Yoko Masuda

Biological nitrogen fixation is an essential reaction in a major pathway for supplying nitrogen to terrestrial environments. Previous culture-independent analyses based on soil DNA/RNA/protein sequencing could globally detect the nitrogenase genes/proteins of <i>Anaeromyxobacter</i> (in the class <i>Deltaproteobacteria</i>), commonly distributed in soil environments and predominant in paddy soils; this suggests the importance of <i>Anaeromyxobacter</i> in nitrogen fixation in soil environments.

Our findings suggest that the quality of images acquired from heavier patients can be maintained only by scanning for longer periods. Increasing the dose per kilogram of body weight did not improve the quality of lutetium oxyorthosilicate PET/CT images.

Waterlogged paddy soils possess anoxic zones in which microbes actively induce reductive nitrogen transformation (RNT). In the present study, a shotgun RNA sequencing analysis (metatranscriptomics) of paddy soil samples revealed that most RNT gene transcripts in paddy soils were derived from Deltaproteobacteria, particularly the genera Anaeromyxobacter and Geobacter. Despite the frequent detection of the rRNA of these microbes in paddy soils, their RNT-associated genes have rarely been identifie

Anaeromyxobacter and Geobacter, iron-reducing bacteria belonging to Deltaproteobacteria, are newly discovered nitrogen-fixing bacteria predominant in paddy soils. We hypothesized that adding ferric iron oxide as an electron acceptor for respiration of the iron-reducing bacteria could enhance the nitrogen-fixing activity of Anaeromyxobacter and Geobacter in paddy soils. In the soil microcosm study, soil nitrogen-fixing activity significantly increased after adding ferrihydrite or Fe2O3, ferric ir

<i>Geobacterales</i> is a recently proposed order comprising members who originally belonged to the well-known family <i>Geobacteraceae</i>, which is a key group in terrestrial ecosystems involved in biogeochemical cycles and has been widely investigated in bioelectrochemistry and bioenergy fields. Previous studies have illustrated the taxonomic structure of most members in this group based on genomic phylogeny; however, several members are still in a pendent or chaotic taxonomic status owing to

In paddy soil, bacteria from the family <i>Geobacteraceae</i> have been shown to strongly contribute to the biogeochemical cycle. However, no <i>Geobacteraceae</i> species with validly published names have been isolated from paddy soil. In this study, we isolated and characterized four novel ferric reducing bacteria in the family <i>Geobacteraceae</i> from the paddy soils of three different fields in Japan. The four strains, S43^T, Red53^T, S62^T, and Red111<sup>T</

Our results indicate that Deltaproteobacteria is a core bacterial taxon in the potential soil nitrogen fixation population, especially in anaerobic environments, which encourages a careful consideration on deltaproteobacterial diazotrophs in understanding terrestrial nitrogen cycling. Video Abstract.

In rice paddy soil, biological nitrogen fixation is important for sustaining soil nitrogen fertility and rice growth. Anaeromyxobacter and Geobacteriaceae, iron-reducing bacteria belonging to Deltaproteobacteria, are newly discovered nitrogen-fixing bacteria dominant in paddy soils. They utilize acetate, a straw-derived major carbon compound in paddy soil, as a carbon and energy source, and ferric iron compounds as electron acceptors for anaerobic respiration. In our previous paddy field experim

Flooded paddy soils are global sources of the greenhouse gas methane. Net methane fluxes from paddy fields reflect the sum of methane generation in the anoxic zone and methane consumption in the oxic zone, which are driven by methanogenic archaea and methanotrophic bacteria, respectively. Furthermore, methanogenic archaea produce methane utilizing hydrogen or acetate generated by hydrogen-producing bacteria or acetogenic bacteria, respectively. Therefore, methane emissions are regulated and orch

Bacteria of the family <i>Geobacteraceae</i> are particularly common and deeply involved in many biogeochemical processes in terrestrial and freshwater environments. As part of a study to understand biogeochemical cycling in freshwater sediments, three iron-reducing isolates, designated as Red96^T, Red100^T, and Red88^T, were isolated from the soils of two paddy fields and pond sediment located in Japan. The cells were Gram-negative, strictly anaerobic, rod-shaped,

Denitrification in paddy soils is an environmentally important reaction, which reduces leaching or emission of nitrogen pollutants. This reaction has long been considered to be driven by typical denitrifiers mostly belonging to Alpha-, Beta-, and Gammaproteobacteria. Our recent metatranscriptomic analysis of rice paddy field soil suggested that paddy soil denitrification is a cooperative process of different nitrogen oxide reducers, i.e., NO2−, NO, and N2O reducers. However, it was not clear whe

Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) is important to sustain nitrogen fertility of paddy soil and rice yield, while could be affected by nitrogen fertilization. Iron-reducing bacteria, Anaeromyxobacter and Geobacter, are newly found diazotrophic bacteria predominant in paddy soil. Experimental field of this study is a long-term (35 years) nitrogen fertilized (6.0 g N/m²/year) and unfertilized paddy field, where ca. 70% of rice yield was obtained yearly in nitrogen unfertilized plot (443

We report a 56-year-old woman with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) showing symmetrical progressive intracranial calcification. She was treated with corticosteroid for thirteen years by the diagnosis of SLE. Neurological examination at age 56 revealed mental deterioration, bilateral pyramidal sign, parkinsonism, and intentional tremor. She was found to have low levels of platelets and hypocomplementemia, high levels of antinuclear-antibody, anti-SS-A and B-antibodies, IL-6, and anti-ribosomal