Overexpression of NADH oxidase gene from Deinococcus geothermalis in Escherichia coli

When using stable enzyme genes from a thermophile to create a biosensor in Escherichia coli, it is vital that these genes be overexpressed in order to provide a sufficient supply of enzymes. In this study, overexpression of the NADH oxidase (Nox) gene from the thermophile Deinococcus geothermalis was successfully achieved with the aim of creating a stable biosensor active at room temperatures. To do so, modification of 10 nucleotides, GAAATTAACT, upstream of the start codon of the Nox gene was necessary.     

Overexpression of NADH oxidase gene from Deinococcus geothermalis in Escherichia coli

When using stable enzyme genes from a thermophile to create a biosensor in Escherichia coli, it is vital that these genes be overexpressed in order to provide a sufficient supply of enzymes. In this study, overexpression of the NADH oxidase (Nox) gene from the thermophile Deinococcus geothermalis was successfully achieved with the aim of creating a stable biosensor active at room temperatures. To do so, modification of 10 nucleotides, GAAATTAACT, upstream of the start codon of the Nox gene was necessary.     

An E. coli SOS-EGFP biosensor for fast and sensitive detection of DNA damaging agents

An E. coli SOS-EGFP biosensor which expresses enhanced green fluorescent protein as a reporter protein under the control of recA gene promoter in SOS response was constructed for detection of DNA damage and evaluation of DNA damaging chemicals. The chemicals that may cause substantial DNA damage will trigger SOS response in the constructed bacterial biosensor, and then the reporter egfp gene under the control of recA promoter is stimulated to express as a fluorescent protein, allowing fast and sensitive fluorescence detection. Interestingly, this biosensor can be simultaneously applied for evaluation of genotoxicity and cytotoxicity. The SOS-EGFP bacterial biosensor provides a sensitive, specific and simple method for detecting known and potential DNA damaging chemicals.     

Quantitative determination of Escherichia coli based on the electrochemical measurement of bacterial catalase activity using H2O2-selective organic/inorganic-hybrid sol-gel film-modified Pt electrode

Quantitative determination of Escherichia coli (E. coli) concentration was achieved by measuring the intrinsic catalase activity of E. coli using novel H₂O₂-selective organic/inorganic-hybrid sol-gel film-modified platinum (Pt) wire electrode. This hybrid sol-gel film is composed of three kinds of organosilanes and two biopolymers (i.e., chitosan and bovine serum albumin), and exhibited an excellent permselectivity toward H₂O₂ based on a size-exclusive mechanism. The steady-state anodic current for 100 [xmol/L H₂O₂ at +0.6 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) in 0.1 mol/L phosphate buffer (pH 6.5) solution was apparently diminished by the addition of E. coli samples, due to the decomposition of H₂O₂ by intrinsic catalase activity of E. coli. The time-dependent decrease in current (–AI/At) was significantly dependent on the E. coli concentration. The –AI/At was enhanced by the permeabilization pretreatment of E. coli samples with the mixed solution of polymyxin B and lysozyme. This H₂O₂-selective organic/inorganic-hybrid sol-gel film-modified platinum (Pt) wire electrode allowed quantitative determination of E. coli concentration ranging from 10⁶ to 10⁹ CFU/mL within 30 min. This method required no label and complicated procedure, and allowed rapid, simple and cost-effective quantitative electrochemical determination of catalase-positive bacteria.     

