No description available.

No description available.

Thesis (doctoral)--Lund University, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references.

The reaction between various forms of manganese dioxide and halide ions has been investigated. Analytical techniques for the study of this heterogeneous liquid-solid reaction have been developed. The appearance of the reaction products, I₂ and Mn²⁺, was monitored in the aqueous phase of the reaction mixture. I₂ was monitored using amperometry. Mn²⁺ was monitored by a novel application of flow injection analysis. A molecular mechanism was postulated which accounts for the complex pH dependence of the reaction and the inhibition of the reaction under conditions of lower hydrogen ion concentration. The potential of the manganese dioxide-iodide reaction for the metallurgical processing of ferromanganese nodules has been demonstrated. Studies show that there is a preferential dissolution of the manganese portion of the nodules by the action of iodide in acidic conditions. The use of deconvolution techniques for obtaining information from overlapping flow injection analysis peaks has been shown to be feasible. Deconvolution techniques allow an increase in the sampling rates which will broaden the application of flow injection analysis in kinetic studies.

The kinetics of reduction by free flavin semiquinones of the individual components of 1:1 complexes of yeast cytochrome c peroxidase and the cytochrome c from horse, tuna, and yeast, including several site-specific mutants of either the cytochrome c or cytochrome c peroxidase, have been studied. The orientations of the various cytochromes c within electrostatically-stabilized complexes with the peroxidase are not equivalent. This is shown by differential decreases in the rate constants for cytochrome reduction by neutral flavin semiquinones upon complexation which are in the order: tuna ≫ horse > yeast iso-2 > yeast iso-1. We have also directly measured the physiologically-significant intracomplex one-electron transfer rate constants from the ferrous cytochromes c to the peroxide-oxidized species of the peroxidase at several ionic strengths. The rate constants at low ionic strength are highly species dependent, again consistent with the contention that the orientations of the various cytochromes within the complex with CcP are not the same. Increasing the ionic strength in all cases resulted in an increase in the rate constant for the first-order process which controls electron transfer from cytochrome c to the peroxidase Compound I species of the peroxidase. When the two proteins are immobilized by covalent cross-linking, no such rate enhancement is observed, suggesting that the ionic strength effect is manifested by an increase in the number of geometric orientations between the two proteins which results in more rapid electron transfer. Similar rate enhancing effects are observed when positively charged residues on the surface of cytochrome c are converted to electrostatically neutral amino acids by site-specific mutagenesis. The effect of site-specific mutagenesis of two residues of cytochrome c peroxidase have also been studied. His-181, when converted to a glycine has little effect on the electron transfer rate constant, whereas when Trp-191 is converted to a phenylalanine no intracomplex electron transfer could be observed, indicating an obligatory role of this residue in the electron transfer process.

The structure of cytochrome c₅₅₅ from the green sulfur bacterium Chlorobium thiosulfatophilum was determined by using a single isomorphous derivative, K₂HgI₄, in combination with its anomalous signal. The initial 2.25 angstrom map was modified by the technique of Fourier inversion. The smoothing function for the electron density map addressed three different features in the map, the solvent density, the protein density and the volume surrounding the heavy atom binding sites known to contain spurious peaks. This structure determination was undertaken for three reasons. First, Chlorobium thiosulfatophilum is a very primitive sulfur metabolizing bacterium and so its cytochrome c₅₅₅ structure is important for its evolutionary implications. Second, the oxidation-reduction potential of cytochrome c₅₅₅ is significantly different from the oxidation-reduction potential of other cytochromes whose structures have been determined. Comparisons with the other structures would provide information concerning the factors that are important in regulating oxidation-reduction potentials. Finally, the three dimensional structure may aid in explaining the pattern of reactivity cytochrome c₅₅₅ displays with mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase and reductase, which is reversed when compared to other bacterial c-type cytochromes. The resulting structure contains three alpha helices. These features are consistent with other c-type cytochrome molecules previously determined. Two regions of the map appear to be disordered and are difficult to interpret. Possible causes of this observation are discussed and related to the significance of the structure.

