The occurrence of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes in the environment has become a subject of growing concern. The extensive use of vancomycin and other pharmaceuticals may alter the biodiversity of soil microbial communities and select antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to evaluate the impact of vancomycin and/or vancomycin-resistant Citrobacter f...

The capability of environmental microorganisms to biodegrade simazine-an active substance of 2-chloro-s-triazine herbicides (pesticide waste since 2007)-was assessed. An enormous metabolic potential of microorganisms impels to explore the possibilities of using them as an alternative way for thermal and chemical methods of utilization. First, the biotope rich in microorganisms resistant to sima...

Aquaponics is an effective method to practice sustainable agriculture and is gaining popularity in the US; however, the microbial safety of aquaponically grown produce needs to be ascertained. Aquaponics is a unique marriage of fish production and soil-free produce (e.g., leafy greens) production. Fish are raised in fresh water tanks that are connected to water filled beds where fruits and vege...

Were evaluated natural attenuation, biostimulation and bioaugmentation on the degradation of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) in soils contaminated with diesel oil. Bioaugmentation showed the greatest degradation in the light (C12 C23) fractions (72.7%) and heavy (C23 C40) fractions of TPH (75.2%) and natural attenuation was more effective than biostimulation. The greatest dehydrogenase activ...

A fluorescence-staining technique using the magnesium salt of 8-anilino-1-naphthalene sulfonic acid is described and used to follow the changes in the distribution patterns of microorganisms in soils. A statistical procedure was used to determine the occurrence of significant differences in clumping of bacteria (i.e., production of colonies) in different regions of artificial soil-aggregate sys...

INTRODUCTION: The percentage of water stable aggregates (WSA) is a measure of resistance to breakdown by water and mechanical activities. Water stable aggregates improve soil water and air movement. Macro-aggregates (diam. > 250 m) are considered as a secondary soil structure associated with pores, microbial habitat, and physical protection of organic matter (Christensen, 2001; Carter, 2004). A...

This work deals with the implementation of a soil organic matter model in an individual-based modelling framework. The simulator INDISIM-SOM models the dynamics of carbon and nitrogen related to soil organic matter and the soil microbial activity by using a discrete simulation. This simulation model controls the activity of group of microbial cells in a space divided into square cells where amo...

Microorganisms play an important role in the recycling of agricultural wastes. The compost generated by bioconversion of agroresidues offers several benefits such as enhanced soil fertility and soil health which can lead to increased agricultural productivity, improved soil biodiversity, reduced ecological risks and a healthier environment. These virtues make composting an ideal option for proc...

The rhizosphere is the narrow region of soil that is directly influenced by root secretions and associated with soil microorganisms. Such bacteria which can grow in the rhizosphere region as well as plant roots and enhance the plant growth are referred as plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria promotes growth of plants through direct and indirect mecha...

Aeration improves the capacity of leachfields to decontaminate and reduce the nutrient load of wastewater. To gain a better understanding of the effects of aeration, we examined the faunal and microbial communities of septic system leachfield soil (0–4 and 4–13 cm) using replicated (n 5 3) mesocosms that were actively aerated (AIR) or unaerated (LEACH). Protozoa were 40 to 140 times more abunda...