For acceleration of removing toxic metals from acid mine drainage (AMD), the effects of hydraulic retention time (HRT) and pH on the reactor performance and microbial community structure in the depth direction of a laboratory-scale packed-bed bioreactor containing rice bran as waste organic material were investigated. The HRT was shortened stepwise from 25 to 12 h, 8 h, and 6 to...
Candida dubliniensis shares a wide range of phenotypic characteristics with Candida albicans including a common trait called germ tube positivity. Hence, laboratory differentiation of these two species is cumbersome. Duplex PCR analyses for C. albicans and C. dubliniensis was performed directly on DNA extracted from a total of 122 germ tube positive isolates derived from 100...
The exploitation of rare-earth-element (REE) mines has resulted in severe ammonia nitrogen pollution and induced hazards to environments and human health. Screening microorganisms with the ammonia nitrogen-degrading ability provides a basis for bioremediation of ammonia nitrogen-polluted environments. In this study, a bacterium with the outstanding ammonia nitrogen-degrading...
Root exudates are chemical compounds that are released from living plant roots and provide significant energy, carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus sources for microbes inhabiting the rhizosphere. The exudates shape the microflora associated with the plant, as well as influences the plant health and productivity. Therefore, a better understanding of the trophic link that is...
Increasing studies have focused on the beneficial effects of Lactobacillus johnsonii in certain diseases. Here, we studied the prevention ability of a probiotic strain, L. johnsonii BS15 on subclinical necrotic enteritis (SNE), and its underlying mechanism. 180 male Cobb 500 chicks were randomly allotted into three groups and administrated with BS15 (1 × 106 cfu/g) or Man Rogosa...
A simple colorimetric assay is presented for detecting bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV)-RNA based on aggregation of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in the presence of charge-neutral peptide nucleic acids (PNA). Free charge-neutral PNA oligomers tended to be adsorbed onto AuNPs and act as a coagulant, whereas hybridizing complementary RNA with PNA disrupted PNA-induced AuNP...
Nutritional value, chemical composition and antioxidant activity of the traditional edible truffles Tuber latisporum, T. subglobosum and T. pseudohimalayense, from China were evaluated. Powder formulations of the three truffles revealed the presence of essential nutrients, such as proteins, carbohydrates and unsaturated fatty acids, and T. latisporum presented the highest...
In recent years, many efforts have been directed to explore the methods to reduce the production costs of industrial lipase by improving the yield and the use of low-cost agricultural wastes. Coconut dregs, which is a lignocellulosic by-product from coconut oil and milk processing plants, is rich in cellulose (36%) and crude fat (9%). A newly isolated Bacillus stratosphericus has...
Corynebacterium glutamicum is an important industrial producer of various amino acids and other metabolites. The C. glutamicum genome encodes seven sigma subunits (factors) of RNA polymerase: the primary sigma factor SigA (σA), the primary-like σB and five alternative sigma factors (σC, σD, σE, σH and σM). We have developed in vitro and in vivo methods to assign particular sigma...
The aim of this work was to determine if the self-heating pasteurization procedure is technically applicable to the cultivation of Agaricus bisporus. Firstly the substrates alone (corncob, Pangola grass and a mixture of both ingredients with wood shavings) were tested. Two supplementation trials were then undertaken using soybean, wheat bran, sheep manure, sesame seed, black bean...
Identification of floral samples present in honey is important in order to determine the medicinal value, enhance the production of honey as well as to conserve the honey bees. Traditional approaches for studying pollen samples are based on microscopic observation which is laborious, time intensive and requires specialized palynological knowledge. Present study compares two...
Monascus species can produce secondary metabolites that have a polyketide structure. In this study, four types of extracellular water-soluble yellow pigments (Y1–Y4) were generated by submerged fermentation with Monascus ruber CGMCC 10910, of which Y3 and Y4 had strong yellow fluorescence. The composition of the pigment mixtures was closely related to the fermentation temperature...
