Planktonic foraminifera are one of the most abundant and diverse protists in the oceans. Their utility as paleo proxies requires rigorous taxonomy and comparison with living and genetically related counterparts. We merge genetic and fossil evidence of "Globigerinoides", characterized by supplementary apertures on spiral side, in a new approach to trace their "total evidence phylogeny" since the...

BACKGROUND The Rhodococcus ruber strain Chol-4 genome contains at least three putative 3-ketosteroid Δ1-dehydrogenase ORFs (kstD1, kstD2 and kstD3) that code for flavoenzymes involved in the steroid ring degradation. The aim of this work is the functional characterization of these enzymes prior to the developing of different biotechnological applications. RESULTS The three R. ruber KstD enzym...

The extent of hyperthermophilic microbial diversity associated with siliceous sinter (geyserite) was characterized in seven near-boiling silica-depositing springs throughout Yellowstone National Park using environmental PCR amplification of small-subunit rRNA genes (SSU rDNA), large-subunit rDNA, and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS). We found that Thermocrinis ruber, a member of the order ...

We present a new planktonic foraminifera model developed for the global ocean mixed-layer. The main purpose of the model is to explore the response of planktonic foraminifera to different boundary conditions in the geological past, and to quantify the seasonal bias in foraminiferabased paleoceanographic proxy records. This model is forced with hydrographic data and with biological information t...

Protein-solvent interactions govern the behaviors of proteins isolated from extreme halophiles. In this work, we compared the solvent envelopes of two orthologous tetrameric malate dehydrogenases (MalDHs) from halophilic and non-halophilic bacteria. The crystal structure of the MalDH from the non-halophilic bacterium Chloroflexus aurantiacus (Ca MalDH) solved, de novo, at 1.7 Å resolution exhib...