There is phenomenological evidence that magnetic reconnection operates in the interstellar medium, and magnetic reconnection is also necessary for the operation of a galactic dynamo. The extremely long ohmic di†usion times of magnetic Ðelds in typical interstellar structures suggest that reconnection occurs in two stages, with thin current layers that have relatively short resistive decay times...

Toxic heavy metals, such as lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) are widely used in industry and their accumulation in the living tissues may cause serious health problems and ecological hazards. Twenty four moderately halophilic bacteria isolated from saline environments of Iran were used to study their ability to bioremediation of lead and cadmium. Amongst them, a Gram-negative rod shaped bacterium, de...

Phasins are unusual amphiphilic proteins that bind to microbial polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) granules in nature and show great potential for various applications in biotechnology and medicine. Despite their remarkable diversity, only the crystal structure of PhaPAh from Aeromonas hydrophila has been solved to date. Based on the structure of PhaPAh , homology models of PhaPAz from Azotobacter sp. ...

A novel halophilic bacterium, strain RHS90(T), was isolated from marine sediments from the Gulf of Lions, in the Mediterranean Sea. Its metabolic and physiological characteristics were examined under various cultural conditions, including exposure to stressful ones (oligotrophy, high pressure and high concentrations of metals). Based on phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene, the strain was...