Simultaneous Heavy Metal-Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Removal by Native Tunisian Fungal Species.

Multi-contamination by organic pollutants and toxic metals is common in anthropogenic and industrial environments. In this study, the five fungal strains (MH667651.1), (MH665977.

Assembled mixed co-cultures for emerging pollutant removal using native microorganisms from sewage sludge.

The global pharmaceutical pollution caused by drug consumption (>100,000 tonnes) and its disposal into the environment is an issue which is currently being addressed by bioremediation techniques, using single or multiple microorganisms. Nevertheless, the low efficiency and the selection of non-compatible species interfere with the success of this methodology. This paper proposes a novel way of obtaining an effective multi-domain co-culture, with the capacity to degrade multi-pharmaceutical compounds simultaneously.

High-Throughput Microbial Community Analyses to Establish a Natural Fungal and Bacterial Consortium from Sewage Sludge Enriched with Three Pharmaceutical Compounds.

Emerging and unregulated contaminants end up in soils via stabilized/composted sewage sludges, paired with possible risks associated with the development of microbial resistance to antimicrobial agents or an imbalance in the microbial communities. An enrichment experiment was performed, fortifying the sewage sludge with carbamazepine, ketoprofen and diclofenac as model compounds, with the aim to obtain strains with the capability to transform these pollutants. Culturable microorganisms were obtained at the end of the experiment.

Biodegradation and toxicity reduction of nonylphenol, 4-tert-octylphenol and 2,4-dichlorophenol by the ascomycetous fungus Thielavia sp HJ22: Identification of fungal metabolites and proposal of a putative pathway.

Research on the biodegradation of emerging pollutants is gained great focus regarding their detrimental effects on the environment and humans. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the ability of the ascomycetes Thielavia sp HJ22 to remove the phenolic xenobiotics nonylphenol (NP), 4-tert-octylphenol (4-tert-OP) and 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP). The strain showed efficient degradation of NP and 4-tert-OP with 95% and 100% removal within 8 h of incubation, respectively.

Evaluation of diclofenac biodegradation by the ascomycete fungus Penicillium oxalicum at flask and bench bioreactor scales.

Diclofenac (DFC) is a common anti-inflammatory drug, and has attracted the significant attention due to its massive use around the world and its environmental impact. In this work, we describe for the first time the use of Penicillium oxalicum, an ascomycetes fungus, for the biotransformation of DFC at flask and bench bioreactor scales. We present a complete study of the role of enzymes, metabolic pathway, acute toxicity assays and comparison between free and immobilised biomass.

Social microbial inocula confer functional stability in a methyl tert-butyl ether extractive membrane biofilm bioreactor.

Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) degradation technologies based on two-phase partitioning systems such as extractive membrane biofilm reactors (EMBFR) permit separation of biological and contaminant compartments, thus allowing optimization of the biological section. In this study, we set-up an EMBFR with three MTBE-degrading and cooperating strains (termed social biofilm: Agrobacterium sp. MS2, Paenibacillus etheri SH7 and Rhodococcus ruber EE6).

Application of microbial fuel cell technology for wastewater treatment and electricity generation under Nordic countries climate conditions: Study of performance and microbial communities.

Two microbial fuel cells were inoculated with activated sludge from Finland and operated under moderate (25 °C) and low (8 °C) temperatures. Operation under real urban wastewater showed similarities in chemical oxygen demand removal and voltage generated, although moderate temperature supported higher ammonium oxidation. Fungi disappeared in the microbial fuel cell operated at temperature of 25 °C.

New concepts in anaerobic digestion processes: recent advances and biological aspects.

Waste treatment and the simultaneous production of energy have gained great interest in the world. In the last decades, scientific efforts have focused largely on improving and developing sustainable bioprocess solutions for energy recovery from challenging waste. Anaerobic digestion (AD) has been developed as a low-cost organic waste treatment technology with a simple setup and relatively limited investment and operating costs.

Degradation of bisphenol A and acute toxicity reduction by different thermo-tolerant ascomycete strains isolated from arid soils.

Four different laccase-producing strains were isolated from arid soils and used for bisphenol A (BPA) degradation. These strains were identified as Chaetomium strumarium G5I, Thielavia arenaria CH9, Thielavia arenaria HJ22 and Thielavia arenaria SM1(III) by internal transcribed spacer 5.8 S rDNA analysis.

