Convergence effect during spatiotemporal succession of lacustrine plastisphere: loss of priority effects and turnover of microbial species.

Succession is a fundamental aspect of ecological theory, but studies on temporal succession trajectories and ecological driving mechanisms of plastisphere microbial communities across diverse colonization environments remain scarce and poorly understood. To fill this knowledge gap, we assessed the primary colonizers, succession trajectories, assembly, and turnover mechanisms of plastisphere prokaryotes and eukaryotes from four freshwater lakes. Our results show that differences in microbial composition similarity, temporal turnover rate, and assembly processes in the plastisphere do not exclusively occur at the kingdom level (prokaryotes and eukaryotes), but also depend on environmental conditions and colonization time.

Fungal biomineralization of toxic metals accelerates organic pollutant removal.

Fungal biomineralization plays an important role in the biogeochemical cycling of metals in the environment and has been extensively explored for bioremediation and element biorecovery. However, the cellular and metabolic responses of fungi in the presence of toxic metals during biomineralization and their impact on organic matter transformations are unclear. This is an important question because co-contamination by toxic metals and organic pollutants is a common phenomenon in the natural environment.

Health risk ranking of antibiotic resistance genes in the Yangtze River.

Antibiotic resistance is an escalating global health concern, exacerbated by the pervasive presence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in natural environments. The Yangtze River, the world's third-longest river, traversing areas with intense human activities, presents a unique ecosystem for studying the impact of these genes on human health. Here, we explored ARGs in the Yangtze River, examining 204 samples from six distinct habitats of approximately 6000 km of the river, including free-living and particle-associated settings, surface and bottom sediments, and surface and bottom bank soils.

Fungal biodeterioration and preservation of cultural heritage, artwork, and historical artifacts: extremophily and adaptation.

SUMMARYFungi are ubiquitous and important biosphere inhabitants, and their abilities to decompose, degrade, and otherwise transform a massive range of organic and inorganic substances, including plant organic matter, rocks, and minerals, underpin their major significance as biodeteriogens in the built environment and of cultural heritage. Fungi are often the most obvious agents of cultural heritage biodeterioration with effects ranging from discoloration, staining, and biofouling to destruction of building components, historical artifacts, and artwork. Sporulation, morphological adaptations, and the explorative penetrative lifestyle of filamentous fungi enable efficient dispersal and colonization of solid substrates, while many species are able to withstand environmental stress factors such as desiccation, ultra-violet radiation, salinity, and potentially toxic organic and inorganic substances.

The unique climate shapes distinct life-history traits of abundant bacteria in Tibetan Plateau grassland soil.

The unique geographical patterns of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau have shaped the different climatic characteristics of the Lhasa and Nyang River watersheds. However, our understanding of climate-dependent life history strategies in riparian grasslands is very limited. In this research, we have compared the causes and consequences of variations in the composition of soil abundant and rare bacterial taxa in the Nyang and Lhasa River watersheds.

Fungal biorecovery of cerium as oxalate and carbonate biominerals.

Cerium is the most sought-after rare earth element (REE) for application in high-tech electronic devices and versatile nanomaterials. In this research, biomass-free spent culture media of Aspergillus niger and Neurospora crassa containing precipitant ligands (oxalate, carbonate) were investigated for their potential application in biorecovery of Ce from solution. Precipitation occurred after Ce was mixed with biomass-free spent culture media and >99% Ce was recovered from media of both organisms.

The IV International Symposium on Fungal Stress and the XIII International Fungal Biology Conference.

For the first time, the International Symposium on Fungal Stress was joined by the XIII International Fungal Biology Conference. The International Symposium on Fungal Stress (ISFUS), always held in Brazil, is now in its fourth edition, as an event of recognized quality in the international community of mycological research. The event held in São José dos Campos, SP, Brazil, in September 2022, featured 33 renowned speakers from 12 countries, including: Austria, Brazil, France, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, México, Pakistan, Spain, Slovenia, USA, and UK.

Fungal-induced fossil biomineralization.

