Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 69 in total

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  1. Lim JW, Lim PE, Seng CE, Adnan R
    Appl Biochem Biotechnol, 2013 Jun;170(4):831-40.
    PMID: 23613119 DOI: 10.1007/s12010-013-0245-8
    The aeration strategy ranging from intermittent to continuous aeration in the REACT period of moving bed sequencing batch reactor (MBSBR) was evaluated for simultaneous removal of 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) and nitrogen. The results show that the removal rates of 4-CP and ammonium nitrogen (NH(4)(+)-N) increased with the increase of continuous aeration period. In the presence of 4-CP, NH(4)(+)-N removal was mainly by the assimilation process. The removal of NH(4)(+)-N to oxidized nitrogen via oxidation was only observed after 4-CP was completely degraded with sufficient aeration period provided indicating the inhibitory effect of 4-CP on nitrification. As the intermittent aeration strategy would lead to slower 4-CP degradation resulting in the delay of nitrification process, continuous aeration would be the preferred strategy in the simultaneous removal of 4-CP and nitrogen in the MBSBR system.
    Matched MeSH terms: Nitrogen/metabolism*
  2. Ibrahim MF, Abd-Aziz S, Razak MN, Phang LY, Hassan MA
    Appl Biochem Biotechnol, 2012 Apr;166(7):1615-25.
    PMID: 22391689 DOI: 10.1007/s12010-012-9538-6
    Acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) production from renewable resources has been widely reported. In this study, Clostridium butyricum EB6 was employed for ABE fermentation using fermentable sugar derived from treated oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB). A higher amount of ABE (2.61 g/l) was produced in a fermentation using treated OPEFB as the substrate when compared to a glucose based medium that produced 0.24 g/l at pH 5.5. ABE production was increased to 3.47 g/l with a yield of 0.24 g/g at pH 6.0. The fermentation using limited nitrogen concentration of 3 g/l improved the ABE yield by 64%. The study showed that OPEFB has the potential to be applied for renewable ABE production by C. butyricum EB6.
    Matched MeSH terms: Nitrogen/metabolism
  3. Tanimu MI, Mohd Ghazi TI, Harun MR, Idris A
    Appl Microbiol Biotechnol, 2015 May;99(10):4509-20.
    PMID: 25761621 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-015-6486-4
    Foaming problem which occurred occasionally during food waste (FW) anaerobic digestion (AD) was investigated with the Malaysian FW by stepwise increase in organic loading (OL) from 0.5 to 7.5 g VS/L. The FW feedstock with carbon to nitrogen (C/N) ratio of 17 was upgraded to C/N ratio of 26 and 30 by mixing with other wastes. The digestion which was carried out at 37 °C in 1-L batch reactors showed that foam formation initiated at OL of 1.5 g VS/L and was further enhanced as OL of feedstock was increased. The digestion foaming reached its maximum at OL of 5.5 g VS/L and did not increase further even when OL was increased to 7.5 g VS/Ld. Increase in the C/N ratio of feedstock significantly enhanced the microbial degradation activity, leading to better removal of foam causing intermediates and reduced foaming in the reactor by up to 60%.
    Matched MeSH terms: Nitrogen/metabolism*
  4. Dadrasnia A, Azirun MS, Ismail SB
    BMC Biotechnol, 2017 Nov 28;17(1):85.
    PMID: 29179747 DOI: 10.1186/s12896-017-0395-9
    BACKGROUND: When the unavoidable waste generation is considered as damaging to our environment, it becomes crucial to develop a sustainable technology to remediate the pollutant source towards an environmental protection and safety. The development of a bioengineering technology for highly efficient pollutant removal is this regard. Given the high ammonia nitrogen content and chemical oxygen demand of landfill leachate, Bacillus salmalaya strain 139SI, a novel resident strain microbe that can survive in high ammonia nitrogen concentrations, was investigated for the bioremoval of ammonia nitrogen from landfill leachate. The treatability of landfill leachate was evaluated under different treatment parameters, such as temperature, inoculum dosage, and pH.

    RESULTS: Results demonstrated that bioaugmentation with the novel strain can potentially improve the biodegradability of landfill leachate. B. salmalaya strain 139SI showed high potential to enhance biological treatment given its maximum NH3-N and COD removal efficiencies. The response surface plot pattern indicated that within 11 days and under optimum conditions (10% v/v inoculant, pH 6, and 35 °C), B. salmalaya strain139SI removed 78% of ammonia nitrogen. At the end of the study, biological and chemical oxygen demands remarkably decreased by 88% and 91.4%, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy images revealed that ammonia ions covered the cell surface of B. salmalaya strain139SI.

