Fungal Strain Influences Thermal Conductivity, Hydrophobicity, Color Homogeneity, and Mold Contamination of Mycelial Composites.

Mycomaterials are biomaterials made by inoculating a lignocellulosic substrate with a fungus, where the mycelium acts as a binder and enhances material properties. These materials are well suited as sustainable alternatives to conventional insulation materials thanks to their good insulation properties, low density, degradability, and fire resistance. However, they suffer from mold contamination in moist environments and poor perception ("organic" appearance).

Green Roof Substrate Microbes Compose a Core Community of Stress-Tolerant Taxa.

Extensive green roofs provide for many ecosystem services in urban environments. The efficacy of these services is influenced by the vegetation structure. Despite their key role in plant performance and productivity, but also their contribution to nitrogen fixation or carbon sequestration, green roof microbial communities have received little attention so far.

White Rot Fungi as Tools for the Bioremediation of Xenobiotics: A Review.

Industrial development has enhanced the release into the environment of large quantities of chemical compounds with high toxicity and limited prospects of degradation. The pollution of soil and water with xenobiotic chemicals has become a major ecological issue; therefore, innovative treatment technologies need to be explored. Fungal bioremediation is a promising technology exploiting their metabolic potential to remove or lower the concentrations of xenobiotics.

Exploring the Diversity and Aromatic Hydrocarbon Degrading Potential of Epiphytic Fungi on Hornbeams from Chronically Polluted Areas.

Plants can 'catch' and mitigate airborne pollutants and are assisted by fungi inhabiting their leaves. The structure and function of the fungal communities inhabiting the phyllosphere of hornbeam trees growing in two chronically polluted areas, the oilfield of Bóbrka and the city center of Warsaw, were compared to the ones growing in one nature reserve, the Białowieża National Park. Fungi were isolated and characterized both phylogenetically and functionally for their potential role in air pollution mitigation.

Relaunch cropping on marginal soils by incorporating amendments and beneficial trace elements in an interdisciplinary approach.

In the EU and world-wide, agriculture is in transition. Whilst we just converted conventional farming imprinted by the post-war food demand and heavy agrochemical usage into integrated and sustainable farming with optimized production, we now have to focus on even smarter agricultural management. Enhanced nutrient efficiency and resistance to pests/pathogens combined with a greener footprint will be crucial for future sustainable farming and its wider environment.

Correction to: A novel method for assessing climate change impacts in ecotron experiments.

The article was published bearing a typographical error to the second author name listed. The author group regret the error and the name should be referenced and credited as Jakob Zscheischler and not the former.

A novel method for assessing climate change impacts in ecotron experiments.

Ecotron facilities allow accurate control of many environmental variables coupled with extensive monitoring of ecosystem processes. They therefore require multivariate perturbation of climate variables, close to what is observed in the field and projections for the future. Here, we present a new method for creating realistic climate forcing for manipulation experiments and apply it to the UHasselt Ecotron experiment.

Encodes a ZIP Family Zn Transporter With Dual Localization in the Ectomycorrhizal Fungus .

Ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi are important root symbionts of trees, as they can have significant effects on the nutrient status of plants. In polluted environments, particular ECM fungi can protect their host tree from Zn toxicity by restricting the transfer of Zn while securing supply of essential nutrients. However, mechanisms and regulation of cellular Zn homeostasis in ECM fungi are largely unknown, and it remains unclear how ECM fungi affect the Zn status of their host plants.

Food Web Uncertainties Influence Predictions of Climate Change Effects on Soil Carbon Sequestration in Heathlands.

Carbon cycling models consider soil carbon sequestration a key process for climate change mitigation. However, these models mostly focus on abiotic soil processes and, despite its recognized critical mechanistic role, do not explicitly include interacting soil organisms. Here, we use a literature study to show that even a relatively simple soil community (heathland soils) contains large uncertainties in temporal and spatial food web structure.

Fenton-Mediated Biodegradation of Chlorendic Acid - A Highly Chlorinated Organic Pollutant - By Fungi Isolated From a Polluted Site.

Chlorendic acid is a recalcitrant, highly chlorinated organic pollutant for which no microbial degrader has yet been identified. To address this knowledge gap, fungi were isolated from bulk soil, rhizosphere, and roots of the common bent () and the hybrid poplar [ × ( × ) cv. Grimminge], both of which grow on a chlorendic acid polluted site in Belgium.

Biodegradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by native Ganoderma sp. strains: identification of metabolites and proposed degradation pathways.

Since polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are mutagenic, teratogenic, and carcinogenic, they are of considerable environmental concern. A biotechnological approach to remove such compounds from polluted ecosystems could be based on the use of white-rot fungi (WRF). The potential of well-adapted indigenous Ganoderma strains to degrade PAHs remains underexplored.