Exceptional preservation of fossils has often been attributed to the actions of bacteria that aid in the preservation of soft tissues that normally decay rapidly. However, it is well known that fungi play a major role in organic matter decomposition, biogeochemical cycling of elements, and metal-mineral transformations in modern ecosystems. Although the fungal fossil record can be traced back over a billion years, there are only a few recorded examples of fungal roles in fossilization.

Beyond biogeographic patterns: Processes shaping the microbial landscape in soils and sediments along the Yangtze River.

Deciphering biogeographic patterns of microorganisms is important for evaluating the maintenance of microbial diversity with respect to the ecosystem functions they drives. However, ecological processes shaping distribution patterns of microorganisms across large spatial-scale watersheds remain largely unknown. Using Illumina sequencing and multiple statistical methods, we characterized distribution patterns and maintenance diversity of microorganisms (i.

Fibrinogen Deposition on Silicone Oil-Infused Silver-Releasing Urinary Catheters Compromises Antibiofilm and Anti-Encrustation Properties.

Slippery silicone-oil-infused (SOI) surfaces have recently emerged as a promising alternative to conventional anti-infection coatings for urinary catheters to combat biofilm and encrustation formation. Benefiting from the ultralow low hysteresis and slippery behavior, the liquid-like SOI coatings have been found to effectively reduce bacterial adhesion under both static and flow conditions. However, in real clinical settings, the use of catheters may also trigger local inflammation, leading to release of host-secreted proteins, such as fibrinogen (Fgn) that deposits on the catheter surfaces, creating a niche that can be exploited by uropathogens to cause infections.

A contrast of Pb(II), Cd(II), and Cu(II) toxicities to Aspergillus niger through biochemical, morphological, and genetic investigations.

The toxicity of metals to microorganisms is highly correlated with the type of metal used. However, the differences in the resistance mechanisms of filamentous fungi to multiple metals remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the responses of Aspergillus niger to three toxic metals, i.

Abundance and diversity of eukaryotic rather than bacterial community relate closely to the trophic level of urban lakes.

Scientific understanding of biotic effects on the water trophic level is lacking for urban lakes during algal bloom development stage. Based on the Illumina MiSeq sequencing, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and multiple statistical analyses, we estimated distribution patterns and ecological roles of planktonic bacteria and eukaryotes in urban lakes during algal bloom development stage (i.e.

Molecular Trade-Offs between Lattice Oxygen and Oxygen Vacancy Drive Organic Pollutant Degradation in Fungal Biomineralized Exoskeletons.

Fungal-mineral interactions can effectively alleviate cellular stress from organic pollutants, the production of which are expected to rapidly increase owing to the Earth moving into an unprecedented geological epoch, the Anthropocene. The underlying mechanisms that may enable fungi to combat organic pollution during fungal-mineral interactions remain unclear. Inspired by the natural fungal sporulation process, we demonstrate for the first time that fungal biomineralization triggers the formation of an ultrathin (hundreds of nanometers thick) exoskeleton, enriched in nanosized iron (oxyhydr)oxides and biomolecules, on the hyphae.

Fungal-derived selenium nanoparticles and their potential applications in electroless silver coatings for preventing pin-tract infections.

Pin-tract infections (PTIs) are a common complication of external fixation of fractures and current strategies for preventing PTIs have proven to be ineffective. Recent advances show that the use of anti-infection coatings with local antibacterial activity may solve this problem. Selenium has been considered as a promising anti-infection agent owing to its antibacterial and antibiofilm activities.

Solubilization of struvite and biorecovery of cerium by Aspergillus niger.

Cerium has many modern applications such as in renewable energies and the biosynthesis of nanomaterials. In this research, natural struvite was solubilized by Aspergillus niger and the biomass-free struvite leachate was investigated for its ability to recover cerium. It was shown that struvite was completed solubilized following 2 weeks of fungal growth, which released inorganic phosphate (P) from the mineral by the production of oxalic acid.

Fungal biomineralization.

