Visualisation of microalgal lipid bodies through electron microscopy.

In this study, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and cryo-scanning electron microscopy (cryo-SEM) were evaluated for their ability to detect lipid bodies in microalgae. To do so, Phaeodactylum tricornutum and Nannochloropsis oculata cells were harvested in both the mid-exponential and early stationary growth phase. Two different cryo-SEM cutting methods were compared: cryo-planing and freeze-fracturing.

More than just hitchhikers: a survey of bacterial communities associated with diatoms originating from sea turtles.

Diatoms and bacteria are known for being the first colonizers of submerged surfaces including the skin of marine reptiles. Sea turtle carapace and skin harbor diverse prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbes, including several epizoic diatoms. However, the importance of diatom-bacteria associations is hardly investigated in biofilms associated with animal hosts.

Maximizing nutrient recycling from digestate for production of protein-rich microalgae for animal feed application.

The integration of phototrophic microalgal production and anaerobic digestion can recycle excess nutrients across European surplus hotspots to produce protein-rich biomass for nutritional applications. However, the challenging physico-chemical properties of raw digestate constrain microalgal growth and limit digestate valorization potential. This study focused on the pre-treatment of food waste-based digestate using paper-filtration to improve its properties for cultivating Desmodesmus sp.

Stony endocarp dimension and shape variation in prunus section prunus.

Background And Aims: Identification of Prunus groups at subspecies or variety level is complicated by the wide range of variation and morphological transitional states. Knowledge of the degree of variability within and between species is a sine qua non for taxonomists. Here, a detailed study of endocarp dimension and shape variation for taxa of Prunus section Prunus is presented.

Cytosolic hydroxymethyldihydropterin pyrophosphokinase/dihydropteroate synthase from Arabidopsis thaliana: a specific role in early development and stress response.

In plants, 6-hydroxymethyl-7,8-dihydropterin pyrophosphokinase/7,8-dihydropteroate synthase (mitHPPK/DHPS) is a bifunctional mitochondrial enzyme, which catalyzes the first two consecutive steps of tetrahydrofolate biosynthesis. Mining the Arabidopsis genome data base has revealed a second gene encoding a protein that lacks a potential transit peptide, suggesting a cytosolic localization of the isoenzyme (cytHPPK/DHPS). When the N-terminal part of the cytHPPK/DHPS was fused to green fluorescent protein, the fusion protein appeared only in the cytosol, confirming the above prediction.