Diet, among other environmental and genetic factors, is currently recognised to have an important role in health and disease. There is increasing evidence that the human colonic microbiota can contribute positively towards host nutrition and health. As such, dietary modulation has been proposed as important for improved gut health, especially during the highly sensitive stage of infancy. Differ...

Numbers and kinds of microflora were determined in 160 samples of barley grown in different regions of the United States; microflora were more abundant in the grains grown in the central states than in those grown in the western states. During steeping and germination in micromalting equipment, the number of colonies of filamentous fungi increased from two to five times, colonies of yeasts from...

BACKGROUND Periodontitis is a disease that affects and destroys the tissues that support teeth. Tissue damage results from a prolonged inflammatory response to an ecological shift in the composition of subgingival biofilms. Three bacterial species that constitute the red complex group, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Tannerella forsythia, and Treponema denticola, are considered the main pathogens inv...

Temperature is one of the most important factors affecting microbial growth and biological reactions. In this study, the effect of temperature on aerobic biodegradation of feces is described through the comparison and analysis of experimental oxygen utilization rates (OUR) profiles obtained from batch tests conducted at several temperatures covering mainly mesophilic and thermophilic ranges. Ad...

In extreme environments varying from hot to cold, acidic to alkaline, and highly saline, mainly Archaea are found. Thermophilic and extremely acidophilic Archaea have a membrane that contains membrane spanning tetraether lipids. These tetra-ether membranes have a limited permeability for protons even at the high temperatures of growth and this property makes it possible for thermophilic archaea...

The effects of thermochemical pretreatment and continuous thermophilic conditions on the composting of a mixture of rice straw residue and cattle manure were investigated using a laboratory-scale composting reactor. Results indicate that the composting period of rice straw can be shortened to less than 10 days by applying alkali pre-treatment and continuous thermophilic composting conditions. T...

Almost complete sequences of the 16s rRNA genes of eight representative thermophilic streptomycetes were determined following the isolation and cloning of the amplified genes. These sequences were aligned with those of representative mesophilic streptomycetes, and phylogenetic trees were inferred by using four tree-making algorithms. The thermophilic streptomycetes formed two distinct clades th...

The leuB gene from the psychrotrophic strain Vibrio sp. I5 has been cloned and sequenced. The gene codes for 3-isopropylmalate dehydrogenase, a 360-residue, dimeric enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of leucine. Three recently solved homologous isopropylmalate dehydrogenase (IPMDH) crystal structures from thermophilic and mesophilic organisms have been used to build a homology model for the ps...

The deconstruction of biomass is a pivotal process for the manufacture of target products using microbial cells and their enzymes. But the enzymes that possess a significant role in the breakdown of biomass remain relatively unexplored. Thermophilic microorganisms are of special interest as a source of novel thermostable enzymes. Many thermophilic microorganisms possess properties suitable for ...

Despite decades of research, the structure and assembly of the nuclear pore complex (NPC), which is composed of ∼30 nucleoporins (Nups), remain elusive. Here, we report the genome of the thermophilic fungus Chaetomium thermophilum (ct) and identify the complete repertoire of Nups therein. The thermophilic proteins show improved properties for structural and biochemical studies compared to their...