Article
Environmental Sciences
Min Ni, Yue Chen, Yang Pan, Yong Huang, Da-Peng Li, Lu Li, Bo Huang, Zuowei Song
Summary: In this study, the efficiency of phosphorus (P) removal and enrichment in municipal wastewater by Biofilm Sequencing Batch Reactor (BSBR) was assessed. The role of polyphosphate-accumulating organisms (PAOs) and glycogen-accumulating organisms (GAOs) in P removal and the metabolic characteristics of dominant PAOs and GAOs at different influent P concentrations were studied. The findings revealed that BSBR provided sufficient reducing power and ATP for PAOs through different glycogen decomposition pathways, allowing for efficient P removal and enrichment.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Qingan Meng, Wei Zeng, Zhiwei Fan, Shuangshuang Li, Yongzhen Peng
Summary: This study investigated the impact of sulfide generated from sulfate reduction in wastewater on the stability of enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR). The results showed that the metabolic activity of polyphosphate accumulating organisms (PAOs) and glycogen accumulating organisms (GAOs) was mainly influenced by hydrogen sulfide (H2S) concentration. H2S promoted the catabolism of PAOs and GAOs at lower concentrations but inhibited it at higher concentrations. PAOs were more significantly affected by H2S, resulting in poorer aerobic metabolism and recovery compared to GAOs. Additionally, sulfides facilitated the production of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), with GAOs having a higher amount of EPS than PAOs. Overall, sulfide had a stronger inhibitory effect on PAOs, giving GAOs a competitive advantage in EBPR when sulfide was present.
JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Agricultural Engineering
Yangang Lin, Yawen Sun, Liyuan Zhang, Qiong Zhang, Xiyao Li, Jun Sui, Yongzhen Peng
Summary: Balancing the removal of nitrogen and phosphorus in municipal wastewater under carbon limitation remains challenging. The key parameter in achieving this balance is the COD-to-PO43--P ratio. By operating an A(2)/O-BCO system for 205 days, it was found that increasing the COD/P ratio deteriorated the nitrogen removal performance, while decreasing it led to the proliferation of Ca.Competibacter and an increase in nitrogen removal. The nitrogen and phosphorus removal efficiency reached up to 79.3% and 95.2%. Overall, establishing a balance between DGAOs and DPAOs through strengthening the effect of DGAOs can improve nutrient removal performance and enhance the stability and efficiency of the system.
BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Agricultural Engineering
Wen-Jing Xia, Hao Wang, Lin-Qian Yu, Gui-Feng Li, Jin-Rui Xiong, Xiao-Yan Zhu, Xue-Chao Wang, Jia-Rui Zhang, Bao-Cheng Huang, Ren-Cun Jin
Summary: This study comprehensively evaluated the long-term effect of coagulants addition on EBPR systems and found that initial addition of coagulants can effectively reduce chemical oxygen demand and phosphorus concentration in the effluent. However, further addition of metal salts has a negative impact on microbial activities, causing cell membrane damage and deteriorating phosphorus removal performance.
BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jun Yin, Kristopher A. Hunt, Ting Xie, Bao Nguyen Quoc, Kim Tran, David A. Stahl, Mari-Karoliina H. Winkler
Summary: Coupling denitrifying polyphosphate accumulating organisms (DPAO) with anaerobic ammonium oxidizing (Anammox) bacteria in a single treatment scheme has challenges due to their competition for nitrite and different growth rates. This study aimed to uncouple their solid retention time (SRT) by growing them in different sludge fractions and found that Anammox bacteria had higher nitrite affinity in biofilms, while DPAO were more sensitive to nitrite and better suited for growth in the protective biofilm.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Y. Luo, H. Lei, R. Wang, H. Zhao, G. Zhang, C. Song
Summary: A novel screening method for PAOs was developed based on the physiological role of polyphosphate in providing phosphorus supply under phosphorus starvation conditions. The isolated microorganisms, including newly discovered PAOs candidates, could accumulate polyphosphate. Mutated Acinetobacter strain showed improved phosphorus removal rate and content, indicating potential application in wastewater treatment.
