Microbial taxa from every major biological lineage have been detected in Earth's upper atmosphere. The goal of this review is to communicate (1) relevant astrobiology questions that can be addressed with upper atmosphere microbiology studies and (2) available sampling methods for collecting microbes at extreme altitudes. Precipitation, mountain stations, airplanes, balloons, rockets, and satell...

AIM This study evaluates the effect of surface application of dried Class A biosolids on microbial populations within copper mine tailings. METHODS AND RESULTS Mine tailing sites were established at ASARCO Mission Mine close to Sahuarita Arizona. Site 1 (December 1998) was amended with 248 tons ha(-1) of Class A biosolids. Sites 2 (December 2000) and 3 (April 2006) were amended with 371 and 2...

Current reliance on fossil fuels is unsustainable due to pollution and finite supplies. Microbial cell factories serve as promising alternatives renewable energy resources. Microorganisms generate electricity in their metabolism; act as catalysts for converting the chemical energy into electricity. In Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC), electrons provided by microorganisms flow through an electrical ext...

Magnetic modification of microbial cells enables to prepare smart biocomposites in bioremediation. In this study, we constructed an efficient biocomposite by assembling Fe3O4 nanoparticles onto the surface of Sphingomonas sp. XLDN2-5 cells. The average particle size of Fe3O4 nanoparticles was about 20 nm with 45.5 emu g-1 saturation magnetization. The morphology of Sphingomonas sp. XLDN2-5 cell...

background: sohan is an iranian traditional brittle confection which its ingredients are susceptible to oxidation and microbial contamination during storage. this experimental study was designed to determine the effect of damask rose (rosa damascena mill.) extract on some chemical, microbial, and sensory properties of sohan during storage at 25 °c. methods: the sohan ingredients were mixed, bak...

Investigations of microbial ecology and diversity have been greatly enhanced by the application of culture-independent techniques. One such approach, metagenomics, involves sample collections from soil, water, and other environments. Extracted nucleic acids from bulk environmental samples are sequenced and analyzed, which allows microbial interactions to be inferred on the basis of bioinformati...

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to evaluate, in situ, the initial adhesion of microorganisms to as well as the surface roughness and chemical composition of ProBase Hot (Ivoclar Vivadent), a hard acrylic resin, and Vertex Soft (Vertex-Dental), an acrylic-based soft liner, used in removable dental prostheses. MATERIALS AND METHODS Equal sized disks of ProBase Hot and Vertex Soft were pre...

Volatile and semi-volatile gas-phase organic carbon (GOC) is a largely neglected component of the global carbon cycle, with poorly resolved pools and fluxes of natural and anthropogenic GOC in the biosphere. Substantial amounts of atmospheric GOC are exchanged with the surface ocean, and subsequent utilization of specific GOC compounds by surface ocean microbial communities has been demonstrate...

Drilling and handling of permanently frozen soil cores without microbial contamination is of concern because contamination e.g. from the active layer above may lead to incorrect interpretation of results in experiments investigating potential and actual microbial activity in these low microbial biomass environments. Here, we present an example of how microbial contamination from active layer so...