PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

S S Knight

Publications and source records attributed to S S Knight.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

Fluorescent Pseudomonas isolates from Mississippi Delta oxbow lakes: in vitro herbicide biotransformations.

Fluorescent pseudomonads were a major component [log (10) 4.2-6.1 colony-forming units mL-1] of the culturable heterotrophic gram-negative bacterioplankton observed in three Mississippi Delta oxbow lakes in this study. Pure cultures of fluorescent pseudomonads were isolated from three Mississippi Delta oxbow lakes (18 per lake), using selective media S-1. Classical physiological tests and Biolog GN plates were used in criteria for taxonomic identification. Most isolates were identified as biotypes of Pseudomonas fluorescens 55% (II), 7% (III), and 25% (V). About 7% of the isolates were identified as P. putida and 7% as non-fluorescent Pseudomonas-like. Cell suspensions of these isolates were tested for their ability to metabolize/co-metabolize six 14C-radiolabeled herbicides (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), cyanazine, fluometuron, metolachlor, propanil, and trifluralin) that are commonly used for crop production in this geographical area. Almost all (53 of 54) isolates transformed trifluralin via aromatic nitroreduction. Most isolates (70%) dechlorinated metolachlor to polar metabolites via glutathione conjugation. About 60% of the isolates hydrolyzed the amide bond of propanil (a rice herbicide) to dichloroaniline, with the highest frequency of propanil-hydrolyzing isolates observed in the lake from the watershed with rice cultivation. All propanil-hydrolyzing isolates were identified as P. fluorescens biotype II. No metabolism of cyanazine or fluometuron was observed by any isolates tested, indicating little or no potential for N-dealkylation among this group of bacterioplankton. No mineralization of 2,4-D labeled in either the carboxyl or ring position was observed. These results indicate that reductive and hydrolytic pathways for herbicide co-metabolism (aromatic nitroreduction, aryl acylamidase, and glutathione conjugation) are common in Mississippi Delta aquatic fluorescent pseudomonads; however, the potential for certain oxidative transformations (N-dealkylation, cyano group oxidation) may be rare in this group of bacterioplankton.

2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid↗

Toxicological evaluation of constructed wetland habitat sediments utilizing Hyalella azteca 10-day sediment toxicity test and bacterial bioluminescence.

A toxicological evaluation was conducted on wetland habitats created as a result of run-off from agricultural areas. These temporary wetlands were created by using drop pipes as a means of reducing erosional cutting in agricultural fields. Toxicity bioassays utilizing bacterial bioluminescence and Hyalella azteca were used to assess sediment pore water and whole sediment, respectively. Inhibition of bacterial bioluminescence was initially used to determine relative toxicities of pore water from ten wetland sites. Constructed wetland sites were compared to the University of Mississippi Biological Field Station, a relatively pristine reference site. The H. azteca ten day sediment toxicity test was utilized to assess sediment from four selected sites using survival and growth as toxicological endpoints. Results from the toxicological evaluation, along with extensive ecological evaluations, were used to assess the best approach for implementation of temporary wetland habitats with existing agricultural practices.

Agriculture↗

Corticosterone secretion in response to capture and handling in free-living red-eared slider turtles.

The corticosterone response to capture and handling was measured in free-living red-eared slider turtles, Trachemys scripta elegans. To determine the ability of this species to exhibit this endocrine response, slider turtles were bled at the time of removal from hoop nets and again at 30 and 60 min following capture to create plasma profiles of acute corticosterone secretion from individuals. Plasma corticosterone concentration increased significantly with handling time. The greatest rise in corticosterone was within the first 30 min following capture and handling, with this rate of increase declining over the next 30 min of restraint. There was no correlation between corticosterone levels at the time of capture and the length of time it took to get the sample if the sample was taken within the first 10 min after capture. However, when these samples were included with those taken from other turtles sampled 11 to 25 min after capture, hormone levels were significantly correlated with handling time. This suggests that the critical time to obtain an initial sample that best represents the predisturbance level in slider turtles is within 10 min. There was no correlation between the turtles' energetic condition and initial corticosterone concentrations. Plasma corticosterone values at all sampling times were comparable to those observed in other reptile species. The results from this study may be used to investigate the effects of unpredictable resources on reproductive success and survival in freshwater turtles.

Animals↗

Hepatocellular carcinoma in ground squirrels persistently infected with ground squirrel hepatitis virus.

