Co-cultures from Plants and Cyanobacteria: A New Way for Production Systems in Agriculture and Bioprocess Engineering.

Due to the global increase in the world population, it is not possible to ensure a sufficient food supply without additional nitrogen input into the soil. About 30-50% of agricultural yields are due to the use of chemical fertilizers in modern times. However, overfertilization threatens biodiversity, such as nitrogen-loving, fast-growing species overgrow others.

Methyl jasmonate elicitation effect on the metabolic profile of cambial meristematic cells culture derived from sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) in relation to antioxidant activity: Untargeted metabolomics study in a time-based approach.

The undifferentiated cambial meristematic cell (CMC) has been recognized as a value-added production platform for plant natural products in comparison to the dedifferentiated plant cell line (DDC). In a time-based approach at 0, 24, 48, and 72 h, the present study aimed at investigating the phytochemical metabolome of methyl jasmonate (MeJA)-elicited CMC cultures derived from sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.), including primary and secondary metabolites analyzed using GC/TOF-MS post-silylation and RP-UPLC-C-FT-MS/MS, respectively, as well as the analysis of aroma composition using headspace SPME-GC-MS.

Nutrient and stoichiometric time series measurements of decomposing coarse detritus in freshwaters.

Decomposition of coarse detritus (e.g., dead organic matter larger than ~1 mm such as leaf litter or animal carcasses) in freshwater ecosystems is well described in terms of mass loss, particularly as rates that compress mass loss into one number (e.

Nutrient and stoichiometry dynamics of decomposing litter in stream ecosystems: A global synthesis.

Decomposing organic matter forms a substantial resource base, fueling the biogeochemical function and secondary production of most aquatic ecosystems. However, detrital N (nitrogen) and P (phosphorus) dynamics remain relatively unexplored in aquatic ecosystems relative to terrestrial ecosystems, despite fundamentally linking microbial processes to ecosystem function across broad spatial scales. We synthesized 217 published time series of detrital carbon (C), N, P, and their stoichiometric ratios (C:N, C:P, N:P) from stream ecosystems to analyze the temporal nutrient dynamics of decomposing litter using generalized additive models.

Stormwater biofilter response to high nitrogen loading under transient flow conditions: Ammonium and nitrate fates, and nitrous oxide emissions.

Nitrogen (N) in urban runoff is often treated with green infrastructure including biofilters. However, N fates across biofilters are insufficiently understood because prior studies emphasize low N loading under laboratory conditions, or use "steady-state" flow regimes over short time scales. Here, we tested field scale biofilter N fates during simulated storms delivering realistic transient flows with high N loading.

A simple and low-cost resazurin assay for vitality assessment across species.

Working with biological organisms requires knowledge about the state of their viability and vitality to ascertain efficient processes. The phenoxazine dye resazurin is routinely used for viability assessment of many different species. Here, a novel use for resazurin as an indicator for vitality assessment across several species is proposed.

University Stormwater Management within Urban Environmental Regulatory Regimes: Barriers to Progressivity or Opportunities to Innovate?

U.S. public university campuses are held directly responsible for compliance with many of the same federal- and state-level environmental regulations as cities, including stormwater management.

Shifts in dissolved organic matter and microbial community composition are associated with enhanced removal of fecal pollutants in urban stormwater wetlands.

Constructed stormwater wetlands provide a host of ecosystem services, including potentially pathogen removal. We present results from a multi-wetland study that integrates across weather, chemical, microbiological and engineering design variables in order to identify patterns of microbial contaminant removal from inlet to outlet within wetlands and key drivers of those patterns. One or more microbial contaminants were detected at the inlet of each stormwater wetland (Escherichia coli and Enterococcus > Bacteroides HF183 > adenovirus).

Bridging Food Webs, Ecosystem Metabolism, and Biogeochemistry Using Ecological Stoichiometry Theory.

Although aquatic ecologists and biogeochemists are well aware of the crucial importance of ecosystem functions, i.e., how biota drive biogeochemical processes and vice-versa, linking these fields in conceptual models is still uncommon.

Pollution-tolerant invertebrates enhance greenhouse gas flux in urban wetlands.

One of the goals of urban ecology is to link community structure to ecosystem function in urban habitats. Pollution-tolerant wetland invertebrates have been shown to enhance greenhouse gas (GHG) flux in controlled laboratory experiments, suggesting that they may influence urban wetland roles as sources or sinks of GHG. However, it is unclear if their effects can be detected in highly variable conditions in a field setting.

Predictive Power of Clean Bed Filtration Theory for Fecal Indicator Bacteria Removal in Stormwater Biofilters.

Green infrastructure (also referred to as low impact development, or LID) has the potential to transform urban stormwater runoff from an environmental threat to a valuable water resource. In this paper we focus on the removal of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB, a pollutant responsible for runoff-associated inland and coastal beach closures) in stormwater biofilters (a common type of green infrastructure). Drawing on a combination of previously published and new laboratory studies of FIB removal in biofilters, we find that 66% of the variance in FIB removal rates can be explained by clean bed filtration theory (CBFT, 31%), antecedent dry period (14%), study effect (8%), biofilter age (7%), and the presence or absence of shrubs (6%).

From Rain Tanks to Catchments: Use of Low-Impact Development To Address Hydrologic Symptoms of the Urban Stream Syndrome.

Catchment urbanization perturbs the water and sediment budgets of streams, degrades stream health and function, and causes a constellation of flow, water quality, and ecological symptoms collectively known as the urban stream syndrome. Low-impact development (LID) technologies address the hydrologic symptoms of the urban stream syndrome by mimicking natural flow paths and restoring a natural water balance. Over annual time scales, the volumes of stormwater that should be infiltrated and harvested can be estimated from a catchment-scale water-balance given local climate conditions and preurban land cover.