For each provider, a score for each scenario was computed and then totaled for all scenarios. Analyses using chi-square or Fishers’ exact tests were conducted to determine if there were differences between knowledge based on various provider characteristics including, but not limited to, provider type, provider specialty, and service branch and whether a provider recently (previous 2 months) had education in management of TD. For the scenarios ANOVA or Student’s t-test was used to evaluate differences

in the total scenario score by multiple category or dichotomous groups of provider characteristic. Statistical significance for all associations was set at the p < 0.05 level (two-tail). Analysis was performed using Stata Version 10 (StataCorp, College Station, TX, USA). These www.selleckchem.com/products/Etopophos.html Venetoclax molecular weight data were collected in an anonymous manner and obtained under a protocol exempted from IRB review as determined by the Naval Medical Research Unit No. 3, Cairo, Egypt Institutional

Review Board. A total of 117 providers responded to the survey. The majority of respondents were physicians (74%) followed by independent duty corpsmen or medics (12%) (Table 1). There was a variety of training backgrounds with operational specialties (general medical officers and flight surgeon/undersea medicine officers) making up 37% and primary care (family physicians, pediatrics, and internal medicine) accounting for 40%

of the total respondents (Table 1). All respondents report having deployed at least once while 36% were currently deployed overseas in Iraq, and the median number of prior deployments of providers completing the survey was two [interquartile range (IQR) 1–3]. The majority of respondents (77%) were correctly able to identify the definition of TD (Table 2). However, only 24% of providers thought that the most common cause of TD was due to bacterial organisms, while 30% believed it was viral in nature. Respondents also incorrectly believed that norovirus was the most common cause of watery diarrhea (31%) while only 25% thought it was ETEC. Nearly half of providers correctly thought Shigella spp. (30%) or Campylobacter spp. (14%) were the most common cause of dysentery, although roughly one third (30%) thought ID-8 ETEC was the primary cause of dysentery. Evaluation of provider responses to scenario-based questions showed a range of responses for clinical scenarios. The five most frequent management choices for each scenario are shown in Table 3. For the scenario describing mild TD with no activity limitations, most providers (49%) chose oral rehydration therapy alone, while almost 7% felt that IV hydration was appropriate in this situation. For mild diarrhea with some limitations, the most common response (18% of providers) was IV hydration alone.

An experiment similar to Fig. 1b with AJB26 resulted in 11.9±1.4 Miller units after 2 h incubation in a high-phosphate medium vs. 20.0±2.9

Miller units after incubation selleck inhibitor in a low-phosphate medium. These observations provide compelling evidence that phosphate limitation has a positive effect on the expression of the master quorum-sensing regulator HapR. Because HapR represses biofilm formation, we hypothesized that elevated expression of HapR under the phosphate-limited condition could act to diminish biofilm formation. However, the amount of biofilm formed in high- and low-phosphate EZ-rich defined medium (as measured by the crystal violet assay) was very low precluding the detection of significant differences (Fig. 2). The global regulator PhoB, expressed under conditions of phosphate limitation, is responsible for activating numerous genes collectively known as the PhoB regulon (Lamarche et al., 2008) and has been shown to modulate biofilm formation in other Gram-negative bacteria (Monds et al., 2001, 2007). Therefore, we decided to investigate the role of this global regulator in HapR expression and biofilm formation by introducing a phoB deletion in strain SZS007. A phoB deletion mutation was introduced in strain SZS007 as described in Materials and methods. The resulting strain

SZS011 showed a similar growth rate and motility in LB and high-phosphate EZ-rich defined medium, but, as expected, a reduced growth

rate in phosphate-limited medium. We compared biofilm formation in high- and low-phosphate media between the wild-type strain selleck kinase inhibitor SZS007 and isogenic ΔphoB, ΔhapR, ΔluxO and ΔphoBΔluxO mutants. As shown in Fig. 2, in all cases selleckchem the ΔhapR mutant displayed an enhanced biofilm-forming phenotype, while ΔluxO mutants (that make constitutive HapR) formed negligible biofilm. These results demonstrate that under the experimental conditions used in this study including the phosphate-limited medium, biofilm formation is tightly regulated by LuxO/HapR. As expected, deletion of phoB had no effect on biofilm formation under high-phosphate conditions (Fig. 2a). However, deletion of phoB significantly enhanced biofilm formation under phosphate limitation (P<0.01, t-test) but to a lesser extent than the deletion of hapR (Fig. 2b). Consistent with HapR being a much stronger repressor of biofilm formation, deletion of luxO (leading to constitutive hapR expression) completely abrogated the positive effect of phoB (Fig. 2b). In order to confirm that the deletion of phoB enhances the formation of V. cholerae biofilms, we conducted a complementation assay. A DNA fragment encoding the complete phoBR operon was cloned into pUC19 to yield pPhoBR and introduced by electroporation into strain SZS011 (ΔphoB). As shown in Fig. 2c, restoring phoB in trans, but not the empty vector (pUC19), diminished biofim formation to the wild-type level.