Cloning and expression of the first gene for biodegrading microcystin LR by Sphingopyxis sp. USTB-05

Harmful cyanobacterial blooms are a growing environmental problem worldwide in natural waters, the biodegradation is found to be the most efficient method for removing microcystins (MCs) produced by harmful cyanobacteria. Based on the isolation of a promising bacterial strain of Sphingopyxis sp. USTB-05 for biodegrading MCs, we for the first time cloned and expressed a gene USTB-05-A (HM245411) that is responsible for the first step in the biodegradation of microcystin LR (MC-LR) in E. coli DH5αup, with a cloning vector of pGEM-T easy and an expression vector of pGEX-4T-1, respectively. The cell-free extracts (CE) of recombinant E. coli DH5αup containing USTB-05-A had high activity for biodegrading MC-LR. The initial MC-LR concentration of 40 mg/L was completely biodegraded within 1 hr in the presence of CE with a protein concentration of 0.35 mg/mL. Based on an analysis of the liquid chromatogram-mass spectrum (LC-MS), the enzyme encoded by gene USTB-05-A was found to be active in cleaving the target peptide bond between 3-amino-9-methoxy-2,6, 8-trimethyl-10-phenyl-deca-4,6-dienoic acid (Adda) and arginine of MC-LR, and converting cyclic MC-LR to linear MC-LR as a first product that is much less toxic than parent MC-LR, which offered direct evidence for the first step on the pathway of MC-LR biodegradation by Sphingopyxis sp. USTB-05.     

北京市4种不同污水处理系统中病原菌变化研究

采用定量PCR技术,对北京市4种不同污水处理系统中大肠杆菌、军团菌和沙门氏菌随工艺及四季的数量变化进行了追踪研究,以评估病原菌的去除效果及污水回用的健康风险.结果发现,大肠杆菌在夏季进水和出水中的浓度分别在107~108copies·m L-1和105copies·m L-1左右;G-A/O系统对大肠杆菌的去除率最高,平均去除率达99.88%.军团菌在4个污水处理系统中进水浓度为104~105copies·m L-1,出水浓度约为104copies·m L-1,其在剩余污泥样品中浓度较高,达到105~106copies·m L-1.沙门氏菌进水浓度较低,为102~103copies·m L-1,且其在多个工艺段样品中未检出.季节变化对于病原菌的去除具有较大影响.研究表明,大肠杆菌在各污水处理系统中均可检出,且其分布具有一定的季节性,夏季的进出水中浓度相对较高;而军团菌和沙门氏菌浓度在各工艺中则并未呈现出明显的季节性变化.G-A/O系统对3种细菌的整体去除效果最为稳定,去除率较高.大肠杆菌在污水处理厂的出水及剩余污泥中浓度仍然较高,此外,冬季出水中也能检测到沙门氏菌的存在,因此,污水处理厂的出水和污泥排放仍存在一定的生态和健康风险.     

微生物全细胞传感器在重金属生物可利用度监测中的研究进展

传统的物理化学方法主要用于测定环境重金属的总量,微生物全细胞传感器可以对土壤及水体环境的重金属生物可利用度进行监测.此外,微生物全细胞传感器还具有操作简单、快速、经济的特点,适用于污染事件的应急监测.微生物全细胞传感器的生物学元件主要由MerR、ArsR、RS等家族的金属调控蛋白和gfp、lux、luc等报告基因组成.调控蛋白、报告基因与微生物全细胞传感器的灵敏度、特异性和监测特点有关.受pH、金属螯合物及检测条件等因素的影响,不同的环境条件下的重金属生物可利用度是不同的.增加重金属在微生物细胞内的累积,进行调控蛋白的分子生物学改造,优化检测条件是提高传感器灵敏度、特异性和准确性的可行方案.实现污染物的原位和在线监测是微生物全细胞传感器的主要发展方向.     