Although persistent infection with hepatitis B virus and woodchuck hepatitis virus has been associated with development of hepatocellular carcinoma in the host, little has been known of such an association with ground squirrel hepatitis virus (GSHV), which is closely related to the woodchuck virus. Colonies of GSHV-infected and -uninfected Beechey ground squirrels were observed for tumors for a period of 5 years. Tumors developed in seven squirrels after a minimum of 2.4 years of observation per animal; each of the seven animals was over 4 years old when the tumor was detected. The predominant type of tumor was hepatocellular carcinoma, which appeared in 2 of 28 GSHV-bearing animals studied and in 1 of 23 squirrels with antibody to the virus. No hepatocellular carcinoma appeared in 24 GSHV marker-free squirrels. Integrated GSHV DNA was found in the hepatocellular carcinoma tissue of the one carrier animal examined, paralleling the frequent findings of integrated hepatitis B and woodchuck hepatitis viral DNA in human and woodchuck hepatocellular carcinoma. Although the incidence of liver carcinoma reported here in carrier ground squirrels is neither as great as that in carrier woodchucks nor statistically different from the incidence in noncarrier squirrels, the data presented suggest that persistent infection with GSHV may also be associated with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Animals↗

Activities of arabinosyladenine monophosphate and 9-(1,3-dihydroxy-2-propoxymethyl)guanine against ground squirrel hepatitis virus in vivo as determined by reduction in serum virion-associated DNA polymerase.

Treatment of chronic ground squirrel hepatitis virus infection with arabinosyladenine monophosphate at 20 mg/kg per day for 3 weeks caused marked decreases in serum virion-associated DNA polymerase concentrations in three of five squirrels. Statistically significant but less dramatic decreases in enzymatic activity were noted in two of six squirrels treated with 50 mg of 9-(1,3-dihydroxy-2-propoxymethyl)guanine per kg per day. After therapy, DNA polymerase activities rose to pretreatment levels.

Acyclovir↗

Liver disease associated with duck hepatitis B virus infection of domestic ducks.

The liver disease associated with duck hepatitis B viremia was investigated in naturally infected ducks from Chi-tung county in China and in both naturally and experimentally infected ducks from the United States. Liver and serum specimens of adult Chinese ducks were examined for duck hepatitis B virus (DHBV) DNA by dot and gel blot hybridization. DHBV was found in serum and (in episomal form only) in livers of 6 of 11 birds exhibiting various degrees of chronic hepatitis. In 1 bird with hepatocellular carcinoma, DHBV DNA was detected at the limit of assay sensitivity and in another not at all, contrasting with findings in humans and woodchucks. In work with California Pekin and Khaki Campbell ducks, known amounts of DHBV were injected into the egg 10 days before, or into ducklings 1 day after, hatching and the livers were examined 6 weeks later. The majority of the injected ducklings had viremia detectable by hybridization 1 or 2 weeks after injection. The presence but not the amount of viremia correlated with incidence and degree of hepatitis, determined under code. The most severe instances of hepatitis, all in Pekin ducks, resembled the hepatitis in adult Chinese ducks of Chi-tung county. Severe and moderate hepatitis were found only in indoor-caged injected animals with viremia and in some uninjected birds without viremia that had been kept in outdoor flocks. The latter hepatitis, as some hepatitis in adult Chinese ducks, may not be related to DHBV. Mild and insignificant hepatitis were also found in injected and noninjected ducklings, some of which had the vertically transmitted spontaneous viremia previously described. The good correlation of experimentally induced viremia with incidence and severity of hepatitis in the Pekin duckling provides a simple, rapid, and relatively inexpensive model to study the relation of lesions to hepatitis B family infection in nonprimates.

Animals↗

Major polypeptide of duck hepatitis B surface antigen particles.

The 40- to 50-nm pleomorphic particles found in the sera of domestic Pekin ducks infected with duck hepatitis B virus were purified by rate zonal and isopycnic centrifugation. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic polypeptide analysis of these particles, called duck hepatitis B surface antigen particles, revealed the major component to be a single 17,500-dalton polypeptide. This result is in contrast to polypeptide analyses of the surface antigens of related mammalian viruses, including hepatitis B, in which a major doublet of polypeptides is seen with molecular weights ranging from 23,000 to 29,000. Tryptic maps of 17,500-dalton polypeptide resembled that of the major non-glycosylated polypeptide of the adw subtype of hepatitis B surface antigen. A serological assay for antibody to the purified duck virus particles is also described.

Animals↗