A Winogradsky column is a clear glass or plastic column filled with enriched sediment. Over time, microbial communities in the sediment grow in a stratified ecosystem with an oxic top layer and anoxic sub-surface layers. Winogradsky columns have been used extensively to demonstrate microbial nutrient cycling and metabolic diversity in undergraduate microbiology labs. In this study, we used high...

Sodium bisulfite (SBS) is used as an oxygen scavenger to decrease corrosion in pipelines transporting brackish subsurface water used in the production of bitumen by steam-assisted gravity drainage. Sequencing 16S rRNA gene amplicons has indicated that SBS addition increased the fraction of the sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) Desulfomicrobium, as well as of Desulfocapsa, which can also grow by d...

The bacteria colonizing geologic core sections (attached) were contrasted with those found suspended in the groundwater (unattached) by examining the microbiology of 16 depth-paired core and groundwater samples using a suite of culture-independent and culture-dependent analyses. One hundred twenty-two meters was continuously cored from a buried chalcopyrite ore hosted in a biotite-quartz-monzon...

An attempt to condense the important knowledge in a broad field into a small volume is fraught with danger. It is particularly hazardous when the field at issue is one which straddles two established disciplines such as biochemistry and microbiology. A. H. Rose is aware of the problems inherent in his task, and it is probably due in no small part to this awareness that he brings it off so well....

An attempt to condense the important knowledge in a broad field into a small volume is fraught with danger. It is particularly hazardous when the field at issue is one which straddles two established disciplines such as biochemistry and microbiology. A. H. Rose is aware of the problems inherent in his task, and it is probably due in no small part to this awareness that he brings it off so well....

Most of the Earth's biosphere is cold (85% is permanently exposed to temperatures below 5 °C), with 14% being polar. Polar regions are areas of the globe surrounding the poles. They are different in that the Arctic is a frozen ocean surrounded by continental landmasses and open oceans, whereas Antarctica is a frozen continent surrounded solely by oceans. The Arctic has numerous definitions; the...

The papers in the " Hydrothermal Vent " research topic cover a range of microbiological research in deep and shallow hydrothermal environments, from high temperature " black smokers, " to diffuse flow habitats and episodically discharging subsurface fluids, to the hydrothermal plumes. Together they provide a snapshot of current research interests in a field that has evolved rapidly since the di...

Most bacteria use organic carbon compounds from which they make their own cellular components. They derive energy from the exergonic catabolic reactions of these organic substrates and are known as “heterotrophs.” Autotrophs, in contrast, are able to use carbon dioxide as their sole source of carbon. The energy they require to do this may be obtained from the sunlight, e.g., in photosynthetic a...

Cupriavidus necator has a wide metabolic range and naturally creates biopolymer, poly[(R)-3 hydroxybutyrate] (PHB). Using engineering techniques, carbon flux can be directed away from PHB synthesis toward the generation of biofuels bioproducts.Researchers demonstrated production many biofuel products using C. necator, including methyl ketones, isoprenoids terpenes, isobutanol, alkanes alkenes, ...