Hemicellulolytic bacteria in the anterior intestine of the earthworm Eisenia fetida (Sav.).

Tropical agriculture produces large amounts of lignocellulosic residues that can potentially be used as a natural source of value-added products. The complexity of lignocellulose makes industrial-scale processing difficult. New processing techniques must be developed to improve the yield and avoid this valuable resource going to waste.

Key roles of microsymbiont amino acid metabolism in rhizobia-legume interactions.

Rhizobia are bacteria in the α-proteobacterial genera Rhizobium, Sinorhizobium, Mesorhizobium, Azorhizobium and Bradyrhizobium that reduce (fix) atmospheric nitrogen in symbiotic association with a compatible host plant. In free-living and/or symbiotically associated rhizobia, amino acids may, in addition to their incorporation into proteins, serve as carbon, nitrogen or sulfur sources, signals of cellular nitrogen status and precursors of important metabolites. Depending on the rhizobia-host plant combination, microsymbiont amino acid metabolism (biosynthesis, transport and/or degradation) is often crucial to the establishment and maintenance of an effective nitrogen-fixing symbiosis and is intimately interconnected with the metabolism of the plant.