Cyanide assimilation by the beta-cyanoalanine pathway produces asparagine, aspartate and ammonium, allowing cyanide to serve as alternate or supplemental source of nitrogen. Experiments with wheat and sorghum examined the enrichment of (15)N from cyanide as a function of external cyanide concentration in the presence or absence of nitrate and/or ammonium. Cyanogenic nitrogen became enriched in ...

Zinc-cyanide complexes are found in gold mining effluents and in metal finishing rinse water. The effect of Zn(II) on the oxidation of cyanide by ferrate(VI) (Fe(VI)O(4)(2-), Fe(VI)) was thus investigated by studying the kinetics of the reaction of Fe(VI) with cyanide present in a potassium salt of a zinc cyanide complex (K(2)Zn(CN)(4)) and in a mixture of Zn(II) and cyanide solutions as a func...

Concern over poisoning as a result of eating cassava roots or shoots has led to these studies to determine factors which lead to high cyanide content in these tissues and how detoxification can be carried out. Plant age or stage of development does not seem to have a clear influence on root or shoot cyanide content. Genetic control on cyanide content seems significant as varieties may be identi...

At the Bonfim mine, cyanide processing used to extract gold from abandoned tailings represents an important environmental concern. In order to evaluate cyanide concentrations, twenty samples of sediments of the main streams crossing the mine site, and ten samples of the five mainly tailings were analyzed for total cyanide. Cyanide was found in two samples of tailings (0.83 and 1.44mg/Kg of tota...

The filamentous fungus Fusarium lateritium is cyanide tolerant, due partly to the induction of the enzyme cyanide hydratase in the presence of cyanide. This enzyme catalyses the hydration of cyanide to formamide. The expression in Escherichia coli of a cDNA clone encoding cyanide hydratase is described. The cDNA cloned was expressed as a transcriptional fusion in the expression vector pKK233-2 ...

Although commonly known as a highly toxic chemical, cyanide is also an essential reagent for many industrial processes in areas such as mining, electroplating, and synthetic fiber production. The "heavy" use of cyanide in these industries, along with its necessary transportation, increases the possibility of human exposure. Because the onset of cyanide toxicity is fast, a rapid, sensitive, and ...

Three water-soluble fluorescent probes have been specifically designed to determine free cyanide concentrations up to physiologically lethal levels, >20 microM. The probes have been designed in such a way as to afford many notable sensing features, which render them unique with regard to signal transduction, photophysical characteristics, and their application to physiological cyanide determina...

Cyanide is highly toxic Cyanide is one of the most toxic chemical substances on Earth. Cyanide is toxic to most aquatic life and humans, even at low concentrations. Its use in gold mining is controversial. The extreme toxicity of cyanide arises from its readiness to react with other elements and hence interfere with normal biological processes. Cyanide gas is a biological weapon and was used in...

Present study deals with understanding the probable metabolic pathway utilized to degrade cyanide present in the bacteria isolated from contaminated soil harboring the loads of industrial effluent mainly rich in cyanide compounds. This was done by performing the enzymatic assay of the enzymes used in the pathway. Present studies were conducted on cyanide utilizing Pseudomonas species isolated f...