    CONCLUSIONS: Therefore, novel resistant Bacillus salmalaya strain139SI significantly reduces the chemical oxygen demand and NH3-N content of landfill leachate. Leachate treatment by B. salmalaya strain 139SI within 11 days.

    Matched MeSH terms: Nitrogen/metabolism
  5. Ganjali Dashti M, Abdeshahian P, Wan Yusoff WM, Kalil MS, Abdul Hamid A
    Biomed Res Int, 2014;2014:831783.
    PMID: 25147817 DOI: 10.1155/2014/831783
    The biosynthesis of biomedical products including lipid and gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) by Cunninghamella bainieri 2A1 was studied in repeated batch fermentation. Three key process variables, namely, glucose concentration, ammonium tartrate concentration, and harvesting time, were optimized using response surface methodology. Repeated batch fermentation was carried out by the cultivation of Cunninghamella bainieri 2A1 in nitrogen-limited medium with various nitrogen concentration (1-4 g/L) and glucose concentration (20-40 g/L) at three time intervals (12 h, 24 h, and 48 h). Experimental results showed that the highest lipid concentration of 6.2 g/L and the highest GLA concentration of 0.4 g/L were obtained in optimum conditions, where 20.2 g/L glucose, 2.12 g/L ammonium tartrate, and 48 h harvesting time were utilized. Statistical results showed that the interaction between glucose and ammonium tartrate concentration had highly significant effects on lipid and GLA biosynthesis (P < 0.01). Moreover, harvesting time had a significant interaction effect with glucose and ammonium tartrate concentration on lipid production (P < 0.05).
    Matched MeSH terms: Nitrogen/metabolism
  6. Zin KM, Effendi Halmi MI, Abd Gani SS, Zaidan UH, Samsuri AW, Abd Shukor MY
    Biomed Res Int, 2020;2020:2734135.
    PMID: 32149095 DOI: 10.1155/2020/2734135
    The release of wastewater from textile dyeing industrial sectors is a huge concern with regard to pollution as the treatment of these waters is truly a challenging process. Hence, this study investigates the triazo bond Direct Blue 71 (DB71) dye decolorization and degradation dye by a mixed bacterial culture in the deficiency source of carbon and nitrogen. The metagenomics analysis found that the microbial community consists of a major bacterial group of Acinetobacter (30%), Comamonas (11%), Aeromonadaceae (10%), Pseudomonas (10%), Flavobacterium (8%), Porphyromonadaceae (6%), and Enterobacteriaceae (4%). The richest phylum includes Proteobacteria (78.61%), followed by Bacteroidetes (14.48%) and Firmicutes (3.08%). The decolorization process optimization was effectively done by using response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural network (ANN). The experimental variables of dye concentration, yeast extract, and pH show a significant effect on DB71 dye decolorization percentage. Over a comparative scale, the ANN model has higher prediction and accuracy in the fitness compared to the RSM model proven by approximated R2 and AAD values. The results acquired signify an efficient decolorization of DB71 dye by a mixed bacterial culture.
    Matched MeSH terms: Nitrogen/metabolism
  7. Ahmad SA, Shukor MY, Shamaan NA, Mac Cormack WP, Syed MA
    Biomed Res Int, 2013;2013:871941.
    PMID: 24381945 DOI: 10.1155/2013/871941
    A molybdenum-reducing bacterium from Antarctica has been isolated. The bacterium converts sodium molybdate or Mo⁶⁺ to molybdenum blue (Mo-blue). Electron donors such as glucose, sucrose, fructose, and lactose supported molybdate reduction. Ammonium sulphate was the best nitrogen source for molybdate reduction. Optimal conditions for molybdate reduction were between 30 and 50 mM molybdate, between 15 and 20°C, and initial pH between 6.5 and 7.5. The Mo-blue produced had a unique absorption spectrum with a peak maximum at 865 nm and a shoulder at 710 nm. Respiratory inhibitors such as antimycin A, sodium azide, potassium cyanide, and rotenone failed to inhibit the reducing activity. The Mo-reducing enzyme was partially purified using ion exchange and gel filtration chromatography. The partially purified enzyme showed optimal pH and temperature for activity at 6.0 and 20°C, respectively. Metal ions such as cadmium, chromium, copper, silver, lead, and mercury caused more than 95% inhibition of the molybdenum-reducing activity at 0.1 mM. The isolate was tentatively identified as Pseudomonas sp. strain DRY1 based on partial 16s rDNA molecular phylogenetic assessment and the Biolog microbial identification system. The characteristics of this strain would make it very useful in bioremediation works in the polar and temperate countries.
