Resource Type

Environmentally Benign Mitigation of Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion (MIC) (open access)

Environmentally Benign Mitigation of Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion (MIC)

The overall program objective is to develop and evaluate environmentally benign agents or products that are effective in the prevention, inhibition, and mitigation of microbially influenced corrosion (MIC) in the internal surfaces of metallic natural gas pipelines. The goal is to develop one or more environmentally benign (a.k.a. ''green'') products that can be applied to maintain the structure and dependability of the natural gas infrastructure. The technical approach for this quarter included the fractionation of extracts prepared from several varieties of pepper plants, and using several solvents, by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). A preliminary determination of antimicrobial activities of the new extracts and fractions using a growth inhibition assay, and evaluation of the extracts ability to inhibit biofilm formation was also performed. The analysis of multiple extracts of pepper plants and fractions of extracts of pepper plants obtained by HPLC illustrated that these extracts and fractions are extremely complex mixtures of chemicals. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to identify the chemical constituents of these extracts and fractions to the greatest degree possible. Analysis of the chemical composition of various extracts of pepper plants has illustrated the complexity of the chemical mixtures present, and while additional work will be performed …
Date: January 31, 2004
Creator: Kilbane, John J., II & Bogan, William
System: The UNT Digital Library
Molecular Characterization of the Role of a Calcium Channel in Plant Development (open access)

Molecular Characterization of the Role of a Calcium Channel in Plant Development

A stimulus-induced change in cellular Ca2+ levels is a critical component of energy transduction in plant and animal development. Demonstrating Ca2+'s involvement in any developmental process requires identification of mechanisms that regulate these Ca2+ changes. In plants, biochemical studies have implicated the activity of Ca2+ channels in increases in cellular Ca2+ levels; however, molecular evidence for these transporters is lacking. Our studies used the mosses Physcomitrella patens and Funaria hygrometrica to establish a role for Ca2+ in hormone-induced morphogenesis and to use this developmental process to identify transporters responsible for increasing cytosolic Ca2+ levels. Using 1,4-dihydropyridines (DHPs), molecules that block Ca2+ movement through voltage-dependent channels in animal cells, we have shown that Ca2+ is important early in the transition from filamentous to meristematic-like growth that occurs in response to the plant hormone cytokinin. In addition to inhibiting moss growth (see below), these Ca2+ channel blockers prevent Ca2+ transport into moss cells (Schumaker and Gizinski, 1993) and bind specifically to two proteins in the moss plasma membrane (Schumaker and Gizinski, 1994; 1996; Dietrich et al., unpublished results). We used tandem mass spectrometry of the partially purified DHP-binding proteins with the goal of identifying the putative Ca2+ channel and providing sequence information …
Date: December 21, 2004
Creator: Schumaker, Karen S.
System: The UNT Digital Library