Gammaproteobacteria
A group of the proteobacteria comprised of facultatively anaerobic and fermentative gram-negative bacteria.
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
Seawater
The salinated water of OCEANS AND SEAS that provides habitat for marine organisms.
DNA, Ribosomal
Ectothiorhodospiraceae
Proteobacteria
A phylum of bacteria consisting of the purple bacteria and their relatives which form a branch of the eubacterial tree. This group of predominantly gram-negative bacteria is classified based on homology of equivalent nucleotide sequences of 16S ribosomal RNA or by hybridization of ribosomal RNA or DNA with 16S and 23S ribosomal RNA.
Chemoautotrophic Growth
Growth of organisms using AUTOTROPHIC PROCESSES for obtaining nutrients and chemotrophic processes for obtaining a primary energy supply. Chemotrophic processes are involved in deriving a primary energy supply from exogenous chemical sources. Chemotrophic autotrophs (chemoautotrophs) generally use inorganic chemicals as energy sources and as such are called chemolithoautotrophs. Most chemoautotrophs live in hostile environments, such as deep sea vents. They are mostly BACTERIA and ARCHAEA, and are the primary producers for those ecosystems.
Sequence Analysis, DNA
Alphaproteobacteria
A class in the phylum PROTEOBACTERIA comprised mostly of two major phenotypes: purple non-sulfur bacteria and aerobic bacteriochlorophyll-containing bacteria.
DNA, Bacterial
Deoxyribonucleic acid that makes up the genetic material of bacteria.
Mediterranean Sea
*Medically unexceptional, the Mediterranean Sea is an intercontinental body of water that separates Southern Europe from Northern Africa and the Middle East, infamous for historical epidemics like plague, which have significantly shaped human health history.*
Betaproteobacteria
A class in the phylum PROTEOBACTERIA comprised of chemoheterotrophs and chemoautotrophs which derive nutrients from decomposition of organic material.
North Sea
I'm sorry for any confusion, but the term "North Sea" is geographical and refers to the northernmost part of the Atlantic Ocean, located between eastern England, east Scotland, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France, rather than having a medical definition.
Bacteria
One of the three domains of life (the others being Eukarya and ARCHAEA), also called Eubacteria. They are unicellular prokaryotic microorganisms which generally possess rigid cell walls, multiply by cell division, and exhibit three principal forms: round or coccal, rodlike or bacillary, and spiral or spirochetal. Bacteria can be classified by their response to OXYGEN: aerobic, anaerobic, or facultatively anaerobic; by the mode by which they obtain their energy: chemotrophy (via chemical reaction) or PHOTOTROPHY (via light reaction); for chemotrophs by their source of chemical energy: CHEMOLITHOTROPHY (from inorganic compounds) or chemoorganotrophy (from organic compounds); and by their source for CARBON; NITROGEN; etc.; HETEROTROPHY (from organic sources) or AUTOTROPHY (from CARBON DIOXIDE). They can also be classified by whether or not they stain (based on the structure of their CELL WALLS) with CRYSTAL VIOLET dye: gram-negative or gram-positive.
Genes, rRNA
Geologic Sediments
A mass of organic or inorganic solid fragmented material, or the solid fragment itself, that comes from the weathering of rock and is carried by, suspended in, or dropped by air, water, or ice. It refers also to a mass that is accumulated by any other natural agent and that forms in layers on the earth's surface, such as sand, gravel, silt, mud, fill, or loess. (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed, p1689)
Black Sea
Phosphoribosylaminoimidazolecarboxamide Formyltransferase
Alteromonadaceae
A family of marine, gram-negative PROTEOBACTERIA including the genera ALTEROMONAS; Colwellia; Idiomarina; MARINOBACTER; MORITELLA; PSEUDOALTEROMONAS; and SHEWANELLA.
Molecular Sequence Data
Descriptions of specific amino acid, carbohydrate, or nucleotide sequences which have appeared in the published literature and/or are deposited in and maintained by databanks such as GENBANK, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), National Biomedical Research Foundation (NBRF), or other sequence repositories.
Biodiversity
Heterotrophic Processes
The processes by which organisms utilize organic substances as their nutrient sources. Contrasts with AUTOTROPHIC PROCESSES which make use of simple inorganic substances as the nutrient supply source. Heterotrophs can be either chemoheterotrophs (or chemoorganotrophs) which also require organic substances such as glucose for their primary metabolic energy requirements, or photoheterotrophs (or photoorganotrophs) which derive their primary energy requirements from light. Depending on environmental conditions some organisms can switch between different nutritional modes (AUTOTROPHY; heterotrophy; chemotrophy; or PHOTOTROPHY) to utilize different sources to meet their nutrients and energy requirements.
Biota
Hydrothermal Vents
Xanthomonadaceae
A family of gram-negative bacteria, in the order Xanthomonadales, pathogenic to plants.