城市污泥中温厌氧消化中挥发性脂肪酸(VFA)对肠道病原菌的杀灭机理

为探讨污泥中温厌氧消化（MAD）过程中挥发性脂肪酸（VFA）对肠道病原菌的杀灭机理,在连续流污泥MAD反应器中,研究了两种pH条件下VFA对埃希氏大肠杆菌（E.coli）、沙门氏菌（Salmonella spp.）和志贺氏菌（Shigella spp.）杀灭的影响.结果发现,中性条件下（pH≈7）,污泥中大肠杆菌和沙门氏菌数量经厌氧消化处理后明显下降,均下降了2个数量级,但VFA浓度为1000～6000mg·L-1时大肠杆菌和沙门氏菌的杀灭效果差别不明显.在pH酸性条件下（pH≈5）,高浓度VFA反应器中污泥的大肠杆菌、沙门氏菌和志贺氏菌数量分别下降了3、6和2个数量级,达到污泥A级标准.对于纯培养的大肠杆菌和沙门氏菌,在VFA浓度8000mg·L-1、pH=5条件下培养6d后病原菌浓度低于检测限.结果表明,VFA对污泥厌氧消化中病原菌的杀灭效应与未解离状态的VFA浓度密切相关,高浓度VFA、低pH时,未解离态VFA浓度增加,从而提高病原菌杀灭效率.     

Toxicity detection of sodium nitrite, borax and aluminum potassium sulfate using electrochemical method

Based on the inhibition effect on the respiratory chain activity of microorganisms by toxicants,an electrochemical method has been developed to measure the current variation of a mediator in the presence of microorganisms contacted with a toxicant.Microelectrode arrays were adopted in this study,which can accelerate the mass transfer rate of an analyte to the electrode and also increase the total current signal,resulting in an improvement in detection sensitivity.We selected Escherichia coli as the testee and the standard glucoseglutamic acid as an exogenous material.Under oxygen restriction,the experiments in the presence of toxicant were performed at optimum conditions(solution pH 7.0,37°C and reaction for 3 hr).The resulting solution was then separated from the suspended microorganisms and was measured by an electrochemical method,using ferricyanide as a mediator.The current signal obtained represents the reoxidation of ferrocyanide,which was transformed to inhibiting efficiency,IC 50,as a quantitative measure of toxicity.The IC 50 values measured were 410,570 and 830mg/L for sodium nitrite,borax and aluminum potassium sulfate,respectively.The results show that the toxicity sequence for these three food additives is consistent with the value reported by other methods.Furthermore,the order of damage degree to the microorganism was also observed to be:sodium nitrite > borax > aluminum potassium sulfate > blank,according to the atomic force microscopy images of E.coli after being incubated for 3 hr with the toxic compound in buffer solutions.The electrochemical method is expected to be a sensitive and simple alternative to toxicity screening for chemical food additives.     

Comparative cytotoxicity of nanoparticles and ions to Escherichia coli in binary mixtures

The objective of this study was to understand toxicity of mixture of nanoparticles (NPs) (ZnO and TiO₂) and their ions to Escherichia coli. Results indicated the decrease in percentage growth of E. coli with the increase in concentration of NPs both in single and mixture setups. Even a small concentration of 1 mg/L was observed to be significantly toxic to E. coli in binary mixture setup (exposure concentration: 1 mg/L ZnO and 1 mg/L TiO₂; 21.15% decrease in plate count concentration with respect to control). Exposure of E. coli to mixture of NPs at 1000 mg/L (i.e., 1000 mg/L ZnO and 1000 mg/L TiO₂) resulted in 99.63% decrease in plate count concentration with respect to control. Toxic effects of ions to E. coli were found to be lesser than their corresponding NPs. The percentage growth reduction was found to be 36% for binary mixture of zinc and titanium ions at the highest concentration (i.e., 803.0 mg/L Zn and 593.3 mg/L Ti where ion concentrations are equal to the Zn ions present in 1000 mg/L ZnO NP solution and Ti^+ 4 ions present in 1000 mg/L TiO₂ NP solution). Nature of mixture toxicity of the two NPs to E. coli was found to be antagonistic. The alkaline phosphatase (Alp) assay indicated that the maximum damage was observed when E. coli was exposed to 1000 mg/L of mixture of NPs. This study tries to fill the knowledge gap on information of toxicity of mixture of NPs to bacteria which has not been reported earlier.     