An experiment similar to Fig. 1b with AJB26 resulted in 11.9±1.4 Miller units after 2 h incubation in a high-phosphate medium vs. 20.0±2.9

Miller units after incubation Alectinib in a low-phosphate medium. These observations provide compelling evidence that phosphate limitation has a positive effect on the expression of the master quorum-sensing regulator HapR. Because HapR represses biofilm formation, we hypothesized that elevated expression of HapR under the phosphate-limited condition could act to diminish biofilm formation. However, the amount of biofilm formed in high- and low-phosphate EZ-rich defined medium (as measured by the crystal violet assay) was very low precluding the detection of significant differences (Fig. 2). The global regulator PhoB, expressed under conditions of phosphate limitation, is responsible for activating numerous genes collectively known as the PhoB regulon (Lamarche et al., 2008) and has been shown to modulate biofilm formation in other Gram-negative bacteria (Monds et al., 2001, 2007). Therefore, we decided to investigate the role of this global regulator in HapR expression and biofilm formation by introducing a phoB deletion in strain SZS007. A phoB deletion mutation was introduced in strain SZS007 as described in Materials and methods. The resulting strain

SZS011 showed a similar growth rate and motility in LB and high-phosphate EZ-rich defined medium, but, as expected, a reduced growth

rate in phosphate-limited medium. We compared biofilm formation in high- and low-phosphate media between the wild-type strain PS-341 supplier SZS007 and isogenic ΔphoB, ΔhapR, ΔluxO and ΔphoBΔluxO mutants. As shown in Fig. 2, in all cases Etofibrate the ΔhapR mutant displayed an enhanced biofilm-forming phenotype, while ΔluxO mutants (that make constitutive HapR) formed negligible biofilm. These results demonstrate that under the experimental conditions used in this study including the phosphate-limited medium, biofilm formation is tightly regulated by LuxO/HapR. As expected, deletion of phoB had no effect on biofilm formation under high-phosphate conditions (Fig. 2a). However, deletion of phoB significantly enhanced biofilm formation under phosphate limitation (P<0.01, t-test) but to a lesser extent than the deletion of hapR (Fig. 2b). Consistent with HapR being a much stronger repressor of biofilm formation, deletion of luxO (leading to constitutive hapR expression) completely abrogated the positive effect of phoB (Fig. 2b). In order to confirm that the deletion of phoB enhances the formation of V. cholerae biofilms, we conducted a complementation assay. A DNA fragment encoding the complete phoBR operon was cloned into pUC19 to yield pPhoBR and introduced by electroporation into strain SZS011 (ΔphoB). As shown in Fig. 2c, restoring phoB in trans, but not the empty vector (pUC19), diminished biofim formation to the wild-type level.

The cloning procedure is described in

the Supporting information. The total lengths of the sequenced regions containing the sMMO and pMMO genes were 14 002 and 8581 bp, respectively (Figs 1a and 2). In the PFT�� in vitro sMMO gene region, the structural genes mmoXYBZDC were identified (Fig. 1a). Downstream of the structural genes, orf1, mmoG and mmoR were oriented in the same direction as the structural genes (Fig. 1a). The mmoG gene encodes a GroEL homologue. The mmoR gene encodes a σ54-dependent transcriptional activator, and the deduced amino acid sequence does not contain the copper-binding MTCxxC motif (Koch et al., 1997). The deduced amino acid sequence of orf1 (104 residues) did not show similarity to any other proteins with assigned functions by blast searches, but similar ORFs to orf1, with identities of 29–52%, are present at analogous

