Photograph of Collin Glacier, Antarctica
Collins Glacier, Antarctica; ©T.G. Chasteen; Photograph by Juan Pablo Monrás; GPS -62 10 01, -58 51 11

Publications of Thomas G. Chasteen (most doi accessible)

------ 61 publications
  • " The ActP acetate transporter acts prior to the PitA phosphate carrier in tellurite uptake by Escherichia coli "
    A. Elías, W. A. Díaz-Vásquez, María José Abarca-Lagunas, T. G. Chasteen, Felipe Arenas, and Claudio C. Vásquez
    Microbiological Research, 2015, 177, 15-21. (doi:10.1016/j.micres.2015.04.010)
    • ------ 60 publications
  • " Thermal- and Photo-Stability of Glutathione-Capped Cadmium Telluride Quantum Dots "
    P. T. Wansapura, W. A. Díaz-Vásquez, C. C. Vásquez, J. M. Pérez-Donoso, and T. G. Chasteen
    Journal of Applied Biomaterials and Functional Materials, 2015, 13:e248-e252. (doi:10.5301/jabfm.5000221)
  • " Microarray analysis of the Escherichia coli response to CdTe-GSH quantum dots: understanding the bacterial toxicity of semiconductor nanoparticles "
    J. P. Monrás, B. Collao, R. C. Molina-Quiroz, G. A. Pradenas, L. A. Saona, V. Durán-Toro, N. Órdenes-Aenishanslins, F. A. Venegas, D. E. Loyola, D. Bravo, P. F. Calderón, I. L. Calderón, C. C. Vásquez, T. G. Chasteen, D. A. Lopez and J. M. Pérez-Donoso
    BMC Genomics, 2014, 15:1099. (doi:10.1186/1471-2164-15-1099)
  • " Isolation, identification and characterization of highly tellurite-resistant, tellurite-reducing bacteria from Antarctica "
    F. A. Arenas, B. Pugin, N. A. Henríquez, M. A. Arenas, W. A. Díaz-Vásquez, M. F. Pozo, C. M. Muñoz, T. G. Chasteen, J. M. Pérez-Donoso, and C. C. Vásquez
    Polar Science, 2014, 8, 40-52. (doi:10.1016/j.polar.2014.01.001)
  • " Event Reports: In Search of Metalloid-Resistant Microbes in Antarctica "
    T. G. Chasteen
    International Journal of Applied Geospatial Research, 2014, 5(3), 93-94.
    Thanks to Dr. Don Albert.
  • " Quantum dot-based assay for Cu2+ quantification in bacterial cell culture "
    V. Durán-Toro, A. Gran-Scheuch, N. Órdenes-Aenishanslins, J. P. Monrás, L. A. Saona, F. A. Venegas, T. G. Chasteen, D. Bravo, and J. M. Pérez-Donoso
    Analytical Biochemistry, 2014, 450, 30-36. (doi:10.1016/j.ab.2014.01.001)
    • ------ 55 publications
  • " Tellurite reduction by Escherichia coli NDH-II dehydrogenase results in superoxide production in membranes of toxicant-exposed cells "
    W. A. Díaz-Vásquez, M. J. Abarca-Lagunas, F. A. Arenas, C. A. Pinto, F. A. Cornejo, P. T. Wansapura, G. A. Appuhamillage, T. G. Chasteen, and C. C. Vásquez
    Biometals, 2014, 27, 237-246. (doi:10.1007/s10534-013-9701-8)
  • " Determination of volatile organochalcogens using liquid phase microextraction and gas chromatography with fluorine-induced chemiluminescence detection "
    M. Hashemi, R. A. Montes, and T. G. Chasteen
    Environmental Biotechnology, 2012, 8(2) 55-62.
  • " Enhanced glutathione content allows the in vivo synthesis of fluorescent CdTe nanoparticles by Escherichia coli "
    J. P. Monrás, V. Díaz., D. Bravo, R. A. Montes, T .G. Chasteen, I. O. Osorio-Román, C. C. Vásquez, and J. M. Pérez-Donoso
    PLoS ONE, 2012, 7(11) e48657. (doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0048657)
  • " The acute bacterial toxicity of the selenocyanate anion and the bioprocessing of selenium by bacterial cells "
    R. A. Montes, G. A. Pradenas, J. M. Pérez-Donoso, C. C. Vásquez, and T. G. Chasteen,
    Environmental Biotechnology, 2012, 8(1), 32-38.
  • " Tellurite enters Escherichia coli mainly through the PitA phosphate transporter "
    A. Elías, M. J. Abarca, R. A. Montes, T. G. Chasteen, J. M. Pérez-Donoso, and C. C. Vásquez,
    MicrobiologyOpen, 2012, 1, 259-267. (doi:10.1002/mbo3.26)
    • ------ 50 publications
  • " Biomimetic, mild chemical synthesis of CdTe-GSH quantum dots with improved biocompatibility "
    J. M. Pérez-Donoso, J. P. Monras, D. Bravo, A. Aguirre, A. F. Quest, I. O. Osorio-Roman, R. F. Aroca, T. G. Chasteen, and C. C. Vásquez,
    PLoS ONE, 2012, 7(1), e30741. (doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0030741)
  • " Molality-Molarity Challenge "
    M. Hashemi and T. G. Chasteen,
    Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, 2011, 401, 1091-1092. (doi:10.1007/s00216-011-5153-6)
  • " Hofmeister Effect Challenge "
    M. Hashemi and T. G. Chasteen,
    Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, 2011, 400, 643-644. (doi:10.1007/s00216-011-4722-z)
  • " A Simple, Fast, Sensitive Method Quantitation of Tellurite in Culture Media "
    R. C. Molina, R. Burra, J. M. Pérez-Donoso, A. O. Elias, C. Munoz, R. A. Montes, T. G. Chasteen, and C. C. Vásquez,
    Applied Environmental Microbiology, 2010, 76, 4901-4904. (doi:10.1128/AEM.00598-10)
  • " Production of Dimethyl Triselenide and Dimethyl Diselenenyl Sulfide in the Headspace of Metalloid-Resistant Bacillus Species Grown in the Presence of Selenium Oxyanions "
    R. Burra, G. A. Pradenas, R. A. Montes, C. C. Vásquez, and T. G. Chasteen
    Analytical Biochemistry, 2010, 396, 217-222. (doi:10.1016/j.ab.2009.09.026)
    • ------ 45 publications
  • " Biological Interactions of Selenocyanate: Bioprocessing, Detection, and Toxicity "
    R. Burra, J. D. Fox, G. A. Pradenas, C. C. Vásquez, and T. G. Chasteen
    Environmental Technology, 2009, 30, 1327-1335. (doi:10.1080/09593330902998082)
  • " Deployable Decentralized Biofilm System to Degrade Organic Carbon, Nutrients and Benzene from Wastewater "
    D. Chen, C.-J. Lin, R. Gavin Jones, S. Patel, R. Smith, T. G. Chasteen, M. Radi, S. Holland, S. A. Waisner, and J. L. Davis
    In "Proceedings of World Environmental and Water Resources Congress", S. Starrett ed.; 2009, 1-12. (doi:10.1061/41036(342)210)
  • " Tellurite: History, Oxidative Stress and Molecular Mechanisms of Resistance "
    T. G. Chasteen, D. E. Fuentes, J. C. Tantalean, and C. C. Vásquez
    FEMS Microbiology Reviews, 2009, 33, 820-832. (doi:10.1111/j.1574-6976.2009.00177.x)
  • " Cloning, Purification and Characterization of Geobacillus stearothermophilus V uroporphyrinogen-III C-methyltransferase: Evaluation of its Role in Resistance to Potassium Tellurite in Escherichia coli "
    M. A. Araya, J. C. Tantalean, D. E. Fuentes, J. M. Pérez, I. L. Calderon, C. P. Saavedra, R. Burra, T. G. Chasteen, and C. C. Vásquez
    Research in Microbiology, 2009, 160, 125-133. (doi:10.1016/j.resmic.2008.12.004)

