TY - JOUR A1 - Vogel, Christian A1 - Rivard, C. A1 - Wilken, V. A1 - Muskolus, A. A1 - Adam, Christian T1 - Performance of secondary P-fertilizers in pot experiments analyzed by phosphorus X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy N2 - A pot experiment was carried out with maize to determine the phosphorus (P) plant-availability of different secondary P-fertilizers derived from wastewater. We analyzed the respective soils by P K-edge X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy to determine the P chemical forms that were present and determine the transformation processes. Macro- and micro-XANES spectroscopy were used to determine the chemical state of the overall soil P and identify P compounds in P-rich spots. Mainly organic P and/or P adsorbed on organic matter or other substrates were detected in unfertilized and fertilized soils. In addition, there were indications for the formation of ammonium phosphates in some fertilized soils. However, this effect was not seen in the maize yield of all P-fertilizers. The observed reactions between phosphate from secondary P-fertilizers and cofertilized nitrogen compounds should be further investigated. Formation of highly plant-available compounds such as ammonium phosphates could make secondary P-fertilizers more competitive to commercial phosphate rock-based fertilizers with positive effects on resources conservation. KW - Phosphorus KW - Pot experiments KW - Secondary P-fertilizer KW - Sewage sludge ash KW - Soil KW - X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy PY - 2018 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-433782 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-017-0973-z SN - 0044-7447 VL - 47 IS - 1 SP - 62 EP - 72 PB - Springer AN - OPUS4-43378 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Vogel, Christian A1 - Hermann, P. A1 - Kästner, B. A1 - Adamczyk, Burkart A1 - Hoehl, A. A1 - Ulm, G. A1 - Adam, Christian T1 - Air and chlorine gas corrosion of different silicon carbides analyzed by nano-Fourier-transform infrared (nano-FTIR) spectroscopy N2 - The present study shows the potential of high-resolution imaging and nano-Fourier-transform infrared (nano-FTIR) spectroscopy for corrosion science. The protective oxidation layers of different chlorine-gas treated silicon carbides (SiCs) were characterized with these techniques. A nitrified SiC showed the highest resistant strength against chlorine corrosion at 1000 °C compared to the other SiCs. Nano-FTIR spectroscopy with a lateral resolution below 40 nm detected differences in the crystallinity of the bulk-SiC and in the transitional region to the protective layer. Furthermore, high-resolution imaging provides deep insight in the interfacial layer between bulk-SiC and the protective oxidation layer on sub-micrometer scale. KW - Nano-Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy KW - Scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM) KW - Synchrotron radiation KW - Corrosion KW - Silicon carbide KW - Chlorine PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.corsci.2017.12.002 SN - 0010-938X VL - 131 SP - 324 EP - 329 PB - Elsevier AN - OPUS4-43648 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Tan, K. H. A1 - Sattari, S. A1 - Donskyi, Ievgen A1 - Cuellar-Camacho, J. L. A1 - Cheng, C. A1 - Schwibbert, Karin A1 - Lippitz, Andreas A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Gorbushina, Anna A1 - Adeli, M. A1 - Haag, R. T1 - Functionalized 2D nanomaterials with switchable binding to investigate graphene–bacteria interactions N2 - Graphene and its derivatives have recently attracted much attention for sensing and deactivating pathogens. However, the mechanism of multivalent interactions at the graphene–pathogen interface is not fully understood. Since different physicochemical parameters of graphene play a role at this interface, control over graphene’s structure is necessary to study the mechanism of these interactions. In this work, different graphene derivatives and also zwitterionic graphene nanomaterials (ZGNMs) were synthesized with defined exposure, in terms of polymer coverage and functionality, and isoelectric points. Then, the switchable interactions of these nanomaterials with E. coli and Bacillus cereus were investigated to study the validity of the generally proposed “trapping” and “nano-knives” mechanisms for inactivating bacteria by graphene derivatives. It was found that the antibacterial activity of graphene derivatives strongly depends on the accessible area, i.e. edges and basal plane of sheets and tightness of their agglomerations. Our data clearly confirm the authenticity of “trapping” and “nano-knives” mechanisms for the antibacterial activity of graphene sheets. KW - XPS KW - Graphene KW - Graphene–bacteria interaction PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/c8nr01347k SN - 2040-3364 SN - 2040-3372 VL - 10 IS - 20 SP - 9525 EP - 9537 PB - RSC CY - London AN - OPUS4-45084 