The use of biofuels has grown in the last decades as a consequence of the direct environmental impacts of fossil fuel use. Elucidating structure, diversity, species interactions, and assembly mechanisms of microbiomes is crucial for understanding the influence of environmental disturbances. However, little is known about how contamination with biofuel/petrofuel blends alters the soil microbiome.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPetroleum hydrocarbons and toxic metals are sources of environmental contamination and are harmful to all ecosystems. Fungi have metabolic and morphological plasticity that turn them into potential prototypes for technological development in biological remediation of these contaminants due to their ability to interact with a specific contaminant and/or produced metabolites. Although fungal bioinoculants producing enzymes, biosurfactants, polymers, pigments and organic acids have potential to be protagonists in mycoremediation of hydrocarbons and toxic metals, they can still be only adjuvants together with bacteria, microalgae, plants or animals in such processes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBeneficial 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase-producing bacteria promote plant growth and stress resistance, constituting a sustainable alternative to the excessive use of chemicals in agriculture. In this work, the increased plant growth promotion activity of the ACC deaminase-producing SC5, its ability to limit the growth of phytopathogens, and the genomics behind these important properties are described in detail. SC5 displayed several active plant growth promotion traits and significantly increased cucumber plant growth and resistance against salt stress (100mmol/L NaCl) under greenhouse conditions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSerratia marcescens is a global spread nosocomial pathogen. This rod-shaped bacterium displays a broad host range and worldwide geographical distribution. Here we analyze an international collection of this multidrug-resistant, opportunistic pathogen from 35 countries to infer its population structure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiosurfactants are in demand by the global market as natural commodities that can be added to commercial products or use in environmental applications. These biomolecules reduce the surface/interfacial tension between fluid phases and exhibit superior stability to chemical surfactants under different physico-chemical conditions. Biotechnological production of biosurfactants is still emerging.
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