Spatial variation of metal bioaccumulation in the hydrothermal vent mussel Bathymodiolus azoricus

The variability of the bioaccumulation of metals (Ag, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn) was extensively studied in the mussel Bathymodiolus azoricus from five hydrothermal vent sites inside three main vent fields of increasing depth along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge: Menez Gwen, Lucky Strike and Rainbow. Metal bioaccumulation varied greatly between vent fields and even between sites inside a vent field with B. azoricus showing a great capacity to accumulate metals. The bioaccumulation of these metals also varied significantly among tissues. The main target was the gills where metals were mainly associated with soluble compounds whereas in the digestive gland they were mainly associated with insoluble compounds. Storage of metals under insoluble forms in B. azoricus seems to be a major pathway for the detoxification of both essential and non-essential metals. Mussels from the studied fields can be discriminated following their metallic load but the segregation relies partially on the composition of the metal-enriched fluids.

[Inclusion of geothermal water in composition of nutrient medium for mycobacteria cultivation]

New effective nutrient medium for isolation and cultivation of mycobacteria was developed. Time of their growth on the developed medium decreased by 3 to 11 days compared with control media (Finn II, Levenstein-Jensen). Rate of mycobacteria isolation increased by 20 to 40% compared with control media.

[Thermal and mineral springs in Labourd, Low Navarre and Soule]

Mineral waters in the three provinces of the french Basque Country are investigated according to the legends linked to them, their use and their recent story.

[Savants and cultutal boundaries. Thermalism in Savoy and the work of Joseph Daquin (1732-1815)]

The essay sets out to explain the general orientation of the studies, the problems, the perspectives and the research that were done by Joseph Daquin (1732-1815), a physician born in Chambéry (Savoy, Kingdom of Sardinia). He had a secular education at the Faculty of Medicine of Turin, where he earned his degree under Ignazio Somis and Vitaliano Donati. The aim of this essay is to give a critical contribution to cultural history and examine the origins of thermalism with particular emphasis on therapy, physics experiments, and its relation to political and social structure. Daquin was a witness of the advancement of science beyond the boundaries of scientific Enlightenment. His overriding intellectual concern was with the meaning and impact of chemistry theories on medical practices. The author has published an interesting Analyse des eaux thermales d'Aix en Savoie (1773), a natural experimental history of mineral waters in Aix-les-Bains.

Health benefits for women staying with their husbands during a long-term trip to a hot springs spa

The authors collected saliva samples from 15 married couples and 13 women staying with a female companion (N = 43) during an 8-day stay at a spa resort in Nagano, Japan. To examine changes in endocrinological stress markers, the authors evaluated participants' levels of salivary cortisol and chromogranin A (CgA) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. By the eighth day, women staying with their husbands had significantly increased levels of cortisol and CgA. During the protocol, the authors observed no significant variation in levels of cortisol or CgA for either the women who were staying with same-sex companions or the male spouses. These findings suggest that the effects of long-term stays in a spa resort are more beneficial for married women staying with their husbands than for either married men or women staying with female companions.

Habitual hot-spring bathing by a group of Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) in their natural habitat

Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) in a free-ranging group in Jigokudani valley, Nagano prefecture, are known to bathe in a hot spring. We used scan sampling in a study aimed at elucidating the causal factors and possible social transmission of this behavior. From 1980-2003, 31% of a total 114 females in the group habitually bathed in the hot spring. The habit was more widespread in dominant matrilines than in subordinate matrilines. Infants whose mothers bathed were more likely to bathe than infants of mothers who did not bathe. The number of monkeys bathing was clearly influenced by ambient air temperature. More monkeys bathed in the hot spring in winter than in summer. The results support the thermoregulation hypothesis of hot-spring bathing. Bathing behavior varies among age and sex categories of monkeys, with adult females and juveniles bathing more often than adult males and subadults. We compared hot-spring bathing with other thermoregulatory behaviors in various primate populations.

Thermus thermophilus TMY isolated from silica scale taken from a geothermal power plant

AIMS

To identify an extreme thermophile, strain TMY, isolated from silica scale from the geothermal electric power plant and to examine microdiversity of Thermus thermophilus strains.

