Inhibition of tetrachloromethane-induced cross-linking of microsomal fatty acids by the spin-trap α-phenyl- N - t -butylnitrone

The effect of the spin-trap α-phenyl-N-t-butylnitrone (PBN) on the formation of fatty acid dimers induced by the anoxic microsomal metabolism of tetrachloromethane was investigated in vitro, in particular, with respect to cross-linking of arachidonic acid with a second one (C₂₀–C₂₀) and of arachidonic acid with docosahexaenoic acid (C₂₀–C₂₂). PBN exerted no effect on anaerobic tetrachloromethane metabolism but inhibited dimer formation, half-maximally at a concentration of 0.1 mmol L^?1. Trichloromethyl octadecenoic acid was also found, but at levels 10-fold lower than the fatty acid dimers. The data suggest that the hepato-protective effect of PBN against tetrachloromethane-toxicity may be due to its ability to scavenge fatty acid radicals, resulting in stable, non-reactive entities, which do not undergo secondary reactions such as cross-linking. The data confirm and extend previous findings that crosslinking plays an important role in tetrachloromethane toxicity and similar cases of metabolic radical-induced toxicity.     

COLIWAVE a simulation model for survival of E. coli O157:H7 in dairy manure and manure-amended soil

A simulation model was developed to investigate the relative effects of temperature, oxygen concentration, substrate content and competition by autochthonous microbial community on the oscillatory behaviour and survival of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in manure and manure-amended soil. The overall decline in E. coli O157:H7 was primarily determined by competition with autochthonous copiotrophic bacteria simulated by an inter-specific competition term according to Lotka-Volterra. Oscillations of bacterial populations were attained by the relationships between relative growth and death rates with readily available substrate content. The model contains a logistic and exponential relation of relative growth and death rates, respectively, of E. coli O157:H7 and copiotrophic bacteria with temperature, resulting in optimum curves for net growth rates similar to the curves reported in the literature. The model has been both calibrated and validated on experimental data. The model was used to perform sensitivity analysis and to evaluate different manure and soil management scenarios in terms of survival of E. coli O157:H7. The relative effects of changes in temperature on simulated survival time of E. coli O157:H7 were more pronounced than changes in oxygen condition. Testing manure storage scenarios with realistic data revealed that manure stored in a heap that was turned every week resulted in almost 70% reduction of E. coli O157:H7 survival compared to unturned manure. At the surface of a heap with unturned manure, simulated survival time was the longest (2.4 times longer than inside the same heap). The simulation model provides a new approach to investigating dynamic changes of invasive microorganisms in natural substrates such as manure or manure-amended soil.     

Darwin’s warm little pond revisited: from molecules to the origin of life

All known cosmic and geological conditions and laws of chemistry and thermodynamics allow that complex organic matter could have formed spontaneously on pristine planet Earth about 4,000 mya. Simple gasses and minerals on the surface and in oceans of the early Earth reacted and were eventually organized in supramolecular aggregates and enveloped cells that evolved into primitive forms of life. Chemical evolution, which preceded all species of extant organisms, is a fact. In this review, we have concentrated on experimental and theoretical research published over the last two decades, which has added a wealth of new details and helped to close gaps in our previous understanding of this multifaceted field. Recent exciting progress in the molecular and genetic analyses of existing life, in particular microorganisms of ancient origin, even supports the possibility that a cellular, self-reproducing common ancestor might be assembled and resurrected in anaerobic cultures at some time in the future. Charles Darwin did not, and indeed, could not, address and specify the earliest phases of life which preceded the Origin of Species. However, in a famous letter, he sketched “a warm little pond with all sorts of… (chemicals, in which) …a protein was chemically formed.” We try to trace the impact of his charming clear-sighted metaphor up to the present time.