BACKGROUND To efficiently deconstruct recalcitrant plant biomass to fermentable sugars in industrial processes, biocatalysts of higher performance and lower cost are required. The genetic diversity found in the metagenomes of natural microbial biomass decay communities may harbor such enzymes. Our goal was to discover and characterize new glycoside hydrolases (GHases) from microbial biomass dec...

As oil prices have risen dramatically lately, many people explore alternative ways of heating their residences and businesses in order to reduce the respective cost. One of the options usually considered nowadays is biomass, especially in rural areas with significant local biomass availability. This work focuses on comparing two different biomass energy exploitation systems, aiming to provide h...

Periphyton communities of a boreal stream were exposed to different light and nutrient levels to estimate energy transfer efficiency from primary to secondary producers using labeling with inorganic (13)C. In a one-day field experiment, periphyton grown in fast-flow conditions and dominated by opportunistic green algae were exposed to light levels corresponding to sub-saturating (forest shade) ...

BACKGROUND β-Glucosidase is an important member of the biomass-degrading enzyme system, and plays vital roles in enzymatic saccharification for biofuels production. Candidates with high activity and great stability over high temperature and varied pHs are always preferred in industrial practice. To achieve cost-effective biomass conversion, exploring natural enzymes, developing high level expre...

Membrane bioreactors (MBRs) have the ability to completely retain biomass and are thus suitable for slowly growing anammox bacteria. In the present study, an anammox MBR was operated to investigate whether the anammox activity would remain stable at low temperature, without anammox biomass washout. The maximum nitrogen removal rates were 6.7 and 1.1 g-N L⁻¹ day⁻¹ at 35 °C and 15 °C, respectivel...

The coupling of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii biomass production for nutrients removal of Escherichia coli anaerobic broth (EAB) is thought to be an economically feasible option for the cultivation of microalgae. The feasibility of growing microalgae in using EAB high in nutrients for the production of more biomass was examined. EAB comprised of nutrient-abundant effluents, which can be used to produ...

In this study, we determine the theoretical criteria for biomass partitioning into the leaf and stem of the current shoot, using two quantitative models. The water transport model, based on the biochemical model of CO(2) assimilation, predicts the relationship between the water transport capacity per biomass investment in the stem (stem mass specific conductivity) and the partitioning of biomas...

Streptomyces are best known for producing antimicrobial secondary metabolites, but they are also recognized for their contributions to biomass utilization. Despite their importance to carbon cycling in terrestrial ecosystems, our understanding of the cellulolytic ability of Streptomyces is currently limited to a few soil-isolates. Here, we demonstrate the biomass-deconstructing capability of St...

conclusions data reported here indicated that there is no specific genetic combination beyond the quantity of biofilm biomass in s. epidermidis. biofilm biomass seemed to be controlled by rnaiii expression level. further interest should be directed to biofilm dispersal since it seems that the key difference in biofilm biomass ability of s. epidermidis strains relates to factors regulating this ...