positions relative to mmoG in other methanotrophs (Fig. 1b VX-765 and Table 1a). The arrangement of these accessory genes around the structural genes is unique (Fig. 1). The comparisons of the deduced amino acid sequences of the sMMO genes (Table 1a) and the alignments of the deduced amino acid sequences of the hydroxylase components (Fig. S1a–c) were performed with M. miyakonense HT12 and previously sequenced methanotrophs. The structural genes mmoXYBZDC are most closely related to those of Methylomonas sp. KSWIII. The dinuclear iron center, coordinated by Interleukin-2 receptor the six amino acid residues (E114, E144, H147, E209, E243 and E246) in MmoX (Rosenzweig et al., 1993; Elango et al., 1997), is conserved in M. miyakonense HT12 (Fig. S1a). No other genes related to the previously described MMO functions were detected around the sequenced region in M. miyakonense HT12. orf4, which is located downstream of mmoR, showed weak homology to a secreted protein. A truncated gene of deduced 73 amino acids, which was identified at the 5′-end of the

sequenced region, was similar to the β-subunit of DNA topoisomerase IV. In the pMMO gene region, the pmoC, pmoA and pmoB genes were identified (Fig. 2). The deduced amino acid sequences of the pmoCAB genes showed the highest similarity to those of Methylomicrobium japanense NI (Table 1b). The two copper centers and one zinc center were identified in pMMO of M. capsulatus Bath (Lieberman & Rosenzweig, 2005). In M. miyakonense HT12, the dicopper center, coordinated by His 33, His 137 and His 139 from PmoB, and the zinc center, coordinated by Asp 156, His 160 and His 173 from PmoC and Glu 195 from PmoA, are all conserved (Fig. S1d–f). However, the monocopper center coordinated by His 48 and His 72 from PmoB is not conserved: His 72 is replaced with Phe. Three other ORFs, orf5, orf6 and orf7, were found in the sequenced region. A hypothetical protein is encoded by orf5, while orf6 and orf7 encode a putative ATP-binding cassette transporter and a putative electron transport complex protein, respectively.

The cloning procedure is described in

the Supporting information. The total lengths of the sequenced regions containing the sMMO and pMMO genes were 14 002 and 8581 bp, respectively (Figs 1a and 2). In the Bleomycin molecular weight sMMO gene region, the structural genes mmoXYBZDC were identified (Fig. 1a). Downstream of the structural genes, orf1, mmoG and mmoR were oriented in the same direction as the structural genes (Fig. 1a). The mmoG gene encodes a GroEL homologue. The mmoR gene encodes a σ54-dependent transcriptional activator, and the deduced amino acid sequence does not contain the copper-binding MTCxxC motif (Koch et al., 1997). The deduced amino acid sequence of orf1 (104 residues) did not show similarity to any other proteins with assigned functions by blast searches, but similar ORFs to orf1, with identities of 29–52%, are present at analogous

positions relative to mmoG in other methanotrophs (Fig. 1b buy OSI-906 and Table 1a). The arrangement of these accessory genes around the structural genes is unique (Fig. 1). The comparisons of the deduced amino acid sequences of the sMMO genes (Table 1a) and the alignments of the deduced amino acid sequences of the hydroxylase components (Fig. S1a–c) were performed with M. miyakonense HT12 and previously sequenced methanotrophs. The structural genes mmoXYBZDC are most closely related to those of Methylomonas sp. KSWIII. The dinuclear iron center, coordinated by DNA ligase the six amino acid residues (E114, E144, H147, E209, E243 and E246) in MmoX (Rosenzweig et al., 1993; Elango et al., 1997), is conserved in M. miyakonense HT12 (Fig. S1a). No other genes related to the previously described MMO functions were detected around the sequenced region in M. miyakonense HT12. orf4, which is located downstream of mmoR, showed weak homology to a secreted protein. A truncated gene of deduced 73 amino acids, which was identified at the 5′-end of the

sequenced region, was similar to the β-subunit of DNA topoisomerase IV. In the pMMO gene region, the pmoC, pmoA and pmoB genes were identified (Fig. 2). The deduced amino acid sequences of the pmoCAB genes showed the highest similarity to those of Methylomicrobium japanense NI (Table 1b). The two copper centers and one zinc center were identified in pMMO of M. capsulatus Bath (Lieberman & Rosenzweig, 2005). In M. miyakonense HT12, the dicopper center, coordinated by His 33, His 137 and His 139 from PmoB, and the zinc center, coordinated by Asp 156, His 160 and His 173 from PmoC and Glu 195 from PmoA, are all conserved (Fig. S1d–f). However, the monocopper center coordinated by His 48 and His 72 from PmoB is not conserved: His 72 is replaced with Phe. Three other ORFs, orf5, orf6 and orf7, were found in the sequenced region. A hypothetical protein is encoded by orf5, while orf6 and orf7 encode a putative ATP-binding cassette transporter and a putative electron transport complex protein, respectively.

