Mass-independent fractionation of sulfur isotopes (S MIF) in Archean and Paleoproterozoic rocks provides strong evidence for an anoxic atmosphere before ~2,400 Ma. However, the origin of this isotopic anomaly remains unclear, as does the identity of the molecules that carried it from the atmosphere to Earth's surface. Irrespective of the origin of S MIF, processes in the biogeochemical sulfur c...

Those chemically defined media which have been proposed for cultivation of Brucella vary widely, both qualitatively and quantitatively, with respect to their content of sulfur compounds (McCullough and Dick, 1943; McCullough et al., 1947; Gerhardt and Wilson, 1948; Rode, Oglesby, and Schuhardt, 1950). Since the early studies of Zobell and Meyer (1932) there has been no critical investigation of...

Addition of dimethylsulfide (DMS), dimethyldisulfide (DMDS), or methane thiol (MSH) to a diversity of anoxic aquatic sediments (e.g., fresh water, estuarine, alkaline/hypersaline) stimulated methane production. The yield of methane recovered from DMS was often 52 to 63%, although high concentrations of DMS (as well as MSH and DMDS) inhibited methanogenesis in some types of sediments. Production...

Photocatalytic oxidation of the sulfur-containing compounds, trimethylene sulfide (C3H6S), propylene sulfide (C3H6S), thiophene (C4H4S), and methyl disulfide (C2H6S2), was carried out using an annular plug flow reactor with TiO2 in a supported form. Formation of products and byproducts was monitored in real time using a mass spectrometry online system. Mineralization of the sulfur-containing co...

There are no two main-group elements that exhibit more similar physical and chemical properties than sulfur and selenium. Nonetheless, Nature has deemed both essential for life and has found a way to exploit the subtle unique properties of selenium to include it in biochemistry despite its congener sulfur being 10,000 times more abundant. Selenium is more easily oxidized and it is kinetically m...

Under adequate sulfur supply, plants accumulate sulfate in the vacuoles and use sulfur-containing metabolites as storage compounds. Under sulfur-limiting conditions, these pools of stored sulfur-compounds are depleted in order to balance the nitrogen to sulfur ratio for protein synthesis. Stress conditions like sulfur limitation and/or pathogen attack induce changes in the sulfate pool and the ...

A dibenzothiophene (DBT)-desulfurizing bacterial strain was isolated and identified as Gordona strain CYKS1. Strain CYKS1 was found to transform DBT to 2-hydroxybiphenyl via the 4S pathway and to be able to also use organic sulfur compounds other than DBT as a sole sulfur source. Its desulfurization activity was susceptible to sulfate repression. Active resting cells for desulfurization could b...