scholarly journals Use of Tetrahymena thermophila To Study the Role of Protozoa in Inactivation of Viruses in Water

2006 ◽  
Vol 73 (2) ◽  
pp. 643-649 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcel D. O. Pinheiro ◽  
Mary E. Power ◽  
Barbara J. Butler ◽  
Vivian R. Dayeh ◽  
Robin Slawson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Waters ◽  
Tetrahymena Thermophila ◽  
Sewage Treatment ◽  
Bacterial Populations ◽  
Effluent Quality ◽  
Sybr Gold ◽  
T4 Bacteriophage ◽  
Food Vacuoles ◽  
Overlay Assay

ABSTRACT The ability of a ciliate to inactivate bacteriophage was studied because these viruses are known to influence the size and diversity of bacterial populations, which affect nutrient cycling in natural waters and effluent quality in sewage treatment, and because ciliates are ubiquitous in aquatic environments, including sewage treatment plants. Tetrahymena thermophila was used as a representative ciliate; T4 was used as a model bacteriophage. The T4 titer was monitored on Escherichia coli B in a double-agar overlay assay. T4 and the ciliate were incubated together under different conditions and for various times, after which the mixture was centrifuged through a step gradient, producing a top layer free of ciliates. The T4 titer in this layer decreased as coincubation time increased, but no decrease was seen if phage were incubated with formalin-fixed Tetrahymena. The T4 titer associated with the pellet of living ciliates was very low, suggesting that removal of the phage by Tetrahymena inactivated T4. When Tetrahymena cells were incubated with SYBR gold-labeled phage, fluorescence was localized in structures that had the shape and position of food vacuoles. Incubation of the phage and ciliate with cytochalasin B or at 4°C impaired T4 inactivation. These results suggest the active removal of T4 bacteriophage from fluid by macropinocytosis, followed by digestion in food vacuoles. Such ciliate virophagy may be a mechanism occurring in natural waters and sewage treatment, and the methods described here could be used to study the factors influencing inactivation and possibly water quality.

Inactivation of the Bacteriophage MS2 by the Ciliated Protozoan, Tetrahymena thermophila

2008 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcel D.O. Pinheiro ◽  
Mary E. Power ◽  
Barb J. Butler ◽  
Vivian R. Dayeh ◽  
Robin Slawson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cytochalasin B ◽  
Tetrahymena Thermophila ◽  
Biological Mechanisms ◽  
Ciliated Protozoan ◽  
Viral Inactivation ◽  
Free Living ◽  
Bacteriophage Ms2 ◽  
Sybr Gold ◽  
Food Vacuoles ◽  
Formalin Fixed

Abstract Because the range of biological mechanisms responsible for the inactivation of viruses in man-made and natural water systems is poorly understood, the involvement of the free-living ciliated protozoan, Tetrahymena thermophila, in viral inactivation was investigated. The ciliate was found to remove the bacteriophage MS2 when the phage and ciliate were co-incubated in a simple salt solution. MS2 was enumerated as plaque forming units (pfus). MS2 removal was achieved only by living and not formalin-fixed ciliates, and was blocked by treatments that impaired the formation of food vacuoles. These treatments were cytochalasin B and low temperature. When fluorescently labelled with SYBR gold prior to co-incubation, MS2 were seen inside Tetrahymena within vesicles that had the shape and size of food vacuoles. The number of pfus associated with Tetrahymena was low. This suggests that the engulfment of the phage into food vacuoles led to the inactivation of MS2, which is frequently used as a surrogate for poliovirus in environmental microbiology. In the future, a broader understanding of the capacity of ciliates to inactivate viruses could lead to methods for improving water quality through the manipulation of ciliate populations and activities.

scholarly journals ADF/Cofilin Is Not Essential but Is Critically Important for Actin Activities during Phagocytosis in Tetrahymena thermophila

2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 1080-1086 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nanami Shiozaki ◽  
Kentaro Nakano ◽  
Yasuharu Kushida ◽  
Taro Q. P. Noguchi ◽  
Taro Q. P. Uyeda ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tetrahymena Thermophila ◽  
Food Vacuole ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Vacuole Formation ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Cellular Events ◽  
Food Vacuoles