Draft Genome Sequence of Paenibacillus etheri sp. nov. SH7T, a Methyl Tert-Butyl Ether Degrader.

We report here the draft genome sequence of Paenibacillus etheri sp. nov. SH7(T) (= CECT 8558(T) = DSM 29760(T)), isolated from a hydrocarbon-contaminated soil pilot plant in Granada, Spain.

sp. nov., able to grow on media supplemented with methyl -butyl ether (MTBE) and isolated from hydrocarbon-contaminated soil.

A bacterial strain, designated SH7, was isolated from the hydrocarbon-contaminated soil of a pilot plant (Granada, Spain). The strain was selected for its capacity to grow in media supplemented with methyl -butyl ether (MTBE) as sole energy and carbon source. Strain SH7 was a Gram-stain-positive, facultatively anaerobic, spore-forming, rod-shaped bacterium.

Massilia umbonata sp. nov., able to accumulate poly-β-hydroxybutyrate, isolated from a sewage sludge compost-soil microcosm.

A bacterial strain, designated strain LP01(T), was isolated from a laboratory-scale microcosm packed with a mixture of soil and sewage sludge compost designed to study the evolution of microbial biodiversity over time. The bacterial strain was selected for its potential ability to store polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) as intracellular granules. The cells were aerobic, Gram-stain-negative, non-endospore-forming motile rods.

Constitutive expression of the cytochrome P450 EthABCD monooxygenase system enables degradation of synthetic dialkyl ethers in Aquincola tertiaricarbonis L108.

In Rhodococcus ruber IFP 2001, Rhodococcus zopfii IFP 2005, and Gordonia sp. strain IFP 2009, the cytochrome P450 monooxygenase EthABCD catalyzes hydroxylation of methoxy and ethoxy residues in the fuel oxygenates methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), ethyl tert-butyl ether (ETBE), and tert-amyl methyl ether (TAME). The expression of the IS3-type transposase-flanked eth genes is ETBE dependent and controlled by the regulator EthR (C.

Biofilm formation and microbial activity in a biofilter system in the presence of MTBE, ETBE and TAME.

Emerging water contaminants derived from unleaded gasoline such as methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), ethyl tert-butyl ether (ETBE) and tert-amyl methyl ether (TAME), are in need of effective bioremediation technologies for restoring water resources. In order to design the conditions of a future groundwater bioremediating biofilter, this work assesses the potential use of Acinetobacter calcoaceticus M10, Rhodococcus ruber E10 and Gordonia amicalis T3 for the removal of MTBE, ETBE and TAME in consortia or as individual strains. Biofilm formation on an inert polyethylene support material was assessed with scanning electron microscopy, and consortia were also analysed with fluorescent in situ hybridisation to examine the relation between the strains.

Comparative analysis of microbial DNA extraction protocols for groundwater samples.

A comparative analysis of four different DNA extraction protocols was performed to determine the best choice for groundwater microbial diversity studies using temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TGGE) analysis. The methods used were a chelex-based method, a modified salting out procedure (MSOP), and the commercial kits Epicentre and FastDNA. Both commercial kits exhibited the greatest reproducibility in their methods; however, their band patterns were very different.

Biological treatment of two-phase olive mill wastewater (TPOMW, alpeorujo): polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) production by Azotobacter strains.

Azotobacter chroococcum H23 (CECT 4435), Azotobacter vinelandii UWD, and Azotobacter vinelandii (ATCC 12837), members of the family Pseudomonadaceae, were used to evaluate their capacity to grow and accumulate polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) using two-phase olive mill wastewater (TPOMW, alpeorujo) diluted at different concentrations as the sole carbon source. The PHAs amounts (g/l) increased clearly when the TPOMW samples were previously digested under anaerobic conditions. The MNR analysis demonstrated that the bacterial strains formed only homopolymers containing beta-hydroxybutyrate, either when grown in diluted TPOMW medium or diluted anaerobically digested TPOMW medium.

Influence of linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS) on the structure of Alphaproteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Acidobacteria communities in a soil microcosm.

Background, Aim, And Scope: Linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS) is the most used anionic surfactant in a worldwide scale and is considered a high-priority pollutant. LAS is regarded as a readily biodegradable product under aerobic conditions in aqueous media and is mostly removed in wastewater treatment plants, but an important fraction (20-25%) is immobilized in sewage sludge and persists under anoxic conditions. Due to the application of the sludge as a fertilizer, LAS reaches agricultural soil, and therefore, microbial toxicity tests have been widely used to evaluate the influence of LAS on soil microbial ecology.

