The present study aims at designing a promising Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) to utilize wastewater in order to generate electricity. Two types of salt bridge have been used in MFC (KCl and NaCl). The maximum electricity generation with 1M KCl and NaCl has been 823 and 713 mV, respectively. Varied salt concentrations (0.5M, 1M, 2M, and 3M) of salt bridge in MFC have been analyzed with different fac...

Red delicious, Kala kulu and Golden delicious apples taken from different marketing locations and retail stores during minimum availability period were analyzed for nutritional and microbial quality. Twenty one samples were analyzed for proximate composition and 72 samples were examined for surface contaminants using standard techniques. The highest weights of large, medium and small sized appl...

In the present work, the surface characteristics of a wild-type strain of Yarrowia lipolytica (IMUFRJ50682) were investigated. Six different methods to characterize cell surfaces--adhesion to polystyrene; hydrophobic interaction chromatography (HIC); microbial adhesion to solvents (MATS) test; zeta potential; microbial adhesion to hydrocarbons (MATH) test; and contact angle measurement (CAM)--w...

Organic material is synthesized in the sunlit surface layer of the oceans and that is where most of it is decomposed back to carbon dioxide and other inorganic constituents. However, a small fraction escapes immediate degradation and makes its way into deeper waters, some as far as the bottom thousands of meters below the surface. This sinking organic material contributes to sequestering atmosp...

It is often assumed that planted wastewater treatment systems outperform unplanted ones, mainly because plants stimulate belowground microbial population. Yet, fundamental interactions between plants and associated microorganisms remain only partly understood. The aim of our project was to evaluate microbial density and activity associated to the rhizosphere of three plant species. Experimental...

The presence of microbes in the atmosphere and their transport over long distances across the Earth's surface was recently shown. Precipitation is likely a major path by which aerial microbes fall to the ground surface, affecting its microbial ecosystems and introducing pathogenic microbes. Understanding microbial communities in precipitation is of multidisciplinary interest from the perspectiv...

Understanding the impacts of leaks from geologic carbon sequestration, also known as carbon capture and storage, is key to developing effective strategies for carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions management and mitigation of potential negative effects. Here, we provide the first report on the potential effects of leaks from carbon capture and storage sites on microbial functional groups in surface an...

Anode biofilm is a crucial component in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) for electrogenesis. Better knowledge about the biofilm development process on electrode surface is believed to improve MFC performance. In this study, double-chamber microbial fuel cell was operated with diluted POME (initial COD = 1,000 mg L(-1)) and polyacrylonitrile carbon felt was used as electrode. The maximum power densit...

Atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition is changing in both load quantity and chemical composition. The load effects have been studied extensively, whereas the composition effects remain poorly understood. We conducted a microcosm experiment to study how N chemistry affected the soil microbial community composition characterized by phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) and activity indicated by microbia...

Reef coral cover is in rapid decline worldwide, in part due to bleaching (expulsion of photosynthetic symbionts) and outbreaks of infectious disease. One important factor associated with bleaching and in disease transmission is a shift in the composition of the microbial community in the mucus layer surrounding the coral: the resident microbial community-which is critical to the healthy functio...