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.

How to do liver transplantation using liver allografts with damaged supra-hepatic inferior vena cava.

During deceased donor procurement, the heart procurement team may cut the supra-hepatic inferior vena cava (IVC) too close to the liver surface, depriving the liver allograft from having enough supra-hepatic IVC to perform the anastomosis with the recipient's IVC or hepatic veins. In such instances, liver grafts usually are deemed as non-appropriate for transplantation, being discarded. Here we report a technique for reconstruction of damaged supra-hepatic IVCs through the use of a segment of the infra-hepatic IVC of the liver graft.

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).

Prokaryote community dynamics in anaerobic co-digestion of swine manure, rice straw and industrial clay residuals.

The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of the addition of rice straw and clay residuals on the prokaryote methane-producing community structure in a semi-continuously stirred tank reactor fed with swine manure. Molecular techniques, including terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism and a comparative nucleotide sequence analyses of the prokaryotic 16S rRNA genes, were performed. The results showed a positive effect of clay addition on methane yield during the co-digestion of swine manure and rice straw.