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Stock, S. C. A1 - Köster, M. A1 - Dippold, M. A. A1 - Nájera, F. A1 - Matus, F. A1 - Merino, C. A1 - Boy, J. A1 - Spielvogel, S. A1 - Gorbushina, Anna A1 - Kuzyakov, Y. T1 - Environmental drivers and stoichiometric constraints on enzyme activities in soils from rhizosphere to continental scale N2 - Microbial activity and functioning in soils are strongly limited by carbon (C) availability, of which a great proportion is released by living roots. Rhizodeposition and especially root exudates stimulate microbial activity and growth, and may shift the stoichiometric balance between C, N, and P. Thereby, exudates heighten microbial nutrient demand and acquisition of N and P from organic matter, leading to an increase in enzyme production. Aim of this study was to determine environmental controls of extracellular enzyme production, and hence on potential enzyme activities (Vmax) and substrate affinities (Km). To determine the controlling factors, we worked on four spatial scales from the microscale (i.e. rhizosphere) through the mesoscale (i.e. soil depth) and landscape scale (relief positions), and finally to the continental scale (1200 km transect within the Coastal Cordillera of Chile). Kinetics of seven hydrolyzing enzymes of the C, N, and P cycles (cellobiohydrolase, β‑glucosidase, β‑xylosidase, β‑N‑acetylglucosaminidase, leucine‑aminopeptidase, tyrosine‑aminopeptidase, and acid phosphatase) were related to soil texture, C and N contents, pH, and soil moisture via redundancy analysis (RDA). Potential activities of C, N, and P acquiring enzymes increased up to 7-times on the continental scale with rising humidity of sites and C and N contents, while substrate affinities simultaneously declined. On the landscape scale, neither Vmax nor Km of any enzyme differed between north and south slopes. From top- to subsoil (down to 120 cm depth) potential activities decreased (strongest of aminopeptidases under humid temperate conditions with up to 90%). Substrate affinities, however, increased with soil depth only for N and P acquiring enzymes. Affinities of cellobiohydrolase and β‑xylosidase, on the contrary, were 1.5- to 3-times higher in top- than in subsoil. Potential activities of N and P acquiring enzymes and β‑glucosidase increased form bulk to roots. Simultaneously, substrate affinities of N and P acquiring enzymes declined, whereas affinities of β‑glucosidase increased. These trends of activities and affinities in the rhizosphere were significant only for acid phosphatase. The RDA displayed a strong relation of potential activities of C and P acquiring enzymes and β‑N‑acetylglucosaminidase to C and N contents in soil as well as to the silt and clay contents. Aminopeptidase activity was mainly dependent on soil moisture and pH. We conclude that substrate availability for microorganisms mainly determined enzyme activity patterns on the continental scale by the humidity gradient. Patterns on the meso- and microscale are primarily controlled by nutrient limitation, which is induced by a shift of the stoichiometric balance due to input of easily available C by roots in the rhizosphere. KW - Extracellular enzymes KW - Stoichiometric homeostasis KW - Rhizosphere effect KW - Nutrient acquisition KW - Multi-scale study PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2018.10.030 SN - 0016-7061 SN - 1872-6259 VL - 2019 IS - 337 SP - 973 EP - 982 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-46829 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Steger, Simon A1 - Stege, H. A1 - Bretz, S. A1 - Hahn, Oliver T1 - Capabilities and limitations of handheld Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform Spectroscopy (DRIFTS) for the analysis of colourants and binders in 20th-century reverse paintings on glass N2 - A non-invasivemethod has been carried out to show the capabilities and limitations of Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform Spectroscopy (DRIFTS) for identifying of colourants and binders in modern reverse glass paintings. For this purpose, the reverse glass paintings “Zwei Frauen am Tisch” (1920–22), “Bäume” (1946) (both by Heinrich Campendonk), “Lofoten” (1933) (Edith Campendonk-van Leckwyck) and “Ohne Titel” (1954) (Marianne Uhlenhuth), were measured. In contrast to other techniques (e.g. panel and mural painting), the paint layers are applied in reverse succession. In multi-layered paint systems, the front paint layer may no longer be accessible. The work points out the different spectral appearance of a given substance (gypsum, basic lead white) in reverse glass paintings. However, inverted bands, band overlapping and derivative-shaped spectral features can be interpreted by comparing the spectra fromthe paintingswith spectra frompure powders and pigment/linseed oil mock-ups. Moreover, the work focuses on this method's capabilities in identifying synthetic organic pigments (SOP). Reference spectra of three common SOP (PG7, PY1, PR83) were obtained from powders and historical colour charts.We identified PR83 and PY1 in two reverse glass paintings, using the measured reference spectra. The recorded DRIFTS spectra of pure linseed oil, gum Arabic, mastic, polyvinyl acetate resin and bees wax can be used to classify the binding media of the measured paintings. KW - DRIFTS KW - Painting KW - Non-invasive KW - Pigment PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.saa.2018.01.057 SN - 1873-3557 VL - 195 SP - 103 EP - 112 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-44023 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Steckenmesser, D. A1 - Vogel, Christian A1 - Böhm, L. A1 - Heyde, B. A1 - Adam, Christian T1 - Fate of heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in sewage sludge carbonisates and ashes – A risk assessment to a thermochemical phosphorus-recycling process N2 - In the near future, phosphorus (P) recycling will gain importance in terms of decreasing primary resources. Sewage sludge (SSL) is an adequate secondary P-resource for P-fertilizer production but it is also a sink for heavy metals and organic pollutants. The present study is an investigation on thermochemical P-recycling of SSL. Various temperatures and amendments were tested regarding their performance to remove heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and simultaneous increase of the plant-availability of P. The investigations were carried out on two types of SSL originating from wastewater treatment plants with chemical P-precipitation and enhanced biological P-removal, respectively. The results show that thermochemical treatment with chlorine donors is suitable to remove the majority of heavy metals and that a combination of a gaseous chlorine donor (HCl) and sodium additives leads to both high heavy metal removal and high plant availability of P. Furthermore, plant experiments Show that almost all investigated thermochemical treatments can significantly reduce the bioavailability and plant uptake of heavy metals. Furthermore, PAHs are secondarily formed during low-temperature treatments (400–500 ° ), but can be significantly reduced by using sodium carbonate as an additive. KW - Fertilzer KW - Pollutant KW - Phosphorus PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2018.06.027 SN - 0956-053X VL - 78 SP - 576 EP - 587 PB - Elsevier Ltd. CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-45341 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Simon, Franz-Georg T1 - Exergie und Rohstoffgewinnung T1 - From Ore to Metal Exergy and Raw Material Extraction N2 - Rohstoffe sind knapp. Hinzu kommt, dass auf dem Weg vom Erz zum Metall viel Energie benötigt wird, mechanische Energie beim Zerkleinern, thermische Energie beim Schmelzen oder elektrische Energie bei der Elektrolyse. Ausgedrückt als Exergie kann man die Verbräuche gut vergleichen. Die meisten technischen Prozesse sind aber vom berechneten thermodynamischen Optimum weit entfernt. KW - Exergie KW - Rostasche KW - Kupfer PY - 2018 UR - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ciuz.201800872 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/ciuz.201800872 SN - 1521-3781 VL - 52 IS - 5 SP - 282 EP - 283 PB - WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA CY - Weinheim AN - OPUS4-46256 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Seeger, Stefan A1 - Brödner, Doris A1 - Jacobi, T. A1 - Rasch, Fabian A1 - Rothhardt, Monika A1 - Wilke, Olaf T1 - Emissions of fine and ultrafine particles and volatile organic compounds from different filament materials operated on a low-cost 3D printer T1 - Emissionen feiner und ultrafeiner Partikel sowie flüchtiger organischer Verbindungen beim Einsatz verschiedener Filamentmaterialien in einem „low-cost“-3D-Drucker N2 - 3D-printing or additive manufacturing has many promising and unique advantages. Especially low cost molten polymer Deposition Printers are increasingly populär in the private and educational sector. Their environmental friendliness can be questioned due to recently reported ultrafine particle and suspected VOC emissions, To further investigate 3D-printing as a potential indoor air pollution source we characterized fine and ultrafine particle emissions from a molten polymer deposition printer producing a 3D object with ten marketable polymer filament materials under controlled conditions in a test chamber. VOC emissions from the filaments have also been compared. Using a straightforward emission model time dependent and averaged particle emission rates were determined. The results indicate that under comparable conditions some filament materials produce mainly ultrafine particles up to an average rate of 1013 per minute. This value is in the upper ränge of typical indoor ultrafine particle sources (e.g. Smoking, frying, candle light, laser printer). The observed material-specific rates differ by five Orders of magnitude. Filament-specific gaseous emissions of organic compounds such