MATERIALS AND RESULTS

The isolated strain TMY was identified by morphological, biochemical and physiological tests. Phylogenetic comparison of the strain and other Thermus strains with 16S rDNA analysis, RAPD and ERIC-PCR fingerprinting were performed. Strain TMY was closely related to strain which was isolated from a hot spring in New Zealand and shown to belong to the Japanese Thermus cluster. However, there were considerable genetic differences between strain TMY and other Thermus species using DNA fingerprinting.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on morphological, physiological and genetic properties, strain TMY could be a strain of T. thermophilus. The distinct properties of strain TMY suggest that microdiversity of T. thermophilus strains should be considered.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

The results of this study have demonstrated genetic diversity within T. thermophilus strains, which were previously masked by an almost identical 16S rDNA sequence. RAPD and ERIC-PCR could be potential methods for distinguishing between Thermus strains.

Antioxidant Effect of Sulphurous Thermal Water on Human Neutrophil Bursts: Chemiluminescence Evaluation

BACKGROUND

The activities of the HS (sulfhydryl or thiolic) group in the cysteine of glutathione or various low-weight soluble molecules (thiolic drugs), such as N-acethylcysteine, mesna, thiopronine and dithiotreitol or stepronine and erdosteine (prodrugs), include its antioxidant activity in the airways during the release of reactive oxygen or nitrogen species (ROS, RNS) by polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) activated in response to exogenous or endogenous stimuli.

OBJECTIVE

In addition to being administered by means of thiolic molecules, the HS group can also be given by means of the inhalation of sulphurous thermal water. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of sulphurous thermal water on the release of ROS and RNS during the bursts of human PMNs.

METHODS

The luminol-amplified chemiluminescence methodology was used to investigate the ROS and RNS released by PMNs stimulated with N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine and phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate, before and after incubation with sulphurous water. Effects on cell-free systems were also investigated.

RESULTS

The water significantly reduced the luminol-amplified chemiluminescence of N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine- andphorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate-activated PMNs on average from 0.94 to 15.5 mug/ml of HS, even after the addition of L-arginine, a nitric oxide (NO) donor. Similar findings have also been obtained in a cell-free system, thus confirming the importance of the presence of the HS group (reductive activity).

CONCLUSIONS

The positive effects of the activity of sulphurous thermal waters has been partially based on the patients' subjective sense of wellbeing and partially on not always easy to quantify symptomatic (or general) clinical improvements. Our findings indicate that, in addition to their known mucolytic activity and trophic effects on respiratory mucosa, the HS groups present in the sulphurous thermal water of this spring also have antioxidant activity that contributes to the therapeutic effects of the water in upper and lower airway inflammatory diseases.

Geyser decline and extinction in New Zealand: energy development impacts and implications for environmental management

Geysers are rare natural phenomena that represent increasingly important recreation, economic, and scientific resources. The features of geyser basins, including hot springs, mud pots, and fumaroles, are easily damaged by human development. In New Zealand, the extinction of more than 100 geysers provides important lessons for the environmental management of the world's remaining geyser basins. The impacts on New Zealand's geysers are described in sequential "phases," including the following: the first use of geothermal resources by the indigenous people-the Maori; early European-style tourism and spa development; streamside geyser decline caused by river level modification at the Spa geyser basin; multiple geyser basin extinctions caused by industrial-scale geothermal well withdrawal at Wairakei; the drowning of geysers at Orakeikorako after the filling of a hydroelectric reservoir; and geyser decline caused by geothermal well heating systems in Rotorua City. The crisis in Rotorua prompted preservation of the few remaining geysers at Whakarewarewa -- the last major geyser basin in New Zealand. The New Zealand government ordered the geothermal wells within 1.5 km of Pohutu Geyser, Whakarewarewa, to be closed, which was a locally controversial measure. The well closure program resulted in a partial recovery of the Rotorua geothermal reservoir, but no extinct geysers recovered. The implications of recent geothermal computer modeling and future planning are discussed. The New Zealand case suggests that the protection of geysers requires strong regulations that prevent incompatible development at the outset, a prescription that is especially relevant for the future management of the geothermal fields adjacent to the geyser basins of Yellowstone National Park, U.S.A.

