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Life
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Advances in Environmental Microbiology
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Advances in Environmental Microbiology

A special issue of Life (ISSN 2075-1729). This special issue belongs to the section "Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 October 2022) | Viewed by 6839

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Shijie Bai

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Deep-Sea Science and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sanya 572000, China
Interests: microbial ecology; environmental microbiology; bacteria; archaea; fungi; viruses; metagenomics
Dr. Shamik Dasgupta

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Deep-Sea Science and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sanya 572000, China
Interests: oceanography; geomicrobiology; geochemistry; lipid biomarkers; organic pollutants; biofilms; plastic
Dr. Jiwei Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Deep-Sea Science and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sanya 572000, China
Interests: geology; oceanography; geomicrobiology; geochemistry; petrology; isotopes; minerals; mineralization

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the Earth’s surface biosphere, microorganisms absorb elements and compounds from their living environment through various physical and biochemical activities, and convert them into energy-yielding compounds. At the same time, they release certain substances back into the natural environment. Environmental microbiology is a rapidly developing field due to advancements in molecular biology and nucleic acid sequencing. Furthermore, it enhances our understanding of how the physiological potential, metabolic activities, and symbiotic relationships of microorganisms influence the Earth’s environments. This Special Issue is devoted to the advancement of our understanding of microbial interactions and microbial processes in the environment. We invite original scientific articles and reviews encompassing this broad area of research.

Dr. Shijie Bai
Dr. Shamik Dasgupta
Dr. Jiwei Li
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Life is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • bacteria
  • archaea
  • fungi
  • viruses 
  • microbial communities
  • element cycling 
  • terrestrial environment 
  • marine environment

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 2732 KiB  
Article
The Performance and Mechanism of Sludge Reduction by the Bioaugmentation Approach
by Jiangwei Li, Xiaoyong Yang, Anyi Hu, Yan Li, Yeyun Li, Lijun Fu and Chang-Ping Yu
Life 2022, 12(10), 1649; https://doi.org/10.3390/life12101649 - 20 Oct 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1678
Abstract
Millions of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) based on the activated sludge process have been established worldwide to help to purify wastewater. However, a vast amount of sludge is inevitably generated, and the cost of sludge disposal could reach over half of the total [...] Read more.
Millions of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) based on the activated sludge process have been established worldwide to help to purify wastewater. However, a vast amount of sludge is inevitably generated, and the cost of sludge disposal could reach over half of the total operation cost of a WWTP. Various sludge reduction techniques have been developed, including physicochemical, biological, and combinational methods. Micro-organisms that could reduce sludge by cryptic growth are vital to the biological approach. Currently, only limited functional bacteria have been isolated, and the lack of knowledge on the underlying mechanism hinders the technique development. Therefore, the present study is aimed at isolating sludge-reducing bacteria and optimizing the sludge reduction process through response surface methodology. Nineteen strains were obtained from sludge. The mix-cultures did not show a higher sludge reduction rate than the pure culture, which may be ascribed to the complicated interactions, such as competition and antagonistic effects. In total, 21.2% and 13.9% of total suspended and volatile suspended solids were reduced within 48 h after optimization. The three-dimensional excitation-emission matrix fluorescence spectrum and hydrolases test results revealed that the sludge reduction might be promoted by the strain mainly through hydrolysis via proteinase and amylase. The results obtained from the study demonstrate the potential of using micro-organisms for sludge reduction through cryptic growth. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Environmental Microbiology)
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18 pages, 1879 KiB  
Article
Improvement in Methane Production from Pelagic Sargassum Using Combined Pretreatments
by Karla Daniela Chikani-Cabrera, Patricia Machado Bueno Fernandes, Raúl Tapia-Tussell, David Leonardo Parra-Ortiz, