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G I Karavaĭko

Publications and source records attributed to G I Karavaĭko.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

[Cloning and expression of thermostable secretory metalloproteinase genes from two Bacillus brevis strains in Bacillus subtilis cells].

Two closely related genes of thermostable Bac. brevis metalloproteases were cloned and expressed in Bac. subtilis cells. Their restriction maps and directions of transcription were determined. Thermostability and thermal optimum of proteolytic activity of cloned gene products are significantly lower than those of native enzymes. The authors believe that alteration of the enzymes' characteristics may be due to uncorrected folding of thermostable protein in case of its expression in mesophilic bacterial strains.

Bacillus↗

[Sulfobacillus, a new genus of thermophilic sporulating bacteria].

An aerobic facultative thermophilic bacterium was isolated from the ore of the Nikolaev copper-zinc-pyrite deposit in the Eastern Kazakhstan. The bacterium is similar to Thiobacillus ferooxidans in the ability to use various energy subsrates (Fe2+, sulphide minerals and So) and in the acidophilic properties, but differs from it in the thermophilic nature, the structure of a cell wall, the ability to produce spores, and a lower GC content in DNA. Consequently, the organism has been identified as a new species of a new genus, Sulfobacillus thermosulfidooxidans gen. nov., sp. nov. The organism is presumed to play an active role in oxidation of sulphide ores and their warming in deposits.

Culture Media↗

[Microbial destruction of cyanide and thiocyanate].

The role played by a bacterial community composed of Pseudomonas putida, strain 21, Pseudomonas stutzeri, strain 18, and Pseudomonas sp., strain 5, and by physical and chemical factors in the degradation of CN- and SCN- was studied. It was shown that the degradation of CN- is determined both by the action of bacteria and by abiotic physical and chemical factors (pH, O2, temperature, the medium agitation rate, etc.). The contribution of chemical degradation was found to increase drastically at pH below 9.0; when air was blown through the medium (irrespective of the pH value); under active agitation of the medium; and when the medium surface interfacing air was increased. Even at elevated pH values (9.0-9.2), suboptimal for bacterial growth, the microbial degradation could account for at most 20-25 mg/l of CN-, regardless of its initial concentration. When CN- and SCN- were concurrently present in the medium, the former compound was the first to be degraded by microorganisms. The rate of bacterial degradation of SCN- under continuous cultivation in a chain of reactors was found to depend on its concentration, the medium flow rate, agitation rate, and the pattern of carbon source supply and could exceed 1 g/(1 day). CN- and SCN- are utilized by bacteria solely as nitrogen sources. The mechanism of CN- and SCN- degradation by the microbial community is discussed.

Biodegradation, Environmental↗

[Carbon metabolism in Sulfobacillus thermosulfidooxidans subsp. asporogenes, strain 41].

The activities of carbon metabolism enzymes were determined in cellular extracts of the moderately thermophilic, chemolithotrophic, acidophilic bacterium Sulfobacillus thermosulfidooxidans subsp. asporogenes, strain 41, grown either at an atmospheric content of CO2 in the gas phase (autotrophically, heterotrophically, or mixotrophically) or autotrophically at a CO2 content increased to 5-10%. Regardless of the growth conditions, all TCA cycle enzymes (except for 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase), one glyoxylate cycle enzyme (malate synthase), and some carboxylases (ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase, pyruvate carboxylase, and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase) were detected in the cellular extracts of strain 41. During autotrophic cultivation of strains 41 and 1269, the increase in the CO2 content of the supplied air to 5-10% resulted in the activation of growth and iron oxidation, a 20-30% increase in the cellular content of protein, enhanced activity of the key TCA enzymes (citrate synthase and aconitase), and, in strain 41, a decrease in the activity of carboxylases.

Bacterial Proteins↗

[Growth and carbohydrate metabolism of sulfobacilli].

The moderately thermophilic acidophilic bacteria Sulfobacillus thermosulfidooxidans, strain 1269, S. thermosulfidooxidans subsp. "asporogenes," strain 41, and the thermotolerant strain S. thermosulfidooxidans subsp. "thermotolerans" K1 prefer mixotrophic growth conditions (the concomitant presence of ferrous iron, thiosulfate, and organic compounds in the medium). In heterotrophic and autotrophic growth conditions, these sulfobacilli can grow over only a few culture transfers. In cell-free extracts of these sulfobacilli, key enzymes of the Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas, pentose-phosphate, and Entner-Doudoroff pathways were found. The role of a particular pathway depended on the cultivation conditions. All of the enzymes assayed were most active under mixotrophic conditions in the presence of Fe2+ and glucose, suggesting the operation of all of the three major pathways of carbohydrate metabolism under these conditions. However, the operation of the Entner-Doudoroff pathway in strain 41 was restricted under mixotrophic conditions. After the first culture transfer from mixotrophic to heterotrophic conditions, the utilization of glucose occurred only via the Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas and Entner-Doudoroff pathways. After the first culture transfer from mixotrophic to autotrophic conditions, the activity of carbohydrate metabolism enzymes decreased in all of the strains studied; in strain K1, only the glycolytic pathway remained operative. The high activity of fructose-bisphosphate aldolase, remaining in strain 41 cells under these conditions, suggests the involvement of this enzyme in the reactions of the Calvin cycle or of gluconeogenesis.

Bacillus↗

[The treatment industrial sewage of nonferrous heavy metals using biosorbents].

Producers of the antibiotics neomycin and lincomycin were most potent in sorbing nonferrous metals; they removed 99% Zn and Cd and 95% Ni. The degree of metal sorption increased with an increase in solution pH and calcium content in the biomass. Dynamic studies of biosorbents prepared from microbial biomass showed that neomycin industrial waste products are highly efficient in treating galvanic washing water. The total dynamic exchange capacities by nickel and cadmium were 6.85 and 7.16 mg/ml, respectively.

Adsorption↗

[Effect of the medium composition and cultivation conditions on sporulation in chemolithotrophic bacteria].

The possibility of controlling endospore formation by changing cultivation conditions was for the first time shown in acidophilic chemolithotrophic bacteria Sulfobacillus thermosulfidooxidans type strain 1269 and the thermotolerant strain K1 formerly described as "S. thermosulfidooxidans subsp. thermotolerans". Suppression of sporulation occurred when these strains were cultured in Manning's liquid medium with yeast extract. This medium was optimized by gradually reducing the concentrations of ferrous iron salts (the source of energy), phosphorous, nitrogen, and yeast extract and simultaneously increasing the concentrations of calcium, magnesium, and manganese (the elements important for sporogenesis) to attain higher yields of endospores by strains 1269 and K1. As a result, a new medium A was proposed, in which the life cycle of the strains studied culminated in sporulation at a level of 45 and 60%, respectively, of the total cell number. In a series of additional tests, the growth temperature and medium pH were adjusted to obtain the maximum yield of endospores. The optimal ranges found were 40-50 degrees C and pH 1.8-2.2 for strain 1269 and 35-40 degrees C and pH 2.5-2.7 for strain K1. An even higher yield of endospores, amounting to 55 and 75% for strains 1269 and K1, respectively, was obtained when the above growth conditions were combined (growth on medium A at optimal temperatures and pH). Our results suggest a new approach to optimizing sporulation by acidophilic chemolithotrophs, which consists in limiting the energy and nutrient sources and using temperature and pH values within the tolerance bounds of these cultures but outside their growth of optimum ranges.

Calcium↗

[Strain polymorphism of the plasmid profiles in Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans].