    Matched MeSH terms: Nitrogen/metabolism*
  8. Cheah WY, Show PL, Yap YJ, Mohd Zaid HF, Lam MK, Lim JW, et al.
    Bioengineered, 2020 12;11(1):61-69.
    PMID: 31884878 DOI: 10.1080/21655979.2019.1704536
    Chlorella sorokiniana CY-1 was cultivated using palm oil mill effluent (POME) in a novel-designed photobioreactor (NPBR) and glass-made vessel photobioreactor (PBR). The comparison was made on biomass and lipid productions, as well as its pollutants removal efficiencies. NPBR is transparent and is developed in thin flat panels with a high surface area per volume ratio. It is equipped with microbubbling and baffles retention, ensuring effective light and CO2 utilization. The triangular shape of this reactor at the bottom serves to ease microalgae cell harvesting by sedimentation. Both biomass and lipid yields attained in NPBR were 2.3-2.9 folds higher than cultivated in PBR. The pollutants removal efficiencies achieved were 93.7% of chemical oxygen demand, 98.6% of total nitrogen and 96.0% of total phosphorus. Mathematical model revealed that effective light received and initial mass contributes toward successful microalgae cultivation. Overall, the results revealed the potential of NPBR integration in Chlorella sorokiniana CY-1 cultivation, with an aim to achieve greater feasibility in microalgal-based biofuel real application and for environmental sustainability.
    Matched MeSH terms: Nitrogen/metabolism
  9. Clarke CM, Bauer U, Lee CC, Tuen AA, Rembold K, Moran JA
    Biol Lett, 2009 Oct 23;5(5):632-5.
    PMID: 19515656 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2009.0311
    Nepenthes pitcher plants are typically carnivorous, producing pitchers with varying combinations of epicuticular wax crystals, viscoelastic fluids and slippery peristomes to trap arthropod prey, especially ants. However, ant densities are low in tropical montane habitats, thereby limiting the potential benefits of the carnivorous syndrome. Nepenthes lowii, a montane species from Borneo, produces two types of pitchers that differ greatly in form and function. Pitchers produced by immature plants conform to the 'typical' Nepenthes pattern, catching arthropod prey. However, pitchers produced by mature N. lowii plants lack the features associated with carnivory and are instead visited by tree shrews, which defaecate into them after feeding on exudates that accumulate on the pitcher lid. We tested the hypothesis that tree shrew faeces represent a significant nitrogen (N) source for N. lowii, finding that it accounts for between 57 and 100 per cent of foliar N in mature N. lowii plants. Thus, N. lowii employs a diversified N sequestration strategy, gaining access to a N source that is not available to sympatric congeners. The interaction between N. lowii and tree shrews appears to be a mutualism based on the exchange of food sources that are scarce in their montane habitat.
    Matched MeSH terms: Nitrogen/metabolism*
  10. Ghafari S, Hasan M, Aroua MK
    Bioresour Technol, 2010 Apr;101(7):2236-42.
    PMID: 20015639 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2009.11.068
    In this study the kinetics of autohydrogenotrophic denitrification was studied under optimum solution pH and bicarbonate concentration. The optimal pH and bicarbonate concentration were firstly obtained using a design of experiment (DOE) methodology. For this purpose a total of 11 experiments were carried out. Sodium bicarbonate concentrations ranging of 20-2000 mg/L and pH values from 6.5 to 8.5 were used in the optimization runs. It was found that the pH has a more pronounced effect on the denitrification process as compared to the bicarbonate dose. The developed quadratic model predicted the optimum conditions at pH 8 and 1100 mg NaHCO(3)/L. Using these optimal conditions, the kinetics of denitrification for nitrate and nitrite degradation were investigated in separate experiments. Both processes were found to follow a zero order kinetic model. The ultimate specific degradation rates for nitrate and nitrite remediation were 29.60 mg NO(3)(-)-N/g MLVSS/L and 34.85 mg NO(3)(-)-N/g MLVSS/L respectively, when hydrogen was supplied every 0.5h.
