Transport of Escherichia Coli Strains Isolated from Termination Points of Groundwater Flow Lines

1996 ◽  
Vol 60 (399) ◽  
pp. 275-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. M. Edmunds

AbstractThe concentrations of Br in potable groundwaters in the United Kingdom range from 60 to 340 µg 1-1. The occurrence of Br is described in terms of the Br/Cl weight ratio which enables small changes in bromide concentrations to be assessed in terms of salinity. Median values of Br/Cl in groundwaters range from 2.60 to 5.15 × 10−3 compared with a sea water ratio of 3.47× 10−3. In recent shallow groundwaters the Br/Cl ratio is rather variable in response to a range of natural and anthropogenic inputs (marine and industrial aerosols, industrial and agricultural chemicals including road salt). Some slight enrichment in Br/Cl also occurs naturally during infiltration as a result of biogeochemical processes.Evolution of Br/Cl along groundwater flow lines reflects the sources of increasing salinity; either the influence of marine sedimentary formations or evaporites. The groundwaters in the Triassic sandstones of the English Midlands show significant Br depletion due to the evaporite source, in contrast to groundwaters in Cumbria. Br/Cl ratios in the Sherwood Sandstone of the East Midlands mainly reflect the natural input sources and can be used to help understand the palaeohydrology.


Author(s):  
G. Stöffler ◽  
R.W. Bald ◽  
J. Dieckhoff ◽  
H. Eckhard ◽  
R. Lührmann ◽  
...  

A central step towards an understanding of the structure and function of the Escherichia coli ribosome, a large multicomponent assembly, is the elucidation of the spatial arrangement of its 54 proteins and its three rRNA molecules. The structural organization of ribosomal components has been investigated by a number of experimental approaches. Specific antibodies directed against each of the 54 ribosomal proteins of Escherichia coli have been performed to examine antibody-subunit complexes by electron microscopy. The position of the bound antibody, specific for a particular protein, can be determined; it indicates the location of the corresponding protein on the ribosomal surface.The three-dimensional distribution of each of the 21 small subunit proteins on the ribosomal surface has been determined by immuno electron microscopy: the 21 proteins have been found exposed with altogether 43 antibody binding sites. Each one of 12 proteins showed antibody binding at remote positions on the subunit surface, indicating highly extended conformations of the proteins concerned within the 30S ribosomal subunit; the remaining proteins are, however, not necessarily globular in shape (Fig. 1).


Author(s):  
Manfred E. Bayer

Bacterial viruses adsorb specifically to receptors on the host cell surface. Although the chemical composition of some of the cell wall receptors for bacteriophages of the T-series has been described and the number of receptor sites has been estimated to be 150 to 300 per E. coli cell, the localization of the sites on the bacterial wall has been unknown.When logarithmically growing cells of E. coli are transferred into a medium containing 20% sucrose, the cells plasmolize: the protoplast shrinks and becomes separated from the somewhat rigid cell wall. When these cells are fixed in 8% Formaldehyde, post-fixed in OsO4/uranyl acetate, embedded in Vestopal W, then cut in an ultramicrotome and observed with the electron microscope, the separation of protoplast and wall becomes clearly visible, (Fig. 1, 2). At a number of locations however, the protoplasmic membrane adheres to the wall even under the considerable pull of the shrinking protoplast. Thus numerous connecting bridges are maintained between protoplast and cell wall. Estimations of the total number of such wall/membrane associations yield a number of about 300 per cell.


Author(s):  
Manfred E. Bayer

The first step in the infection of a bacterium by a virus consists of a collision between cell and bacteriophage. The presence of virus-specific receptors on the cell surface will trigger a number of events leading eventually to release of the phage nucleic acid. The execution of the various "steps" in the infection process varies from one virus-type to the other, depending on the anatomy of the virus. Small viruses like ØX 174 and MS2 adsorb directly with their capsid to the bacterial receptors, while other phages possess attachment organelles of varying complexity. In bacteriophages T3 (Fig. 1) and T7 the small conical processes of their heads point toward the adsorption site; a welldefined baseplate is attached to the head of P22; heads without baseplates are not infective.


Author(s):  
A.J. Verkleij

Freeze-fracturing splits membranes into two helves, thus allowing an examination of the membrane interior. The 5-10 rm particles visible on both monolayers are widely assumed to be proteinaceous in nature. Most membranes do not reveal impressions complementary to particles on the opposite fracture face, if the membranes are fractured under conditions without etching. Even if it is considered that shadowing, contamination or fracturing itself might obscure complementary pits', there is no satisfactory explanation why under similar physical circimstances matching halves of other membranes can be visualized. A prominent example of uncomplementarity is found in the erythrocyte manbrane. It is wall established that band 3 protein and possibly glycophorin represents these nonccmplanentary particles. On the other hand a number of membrane types show pits opposite the particles. Scme well known examples are the ";gap junction',"; tight junction, the luminal membrane of the bladder epithelial cells and the outer membrane of Escherichia coli.


2001 ◽  
Vol 268 (6) ◽  
pp. 1739-1748
Author(s):  
Aitor Hierro ◽  
Jesus M. Arizmendi ◽  
Javier De Las Rivas ◽  
M. Angeles Urbaneja ◽  
Adelina Prado ◽  
...  

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