Plasmid profiles were studied in 27 Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans strains isolated from different geographic zones and substrates differing in the composition of the main sulfide minerals, and also in experimentally obtained strains with acquired enhanced resistance to the ions of heavy metals (Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, As). In 16 out of 20 strains isolated from different substrates, one to four 2- to 20-kb and larger plasmids were revealed. Plasmids were found in all five strains isolated from gold-containing pyrite-arsenopyrite ores and concentrates, in nine of 11 strains isolated from the ores and concentrates containing nonferrous metals, and in two of four strains isolated from the oxidation substrates of simple composition (mine waters, pyritized coals, active sludge). Changes in the plasmid profiles in some A. ferrooxidans strains (TFZ, TFI-Fe, TFV-1-Cu) with experimentally enhanced resistance to Zn2+, Fe3+, and Cu2+, respectively, were noted as compared with the initial strains. After 30 passages on S0-containing medium, strain TFBk showed changes in the copy number of plasmids. The role of plasmids in the processes of oxidation of energy substrates and in the acquired enhanced resistance to the heavy metal ions is discussed.

Drug Resistance, Microbial↗

[Characteristics of the restriction profile of chromosomal DNA in strains of Acidithiobacillus ferroxidans, adapted to various oxidation substrates].

Restriction profiles of chromosomal DNA were studied in different Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans strains grown on medium with Fe2+ and further adapted to another oxidation substrate (S0, FeS2, or sulfide ore concentrates). The restriction endonuclease XbaI digested the chromosomal DNA from different strains into different numbers of fragments of various sizes. Adaptation of two strains (TFBk and TFN-d) to new oxidation substrates resulted in structural changes in XbaI-restriction patterns of their chromosomal DNA. Such changes in the DNA restriction patterns occurred in strain TFBk after the adaptation to precyanidated gravitational pyrite-arsenopyrite concentrate (no. 1) from the Nezhdaninskoe deposit or to copper-containing ore from the Udokanskoe deposit and also in strain TFN-d adapted to untreated pyrite-arsenopyrite concentrate (no. 2) from the Nezhdaninskoe deposit. No changes in the number or size of the XbaI-restriction patterns of chromosomal DNA were revealed in either strain TFBk cultivated on media with pyrite from the Angren and Tulun deposits or in strains TFN-d and TFO grown on media with S0 and pyrite. Neither were changes observed in the XbaI-restriction patterns of the DNA from strain TFV-1, isolated from the copper ore of the Volkovskoe deposit, when Fe2+ was substituted with alternative substrates--S0, pyrite or concentrate no. 2 from the ore of Nezhdaninskoe deposit. In strain TFO, no differences in the XbaI-restriction patterns of the chromosomal DNA were revealed between the culture grown on medium containing concentrate no. 2 or the concentrate of surface-lying ore from Olimpiadinskoe deposit and the culture grown on medium with Fe2+. When strain TFO was cultivated on the ore concentrate from deeper horizons of the Olimpiadinskoe deposit, which are characterized by lower oxidation degree and high antimony content, mutant TFO-2 differing from the parent strain in the chromosomal DNA structure was isolated. The correlation between the lability of chromosomal DNA structure in A. ferrooxidans strains and the physical and chemical peculiarities of the isolation substrate and habitat is discussed.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

[The enzyme of carbon metabolism in the thermotolerant sulfobacillus strain K1].

To determine enzymatic activities in the thermotolerant strain K1 (formerly "Sulfobacillus thermosulfidooxidans subsp. thermotolerans"), it was grown in a mineral medium with (1) thiosulfate and Fe2+ or pyrite (autotrophic conditions), (2) Fe2+, thiosulfate, and yeast extract or glucose (mixotrophic conditions), and (3) yeast extract (heterotrophic conditions). Cells grown mixo-, hetero-, and autotrophically were found to contain enzymes of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, as well as malate synthase, an enzyme of the glyoxylate cycle. Cells grown organotrophically in a medium with yeast extract exhibited the activity of the key enzymes of the Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas and Entner-Doudoroff pathways. An increased content of carbon dioxide (up to 5 vol%) in the auto- and mixotrophic media enhanced the activity of the enzymes involved in the terminal reactions of the TCA cycle and the enzymes of the pentose phosphate pathway. Carbon dioxide was fixed in the Calvin cycle. The highest activity of ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase was detected in cells grown autotrophically at the atmospheric content of CO2 in the air used for aeration of the growth medium. The activities of pyruvate carboxylase, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxytransphosphorylase decreased with the increasing content of CO2 in the medium.