  • " Cysteine Metabolism-Related Genes and Bacterial Resistance to Potassium Tellurite "
    D. E. Fuentes, E. L. Fuentes, M. E. Castro, J. M. Pérez, M. A. Araya, T. G. Chasteen, S. E. Pichuantes, and C. C. Vásquez
    Journal of Bacteriology, 2007, 189, 8953-8960. (doi:10.1128/JB.01252-07)
    • ------ 40 publications
  • " Capillary Electrophoretic Determination of Selenocyanate and Selenium and Tellurium Oxyanions in Bacterial Cultures "
    B. K. Pathem, G. A. Pradenas, M. E. Castro, C. C. Vásquez and T. G. Chasteen
    Analytical Biochemistry, 2007, 364, 138-144. (doi:10.1016/j.ab.2007.03.004)
  • " Web-Based Animations in Analytical Chemistry "
    T. G. Chasteen
    Chapter in "Active Learning: Models from the Analytical Science";
    ACS Symposium Series, edited by P. Mabrouk; American Chemical Society, Washington, DC; 2007. (ISBN: 9780841274044)
  • " Chalcogens (S, Se, Te) in Microorganisms and Plants "
    T. G. Chasteen and R. Bentley
    Chapter 11.1 in Handbook of Chalcogens: New Perspectives in Sulfur, Selenium, and Tellurium; pp. 671-713; F. Devillanova ed.; Royal Society of Chemistry, London; 2006. (ISBN: 978-085404-366-8)(doi:10.1039/9781847557575)
  • " The Expression of the ubiE Gene of Geobacillus stearothermophilus V in Escherichia coli K-12 Mediates the Evolution of Selenium Compounds into the Headspace of Selenite- and Selenate-Amended Cultures "
    J. W. Swearingen, Jr., D. E. Fuentes, M. A. Araya, M. F. Plishker, C. P. Saavedra, T. G. Chasteen, and C. C. Vásquez
    Applied Environmental Microbiology, 2006, 72, 963-967. (doi:10.1128/AEM.72.1.963-967.2006)
  • " Identification of Biogenic Dimethyl Selenodisulfide in the Headspace Gases Above Genetically-Modified Escherichia coli "
    J. W. Swearingen, Jr., D. P. Frankel, D. E. Fuentes, C. P. Saavedra, C. C. Vásquez, and T. G. Chasteen
    Analytical Biochemistry, 2006, 348, 115-122. (doi:10.1016/j.ab.2005.10.007)
    • ------ 35 publications
  • " Identification of Biogenic Organotellurides in Escherichia coli K-12 Headspace Gases Using Solid Phase Microextraction and Gas Chromatography "
    J. W. Swearingen, Jr., M. A. Araya, M. F. Plishker, C. P. Saavedra, C. C. Vásquez, and T. G. Chasteen
    Analytical Biochemistry, 2004, 331, 106-114. (doi:10.1016/j.ab.2004.05.001)
  • " Geobacillus stearothermophilus V ubiE Gene Product Is Involved in the Evolution of Dimethyl Telluride in Escherichia coli K-12 Cultures Amended with Potassium Tellurate but not Potassium Tellurite "
    M. A. Araya, J. W. Swearingen, Jr., M. F. Plishker, C. P. Saavedra, T. G. Chasteen, and C. C. Vásquez
    Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry, 2004, 9, 609-615. (doi:10.1007/s00775-004-0554-z)
  • " Environmental Volatile Organosulfur Compounds--Formation and Degradation of Dimethyl Sulfide, Methanethiol, and Related Materials "
    R. Bentley and T. G. Chasteen
    Chemosphere, 2004, 55, 291-317. (doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2003.12.017)
  • " Organotellurium Compound Toxicity in a Promyelocytic Cell Line Compared to a Non-Tellurium Containing Organic Analog "
    B. L. Sailer, N. Liles, S. Dickerson, S. Sumners, and T. G. Chasteen
    Toxicology in Vitro, 2004, 18, 475-482. (doi:10.1016/j.tiv.2003.11.001)
  • " Determination of Elemental and Precipitated Selenium Production by a Facultative Anaerobe Grown Under Sequential Anaerobic/Aerobic Conditions "
    S. Hapuarachchi, J. Swearingen, Jr., and T. G. Chasteen
    Process Biochemistry, 2004, 39, 1607-1613. (doi:10.1016/S0032-9592(03)00298-X)
    • ------ 30 publications
  • " Volatile Organic Sulfur Compounds of Environmental Interest: Dimethyl Sulfide and Methanethiol. An Introductory Overview "
