Isotopic Fractionation of Uranium in Sandstone

Relatively unoxidized black uranium ores from sandstone deposits in the western United States show deviations in the uranium-235 to uranium-234 ratio throughout a range from 40 percent excess uranium-234 to 40 percent deficient uranium-234 with respect to a reference uranium-235 to uranium-234 ratio. The deficient uranium-234 is leached preferentially to uranium-238 and the excess uranium-234 is believed to result from deposition of uranium-234 enriched in solutions from leached deposits.     

Coupled, circumferential motions of the cell wall synthesis machinery and MreB filaments in B. subtilis

Rod-shaped bacteria elongate by the action of cell wall synthesis complexes linked to underlying dynamic MreB filaments. To understand how the movements of these filaments relate to cell wall synthesis, we characterized the dynamics of MreB and the cell wall elongation machinery using high-precision particle tracking in Bacillus subtilis. We found that MreB and the elongation machinery moved circumferentially around the cell, perpendicular to its length, with nearby synthesis complexes and MreB filaments moving independently in both directions. Inhibition of cell wall synthesis by various methods blocked the movement of MreB. Thus, bacteria elongate by the uncoordinated, circumferential movements of synthetic complexes that insert radial hoops of new peptidoglycan during their transit, possibly driving the motion of the underlying MreB filaments.     

Disseminated Mycobacterium avium subsp. avium infection in a Captive Richardson's Ground Squirrel (Spermophilus richardsonii)

Although mycobacteria have been isolated from rodents, overt mycobacteriosis is rare in any rodent species. A pet adult male Richardson's ground squirrel (Spermophilus richardsonii) died after a short course of alopecia, anorexia, and weight loss. Necropsy and subsequent histopathological examination of tissue samples revealed disseminated granulomatous inflammation involving the lungs, lymph nodes, liver, intestine, adrenal gland, spleen, pleura, and peritoneum. Ziehl-Neelsen stain revealed high numbers of acid-fast bacilli within the cytoplasm of macrophages and multinucleated giant cells. Polymerase chain reaction performed on paraffin-embedded tissues was positive for Mycobacterium avium subsp. avium and negative for M. bovis-tuberculosis complex. Three females housed with this squirrel remained clinically healthy, and mycobacterial cultures of pooled feces from these animals were negative. To the authors' knowledge, this is the second report of disseminated mycobacteriosis in squirrels involving M. avium subsp. avium, with both cases described recently in the Iberian Peninsula.