Carbohydrate Metabolism↗

[Phenotypic features of Ferroplasma acidiphilum strains Yt and Y-2].

Earlier, we described a new family of mesophilic, strictly autotrophic Fe(2+)-oxidizing archaebacteria, Ferroplasmaceae, which belongs to the order Thermoplasmales and includes the genus Ferroplasma and species F. acidiphilum (strain YT) [1]. The present work is concerned with a comparative study of phenotypic characteristics of the type strain YT and a new strain, F. acidiphilum Y-2, isolated from dense pulps produced during oxidation of arsenogold concentrates from the Bakyrchikskoe (Kazakhstan) and Olimpiadinskoe (Krasnoyarsk Krai) ore deposits, respectively. The G + C content of DNA from strains YT and Y-2 comprised 35.1 and 35.2 mol%, respectively; the level of DNA-DNA homology between the strains was 84%. Restriction profiles of chromosomal DNA from both strains exhibited a similarity coefficient of 0.87. Genotypic characteristics of these strains indicate their affiliation to the same species. The cells of both strains are polymorphic and lack cell walls. Strains of F. acidiphilum oxidized ferrous oxide and pyrite as the sole source of energy and fixed carbon dioxide as the sole carbon source. Strains required yeast extract as a growth factor. Optimum pH for cell growth ranged from 1.7 to 1.8; the temperature optima for the growth of strains YT and Y-2 were 34-36 and 40-42 degrees C, respectively. Comparative analysis of total lipids revealed their close similarity in the strains; two glycophospholipids comprised 90% of total lipids: lipid I, beta-D-glucopyranosylcaldarchaetidylglycerol (about 55%), and lipid II, trihexosylcaldarchaetidylglycerol (26%), whose isopranyl chains contained no cyclopentane rings. The carbohydrate fraction of lipid I hydrolysate contained only D-glucose, whereas hydrolysate of lipid II contained both D-glucose and D-galactose in a molar ratio of 2:1. Thus, it was established that the intraspecific phylogenetic divergence within F. acidiphilum is manifested in two the strains by different temperature optima against the background of similarity in other phenotypic properties.

Base Composition↗

[Restriction analysis of Thiobacillus ferrooxidans DNA using pulsed field electrophoresis].

The DNA of Thiobacillus ferrooxidans digested by any of the five restriction endonucleases (DraI, EcoRI, Eco321, HindIII, XbaI) was studied by electrophoresis in the pulsating differently directed electric fields (PF). The influence of PF conditions on the sized row of the divided DNA fragments was studied. Only the XbaI restriction endonuclease was shown to cleave the Thiobacillus ferrooxidans DNA into a number of fragments permitting one to define the sizes of fragments and genome (no more than 2300 bp). The prospects of using the restriction analysis of Thiobacillus ferrooxidans wild type culture for improving its properties in obtaining heavy metals are discussed.

DNA, Bacterial↗

[Activity of the enzymes of carbon metabolism in Sulfobacillus sibiricus under various conditions of cultivation].

The thermoacidophilic iron-oxidizing chemolithotroph Sulfobacillus sibiricus N1T is characterized by steady growth and amplified cell yield when grown in vigorously aerated medium containing Fe2+, glucose, and yeast extract as energy sources. In this case, carbon dioxide, glucose, and yeast extract are used as carbon sources. Glucose is assimilated through the fructose-bisphosphate pathway and the pentose-phosphate pathway. Glyoxylate bypass does not function in S. sibiricus, and the tricarboxylic acid cycle is disrupted at the level of 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase. The presence of ribulose-bisphosphate carboxylase indicates that carbon dioxide fixation proceeds through the Calvin cycle. The activity of ribulose-bisphosphate carboxylase is highest in autotrophically grown cells. The cells also contain pyruvate carboxylase, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxytransphosphorylase.

Bacillus↗

[Plasmid profiles of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans strains adapted to different oxidation substrates].

