Triclosan: its occurrence, fate and effects in the Australian environment.

Triclosan (TCS) is an antimicrobial agent used widely in household products such as soaps, household cleaners, cosmetics, sportswear, mouthwash and toothpaste. It is a bioaccumulative compound known for its high toxicity to algae, daphnids, fish and other aquatic organisms. We investigated its occurrence in effluents, biosolids and surface waters in Australia, as well as its fate in Australian soils and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), including the effects on microbial processes in soils. The concentrations of TCS in 19 effluents ranged from 23 to 434 ng/L (median 108 ng/L) and in 17 biosolids from 0.09 to 16.79 mg/kg on dry weight basis (median 2.32 mg/kg). TCS at concentrations of up to 75 ng/L were detected in receiving waters from five creeks affected by effluent discharge from WWTPs. The removal rate of TCS in five selected WWTPs ranged from 72 and 93%, ascribed mainly to sorption onto sludge and biological degradation. Biodegradation in a clay loam soil was noted with a half life of 18 days. However the half-lives under field conditions are expected to be very different. The studies on the effect of TCS on soil microbiological processes showed that triclosan can disrupt the nitrogen cyclein sensitive soils at concentrations ≥5 mg/kg. In view of the recent risk assessment by the Australian regulatory agency NICNAS, there is an urgent need to assess exposure to TCS and its effect on ecosystem health.

Release behavior of triazine residues in stabilised contaminated soils.

This paper reports the release behavior of two triazines (atrazine and simazine) in stabilised soils from a pesticide-contaminated site in South Australia. The soils were contaminated with a range of pesticides, especially with triazine herbicides. With multiple extractions of each soil sample with deionised water (eight in total), 15% of atrazine and 4% of simazine residues were recovered, resulting in very high concentrations of the two herbicides in leachate. The presence of small fractions of surfactants was found to further enhance the release of the residues. Methanol content up to 10% did not substantially influence the concentration of simazine and atrazine released. The study demonstrated that while the stabilisation of contaminated soil with particulate activated carbon (5%) and cement mix (15%) was effective in locking the residues of some pesticides, it failed to immobilise triazine herbicides residues completely. Given the higher water solubility of these herbicides than other compounds more effective strategies to immobilise their residues is needed.

Sorption of fipronil and its metabolites on soils from South Australia.

This paper reports on the sorption of fipronil [(+/-)-5-amino-1-(2,6-dichloro-alpha,alpha,alpha-trifluoro-p-tolyl)-4-trifluoromethyl-sulfinylpyrazole-3-carbonitrile] and its two main metabolites, desulfynil and sulfide derivatives on a range of soils from South Australia. The Freundlich sorption coefficient (Kf) values for fipronil on the soils ranged from 1.94 to 4.84 using a 5% acetonitrile/water mixture as the soil solution. Its two metabolites had a higher sorption affinity for soils, with Kf values ranging from 11.09 to 23.49 for the sulfide derivative and from 4.70 to 11.77 for the desulfynil derivative. Their sorption coefficients were found to be better related to the soil organic carbon than clay content. The presence of cosolvents in soil solutions had a significant influence on the sorption of fipronil. The Freundlich sorption coefficients showed a log linear relationship with the fractions of both acetonitrile and methanol in solutions. The sorption coefficient of fipronil on Turretfield soil in the aqueous solution was estimated to be from 13.80 to 19.19. Methanol had less effect on the sorption of fipronil than acetonitrile. The Kd values for fipronil on the eight soils using a 5% methanol/water mixture were from 5.34 to 13.85, which reflect more closely the sorption in the aqueous solution. The average Koc value for fipronil on the eight South Australian soils was calculated to be 825+/-214.

Laboratory study on leachability of five herbicides in South Australian soils.

Norflurazon, oxadiazon, oxyfluorfen, trifluralin and simazine are herbicides widely used in the vineyards of the Barossa Valley, South Australia. The leaching behaviour of norflurazon, oxadiazon, oxyfluorfen and trifluralin was investigated on four key soils in the Barossa Valley. Leaching potential on packed soil columns and actual mobility using intact soil columns were investigated. On the packed soil columns, norflurazon was the most leachable herbicide. More of the herbicides were detected in the leachates from the sandy soils (Mountadam and Nuriootpa) than from the clayey soils (Lyndoch and Tanunda). Organic matter is generally low in soils in the Barossa region. Porosity and saturated conductivity significantly affect herbicide movement and in the sandy Mountadam and Nuriootpa soils, the water flux is greater than for the higher clay content Lyndoch and Tanunda soils. Increasing the time interval between herbicide application and the incidence of "rainfall" reduced the amounts of herbicides found in the leachates. The use of intact soil columns and including simazine for comparison showed that both norflurazon and simazine were present in the leachates. Simazine was the first herbicide to appear in leachates. Sectioning of the intact soil columns after leaching clearly demonstrated that norflurazon and simazine reached the bottom of the soil columns for all soils studied. Greater amounts of norflurazon were retained in the soil columns compared with simazine. The other herbicides were mostly retained in the initial sections of the soil columns.

