University of Saskatchewan

About: University of Saskatchewan is a education organization based out in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Health care. The organization has 25021 authors who have published 52579 publications receiving 1483049 citations. The organization is also known as: USask.

Silver-resistant mutants of Escherichia coli display active efflux of Ag+ and are deficient in porins.

Abstract: Silver-resistant mutants were selected by stepwise exposure of silver-susceptible clinical strains of Escherichia coli, two of which did not contain any plasmids, to either silver nitrate or silver sulfadiazine. These mutants showed complete cross-resistance to both compounds. They showed low-level cross-resistance to cephalosporins and HgCl2 but not to other heavy metals. The Ag-resistant mutants had decreased outer membrane (OM) permeability to cephalosporins, and all five resistant mutants tested were deficient in major porins, either OmpF or OmpF plus OmpC. However, the well-studied OmpF- and/or OmpC-deficient mutants of laboratory strains K-12 and B/r were not resistant to either silver compound. Resistant strains accumulated up to fourfold less (110m)AgNO3 than the parental strains. The treatment of cells with carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone increased Ag accumulation in Ag-susceptible and -resistant strains, suggesting that even the wild-type Ag-susceptible strains had an endogenous Ag efflux activity, which occurred at higher levels in Ag-resistant mutants. The addition of glucose as an energy source to starved cells activated the efflux of Ag. The results suggest that active efflux, presumably coded by a chromosomal gene(s), may play a major role in silver resistance, which is likely to be enhanced synergistically by decreases in OM permeability.

Changes in microbial community composition and function during a polyaromatic hydrocarbon phytoremediation field trial

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the mechanism by which phytoremediation systems promote hydrocarbon degradation in soil. The composition and degradation capacity of the bulk soil microbial community during the phytoremediation of soil contaminated with aged hydrocarbons was assessed. In the bulk soil, the level of catabolic genes involved in hydrocarbon degradation (ndoB, alkB, and xylE) as well as the mineralization of hexadecane and phenanthrene was higher in planted treatment cells than in treatment cells with no plants. There was no detectable shift in the 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) composition of the bulk soil community between treatments, but there were plant-specific and -selective effects on specific catabolic gene prevalence. Tall Fescue (Festuca arundinacea) increased the prevalence of ndoB, alkB, and xylE as well as naphthalene mineralization in rhizosphere soil compared to that in bulk soil. In contrast, Rose Clover (Trifolium hirtum) decreased catabolic gene prevalence and naphthalene mineralization in rhizosphere soil. The results demonstrated that phytoremediation systems increase the catabolic potential of rhizosphere soil by altering the functional composition of the microbial community. This change in composition was not detectable by 16S rDNA but was linked to specific functional genotypes with relevance to petroleum hydrocarbon degradation.

An on-line relay coordination algorithm for adaptive protection using linear programming technique

Abstract: An adaptive system for protecting a distribution network should determine and implement relay settings that are most appropriate for the prevailing state of the power system. This paper presents a technique for determining coordinated relay settings. The technique uses the Simplex two-phase method; Phase I determines whether the constraints selected for illustrating the conditionality between primary and back up relays are feasible, and Phase II finds the optimal relay settings. A looped distribution system, protected by directional overcurrent relays, was used for testing the technique. The tests were conducted in a laboratory environment; some results from those tests are reported in the paper.

Embryogeny of gymnosperms: advances in synthetic seed technology of conifers

Abstract: Synthetic seed technology requires the inexpensive production of large numbers of high-quality somatic embryos. Proliferating embryogenic cultures from conifers consist of immature embryos, which undergo synchronous maturation in the presence of abscisic acid and elevated osmoticum. Improvements in conifer somatic embryo quality have been achieved by identifying the conditions in vitro that resemble the conditions during in ovulo development of zygotic embryos. One normal aspect of zygotic embryo development for conifers is maturation drying, which allows seeds to be stored and promotes normal germination. Conditions of culture are described that yield mature conifer somatic embryos that possess normal storage proteins and fatty acids and which survive either partial drying, or full drying to moisture contents similar to those achieved by mature dehydrated zygotic embryos. Large numbers of quiescent somatic embryos can be produced throughout the year and stored for germination in the spring, which simplifies production and provides plants of uniform size. This review focuses on recent advances in conifer somatic embryogenesis and synthetic seed technology, particularly in areas of embryo development, maturation drying, encapsulation and germination. Comparisons of conifer embryogeny are made with other gymnosperms and angiosperms.