Halomonas
A genus of gram-negative, rod-shaped or pleomorphic bacteria which are halotolerant. Members of this genus are capable of growth in sodium chloride concentrations of up to 20% or more. (From Bergey's Manual of Determinative Bacteriology, 9th ed)
Chromatiaceae
Soil Microbiology
Bacteroidetes
A phylum of bacteria comprised of three classes: Bacteroides, Flavobacteria, and Sphingobacteria.
Water Microbiology
The presence of bacteria, viruses, and fungi in water. This term is not restricted to pathogenic organisms.
Fatty Acids
Organic, monobasic acids derived from hydrocarbons by the equivalent of oxidation of a methyl group to an alcohol, aldehyde, and then acid. Fatty acids are saturated and unsaturated (FATTY ACIDS, UNSATURATED). (Grant & Hackh's Chemical Dictionary, 5th ed)
Symbiosis
Cluster Analysis
A set of statistical methods used to group variables or observations into strongly inter-related subgroups. In epidemiology, it may be used to analyze a closely grouped series of events or cases of disease or other health-related phenomenon with well-defined distribution patterns in relation to time or place or both.
Pacific Ocean
Oceanospirillaceae
A family of gram-negative bacteria in the order Oceanospirillales.
Bacterial Typing Techniques
Procedures for identifying types and strains of bacteria. The most frequently employed typing systems are BACTERIOPHAGE TYPING and SEROTYPING as well as bacteriocin typing and biotyping.
Plankton
Community of tiny aquatic PLANTS and ANIMALS, and photosynthetic BACTERIA, that are either free-floating or suspended in the water, with little or no power of locomotion. They are divided into PHYTOPLANKTON and ZOOPLANKTON.
RNA, Bacterial
Ribonucleic acid in bacteria having regulatory and catalytic roles as well as involvement in protein synthesis.
Thiothrix
Metagenome
Sulfur
Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis
Genome, Bacterial
The genetic complement of a BACTERIA as represented in its DNA.
Oceans and Seas
Hemiptera
A large order of insects characterized by having the mouth parts adapted to piercing or sucking. It is comprised of four suborders: HETEROPTERA, Auchenorrhyncha, Sternorrhyncha, and Coleorrhyncha.
Quinones
Petroleum
Atlantic Ocean
I'm sorry for any confusion, but the term "Atlantic Ocean" is a geographical term referring to one of the world's five oceans, covering approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and separating the continents of Europe and Africa to the east from those of North and South America to the west. It doesn't have a direct medical definition, as it is not a medical term.
Phototrophic Processes
Processes by which phototrophic organisms use sunlight as their primary energy source. Contrasts with chemotrophic processes which do not depend on light and function in deriving energy from exogenous chemical sources. Photoautotrophy (or photolithotrophy) is the ability to use sunlight as energy to fix inorganic nutrients to be used for other organic requirements. Photoautotrophs include all GREEN PLANTS; GREEN ALGAE; CYANOBACTERIA; and green and PURPLE SULFUR BACTERIA. Photoheterotrophs or photoorganotrophs require a supply of organic nutrients for their organic requirements but use sunlight as their primary energy source; examples include certain PURPLE NONSULFUR BACTERIA. Depending on environmental conditions some organisms can switch between different nutritional modes (AUTOTROPHY; HETEROTROPHY; chemotrophy; or phototrophy) to utilize different sources to meet their nutrients and energy requirements.
Epsilonproteobacteria
A group of proteobacteria consisting of chemoorganotrophs usually associated with the DIGESTIVE SYSTEM of humans and animals.
Bacterial Physiological Phenomena
Physiological processes and properties of BACTERIA.
Vibrionaceae
Rhizosphere
Fresh Water
Water containing no significant amounts of salts, such as water from RIVERS and LAKES.
Species Specificity
The restriction of a characteristic behavior, anatomical structure or physical system, such as immune response; metabolic response, or gene or gene variant to the members of one species. It refers to that property which differentiates one species from another but it is also used for phylogenetic levels higher or lower than the species.
Leeching
The application of LEECHES to the body to draw blood for therapeutic purposes. Such medicinal leeching, an ancient medical practice, is still being used in microsurgery and the treatment of venous congestion or occlusion.
Archaea
One of the three domains of life (the others being BACTERIA and Eukarya), formerly called Archaebacteria under the taxon Bacteria, but now considered separate and distinct. They are characterized by: (1) the presence of characteristic tRNAs and ribosomal RNAs; (2) the absence of peptidoglycan cell walls; (3) the presence of ether-linked lipids built from branched-chain subunits; and (4) their occurrence in unusual habitats. While archaea resemble bacteria in morphology and genomic organization, they resemble eukarya in their method of genomic replication. The domain contains at least four kingdoms: CRENARCHAEOTA; EURYARCHAEOTA; NANOARCHAEOTA; and KORARCHAEOTA.
Shewanella
Rivers
Large natural streams of FRESH WATER formed by converging tributaries and which empty into a body of water (lake or ocean).
