The reported occurrence of synergistic false-positive coliform reactions on M-Endo MF medium was investigated. The objectives of the study were (i) to isolate populations of bacteria which produced such false-positive reactions, (ii) to determine whether false-positive sheen reactions are a result of synergistic interaction, and (iii) to determine the metabolic intermediates involved in false-p...

The membrane filter (MF) method for detection and enumeration of coliform bacteria in drinking water requires that the coliforms both grow and produce a green metallic sheen when the filter is incubated on modified Endo medium at 35 degrees C for 22 h. Large numbers of noncoliform bacteria, which are enumerated by the standard plate count (SPC) technique, can interfere with the detection of col...

Introduction Glossy surfaces are everywhere. If you stand in a typical bathroom and look around, you'll see that most of the surfaces surrounding you are lustrous or glossy. Glazed tiles, gleaming faucets, polished basins and plastic shampoo bottles are all peppered with specular highlights. Given that highlights are so common it seems plausible that the visual system might somehow be able to m...

Jen Sheen grew up in a sugarcane plantation community in a rural area next to the city Pinton in southern Taiwan. The sweet scent in the air and the lush tropical plants in her parents’ gardens were important childhood influences for her choice of studying botany as an undergraduate at National Taiwan University (NTU) and for her unconventional research path studying sugar sensing and signaling...