We recently isolated a tumoricidal peptide from Natto, a Japanese traditional fermented food. In the present study, antimicrobial activity of the Natto peptide was examined. The peptide consisted of 45 amino acid residues, and its structure was predicted to be rich in α-helix. It excreted antimicrobial activity only against Streptococcus pneumoniae and Bacillus subtilis group (B...
Ferulic acid (4-hydroxy-3-methoxycinnamic acid, FA) is a lignin-derived phenolic compound abundant in plant biomass. The utilization of FA and its conversion to valuable compounds is desired. Protocatechuic acid (3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid, PCA) is a precursor of polymers and plastics and a constituent of food. A microbial conversion system to produce PCA from FA was developed in...
Enterobacter sp. LU1 could efficiently convert glycerol to succinic acid under anaerobic conditions after the addition of lactose. In this study, media constituents affecting both Enterobacter sp. LU1 biomass and succinic acid production were investigated employing response surface methodology (RSM) with central composite design. Statistical methods led to the development of an...
The industrial microorganisms used for fructooligosaccharides (FOS) synthesis are generally fermented with sucrose as carbon source to induce the production of β-fructofuranosidase (FFase) having transfructosylation activity. Consequently, isolation of novel FFase producers from a sucrose-enriched biotope would help improve FOS productivity and reduce the process cost. Here...
Nitrification inhibitors and urease inhibitors, such as nitrapyrin and N-(n-butyl) thiophosphoric triamide (NBPT), can improve the efficiencies of nitrogen fertilizers in cropland. However, their effects on ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) across different soil pH levels are still unclear. In the present work, vegetable soils at four pH levels...
Vector-free allele exchange (VFAE) is a newly developed protocol for genome editing in Pseudomonas species. Although several parameters have been determined to optimize the procedures for obtaining a stable and high-frequency mutation, numerous false-positive clones still appear on the plate, which increases the difficulty of finding the desired mutants. It has also not been...
Degradation of lignin by fungi enhances availability of cellulose and hemicellulose in plant waste and thereby increases the amount of carbon source available to these microorganisms. The button mushroom Agaricus bisporus degrades only about half of the lignin in compost and about 40% of the carbohydrates remain unutilized during mushroom cultivation. Here it was assessed whether...
Ax21 family proteins have been shown to play regulatory roles in plant- and animal-pathogenic species in the bacterial family Xanthomonadaceae, but the protein have not been investigated previously in the non-pathogenic members of this bacterial family. Lysobacter enzymogenes, is a non-pathogenic species known for its capacity as a biocontrol agent of plant pathogens. It is also...
The hydantoinase process is applied for the industrial synthesis of optically pure amino acids via whole cell biocatalysis, providing a simple and well-established method to obtain the catalyst. Nevertheless, whole cell approaches also bear disadvantages like intracellular degradation reactions, transport limitations as well as low substrate solubility. In this work the...
To improve the insecticidal efficacy of this entomopathogen Beauveria bassiana, the fungus was genetically modified to express an insect-specific scorpion neurotoxin AaIT. The virulence of the recombinant B. bassiana strain (Bb-AaIT) against Aedes albopictus adults (which occurs via penetration through the cuticle during spore germination or by conidia ingestion), and the larvae...
Petroleum pollutants emulsified by biosurfactants facilitate uptake and biodegradation by environmental microbes. In this report, we show the characterization of an indigenous surfactant-producing crude-oil-eating microbe isolated from petroleum-sludge in Zhoushan islands, China, where one of the national strategic petroleum reservoirs is located. We examined biosurfactant...
Brewers’ spent grain (BSG) is a by-product generated from the beer manufacturing industry, which is extremely rich in protein and fiber. Here we use low cost BSG as the raw material for the production of a novel growth media, through a bioconversion process utilizing a food grade fungi to hydrolyze BSG. The novel fermentation media was tested on the yeast Rhodosporidium...
Studies on phytochemical properties and bioactivities of rice bran revealed the wealth of natural complex antioxidant compounds. The composition and the properties of the rice bran get altered after fermentation by several microbes. This study was designed to optimize the black rice bran fermentation conditions for the total anthocyanin (ACN) content, total antioxidant properties...