We present strong evidence that HbpS belongs to the small set of proteins, which do not use histidine to coordinate the metal in the haem group. Further spectroscopic check details evidence strongly indicates that threonine 113 is actively involved in coordination of haem. Subsequent protein/haem titration experiments show a 1 : 2, protein/haem stoichiometry. We also present data showing the degradation of haem by HbpS in vivo. Because HbpS is conserved in many Actinobacteria, the presented results are applicable to related species. “
“Endoglucanase CelJ (Cel9D-Cel44A) is the largest

multi-enzyme subunit of the Clostridium thermocellum cellulosome and is composed of glycoside hydrolase (GH) families 9 and 44 (GH9 and GH44) and carbohydrate-binding module (CBM) families 30 and Ganetespib molecular weight 44 (CBM30 and CBM44). The study of CelJ has been hampered by the inability to isolate full-length CelJ from recombinant Escherichia coli cells. Here, full-length CelJ and its N- and C-terminal segments, CBM30-GH9 (Cel9D) and GH44-CBM44 (Cel44A), were synthesized using a wheat germ cell-free protein synthesis system and then were purified to homogeneity. Analysis of the substrate specificities of CelJ and its derivatives demonstrated that the fusion of Cel9D and Cel44A results in threefold synergy for the degradation of xyloglucan,

one of the major structural polysaccharides of plant cell walls. Because CelJ displayed broad substrate specificity including significant carboxymethylcellulase (CMCase) and xylanase activities in addition Non-specific serine/threonine protein kinase to high xyloglucanase activity, CelJ may play an important role in the degradation of plant cell walls, which are composed of highly heterogeneous polysaccharides. Furthermore, because Cel9D, but not Cel44A, acts as a semi-processive endoglucanase, the different modes of action between Cel9D and Cel44A may be responsible for the observed synergistic effect on the activity of CelJ (Cel9D-Cel44A). “
“Ophiobolin A is sesterterpenoid-type phytotoxin and may be an important candidate for

development of new crop protection and pharmaceutical products. The restriction enzyme-mediated integration (REMI) method was used to introduce the plasmid pSH75 into the ophiobolin A-producing filamentous fungus Bipolaris eleusines. A total of 323 stable transformants were obtained, all of which were capable of growing on potato-dextrose agar medium containing 200 μg mL−1 hygromycin B. The transformation frequency was about 4–5 transformants μg−1 plasmid DNA. An ophibolin A-deficient transformant (B014) was assessed and the presence of the hph gene in this transformant was confirmed by PCR. The cell-free cultural filtrates of this transformant showed significantly less inhibition on mycelial growth of the fungal pathogen Rhizoctoni solani but little effect on barnyard grass as opposed to that of the wild-type B.

, 2008), the cellular responses via SdrP most likely depend on the expression level of the sdrP gene, and not post-translational modification of the protein. In order to find novel genes regulated by SdrP, we performed expression pattern analysis using the 306 DNA microarray datasets derived with 117 experimental conditions, which were obtained for time-dependent expression analysis of the wild-type strain in a rich or synthetic medium (91 samples learn more with 40 experimental conditions), expression analysis of a gene-disruptant strain (95 samples with 35 experimental conditions), expression analysis after chemical or physical treatment, or phage infection (87 samples with 29 experimental conditions),

and a combination of gene-disruption with chemical or physical treatment, or with phage infection (33 samples with 13 experimental conditions) (Table S1). As a result, 40 genes whose expression was strongly positively correlated with that of the sdrP gene were selected,

their Spearman’s correlation coefficients being ≥0.65 (Fig. S1 and Tables S3 and S4). Among them, LEE011 solubility dmso the proportion of genes belonging to COGs (clusters of orthologous groups of proteins) code O (post-translational modification, protein turnover, chaperones) and code C (energy production and conversion) were higher (Tables S3 and S4). Ten of the 14 SdrP-regulated genes identified previously (Agari et al., 2008) were included in these 40 genes (Table 1 and Table S3).