Draft Genome Sequence of Bacillus pumilus SCAL1, an Endophytic Heat-Tolerant Plant Growth-Promoting Bacterium.

strain SCAL1 is an endophytic, thermophilic plant that was isolated from the leaf of a plant, L., in Sindh, Pakistan. strain SCAL1 has usually exhibited high resistance to environmental stresses, with a growth temperature ranging from 30 to 60°C.

Links Between Heathland Fungal Biomass Mineralization, Melanization, and Hydrophobicity.

Comprehending the decomposition process is crucial for our understanding of the mechanisms of carbon (C) sequestration in soils. The decomposition of plant biomass has been extensively studied. It revealed that extrinsic biomass properties that restrict its access to decomposers influence decomposition more than intrinsic ones that are only related to its chemical structure.

Diversity of Ligninolytic Enzymes and Their Genes in Strains of the Genus : Applicable for Biodegradation of Xenobiotic Compounds?

White-rot fungi (WRF) and their ligninolytic enzymes (laccases and peroxidases) are considered promising biotechnological tools to remove lignin related Persistent Organic Pollutants from industrial wastewaters and contaminated ecosystems. A high diversity of the genus has been reported in Cuba; in spite of this, the diversity of ligninolytic enzymes and their genes remained unexplored. In this study, 13 native WRF strains were isolated from decayed wood in urban ecosystems in Havana (Cuba).

A novel, highly conserved metallothionein family in basidiomycete fungi and characterization of two representative SlMTa and SlMTb genes in the ectomycorrhizal fungus Suillus luteus.

The basidiomycete Suillus luteus is an important member of the ectomycorrhizal community that thrives in heavy metal polluted soils covered with pioneer pine forests. This study aimed to identify potential heavy metal chelators in S. luteus.

Draft Genome Sequence of Bacillus licheniformis Strain GB2, a Hydrocarbon-Degrading and Plant Growth-Promoting Soil Bacterium.

We report the 4.39 Mb draft genome of Bacillus licheniformis GB2, a hydrocarbonoclastic Gram-positive bacterium of the family Bacillaceae, isolated from diesel-contaminated soil at the Ford Motor Company site in Genk, Belgium. Strain GB2 is an effective plant-growth promoter useful for diesel fuel remediation applications based on plant-bacterium associations.

Towards an Enhanced Understanding of Plant-Microbiome Interactions to Improve Phytoremediation: Engineering the Metaorganism.

Phytoremediation is a promising technology to clean-up contaminated soils based on the synergistic actions of plants and microorganisms. However, to become a widely accepted, and predictable remediation alternative, a deeper understanding of the plant-microbe interactions is needed. A number of studies link the success of phytoremediation to the plant-associated microbiome functioning, though whether the microbiome can exist in alternative, functional states for soil remediation, is incompletely understood.

Draft Genome Sequence of Mesorhizobium sp. UFLA 01-765, a Multitolerant, Efficient Symbiont and Plant Growth-Promoting Strain Isolated from Zn-Mining Soil Using Leucaena leucocephala as a Trap Plant.

We report the 7.4-Mb draft genome sequence of Mesorhizobium sp. strain UFLA 01-765, a Gram-negative bacterium of the Phyllobacteriaceae isolated from Zn-mining soil in Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Draft Genome Sequence of Pantoea ananatis GB1, a Plant-Growth-Promoting Hydrocarbonoclastic Root Endophyte, Isolated at a Diesel Fuel Phytoremediation Site Planted with Populus.

We report the 4.76-Mb draft genome of Pantoea ananatis GB1, a Gram-negative bacterium of the family Enterobacteriaceae, isolated from the roots of poplars planted for phytoremediation of a diesel-contaminated plume at the Ford Motor Company site in Genk, Belgium. Strain GB1 promotes plant growth in various hosts and metabolizes hydrocarbons.

Draft Genome Sequence of Arthrobacter sp. Strain SPG23, a Hydrocarbon-Degrading and Plant Growth-Promoting Soil Bacterium.

We report here the 4.7-Mb draft genome of Arthrobacter sp. SPG23, a hydrocarbonoclastic Gram-positive bacterium belonging to the Actinobacteria, isolated from diesel-contaminated soil at the Ford Motor Company site in Genk, Belgium.

Ectomycorrhizal Fungal Protein Degradation Ability Predicted by Soil Organic Nitrogen Availability.

In temperate and boreal forest ecosystems, nitrogen (N) limitation of tree metabolism is alleviated by ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi. As forest soils age, the primary source of N in soil switches from inorganic (NH4 (+) and NO3 (-)) to organic (mostly proteins). It has been hypothesized that ECM fungi adapt to the most common N source in their environment, which implies that fungi growing in older forests would have greater protein degradation abilities.