    T. G. Chasteen and R. Bentley
    Journal of Chemical Education, 2004, 81, 1524-1528. (doi:10.1021/ed081p1524)
  • " Frederick Challenger, 1887-1983: Chemist and Biochemist "
    T. G. Chasteen and R. Bentley
    Applied Organometallic Chemistry, 2003, 17, 201-211. (doi:10.1002/aoc.415)
  • " Biomethylation of Selenium and Tellurium: Microorganisms and Plants "
    T. G. Chasteen and R. Bentley
    Chemical Reviews, 2003, 103, 1-26. (doi:10.1021/cr010210+)
  • " Cytometric Determination of Novel Organotellurium Compound Toxicity in a Promyelocytic (HL-60) Cell Line "
    B. L. Sailer, N. Liles, S. Dickerson, and T. G. Chasteen
    Archives of Toxicology, 2003, 77, 30-36. (doi:10.1007/s00204-002-0407-x)
  • " Oxidation Numbers in the Study of Metabolism "
    R. Bentley, J. Franzen, and T. G. Chasteen
    Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, 2002, 30, 288-292. (doi:10.1002/bmb.2002.494030050114)
    • ------ 25 publications
  • " Microbial Methylation of Metalloids: Arsenic, Antimony, and Bismuth "
    R. Bentley and T. G. Chasteen
    Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews, 2002, 66, 250-271. (doi:10.1128/MMBR.66.2.250-271.2002)
  • " Of Garlic, Mice, and Gmelin "
    T. G. Chasteen, M. Wiggli, and R. Bentley
    Applied Organometallic Chemistry, 2002, 16, 281-286. (doi:10.1002/aoc.299)
  • " Light-Based Detection Systems in Modern Gas Chromatography "
    T. G. Chasteen
    Spectrum, Spring 2002, 15(1), 7-11.
  • " Arsenical Curiosa and Humanity "
    R. Bentley and T. G. Chasteen
    The Chemical Educator, 2002, 7(2), 51-60. (doi:10.1333/s00897020539a)
  • " Teaching with Chemical Instrumentation on the Web "
    T. G. Chasteen
    Journal of Chemical Education, 2001, 78(9), 1144-1148. (doi:10.1021/ed078p1144)
    • ------ 20 publications
  • " Production of Dimethyl Telluride and Elemental Tellurium by Bacteria Amended with Tellurite or Tellurate "
    R. S. T. Basnayake, J. H. Bius, O. M. Akpolat, and T. G. Chasteen
    Applied Organometallic Chemistry, 2001, 15, 499-510. (doi:10.1002/aoc.186)
  • " The Fate of Selenate and Selenite Metabolized by Rhodobacter sphaeroides "
    V. Van Fleet-Stalder, T.G. Chasteen, I. J. Pickering, G. N. George, and R.C. Prince
    Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 2000, 66(11), 4849-4853. (doi:10.1128/AEM.66.11.4849-4853.2000)
  • " X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy of Selenium-Containing Amino Acids "
    I. J. Pickering, G. N. George, V. Van Fleet-Stalder, T. G. Chasteen, and R. C. Prince
    Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry, 1999, 4(6), 791-794. (doi:10.1007/s007750050352)
  • " Bacterial Cytotoxicity and Induction of Apoptosis in Promyelocytic (Line HL-60) Cells by Novel Organotellurium Compounds "
    B. L. Sailer, T. Prow, S. Dickerson, J. Watson, N. Liles, S. J. Patel, V. Van Fleet-Stalder, and T. G. Chasteen
    Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 1999, 18(12), 2926-2933. (doi:10.1002/etc.5620181239)
  • " Using Fluorine-Induced Chemiluminescence to Detect Organo-Metalloids in the Headspace of Phototrophic Bacterial Cultures Amended with Selenium and Tellurium "
    V. Van Fleet-Stalder and T. G. Chasteen
    Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology, 1998, 43/3, 193-203. (doi:10.1016/S1011-1344(98)00108-0)
    A complete online version of that paper is used with permission of the publishers.
    • ------ 15 publications
  • " Volatile Chemical Species of Selenium "
    T. G. Chasteen
    In "Environmental Chemistry of Selenium", W. T. Frankenberger, Jr. and R. A. Engberg eds.; Marcel Dekker, New York, 1998; Chapter 29. (ISBN: 9780824701369)
