Land use changes strongly impact soil functions, particularly microbial biomass diversity and activity. We hypothesized that the catabolic respiration response of the microbial biomass would differ depending on land use and that these differences would be consistent at the landscape scale. In the present study, we analyzed the catabolic response profile of the soil microbial biomass through sub...

In this research the microorganism was initially isolated and selected after evaluation based on COD reduction of cheese whey and biomass production. The selected microorganism was identified as Trichosporon sp. The cultivation conditions of the microorganism were optimized under batch: temperature 30˚C initial pH = 6 aeration speed = 2 ν.ν.m and agitation rate: 800 rpm. Under these conditions,...

ÐA protocol was developed to rapidly assess the eciency of chemical washing for the removal of excess biomass from biotrickling ®lters for waste air treatment. Although the experiment was performed on a small scale, conditions were chosen to simulate application in full-scale biotrickling ®lters. From 18 treatments with di€erent combinations and concentrations of chemicals, only washing with 0...

Size reduction and densification of lignocellulosic biomass feedstock play a crucial role in the preprocessing and supply of biomass. Size reduction is an operation where the size distribution of biomass particles is adapted to a level determined by its final use. The purpose of densification is to increase the bulk and inherent energy density of the biomass feedstock, allowing optimization of ...

The natural, prehuman abundance of most large predators is unknown because of the lack of historical data and a limited understanding of the natural factors that control their populations. Determining the supportable predator biomass at a given location (that is, the predator carrying capacity) would help managers to optimize protection and would provide site-specific recovery goals. We assess ...

CONTEXT Wood specific gravity is a key element in tropical forest ecology. It integrates many aspects of tree mechanical properties and functioning and is an important predictor of tree biomass. Wood specific gravity varies widely among and within species and also within individual trees. Notably, contrasted patterns of radial variation of wood specific gravity have been demonstrated and relate...

Fungi and bacteria are key agents in plant litter decomposition in freshwater ecosystems. However, the specific roles of these two groups and their interactions during the decomposition process are unclear. We compared the growth and patterns of degradative enzymes expressed by communities of bacteria and fungi grown separately and in coexistence on Phragmites leaves. The two groups displayed b...

The down-regulation of enzymes of the monolignol pathway results in reduced recalcitrance of biomass for lignocellulosic ethanol production. Cinnamoyl CoA reductase (CCR) catalyzes the first step of the phenylpropanoid pathway specifically dedicated to monolignol biosynthesis. However, plants contain multiple CCR-like genes, complicating the selection of lignin-specific targets. This study was ...

BACKGROUND Non-specific binding of cellulases to lignin has been implicated as a major factor in the loss of cellulase activity during biomass conversion to sugars. It is believed that this binding may strongly impact process economics through loss of enzyme activities during hydrolysis and enzyme recycling scenarios. The current model suggests glycoside hydrolase activities are lost though non...