Nucleolin, a novel partner for the Myb transcription factor family that regulates their activity.

To unravel the mechanisms of action of transcriptional regulation by the Myb family of transcription factors, we have set out to isolate their protein partners. We identify nucleolin as one of the nuclear polypeptides that interact specifically with the A-Myb and c-Myb, but not B-Myb DNA-binding domains. We show unambiguously that this interaction is direct and takes place in vivo, as demonstrated by co-immunoprecipitation of the endogenously and exogenously expressed proteins. The minimal DNA-binding domain containing only the R2R3 c-Myb repeats is sufficient for nucleolin binding. Computer analysis of the R2R3 three-dimensional structure, as well as extensive mutational analysis within this region, reveals that the Arg(161) residue, present in c-Myb and A-Myb, but not B-Myb, is crucial for this interaction. We show that the interaction of nucleolin with Myb is functional because co-transfection of nucleolin down-regulates Myb transcriptional activity. Nucleolin is a multifunctional phosphoprotein present in both nucleoplasm and more abundantly in the nucleolus and shows helicase and chromatin decondensing activities. This is the first demonstration of nucleolin binding to a transcription factor.

A-Myb up-regulates Bcl-2 through a Cdx binding site in t(14;18) lymphoma cells.

In follicular lymphoma, bcl-2 is translocated to the immunoglobulin heavy chain locus leading to deregulation of bcl-2 expression. We examined the role of Myb proteins in the regulation of bcl-2 expression in lymphoma cells. We showed that A-Myb up-regulates bcl-2 promoter activity. Northern and Western analyses demonstrated that A-Myb was expressed in the DHL-4 t(14;18) cell line. In t(14;18) cells and mature B cells, A-Myb up-regulated bcl-2 expression, whereas B- and c-Myb had little effect on bcl-2 gene expression. Deletion analysis of the bcl-2 5'-region identified a region responsive to A-Myb in t(14;18) cells. A potential binding site for the Cdx homeodomain proteins was located in this sequence. Analysis of the A-Myb-responsive region by UV cross-linking experiments revealed that a 32-kDa protein formed a complex with this region, but direct binding by Myb proteins could not be demonstrated. A-Myb could be recovered along with Cdx2 when nuclear extracts were passed over the Cdx site. Mutagenesis of the Cdx binding site abolished binding by the 32-kDa protein and significantly reduced the ability of A-Myb to induce bcl-2 expression. A strong induction of bcl-2 P2 promoter activity was observed in cotransfection studies of DHL-4 cells with the A-Myb and Cdx2 expression vectors, and increased endogenous Bcl-2 protein expression was observed in B cells transfected with A-Myb and/or Cdx2 expression constructs.

Laboratory study on the interaction between herbicides and sediments in water systems.

Interaction between herbicides and sediments in water systems is an important process occurring in water, which influences the behaviour of the herbicides in water. This paper reports on the sorption of herbicides norflurazon, oxadiazon and trifluralin on soil and the interaction between the herbicides and sediments under stirred and non-stirred conditions. The sorption coefficients of the herbicides on soils are 3.58 and 5.41 for norflurazon, 23.43 and 28.07 for oxadiazon and 890.73 and 1217.20 for trifluralin. The sorption of the herbicides is related to the organic carbon content in the soils. This study shows a greater sorption of the herbicides on stirred sediments than on non-stirred sediments due to more significant contact under stirred conditions. The relative concentrations of the herbicides in water systems containing sediments were higher than those in pure water 6 and 13 days after treatment. When these herbicides were sorbed on sediments, their persistence in water increased. Sorption of herbicides on sediments in aquatic systems could protect them from degradation in water.

Herbicide residues in grapes and wine.

The persistence of several common herbicides from grapes to wine has been studied. Shiraz, Tarrango and Doradillo grapes were separately sprayed with either norflurazon, oxyfluorfen, oxadiazon or trifluralin-persistent herbicides commonly used for weed control in vineyards. The dissipation of the herbicides from the grapes was followed for 28 days following treatment. Results showed that norflurazon was the most persist herbicide although there were detectable residues of all the herbicides on both red and white grapes at the end of the study period. The penetration of herbicides into the flesh of the grapes was found to be significantly greater for white grapes than for red grapes. Small-lot winemaking experiments showed that norflurazon persisted at levels close to the initial concentration through vinification and into the finished wine. The other herbicides degraded, essentially via first-order kinetics, within the period of "first fermentation" and had largely disappeared after 28 days. The use of charcoal together with filter pads, or with diatomaceous earth was shown to be very effective in removing herbicide residues from the wine. A 5% charcoal filter removed more than 96% of the norflurazon persisting in the treated wine.