  • " Effects of Growth Conditions on Production of Methyl Selenides in Cultures of Rhodobacter sphaeroides "
    V. Van Fleet-Stalder, H. Gurleyuk, R. Bachofen, and T. G. Chasteen
    Journal of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology, 1997, 19, 98-103. (doi:10.1038/sj.jim.2900423)
  • " Confirmation of the Biomethylation of Antimony Compounds "
    H. Gurleyuk, V. Van Fleet-Stalder, and T. G. Chasteen
    Applied Organometallic Chemistry, 1997, 11 , 471-483. (doi:10.1002/(SICI)1099-0739(199706)11:6<471::AID-AOC590>3.0.CO;2-H)
  • " Toxicity of Oxyanions of Selenium and of a Proposed Bioremediation Intermediate, Dimethyl Selenone "
    R. Yu, J. P. Coffman, V. Van Fleet-Stalder, and T. G. Chasteen
    Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 1997, 16(2), 140-145. (doi:10.1002/etc.5620160207)
  • " Spreadsheet Approach to the Linear Least Squares Fit "
    M. L. Carman and T. G. Chasteen
    The Chemical Educator, 1996, 1(1). (doi:10.1333/s00897960012a)
    • ------ 10 publications
  • " Volatilization of Arsenium Compounds by Mixed Soil Bacteria and Pure Cultures of Methanogenic Bacteria "
    R. Bachofen, L. Birch, U. Buchs, P. Ferloni, I. Flynn, G. Jud, H. Tahedl, and T. G. Chasteen
    In "Bioremediation of Inorganics", R. E. Hinchee, J. L. Means and D. R. Burris eds.; Battelle Press, Columbus, OH, 1995; 103-108. (ISBN: 1-57477-011-X)
  • " Bacterial Bioremediation of Selenium Oxyanions Using a Dynamic Flow Bioreactor and Headspace Analysis "
    S. L. McCarty, T. G. Chasteen, V. Stalder, and R. Bachofen
    In "Bioremediation of Inorganics", R. E. Hinchee, J. L. Means and D. R. Burris eds.; Battelle Press, Columbus, OH, 1995; 95-102. (ISBN: 1-57477-011-X)
  • " Chromatographic Determination of Phosphine (PH3) and Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S)in the Headspace of Anaerobic Bacterial Enrichments Using Flame Photometric Detection "
    U. Brunner, Th. G. Chasteen, P. Ferloni, and R. Bachofen
    Chromatographia, 1995, 40, 399-403. (doi:10.1007/BF02269902)
  • " A Method of Repeated Sampling of Static Headspace Above Anaerobic Bacterial Cultures with Fluorine-Induced Chemiluminescence Detection "
    V. Stalder, N. Bernard, K. W. Hanselmann, R. Bachofen, and T. G. Chasteen
    Analytica Chimica Acta, 1995, 303, 91-97. (doi:10.1016/0003-2670(94)00258-N)
  • " Amending Cultures of Selenium Resistant Bacteria with Dimethyl Selenone "
    L. Zhang and T. G. Chasteen
    Applied Organometallic Chemistry, 1994, 8, 501-508. (doi:10.1002/aoc.590080602)
    • ------ 5 publications
  • " Confusion Between Dimethyl Selenenyl Sulfide and Dimethyl Selenone Released by Bacteria "
    T. G. Chasteen
    Applied Organometallic Chemistry, 1993, 7, 335-342. (doi:10.1002/aoc.590070507)
  • " Phototrophic Bacteria Produce Volatile, Methylated Sulfur and Selenium Compounds "
    S. L. McCarty, T. G. Chasteen, M. Marshall, R. Fall, and R. Bachofen
    Federation of European Microbiology Societies (FEMS) Letters, 1993, 112, 93-98. (doi:10.1016/0378-1097(93)90543-B)
  • " Solving Equilibrium Problems with a Graphing Calculator: A Robust Method, Free of Algebra and Calculus "
    D. K. Ruch and T. G. Chasteen
    Journal of Chemical Education, 1993, 70(7), A184-185,1993. (doi:10.1021/ed070pA184)
  • " Fluorine-Induced Chemiluminescence Detection of Phosphine, Alkyl Phosphines, and Monophosphinate Esters "
    T. G. Chasteen, R. Fall, J. W. Birks, H. R. Martin, and R. J. Glinski
    Chromatographia, 1991, 31, 342-346. (doi:10.1007/BF02262189)
  • " Fluorine-Induced Chemiluminescence Detection of Biologically Methylated Tellurium, Selenium, and Sulfur Compounds "
    T. G. Chasteen, G. M. Silver, J. W. Birks, and R. Fall
    Chromatographia, 1990, 30, 181-185. (doi:10.1007/BF02274543)

