Usefulness of a 3D-printing air sampler for capturing live airborne bacteria and exploring the environmental factors that can influence bacterial dynamics.

We created a handmade 3D-printed air sampler to effectively collect live airborne bacteria, and determined which environmental factors influenced the bacteria. Bacterial colony forming units (CFUs) in the air samples (n = 37) were monitored by recording the environmental changes occurring over time, then determining the presence/absence of correlations among such changes. The bacterial CFUs changed sharply and were significantly correlated with the DNA concentrations, indicating that the captured bacteria made up most of the airborne bacteria.

Proteolytic Maturation of the Outer Membrane -Type Cytochrome OmcZ by a Subtilisin-Like Serine Protease Is Essential for Optimal Current Production by Geobacter sulfurreducens.

An outer membrane -type cytochrome (OmcZ) in Geobacter sulfurreducens is essential for optimal current production in microbial fuel cells. OmcZ exists in two forms, small and large, designated OmcZ and OmcZ, respectively. However, it is still not known how these two structures are formed.