Summary This study reports the first description and molecular characterization of naturally occurring, non‐bioluminescent strains of Vibrio fischeri . These ‘dark’ V. fischeri strains remained non‐bioluminescent even after treatment with both autoinducer and aldehyde, substrate additions that typically maximize light production in dim strains of luminous bacteria. Surprisingly, the entire lux locus (eight genes) was absent in...

Summary Although it is accepted that bacteria‐colonizing host tissues are commonly faced with iron‐limiting conditions and that pathogenic bacteria often utilize iron from host‐derived haem‐based compounds, the mechanisms of iron acquisition by beneficial symbiotic bacteria are less clear. The bacterium Vibrio fischeri mutualistically colonizes the light organ of the squid Euprymna scolopes . Genome sequence analysis of V. fis...

Summary Recent evidence has indicated that natural genetic transformation occurs in Vibrio cholerae, and that it requires both induction by chitin oligosaccharides, like chitohexaose, and expression of a putative regulatory gene designated tfoX . Using sequence and phylogenetic analyses we have found two tfoX paralogues in all sequenced genomes of the genus Vibrio . Like V. cholerae , when grown in chitohexaose, cells of V. fi...

This study examines two dynamical downscaling methods, a subgrid parameterization and a regional climate model, to compare their impacts on simulating orographic precipitation and surface hydrology in mountain regions. A global climate model was first applied at 1° × 1.25° grid resolution with a subgrid orographic precipitation scheme. The global simulations were then used to drive a regional climate model at 15‐km grid resolu...