    • Ph.D. Dissertation

  • " Fluorine-induced chemiluminescence detection of biologically methylated tellurium, selenium, and sulfur compounds; methyldithiocarbhydrazide as a formaldehyde derivatization reagent "; Diss. Abstr. Int. B 1991, 52(1), 196-7.

    • Patents

  • " Chemiluminescent Light Source Using Visible Light for Biotherapy "
    M.J. Tolkoff, P. Levin, R. Arcangeli, A Levine, and T.G. Chasteen
    European Patent Office: EP1496992; 1/15/2004; International: WO03089063; Australian Patent Office: AU2003223613;
    Japanese Patent Office: JP2005523088; Canadian Patent Office: CA2479857.

  • " Chemiluminescent Light Source Using Visible Light for Biotherapy "
    M.J. Tolkoff, P. Levin, R. Arcangeli, A Levine, and T.G. Chasteen
    United States Patent Office: USP 7,255,691; USPO Publication Date 8/14/2007.

    • The experimentation in my research group revolves around the use of analytical instrumentation to sensitively, and often quite selectively, detect environmentally important chemical species. The work often involves gas chromatography, chemiluminescence spectrometry, microbial toxicology, atomic spectrometry both absorption and emission, microbiological techniques. Metalloid-resistant organisms have been collected from the biosphere on three continents.

    In 2013, I travelled to Antarctica in a collaborative project with Dr. José M. Pérez-Donoso (Jota) of Universidad Andrés Bello in Santiago, Chile. Working closely with Juan Pablo Monrás, a doctoral student at University of Chile, working in Jota's lab, we sampled soil, water and sediment on islands off the coast of Antarctica and on the Antarctic mainland peninsula, in search of extremophiles that might be able to biosynthesize metalloid-containing nanoparticles. The blog of that trip is available.

    Much of the history of biomethylation of both selenium and tellurium is detailed in a Chemical Reviews paper in collaboration with the late Ronald Bentley (1922-2011). And a wonderfully detailed review of the history of tellurium back to its discovery in 1782 by Müller has been published in FEMS Microbiology Reviews, most cogently detailing a very modern cysteine biosynthetic pathway in K2TeO3 resistance.

    One of our most exciting results, published in Analytical Biochemistry, is the discovery of only the third known mixed metalloid/sulfur volatile species released by microorganisms (see below). Jerry Swearingen, Jr., working in my group, and in collaboration with microbiologists and biochemists at the University of Santiago, Chile has examined the headspace of a genetically-modified E. coli strain dubbed 1VH. When liquid cultures of this bacterium were amended with either 0.01 mM selenite or selenate and grown into stationary phase, dimethyl selenodisulfide, CH3SeSSCH3 was detected in culture headspace. The identity and structure of this compound was confirmed by chromatographic, boiling point, modeling, and mass spectral data.

