Electricity generation was examined from proteins and a protein-rich wastewater using a single chamber microbial fuel cell (MFC). The maximum power densities achieved were 354 +/- 10 mW/m2 using bovine serum albumin (BSA) and 269 +/- 14 mW/m2 using peptone (1100 mg/L BSA and 300 mg/L peptone). The recovery of organic matter as electricity, defined as the Coulombic efficiency (CE), was comparabl...

Microorganisms can produce hydrogen gas (H(2)) at high rates by fermentation of carbohydrates, but not from proteins. However, it is possible to produce H(2) at high rates and yields from proteins by electrohydrogenesis in microbial electrolysis cells (MECs). Hydrogen gas was generated using bovine serum albumin (BSA, 700 mg/L) in a single-chamber MEC at a rate of Q=0.42+/-0.07 m(3)/m(3)/day an...

The ankyrin repeat (ANK) is the most common protein-protein interaction motif in nature, and is predominantly found in eukaryotic proteins. Genome sequencing of various pathogenic or symbiotic bacteria and eukaryotic viruses has identified numerous genes encoding ANK-containing proteins that are proposed to have been acquired from eukaryotes by horizontal gene transfer. However, the recent disc...

The oral cavity is a complex ecosystem in which several hundred microbial species normally cohabit harmoniously. However, under certain special conditions, the growth of some micro-organisms with a pathogenic potential is promoted, leading to infections such as dental caries, periodontal disease, and stomatitis. The physiology and pathogenic properties of micro-organisms are influenced by modif...

Mass spectrometry (MS) is one of the key technologies used in proteomics. The majority studies carried out using proteomics have focused on identifying proteins biological samples such as human plasma to pin down prognostic or diagnostic biomarkers associated with particular conditions diseases. This study aims quantify microbial (viral and bacterial) healthy plasma. MS data were searched again...

Iron (Fe) and copper (Cu) are essential cofactors for microbial metalloenzymes, but little is known about the metalloenyzme inventory of anaerobic marine microbial communities despite their importance to the nitrogen cycle. We compared dissolved O2, NO[Formula: see text], NO[Formula: see text], Fe and Cu concentrations with nucleic acid sequences encoding Fe and Cu-binding proteins in 21 metage...

Marine methane seep habitats represent an important control on the global flux of methane. Nucleotide-based meta-omics studies outline community-wide metabolic potential, but expression patterns of environmentally relevant proteins are poorly characterized. Proteomic stable isotope probing (proteomic SIP) provides additional information by characterizing phylogenetically specific, functionally ...

ROP-type GTPases of plants function as molecular switches within elementary signal transduction pathways such as the regulation of ROS synthesis via activation of NADPH oxidases (RBOH-respiratory burst oxidase homolog in plants). Previously, we reported that silencing of the Medicago truncatula GTPase MtROP9 led to reduced ROS production and suppressed induction of ROS-related enzymes in transg...

We previously showed that the chimeric proteins of microbial rhodopsins, such as light-driven proton pump bacteriorhodopsin (BR) and Gloeobacter rhodopsin (GR) that contain cytoplasmic loops of bovine rhodopsin, are able to activate Gt protein upon light absorption. These facts suggest similar protein structural changes in both the light-driven proton pump and animal rhodopsin. Here we report t...

Organic material is synthesized in the sunlit surface layer of the oceans and that is where most of it is decomposed back to carbon dioxide and other inorganic constituents. However, a small fraction escapes immediate degradation and makes its way into deeper waters, some as far as the bottom thousands of meters below the surface. This sinking organic material contributes to sequestering atmosp...