APPLIED BIOCHEMISTRY AND MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Qingan Meng, Wei Zeng, Zhiwei Fan, Jianmin Li, Yongzhen Peng
Summary: This study investigated the impact of different levels of polyphosphate on DPAOs and found that a high C/P ratio led to a shift from polyphosphate accumulating metabolism to glycogen accumulating metabolism. DPAOs under glycogen accumulating metabolism showed a significantly higher nitrate reduction rate. Additionally, these DPAOs exhibited better tolerance to free nitrous acid, although it resulted in the destruction of N2O reductase and the accumulation of N2O. Flow cytometry analysis revealed that free nitrous acid caused DPAOs to over-consume ATP and depolarize, inhibiting their growth.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Talha Kose, Tiago F. Lins, Jessie Wang, Anna M. O'Brien, David Sinton, Megan E. Frederickson
Summary: Studying complex interactions in biological communities requires large multifactorial experiments and sufficient statistical power. Automation tools decrease the time and labor involved in setup, data collection, and analysis of these experiments. We developed tools for high-throughput experimentation in duckweeds, demonstrating their capabilities in a study with 6000 experimental units and 2000 treatments. These automated tools facilitated the collection and analysis of time-resolved growth data, revealing finer dynamics of plant-microbe interactions across environmental gradients. Overall, our high-throughput experimentation system can run experiments with up to 11,520 experimental units and can be adapted for other small organisms.
Article
Agricultural Engineering
Zhihao Peng, Qiong Zhang, Xiyao Li, Shouyou Gao, Caifang Jiang, Yongzhen Peng
Summary: In this study, steady endogenous partial denitrification (EdPD) was achieved by regulating the competition and cooperation between microorganisms, resulting in a balanced phosphorus removal efficiency and nitrite transformation rate, which contributed to advanced nitrogen removal.
BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
(2024)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Rong Huang, Jing Lan, Chaoguo Zhan, Yanhui Ge, Lin Zhao
Summary: This study investigated the interaction mechanism between beta-lactam antibiotics and phosphorus-accumulating organisms, showing varied toxic effects and fate characteristics of these antibiotics on PAOs in the environment. Different antibiotics had different impacts on PAOs and ability to promote polyphosphate synthesis, providing fundamental data for the environmental risk assessment of antibiotic pollutants.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ivar Zekker, Anni Mandel, Ergo Rikmann, Madis Jaagura, Siim Salmar, Makarand Madhao Ghangrekar, Taavo Tenno
Summary: Lowering air supply and organic carbon demand are key factors in reducing wastewater treatment costs and preventing eutrophication. Utilizing denitrifying polyphosphate accumulating organisms (DPAOs) in the denitrifying PO4-- removal (DPR) process with nitrate has shown efficient removal of COD, nitrogen, and phosphorus in wastewater with high nitrite and nitrate content. The use of nitrate attenuation against nitrite toxicity can be economically justified in full-scale treatment applications.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Stevan Novakovic, Vanessa Tsui, Tim Semple, Luciano Martelotto, Davis J. McCarthy, Wayne Crismani
Summary: We developed a simple and reliable method for isolating haploid nuclei from fresh and frozen testes. This protocol uses readily available reagents and flow cytometry to separate haploid and diploid nuclei, with complete morphology of the isolated haploid nuclei. The method is suitable for library preparation for high-throughput DNA and RNA sequencing.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Lukas M. Trebuch, Jasper Sohier, Sido Altenburg, Ben O. Oyserman, Mario Pronk, Marcel Janssen, Louise E. M. Vet, Rene H. Wijffels, Tania V. Fernandes
Summary: Photogranules are a new wastewater treatment technology that uses solar energy for low-energy water treatment and shows potential for nutrient recovery. In this study, polyphosphate accumulating organisms (PAOs) were introduced to photogranules, resulting in increased phosphorus removal. The addition of a 12-hour anaerobic phase during nighttime did not negatively affect the PAOs and phototrophs but decreased nitrogen removal and biomass productivity.
