An inventory of mammals in the vicinity of Brownsberg Nature Park, Suriname, incorporated a number of different sampling methods including examining museum voucher specimens, an animal-rescue operation, transect surveys, camera photo-traps, and interviews with local inhabitants. We document a total of 125 mammal species present in the Park. These include ten opossums, five pilosans, four armadillos, 58 bats, eight monkeys, 13 carnivores, one tapir, four artiodactyls, and 22 rodents. Nine of these species are reported for the first time from Suriname: one mouse opossum (Marmosops pinheiroi); one naked-backed moustached bat (Pteronotus gymnonotus); four fruit-eating bats (Artibeus bogoten-sis, A. gnomus, A. obscurus, and A. planirostris); two evening bats (Eptesicus chiriquinus and Myotis riparius);and one arboreal rice rat (Oecomys auyantepui). There are 191 indigenous non-marine mammals presently known from Suriname.

Associations between interparental conflict and infant reactions were examined. Infants' history of exposure to interparental conflict and infant reactive temperament were examined as moderators. A community sample of 74 infants, aged 6–14 months, participated with their parents. Behavioral observations were made of parents' marital conflict and their infants' reactions. Parents reported on their emotional states during conflict, infants' history of exposure to interparental conflict, and infant temperament. Multilevel modeling indicated that infants showed differential responses to marital conflict; destructive and depressive conflict were associated with increased infant discussion attending and negative reactions, whereas constructive conflict was associated with decreased discussion attending and negative reactions. Infants' history of exposure to marital conflict and infant reactive temperament emerged as moderators.

Using an expression vector containing p(mxaF'), a strong native promoter, expression of a model heterologous protein, haloalkane dehalogenase, from Xanthobacter autotrophicus GJ10 was achieved in the methylotrophic bacterium, Methylobacterium extorquens AM1. Although expression using the wild-type strain was <5% of total cell protein, expression at a level of 10% of the total cell protein was achieved in a mutant unable to synthesize poly-beta-hydroxybutyrate granules. Two other tested heterologous proteins, catechol dioxygenase and green fluorescent protein, were expressed at moderate levels in both wild-type and the PHB-negative strain. These results suggest that the M. extorquens PHB-negative strain is a possible platform for overexpression of heterologous proteins with labeled or unlabeled methanol as a starting material.

A multiple A-tract sequence has been identified in the promoter regions for the mxaF, pqqA, mxaW, mxbD and mxcQ genes involved in methanol oxidation in Methylobacterium extorquens AM1, a facultative methylotroph. Site-directed mutagenesis was exploited to delete or change this conserved sequence. Promoter-xylE transcriptional fusions were used to assess promoter activity in these mutants. A fiftyfold drop in the XylE activity was observed for the mxaF and pqqA promoters without this sequence, and a five-to sixfold drop in the XylE activity was observed for the mxbD and mxcQ promoters without this sequence. Mutants were generated in the chromosomal copies in which this sequence was either deleted or altered, and these mutants were unable to grow on methanol. When one of these sequences was added to Plac of Escherichia coli, which is a weak constitutive promoter in M. extorquens AM1, the activity increased two-to threefold. These results suggest that this sequence is essential for normal expression of these genes in M. extorquens AM1, and may serve as a general enhancer element for genetic constructs in this bacterium. INTRODUCTIONMethylobacterium extorquens AM1 (Peel & Quayle, 1961) is a facultative methylotroph that is able to use C 1 compounds as its sole carbon and energy source (Anthony, 1982(Anthony, , 2000Lidstrom, 1991). It can also grow on multi-carbon compounds such as pyruvate and succinate. M. extorquens AM1 is one of the most intensively studied methylotrophs (Chistoserdova et al., 2003) and recently a gapped genome sequence has been made available for this organism (http:// www.integratedgenomics.com/genomereleases.html#list6). Methylotrophic metabolism in M. extorquens AM1 begins with the oxidation of methanol or methylamine to formaldehyde in the periplasm (Anthony, 1982). Further assimilation and dissimilation of formaldehyde occur in the cytoplasm (Marx et al., 2003). Methanol oxidation is carried out by the enzyme methanol dehydrogenase, which is a quinoprotein using pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) as a prosthetic group, and is an a 2 b 2 heterotetramer coupled to a specific cytochrome c accepter (Anthony, 1982). Methanol dehydrogenase activity and proteins have been shown to be regulated by carbon source in M. extorquens AM1, with three-to sixfold higher levels in the presence of methanol than during growth on multicarbon substrates in the absence of C 1 compounds (Nunn & Lidstrom, 1986a, b).At least 25 genes have been identified to be involved in the methanol oxidation reaction in M. extorquens AM1 (Lidstrom, 1991;Zhang & Lidstrom, 2003). These Mox genes are distributed between three different loci: mxa, mxb and mxc. Fourteen genes (mxaFJGIRSACKLDEHB) transcribed in the same direction, together with an additional gene (mxaW) transcribed in the opposite direction, are located on the mxa gene cluster (Anderson et al., 1990;Morris et al., 1995;Springer et al., 1998Springer et al., , 1995. The large and small subunits of methanol dehydrogenase are encoded by mxaF and mxaI, respectively (Anderson & ...

An evaluation using paraffin oil based, Acheson 38 carbon paste electrodes modified with α-hydroxyisobutyric acid (HIBA) to preconcentrate f-elements cathodically is described. The modified paste was made by directly mixing solid HIBA into the carbon paste. A chemically reversible cyclic voltammogram for HIBA was observed on this modified carbon paste, which was found to be a non-Nerstian, single electron transfer process. Lanthanides (less promethium) were found to accumulate onto the electrode surface during a 30 s electrodeposition step at -0.4 V vs Ag/AgCl from 0.1 M LiCl. The elements were then stripped off into a 2% HNO(3) solution by an oxidative step at +0.8 V vs Ag/AgCl; quantitative removal from the electrode was confirmed by ICPMS. Ultratrace solutions with initial concentrations down to 5 parts per quadrillion (ppq) were preconcentrated in 5 min above our instrumental limit of detection (LOD) of around 1 ppt for lanthanides.