is to determine the effect of varying geosmin concentrations on the growth of selected cyanophytes which did not produce a notable odor in culture.

Os actinomicetos são bactérias Gram positivas caracterizadas por sua habilidade em formar hifas, são amplamente distribuídos no ambiente e conhecidos pela diversidade na produção de moléculas biologicamente ativas. O presente trabalho teve por objetivo avaliar a atividade de compostos produzidos por quarenta isolados de actinomicetos contra isolados clínicos de Enterococcus sp, Staphylococcus aureus e Staphylococcus epidermidis. O perfil de suscetibilidade das amostras clínicas foi avaliado empregando a técnica de disco difusão em ágar. A atividade antimicrobiana dos actinomicetos foi avaliada pela técnica da dupla camada. Os isolados que apresentaram atividade foram cultivados em caldo amido caseína à temperatura de 30ºC por sete dias, com agitação constante. Após o crescimento, a cultura foi filtrada para obtenção do extrato bruto. A atividade antibiótica do extrato foi avaliada através da técnica de difusão em poço. O isolado que apresentou maior espectro de ação foi selecionado para otimização dos compostos. A otimização da produção dos compostos com atividade antibiótica foi realizada através da avaliação de curva de produção, variação da fonte de carbono, tempo de incubação, pH tamponado e pH não tamponado. No ensaio de sobrecamada os isolados 50 e 8S apresentaram atividade contra a 90% das amostras de microrganismos clínicos de Staphylococcus sp. e Enterococcus sp. No ensaio de difusão em poço o isolado 50 apresentou maior atividade antibiótica que o isolado 8S. Na otimização do extrato as melhores condições de produção foram: 72 h de crescimento, fonte de carbono amido e sem tamponamento de pH. Não foi observada influência de biomassa na produção dos compostos. A cromatografia em camada delgada revelou a presença de duas bandas com fator de retenção de 0,28 (Rf1) e 0,57 (Rf2). / Actinomycetes are Gram positive bacteria, characterized by their ability to form hyphae. They are widely distributed in the environment and known for their diversity in producing biological active molecules. This study aimed to evaluate the activity of compounds produced by forty isolates of Actinomycetes against clinical isolates of Enterococcus sp, Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis. The susceptibility profile of the samples was evaluated using the disk diffusion technique in agar. The antimicrobial activity of actinomycetes was assessed by means of the double layer. Isolates that showed activity were grown in starch casein broth at a temperature of 30 ºC for seven days, with constant agitation. After growth the culture was filtered to obtain a crude extract. The antimicrobial activity of the extract was evaluated by the well diffusion technique. The actinomycete that showed activity against most of the test samples was selected for optimization(s) of the compound(s) production. The optimization of the production was performed by evaluating: growth curve, the use of different carbon source, changes in the incubation time, and culture media with buffered and unbuffered pH. In the overlay assay isolates 50 and 8S presented activity against most of Staphylococcus sp. and Enterococcus sp samples. In diffusion assay isolate 50 showed higher antibiotic activity than the isolated 8S. Compiling the results the best production conditions were: 72 h of growth, carbon source starch without pH buffering at 30°C. There was no effect of biomass (s) compound (s) activity. The thin layer chromatography revealed the presence of two bands with a retention factor of 0.28 (Rf1) and 0.57 (Rf2).

Os actinomicetos são bactérias Gram positivas caracterizadas por sua habilidade em formar hifas, são amplamente distribuídos no ambiente e conhecidos pela diversidade na produção de moléculas biologicamente ativas. O presente trabalho teve por objetivo avaliar a atividade de compostos produzidos por quarenta isolados de actinomicetos contra isolados clínicos de Enterococcus sp, Staphylococcus aureus e Staphylococcus epidermidis. O perfil de suscetibilidade das amostras clínicas foi avaliado empregando a técnica de disco difusão em ágar. A atividade antimicrobiana dos actinomicetos foi avaliada pela técnica da dupla camada. Os isolados que apresentaram atividade foram cultivados em caldo amido caseína à temperatura de 30ºC por sete dias, com agitação constante. Após o crescimento, a cultura foi filtrada para obtenção do extrato bruto. A atividade antibiótica do extrato foi avaliada através da técnica de difusão em poço. O isolado que apresentou maior espectro de ação foi selecionado para otimização dos compostos. A otimização da produção dos compostos com atividade antibiótica foi realizada através da avaliação de curva de produção, variação da fonte de carbono, tempo de incubação, pH tamponado e pH não tamponado. No ensaio de sobrecamada os isolados 50 e 8S apresentaram atividade contra a 90% das amostras de microrganismos clínicos de Staphylococcus sp. e Enterococcus sp. No ensaio de difusão em poço o isolado 50 apresentou maior atividade antibiótica que o isolado 8S. Na otimização do extrato as melhores condições de produção foram: 72 h de crescimento, fonte de carbono amido e sem tamponamento de pH. Não foi observada influência de biomassa na produção dos compostos. A cromatografia em camada delgada revelou a presença de duas bandas com fator de retenção de 0,28 (Rf1) e 0,57 (Rf2). / Actinomycetes are Gram positive bacteria, characterized by their ability to form hyphae. They are widely distributed in the environment and known for their diversity in producing biological active molecules. This study aimed to evaluate the activity of compounds produced by forty isolates of Actinomycetes against clinical isolates of Enterococcus sp, Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis. The susceptibility profile of the samples was evaluated using the disk diffusion technique in agar. The antimicrobial activity of actinomycetes was assessed by means of the double layer. Isolates that showed activity were grown in starch casein broth at a temperature of 30 ºC for seven days, with constant agitation. After growth the culture was filtered to obtain a crude extract. The antimicrobial activity of the extract was evaluated by the well diffusion technique. The actinomycete that showed activity against most of the test samples was selected for optimization(s) of the compound(s) production. The optimization of the production was performed by evaluating: growth curve, the use of different carbon source, changes in the incubation time, and culture media with buffered and unbuffered pH. In the overlay assay isolates 50 and 8S presented activity against most of Staphylococcus sp. and Enterococcus sp samples. In diffusion assay isolate 50 showed higher antibiotic activity than the isolated 8S. Compiling the results the best production conditions were: 72 h of growth, carbon source starch without pH buffering at 30°C. There was no effect of biomass (s) compound (s) activity. The thin layer chromatography revealed the presence of two bands with a retention factor of 0.28 (Rf1) and 0.57 (Rf2).