Description of four new filamentous cyanobacterial taxa from freshwater habitats in the Azores Archipelago.

Simple filamentous cyanobacteria comprise a diverse and polyphyletic group of species, primarily in the orders Leptolyngbyales and Oscillatoriales, that need more sampling to improve their taxonomy. Oceanic islands, such as the Azores archipelago, present unique habitats and biogeographic conditions that harbor an unknown range of diversity of microorganisms. Filamentous cyanobacteria isolated from aquatic habitats in the Azores and maintained in the BACA culture collection were described using morphology, both light and transmission electron microscopy, ecology, and genetic data of the 16S rRNA gene sequences and 16S-23S Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) rRNA region secondary structure.

Distribution and diversity of cyanobacteria in the Azores Archipelago: An annotated checklist.

Background: Knowledge about cyanobacteria diversity in the Azores is spread over several publications, dating from 1874, with some of them not generally available to the scientific community due to their restricted access. The dispersion and sometimes inaccessibility of this information hinder a deeper analysis and a better understanding of the biodiversity of the Azores Islands and more general ecological processes in oceanic islands. Here we present the first checklist of cyanobacteria for the Azores Archipelago with updated taxonomy of all recorded taxa.

Cyanotoxin Screening in BACA Culture Collection: Identification of New Cylindrospermopsin Producing Cyanobacteria.

Microcystins (MCs), Saxitoxins (STXs), and Cylindrospermopsins (CYNs) are some of the more well-known cyanotoxins. Taking into consideration the impacts of cyanotoxins, many studies have focused on the identification of unknown cyanotoxin(s)-producing strains. This study aimed to screen strains from the Azorean Bank of Algae and Cyanobacteria (BACA) for MCs, STX, and CYN production.

Cyanobacteria from freshwater lakes in the Azores archipelago, Portugal: data from long term phytoplankton monitoring.

Background: The Azores are oceanic islands located in the Northern Atlantic Ocean and are particularly rich in aquatic systems, ranging from freshwater, brackish, marine and thermal habitats. Due to the increase in local anthropogenic pressures and global warming, several azorean lakes began to reveal signs of eutrophication that led to the implementation of monitoring programmes and management strategies on the most impacted lakes. Later, the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) demanded the establishment of biomonitoring programmes for European freshwater ecosystems and the limited Azorean monitoring programmes were extended to a larger set of lakes.

An innovative multistage treatment system for sanitary landfill leachate depuration: Studies at pilot-scale.

In this work, an innovative methodology for the treatment of landfill leachates, after aerobic lagooning, is proposed and adjusted at pilot-scale. This methodology involves an aerobic activated sludge biological pre-oxidation (ASBO), a coagulation/sedimentation step (240mgFe/L, at pH4.2) and a photo-oxidation through a photo-Fenton (PF) reaction (60mg Fe, at pH2.

Insights into solar photo-Fenton reaction parameters in the oxidation of a sanitary landfill leachate at lab-scale.

This work evaluates the effect of the main photo-Fenton (PF) reaction variables on the treatment of a sanitary landfill leachate collected at the outlet of a leachate treatment plant, which includes aerated lagooning followed by aerated activated sludge and a final coagulation-flocculation step. The PF experiments were performed in a lab-scale compound parabolic collector (CPC) photoreactor using artificial solar radiation. The photocatalytic reaction rate was determined while varying the total dissolved iron concentration (20-100 mg Fe(2+)/L), solution pH (2.

Incorporation of electrochemical advanced oxidation processes in a multistage treatment system for sanitary landfill leachate.

The current study has proved the technical feasibility of including electrochemical advanced oxidation processes (EAOPs) in a multistage strategy for the remediation of a sanitary landfill leachate that embraced: (i) first biological treatment to remove the biodegradable organic fraction, oxidize ammonium and reduce alkalinity, (ii) coagulation of the bio-treated leachate to precipitate humic acids and particles, followed by separation of the clarified effluent, and (iii) oxidation of the resulting effluent by an EAOP to degrade the recalcitrant organic matter and increase its biodegradability so that a second biological process for removal of biodegradable organics and nitrogen content could be applied. The influence of current density on an UVA photoelectro-Fenton (PEF) process was firstly assessed. The oxidation ability of various EAOPs such as electro-Fenton (EF) with two distinct initial total dissolved iron concentrations ([TDI]0), PEF and solar PEF (SPEF) was further evaluated and these processes were compared with their analogous chemical ones.

Multistage treatment system for raw leachate from sanitary landfill combining biological nitrification-denitrification/solar photo-Fenton/biological processes, at a scale close to industrial--biodegradability enhancement and evolution profile of trace pollutants.

A multistage treatment system, at a scale close to the industrial, was designed for the treatment of a mature raw landfill leachate, including: a) an activated sludge biological oxidation (ASBO), under aerobic and anoxic conditions; b) a solar photo-Fenton process, enhancing the bio-treated leachate biodegradability, with and without sludge removal after acidification; and c) a final polishing step, with further ASBO. The raw leachate was characterized by a high concentration of humic substances (HS) (1211 mg CHS/L), representing 39% of the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) content, and a high nitrogen content, mainly in the form of ammonium nitrogen (>3.8 g NH4(+)-N/L).

Biodegradability enhancement of a leachate after biological lagooning using a solar driven photo-Fenton reaction, and further combination with an activated sludge biological process, at pre-industrial scale.

This work proposes an integrated leachate treatment strategy, combining a solar photo-Fenton reaction, to enhance the biodegradability of the leachate from an aerated lagoon, with an activated sludge process, under aerobic and anoxic conditions, to achieve COD target values and nitrogen content according to the legislation. The efficiency and performance of the photo-Fenton reaction, concerning a sludge removal step after acidification, defining the optimum phototreatment time to reach a biodegradable wastewater that can be further oxidized in a biological reactor and, activation sludge biological process, defining the nitrification and denitrification reaction rates, alkalinity balance and methanol dose necessary as external carbon source, was evaluated in the integrated system at a scale close to industrial. The pre-industrial plant presents a photocatalytic system with 39.

Treatment of a sanitary landfill leachate using combined solar photo-Fenton and biological immobilized biomass reactor at a pilot scale.

A solar photo-Fenton process combined with a biological nitrification and denitrification system is proposed for the decontamination of a landfill leachate in a pilot plant using photocatalytic (4.16 m(2) of Compound Parabolic Collectors - CPCs) and biological systems (immobilized biomass reactor). The optimum iron concentration for the photo-Fenton reaction of the leachate is 60 mg Fe(2+) L(-1).

Identification of mouse inbred strains through mitochondrial DNA single-nucleotide extension.

Inbred mouse strains are used as model organisms for biomedical research in laboratories throughout the world. The most widely used of these strains had their genome sequenced recently, and phylogenetic studies have been performed, namely, based on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). This has allowed determining that few polymorphisms distinguish the mtDNAs of the common inbred strains, but a high number of differences are observed among the wild-derived strains.