Article
Engineering, Environmental
Jinting Liu, Guofang Xu, Siyan Zhao, Chen Chen, Matthew J. Rogers, Jianzhong He
Summary: Micro- and nano-plastics have various effects on the biotransformation of organohalide pollutants and the microbial communities. Microplastics such as PE, PS, PLA, and a weathered microplastic mixture can increase dehalogenation rate, while PVC and a defined microplastic mixture have different effects depending on their concentrations. On the other hand, nano-PS consistently inhibits dehalogenation due to the increased production of reactive oxygen species.
JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Rui Shen, Ling Yu, Pan Xu, Zhiwei Liang, Qihong Lu, Dawei Liang, Zhili He, Shanquan Wang
Summary: This study found that water content is the primary limiting factor influencing the dehalogenation activity mediated by OHRB, while soil type has a greater impact on the clustering of organohalide-dechlorinating microbial communities. This provides important insights for future optimization of in situ bioremediation.
Article
Microbiology
Ting Zhang, Houjin Zhang
Summary: Soil pollution is a significant environmental issue worldwide, and the use of microbial consortia for soil pollutant removal shows great promise. This review discusses the efficient removal mechanisms and corresponding microorganisms involved in the clean-up of soil pollutants using microbial consortia, as well as the use of chemical materials to enhance pollutant degradation efficiency.
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Makoto A. Lalwani, Hinako Kawabe, Rebecca L. Mays, Shannon M. Hoffman, Jose L. Avalos
Summary: Microbial co-culture fermentations can be improved with optogenetics to dynamically control populations and increase chemical production. Adjusting population ratios with specific light duty cycles can enhance co-culture productivity.
ACS SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
(2021)
Editorial Material
Microbiology
Alejandra Rodriguez-Verdugo
Summary: This research aims to understand and predict microbial communities' responses to environmental stressors by studying the influences of eco-evolutionary feedbacks and multiple interacting species on community dynamics. By using experimental evolution, genome sequencing, and mathematical modeling, the goal is to generate general concepts that provide insights into the consequences of evolution on the functioning of whole microbial communities.
Article
Ecology
Shuyao Li, Jing Xiao, Tianzheng Sun, Fangjian Yu, Kaihang Zhang, Yuantao Feng, Chenchao Xu, Baojun Wang, Lei Cheng
Summary: This study developed a microbial experimental system that allows for rapidly generating microbial consortia with programmable ecological interactions. By using engineered microbial consortia, the researchers showed different population dynamics under different initial inoculation conditions and controlled the transitions between exploitation, competition, and synergy by tuning the engineered modules. Mathematical models were derived to quantitatively capture the experimentally observed population dynamics of these synthetic microbial consortia.
METHODS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Agricultural Engineering
Qihang Su, Dunwu Dai, Youjun Liao, Hongbo Han, Jian Wu, Zhuqing Ren
Summary: This study successfully isolated and screened strains with the ability to degrade ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and sulfur compounds, and then combined them to create synthetic microbial consortia for enhancing odor treatment in the BTF. The results showed that the BTF with synthetic microbial consortia significantly improved the removal rates of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, as well as p-methyl mercaptan, methyl sulfide, and dimethyl disulfide.
BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Oleg Reva, Enzo Messina, Violetta La Cono, Francesca Crisafi, Francesco Smedile, Gina La Spada, Laura Marturano, Elena A. Selivanova, Manfred Rohde, Mart Krupovic, Michail M. Yakimov
Summary: This article describes the growth and metabolic capabilities of extremely halophilic nanohaloarchaea, revealing their dependence on their haloarchaeal hosts for survival. Additionally, unique features such as the expression of specific RNA molecules and DNA methylation, as well as complex cellular defense mechanisms, were discovered.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Guofang Xu, Jianzhong He
Summary: Organohalide pollutants are prevalent and harmful in the environment. This study shows that sewage sludge microbial communities exhibit exceptional resistance and resilience to oxygen stress, attenuating the effects of different organohalide pollutants. Microbial community analysis reveals the resilience of these communities to oxygen stress.
Review
Microbiology
Elham Lashani, Mohammad Ali Amoozegar, Raymond J. Turner, Hamid Moghimi
Summary: Microorganisms play a crucial role in reducing metalloid contamination risks through their ability to tolerate and detoxify these elements.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Peipei Chen, Hao Liu, Zhilin Xing, Yongqiong Wang, Xiaoping Zhang, Tiantao Zhao, Yunru Zhang
Summary: The cometabolism mechanism of chlorinated hydrocarbon solvents (CHSs) in mixed consortia was studied for the first time, showing efficient degradation rates with non-fully chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons being more easily degraded. Methylocystaceae, Methylomonas, and Methylosarcina were identified as major functional degraders in methanotrophic consortia. Microbial correlation network analysis demonstrated that type I methanotrophs and heterotrophs interacted to determine biodegradability.
ECOTOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Meina Hu, Xiaojing Liu, Shidi Liu, Tao Ya, Minglu Zhang, Tingting Zhang, Xiaoping Gao, Xiaohui Wang
Summary: This study investigated the impact of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) on microbial interactions in anammox consortia. The findings showed that low concentrations of SMX were well tolerated by the system, while high concentrations significantly reduced the abundance of functional microbes and deteriorated denitrification performance.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Agricultural Engineering
Geer An, Rong Yan, Zhimin Fu, Zepeng Chen, Yaru Guo, Jun Yang, Yongheng Zhou
Summary: The purpose of this study was to investigate the tolerance mechanism of anammox consortia in a microbial fuel cell (MFC) system at low temperature. The data showed that a total nitrogen removal of nearly 80% was achieved after the temperature dropped from 30°C to 15°C. The nitrogen removal rate of the system decreased by 26.3% at 15°C, indicating the impact of low temperature on the performance.
BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Xuwang Zhang, Dongli Bao, Maoting Li, Qidong Tang, Minghuo Wu, Hao Zhou, Lifen Liu, Yuanyuan Qu
Summary: This study enriched microbial consortia capable of degrading petroleum hydrocarbons under saline-alkaline conditions from crude-oil-contaminated soils. The consortia exhibited high degradation efficiencies of hydrocarbons within a pH range of 7.0-11.0 and salinities of 5-20 g L-1 NaCl, making them a promising candidate for bioremediation of petroleum hydrocarbons. High-throughput sequencing analysis revealed core genera enriched under alkaline conditions, and PICRUSt prediction showed a rich set of metabolic functions involved in hydrocarbon degradation.
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Qiang Lin, Lingjuan Li, Jo De Vrieze, Chaonan Li, Xiaoyu Fang, Xiangzhen Li
Summary: A major challenge in microbial community management and engineering is predicting and explaining microbial community responses to environmental alterations, particularly in microorganism-driven systems. By monitoring microbial community responses to the periodic addition of the same feedstock in anaerobic digestion, we found that immediate and delayed response consortia increased significantly in abundance on the first or third day after feedstock addition. The immediate response consortia were more predictable and showed reproducible composition across different feedstocks, which was validated by simulation modeling.
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Siyan Zhao, Chen Zhang, Matthew J. Rogers, Xuejie Zhao, Jianzhong He
Summary: This study developed a computational approach to identify genetic markers for discriminating between different strains of Dehalococcoides bacteria. By screening core genes from the Dehalococcoides pangenome, a gene encoding a bacterial neuraminidase repeat-containing protein was identified as a potential genetic marker. Using this marker, the researchers were able to effectively differentiate between different BNR sequences and Dehalococcoides isolates. The study also revealed a high diversity of Dehalococcoides in the environment.
APPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Guofang Xu, Hung Liang Ng, Chen Chen, Siyan Zhao, Jianzhong He
Summary: This study demonstrates that bioaugmentation with Dehalococcoides can accelerate the remediation of pentabrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in sediments, and the presence of tetrachloroethene (PCE) can improve the bioaugmentation performance. Ecological analysis shows that bioaugmentation leads to more deterministic microbial communities.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Jinting Liu, Guofang Xu, Siyan Zhao, Chen Chen, Matthew J. Rogers, Jianzhong He
Summary: Micro- and nano-plastics have various effects on the biotransformation of organohalide pollutants and the microbial communities. Microplastics such as PE, PS, PLA, and a weathered microplastic mixture can increase dehalogenation rate, while PVC and a defined microplastic mixture have different effects depending on their concentrations. On the other hand, nano-PS consistently inhibits dehalogenation due to the increased production of reactive oxygen species.
JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Guofang Xu, Henghui Liu, Qiang Huang, Xuefei Yu, Xiang Nan, Jijun Han
Summary: The open-ended coaxial probe method is commonly used to measure the dielectric properties of biological tissues and can be used to detect skin cancer in the early stage. This study provides a comprehensive examination of the method and determines the minimum detectable tumor size for different subtypes of skin cancer through simulation.
PHYSICAL AND ENGINEERING SCIENCES IN MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Guofang Xu, Siyan Zhao, Chen Chen, Ning Zhang, Jianzhong He
Summary: Contamination of groundwater by multiple chlorinated solvents is a common issue that poses a significant challenge for effective remediation. This study reveals that different cocontaminants have varying inhibitory effects on the dechlorination process, with chloroform showing the strongest inhibition. The inhibitory effects of cocontaminants can be mitigated by introducing specific bacterial strains, resulting in the concurrent detoxification of multiple chlorinated solvents. Furthermore, the presence of cocontaminants leads to significant changes in the composition, structure, and assembly of the dechlorinating microbiome.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Jinting Liu, Guofang Xu, Siyan Zhao, Jianzhong He
Summary: This study systematically investigated the short- and long-term influence of microplastics and nanoplastics on the methanogenic digestion of waste-activated sludge (WAS). It found that plastics can have both enhancing and inhibitory effects on methanogenesis, with the coexistence of multiple plastics showing synergistic suppression. The inhibition of methanogenesis could be attributed to the generation of reactive oxygen species. The study also revealed the resilience and functional redundancy of the digestion sludge microbiome, contributing to the recovery of methanogenesis during long-term operation.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Siyan Zhao, Matthew J. Rogers, Yuda Liu, Gary L. Andersen, Jianzhong He
Summary: This study used PhyloChip and machine-learning algorithm to analyze water samples from managed watersheds in Singapore. The results showed that natural sources had a low contribution to fecal pollution, while sewage had a higher contribution to microbial communities, indicating persistent impairment caused by anthropogenic activity despite being managed. Additionally, fecal pollution in canals and rivers showed effective auto-mitigation.
JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
(2024)