    Matched MeSH terms: Nitrogen/metabolism*
  11. Lim JW, Lim PE, Seng CE, Adnan R
    Bioresour Technol, 2013 Feb;129:485-94.
    PMID: 23266850 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2012.11.111
    Moving bed sequencing batch reactors (MBSBRs) packed with 8% (v/v) of 8-, 27- and 64-mL polyurethane (PU) foam cubes, respectively, were investigated for simultaneous 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) and nitrogen removal at increasing 4-CP concentration. When the 4-CP concentration exceeded 300 mg L(-1), the MBSBR with 27-mL foam cubes was observed to outperform the other MBSBRs in removing 4-CP and nitrogen. The reasons were: (1) there were more biomass in inner layer of the 27-mL cubes, compared to that of the 8-mL cubes, which was more shielded from the inhibitory effect of 4-CP and (2) the 27-mL cubes were more mobile than the 64-mL cubes. Although increasing 4-CP concentration to 600 mg L(-1) resulted in incomplete removal of 4-CP in the MBSBRs, results of the batch reactor with 27-mL foam cubes showed that complete 4-CP removal within the REACT period could be achieved by increasing the packing volume to 20%.
    Matched MeSH terms: Nitrogen/metabolism*
  12. Lai YH, Puspanadan S, Lee CK
    Biotechnol Prog, 2019 05;35(3):e2798.
    PMID: 30828976 DOI: 10.1002/btpr.2798
    Present study aims to optimize the production of starch and total carbohydrates from Arthrospira platensis. Growing concerns toward unprecedented environmental issues associated with plastic pollution has created a tremendous impetus to develop new biomaterials for the production of bioplastic. Starch-based biopolymers from algae serve as sustainable feedstock for thermoplastic starch production due to their abundant availability and low cost. A. platensis was cultivated in Zarrouk's medium at 32 ± 1°C and exposed to red light with a photoperiod of 12:12 hr light/dark. Growth kinetics studies showed that the maximum specific growth rate (μmax ) obtained was 0.059 day-1 with the doubling time (td ) of 11.748 days. Subsequently, Zarrouk's medium with different concentrations of sulfur, phosphorus and nitrogen was prepared to establish the nutrient-limiting conditions to enhance the accumulation of starch and total carbohydrates. In this study, the highest starch accumulated was 6.406 ± 0.622 mg L-1 under optimized phosphorus limitation (0.025 g L-1 ) conditions. Nitrogen limitation (0.250 g L-1 ) results demonstrated significant influenced (p 
    Matched MeSH terms: Nitrogen/metabolism
  13. Samadlouie HR, Hamidi-Esfahani Z, Alavi SM, Varastegani B
    Braz J Microbiol, 2014;45(2):439-45.
    PMID: 25242926
    The time courses for production of fungal biomass, lipid, phenolic and arachidonic acid (ARA) as well as expression of the genes involved in biosynthesis of ARA and lipid were examined in Mortierella alpina CBS 754.68. A significant increase in the arachidonic acid content in lipids that coincided with reduced levels of lipid was obtained. Reduced gene expression occurred presumably due to the steady reduction of carbon and nitrogen resources. However, these energy resources were inefficiently compensated by the breakdown of the accumulated lipids that in turn, induced up-regulated expression of the candidate genes. The results further indicated that the expression of the GLELO encoding gene is a rate-limiting step in the biosynthesis of ARA in the early growth phase.
    Matched MeSH terms: Nitrogen/metabolism
  14. Ganesan S, Vadivelu VM
    Chemosphere, 2019 May;223:668-674.
    PMID: 30802832 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.02.104
    Hydrazine is an intermediate product of the anaerobic ammonium oxidation (Anammox) process where both ammonium and nitrite in wastewater are converted to nitrogen gas by bacteria. In this study the effect of external hydrazine addition (5, 10, 15, and 20 mg/L) on the start-up period of the Anammox process was studied using sequencing batch reactors (SBRs). The SBR with an addition of 10 mg/L hydrazine took only 7 weeks to stabilize and achieve the maximum removal of ammonium and nitrite, whereas the SBR without the addition of hydrazine took 12 weeks. The amount of Heme C extracted from the biomass indicated that externally added hydrazine accelerated the growth of Anammox bacteria and reduced the release of nitrous oxide gas from the reactors.
    Matched MeSH terms: Nitrogen/metabolism
  15. Lim PE, Wong TF, Lim DV
    Environ Int, 2001 May;26(5-6):425-31.
