Benzene degradation in contaminated aquifers: Enhancing natural attenuation by injecting nitrate.

Natural attenuation processes depend on the availability of suitable electron acceptors. At the megasite Zeitz, concentrations of the main contaminant benzene were observed to increase constantly in the lower aquifer to levels of more than 2.5 mM.

A critical evaluation of ecological indices for the comparative analysis of microbial communities based on molecular datasets.

In times of global change and intensified resource exploitation, advanced knowledge of ecophysiological processes in natural and engineered systems driven by complex microbial communities is crucial for both safeguarding environmental processes and optimising rational control of biotechnological processes. To gain such knowledge, high-throughput molecular techniques are routinely employed to investigate microbial community composition and dynamics within a wide range of natural or engineered environments. However, for molecular dataset analyses no consensus about a generally applicable alpha diversity concept and no appropriate benchmarking of corresponding statistical indices exist yet.

A T-RFLP database for the rapid profiling of methanogenic communities in anaerobic digesters.

We present a simple protocol for the cost- and time-efficient profiling of methanogens based on T-RFLP fingerprinting of mcrA amplicons. Sequence data were compiled from mesophilic lab-scale and full-scale biogas reactors operated under various conditions and fed with various substrates. The database facilitates the rapid identification of methanogens, thus reducing the need of cloning and sequencing.

Metabolic and microbial community dynamics during the anaerobic digestion of maize silage in a two-phase process.

Two-phasic anaerobic digestion processes (hydrolysis/acidogenesis separated from acetogenesis/methanogenesis) can be used for biogas production on demand or a combined chemicals/bioenergy production. For an effective process control, detailed knowledge about the microbial catalysts and their correlation to process conditions is crucial. In this study, maize silage was digested in a two-phase process and interrelationships between process parameters and microbial communities were revealed.

Long-term monitoring reveals stable and remarkably similar microbial communities in parallel full-scale biogas reactors digesting energy crops.

Biogas is an important renewable energy carrier. It is a product of stepwise anaerobic degradation of organic materials by highly diverse microbial communities forming complex interlinking metabolic networks. Knowledge about the microbial background of long-term stable process performance in full-scale reactors is crucial for rationally improving the efficiency and reliability of biogas plants.

Towards a systemic metabolic signature of the arbuscular mycorrhizal interaction.

Our experiments addressed systemic metabolic effects in above-ground plant tissue as part of the plant's response to the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) interaction. Due to the physiology of this interaction, we expected effects in the areas of plant mineral nutrition, carbon allocation and stress-related metabolism, but also a notable dependence of respective metabolic changes on environmental conditions and on plant developmental programs. To assess these issues, we analyzed metabolite profiles from mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal Lotus japonicus grown under greenhouse conditions at three different time points in the growing season in three different above-ground organs (flowers, sink leaves and source leaves).