Organophosphonate Utilization by the Wild-Type Strain of Penicillium notatum.

We studied the biodegradation of compounds containing phosphorus-to-carbon bonds by using a wild-type strain of Penicillium notatum. The substrate specificity of this strain was studied, and we found that it is able to utilize structurally diverse organophosphonates as sole sources of phosphorus. This ability seems to be inducible, as indicated by the presence of a lag phase during growth. A popular herbicide, glyphosate, inhibited fungal growth, but it was also degraded by the fungus if it was applied in sublethal doses. This indicates that P. notatum may play an important role in biodegradation of organophosphonates. The strain which we used did not metabolize any of the phosphonates which we tested when they were used as sole carbon or nitrogen sources.

Flotation of Streptomyces pilosus after lead accumulation.

The flotation of Streptomyces pilosus was studied in the absence and presence of adsorbed Pb(II) ions on the cell walls and with and without using sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) as collector. Adsorption of SDS onto the organism in the absence and presence of Pb(II) ions was also investigated. It was found that in the absence of adsorbed Pb(II), very little flotation took place with or without the presence of SDS although SDS adsorbed to some extent on the organism. The presence of Pb(II) on the bacterium's cell walls significantly increased flotation even in the absence of the collector. Addition of SDS, however, further increased both flotation rate and recovery.

Uranium and lead accumulation in cells of Streptomyces sp.

Lead and uranium were accumulated equally well both in the viable and dry biomass of Streptomyces sp. The process occurred in less than 5 min. Uranium was accumulated selectively from a polymetallic solution containing U, Pb, Cu, Zn, Ni, Co. The optimum pH for the process was 5.0, and the concentration of each metal in the solution was 10(-3) M. Under these conditions, the dry biomass of Streptomyces amounting to 1 mg/cm3 accumulated over 60% of the uranium in the solution. With the same amount of cell wall preparation it was possible to remove from the solution ca. 90% of U. In this case, the accumulated uranium reached 21% of the sorbent dry mass. Electron micrographs show that lead accumulated in Streptomyces cells is mainly concentrated in the cell wall structures although in the case of uranium this is not so clear.

[Activity of pyruvate kinase and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase in polymorphonuclear granulocytes of patients with atopic dermatitis in the active stage and in remission]. / Aktywnosc kinazy pirogronianowej i dehydrogenazy glukozo-6-fosforanowej w granulocytach wielojadrzastych u chorych z atopowym zapaleniem skóry w okresie zmian czynnych i w okresie remisji.

The activity of granulocyte pyruvate kinase and glucose-6-phospho dehydrogenase in 12 patients with severe atopic dermatitis in active stage of disease and in remission was investigated. It was found that in active stage the activity of both enzymes was not significantly different than in healthy individuals. In remission pyruvate kinase activity was significantly decreased and glucose-6-phospho dehydrogenase activity was found to be non significantly decreased.