Ce travail évalue le potentiel du zinc et plus particulièrement des terres rares à tracer les différents processus le long d’une catena issue d’une formation carbonatée constituée d’une succession de bancs marneux et calcaires, et ayant subi des processus de décarbonatation, des conditions redox en lien avec l’hydromorphie et de l’éluviation. L’approche choisie repose (i) sur la spéciation des terres rares, à l’aide de méthodes physiques et chimiques, dans les traits pédologiques formés par les différents processus et des matériaux aux dépens desquels ils se sont développés, (ii) sur la quantification par bilan de masse des flux de terres rares et éléments majeurs associés. Ce travail a nécessité deux mises aux points méthodologiques : une méthode de normalisation des terres rares, basée sur l’enfoncement des fronts de transformation afin de quantifier l’impact des processus successifs sur le fractionnement des terres rares ; une méthodologie de reconstruction des matériaux parentaux pour chacun des horizons, l’approche par bilan de masse nécessitant une connaissance des stocks initiaux. L’impact de deux processus sur les fractionnements de terres rares est ensuite plus particulièrement abordé : la décarbonatation des matériaux parentaux et les processus d’oxydo-réduction. On montre ainsi l’importance de comparer les quantités mises en solution aux flux calculés par les bilans de masse pour prédire le devenir des éléments libérés et l’intérêt des terres rares pour quantifier les cycles de dissolution/précipitation des oxydes de fer et de manganèse. / This project aims at considering the potential of zinc and rare earth element (REEs) at quantifying pedogenetic processes along a soil sequence developed from a limestone formation consisting in a succession of marl and limestone strata which underwent carbonate dissolution, redox cycles related to soil hydromorphy and eluviation. The chosen approach relies on (i) the speciation of rare earth elements - by a method combining sequential extractions and physical separations - in the pedological features resulting from the different processes and in the materials from which they developed; (ii) the quantification of the REE and major element fluxes by mass balance calculation. To do so, two methodologies were developed: a methodology of normalization of REEs based on the theory of transformation fronts to quantify the impact of the processes on REE fractionations; an innovative approach of the reconstruction of the former parent material for each soil horizon as mass balance calculation requires the quantification of initial stocks in elements. Two processes were then further studied: carbonate dissolution and redox processes. We thus point out the necessity to compare max fluxes as computed by mass balance to quantities released by carbonate dissolution in order to forecast the fate of elements released into the soil solution. We also evidenced the potential of REEs to quantify the dissolution/precipitation cycles of iron and manganese oxides.

Mitochondria are a major source of reactive oxygen species and are particularly vulnerable to oxidative stress. Mitochondrial dysfunction, methionine oxidation, and oxidative stress are thought to play a role in both the aging process and several neurodegenerative diseases. Two major classes of methionine sulfoxide reductases, designated MsrA and MsrB are enzymes that function to repair the enatiomers of methionine sulfoxide, met-(o)-S and met-(o)- R, respectively. This study focuses on the effect of Msr deficiencies on mitochondrial function by utilizing mutant alleles of MsrA and MsrB. The data show that loss of only one form of Msr in the mitochondria does not completely impair the function of the mitochondria. However, loss of both Msr proteins within the mitochondria leads to an increased ROS production and a diminished energy output of the mitochondria. These results support the hypothesis that Msr plays a key role in proper mitochondrial function. / by Jennifer Verriotto. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2011. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2011. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Chemical Engineering, 1982. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND SCIENCE. / Bibliography: leaves 95-96. / by Cordelia Mae Price. / M.S.