Urban stormwater disinfection, quality variability during storage and influence on the freshwater algae: Implications for reuse safety

Stormwater reuse is one of the most important ways to mitigate water resource shortage. However, urban stormwater contains many bacteria species, which threaten the reuse safety. Therefore, stormwater disinfection is highly needed. Although disinfection has been widely conducted in the drinking water and reclaimed water, it is rarely carried out for stormwater. This study collected the roof stormwater and undertook chlorination disinfection. Two typical bacteria, Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S.aureus) were selected in this study to investigate the disinfection efficiency. It is found that bacteria species present in the stormwater had an important influence on disinfection efficiency while the original stormwater quality did not show an obvious affect. However, when the disinfected stormwater was stored, the stormwater quality was highly variable during its storage process and the variability was affected by bacteria species. The S.aureus containing stormwater showed a high variability of quality and S.aureus significantly regrew. However, the E.coli containing stormwater quality had a relatively low variability and E.coli did not significantly regrew. Additionally, it is noted that after storage, the dissolved form of stormwater was more positive to the freshwater algae's growth while the particulate form (including bacteria and other particulate matters) was less. This implies that a further treatment such as filtration is needed before the stored stormwater is recharged into receiving waters in order to remove particulate forms. These research outcomes can provide useful insight to effective stormwater disinfection and ensure reuse safety.     

Application of internal standard method in recombinant luminescent bacteria test

Mercury and its organic compounds have been of severe concern worldwide due to their damage to the ecosystem and human health. The development of effective and affordable technology to monitor and signal the presence of bioavailable mercury is an urgent need. The Mer gene is a mercury-responsive resistant gene, and a mercury-sensing recombinant luminescent bacterium using the Mer gene was constructed in this study. The mer operon from marine Pseudomonas putida strain SP1 was amplified and fused with prompterless luxCDABE in the pUCD615 plasmid within Escherichia coli cells, resulting in pTHE30–E. coli. The recombinant strain showed high sensitivity and specificity. The detection limit of Hg^2 + was 5 nmol/L, and distinct luminescence could be detected in 30 min. Cd^2 +, Cu^2 +, Zn^2 +, Ca^2 +, Pb^2 +, Mg^2 +, Mn^2 +, and Al^3 + did not interfere with the detection over a range of 10^− 5–1 mM. Application of recombinant luminescent bacteria testing in environmental samples has been a controversial issue: especially for metal-sensing recombinant strains, false negatives caused by high cytotoxicity are one of the most important issues when applying recombinant luminescent bacteria in biomonitoring of heavy metals. In this study, by establishing an internal standard approach, the false negative problem was overcome; furthermore, the method can also help to estimate the suspected mercury concentration, which ensures high detection sensitivity of bioavailable Hg^2 +.     

污水河道污泥中大肠杆菌抗生素抗性与金属耐受性的耦合分析

城市污水河道受人为活动的影响,可能作为抗性细菌与抗性基因的储库,给人类生产生活带来巨大的威胁.本研究以中国寒区城市污水河道污泥为取样点,研究大肠杆菌（Escherichia coli）的抗生素与金属的耐药现状,以评估中国寒区城市水环境受抗性细菌污染的情况与传播抗性的风险.利用选择性培养基从河道淤泥中分离出455株肠杆菌,并从中筛选出110株E. coli.抗生素表型结果显示：69.1%的E. coli分离株对至少1种抗生素具有抗性,其中,抗性最高的是氧四环素（42.7%）;所有的E. coli对亚胺培南和呋喃妥因没有抗性;分离株E. coli DL27对检测的17种抗生素中的13种具有抗性,分离株E. coli DL18、分离株E. coli DL46对12种抗生素具有抗性.金属抗性表型检测结果显示：40.9%的E. coli对银（Ag）具有耐受性,3.6%的分离株对汞（Hg）、锌（Zn）具有耐受性,所有菌株对铜（Cu）无耐受性;且发现分离株E. coli DL35对9种抗生素和2种金属具有抗性.对E. coli群体15种抗生素抗性基因（Antibiotic Resistance Genes,ARGs）、4种金属耐受性基因（Metal Resistance Genes,MRGs）、1种整合酶基因的检测结果显示,ARGs中tetA（56.4%）、blaTEM（26.4%）、sul2（24.5%）、sul1（22.7%）基因的检出率最高,MRGs的检出率分别为20.0%（silB）、13.6%（silE）、8.2%（merC）、16.4%（pcoE）,整合酶基因intI1的检出率为2.7%.研究表明,在河道污泥中不仅存在多重抗生素抗性E. coli,而且存在同时具有抗生素抗性和金属耐受性的E. coli.河道污泥是抗性细菌和抗性基因的储库,对人类生产生活构成了潜在的巨大威胁.     

