Bacterial action

H2N (CH2]5 NH2. a syrupy fuming liquid, b.p. 178-180 - C. Soluble in water and alcohol. Cadaverine is one of the ptomaines and is found, associated with pulrescine, in putrefying tissues, being formed by bacterial action from the amino-acid lysine. It is found in the urine in some cases of the congenital disease cystinuria. The free base is poisonous, but its salts are not. 

Sulfur comes mainly from the decomposition of organic matter, and one observes that with the passage of time and of gradual settling of material into strata, the crude oils lose their sulfur in the form of H2S that appears in the associated gas, a small portion stays with the liquid. Another possible origin of H2S is the reduction of sulfates by hydrogen by bacterial action of the type desulforibrio desulfuricans (Equation 8.1) ... 

Retting. The removal of the bast fibers from bark and woody stem parts is promoted by a biological treatment called retting (rotting). This is an enzymatic or bacterial action on the pectinous matter of the stem. After retting, the bundles are dried iu fields. Retting may be carried out iu several ways. 

Skin wool is the term appHed to fellmongered wool, usually removed from skins by a sweating process involving bacterial action or by action of hme-sulftde depilatory. 

Fiber components are the principal energy source for colonic bacteria with a further contribution from digestive tract mucosal polysaccharides. Rate of fermentation varies with the chemical nature of the fiber components. Short-chain fatty acids generated by bacterial action are partiaUy absorbed through the colon waU and provide a supplementary energy source to the host. Therefore, dietary fiber is partiaUy caloric. The short-chain fatty acids also promote reabsorption of sodium and water from the colon and stimulate colonic blood flow and pancreatic secretions. Butyrate has added health benefits. Butyric acid is the preferred energy source for the colonocytes and has been shown to promote normal colonic epitheUal ceU differentiation. Butyric acid may inhibit colonic polyps and tumors. The relationships of intestinal microflora to health and disease have been reviewed (10). 

Cess Pools This system is similar to a septic tank, in performance. Sewage water usually seeps through the open bottom and portholes in the sides of the walls. These can also clog up with overuse and the introduction of detergents and other material which slow up the bacterial action. 

As mentioned in Section 1.1.4, bacterial action on river water can also produce methane. 

As mentioned in Section 1.1.4. bacterial action on river water A choke gccurred m the flexible pipe that drained the roof of a float- an atso, produce metn if tank. It was decidet... 

The great evaporite basin deposits of elemental sulfur in Poland were discovered only in 1953 but have since had a dramatic impact on the economy of that country which, by 1985, was one of the world s leading producers (p. 649). The sulfur occurs in association with secondary limestone, gypsum and anhydrite, and is believed Ui be derived from hydrocarbon reduction of sulfates assisted 1 bacterial action. The H2S so formed is consumed by other bacteria to produce sulfur as waste — this accumulates in the bodies of the bacteria until death, when the sulfur remains. 

Hydrogen sulfide is the only thermodynamically stable sulfane it occurs widely in nature as a result of volcanic or bacterial action and is, indeed, a prime source of elemental 8 (p. 647). It has been known since earliest times and its classical chemistry has been extensively studied since the seventeenth century.H28 is a foul smelling, very poisonous gas familiar to all students of chemistry. Its smell is noticeable at 0.02 ppm but the gas tends to anaesthetize the olefactory senses and the intensity of the smell is therefore a dangerously unreliable guide to its concentration. H28 causes irritation at 5 ppm, headaches and nausea at 10 ppm and immediate paralysis and death at 100 ppm it is therefore as toxic and as dangerous as HCN. 

The change of bacterial action from aerobic to anaerobic produces methane gas that must be ventilated to atmosphere ... 

Hydrogen sulphide and sulphur dioxide are also usually the result of pollution sometimes they are produced by the interaction of two contaminants, but sometimes bacterial action may be contributory. Both gases may initiate or accelerate corrosion of most metals. 

Moreover, decomposition may also be caused by bacterial action (e.g. Thiobacillus thioparus), particularly if the solution has been standing for some time. For these reasons, the following recommendations are made ... 

As a precautionary measure to prevent the appearance of maxima, sufficient gelatin to give a final concentration of 0.005 per cent should be added. The gelatin should preferably be prepared fresh each day bacterial action usually appears after a few days. Other maximum suppressors (e.g. Triton X-100 and methyl cellulose) are sometimes used. 

Sodium nitrate has been used for centuries to cure meat. Bacterial action during curing converts the sodium nitrate into sodium nitrite, which kills the bacteria that cause botulism, and combines with the myoglobin in the meat to form the pink color associated with ham. 

Sulfur is widely distributed as sulfide ores, which include galena, PbS cinnabar, HgS iron pyrite, FeS, and sphalerite, ZnS (Fig. 15.11). Because these ores are so common, sulfur is a by-product of the extraction of a number of metals, especially copper. Sulfur is also found as deposits of the native element (called brimstone), which are formed by bacterial action on H,S. The low melting point of sulfur (115°C) is utilized in the Frasch process, in which superheated water is used to melt solid sulfur underground and compressed air pushes the resulting slurry to the surface. Sulfur is also commonly found in petroleum, and extracting it chemically has been made inexpensive and safe by the use of heterogeneous catalysts, particularly zeolites (see Section 13.14). One method used to remove sulfur in the form of H2S from petroleum and natural gas is the Claus process, in which some of the H2S is first oxidized to sulfur dioxide ... 

Many other shapes are possible for complexes. The simplest are linear, with coordination number 2. An example is dimethylmercury(O), Hg(CI l,)2 (4), which is a toxic compound formed by bacterial action on aqueous solutions of I Ig ions. Coordination numbers as high as 12 are found for members of the / block, but they are rare in the d block. One interesting type of d-mctal compound in which there are 10 links between the ligands and the central metal ion is ferrocene, dicyciopentadi-enyliron(O), [Fe(C5H5)2] (5). Ferrocene is an aptly named sandwich compound, with the two planar cyclopentadienyl ligands the bread and the metal atom the filling. The formal name for a sandwich compound is a metallocene. 

Polysaccharides. Part XXXIX. The Constitution of Certain Levans Formed by Bacterial Action, R. R. Lyne, S. Peat, and M. Stacey, J. Chem. Soc.. (1940) 237 -241. 

It is conceivable that nltrosamlnes can be synthesized In the Intestine, since the precursors are present. While the conditions for aqueous nltrosatlon reactions are not optimum at pH values encountered In the lower gastrointestinal tract, several studies have shown that these reactions can be catalyzed (39, 40, 41). It has been suggested that the Intestine might be a site for the formation of nltrosamlnes by bacterial action (42). Sander (43) has demonstrated the formation of nltrosamlnes by bacterial action from precursor amines and nitrate at neutral pH and Klubes and coworkers have reported the formation of NDMA. upon Incubation of l C-dlmethylamlne and sodium nitrite with rat fecal contents (44, 45). 

The last reaction cited above as shown is very effectively catalyzed by bacterial action but is very slow chemically by recycling the spent ferrous liquors and regenerating ferric iron bacterially, the amount of iron which must be derived from pyrite oxidation is limited to that needed to make up losses from the system, principally in the uranium product stream. This is important if the slow step in the overall process is the oxidation of pyrite. The situation is different in the case of bacterial leaching of copper sulfides where all the sulfide must be attacked to obtain copper with a high efficiency. A fourth reaction which may occur is the hydrolysis of ferric sulfate in solution, thus regenerating more sulfuric acid the ferrous-ferric oxidation consumes acid. 

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