Anaerobic Bacterium Encodes Fourth Known Biological Pathway for Making Oxygen

The anaerobic bacterium Candidatus Methylomirabilis oxyfera can oxidize methane by means of a novel metabolic mechanism that depends on molecules of dinitric oxide, according to Katharina F. Ettwig of Radboud University in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, and her collaborators. Only three other biological pathways are known to produce oxygen, namely photosynthesis, chlorate respiration, and the detoxification of reactive oxygen species, she and her collaborators point out. This fourth pathway, which couples anaerobic oxidation of methane with reduction of nitrite to dinitrogen, could have "considerable geochemical and evolutionary importance," she says. Moreover, these findings make it appear more likely that microorganisms began metabolizing oxygen long before organisms began producing this gas via photosynthesis. Details appear in the 25 March 2010 Nature (464:543-548).


Recent Deals, Progress toward Developing, Evaluating Antibiotics

Several companies recently announced deals or financing to pursue development of novel antibiotics, including:

● In April, Pfizer of New York, N.Y., announced plans to collaborate with two biotechnology companies, MicuRx Pharmaceuticals of Union City, Calif., and Cumencor Pharmaceuticals in China, to develop antibiotics for drug-resistant tuberculosis in that country.
● Achaogen of San Francisco, Calif., secured $56 million in third-round financing, mainly from Frazier Healthcare Ventures, to fund a midstage trial of its candidate antibiotic for treating urinary tract infections.
● Cubist of Lexington, Mass., began enrolling patients for a phase II trial of CB-183,315, its candidate for treating Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea.
● LFB Biotechnologies in Les Ulis, France, is collaborating with Thallion Pharmaceuticals in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, to develop Shigamabs, which is designed to treat infections caused by Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli; a phase II clinical trial is planned for later this year.


Federal Court: Thimerosal in Vaccines Not a Cause of Autism

The U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C., ruled in three cases last March that thimerosal, a preservative used in vaccines, was not a cause of autism in children who received those vaccines. Those three cases were identified as representative prototypes for the approximately 5,000 unresolved cases in which parents filed lawsuits making claims against vaccines with mercury-containing thimerosal as a preservative. The rulings are considered part of the "largest omnibus proceeding in the history of the Vaccine Act," a 1986 federal statute that establishes procedures for filing claims for alleged damages from vaccinations. "Having failed to satisfy their burden of proof under the articulated legal standard, petitioners cannot prevail on their claim of vaccine-related causation," the court's March ruling states. Details are available at http://www.uscfc.uscourts.gov/node/5026/.


Cryoadsorption Probe Detects Meat Spoilage at Early Stage

A nondestructive analytic technique detects telltale low-volatile compounds, thus providing a rapid readout of whether chicken or other food products show early signs of spoilage, according to Tom Bruno and Tara Lovestead at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Md. Based on a probe that uses cryoadsorption to capture ordinarily poorly volatile ingredients, the NIST scientists identified six chemical markers that could be used to indicate poultry spoilage before the product becomes unsafe for consumers. Those markers appear in the air above samples of chicken meat that was maintained in its retail packaging material but kept at room temperature for two weeks. Details appear in the April 15, 2010 Food Chemistry (4:1274-1282). In a related development, Noam Sobel of the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, Israel, and his collaborators are "training" comparable electronic odor-detection devices to predict and classify the relative pleasantness of novel odors. Their results indicate that odor perception is "hard-wired," and could lead to new methods for odor screening, environmental monitoring, or perhaps transmitting scents digitally.