Arsenic Accumulation in Hydroponically Grown (Little Bluestem) Amended with Root-Colonizing Endophytes.

We integrated microscopy, spectroscopy, culturing and molecular biology, and aqueous chemistry techniques to evaluate arsenic (As) accumulation in hydroponically grown inoculated with endophytic fungi. grows in historically contaminated sediment in the Cheyenne River Watershed and was used for laboratory experiments with As(V) ranging from 0 to 2.5 mg L at circumneutral pH.

Insights into the Geomicrobiology of Biovermiculations from Rock Billet Incubation Experiments.

Biovermiculations are uniquely patterned organic rich sediment formations found on the walls of caves and other subterranean environments. These distinctive worm-like features are the combined result of physical and biological processes. The diverse microbial communities that inhabit biovermiculations may corrode the host rock, form secondary minerals, and produce biofilms that stabilize the sediment matrix, thus altering cave surfaces and contributing to the formation of these wall deposits.

Emerging investigator series: entrapment of uranium-phosphorus nanocrystals inside root cells of plants from a mine waste site.

We investigated the mechanisms of uranium (U) uptake by Tamarix (salt cedars) growing along the Rio Paguate, which flows throughout the Jackpile mine near Pueblo de Laguna, New Mexico. Tamarix were selected for this study due to the detection of U in the roots and shoots of field collected plants (0.6-58.

Calcium in Carbonate Water Facilitates the Transport of U(VI) in Roots and Enables Root-to-Shoot Translocation.

The role of calcium (Ca) on the cellular distribution of U(VI) in roots and root-to-shoot translocation was investigated using hydroponic experiments, microscopy, and spectroscopy. Uranium accumulated mainly in the roots (727-9376 mg kg) after 30 days of exposure to 80 M dissolved U in water containing 1 mM HCO at different Ca concentrations (0-6 mM) at pH 7.5.

Effect of Calcium on the Bioavailability of Dissolved Uranium(VI) in Plant Roots under Circumneutral pH.

We integrated field measurements, hydroponic experiments, microscopy, and spectroscopy to investigate the effect of Ca(II) on dissolved U(VI) uptake by plants in 1 mM HCO solutions at circumneutral pH. The accumulation of U in plants (3.1-21.

A potential central role of Thaumarchaeota in N-Cycling in a semi-arid environment, Fort Stanton Cave, Snowy River passage, New Mexico, USA.

Low biomass and productivity of arid-land caves with limited availability of nitrogen (N) raises the question of how microbes acquire and cycle this essential element. Caves are ideal environments for investigating microbial functional capabilities, as they lack phototrophic activity and have near constant temperatures and high relative humidity. From the walls of Fort Stanton Cave (FSC), multicolored secondary mineral deposits of soil-like material low in fixed N, known as ferromanganese deposits (FMD), were collected.

Uranium mobility and accumulation along the Rio Paguate, Jackpile Mine in Laguna Pueblo, NM.

The mobility and accumulation of uranium (U) along the Rio Paguate, adjacent to the Jackpile Mine, in Laguna Pueblo, New Mexico was investigated using aqueous chemistry, electron microprobe, X-ray diffraction and spectroscopy analyses. Given that it is not common to identify elevated concentrations of U in surface water sources, the Rio Paguate is a unique site that concerns the Laguna Pueblo community. This study aims to better understand the solid chemistry of abandoned mine waste sediments from the Jackpile Mine and identify key hydrogeological and geochemical processes that affect the fate of U along the Rio Paguate.

Comparison of bacterial communities from lava cave microbial mats to overlying surface soils from Lava Beds National Monument, USA.

Subsurface habitats harbor novel diversity that has received little attention until recently. Accessible subsurface habitats include lava caves around the world that often support extensive microbial mats on ceilings and walls in a range of colors. Little is known about lava cave microbial diversity and how these subsurface mats differ from microbial communities in overlying surface soils.

Cave microbial community composition in oceanic islands: disentangling the effect of different colored mats in diversity patterns of Azorean lava caves.

Processes determining diversity and composition of bacterial communities in island volcanic caves are still poorly understood. Here, we characterized colored microbial mats in 14 volcanic caves from two oceanic islands of the Azores using 16S rRNA gene sequences. Factors determining community diversity (α) and composition (β) were explored, namely colored mats, caves and islands, as well as environmental and chemical characteristics of caves.

Modeling Clinical States and Metabolic Rhythms in Bioarcheology.

Bioarcheology is cross disciplinary research encompassing the study of human remains. However, life's activities have, up till now, eluded bioarcheological investigation. We hypothesized that growth lines in hair might archive the biologic rhythms, growth rate, and metabolism during life.

Comparison of Bacterial Diversity in Azorean and Hawai'ian Lava Cave Microbial Mats.

Worldwide, lava caves host colorful microbial mats. However, little is known about the diversity of these microorganisms, or what role they may play in the subsurface ecosystem. White and yellow microbial mats were collected from four lava caves each on the Azorean island of Terceira and the Big Island of Hawai'i, to compare the bacterial diversity found in lava caves from two widely separated archipelagos in two different oceans at different latitudes.

Activities and ultrastructural effects of antifungal combinations against simulated Candida endocardial vegetations.

In vitro pharmacodynamic model (PDM) simulation of serum antifungal concentrations may predict the value of combination antifungal regimens against Candida sp. endocarditis. We investigated the effects of combinations of flucytosine (5FC), micafungin (Mica), and voriconazole (Vor) against Candida-infected human platelet-fibrin clots, used as simulated endocardial vegetations (SEVs).

Diverse microbial communities inhabiting ferromanganese deposits in Lechuguilla and Spider Caves.

Lechuguilla Cave is an ancient, deep, oligotrophic subterranean environment that contains an abundance of low-density ferromanganese deposits, the origin of which is uncertain. To assess the possibility that biotic factors may be involved in the production of these deposits and to investigate the nature of the microbial community in these materials, we carried out culture-independent, small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) sequence-based studies from two sites and from manganese and iron enrichment cultures inoculated with ferromanganese deposits from Lechuguilla and Spider Caves. Sequence analysis showed the presence of some organisms whose closest relatives are known iron- and manganese-oxidizing/reducing bacteria, including Hyphomicrobium, Pedomicrobium, Leptospirillum, Stenotrophomonas and Pantoea.