ABSTRACT ADF/cofilin is a highly conserved actin-modulating protein. Reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton in vivo through severing and depolymerizing of F-actin by this protein is essential for various cellular events, such as endocytosis, phagocytosis, cytokinesis, and cell migration. We show that in the ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila , the ADF/cofilin homologue Adf73p associates with actin on nascent food vacuoles. Overexpression of Adf73p disrupted the proper localization of actin and inhibited the formation of food vacuoles. In vitro , recombinant Adf73p promoted the depolymerization of filaments made of T. thermophila actin (Act1p). Knockout cells lacking the ADF73 gene are viable but grow extremely slowly and have a severely decreased rate of food vacuole formation. Knockout cells have abnormal aggregates of actin in the cytoplasm. Surprisingly, unlike the case in animals and yeasts, in Tetrahymena , ADF/cofilin is not required for cytokinesis. Thus, the Tetrahymena model shows promise for future studies of the role of ADF/cofilin in vivo .

Integrated interrelationship of sewage sludges with absorbing complex of river Miass drainage area

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 441-444
Author(s):  
Y. A. Dzhenis ◽  
I. I. Tuber
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Metals ◽  
Natural Waters ◽  
Drainage Area ◽  
Sewage Sludges

Soil is a powerful and active absorber of many substances, assumes the pressure of industrial and municipal emissions and waste, and performs the important role of a buffer and a detoxicant. It accumulates heavy metals, pesticides, hydrocarbons and other chemical polluting substances and due to the soil absorbing complex (SAC) strongly captures and protects natural waters and the atmosphere from harm. Applying sewage sludges in our research will enable us to strengthen the capacity of SAC and to reduce the toxicity of heavy metals when they enter a reservoir via a drain from anthropogenically polluted territory.

Danish Experience with Emergent Hydrophyte Treatment Systems (EHTS) and Prospects in the Light of Future Requirements on Outlet Water Quality

1990 ◽  
Vol 22 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 65-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
H.-H. Schierup ◽  
H. Brix
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Total Nitrogen ◽  
Total Phosphorus ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Sewage Treatment ◽  
Reed Beds ◽  
Effluent Quality ◽  
Multi Stage ◽  
Run Off ◽  
Stage System

Since 1983 approximately 150 full-scale emergent hydrophyte based wastewater treatment plants (reed beds) have been constructed in Denmark to serve small wastewater producers. The development of purification performance for 21 plants representing different soil types, vegetation, and hydraulic loading rates has been recorded. Cleaning efficiencies were typically in the range of 60-80% reduction for BOD, 25-50% reduction for total nitrogen, and 20-40% reduction for total phosphorus. The mean effluent BOD, total nitrogen and total phosphorus concentrations of the reed beds were 19 ± 10, 22 ± 9 and 6.7 ± 3.2 mg/l (mean ± SD), respectively. Thus, the general Danish effluent standards of 8 mg/l for N and 1.5 mg/l for P for sewage plants greater than 5,000 PE cannot be met by the present realised design of EHTS. The main problem observed in most systems is a poor development of horizontal hydraulic conductivity in the soil which results in surface run-off. Since the political demands for effluent quality will be more strict in the future, it is important to improve the performance of small decentral sewage treatment plants. On the basis of experiences from different types of macrophyte based and conventional low-technology wastewater treatment systems, a multi-stage system is suggested, consisting of sedimentation and sand filtration facilities followed by basins planted with emergent and submergent species of macrophytes and algal ponds.

The role of Fe(II) species on the oxidation of Fe(II) in natural waters in the presence of O2 and H2O2

2006 ◽  
Vol 99 (1-4) ◽  
pp. 70-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.M. Santana-Casiano ◽  
M. González-Dávila ◽  
F.J. Millero
Keyword(s):  
Natural Waters

The Role of Wastewater Reuse in Water Resources Management in Israel

1991 ◽  
Vol 23 (10-12) ◽  
pp. 2081-2089 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Shelef
Keyword(s):  
Crop Rotation ◽  
Water Resources Management ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Wastewater Reuse ◽  
Total Water ◽  
Quality Requirements ◽  
Resources Management ◽  
Effluent Quality ◽  
Tel Aviv