[Interactions between larvae of the hoverfly Eristalinus sepulchralis and microorganisms in the hydrothermal springs of the Uzon caldera, Kamchatka]

The physicochemical and microbial characteristics of some medium-temperature hydrotherms of Kamchatka Peninsula (Uzon caldera), habitats of the hoverfly Eristalinus sepulchralis larvae, were studied. In these hydrothermal vents, the larvae were found to use various prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms as a nutrient substrate. The rates of chemo- and photosynthetic activity of the suspended microbial communities inhabiting the hydrotherms and supporting the existence of larvae were measured. By light and electron microscopy, exo- and endosymbiotic prokaryotic microorganisms were revealed in the digestive and respiratory systems of larvae.

Diel mercury-concentration variations in streams affected by mining and geothermal discharge

Diel variations of concentrations of unfiltered and filtered total Hg and filtered methyl Hg were documented during 24-h sampling episodes in water from Silver Creek, which drains a historical gold-mining district near Helena, Montana, and the Madison River, which drains the geothermal system of Yellowstone National Park. The concentrations of filtered methyl Hg had relatively large diel variations (increases of 68 and 93% from morning minima) in both streams. Unfiltered and filtered (0.1-microm filtration) total Hg in Silver Creek had diel concentration increases of 24% and 7%, respectively. In the Madison River, concentrations of unfiltered and filtered total Hg did not change during the sampling period. The concentration variation of unfiltered total Hg in Silver Creek followed the diel variation in suspended-particle concentration. The concentration variation of filtered total and methyl Hg followed the solar photocycle, with highest concentrations during the early afternoon and evening and lowest concentrations during the morning. None of the diel Hg variations correlated with diel variation in streamflow or major ion concentrations. The diel variation in filtered total Hg could have been produced by adsorption-desorption of Hg2+ or by reduction of Hg(II) to Hg0 and subsequent evasion of Hg0. The diel variation in filtered methyl Hg could have been produced by sunlight- and temperature-dependent methylation. This study is the first to examine diel Hg cycling in streams, and its results reinforce previous conclusions that diel trace-element cycling in streams is widespread but often not recognized and that parts of the biogeochemical Hg cycle respond quickly to the daily photocycle.

Characterization of a hyperthermostable Fe-superoxide dismutase from hot spring

A new gene encoding a thermostable Fe-superoxide dismutase (tcSOD) was identified from a metagenomic library prepared from a hot spring sample. The open reading frame of tcSOD encoded a 211 amino acid protein. The recombinant protein was overexpressed in Escherichia coli and confirmed to be a Fe-SOD with a specific activity of 1,890 U/mg using the pyrogallol method. The enzyme was highly stable at 80 degrees C and retained 50% activity after heat treatment at 95 degrees C for 2 h. It showed striking stability across a wide pH span from 4 to 11. The native form of the enzyme was determined as a homotetramer by analytical ultracentrifugation and gradient native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Fe(2+) was found to be important to SOD activity and to the stability of tcSOD dimer. Comparative modeling analyses of tcSOD tetramer indicate that its high thermostability is mainly due to the presence of a large number of intersubunit ion pairs and hydrogen bonds and to a decrease in solvent accessible hydrophobic surfaces.

Spinal cord transection inhibits HR reduction in anesthetized rats immersed in an artificial CO2-hot spring bath

Like humans, the heart rate (HR) of anesthetized rats immersed in CO(2)-water is lower than that when immersed in tap water at the same temperature. To investigate the afferent signal pathway in the mechanism of HR reduction, Wistar rats were anesthetized with urethane and then the spinal cord was transected between T(4) and T(5). The animals were immersed up to the axilla in a bathtub of tap-water (CO(2) contents: 10-20 mg.l(-1)) or of CO(2)-water (965-1,400 mg.l(-1)) at 35 degrees C while recording HR, arterial blood pressure, and arterial blood gas parameters (PaCO(2), PaO(2), pH). Arterial blood gas parameters did not change during immersion, irrespective of CO(2) concentration of the bath water, whereas the HR was reduced in the CO(2)-water bath. The inhalation of CO(2)-mixed gas (5% CO(2), 20% O(2), 75% N(2)) resulted in increased levels of blood gases and an increased HR during immersion in all types of water tested. The HR reduction observed in sham transected control animals immersed in CO(2)-water disappeared after subsequent spinal cord transection. These results show that the dominant afferent signal pathway to the brain, which is involved in inducing the reduced HR during immersion in CO(2)-water, is located in the neuronal route and not in the bloodstream.