Editorial Material
Plant Sciences
Muhammad Jawad Akbar Awan, Muhammad Arslan Mahmood, Rubab Zahra Naqvi, Shahid Mansoor
Summary: Prime editing (PE) is a precise genome editing technique that targets specific loci without causing double-stranded breaks (DSBs). However, PE is limited in its ability to integrate large DNA fragments into the genome. A recent study by Yarnall et al. introduces a CRISPR/Cas9 and integrase-based system that allows for targeted integration of large DNA sequences (around 36 kb) into the genome more efficiently.
TRENDS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Erlend Ravlo, Mirta Mittelstedt Leal de Sousa, Lise Lima Andersen, Mona Holberg-Petersen, Ingvild Klundby, Per Arne Aas, Lars Hagen, Sten Even Erlandsen, Janne Fossum Malmring, Zeeshan Ali, Anuvansh Sharma, Vegar Ottesen, Sulalit Bandyopadhyay, Magnar Bjoras
Summary: The global pandemic of COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 in 2020 led to the development of rapid diagnostic testing technologies. A team in Norway developed a test kit to isolate viral RNA and detect SARS-CoV-2 infection with comparable sensitivity to existing kits, using NAxtra magnetic nanoparticles and an optimized nucleic acid extraction procedure.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
C. Takano, H. Aoyagi
Summary: This study aimed to quantitatively evaluate the strengths of agar plates and gellan gum plates under strong acidic conditions. The results showed that agar plates are not suitable for prolonged bacterial culture, while gellan gum plates are completely ineffective under highly acidic conditions.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Cosmas T. Ugwu, Christiana N. Ogbonna, James C. Ogbonna, Hideki Aoyagi
Summary: The study investigated the effects of different carbon and nitrogen sources on pigment production by Talaromyces purpurogenus, as well as the impact of alternatingly submerging cells and exposing them to gaseous oxygen. Results showed that peptone was the most suitable nitrogen source for cell growth and pigment production. Additionally, using an alternating liquid phase-air phase system increased the production of red and orange pigments but decreased the production of yellow pigment.
BIOTECHNOLOGY AND APPLIED BIOCHEMISTRY
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Chijioke Nwoye Eze, Innocent Okonkwo Ogbonna, Hideki Aoyagi, James Chukwuma Ogbonna
Summary: The study demonstrated that urea supplementation and liquid circulation guides can enhance carotenoid and protein accumulation in Desmodesmus subspicatus LC172266, leading to improved cell growth. The flat plate air-lift photobioreactor with reflective broth circulation guide significantly increased carotenoid production and biomass concentrations, showing promise for commercial production of valuable compounds.
BRAZILIAN JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Food Science & Technology
Sharad Bhatnagar, Hideki Aoyagi
Summary: Natural pigments are gaining attention as an alternative to synthetic colorants in various applications. In this study, a red-colored water-soluble pigment was extracted from Talaromyces purpurogenus and its degradation kinetics under different conditions were investigated. The results showed that the degradation rate of the pigment increased with temperature and decreased at lower pH values. The pigment also demonstrated UV dosage-dependent degradation, with higher concentrations providing better photoprotective effects. The pigment was found to be compatible with commonly used processing methods.
FOOD AND BIOPROCESS TECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Hideki Aoyagi, Ryo Saitoh, Koichi Murayama
Summary: A device using a specialized cellulose film (SCF) has been developed for cultivating and isolating microbes, which overcomes the limitations of the traditional agar plate method and can be used for other culture-related operations.
JOURNAL OF MICROBIOLOGICAL METHODS
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Chijioke Nwoye Eze, Innocent Okonkwo Ogbonna, Hideki Aoyagi, James Chukwuma Ogbonna
Summary: This study investigated the impact of different organic carbon sources on the growth and bio-oil accumulation of an oleaginous microalga. Glucose and glycerol supported higher growth rates and lipid productivities compared to other carbon sources. The mixture of glucose and glycerol at optimal concentrations resulted in the highest lipid productivity.
