A pink-pigmented symbiotic bacterium was isolated from hybrid poplar tissues (Populus deltoides ؋ nigra DN34). The bacterium was identified by 16S and 16S-23S intergenic spacer ribosomal DNA analysis as a Methylobacterium sp. (strain BJ001). The isolated bacterium was able to use methanol as the sole source of carbon and energy, which is a specific attribute of the genus Methylobacterium. The bacterium in pure culture was shown to degrade the toxic explosives 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazene (RDX), and octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5-tetrazocine (HMX

Complex nanopatterns integrating diverse nanocomponents are crucial requirements for advanced photonics and electronics. Currently, such multicomponent nanopatterns are principally created by colloidal nanoparticle assembly, where large-area processing of highly ordered nanostructures raises significant challenge. We present multicomponent nanopatterns enabled by block copolymer (BCP) self-assembly, which offers device oriented sub-10-nm scale nanopatterns with arbitrary large-area scalability. In this approach, BCP nanopatterns direct the nanoscale lateral ordering of the overlaid second level BCP nanopatterns to create the superimposed multicomponent nanopatterns incorporating nanowires and nanodots. This approach introduces diverse chemical composition of metallic elements including Au, Pt, Fe, Pd, and Co into sub-10-nm scale nanopatterns. As immediate applications of multicomponent nanopatterns, we demonstrate multilevel charge-trap memory device with Pt-Au binary nanodot pattern and synergistic plasmonic properties of Au nanowire-Pt nanodot pattern.

Methylobacterium populi sp. nov., a novel aerobic, pink-pigmented, facultatively methylotrophic, methane-utilizing bacterium isolated from poplar trees (Populus deltoides6nigra DN34) Species of the genus Methylobacterium are strictly aerobic, facultatively methylotrophic, Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacteria that are able to grow on one-carbon compounds (e.g. methanol or methylamine), as well as on a variety of C 2 , C 3 and C 4 substrates (Green, 1992). Only the type species, Methylobacterium organophilum, has been shown to use methane as the sole source of carbon and energy (Patt et al., 1976). The genus Methylobacterium belongs to the a2 subclass of the Proteobacteria and currently consists of 14 species with validly published names (Heumann, 1962;Ito & Iizuka, 1971;Kouno & Ozaki, 1975;Patt et al., 1976;Rock et al., 1976;Austin & Goodfellow, 1979;Urakami & Komagata, 1984;Bousfield & Green, 1985;Green et al., 1988;Urakami et al., 1993; Wood et al., 1998; Doronina et al., 2000 Doronina et al., , 2002 McDonald et al., 2001;Sy et al., 2001). Members of the genus Methylobacterium are distributed in a wide variety of natural and man-made environments, including soil, air, dust, freshand marine water and sediments, water supplies, bathrooms, air-conditioning systems and masonry (Hiraishi et al., 1995;Trotsenko et al., 2001). Some species have been described as opportunistic human pathogens (Truant et al., 1998; Hornei et al., 1999). In addition, methylotrophic bacteria are frequently associated with terrestrial and aquatic plants, where they colonize roots and leaf surfaces (Austin et al., 1978;Yoshimura, 1982;Corpe & Rheem, 1989;Trotsenko et al., 2001;Lidstrom & Chistoserdova, 2002). The association of Methylobacterium species with plants seems to rely on a symbiotic relationship between the bacterium and the plant host. Plants produce methanol The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession number for the 16S and 16S-23S IGS rDNA sequence of strain BJ001 T is AY251818.Tissue culture images, photomicrographs, 16S and 16S-23S IGS rDNA sequences of BJ001 T , sequence similarity matrices, carbon-and nitrogen-source utilization data and enzymic reactions of BJ001 T are available as supplementary material in IJSEM Online.Abbreviations: IGS, intergenic spacer; SEM, scanning electron microscope.

Constructing microbial biocatalysts that produce biorenewables at economically viable yields and titers is often hampered by product toxicity. For production of short chain fatty acids, membrane damage is considered the primary mechanism of toxicity, particularly in regards to membrane integrity. Previous engineering efforts in Escherichia coli to increase membrane integrity, with the goal of increasing fatty acid tolerance and production, have had mixed results. Herein, a novel approach was used to reconstruct the E. coli membrane by enabling production of a novel membrane component. Specifically, trans unsaturated fatty acids (TUFA) were produced and incorporated into the membrane of E. coli MG1655 by expression of cis-trans isomerase (Cti) from Pseudomonas aeruginosa. While the engineered strain was found to have no increase in membrane integrity, a significant decrease in membrane fluidity was observed, meaning that membrane polarization and rigidity were increased by TUFA incorporation. As a result, tolerance to exogenously added octanoic acid and production of octanoic acid were both increased relative to the wild-type strain. This membrane engineering strategy to improve octanoic acid tolerance was found to require fine-tuning of TUFA abundance. Besides improving tolerance and production of carboxylic acids, TUFA production also enabled increased tolerance in E. coli to other bio-products, e.g. alcohols, organic acids, aromatic compounds, a variety of adverse industrial conditions, e.g. low pH, high temperature, and also elevated styrene production, another versatile bio-chemical product. TUFA permitted enhanced growth due to alleviation of bio-product toxicity, demonstrating the general effectiveness of this membrane engineering strategy towards improving strain robustness.