Plasmid profiles were studied in five Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans strains of various origin cultivated on medium with Fe2+, as well as adapted to such oxidation substrates as S0, FeS2, and sulfide concentrate. The method used revealed plasmids in all A. ferrooxidans strains grown on medium with Fe2+. One plasmid was found in strain TFL-2, two plasmids, in strains TFO, TFBk, and TFV-1, and three plasmids were detected in strain TFN-d. The adaptation of strain TFN-d to sulfide concentrate and the adaptation of strain TFV-1 to S0, FeS2, or sulfide concentrate resulted in a change in the number of plasmids occurring in cells. In cells of strain TFN-d adapted to sulfide concentrate, the number of plasmids decreased from three to two. The number of plasmids in cells of strain TFV-1 adapted to different substrates varied from three to six depending on the energy source present in the medium: three plasmids were found after growth on FeS2, four after growth on S0, and six after growth on sulfide concentrate. The possible role of plasmids in the adaptation of A. ferrooxidans to new energy substrates and in the regulation of the intensity of their oxidation is discussed.

Acidithiobacillus↗

[Sulfobacillus sibiricus sp. nov., a new moderately thermophilic bacterium].

In the course of pilot industrial testing of a biohydrometallurgical technology for processing goldarsenic concentrate obtained from the Nezhdaninskoe ore deposit (East Siberia, Sakha, Yakutiya), a new gram-positive rod-shaped spore-forming moderately thermophilic bacterium (designated as strain N1) oxidizing Fe2+, S0, and sulfide minerals in the presence of yeast extract (0.02%) was isolated from a dense pulp. Physiologically, strain N1 differs from previously described species of the genus Sulfobacillus in having a somewhat higher optimal growth temperature (55 degrees C). Unlike the type strain of S. thermosulfidooxidans, strain N1 could grow on medium with 1 mM thiosulfate or sodium tetrathionate as a source of energy only within several passages and failed to grow, in the absence of an inorganic energy source, on media with sucrose, fructose, glucose, reduced glutathione, alanine, cysteine, sorbitol, sodium acetate, or pyruvate. The G + C content of the DNA of strain N1 was 48.2 mol %. The strain showed 42% homology after DNA-DNA hybridization with the type strain of S. thermosulfidooxidans and 10% homology with the type strain of S. acidophilus. The isolate differed from previously studied strains of S. thermosulfidooxidans in the structure of its chromosomal DNA (determined by the method of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis) which remained stable as growth conditions were changed. According to the results of the 16S rRNA gene analysis, the new strain forms a single cluster with the bacteria of the species Sulfobacillus thermosulfidooxidans (sequence similarity of 97.9-98.6%). Based on these genetic and physiological features, strain N1 is described as a new species Sulfobacillus sibiricus sp. nov.

Bacillus↗

[Interaction of chromosomal and plasmid DNA in Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans strains adapted to different oxidation substrates].

Restriction analysis of plasmids pTFK1 and pTFK2 of the Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans strain TFBk was carried out, and the sizes of these plasmids were determined (13.5 and 30 kb, respectively). A macrorestriction map was built for plasmid pTFK1. DNA-DNA hybridization revealed that the plasmids contained homologous nucleotide sequences. Plasmid pTFK2 labeled with 32P was used as a probe for Southern hybridization with blots of XbaI-generated fragments of the chromosomal DNA of A. ferrooxidans strains grown on a medium containing Fe2+ or adapted to different oxidation substrates. Low-intensity hybridization signals were observed for many fragments of the chromosomal DNA of the strains studied. In the process of adaptation to new oxidation substrates, the localization of bands producing the low-intensity hybridization signals changed in a number of cases. Certain fragments of the chromosomal DNA of the strains adapted to different oxidation substrates produced strong hybridization signals with pTFK2. The data obtained are discussed in terms of the possible role of IST elements and plasmids in the adaptation of A. ferrooxidans to new energy substrates, microevolution, and strain polymorphism.

Acidithiobacillus↗