ARCHIVES OF MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Masato Takahashi, Hideki Aoyagi
Summary: In this study, a method for controlling the CO2 concentration in the headspace using a non-electric bellows pump for shake-flask (NeBP-sf) and a CO2 incubator was proposed. The ventilation capacity of the system was optimized, and it showed a higher reproducibility of gas control while maintaining convenience.
JOURNAL OF BIOSCIENCE AND BIOENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Polymer Science
Nobchulee Nuanaon, Sharad Bhatnagar, Tatsuya Motoike, Hideki Aoyagi
Summary: In this study, the impact of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) on the biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using fungal pigment was investigated. It was found that exposure to blue, green, and infrared LEDs significantly increased the yield of AgNPs. The LED-synthesized AgNPs exhibited antimicrobial potential against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, and a synergistic antimicrobial activity was observed when combined with the antibiotic streptomycin.
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Chikara Takano, Hideki Aoyagi
Summary: Acid-tolerant bacteria have potential applications under acidic conditions, but their isolation and utilization are not well-developed. This study presents a novel screening method for acid-tolerant bacteria, successfully isolating Enterobacter sp. AC06. The method shows potential in enhancing screening efficiency and contributes to the understanding and utilization of acid-tolerant bacteria.
JOURNAL OF BIOSCIENCE AND BIOENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Shunsuke Shiina, Nobuyoshi Nagao, Junichi Hasegawa, Tori Sato, Chinatsu Mori, Kaya Ohtaki, Kiyomi Kubodera, Yuri Yamashita, Kana Tanabe, Yasuhiro Kawano, Hideki Aoyagi
Summary: The addition of ethanol improves the productivity and quality of rAAV2, enhances cell viability, and regulates multiple pathways related to intercellular signaling, gene expression, and cell maintenance. This study provides insights for the inexpensive and safe production of viral vectors for in vivo gene therapy.
JOURNAL OF BIOSCIENCE AND BIOENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Yoshihiro Umehara, Hideki Aoyagi
Summary: A simple cell-anaerobic microorganism co-culture system was developed using liquid paraffin to separate growth spaces for aerobic cells and anaerobic bacteria. The co-culture of Bifidobacterium bifidum and epithelial MDCK cells demonstrated comparable barrier function and viability to a pure MDCK culture, as well as similar growth curves for B. bifidum.
JOURNAL OF BIOSCIENCE AND BIOENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Masato Takahashi, Takuya Kato, Hideki Aoyagi
Summary: Shake-flask culture is widely used in various applications and often adopts a batch mode strategy. To expand the culture conditions in upstream bioprocess development, convenient small-scale fed-batch culture methods are necessary. This study developed a system using an Erlenmeyer flask with a breathable culture stopper to provide a feed strategy for shaking cultures. The developed system allows highly accurate feed-forward control of the feeding solution without changing the conventional components used in shake-flask culture methods.
BIOCHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2023)
Review
Medicine, General & Internal
Ajeeta Anand, Hideki Aoyagi
Summary: Hyperphosphatemia is a secondary disorder of chronic kidney disease that causes vascular calcifications and bone-mineral disorders. Medical attention for renal damage is prioritized in COVID-19 patients according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; SARS-CoV-2 can cause renal damage according to a report by Johns Hopkins Medicine. Therefore, there is a great demand for research inputs required to manage hyperphosphatemia.
MEDICINA-LITHUANIA
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Sharad Bhatnagar, Christiana N. Ogbonna, James C. Ogbonna, Hideki Aoyagi
Summary: This study investigated the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using the extracellular pigment produced by Talaromyces purpurogenus as a reducing agent, and examined the effect of physicochemical parameters (pH and light) on the synthesis. The results showed that the synthesis of AgNPs was enhanced under alkaline conditions and influenced by light. Furthermore, it was found that controlling the pH value and light medium could generate AgNPs with different properties.
GREEN CHEMISTRY LETTERS AND REVIEWS
(2022)
Correction
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Ajeeta Anand, Shigeki Yoshida, Hideki Aoyagi
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)