as bisphenol A, styrene and others were also detected. Our results suggest a detailed evaluation of related risks and considering protective measures such as housing and filtering. N2 - 3D-Druck oder additive Herstellungsverfahren haben eine Menge vielversprechender und einzigartiger Vorteile. Insbesondere günstige 3D-Drucker für Polymere werden im privaten und ausbildenden Bereich zunehmend beliebter. Ihre Umweltfreundlichkeit kann aufgrund jüngst berichteter Emissionen ultrafeiner Partikel und vermuteter VOC-Emissionen infrage gestellt werden. Um 3D-Drucker für Polymere als mögliche Quelle von Innenraumluftverunreinigungen weiter zu untersuchen, charakterisierten wir die Emissionen feiner und ultrafeiner Partikel bei der Herstellung eines 3D-Objekts unter Verwendung zehn marktgängiger Polymerfilamente unter kontrollierten Bedingungen in einer Emissionsprüfkammer. Die VOC-Emissionen der verschiedenen Filamente wurden ebenfalls verglichen. Die zeitabhängigen und gemittelten Partikelemissionsraten wurden durch Anwendung eines einfachen Emissionsmodells bestimmt. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass unter vergleichbaren Bedingungen einige Filamente mit einer mittleren Rate von 10 KW - Emission KW - Ultrafine particles KW - VOC KW - 3D printer PY - 2018 SN - 0949-8036 SN - 0039-0771 VL - 78 IS - 3 SP - 79 EP - 87 PB - Springer-VDI-Verl. CY - Düsseldorf AN - OPUS4-44954 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schreiber, Frank A1 - Zimmermann, M. A1 - Escrig, S. A1 - Lavik, G. A1 - Kuypers, M.M.M. A1 - Meibom, A. A1 - Ackermann, M. T1 - Substrate and electron donor limitation induce phenotypic heterogeneity in different metabolic activities in a green sulphur bacterium N2 - Populations of genetically identical cells can display marked variation in phenotypic traits; such variation is termed phenotypic heterogeneity. Here, we investigate the effect of substrate and electron donor limitation on phenotypic heterogeneity in N2 and CO2 fixation in the green sulphur bacterium Chlorobium phaeobacteroides. We grew populations in chemostats and batch cultures and used stable isotope labelling combined with nanometer‐scale secondary ion mass spectrometry (NanoSIMS) to quantify phenotypic heterogeneity. Experiments in H2S (i.e. electron donor) limited chemostats show that varying levels of NH4+ limitation induce heterogeneity in N2 fixation. Comparison of phenotypic heterogeneity between chemostats and batch (unlimited for H2S) populations indicates that electron donor limitation drives heterogeneity in N2 and CO2 fixation. Our results demonstrate that phenotypic heterogeneity in a certain metabolic activity can be driven by different modes of limitation and that heterogeneity can emerge in different metabolic processes upon the same mode of limitation. In conclusion, our data suggest that limitation is a general driver of phenotypic heterogeneity in microbial populations. KW - NanoSIMS KW - Phenotypic heterogeneity PY - 2018 UR - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1758-2229.12616 DO - https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-2229.12616 SN - 1758-2229 VL - 10 IS - 2 SP - 179 EP - 183 PB - John Wiley & Sons Ltd AN - OPUS4-44596 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sanchez-Martin, Pedro A1 - Becker, Roland A1 - Toepel, J. A1 - Gorbushina, Anna T1 - An improved test for the evaluation of hydrocarbon degradation capacities of diesel-contaminating microorganisms N2 - The development of a test to evaluate the degradation of semi-volatile fuels as diesel by microorganisms is presented. This method is based on the principles described in the CEC-L-103 Standard procedure that is exclusively meant for testing the biodegradability of non-volatile lubricants. Therefore, significant modifications involve aseptic conditions for testing specific microorganisms and conducting the test in closed vessels avoiding evaporation losses, while fuel quantification using gas chromatography-flame ionization detection (GC-FID) is retained. It is suggested that the modified procedure should enable routine application for semi-volatile hydrocarbon-based fuels. GC-FID provides additionally valuable information on the alteration of fuel component patterns during biodegradation. The procedure was successfully tested using two bacteria (Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Sphingomonas sp.) and two yeasts (Moesziomyces sp. and Candida sp.) isolated from real diesel contamination cases. All tested microorganisms caused a significant degradation of diesel fuel achieving hydrocarbon degradation percentages ranging from 23% to 35%. Specific aspects on the test modification and prospects for further modification regarding targeted investigations in the field of fuel contamination by microorganisms are briefly discussed. KW - Biofouling KW - Bacteria KW - Fungi KW - CEC-L-103 KW - GC-FID KW - Reference organisms PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibiod.2018.01.009 