Radiological studies in the hot spring region of Mahallat, Central Iran

Five hot springs called 'Abegarm-e-Mahallat', located in the central part of Iran, have a mean water temperature of 46 +/- 1 degrees C and are used by visitors as spas. This is an area of high natural radiation background due to the presence of (226)Ra and its decay products in the deposited travertine (CaCO(3)). The mean concentration of (226)Ra in these hot springs, measured by the emanation method, ranged from 0.48 +/- 0.05 to 1.35 +/- 0.13 Bq l(-1). (222)Rn concentrations measured in the hot springs using a liquid scintillation counter ranged from 145 +/- 37 to 2731 +/- 98 Bq l(-1). Mean radon concentrations in air were 487 +/- 160 and 15.4 +/- 2.7 Bq m(-3) for indoor and outdoor, respectively. Radiation levels above that of normal background ( approximately 100 nGy h(-1)) were mainly limited to the Quaternary travertine formations in the vicinity of the hot springs. The results of environmental radiological studies in this region are presented and discussed.

Systematics of radon at the Wairakei geothermal region, New Zealand

222Rn and 220Rn in geothermal steam at Wairakei, NZ, range from 11 to 19, 500 Bq kg-1, and 25 to 16, 700 Bq kg-1, respectively, but do not cause toxic concentrations in air. The wide ranges are mainly due to differences in different physical conditions underground (e.g. thin silica diffusion barriers), not geochemical differences. Groundwater Rn from outside the area probably plays only a minor role. 210Po was found present in non-toxic levels in the steam. Historical records showed little change in Rn concentration over several decades, therefore potentially hazardous concentrations might be predicted from early exploration. 220Rn concentrations at Wairakei should decrease as the field becomes steam-dominated. Rock surfaces were variably leached or enriched with U, Th, Ra and 210Pb, providing a possible model for deposition in cooler regions near the field. Estimates of 222Rn permeability ranged from 2 to 77% of the maximum possible, with a median of 13%.

A batch study on the bio-fixation of carbon dioxide in the absorbed solution from a chemical wet scrubber by hot spring and marine algae

Carbon dioxide mass transfer is a key factor in cultivating micro-algae except for the light limitation of photosynthesis. It is a novel idea to enhance mass transfer with the cyclic procedure of absorbing CO(2) with a high performance alkaline abosorber such as a packed tower and regenerating the alkaline solution with algal photosynthesis. Hence, the algae with high affinity for alkaline condition must be purified. In this study, a hot spring alga (HSA) was purified from an alkaline hot spring (pH 9.3, 62 degrees C) in Taiwan and grows well over pH 11.5 and 50 degrees C. For performance of HSA, CO(2) removal efficiencies in the packed tower increase about 5-fold in a suitable growth condition compared to that without adding any potassium hydroxide. But ammonia solution was not a good choice for this system with regard to carbon dioxide removal efficiency because of its toxicity on HSA. In addition, HSA also exhibits a high growth rate under the controlled pHs from 7 to 11. Besides, a well mass balance of carbon and nitrogen made sure that less other byproducts formed in the procedure of carboxylation. For analysis of some metals in HSA, such as Mg, Mn, Fe, Zn, related to the photosynthesis increased by a rising cultivated pH and revealed that those metals might be accumulated under alkaline conditions but the growth rate was still limited by the ratio of bicarbonate (useful carbon source) and carbonate. Meanwhile, Nannochlopsis oculta (NAO) was also tested under different additional carbon sources. The results revealed that solutions of sodium/potassium carbonate are better carbon sources than ammonia carbonate/bicarbonate for the growth of NAO. However, pH 9.6 of growth limitation based on sodium was lower than one of HSA. The integrated system is, therefore, more feasible to treat CO(2) in the flue gases using the algae with higher alkaline affinity such as HSA in small volume bioreactors.