    PMID: 11392762
    This study was conducted to: (1) assess the role of wetland vegetation in the removal of oxygen demand and nitrogen under tropical conditions, (2) estimate the uptake of nitrogen and copper by wetland plants and (3) investigate the speciation of Cu in wetland media among four operationally defined host fractions, namely exchangeable, carbonate, reducible and organically bound. Four laboratory-scale wetland units, two free-water-surface (FWS) and two subsurface-flow (SF) with one of each planted with cattails (Typha augustifolia), were fed with primary-treated sewage and operated at nominal retention times of 0.6-7 days. The influent and effluent BOD/COD and nitrogen concentrations were monitored to assess the performance of the wetland units for various mass loading rates. At the end of the study, all cattail plants were harvested and analyzed for total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN). Four other wetland units, which were identical to the first four, were fed with domestic wastewater spiked with copper in increasing concentrations. Copper speciation patterns in the sand layer were determined at the end of the study. The results showed that wetland vegetation did not play an important role in oxygen demand removal but were capable of removing about 22% and 26% of the nitrogen input in the FWS and SF wetland units, respectively. Mass balance analysis indicated that less than 1% of copper introduced was taken up by the cattails. Copper speciation patterns in the sand media showed that the exchangeable fraction contributed 30-57% and 63-80% of the nonresidual copper in the planted and unplanted FWS wetlands, respectively. For SF units, the percentages were 52-62% and 59-67%, respectively. This indicates that large amount of copper in the media were potentially remobilizable.
    Matched MeSH terms: Nitrogen/metabolism*
  16. Wong WZ, H'ng PS, Chin KL, Sajap AS, Tan GH, Paridah MT, et al.
    Environ Entomol, 2015 Oct;44(5):1367-74.
    PMID: 26314017 DOI: 10.1093/ee/nvv115
    The lower termite, Coptotermes curvignathus, is one of the most prominent plantation pests that feed upon, digest, and receive nourishment from exclusive lignocellulose diets. The objective of this study was to examine the utilization of sole carbon sources by isolated culturable aerobic bacteria among communities from the gut and foraging pathway of C. curvignathus. We study the bacteria occurrence from the gut of C. curvignathus and its surrounding feeding area by comparing the obtained phenotypic fingerprint with Biolog's extensive species library. A total of 24 bacteria have been identified mainly from the family Enterobacteriaceae from the identification of Biolog Gen III. Overall, the bacteria species in the termite gut differ from those of foraging pathway within a location, except Acintobacter baumannii, which was the only bacteria species found in both habitats. Although termites from a different study area do not have the same species of bacteria in the gut, they do have a bacterial community with similar role in degrading certain carbon sources. Sugars were preferential in termite gut isolates, while nitrogen carbon sources were preferential in foraging pathway isolates. The preferential use of specific carbon sources by these two bacterial communities reflects the role of bacteria for regulation of carbon metabolism in the termite gut and foraging pathway.
    Matched MeSH terms: Nitrogen/metabolism
  17. Kiyasudeen K, Ibrahim MH, Muhammad SA, Ismail SA, Gonawan FN, Zuknik MH
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2018 Nov;25(31):31062-31070.
    PMID: 30187407 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-018-3074-z
    Earthworms are commonly referred as environmental engineers and their guts are often compared with chemical reactors. However, modeling experiments to substantiate it are lacking. The aim of this study was to use established reactor models, particularly PFR, on the gut of the vermicomposting earthworm Eudrilus eugeniae to understand more on its digestion. To achieve the objective, a mathematical model based on first-order kinetics was framed and used to determine the pattern of digestion rates of nutrient indicators, namely total carbon (%), total nitrogen (%), C/N ratio, 13C (‰), and 15N (‰) at five intersections (pre-intestine, foregut, midgut A, midgut B, and hindgut) along the gut of E. eugeniae. The experimental results revealed that the concentrations of TC, TN, 13C, and 15N decreased during gut transit, whereas C/N ratio increased. The first-order model demonstrated that all the nutrients exhibit a linear pattern of digestion during gut transit, which supports the PFR model. On this basis, the present study concludes that the gut of E. eugeniae functions as PFR.
    Matched MeSH terms: Nitrogen/metabolism
  18. Ganapathy B, Yahya A, Ibrahim N
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2019 Apr;26(11):11113-11125.