On the other hand, expression of 16 genes was strongly and negatively correlated with that of the sdrP gene, with Spearman’s Dichloromethane dehalogenase correlation coefficients≤−0.65 (Tables S3 and S5). Among them, the proportion of genes belonging to COGs code H (coenzyme transport and metabolism) was the highest, suggesting that some specific metabolism was inversely correlated with the stress response via SdrP. In order to determine whether novel SdrP-regulated genes are included in the 40 genes that showed Spearman’s correlation coefficients of ≥0.65, we searched for SdrP-binding sites upstream of these genes. We found that sequences upstream of the TTHA0029, TTHA0557, TTHA1128, TTHA1215, TTHA1625, TTHA1635, TTHA1892, and TTHB132 genes were homologous to that of a putative consensus SdrP-binding site (Fig. 2a) (Agari et al., 2008). The DNA fragments containing the putative binding sites were cloned and used as templates for in vitro run-off transcription assays. We found that all of the genes were transcribed by T. thermophilus RNA polymerase-σA holoenzyme in an SdrP-dependent manner, as in the cases of the SdrP-regulated genes identified previously (Fig. 3) (Agari et al., 2008). SdrP did not enhance transcription of the DNA fragment containing upstream of the TTHA0987 gene (Spearman’s correlation coefficient=0.64) (Fig. 3), or those containing other genes derived from T. thermophilus HB8 (Agari et al.

Computers and Education 2009; 53: 1285–1296. Julie Menzies1, Carly Tibbins2, Claire Callens2, Heather Duncan1, Kevin Morris1, John Marriott3 1Birmingham Children’s Hospital, Birmingham, UK, 2Medicines for Children Research Network, Birmingham, UK, 3University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK Consulting with representatives from the public in a meaningful way

helps to ensure optimal research design1. The research instrument was a digitally recorded focus group designed to determine who, what and how researchers should engage with in future qualitative work exploring the design of Pharmacokinetic H 89 price (PK) studies in children. The outcome was a developed and strengthened protocol which satisfied NHS Research Ethics Integrated Research Application System (IRAS) requirements. Historically there has been a reluctance to conduct research in children; this is further complicated in paediatric pharmacokinetic (PK) research where multiple specimens are required, involving additional painful procedures2. PRESCRIBE (Pharmacokinetic REsearch Study in the CRitically Ill: facilitating the BEst design is a programme of research

which aims Nutlin-3a purchase to determine the optimum design of PK research in children. A significant element of the project involves exploring the views and attitudes of stakeholders towards PK studies. Consumer consultation was undertaken in order to develop a reliable and acceptable research protocol which could achieve this aim. To conduct consumer involvement at the pre-protocol stage to determine: Who are the stakeholders in paediatric PK research? What do we need to ask them? What methods or forums should we use to communicate with stakeholders? A focus group was conducted with an established, expert panel of children and young people group (YPG) who meet regularly with a remit to improve the conduct of research in paediatrics, including pharmacy research. Six children aged 9–17years attended two sessions in April and July 2011. These sessions were digitally

recorded, transcribed and analysed using NVivo Carbachol software (NVivo 8). The YPG identified six key groups of stakeholders (children and young people, parents, nurses and research staff, doctors, hospital managers and research ethics committee members) who should be included in future qualitative work streams. Topics to discuss with stakeholders in future study designs included sampling considerations, potential pain, scarring, study duration, study requirements, hospital visits, staffing of the project and availability of the results. The YPG recommended keeping engagement with stakeholders simple using face-to-face methods such as focus groups, interviews and personally distributed questionnaires. Above all the group felt strongly that future work must directly include children and young people, allowing them to have a say in the way future research is designed.

Destinations were classified according to the visited continent (America including Caribbean, Asia, GSK2118436 ic50 Africa, Oceania). We prospectively included all returning travelers consulting our department between November 2002 and May 2003 for health problems and investigated those presenting fever within 3 months after return

from a tropical country. We then conducted a case control study to identify factors predictive of malaria. Control group was defined as febrile travelers without malaria. Results. A total of 272 febrile travelers were included. They were 152 tourists (55.9%), 58 immigrants (21.3%), 33 expatriates (12.1%), and 29 business travelers (10.7%). Besides malaria (54 cases), the main diagnosis in the 218 controls were bacterial enteritis, bacterial pneumonia, infectious cellulitis, pyelonephritis, prostatis, dengue fever, primary viral infection (HIV, EBV, CMV, parvovirus B19), and tuberculosis. Multivariate RG7422 molecular weight regression analysis showed correlations between malaria and travel to Africa (OR = 11.9),