    The next logical search was for a metalloid-resistant microbe that could reduce and methylate Se to yield a diselenide/sulfide chemical product. A Bacillus sp. isolated in Chile in Huerquehue National Park, dubbed LHVE, has been the first bacterium to produce CH3SeSeSCH3 in its headspace. While dimethyl diselenenyl sulfide had been reported in the headspace of green onions, ours is the first report of this diselenenyl sulfide compound produced by bacteria.

    We have been studying the effects and relative toxicity of biospherically important selenium and tellurium salts on bacteria. In particular we have been performing experiments in which we isolate, culture, and then poison photosynthetic bacteria (Rhodobacter sphaeroides among others), which have become resistant to these toxic compounds. We have attempted this in order to probe the level, means, and chemical products of their response to this exposure.

    An Applied Organometallic Chemistry paper that we've published tracks the distribution of tellurium in cultures of Pseudomonas fluorescens (strain K27 isolated by Ray Fall at University of Colorado, Boulder) amended with sodium tellurite. The time course production of dimethyl telluride, CH3TeCH3, varied with amendment salts' Te oxidation states and concentrations. Increasing tellurate concentrations caused slower bacterial growth but those cultures reached the stationary phase sooner than cultures amended with tellurite concentrations 10 or 100 times less (see here). Black elemental Te (Te0) was produced by live cultures amended with Te salts but not by sterile controls. The amount of tellurium in the solid phase (as Te0 and in/or on cells) harvested from replicate, anaerobic cultures of P. fluorescens sampled after 92 hours of incubation was approximately 34%.

    Use of a relatively large-volume bioreactor (3 L) has yielded an efficient means of determining the effects of alternating between anaerobic and aerobic cultures conditions as batch cultures grow far into the stationary phase. This work, published in 2004 in Process Biochemistry, shows that, for P. fluorescens K27 grown on tryptic soy with nitrate as electron acceptor, this alternating culture conditions has no statistically significant effects upon the amount of elemental selenium produced by selenite amended cultures. Different lengths of alternating aerobic and anaerobic cycles were tried: 6, 8, 12, and 16 hour lengths. Like our work with Te-amended cultures, approximately 36% of added selenite ended up, after 72 hours, as Se0 or in/on harvested cells.

    Collaborative experiments with Claudio Vasquez and M. Andres Araya at the University of Santiago, and Claudia Saavedra at Andres Bello University, Santiago, Chile have involved the insertion of genes from a metalloid-resistant thermophilic bacterium into E. coli. The detailed description of the gene insertion, using plasmid vectors, and identification of the proteins produced by the metalloid resistant clones is reported in Journal of Biological and Inorganic Chemistry. After amendment with tellurium salts we have detected methanetellurol (CH3TeH), dimethyl telluride, and dimethyl ditelluride in the culture headspace. In these experiments we have reported for the first time the bacterial production of dimethyl tellurenylsulfide (CH3TeSCH3) in Analytical Biochemistry. A new CAS registry number, 762268-67-7, has been assigned to this newly reported compound based on our publication. Dimethyl tellurenylsulfide has never been known to be produced by a biological source before.

    In collaboration with Roger Prince at ExxonMobile Research and Ingrid Pickering and Graham George (then at Stanford Synchrontron Radiation Laboratory; now at University of Saskatchewan) we have been able to determine K-edge X-ray spectrum for model Se-containing amino acids, for instance Se-methionone, Se-cysteine, and Se-cystine. This work has been published in the Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry . This technique has been applied to phototropic bacterial cells harvested from cultures grown in the presence of high and low concentrations either SeO32- and SeO42- salts. Elemental Se (Se0) and organoselenium compounds--probably Se-methionine were detected and quantified. Headspace analysis that detected DMSe, DMDSe, and dimethyl selenenyl sulfide, CH3SeSCH3, in high selenite-amended cultures was also reported. This work was published in Applied Environmental Microbiology.