Bioelectric Energy Sources
Heteroptera
A suborder of HEMIPTERA, called true bugs, characterized by the possession of two pairs of wings. It includes the medically important families CIMICIDAE and REDUVIIDAE. (From Dorland, 28th ed)
Deltaproteobacteria
A group of PROTEOBACTERIA represented by morphologically diverse, anaerobic sulfidogens. Some members of this group are considered bacterial predators, having bacteriolytic properties.
Ecosystem
Hot Springs
Habitat of hot water naturally heated by underlying geologic processes. Surface hot springs have been used for BALNEOLOGY. Underwater hot springs are called HYDROTHERMAL VENTS.
Anthozoa
Marinobacter
A genus of gram-negative, rod-shaped bacteria in the family ALTEROMONADACEAE. The inability to utilize carbohydrates is a distinguishing feature from other genera in the family.
Arctic Regions
Porifera
The phylum of sponges which are sessile, suspension-feeding, multicellular animals that utilize flagellated cells called choanocytes to circulate water. Most are hermaphroditic. They are probably an early evolutionary side branch that gave rise to no other group of animals. Except for about 150 freshwater species, sponges are marine animals. They are a source of ALKALOIDS; STEROLS; and other complex molecules useful in medicine and biological research.
INDEL Mutation
A mutation named with the blend of insertion and deletion. It refers to a length difference between two ALLELES where it is unknowable if the difference was originally caused by a SEQUENCE INSERTION or by a SEQUENCE DELETION. If the number of nucleotides in the insertion/deletion is not divisible by three, and it occurs in a protein coding region, it is also a FRAMESHIFT MUTATION.
Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
Korea
Former kingdom, located on Korea Peninsula between Sea of Japan and Yellow Sea on east coast of Asia. In 1948, the kingdom ceased and two independent countries were formed, divided by the 38th parallel.
Phytoplankton
Free-floating minute organisms that are photosynthetic. The term is non-taxonomic and refers to a lifestyle (energy utilization and motility), rather than a particular type of organism. Most, but not all, are unicellular algae. Important groups include DIATOMS; DINOFLAGELLATES; CYANOBACTERIA; CHLOROPHYTA; HAPTOPHYTA; CRYPTOMONADS; and silicoflagellates.
Carbon
Methane
Soil Pollutants
Substances which pollute the soil. Use for soil pollutants in general or for which there is no specific heading.
Nitrates
Gene Transfer, Horizontal
The naturally occurring transmission of genetic information between organisms, related or unrelated, circumventing parent-to-offspring transmission. Horizontal gene transfer may occur via a variety of naturally occurring processes such as GENETIC CONJUGATION; GENETIC TRANSDUCTION; and TRANSFECTION. It may result in a change of the recipient organism's genetic composition (TRANSFORMATION, GENETIC).
Actinobacteria
Class of BACTERIA with diverse morphological properties. Strains of Actinobacteria show greater than 80% 16S rDNA/rRNA sequence similarity among each other and also the presence of certain signature nucleotides. (Stackebrandt E. et al, Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. (1997) 47:479-491)
Gastrointestinal Tract
DNA Fingerprinting
A technique for identifying individuals of a species that is based on the uniqueness of their DNA sequence. Uniqueness is determined by identifying which combination of allelic variations occur in the individual at a statistically relevant number of different loci. In forensic studies, RESTRICTION FRAGMENT LENGTH POLYMORPHISM of multiple, highly polymorphic VNTR LOCI or MICROSATELLITE REPEAT loci are analyzed. The number of loci used for the profile depends on the ALLELE FREQUENCY in the population.
In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence
Genes, Bacterial
The functional hereditary units of BACTERIA.
Oxidation-Reduction
A chemical reaction in which an electron is transferred from one molecule to another. The electron-donating molecule is the reducing agent or reductant; the electron-accepting molecule is the oxidizing agent or oxidant. Reducing and oxidizing agents function as conjugate reductant-oxidant pairs or redox pairs (Lehninger, Principles of Biochemistry, 1982, p471).
Soil
Nucleic Acid Hybridization
Widely used technique which exploits the ability of complementary sequences in single-stranded DNAs or RNAs to pair with each other to form a double helix. Hybridization can take place between two complimentary DNA sequences, between a single-stranded DNA and a complementary RNA, or between two RNA sequences. The technique is used to detect and isolate specific sequences, measure homology, or define other characteristics of one or both strands. (Kendrew, Encyclopedia of Molecular Biology, 1994, p503)
Locomotion
Microscopy, Electron, Transmission
Anaerobiosis
Nitrogen
An element with the atomic symbol N, atomic number 7, and atomic weight [14.00643; 14.00728]. Nitrogen exists as a diatomic gas and makes up about 78% of the earth's atmosphere by volume. It is a constituent of proteins and nucleic acids and found in all living cells.
Phenotype
Biodegradation, Environmental
Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
Temperature
The property of objects that determines the direction of heat flow when they are placed in direct thermal contact. The temperature is the energy of microscopic motions (vibrational and translational) of the particles of atoms.