In natural habitats bacteria predominantly grow and survive as biofilms, which are densely populated assemblages of cells encased in self-produced matrices. Biofilms face the challenge of resource limitation due to poor substrate diffusion and consumption by cells closer to the periphery. When terminal electron acceptors for metabolism, such as oxygen, are limiting, reducing equivalents accumulate in the cell, leading to an imbalanced redox state and disruption of metabolic processes. The opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa possesses various redox-balancing strategies that facilitate disposal of excess reducing power, including (i) production of phenazines, redox-active compounds that mediate extracellular electron shuttling; (ii) use of nitrate as an electron acceptor via the denitrification pathway, and (iii) fermentation of pyruvate. However, if the biofilm grows to a point where these metabolic strategies become insufficient, the community adopts a “structural” strategy: the cells collectively produce extracellular matrix to form wrinkle features, which increase surface area and oxygen availability, ultimately oxidizing (i.e., rebalancing) the cellular redox state. Though the broad physiological effects of these metabolic and structural strategies are known, details of their regulation and coordination in biofilm communities have remained elusive. The work presented in this thesis was aimed at elucidating the (cross-)regulation and coordination of different redox-balancing strategies in biofilms of P. aeruginosa strain PA14. Studies described in Chapter 2 demonstrate novel regulatory links between phenazines and microaerobic denitrification, including a redox-mediated mechanism for control of the global transcription factor Anr, which is traditionally thought to be regulated solely by oxygen. This chapter also presents observations of the spatial segregation of denitrification enzymes in a colony biofilm, which is suggestive of metabolic specialization and substrate crossfeeding between different groups of cells. Chapters 3 and 4 describe work examining the physiological functions and regulation of pyruvate and lactate metabolism in P. aeruginosa. These studies were motivated by pyruvate’s role as a “hub” for central metabolism, the unique structural biochemistry of the P. aeruginosa pyruvate carboxylase, and the intriguing complement of “lactate dehydrogenase” genes in P. aeruginosa. These genes include two that encode canonical and non-canonical respiration-linked L-lactate dehydrogenases. My results in Chapter 3 show that the non-canonical L-lactate dehydrogenase gene can substitute for the canonical one to support aerobic L-lactate utilization and that it is induced specifically by the L- enantiomer of lactate. This enzymatic redundancy for L-lactate utilization could be an adaptation that enhances virulence, given that host organisms (e.g. humans and plants) produce L-lactate but not D-lactate. In addition, Chapter 3 includes studies of pyruvate-lactate metabolism in the context of biofilm communities, where aerobic and anaerobic zones coexist in proximity. Evidence is provided that cells in biofilms have the potential to engage in crossfeeding of anaerobically generated D-lactate, which would constitute a new instance of bacterial multicellular metabolism. Finally, Chapter 4 shows that mutants of pyruvate carboxylase, which converts pyruvate to oxaloacetate, have a matrix-overproducing, hyperwrinkling biofilm phenotype indicative of an imbalanced cellular redox state. This result suggests that disruption of pyruvate carboxylase shunts metabolic flow through pyruvate dehydrogenase, converting pyruvate to acetyl-CoA and generating an excess of reducing power. Together, the findings presented in Chapter 3 and 4 underscore the importance of pyruvate metabolism in the contexts of redox homeostasis and community behavior. When metabolic strategies are insufficient to balance the redox state, biofilms can ameliorate the problem of electron acceptor limitation by forming wrinkle structures, which increase the community’s surface area-to-volume ratio. Wrinkle formation depends on the production of extracellular matrix. Matrix production is also required for the formation of pellicles, biofilms that reside at air-liquid interfaces. Experiments described in Chapter 5 investigate properties of the P. aeruginosa matrix from a socio-evolutionary perspective. My results show that matrix production confers a competitive advantage in pellicle biofilms but not in colony biofilms. The evolutionary landscape of matrix production in biofilms is complex and context-specific; i.e., each microenvironment selects for a subset of phenotypes that confers fitness only in that specific microenvironment. Chapter 6 describes the dynamic processes of pellicle formation in the gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis as well as the gram-negative P. aeruginosa in a time-resolved manner. In these two distantly related species, we observed a conserved mechanism for pellicle formation that involves motility, chemotaxis and aerotaxis. These findings indicate that motility is more than just a unicellular behavior: cells collectively migrate to a microniche and initiate biofilm formation. Finally, Appendix A describes efforts to characterize proteinaceous components of the matrix isolated from P. aeruginosa PA14. In conclusion, this work has elucidated mechanistic details of various redox-balancing strategies in P. aeruginosa, particularly from the perspective of multicellular community development.