    PMID: 30788704 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-019-04334-8
    Despite being a key Malaysian economic contributor, the oil palm industry generates a large quantity of environmental pollutant known as palm oil mill effluent (POME). Therefore, the need to remediate POME has drawn a mounting interest among environmental scientists. This study has pioneered the application of Meyerozyma guilliermondii with accession number (MH 374161) that was isolated indigenously in accessing its potential to degrade POME. This strain was able to treat POME in shake flask experiments under aerobic condition by utilising POME as a sole source of carbon. However, it has also been shown that the addition of suitable carbon and nitrogen sources has significantly improved the degradation potential of M. guilliermondii. The remediation of POME using this strain resulted in a substantial reduction of chemical oxygen demand (COD) of 72%, total nitrogen of 49.2% removal, ammonical nitrogen of 45.1% removal, total organic carbon of 46.6% removal, phosphate of 60.6% removal, and 92.4% removal of oil and grease after 7 days of treatment period. The strain also exhibited an extracellular lipase activity which promotes better wastewater treatment. Additionally, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analyses have specifically shown that M. guilliermondii strain can degrade hydrocarbons, fatty acids, and phenolic compounds present in the POME. Ultimately, this study has demonstrated that M. guilliermondii which was isolated indigenously exhibits an excellent degrading ability. Therefore, this strain is suitable to be employed in the remediation of POME, contributing to a safe discharge of the effluent into the environment.
    Matched MeSH terms: Nitrogen/metabolism
  19. Lim JW, Lim PE, Seng CE, Adnan R
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2014 Jan;21(1):485-94.
    PMID: 23807562 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-013-1933-1
    The feasibility of using dried attached-growth biomass from the polyurethane (PU) foam cubes as a solid carbon source to enhance the denitrification process in the intermittently aerated moving bed sequencing batch reactor (IA-MBSBR) during the treatment of low COD/N containing wastewater was investigated. By packing the IA-MBSBR with 8% (v/v) of 8-mL PU foam cubes saturated with dried attached-growth biomass, total nitrogen removal efficiency of 80% could be achieved for 10 consecutive cycles of operation when the intermittent aeration strategy of consecutive 1 h of aeration followed by 2 h of non-aeration period during the REACT period of the IA-MBSBR was adopted. Negligible release of ammonium nitrogen (NH4(+)-N) and slow-release of COD from the dried biomass would ensure that the use of this solid carbon source would not further burden the treatment system. The slow-releasing COD was found to have no effect in promoting the assimilation process and would also allow the carbon source to be used for many cycles of operation. The 'carbon-spent' PU foam cubes could be reused by merely drying at 60 °C at the end of the operational mode. Thus, the dried attached-growth biomass formed on the PU foam cubes could be exploited as an alternative solid carbon source for the enhancement of denitrification process in the IA-MBSBR.
    Matched MeSH terms: Nitrogen/metabolism*
  20. Hii KS, Lim PT, Kon NF, Takata Y, Usup G, Leaw CP
    Harmful Algae, 2016 06;56:9-21.
    PMID: 28073499 DOI: 10.1016/j.hal.2016.04.005
    Saxitoxins (STXs) constitute a family of potent sodium channel blocking toxins, causative agents of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP), and are produced by several species of marine dinoflagellates and cyanobacteria. Two STX-core genes, sxtA and sxtG, have been well elucidated in Alexandrium but the expression of these genes under various nutritional modes in tropical species remains unclear. This study investigates the physiological responses of a tropical Pacific strain of Alexandrium minutum growing with nitrate or ammonium, and with various nitrogen to phosphorus (N:P) supply ratios. The transcriptional responses of the sxt genes were observed. Likewise, a putative sxtI encoding O-carbamoyltransferase (herein designated as AmsxtI) was recovered from the transcriptomic data, and its expression was investigated. The results revealed that the cellular toxin quota (Qt) was higher in P-depleted, nitrate-grown cultures. With cultures at similar N:P (<16), cells grown with excess ammonium showed a higher Qt than those grown with nitrate. sxtA1 was not expressed under any culture conditions, suggesting that this gene might not be involved in STX biosynthesis by this strain. Conversely, sxtA4 and sxtG showed positive correlations with Qt, and were up-regulated in P-depleted, nitrate-grown cultures and with excess ambient ammonium. On the other hand, AmsxtI was expressed only when induced by P-depletion, suggesting that this gene may play an important role in P-recycling metabolism, while simultaneously enhancing toxin production.
    Matched MeSH terms: Nitrogen/metabolism
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