Rhizosphere microbial community structure and PICRUSt2 predicted metagenomes function in heavy metal contaminated sites: A case study of the Blesbokspruit wetland.

This study investigated the microbial diversity inhabiting the roots (rhizosphere) of macrophytes thriving along the Blesbokspruit wetland, South Africa's least conserved Ramsar site. The wetland suffers from decades of pollution from mining wastewater, agriculture, and sewage. The current study focused on three macrophytes: Phragmites australis (common reed), Typha capensis (bulrush), and Eichhornia crassipes (water hyacinth).

Insights into metal tolerance and resistance mechanisms in Trichoderma asperellum unveiled by de novo transcriptome analysis during bioleaching.

This study investigates the genetic responses of the fungus Trichoderma asperellum (T. asperellum) during bioleaching of ore and tailing samples, comparing one-step, two-step, and spent media bioleaching processes. HPLC analysis quantified oxalic acid, citric acid, and propionic acids, with oxalic acid identified as the primary organic acid involved in metal bioleaching.

Impact of artisanal refining activities on bacterial diversity in a Niger Delta fallow land.

Hydrocarbon pollution is a major ecological problem facing oil-producing countries, especially in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. In this study, a site that had been previously polluted by artisanal refining activity was investigated using 16S rRNA Illumina high-throughput sequencing technology and bioinformatics tools. These were used to investigate the bacterial diversity in soil with varying degrees of contamination, determined with a gas chromatography-flame ionization detector (GC-FID).

Impact of current anthropogenic activities on Blesbokspruit wetland microbiome and functions.

Till present, natural wetlands have been continuously subjected to intensive pollution stress in recent years, mainly because of the rapidly growing industrialization and urbanization that are associated with a myriad of anthropogenic activities and land use practices. These man-made sources of pollution change the chemical properties of the natural wetlands, which in turn alter their microbial ecological biodiversity and functions. For the first time, the impact of the current anthropogenic activities and land use practices on the Blesbokspruit wetland chemical status and their consequential effect on the microbial structure and functions were investigated.

Phytoextraction of anthropogenic heavy metal contamination of the Blesbokspruit wetland: Potential of wetland macrophytes.

Blesbokspruit wetland is one of the least conserved ecosystems in the Southern Africa region with active and latent threats of anthropogenic contamination stretching over decades of mining wastewater discharge, agricultural run-off, and a consistent influx of untreated sewage. This study provides an insight into the present-day spatial distribution of heavy metal contamination and the role of localised macrophytes in their phytoremediation. With exception of the first sampling point, the concentration of heavy metals in water samples throughout the wetland was within limits however findings from sediment samples were the inverse.

Applying EDTA in Chelating Excess Metal Ions to Improve Downstream DNA Recovery from Mine Tailings for Long-Read Amplicon Sequencing of Acidophilic Fungi Communities.

The hostile environment of mine tailings contains unique microbial life capable of bioleaching. The metagenomic analysis of such an environment provides an in-depth understanding of the microbial life and its potential, especially in biomining operations. However, DNA recovery from samples collected in those environments is challenging due to the presence of metal ions that interfere with the DNA analysis.

Applying PICRUSt and 16S rRNA functional characterisation to predicting co-digestion strategies of various animal manures for biogas production.

An estimated 25 million tons of animal manure is produced globally every year, causing considerable impact to the environment. These impacts can be managed through the use of anaerobic digestion (AD) This process achieves waste degradation through enzymatic activity, the efficiency of the AD process is directly related to microorganisms that produce these enzymes. Biomethane potential (BMP) assays remain the standard theoretical framework to pre-determine biogas yield and have been used to determine the feasibility of substrates or their combination for biogas production.

Insights into organic loading rates of anaerobic digestion for biogas production: a review.

Anaerobic digestion (AD) for biogas production is affected by many factors that includes organic loading rate (OLR). This OLR appears to be closely linked to various other factors and understanding these linkages would therefore allow the sole use of OLR for process performance monitoring, control, as well as reactor design. This review's objective is to collate the various AD factor specific studies, then relate these factors' role in OLR fluctuations.