The high-mobility group protein T160 binds to both linear and cruciform DNA and mediates DNA bending as determined by ring closure.

The high-mobility group protein T160 was isolated by screening a phage library from a murine pre-B-cell line L1210. South-Western experiments have previously shown that this protein binds to V-(D)-J recombination signal sequences, suggesting that it may be a sequence-specific DNA-binding protein. However, neither gel-shift nor footprinting analyses have been successfully employed with the T160 protein, despite an extensive effort. In this study, the T160 protein or truncated forms made soluble through denaturing and renaturing cycles in urea were successfully used in gel-shift experiments showing that T160 binds to cruci-form or linear duplex DNA with no apparent sequence specificity. Furthermore, fragments longer than 100 bp efficiently formed covalently closed circular monomers in the presence of T160 and T4 DNA ligase, indicating that the protein is capable of introducing bends into the duplex. Last, tissue distribution by Western blotting analysis showed that the T160 protein is expressed in various murine tissues in addition to those of lymphoid origin. Considering its broad evolutionary conservation (from plants to mammals) also, these results suggest that the functional role of the T160 protein is not limited to V-(D)-J recombination, but might be involved in basic processes such as DNA replication and repairing, where irregular DNA structures are generated and very likely recognized by HMG domain proteins.

The DNA binding domain of the A-MYB transcription factor is responsible for its B cell-specific activity and binds to a B cell 110-kDa nuclear protein.

Expression studies as well as the use of transgenic animals have demonstrated that the A-MYB transcription factor plays central and specific role in the regulation of mature B cell proliferation and/or differentiation. Furthermore, it is highly expressed in Burkitt's lymphoma cells and may participate in the pathogenesis of this disease. We have therefore investigated the transcriptional activity of A-MYB and its regulation in several human lymphoid cell lines using co-transfection assays and show that A-MYB is transcriptionally active in all the B cell lines studied, but not in T cells. In particular the best responder cell line was the Burkitt's cell line Namalwa. The activity of A-MYB in B and not T cells was observed when either an artificial construct or the c-MYC promoter was used as a reporter. Furthermore, the functional domains responsible for DNA binding, transactivation, and negative regulation, previously characterized in a fibroblast context, were found to have similar activity in B cells. The region of A-MYB responsible for the B cell specific activity was defined to be the N-terminal 218 amino acids containing the DNA binding domain. Finally, a 110-kDa protein has been identified in the nuclei of all the B, but not T, cell lines that specifically binds to this A-MYB N-terminal domain. We hypothesize that this 110-kDa protein may be a functionally important B cell-specific co-activator of A-MYB.

Decreased expression of the high-mobility group protein T160 by antisense RNA impairs the growth of mouse fibroblasts.

The T160 protein belongs to the HMG-1 box protein family and preferentially binds to non-B-DNA conformations with no sequence specificity. Its exact role has yet to be defined, though it seems to participate in processes involving DNA, such as replication, transcription and recombination. We have used an antisense RNA strategy to investigate its role in cell growth and proliferation. T160 expression is strongly suppressed by stable introduction of an antisense construct into NIH3T3 cells, and this decrease is accompanied by substantial changes in the growth properties of the stable transfectants. Impaired growth of T160- cells was mainly related to two mechanisms: i) decreased rates of cell proliferation at normal serum concentration; and ii) occurrence of cell death by apoptosis at low serum concentration, as demonstrated by both flow cytometry and microscopy. The finding that decreased T160 availability affects cell proliferation, provides further evidence of its involvement in a basic cell function, such as DNA replication.

Redundant functions of B-Myb and c-Myb in differentiating myeloid cells.

We show in this report that the human myeloid leukemia cell line GFD8 is a useful model to compare the biological function of the structurally related c-Myb and B-Myb proto-oncogenes and to investigate the c-myb domains required for this function. GFD8 cells are dependent for growth on granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor and differentiate in response to phorbol myristate acetate (PMA). We have stably transfected this cell line with constructs constitutively expressing c-Myb or B-Myb. Deregulated expression of both c-Myb and B-Myb inhibited the differentiation observed in response to PMA and, in particular, the induction of the CD11b and CD11c antigens on the cell surface, and the induction of adherence. Furthermore, c-Myb and B-Myb enhanced expression of CD13 upon PMA treatment. Although deregulated Myb expression did not alter the growth factor dependence of the cells, it led to an increase in G2 relative to G1 arrest in cells induced to differentiate in response to PMA, whereas control vector-transfected cells were blocked mostly in G1. This decrease in G1 block took place despite normal induction of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor protein p21 (CIP1/WAF1). Thus, GFD8 cells stably expressing the human B-Myb protein behaved in a manner indistinguishable from those stably expressing C-Myb for both differentiation and cell cycle parameters. In agreement with these findings and differently from most previous reports, transactivation assays show that B-myb can indeed act as a strong activator of transcription. Finally, we demonstrated that although the DNA-binding domain of c-myb is required for both the differentiation block and the shift in cell cycle after PMA treatment, phosphorylation by casein kinase II and mitogen-activated protein kinase at positions 11 and 12 or 532 of c-myb, respectively, are not. We conclude that c-Myb and B-Myb may activate a common cellular program in the GFD8 cell line involved in both differentiation and cell cycle control.