Selection and identification of bacterial strains with methyl-tert-butyl ether, ethyl-tert-butyl ether, and tert-amyl methyl ether degrading capacities.

Nine bacterial strains isolated from two hydrocarbon-contaminated soils were selected because of their capacity for growth in culture media amended with 200 mg/L of one of the following gasoline oxygenates: Methyl-tert-butyl ether (MTBE), ethyl-tert-butyl ether (ETBE), and tert-amyl methyl ether (TAME). These strains were identified by amplification of their 16S rRNA gene, using fDl and rD1 primers, and were tested for their capacity to grow and biotransform these oxygenates in both mineral and cometabolic media. The isolates were classified as Bacillus simplex, Bacillus drentensis, Arthrobacter sp.

Effect of linear alkylbenzene sulfonates on the growth of aerobic heterotrophic cultivable bacteria isolated from an agricultural soil.

An enrichment culture technique was used to isolate soil bacteria capable of growing in the presence of two different concentrations of linear alkylbenzene sulfonates (LAS) (10 and 500 microg ml(-1)). Nine bacterial strains, representatives of the major colony types of aerobic heterotrophic cultivable bacteria in the enriched samples, were isolated and subsequently identified by PCR-amplification and partial sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. Amongst the isolates, strains LAS05 (Pseudomonas syringae), LAS06 (Staphylococcus epidermidis), LAS07 (Delftia tsuruhatensis), LAS08 (Staphylococcus epidermidis) and LAS09 (Enterobacter aerogenes), were able to grow in pure culture in dialysed soil media amended with LAS (50 microg ml(-1)).

Removal of organic load from olive washing water by an aerated submerged biofilter and profiling of the bacterial community involved in the process.

The present work aims to use a biofilter technology (aerated submerged filters) for the aerobic transformation at laboratory-scale of olive washing water (OWW) generated in the first steps of olive oil processing, as well as the genetic profiling and identification to the species level of the bacteria involved in the formation of the biofilm, by means of TGGE. Chemical parameters, such as biological oxygen demand at five days (BOD5) and chemical oxygen demand (COD), decreased markedly (up to 90 and 85%, respectively) by the biological treatment, and the efficiency of the process was significantly affected by aeration and inlet flow rates. The total polyphenol content of inlet OWW was only moderately reduced (around 50% decrease of the inlet content) after the biofilter treatment, under the conditions tested.

Growth and denitrifying activity of Xanthobacter autotrophicus CECT 7064 in the presence of selected pesticides.

The effects of the application of nine pesticides used commonly in agriculture (aldrin, lindane, dimetoate, methylparathion, methidation, atrazine, simazine, captan and diflubenzuron) on growth, CO2 production, denitrifying activity [as nitrous oxide (N2O) released] and nitrite accumulation in the culture medium by Xanthobacter autotrophicus strain CECT 7064 (Spanish Type Culture Collection) (a micro-organism isolated from a submerged fixed-film) were studied. The herbicide atrazine and the insecticide dimetoate totally inhibited growth and biological activity of X. autotrophicus at 10 mg l(-1), while the rest of the tested pesticides delayed the growth of strain CECT 7064 but did not drastically affect the bacterial growth after 96 h of culture.

Denitrifying activity of Xanthobacter autotrophicus strains isolated from a submerged fixed-film reactor.

Xanthobacter autotrophicus strains with the ability to reduce nitrate and nitrite to either nitrous oxide or molecular nitrogen were isolated from submerged fixed-film reactors. Isolated strains were Gram-negative rods able to grow on methanol, ethanol and sucrose. The yellow cellular pigmentation, pleomorphic appearance, and the presence of poly-beta-hydroxybutyrate granules suggest that the organisms might belong to the genus Xanthobacter.

Growth and nitrite and nitrous oxide accumulation of Paracoccus denitrificans ATCC 19367 in the presence of selected pesticides.

The effects of the application of eight pesticides (aldrin, lindane, dimetoate, methylparathion, methidation, atrazine, simazine, and captan) on growth, respiratory activity (as CO2 production), denitrifying activity (as N2O released), and nitrite accumulation in the culture medium by Paracoccus denitrificans strain ATCC 19367 were studied. The fungicide captan totally inhibited growth and biological activity of P. denitrificans, while the rest of the tested pesticides delayed the growth and CO2 release of P.