SN - 0964-8305 VL - 129 SP - 89 EP - 94 PB - Elsevier AN - OPUS4-44524 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Redfern, J. A1 - Tucker, J. A1 - Simmons, L. A1 - Askew, P. A1 - Verran, J. A1 - Stephan, Ina T1 - Environmental and experimental factors affecting efficacy testing on nonporous plastic antimicrobial surfaces N2 - Test methods for efficacy assessment of antimicrobial coatings are not modelled on a hospital environment, and instead use high humidity (>90%) high temperature (37 ◦C), and no airflow. Therefore, an inoculum will not dry, resulting in an antimicrobial surface exhibiting prolonged antimicrobial activity, as moisture is critical to activity. Liquids will dry quicker in a hospital ward, resulting in a reduced antimicrobial efficacy compared to the existing test, rendering the test results artificially favourable to the antimicrobial claim of the product. This study aimed to assess how hospital room environmental conditions can affect the drying time of an inoculum, and to use this data to inform test parameters for antimicrobial efficacy testing based on the hospital ward. The drying time of different droplet sizes, in a range of environmental conditions likely found in a hospital ward, were recorded (n = 630), and used to create a model to inform users of the experimental conditions required to provide a drying time similar to what can be expected in the hospital ward. Drying time data demonstrated significant (p < 0.05) variance when humidity, temperature, and airflow were assessed. A mathematical model was created to select environmental conditions for in vitro antimicrobial efficacy testing. Drying time in different environmental conditions demonstrates that experimental set-ups affect the amount of time an inoculum stays wet, which in turn may affect the efficacy of an antimicrobial surface. This should be an important consideration for hospitals and other potential users, whilst future tests predict efficacy in the intended end-use environment. KW - Method development KW - Standardisation KW - Antimicrobial test KW - Environmental conditions KW - Hospital premises PY - 2018 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-472699 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/mps1040036 SN - 2409-9279 VL - 1 IS - 4 SP - 36, 1 EP - 10 PB - MDPI CY - Internet open accsess AN - OPUS4-47269 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pokharel, R. A1 - Gerrits, Ruben A1 - Schuessler, J. A. A1 - Frings, P. J. A1 - Sobotka, R. A1 - Gorbushina, Anna A1 - von Blanckenburg, F. T1 - Magnesium stable isotope fractionation on a cellular level explored by cyanobacteria and black fungi with implications for higher plants N2 - In a controlled growth experiment we found that the cyanobacterium Nostoc punctiforme has a bulk cell 26Mg/24Mg ratio (expressed as δ26Mg) that is −0.27‰ lower than the growth solution at a pH of ca. 5.9. This contrasts with a recently published δ26Mg value that was 0.65‰ higher than growth solution for the black fungus Knufia petricola at similar laboratory conditions, interpreted to reflect loss of 24Mg during cell growth. By a mass balance model constrained by δ26Mg in chlorophyll extract we inferred the δ26 Mg value of the main Mg compartments in a cyanobacteria cell: free cytosolic Mg (−2.64‰), chlorophyll (1.85‰), and the nonchlorophyll-bonded Mg compartments like ATP and ribosomes (−0.64‰). The lower δ26Mg found in Nostoc punctiforme would thus result from the absence of significant Mg efflux during cell growth in combination with either (a) discrimination against 26Mg during uptake by desolvation of Mg or transport across protein channels or (b) discrimination against 24Mg in the membrane transporter during efflux. The model predicts the preferential incorporation of 26Mg in cells and plant organs low in Mg and the absence of isotope fractionation in those high in Mg, corroborated by a compilation of Mg isotope ratios from fungi, bacteria, and higher plants. KW - Cyanobacteria KW - Black fungi KW - Nostoc punctiforme KW - Knufia petricola KW - Magnesium PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.8b02238 SN - 1520-5851 SN - 0013-936X VL - 52 IS - 21 SP - 12216 EP - 12224 PB - ACS Publications AN - OPUS4-46832 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Palma-Onetto, V. A1 - Hoskova, K. A1 - Krizkova, B. A1 - Krejcirova, R. A1 - Pflegerova, J. A1 - Bubenickova, F. A1 - Plarre, Rüdiger A1 - Dahlsjo, C. A. L. A1 - Dahlsjo, J. A1 - Bourguignon, T. A1 - Sillam-Dusses, D. A1 - Sobotnik, J. T1 - The labral gland in termites: evolution and function N2 - The evolutionary success of termites has been driven largely by a complex communication system operated by a rich set of exocrine glands. As many as 20 different exocrine organs are known in termites. While some of these organs are relatively well known, only anecdotal observations exist for others. One of the exocrine organs that has received negligible