应用FCM-qPCR方法定量检测水中常见病原体

以往对水体病原体的研究主要是通过监测粪大肠杆菌作为指示,然而研究表明粪大肠杆菌与水中病毒和细菌病原体呈现出较差的相关性.因此,选取水中典型病原体并对其进行定量检测是当前需要解决的技术问题.为此本研究建立了流式细胞术和定量PCR联合使用方法,用于快速获取水环境中总病毒、细菌以及几种典型病原体(大肠杆菌、军团菌、腺病毒、贾第虫和隐孢子虫等)的浓度水平,并将该方法应用到污水处理厂进出水及受纳河流上下游的病原体检测中.结果表明,该污水处理厂对总细菌和总病毒以及几种典型病原体都具有较高的去除率(93%);污水处理厂排水对受纳水体病原体浓度水平基本没有负面影响.研究为评估污水处理厂处理效果及排水对受纳水体的生态影响提供了技术支持.     

Rotavirus Occurrence in Shellfish with Low Levels of E. coli

The purpose of this study was to evaluate “in field” the accumulation of virus in shellfish and compare it with the concentration of bacterial indicators. Individuals of Mytilus galloprovincialis were placed in two sampling station located in a contaminated coastal bay and in one control station located one kilometer offshore. The presence of Rotavirus and E. coli was assessed weekly both in seawater and in shellfish samples. The Rotavirus genome was detected in water, preliminarily concentrated by tangential flow ultrafiltration method, and in hepatopancreas of mussels by Real-Time PCR. E. coli was enumerated in water matrices by a filtering method and in mussels by the MPN method. Rotaviruses were not recorded in seawater, while in mussels they were detected since third week after placement. E. coli in mussels were always below the limits set in the Regulation (EC) 854/2004. This study suggests the need for a viral indicator to insure the safety for consumption of shellfish.     

超声、过硫酸钾协同去除水中诺氟沙星的效果

过硫酸钾活化可产生强氧化性硫酸根自由基(SO-4·),采用超声/过硫酸钾体系氧化降解诺氟沙星,考察了过硫酸钾浓度、诺氟沙星初始浓度、溶液初始p H值及自由基淬灭剂甲醇、叔丁醇对降解效果的影响.结果表明,超声/过硫酸钾体系能够显著降解和矿化诺氟沙星,与单独过硫酸钾、超声相比,超声/过硫酸钾对诺氟沙星的去除率分别提高了3.2和8.9倍,降解过程符合一级反应动力学.诺氟沙星的去除率随过硫酸钾浓度的增加趋于平缓.p H对诺氟沙星的降解影响较大,这是因为随p H的升高,体系中的氧化性物种由SO-4·转化为以SO-4·/HO·为主.TOC去除和大肠杆菌抗菌实验表明,反应180 min,超声/过硫酸钾能够实现49.12%的诺氟沙星矿化,且对大肠杆菌的抑菌圈直径由45 mm减小到14 mm(滤纸直径),完全去除其抗菌性.结果表明超声/过硫酸钾能够有效用于诺氟沙星废水处理.     

