Advances in microbial self-healing concrete: A critical review of mechanisms, developments, and future directions.

The self-healing bioconcrete, or bioconcrete as concrete containing microorganisms with self-healing capacities, presents a transformative strategy to extend the service life of concrete structures. This technology harnesses the biological capabilities of specific microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi, which are integral to the material's capacity to autonomously mend cracks, thereby maintaining structural integrity. This review highlights the complex biochemical pathways these organisms utilize to produce healing compounds like calcium carbonate, and how environmental parameters, such as pH, temperature, oxygen, and moisture critically affect the repair efficacy.

Effect of zero-valent iron nanoparticles on taxonomic composition and hydrogen production from kitchen waste.

This study investigated the effects of varying zero-valent iron (ZVI) (0 to 5,000 mg/L) on fermentative hydrogen (H) production, metabolic pattern, and taxonomic profile by using kitchen waste as substrate. The study demonstrated that the supplementation of 500 mg ZVI/L resulted in the highest H yield (219.68 ± 11.

Emerging trends in the pretreatment of microalgal biomass and recovery of value-added products: A review.

Microalgae are a promising source of raw material (i.e., proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, pigments, and micronutrients) for various value-added products and act as a carbon sink for atmospheric CO.

Salinity impact on the metabolic and taxonomic profiles of acid and alkali treated inoculum for hydrogen production from food waste.

This study evaluated the combined impact of salinity (2.5, 13, and 19.3 g NaCl/L) and inoculum pretreatment (acid/alkali) on the genomic and metabolic profiles of mesophilic fermentative bacteria for hydrogen (H) production from food waste.

Recent advances in electro-fermentation technology: A novel approach towards balanced fermentation.

Biotransformation of organic substrates via acidogenic fermentation (AF) to high-value products such as C1-C6 carboxylic acids and alcohol serves as platform chemicals for various industrial applications. However, the AF technology suffers from low product titers due to thermodynamic constraints. Recent studies suggest that augmenting AF redox potential can regulate the metabolic pathway and provide seamless electron flow by lowering the activation energy barrier, thus positively influencing the substrate utilization rate, product yield, and speciation.

Effect of inoculum pretreatment on the microbial and metabolic dynamics of food waste dark fermentation.

This study systematically evaluated and compared different inoculum pretreatment methods to quickly select dark fermentative bacteria from anaerobic sludge for the bioconversion of food waste. The hydrogen (H) production rate was found to be highest for 'heat + CO' treated inoculum at 140.75 ± 2.

Recent progress in microbial fuel cells for industrial effluent treatment and energy generation: Fundamentals to scale-up application and challenges.

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) technology have the potential to decarbonize electricity generation and offer an eco-friendly route for treating a wide range of industrial effluents from power generation, petrochemical, tannery, brewery, dairy, textile, pulp/paper industries, and agro-industries. Despite successful laboratory-scale studies, several obstacles limit the MFC technology for real-world applications. This review article aimed to discuss the most recent state-of-the-art information on MFC architecture, design, components, electrode materials, and anodic exoelectrogens to enhance MFC performance and reduce cost.

Improvement of Phosphorus Use Efficiency in Rice by Adopting Image-Based Phenotyping and Tolerant Indices.

Phosphorus is one of the second most important nutrients for plant growth and development, and its importance has been realised from its role in various chains of reactions leading to better crop dynamics accompanied by optimum yield. However, the injudicious use of phosphorus (P) and non-renewability across the globe severely limit the agricultural production of crops, such as rice. The development of P-efficient cultivar can be achieved by screening genotypes either by destructive or non-destructive approaches.

Kinetic modeling of hydrogen and L-lactic acid production by Thermotoga neapolitana via capnophilic lactic fermentation of starch.

This study investigated the feasibility of hydrogen (H) and L-lactic acid production from starch under capnophilic lactic fermentation (CLF) conditions by using Thermotoga neapolitana. Batch experiments were performed in 120 mL serum bottles and a 3 L pH-controlled continuous stirred-tank reactors (CSTR) system with potato and wheat starch as the substrates. A H yield of 3.

Denitrification kinetics indicates nitrous oxide uptake is unaffected by electron competition in Accumulibacter.

Denitrifying phosphorus removal is a cost and energy efficient treatment technology that relies on polyphosphate accumulating organisms (DPAOs) utilizing nitrate or nitrite as terminal electron acceptor. Denitrification is a multistep process, but many organisms do not possess the complete pathway, leading to the accumulation of intermediates such as nitrous oxide (NO), a potent greenhouse gas and ozone depleting substance. Candidatus Accumulibacter organisms are prevalent in denitrifying phosphorus removal processes and, according to genomic analyses, appear to vary in their denitrification abilities based on their lineage.

CO-Induced Transcriptional Reorganization: Molecular Basis of Capnophillic Lactic Fermentation in .

Capnophilic lactic fermentation (CLF) is a novel anaplerotic pathway able to convert sugars to lactic acid (LA) and hydrogen using CO as carbon enhancer in the hyperthermophilic bacterium . In order to give further insights into CLF metabolic networks, we investigated the transcriptional modification induced by CO using a RNA-seq approach. Transcriptomic analysis revealed 1601 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in an enriched CO atmosphere over a total of 1938 genes of the genome.

Model development and experimental validation of capnophilic lactic fermentation and hydrogen synthesis by Thermotoga neapolitana.

The aim of the present study was to develop a kinetic model for a recently proposed unique and novel metabolic process called capnophilic (CO2-requiring) lactic fermentation (CLF) pathway in Thermotoga neapolitana. The model was based on Monod kinetics and the mathematical expressions were developed to enable the simulation of biomass growth, substrate consumption and product formation. The calibrated kinetic parameters such as maximum specific uptake rate (k), semi-saturation constant (kS), biomass yield coefficient (Y) and endogenous decay rate (kd) were 1.

Hydrogen Production by the Thermophilic Bacterium Thermotoga neapolitana.

As the only fuel that is not chemically bound to carbon, hydrogen has gained interest as an energy carrier to face the current environmental issues of greenhouse gas emissions and to substitute the depleting non-renewable reserves. In the last years, there has been a significant increase in the number of publications about the bacterium Thermotoga neapolitana that is responsible for production yields of H2 that are among the highest achievements reported in the literature. Here we present an extensive overview of the most recent studies on this hyperthermophilic bacterium together with a critical discussion of the potential of fermentative production by this bacterium.