Wastewater reuse is considered as a major vital water resource in Israel with an annual flow of 420 million m planned for the year 2010 constituting 19% of the total water supply and about one third of the overall water allocated to the agricultural sector. The trend is for less crop restriction and wider crop rotation and thus higher effluent quality requirements. The economical considerations are favourable even with the need for seasonal storage and extra treatment. A brief description of the major wastewater reuse schemes, i.e. the Dan Region (Greater Tel-Aviv) and Greater Haifa - Tishlovet Hakishon is also given.

scholarly journals Functional Redundancy of Linuron Degradation in Microbial Communities in Agricultural Soil and Biopurification Systems

2016 ◽  
Vol 82 (9) ◽  
pp. 2843-2853 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Horemans ◽  
Karolien Bers ◽  
Erick Ruiz Romero ◽  
Eva Pose Juan ◽  
Vincent Dunon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Soil ◽  
Bacterial Consortium ◽  
Bacterial Degradation ◽  
Catabolic Gene ◽  
Bacterial Populations ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Respective Contribution ◽  
On Farm ◽  
Biopurification Systems

ABSTRACTThe abundance oflibA, encoding a hydrolase that initiates linuron degradation in the linuron-metabolizingVariovoraxsp. strain SRS16, was previously found to correlate well with linuron mineralization, but not in all tested environments. Recently, an alternative linuron hydrolase, HylA, was identified inVariovoraxsp. strain WDL1, a strain that initiates linuron degradation in a linuron-mineralizing commensal bacterial consortium. The discovery of alternative linuron hydrolases poses questions about the respective contribution and competitive character ofhylA- andlibA-carrying bacteria as well as the role of linuron-mineralizing consortia versus single strains in linuron-exposed settings. Therefore, dynamics ofhylAas well asdcaQas a marker for downstream catabolic functions involved in linuron mineralization, in response to linuron treatment in agricultural soil and on-farm biopurification systems (BPS), were compared with previously reportedlibAdynamics. The results suggest that (i) organisms containing eitherlibAorhylAcontribute simultaneously to linuron biodegradation in the same environment, albeit to various extents, (ii) environmental linuron mineralization depends on multispecies bacterial food webs, and (iii) initiation of linuron mineralization can be governed by currently unidentified enzymes.IMPORTANCEA limited set of different isofunctional catabolic gene functions is known for the bacterial degradation of the phenylurea herbicide linuron, but the role of this redundancy in linuron degradation in environmental settings is not known. In this study, the simultaneous involvement of bacteria carrying one of two isofunctional linuron hydrolysis genes in the degradation of linuron was shown in agricultural soil and on-farm biopurification systems, as was the involvement of other bacterial populations that mineralize the downstream metabolites of linuron hydrolysis. This study illustrates the importance of the synergistic metabolism of pesticides in environmental settings.

Protozoa abundance, growth, and bacterivory in the water column, on sedimenting particles, and in the sediment of Halifax Harbor

1990 ◽  
Vol 36 (12) ◽  
pp. 859-863 ◽  
Author(s):  
James A. Novitsky
Keyword(s):  
Bacterial Community ◽  
Water Column ◽  
Sediment Surface ◽  
Metabolic Inhibitor ◽  
Optimum Conditions ◽  
Bacterial Populations ◽  
Protozoan Grazing ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Doubling Times

The role of protozoan grazing in controlling bacterial populations was examined in four microbial habitats in Halifax Harbor, Canada: the water column, setting particles, the sediment–water interface, and the sediment. Large numbers of protozoans were found in all habitats although most (>56%) were small (<5 μm) flagellates. Protozoans larger than 10 μm were rarely observed; protozoans >20 μm were never observed. Protozoans were also observed to a depth of 9 cm below the sediment surface although efforts to culture viable protozoa failed except for the top 1 cm. The use of the metabolic inhibitor cycloheximide with and without colchicine to selectively inhibit eucaryotic metabolism was shown to severely affect procaryotic metabolism in sediment (and presumably particle and water) samples. Using fluorescently labelled bacteria as food, and under optimum conditions, up to 42% of the Protozoa population exhibited active grazing within 7 h. Using protozoan and bacterial community sizes and doubling times, it was calculated that each protozoan in Halifax Harbor would have to consume 13–118 bacteria per hour for the enumerated nanoplanktonic (<20 μm) Protozoa to be the sole control of the size of the bacterial community. Key words: marine, Protozoa, bacterivory, particles, bacteria.

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