Spatial and Temporal Distribution of Norovirus and <Emphasis Type="Italic">E. coli</Emphasis> in Sydney Rock Oysters Following a Sewage Overflow into an Estuary

This paper reports a study of norovirus (NoV) GII distribution and persistence in Sydney rock oysters (SRO) (Saccostrea glomerata) located in an estuary after a pump station sewage overflow. SRO were strategically placed at six sites spanning the length of the estuary from the pump station to the sea. The spatial and temporal distribution of NoV, hepatitis A virus (HAV) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) in oysters was mapped after the contamination event. NoV GI and GII, HAV and E. coli were quantified for up to 48 days in oysters placed at six sites ranging from 0.05 to 8.20 km from the sewage overflow. NoV GII was detected up to 5.29 km downstream and persisted in oysters for 42 days at the site closest to the overflow. NoV GII concentrations decreased significantly over time; a reduction rate of 8.5% per day was observed in oysters (p < 0.001). NoV GII concentrations decreased significantly as a function of distance at a rate of 5.8% per km (p < 0.001) and the decline in E. coli concentration with distance was 20.1% per km (p < 0.001). HAV and NoV GI were not detected. A comparison of NoV GII reduction rates from oysters over time, as observed in this study and other published research, collectively suggest that GII reduction rates from oysters may be broadly similar, regardless of environmental conditions, oyster species and genotype.     

Inhibition of thrombin by functionalized C60 nanoparticles revealed via in vitro assays and in silico studies

The studies on the human toxicity of nanoparticles (NPs) are far behind the rapid development of engineered functionalized NPs. Fullerene has been widely used as drug carrier skeleton due to its reported low risk. However, different from other kinds of NPs, fullerene-based NPs (C₆₀ NPs) have been found to have an anticoagulation effect, although the potential target is still unknown. In the study, both experimental and computational methods were adopted to gain mechanistic insight into the modulation of thrombin activity by nine kinds of C₆₀ NPs with diverse surface chemistry properties. In vitro enzyme activity assays showed that all tested surface-modified C₆₀ NPs exhibited thrombin inhibition ability. Kinetic studies coupled with competitive testing using 3 known inhibitors indicated that six of the C₆₀ NPs, of greater hydrophobicity and hydrogen bond (HB) donor acidity or acceptor basicity, acted as competitive inhibitors of thrombin by directly interacting with the active site of thrombin. A simple quantitative nanostructure-activity relationship model relating the surface substituent properties to the inhibition potential was then established for the six competitive inhibitors. Molecular docking analysis revealed that the intermolecular HB interactions were important for the specific binding of C₆₀ NPs to the active site canyon, while the additional stability provided by the surface groups through van der Waals interaction also play a key role in the thrombin binding affinity of the NPs. Our results suggest that thrombin is a possible target of the surface-functionalized C₆₀ NPs relevant to their anticoagulation effect.     

Function of arsATorf7orf8 of Bacillus sp. CDB3 in arsenic resistance

Bacillus sp. CDB3 isolated from an arsenic contaminated cattledip site possesses an uncommon arsenic resistance (ars) operon bearing eight genes in the order of arsRYCDATorf7orf8. We investigated the functions of arsA, arsT, orf7 and orf8 in arsenic resistance using a plasmid-based gene knockout approach in the ars genedeficient Escherichia coli strain AW3110. The CDB3 arsA genewas shown to play a significant role in resistance, suggesting that the encoded ArsA may couplewith the arsenite transporter, forming an ArsAY complex that can enhance arsenite extrusion efficiency. Thedisruption of either arsT or orf7was not observed to affect arsenic resistance in the heterologous E. coli host, but their involvement in arsenic resistance can not be excluded. The orf8 gene is predicted to encode a putativedual-specificity protein phosphatasewhich also shares certain homology to arsenate reductases. The function loss of orf8 resulted in a remarkabledecrease in resistance to arsenate, though not arsenite. To examine if this effectwasdue to the reduction of arsenate by orf8, the arsC genewithin the 8-gene operonwasdisrupted. The resulting abolishment of arsenate resistance suggests that the involvement of orf8 in arsenic resistance is not via reductase activity.