Host genotype controls the ability of the ISGF3 complex to activate transcription of IFN-inducible genes.

C57BL/6 mice are unable to express the Ifi 202 type genes upon injection in vivo of multiple dsRNA, poly rl:rC, or IFN-treatment in vitro. For this purpose the 5' terminal flanking region (called the b segment of 804 bp) was linked to a heterologous reporter gene chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (CAT) and transfected into NIH3T3 cells or BLK cells derived from the C57BL/6 strain. IFN-alpha induced strong CAT activity in NIH3T3 but not in BLK cells. This lack of transcription activation was not due to a defect in STAT factor activity, since IFN-alpha treatment in the presence of IFN-gamma priming induced translocation of the ISGF3 into the nucleus, and binding to the ISRE (IFN-Stimulated Response Element) of the 202 gene even in C57BL/6 derived cells. Surprisingly when three tandem copies of the 202 ISRE (42 bp) were linked to a heterologous promoter (c-fos promoter) driving the reporter CAT gene, activation was also observed in C57BL/6 cells upon IFN-treatment. Finally, another IFN-inducible gene, namely the Mx, was activated in C57BL/6 mice. Thus, the primary defect of the C57BL/6 strain leading to an impaired Ifi 202 type gene response to IFN appears to be an inability of the ISGF3 complex to activate the endogenous promoter. Altogether these results suggest that unidentified nuclear factors related to the host genotype control the ability of the STAT factors to activate transcription upon IFN-treatment.

Characterization of nuclear factors involved in 202 gene induction by IFN-alpha, viruses or dsRNA in murine leukemia cells.

When treated with IFN-alpha, L1210 leukemia cells express high levels of the mouse 202 gene mRNA after a few hours. Three tandem copies of a 43 bp fragment (GAbox) homologous to the IFN-stimulatable response element (ISRE), located in the 5'-flanking region of the 202 gene, were linked to the reporter CAT gene and transiently transfected into L1210 cells. The data suggest that the GA box is sufficient to confer transcriptional inducibility upon IFN stimulation. Binding assays, using the labeled GA box as a probe, demonstrated the presence of a retarded complex, designated GAbfl, in the nuclear extracts of L1210 cells treated with IFN-alpha. This complex is absent in the extracts of L1210 cells treated with ssRNA viruses or synthetic dsRNA. Moreover, photoaffinity cross-linking experiments revealed that GAbfl contains a protein of about 50 kDa. Altogether these results demonstrate that antiviral state induction by IFN-alpha in L1210 cells is preceded by GAbfl binding to the ISRE of the IFN-inducible genes.

Characterization of nuclear factors involved in 202 gene induction by interferon-alpha in murine leukemia cells.

The 5' terminal flanking region of the interferon-inducible gene, 202, contains an interferon-stimulable response element (ISRE), called a GA box, that confers inducibility by interferon(IFN)-alpha, but not by IFN-gamma, on a reporter gene, such as the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT). Nuclear extracts from L1210 murine leukemia cells, stimulated for various periods of time with IFN-alpha, were mixed with 32P-labeled GA box and analyzed for the presence of retarded complexes in electrophoretic-mobility-shift assays. In addition to a few constitutive retarded complexes, an inducible GA box-binding activity (GAbf-1) appeared after 5 min, peaked at about 2 h, and was still abundant 12 h after IFN-alpha treatment. In the cytoplasmic fraction GAbf-1 was not detectable before 30 min, continued to increase up to 2 h, but had disappeared within 12 h. GAbf-1 activity was not observed in nuclear extracts treated with IFN-gamma, and was not inhibited by prior treatment with the protein-synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide. When the binding properties of GAbf-1 were compared with those of ISGF-3, the primary transcriptional activator for IFN-alpha-induced genes, a different pattern of retarded complexes was observed. Moreover, as observed by immunoblotting analysis, nuclear extracts from IFN-alpha-treated L1210 cells did not contain the p91/84 subunit of the ISGF3, the best characterized nuclear complex activated by IFN-alpha. Altogether these results indicate that GAbf-1 may be a novel transcription factor exploited by IFN-alpha to activate the 202 inducible gene in murine pre-B leukemia cells.