Health Benefits of Geologic Materials and Geologic Processes

The reemerging field of Medical Geology is concerned with the impacts of geologic materials and geologic processes on animal and human health. Most medical geology research has been focused on health problems caused by excess or deficiency of trace elements, exposure to ambient dust, and on other geologically related health problems or health problems for which geoscience tools, techniques, or databases could be applied. Little, if any, attention has been focused on the beneficial health effects of rocks, minerals, and geologic processes. These beneficial effects may have been recognized as long as two million years ago and include emotional, mental, and physical health benefits. Some of the earliest known medicines were derived from rocks and minerals. For thousands of years various clays have been used as an antidote for poisons. "Terra sigillata," still in use today, may have been the first patented medicine. Many trace elements, rocks, and minerals are used today in a wide variety of pharmaceuticals and health care products. There is also a segment of society that believes in the curative and preventative properties of crystals (talismans and amulets). Metals and trace elements are being used in some of today's most sophisticated medical applications. Other recent examples of beneficial effects of geologic materials and processes include epidemiological studies in Japan that have identified a wide range of health problems (such as muscle and joint pain, hemorrhoids, burns, gout, etc.) that may be treated by one or more of nine chemically distinct types of hot springs, and a study in China indicating that residential coal combustion may be mobilizing sufficient iodine to prevent iodine deficiency disease.

Tepidicella xavieri gen. nov., sp. nov., a betaproteobacterium isolated from a hot spring runoff

Strains TU-16T and TU-18, two non-pigmented bacterial isolates with an optimum growth temperature of about 45 degrees C and an optimum pH of about 8.5-9.0, were recovered from the Furnas geothermal area on the Island of São Miguel in the Azores. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence of these strains indicated that they represent a novel species in a new genus of the phylum Betaproteobacteria. The major fatty acids of strains TU-16T and TU-18 were 16 : 0 and 18 : 1omega7c. Ubiquinone 8 was the major respiratory quinone and the major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylglycerol. The novel isolates were aerobic; thiosulfate was oxidized to sulfate in the presence of a metabolizable carbon source. The organism assimilated organic acids and amino acids, but did not assimilate carbohydrates or polyols. Based on phylogenetic analyses and physiological and biochemical characteristics, it is proposed that strain TU-16T (=LMG 23030T = CIP 108724T) represents the type strain of a novel species in a new genus, Tepidicella xavieri gen. nov., sp. nov.

A ubiquitous thermoacidophilic archaeon from deep-sea hydrothermal vents

Deep-sea hydrothermal vents are important in global biogeochemical cycles, providing biological oases at the sea floor that are supported by the thermal and chemical flux from the Earth's interior. As hot, acidic and reduced hydrothermal fluids mix with cold, alkaline and oxygenated sea water, minerals precipitate to form porous sulphide-sulphate deposits. These structures provide microhabitats for a diversity of prokaryotes that exploit the geochemical and physical gradients in this dynamic ecosystem. It has been proposed that fluid pH in the actively venting sulphide structures is generally low (pH < 4.5), yet no extreme thermoacidophile has been isolated from vent deposits. Culture-independent surveys based on ribosomal RNA genes from deep-sea hydrothermal deposits have identified a widespread euryarchaeotal lineage, DHVE2 (deep-sea hydrothermal vent euryarchaeotic 2). Despite the ubiquity and apparent deep-sea endemism of DHVE2, cultivation of this group has been unsuccessful and thus its metabolism remains a mystery. Here we report the isolation and cultivation of a member of the DHVE2 group, which is an obligate thermoacidophilic sulphur- or iron-reducing heterotroph capable of growing from pH 3.3 to 5.8 and between 55 and 75 degrees C. In addition, we demonstrate that this isolate constitutes up to 15% of the archaeal population, providing evidence that thermoacidophiles may be key players in the sulphur and iron cycling at deep-sea vents.

