Oxidation of nitrite to nitrate in aquaria is typically attributed to bacteria belonging to the genus Nitrobacter which are members of the alpha subdivision of the class Proteobacteria. In order to identify bacteria responsible for nitrite oxidation in aquaria, clone libraries of rRNA genes were developed from biofilms of several freshwater aquaria. Analysis of the rDNA libraries, along with re...

Culture enrichments and culture-independent molecular methods were employed to identify and confirm the presence of novel ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) in nitrifying freshwater aquaria. Reactors were seeded with biomass from freshwater nitrifying systems and enriched for AOB under various conditions of ammonia concentration. Surveys of cloned rRNA genes from the enrichments revealed four maj...

CO2 is beyond comparison the most important of all plant nutrients. Without sufficient CO2, plants cannot photosynthesize and convert into energy-rich sugars, starch and all the other carbon-containing molecules that constitute a plant. It may seem odd to look at CO2 as a plant nutrient. When growing terrestrial plants, we are used to providing light, water and nutrients, but never CO2. is art...

We orally inoculated Rana catesbeiana tadpoles (n=23) and metamorphs (n=24) to test their suitability as hosts for Escherichia coli O157:H7. Tadpoles were housed in flowthrough aquaria and did not become infected. Metamorphs were housed in stagnant aquaria, and 54% tested positive through 14 days postinoculation, suggesting that they are suitable hosts for E. coli O157:H7.