The work describes a novel approach for sustained photobiological production of H 2 gas via the reversible hydrogenase pathway in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. This single-organism, two-stage H 2 production method circumvents the severe O 2 sensitivity of the reversible hydrogenase by temporally separating photosynthetic O 2 evolution and carbon accumulation (stage 1) from the consumption of cellular metabolites and concomitant H 2 production (stage 2). A transition from stage 1 to stage 2 was effected upon S deprivation of the culture, which reversibly inactivated photosystem II (PSII) and O 2 evolution. Under these conditions, oxidative respiration by the cells in the light depleted O 2 and caused anaerobiosis in the culture, which was necessary and sufficient for the induction of the reversible hydrogenase. Subsequently, sustained cellular H 2 gas production was observed in the light but not in the dark. The mechanism of H 2 production entailed protein consumption and electron transport from endogenous substrate to the cytochrome b 6 -f and PSI complexes in the chloroplast thylakoids. Light absorption by PSI was required for H 2 evolution, suggesting that photoreduction of ferredoxin is followed by electron donation to the reversible hydrogenase. The latter catalyzes the reduction of protons to molecular H 2 in the chloroplast stroma.

We have isolated and characterized a second [Fe]-hydrogenase gene from the green alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. The HydA2 gene encodes a protein of 505 amino acids that is 74% similar and 68% identical to the known HydA1 hydrogenase from C. reinhardtii. HydA2 contains all the conserved residues and motifs found in the catalytic core of the family of [Fe]-hydrogenases. We demonstrate that both the HydA1 and the HydA2 transcripts are expressed upon anaerobic induction, achieved either by neutral gas purging or by sulfur deprivation of the cultures. Furthermore, the expression levels of both transcripts are regulated (in some cases differently) by incubation conditions, such as the length of anaerobiosis, the readdition of O 2 , the presence of acetate, and/or the absence of nutrients such as sulfate during growth. Antibodies specific for HydA2 recognized a protein of about 49 kDa in extracts from anaerobically induced C. reinhardtii cells, strongly suggesting that HydA2 encodes for an expressed protein. Homology-based 3D modeling of the HydA2 hydrogenase shows that its catalytic site models well to the known structure of Clostridium pasteurianum CpI, including the H 2 -gas channel. The major differences between HydA1, HydA2 and CpI are the absence of the N-terminal Fe-S centers and the existence of extra sequences in the algal enzymes. To our knowledge, this work represents the first systematic study of expression of two algal [Fe]hydrogenases in the same organism.

This study investigated the immature platelet fraction (IPF) in assessing treatment effects in immune thrombocytopenia (ITP). IPF was measured on the Sysmex XE2100 autoanalyzer. The mean absolute-IPF (A-IPF) was lower for ITP patients than for healthy controls (3.2 vs 7.8 ؋ 10 9 /L, P < .01), whereas IPF percentage was greater (29.2% vs 3.2%, P < .01).