Hot crenarchaeal viruses reveal deep evolutionary connections

The discovery of archaeal viruses provides insights into the fundamental biochemistry and evolution of the Archaea. Recent studies have identified a wide diversity of archaeal viruses within the hot springs of Yellowstone National Park and other high-temperature environments worldwide. These viruses are often morphologically unique and code for genes with little similarity to other known genes in the biosphere, a characteristic that has complicated efforts to trace their evolutionary history. Comparative genomics combined with structural analysis indicate that spindle-shaped virus lineages might be unique to the Archaea, whereas other icosahedral viruses might share a common lineage with viruses of Bacteria and Eukarya. These studies provide insights into the evolutionary history of viruses in all three domains of life.

Horizontal endosymbiont transmission in hydrothermal vent tubeworms

Transmission of obligate bacterial symbionts between generations is vital for the survival of the host. Although the larvae of certain hydrothermal vent tubeworms (Vestimentifera, Siboglinidae) are symbiont-free and possess a transient digestive system, these structures are lost during development, resulting in adult animals that are nutritionally dependent on their bacterial symbionts. Thus, each generation of tubeworms must be newly colonized with its specific symbiont. Here we present a model for tubeworm symbiont acquisition and the development of the symbiont-housing organ, the trophosome. Our data indicate that the bacterial symbionts colonize the developing tube of the settled larvae and enter the host through the skin, a process that continues through the early juvenile stages during which the trophosome is established from mesodermal tissue. In later juvenile stages we observed massive apoptosis of host epidermis, muscles and undifferentiated mesodermal tissue, which was coincident with the cessation of the colonization process. Characterizing the symbiont transmission process in this finely tuned mutualistic symbiosis provides another model of symbiont acquisition and additional insights into underlying mechanisms common to both pathogenic infections and beneficial host-symbiont interactions.

Natural background dose and radium equivalent measurements at Ikogosi warm spring, Nigeria

The natural background dose and the radium equivalent due to the natural radioactivity levels in rocks and sediments collected around Ikogosi warm spring, Nigeria, has been determined in this study using a highly sensitive HpGe detector. The mean activity concentration of (40)K, (226)Ra and (228)Ac were measured to be 585.50 +/- 17.40 Bq kg(-1), 66.91 +/- 5.23 Bq kg(-1) and 48.91 +/- 2.10 Bq kg(-1), respectively, in rock samples while in sediment samples the activity concentrations were found to be 113.89 +/- 5.64 Bq kg(-1) for (40)K, 21.47 +/- 5.14 Bq kg(-1) for (226)Ra and 14.20 +/- 1.07 Bq kg(-1) for (228)Ac. This mean values give rise to average absorbed dose rate of 85.87 nGy h(-1) at a distance of 1.0 m above the ground level and a mean human effective dose equivalent of 0.53 man Sv y(-1) for rock samples. A radium equivalent of 50.55 Bq kg(-1) was measured for the sediment samples. The radium equivalent value is far less than the 370 Bq kg(-1) limit for materials that can be used as building materials while the human effective dose equivalent falls below the world average background dose of 2.4 man Sv y(-1).

[The largest outbreak of legionellosis in Japan associated with spa baths: epidemic curve and environmental investigation]

In July 2002, a large outbreak of legionellosis occurred in a bathhouse with spa facilities in Miyazaki Prefecture. Two hundred-ninety-five patients (including suspected cases) that had pneumonia and/or symptoms of fever, cough and so forth were reported; 37% of them were hospitalized and seven people died. In environmental investigations, Legionella pneumophila serogroups (SGs) land 8, L. dumoffii, L. londiniensis, some other Legionella species and many kinds of amoeba were isolated from 55 samples of bathtub water, tank water, filters and so forth in the spa facilities. The dominant isolates from the bathtab waters belonged to L. londiniensis, L. dumoffii and L. pneumophila SG1, and their maximum concentrations were 1.5 x 10(6), 5.2 x 10(5) and 1.6 x 10(5) cfu/100 mL, respectively. L. pneumophila SG1 strains isolated from bathtub water, tank water, filters and sputa of patients showed a indistinguishable DNA fingerprint pattern by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), confirming that the source of infection was the spa water. Our study indicate that spas may be a significant health hazard if hygienic management fails.