    Experiments have involved the measurement of bacterial metabolites released as gases from cultures of photosynthetic bacteria over time course experiments lasting longer than 150 hours (see McCarty et al., 1995 and Stalder et al., 1995 above). A comparison between the differences in headspace production of organoselenides of Rhodobacter sphaeroides amended with different amount of selenate and selenite or grown on different carbon sources has most recently been published in the Journal of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology (Van Fleet-Stalder et al., 1997).

    For a broader introduction to our work, an invited paper heading up the Chemiluminescence Section of The First Internet Conference on Photochemistry and Photobiology describes these sorts of experiments involving both selenium and tellurium amended biological cultures. That paper's introduction details the workings of the fluorine-induced chemiluminescence detector right down to schematics of the reaction cell and the sulfur hexafluoride electrical discharge which is used to generate molecular fluorine in that detector. Also seen there is a GIF animation showing a comparison of F2-induced chemiluminescence detector and a flame ionization detector chromatograms generated by sampling replicate bacterial headspaces containing biologically produced organo-selenium and -sulfur compounds. We think that this work is especially interesting because if reports for the first time--that we know of--the methylation of inorganic tellurium (that is, Te metal) by bacteria (photosynthetic or otherwise). Toxic Te anions, in the form of tellurate [TeO42-], were also reduced and methylated in these experiments. And furthermore this last process seems to be promoted by the presence of another toxic metalloidal salt, selenate [SeO42-].

    We have also synthesized a proposed bacterial intermediate in selenium oxyanion reduction and methylation, dimethyl selenone, first proposed by Frederick Challenger fifty years ago. Experiments involving the addition of this intermediate to live bacterial cultures produced very interesting results (see Zhang and Chasteen, 1994) including a comparison of the relative toxicity of dimethyl selenone [(CH3)2SeO2], selenate, and selenite [SeO32-] which has been published in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. Also published in that journal are measures of toxic effects of two organotellurium compounds synthesized by Dr. Thomas Junk (then) at LSU Baton Rouge, now at University of Louisiana, Lafayette.

    We have also determined the time course production of trimethyl stibine [(CH3)3Sb] by bacteria in laboratory cultures and have, we believe, documented the first bacterial production of organoantimony in soils (published in Applied Organometallic Chemistry, Gurleyuk et al., 1997, 11, 471-483).

    Abstracts and complete digital and downloadable PDF versions of the graduate theses produced in my research group are also available.

    Books

  • Experience the Extraordinary Chemistry of Ordinary Things:
    The Laboratory Manual Fourth Edition
    The Table of Contents
    B. Coburn Richardson and T. G. Chasteen
    John Wiley and Sons: New York, 2003, 343 pages.

  • Environmental Instrumental Analyses: T. G. Chasteen
    In Environmental Chemistry, 2nd and 3rd and 4th Editions
    by Colin Baird and Michael Cann
    W. H. Freeman and Company: New York, 1999, 2004, 2008.

  • Experience the Extraordinary Chemistry of Ordinary Things:
    The Laboratory Manual Third Edition
    The Table of Contents
    B. Coburn Richardson and T. G. Chasteen
    John Wiley and Sons: New York, 1997, 334 pages with photographs.
  • Experience the Extraordinary Chemistry of Ordinary Things:
    The Laboratory Manual Second Edition
    B. Coburn Richardson and T. G. Chasteen
    John Wiley and Sons: New York, 1995, 328 pages with photographs.

  • Qualitative and Instrumental Analysis of Environmentally Significant Elements
    The Table of Contents
    T. G. Chasteen
    John Wiley and Sons: New York, 1993, 131 pages with drawings,
    instrument schematics, glossary, appendices, and index.

  • Experience the Extraordinary Chemistry of Ordinary Things:
    The Laboratory Manual First Edition
    B. Coburn Richardson and T. G. Chasteen
    John Wiley and Sons: New York, 1992, 267 pages.

    • Publications on the World Wide Web

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