Fungi are key organisms of the biosphere with major roles in organic-matter decomposition, element cycling, plant pathogenicity, and symbioses in aquatic and terrestrial habitats. The vast majority exhibit a filamentous, branching growth form and are aerobic chemoorganotrophs that derive carbon and energy from organic substances, and are particularly associated with soil, the plant-root zone, and rock surfaces. It is now known that some fungi are lithotrophs, deriving energy from the oxidation of inorganic materials, whereas others are photoheterotrophs, deriving additional energy from light for organic matter utilization when oxygen is limited.

Fungal-Mineral Interactions Modulating Intrinsic Peroxidase-like Activity of Iron Nanoparticles: Implications for the Biogeochemical Cycles of Nutrient Elements and Attenuation of Contaminants.

Fungal-mediated extracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) are essential for biogeochemical cycles of carbon, nitrogen, and contaminants in terrestrial environments. These ROS levels may be modulated by iron nanoparticles that possess intrinsic peroxidase (POD)-like activity (nanozymes). However, it remains largely undescribed how fungi modulate the POD-like activity of the iron nanoparticles with various crystallinities and crystal facets.

Application of fungal copper carbonate nanoparticles as environmental catalysts: organic dye degradation and chromate removal.

Biomineralization is a ubiquitous process in organisms to produce biominerals, and a wide range of metallic nanoscale minerals can be produced as a consequence of the interactions of micro-organisms with metals and minerals. Copper-bearing nanoparticles produced by biomineralization mechanisms have a variety of applications due to their remarkable catalytic efficiency, antibacterial properties and low production cost. In this study, we demonstrate the biotechnological potential of copper carbonate nanoparticles (CuNPs) synthesized using a carbonate-enriched biomass-free ureolytic fungal spent culture supernatant.

Fungal-induced CaCO and SrCO precipitation: a potential strategy for bioprotection of concrete.

Biomineralization of CaCO by microorganisms is a well-documented process considered applicable to concrete self-healing and metal bioremediation. Urea hydrolysis is the most widely explored and efficient pathway regarding concrete bioprotection. However, the potential of fungi has received relatively little attention compared to bacteria.

Dredging alleviates cyanobacterial blooms by weakening diversity maintenance of bacterioplankton community.

Disentangling ecological mechanisms behind dredging is meaningful to implement environmental policy for improving water quality. However, environmental adaptation and community assembly processes of bacterioplankton in response to dredging disturbance are poorly understood. Based on Illumine MiSeq sequencing and multiple statistical analyses, we estimated interactions, functions, environmental breadths, phylogenetic signals, phylogenetic clustering, and ecological assembly processes of bacterioplankton community before and after dredging.

Selective fungal bioprecipitation of cobalt and nickel for multiple-product metal recovery.

There are a need for novel, economical and efficient metal processing technologies to improve critical metal sustainability, particularly for cobalt and nickel which have extensive applications in low-carbon energy technologies. Fungal metal biorecovery processes show potential in this regard and the products of recovery are also industrially significant. Here we present a basis for selective biorecovery of Co and Ni oxalates and phosphates using reactive spent Aspergillus niger culture filtrate containing mycogenic oxalate and phosphate solubilized from struvite.

Fungal transformation of natural and synthetic cobalt-bearing manganese oxides and implications for cobalt biogeochemistry.

Manganese oxide minerals can become enriched in a variety of metals through adsorption and redox processes, and this forms the basis for a close geochemical relationship between Mn oxide phases and Co. Since oxalate-producing fungi can effect geochemical transformation of Mn oxides, an understanding of the fate of Co during such processes could provide new insights on the geochemical behaviour of Co. In this work, the transformation of Mn oxides by Aspergillus niger was investigated using a Co-bearing manganiferous laterite, and a synthetic Co-doped birnessite.

Marine Microbial-Derived Antibiotics and Biosurfactants as Potential New Agents against Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections.

Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) are among the leading nosocomial infections in the world and have led to the extensive study of various strategies to prevent infection. However, despite an abundance of anti-infection materials having been studied over the last forty-five years, only a few types have come into clinical use, providing an insignificant reduction in CAUTIs. In recent decades, marine resources have emerged as an unexplored area of opportunity offering huge potential in discovering novel bioactive materials to combat human diseases.