Broad Dissemination of Plasmids across Groundwater-Fed Rapid Sand Filter Microbiomes.

Biological rapid sand filtration is a commonly employed method for the removal of organic and inorganic impurities in water which relies on the degradative properties of microorganisms for the removal of diverse contaminants, but their bioremediation capabilities vary greatly across waterworks. Bioaugmentation efforts with degradation-proficient bacteria have proven difficult due to the inability of the exogenous microbes to stably colonize the sand filters. Plasmids are extrachromosomal DNA elements that can often transfer between bacteria and facilitate the flow of genetic information across microbiomes, yet their ability to spread within rapid sand filters has remained unknown.

Optimizing large-scale ageing of municipal solid waste incinerator bottom ash prior to the advanced metal recovery: Phase I: Monitoring of temperature, moisture content, and CO level.

Development of temperature, CO level, and moisture was followed during several months of outdoor ageing of municipal solid waste incineration bottom ash (IBA) in seventeen 5000-ton piles, in order to obtain input data for possible optimization of the ageing process in terms of faster/better drying prior to the metal recovery operation. In addition, measured thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity of IBA were combined with calculated thermal output and used as input to a model originally developed for accessing temperature development in hardening concrete structures. The results show that the temperature in pile's core increased to 90-94 °C in two-three weeks and remained stable for at least another month.

Methanotrophic contribution to biodegradation of phenoxy acids in cultures enriched from a groundwater-fed rapid sand filter.

Drinking water supply is in many parts of the world based on groundwater. Groundwater often contains methane, which can be oxidized by methanotrophs upon aeration. Sand from rapid sand filters fed with methane-rich groundwater can remove some pesticides (Hedegaard and Albrechtsen in Water Res 48:71-81, 2014).

Comparing culture and molecular methods for the identification of microorganisms involved in necrotizing soft tissue infections.

Background: Necrotizing soft tissue infections (NSTIs) are a group of infections affecting all soft tissues. NSTI involves necrosis of the afflicted tissue and is potentially life threatening due to major and rapid destruction of tissue, which often leads to septic shock and organ failure. The gold standard for identification of pathogens is culture; however molecular methods for identification of microorganisms may provide a more rapid result and may be able to identify additional microorganisms that are not detected by culture.

In vivo gene expression in a Staphylococcus aureus prosthetic joint infection characterized by RNA sequencing and metabolomics: a pilot study.

Background: Staphylococcus aureus gene expression has been sparsely studied in deep-sited infections in humans. Here, we characterized the staphylococcal transcriptome in vivo and the joint fluid metabolome in a prosthetic joint infection with an acute presentation using deep RNA sequencing and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, respectively. We compared our findings with the genome, transcriptome and metabolome of the S.

Direct sequencing and RipSeq interpretation as a tool for identification of polymicrobial infections.

In this study, RipSeq Mixed, a software resolving uninterpretable mixed DNA sequencing chromatograms, revealed the bacterial content of 15 polymicrobial samples. Direct sequencing combined with RipSeq Mixed constitutes a valuable supplement to cultivation, particularly when cultivation is negative and direct sequencing is inconclusive despite continued clinical indications of infection.

Detection of microbial diversity in endocarditis using cultivation-independent molecular techniques.

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate whether the diagnosis of infective endocarditis (IE) could be improved using molecular tools in addition to standard microscopy and cultivation methods.

Methods: Cultivation was performed on blood or tissue samples as recommended in the modified Duke criteria. The molecular tools included a broad-range polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based denaturant gradient gel electrophoresis and a more detailed identification by constructing clone libraries followed by sequencing.

Monitoring of microbial souring in chemically treated, produced-water biofilm systems using molecular techniques.

The identification of bacteria in oil production facilities has previously been based on culture techniques. However, cultivation of bacteria from these often-extreme environments can lead to errors in identifying the microbial community members. In this study, molecular techniques including fluorescence in situ hybridization, PCR, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, and sequencing were used to track changes in bacterial biofilm populations treated with nitrate, nitrite, or nitrate+molybdate as agents for the control of sulfide production.