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ADVANCES IN Applied Microbiology VOLUME 49 ThisPageIntentionallyLeftBlank ADVANCES IN Applied Microbiology Edited by ALLEN I. LASKIN JOAN W. BENNETT Somerset, New Jersey New Orleans, Louisiana GEOFFREY M. GADD Dundee, United Kingdom VOLUME 49 San Diego New York Boston London Sydney Tokyo Toronto This book is printed on acid-free paper. ∞ Copyright C 2001 by ACADEMIC PRESS All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Publisher. The appearance of the code at the bottom of the first page of a chapter in this book indicates the Publisher’s consent that copies of the chapter may be made for personal or internal use of specific clients. This consent is given on the condition, however, that the copier pay the stated per copy fee through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, Massachusetts 01923), for copying beyond that permitted by Sections 107 or 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law. This consent does not extend to other kinds of copying, such as copying for general distribution, for advertising or promotional purposes, for creating new collective works, or for resale. Copy fees for pre-2000 chapters are as shown on the title pages. If no fee code appears on the title page, the copy fee is the same as for current chapters. 0065-2164/01 $35.00 Academic Press A division of Harcourt, Inc. 525 B Street, Suite 1900, San Diego, California 92101-4495, USA http://www.academicpress.com Academic Press Harcourt Place, 32 Jamestown Road, London NW1 7BY, UK http://www.academicpress.com International Standard Serial Number: 0065-2164 International Standard Book Number: 0-12-002649-X PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 010203040506MM987654321 CONTENTS Microbial Transformations of Explosives SUSAN J. ROSSER,AMRIK BASRAN,EMMA R. TRAVIS,CHRISTOPHER E. FRENCH, AND NEIL C. BRUCE I. Introduction....................................................................... 1 II. Nitroaromatic Explosives ........................................................ 3 III. Nitramine Explosives ............................................................ 16 IV. Nitrate Ester Explosives .......................................................... 23 V. Conclusions ....................................................................... 30 References......................................................................... 30 Biodiversity of Acidophilic Prokaryotes KEVIN B. HALLBERG AND D. BARRIE JOHNSON I. Introduction....................................................................... 37 II. Biodiversity of Acidophilic Prokaryotes........................................ 39 III. Metabolism of Acidophiles ...................................................... 59 IV. Ecology, Applications, and Environmental Significance ...................... 67 References......................................................................... 78 Laboratory Bioproduction of Paralytic Shellfish Toxins in Dinoflagellates DENNIS P. H. HSIEH,DAZHI WANG, AND GARRY H. CHANG I. Introduction....................................................................... 85 II. Culture Designs and Physiology................................................. 95 III. Nutritional Factors ............................................................... 97 IV. Environmental Factors ........................................................... 100 V. Prototype Laboratory Production of C2 Toxin.................................. 102 VI. Toxin Purification and Analyses ................................................ 107 VII. Conclusion ........................................................................ 107 References......................................................................... 108 Metal Toxicity in Yeasts and the Role of Oxidative Stress S. V. AVERY I. Introduction....................................................................... 111 II. Metal-Induced Generation of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS)................ 113 v vi CONTENTS III. General Evidence for Involvement of ROS in Cellular Metal Toxicity ....... 115 IV. The Yeast Model Applied to Metal Toxicology................................. 117 V. General Aspects of Metal Toxicity and Resistance in Yeasts .................. 118 VI. Targets of Metal Toxicity in Yeasts and the Role of Free Radicals ............ 120 VII. Genomic Approaches to Understanding Metal Toxicity....................... 133 VIII. Conclusions and Future Directions ............................................. 136 References......................................................................... 137 Foodborne Microbial Pathogens and the Food Research Institute M. ELLIN DOYLE AND MICHAEL W. PARIZA I. Introduction....................................................................... 143 II. Historical Overview .............................................................. 144 III. Future Prospects and Perspectives .............................................. 152 IV. Conclusions ....................................................................... 157 References......................................................................... 158 Alexander Fleming and the Discovery of Penicillin JOAN.W.BENNETT AND KING-THOM CHUNG I. Introduction....................................................................... 163 II. Fleming’s Early Years ............................................................ 164 III. Preludes and Penicillin .......................................................... 167 IV. The Lull before the Storm........................................................ 171 V. The Oxford University Group ................................................... 172 VI. Scale Up and Commercialization ............................................... 175 VII. Fleming’s Transformation into Celebrity Scientist ............................. 176 VIII. Personalities ...................................................................... 177 IX. Myths and Microbiologists....................................................... 180 References......................................................................... 183 INDEX ..................................................................................... 185 CONTENTS OF PREVIOUS VOLUMES......................................................... 193 Microbial Transformations of Explosives ∗ ∗ ∗ SUSAN.J.ROSSER, AMRIK BASRAN, EMMA.R.TRAVIS, † ∗ CHRISTOPHER.E.FRENCH, AND NEIL.C.BRUCE ∗ Institute of Biotechnology, University of Cambridge Tennis Court Road, Cambridge, CB2 1QT, United Kingdom † Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Edinburgh Darwin Building, Kings Building, Edinburgh, EH9 3JR, United Kingdom I. Introduction II. Nitroaromatic Explosives A. The Chemical Nature of TNT and Its Reactivity B. Aerobic Transformation of TNT by Bacteria C. Anaerobic Transformation of TNT by Bacteria D. Transformation of TNT by Methanogens and Fermentative Bacteria E. Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria F. Fungal Transformation and Degradation of TNT III. Nitramine Explosives A. Chemistry and Fate of Nitramines in the Environment B. Biodegradation of Nitramines under Anaerobic Conditions C. Biodegradation of Nitramines under Aerobic Conditions D. Biodegradation of Nitramines by Fungi IV. Nitrate Ester Explosives A. Chemistry and Fate of Nitrate Esters in the Environment B. Bacterial Metabolism of Nitrate Esters C. Bacterial Nitrate Ester Reductases D. Fungal Metabolism of Nitrate Esters V. Conclusions References I. Introduction The contamination of the environment with explosive residues presents a widespread environmental problem. Military sites of produc- tion, processing, and disposal of these explosives are the main concern with the manufacture of explosives representing a sizable segment of the chemical industry. The relative recalcitrance of many of these com- pounds means that levels of contamination can build up over many years, with sites used in World War II still heavily contaminated. As these compounds are toxic, mutagenic, and highly energetic (Rosenblatt et al., 1991), they present a serious problem. The explosives of the greatest importance are the high explosives: nitroaromatics [such as 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) and picric acid], 1 ADVANCES IN APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY, VOLUME 49 Copyright C 2001 by Academic Press All rights of reproduction in any form reserved. 0065-2164/01 $35.00 2 S. J. ROSSER ET AL. FIG. 1. Molecular structures of the most important high explosives. MICROBIAL TRANSFORMATIONS OF EXPLOSIVES 3 nitramines [Royal Demolition Explosive—hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro- 1,3,5-triazine (RDX)—and High Melting Explosive—octahydro-1,3,5,7- tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine (HMX)], and nitrate esters [pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) and glycerol trinitrate (GTN)]. Figure 1 shows the structures of these compounds. The high proportion of nitro groups is an important property of explosives. TNT is historically the most impor- tant explosive; however, heterocyclic nitramines have now taken over as the most widely used military explosives. During the production of explosives large quantities of water are required due to the insolubility of the compounds. This has re- sulted in the siting of manufacturing plants near large supplies of groundwater, subsequently used for drinking water reservoirs (Levsen et al., 1993). The vast quantities of water involved leach through soil and eventually into ground water