abdominal pain (OR = 14.1), vomiting (OR = 19.4), myalgia (OR = 6.3), inadequate prophylaxis (OR = 10.1), and platelets <150,000/µL (OR = 25.2). Conclusions. Our results suggest that no single clinical or biological feature had both good sensitivity and specificity to predict malaria in febrile travelers seen as outpatients within 3 months after returning from the tropics. Fever is one of the main causes of consultation in persons returning from the tropics. Of the 50 million persons traveling in developing countries,1 8% to 19% need medical support after return and 3% to 11% are febrile.2–5 Malaria is one of the leading causes of fever in returning travelers, with gastrointestinal, respiratory tract, and skin infections.6–8 Indeed, of

SPTBN5 24,920 febrile returning travelers seen from March 1997 to March 2006 in Geosentinel clinics around the world, malaria accounted for 21% of the causes of fever.9 Similarly, malaria accounted for 11.8% to 42% of the causes of hospital’s admissions in febrile travelers in various countries.5,7,10–12 Besides its frequency, malaria remains the first diagnosis to suspect in febrile-exposed travelers, because of its potential rapid fatal outcome.5,13 The lethality of imported malaria has been estimated about 0.3% in Canada14 and 0.44% in France.15 Prior predictive factors for malaria have been identified in particular populations such as hospitalized children10,11 or adults in endemic areas14 or in returning travelers selected by the demand of blood smear.13,16,17 To the best of our knowledge, no study focused on febrile outpatients. We investigated the patients consulting our tropical disease unit for fever after returning from a tropical country and analyzed the reasons why they consulted our unit. We then evaluated the epidemiological, clinical, and biological variables predictive of imported malaria.

, 1995) or cometabolism of chrysene (Mueller et al., 1990; Boonchan et al., 1998). Recently, Baboshin et al. (2008) reported o-hydroxyphenanthroic acid as the only metabolite

formed during the cometabolism of chrysene by Sphingomonas sp. VKM B-2434. However, their report was confined to cleavage of the first ring of chrysene only. No detailed investigations on chrysene degradation pathways have been reported. In this study, we propose a tentative Natural Product Library supplier catabolic pathway consistent with the complete mineralization of chrysene on the basis of characterization of metabolites by chromatographic and mass spectral analysis as well as enzymatic evidence. Chrysene, 1-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid, phenanthrene, NADH and NAD+ were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (Steinheim, Germany). 1,2-Dihydroxynaphthalene, salicylate and catechol were procured from Lancaster Chemicals (UK). All chemicals used were of analytical grade. The bacterial strain capable of degrading chrysene was isolated from soil of the coal-powered Raichur Thermal Power Station, India, by enrichment culture methods. About 1 g of soil was added to 100 mL phosphate-buffered mineral salts (PMS) medium (Nayak et al., 2009) supplemented with 40 mg chrysene [added as click here a solution in dimethylformamide (DMF)] and 5 mg salicylic acid, and was incubated at 37 °C for 12

days on a rotary shaker at 180 r.p.m. The culture was then transferred to fresh PMS medium containing chrysene and incubated under oxyclozanide similar conditions. After several transfers (2 months) strain PNK-04 was isolated by plating on PMS medium with chrysene (10 mg dissolved in DMF and spread on the plate) as sole carbon source, and subsequent purification in Luria–Bertani agar. The bacterial strain was identified based on morphological and physiological data and 16S rRNA gene sequencing (Nayak et al., 2009). This culture has been deposited in the National Collection of Industrial Microorganisms (NCIM), Pune, India, with accession number NCIM 5309. Chrysene degradation

experiments were carried out by growing the strain in PMS medium with chrysene and monitoring the disappearance of chrysene by quantitative UV analysis. Experiments were conducted in triplicate. To increase the solubility of chrysene, a stock solution of chrysene was prepared in the minimum amount (80 mg mL−1) of DMF. The appropriate amount of filter-sterilized (0.2 μm; Millipore) stock solution of chrysene was introduced into a 250 mL flask containing 100 mL sterilized PMS medium to obtain 40 mg chrysene per flask. Chrysene-grown cells from late exponential growth phase (OD660 nm of 0.6) were used as inoculum (2%, v/v). Controls consisted of uninoculated samples, inoculated samples in the absence of carbon source and inoculated samples containing only DMF. Cultures and controls were incubated on a rotary shaker (180 r.p.m., 37 °C).