attention so far is the labral gland. In this study, we examined the structure and ultrastructure of the Labrum in soldiers of 28 termite species. We confirm that the labral gland is present in all termite species, and comprises two secretory regions located on the ventral side of the labrum and the dorso-apical part of the hypopharynx. The Labrum of Neoisoptera has a hyaline tip, which was secondarily lost in Nasutitermitinae, Microcerotermes and species with snapping soldiers. The epithelium of the gland generally consists of class 1 secretory cells, with an addition of class 3 secretory cells in some species. A common feature of the secretory cells is the abundance of smooth endoplasmic reticulum, an organelle known to produce lipidic and often volatile secretions. Our observations suggest that the labral gland is involved in communication rather than defence as previously suggested. Our study is the first to provide a comprehensive picture of the structure of the labral gland in soldiers across all Termite taxa. KW - Exocrine gland KW - Hypopharynx KW - Labrum KW - Termitoidae KW - Ultrastructure KW - Isoptera PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blx162 SN - 0024-4066 SN - 1095-8312 VL - 126 IS - 3 SP - 587 EP - 597 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Oxford AN - OPUS4-44666 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Oprzeska-Zingrebe, E. A. A1 - Meyer, Susann A1 - Roloff, Alexander A1 - Kunte, Hans-Jörg A1 - Smiatek, J. T1 - Influence of compatible solute ectoine on distinct DNA structures: thermodynamic insights into molecular binding mechanisms and destabilization effects N2 - In nature, the cellular environment of DNA includes not only water and ions, but also other components and co-solutes, which can exert both stabilizing and destabilizing effects on particular oligonucleotide conformations. Among them, ectoine, known as an important osmoprotectant organic co-solute in a broad range of pharmaceutical products, turns out to be of particular relevance. In this article, we study the influence of ectoine on a short single-stranded DNA fragment and on double-stranded helical B-DNA in aqueous solution by means of atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations in combination with molecular theories of solution. Our results demonstrate a conformation-dependent binding behavior of ectoine, which favors the unfolded state of DNA by a combination of electrostatic and dispersion interactions. In conjunction with the Kirkwood–Buff theory, we introduce a simple Framework to compute the influence of ectoine on the DNA melting temperature. Our findings reveal a significant linear decrease of the melting temperature with increasing ectoine concentration, which is found to be in qualitative agreement with results from denaturation experiments. The outcomes of our Computer simulations provide a detailed mechanistic rationale for the surprising destabilizing influence of ectoine on distinct DNA structures. KW - Ectoine KW - DNA KW - Thermodynamic KW - Melting temperature PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/c8cp03543a SN - 1463-9076 SN - 1463-9084 VL - 20 IS - 40 SP - 25861 EP - 25874 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry AN - OPUS4-46327 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Nilsson, R. H. A1 - Taylor, A. F. S. A1 - Adams, R. I. A1 - Baschien, C. A1 - Bengtsson-Palme, J. A1 - Cangren, P. A1 - Coleine, C. A1 - Iršėnaitė, R. A1 - Martin-Sanchez, Pedro Maria A1 - Meyer, W. A1 - Oh, S.-Y. A1 - Sampaio, J. P. A1 - Seifert, K. A. A1 - Sklenář, F. A1 - Stubbe, D. A1 - Suh, S.-O. A1 - Summerbell, R. A1 - Svantesson, S. A1 - Unterseher, M. A1 - Visagie, C. M. A1 - Weiss, M. A1 - Woudenberg, J. HC. A1 - Wurzbacher, C. A1 - Van den Wyngaert, S. A1 - Yilmaz, N. A1 - Yurkov, A. A1 - Kõljalg, U. A1 - Abarenkov, K. A1 - Daniel, H.-M. A1 - Glassman, S. I. A1 - Hirooka, H. A1 - Irinyi, L. T1 - Taxonomic annotation of public fungal ITS sequences from the built environment – a report from an April 10–11, 2017 workshop (Aberdeen, UK) N2 - Recent DNA-based studies have shown that the built environment is surprisingly rich in fungi. These indoor fungi – whether transient visitors or more persistent residents – may hold clues to the rising levels of human allergies and other medical and building-related health problems observed globally. The taxo¬nomic identity of these fungi is crucial in such pursuits. Molecular identification of the built mycobiome is no trivial undertaking, however, given the large number of unidentified, misidentified, and technically compromised fungal sequences in public sequence databases. In addition, the sequence metadata required to make informed taxonomic decisions – such as country and host/substrate of collection – are often lacking even from reference and ex-type sequences. Here we report on a taxonomic annotation workshop (April 10–11, 2017) organized at the James Hutton Institute/University of Aberdeen (UK) to facilitate reproducible studies of the built mycobiome. The 32 participants went through public fungal ITS bar¬code sequences related to the built mycobiome for taxonomic and nomenclatural correctness, technical quality, and metadata availability. A total of 19,508 changes – including 4,783 name changes, 14,121 metadata annotations, and the removal of 99 technically compromised sequences – were implemented in the UNITE database for molecular identification of fungi (https://unite.ut.ee/) and shared with a range of other databases and downstream resources. Among the genera that saw the largest number of changes were Penicillium, Talaromyces, Cladosporium, Acremonium, and Alternaria, all of them of significant importance in both culture-based and culture-independent surveys of the built environment. KW - Indoor mycobiome KW - Built environment KW - Molecular identification KW - Fungi KW - Taxonomy KW - Systematics KW - Sequence annotation KW - Metadata KW - Open data PY - 2018 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-438949 DO - https://doi.org/10.3897/mycokeys.28.20887 SN - 1314-4049 SN - 1314-4057 VL - 28 SP - 65 EP - 82 PB - Pensoft Publishers CY - Washington, DC AN - OPUS4-43894 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mueller, Axel A1 - Becker, Roland A1 - Dorgerloh, Ute A1 - Simon, Franz-Georg A1 - Braun, Ulrike T1 - The effect of polymer aging on the uptake of fuel aromatics and ethers by microplastics N2 - Microplastics are increasingly entering marine, limnic and terrestrial ecosystems worldwide, where they sorb hydrophobic organic contaminants. Here, the sorption behavior of the fuel-related water contaminants benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene and xylene (BTEX) and four tertiary butyl ethers to virgin and via UV radiation aged polypropylene (PP) and polystyrene (PS) pellets was investigated. Changes in material properties due to aging were recorded using appropriate polymer characterization methods, such as differential scanning calorimetry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, gel permeation chromatography, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and microscopy. Pellets were exposed to water containing BTEX and the ethers at 130-190 mg/L for up to two weeks. Aqueous sorbate concentrations were determined by headspace gas chromatography. Sorption to the polymers was correlated with the sorbate's Kow and was significant for BTEX and marginal for the ethers. Due to substantially lower glass transition temperatures, PP showed higher sorption than PS. Aging had no effect on the sorption behavior of PP. PS sorbed less BTEX after aging due to an oxidized surface layer. KW - BTEX KW - Polypropylene KW - Polystyrene KW - Sorption KW - Degradation PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2018.04.127 SN - 0269-7491 VL - 240 SP - 639 EP - 646 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-44990 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Martin-Sanchez, Pedro Maria A1 - Gebhardt, Christopher A1 - Toepel, Jörg A1 - Barry, J. A1 - Munzke, N. A1 - Günster, Jens A1 - Gorbushina, Anna T1 - Monitoring microbial soiling in photovoltaic systems: A qPCR-based approach N2 - Soiling of photovoltaic (PV) systems compromises their performance causing a significant power loss and demanding periodical cleaning actions. This phenomenon raises great concerns in the solar energy field, thus leading to notable research efforts over the last decades. Soiling is caused by a dual action of dust deposition and biofouling. However, surprisingly, the microbiological contribution to PV soiling is often overlooked or underestimated. In this study, a variety of qPCR-based methods have been developed to quantify the microbial load of fungi, bacteria and phototrophs on PV panels. These protocols were evaluated by comparison with culturedependent methods, and were implemented with real solar plants for two years. The results show that the developed molecular methods are highly sensitive and reliable to monitor the microbial component of the soiling. Fungal biomass was clearly dominant in all analysed PV modules, while bacteria and phototrophs showed much lower abundance. Light microscopy and qPCR results revealed that melanised microcolonial fungi and phototrophs are the main biofilm-forming microorganisms on the studied solar panels. In particular, the fungal qPCR protocol is proposed as a useful tool for monitoring of PV soiling, and investigating the microbial contribution to specific soiling cases. KW - Solar panels KW - PV modules KW - Real-time qPCR KW - Bacteria KW - Fungi KW - Phototrophs PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibiod.2017.12.008 SN - 0964-8305 VL - 129 SP - 13 EP - 22 PB - Elsevier Science AN - OPUS4-43892 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Marchant, H. K. A1 - Tegetmeyer, H. E. A1 - Ahmerkamp, S. A1 - Holtappels, M. A1 - Lavik, G. A1 - Graf, J. A1 - Schreiber, Frank A1 - Mussmann, M. A1 - Strous, M. A1 - Kuypers, M. M. M. T1 - Metabolic specialization of denitrifiers in permeable sediments controls N2O emissions N2 - Coastal oceans receive large amounts of anthropogenic fixed nitrogen (N), most of which is denitrified in the sediment before reaching the open ocean. Sandy sediments, which are common in coastal regions, seem to play an important role in catalysing this N‐loss. Permeable sediments are characterized by advective porewater transport, which supplies high fluxes of organic matter into the sediment, but also leads to fluctuations in oxygen and nitrate concentrations. Little is known about how the denitrifying communities in these sediments are adapted to such fluctuations. Our combined results indicate that denitrification in eutrophied sandy sediments from the world's largest tidal flat system, the Wadden Sea, is carried out by different groups of microorganisms. This segregation leads to the formation of N2O which is advectively transported to the overlying waters and thereby emitted to the atmosphere. At the same time, the production of N2O within the sediment supports a subset of Flavobacteriia which appear to be specialized on N2O reduction. If the mechanisms shown here are active in other coastal zones, then denitrification in eutrophied sandy sediments may substantially contribute to current marine N2O emissions. KW - Nitrous oxide KW - Denitrification KW - Cross-feeding PY - 2018 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-463061 UR - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1462-2920.14385 DO - https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.14385 SN - 1462-2920 SN - 1462-2912 VL - 20 IS - 12 SP - 4486 EP - 4502 PB - John Wiley & Sons Ltd AN - OPUS4-46306 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kjaervik, Marit A1 - Schwibbert, Karin A1 - Dietrich, P. A1 - Thissen, A. A1 - Unger, Wolfgang T1 - Surface characterisation of Escherichia coli under various conditions by near-ambient pressure XPS N2 - Bacteria are inherently in a hydrated state and therefore not compatible to ultra-high vacuum techniques such as XPS without prior sample preparation involving freeze drying or fast freezing. This has changed with the development of near-ambient pressure (NAP)-XPS, which makes it possible to characterise the bacterial surface with minimal sample preparation. This paper presents NAP-XPS measurements of Escherichia coli under various NAP conditions: at 11 mbar in a humid environment, at 2 mbar after drying in the chamber, pre-dried at 4 mbar, and at 1 mbar after overnight pumping at 10^−4 mbar. The high-resolution spectra of carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen are presented and found to be in general agreement with XPS measurements from freeze-dried and fast-frozen bacteria. However, it was found that the amount of carbon components associated with polysaccharides increases relative to aliphatic carbon during drying and increases further after overnight pumping. This implies that drying has an impact on the bacterial surface. T2 - European conference on applications of surface and interface analysis (ECASIA'17) CY - Montpellier, France DA - 24.09.2018 KW - Bacteria KW - E. coli KW - NAP-XPS PY - 2018 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-454047 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/sia.6480 SN - 0142-2421 SN - 1096-9918 VL - 50 IS - 11 SP - 996 EP - 1000 PB - John Wiley & Sons CY - Hoboken, New Jersey, USA AN - OPUS4-45404 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ibrahim, B. A1 - McMahon, Dino Peter A1 - Hufsky, F. A1 - Beer, M. A1 - Ding, L. A1 - Le Mercier, P. A1 - Palmarini, M. A1 - Thiel, V. A1 - Marz, M. T1 - A new era of virus bioinformatics N2 - Despite the recognized excellence of virology and bioinformatics, these two communities have interacted surprisingly sporadically, aside from some pioneering work on HIV-1 and influenza. Bringing together the Expertise of bioinformaticians and virologists is crucial, since very specific but fundamental computational approaches are required for virus research, particularly in an era of big data. Collaboration between virologists and bioinformaticians is necessary to improve existing analytical tools, cloud-based systems, computational resources, data sharing approaches, new diagnostic tools, and bioinformatic training. Here, we highlight current progress and discuss potential avenues for future developments in this promising era of virus bioinformatics. We end by presenting an overview of current technologies, and by outlining some of the Major challenges and Advantages that bioinformatics will bring to the field of virology. KW - Bioinformatics virology viruses software PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.virusres.2018.05.009 SN - 0168-1702 SN - 1872-7492 VL - 251 SP - 86 EP - 90 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-45880 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -