BACKGROUND DNA word frequencies, normalized for genomic AT content, are remarkably stable within prokaryotic genomes and are therefore said to reflect a "genomic signature." The genomic signatures can be used to phylogenetically classify organisms from arbitrary sampled DNA. Genomic signatures can also be used to search for horizontally transferred DNA or DNA regions subjected to special select...

Helicobacter pylori can transform from its normal helical bacillary morphology to a coccoid morphology. Since this coccoid form cannot be cultured in vitro, it has been speculated that it is a dormant form potentially involved in the transmission of H. pylori and in a patient's relapse after antibiotic therapy. In this study we determined the effects of aging, temperature, aerobiosis, starvatio...

In Escherichia coli, the two-component regulatory ArcAB system functions as a major control system for the regulation of expression of genes encoding enzymes involved in both aerobic and anaerobic catabolic pathways. Previously, we have described the physiological response of wild-type E. coli to changes in oxygen availability through the complete range from anaerobiosis to full aerobiosis (S. ...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) on biogenic amine production in turkey meat according to its shelf life period, determining an index of freshness. Sliced meat samples of different meat quality categories (according to color and pH₂₄) were individually packaged under aerobiosis (aerobic package) and in 6 different modified atmospheres conta...

ArcBA is a two-component regulatory system of Escherichia coli involved in sensing oxygen availability and the concomitant transcriptional regulation of oxidative and fermentative catabolism. Based on in vitro data, it has been postulated that the redox state of the ubiquinone pool is the determinant for ArcB kinase activity. Here we report on the in vivo regulation of ArcB activation, as deter...

A study of the carbohydrate metabolism of Sarcina lutea was undertaken to elucidate the routes of metabolism available to this strict aerobe which does not metabolize glucose anaerobically. It was of interest, therefore, to discover whether the organism possesses enzymes characteristic of anaerobic fermentation and, if so, their importance in aerobic glucose oxidation. The process of terminal r...

Pseudomonas aeruginosa, grown to steric saturation between the cellulose fibers of a filter paper, reduced nitrate or nitrite or both when the cell-filled paper was washed, transferred to phosphate buffer, nitrate, or nitrite or both, and glucose agar plates, and incubated under aerobiosis as resting cells. The biological nature of the reduction was ascertained by the use of nitrate and nitrite...