Robert Koch and two visions of microbiology

It Takes a Village: Discovering and Isolating the Nitrifiers

It has been almost 150 years since Jean-Jacques Schloesing and Achille Müntz discovered that the process of nitrification, the oxidation of ammonium to nitrate, is a biological process carried out by microorganisms. In the following 15 years, numerous researchers independently contributed paradigm shifting discoveries that formed the foundation of nitrification and nitrification-related research. One of them was Sergei Winogradsky, whose major accomplishments include the discovery of both lithotrophy (in sulfur-oxidizing bacteria) and chemoautotrophy (in nitrifying bacteria). However, Winogradsky often receives most of the credit for many other foundational nitrification discoveries made by his contemporaries. This accumulation of credit over time is at least in part due to the increased attention, Winogradsky receives in the scientific literature and textbooks as a "founder of microbiology" and "the founder of microbial ecology." Here, some light is shed on several other researchers who are often overlooked, but whose work was instrumental to the emerging field of nitrification and to the work of Winogradsky himself. Specifically, the discovery of the biological process of nitrification by Schloesing and Müntz, the isolation of the first nitrifier by Grace and Percy Frankland, and the observation that nitrification is carried out by two distinct groups of microorganisms by Robert Warington are highlighted. Finally, the more recent discoveries of the chemolithoautotrophic ammonia-oxidizing archaea and complete ammonia oxidizers are put into this historical context.

Pathways and bottlenecks in the web of inflammatory adhesion molecules and chemoattractants

Leukocyte recruitment requires capture, rolling, activation, adhesion, and transmigration. Adhesion molecules and chemoattractants have been identified that mediate each of these steps. Their functions often overlap, but the combined absence of some molecules can lead to severe spontaneous phenotypes, as seen in CD18-/- mice, or early lethality, as in CD18-/- E-selectin-/- mice. These groups of molecules define bottlenecks that restrict the inflammatory response. Adhesion molecules and activation mechanisms can also form groups of preferential usage, or pathways. Based on these findings, a web-like model may represent the inflammatory process better than the linear cascade model. Bottlenecks and pathways depend on the degree and nature of overlapping functions, the disease process, tissue site, and the inflammatory stimulus.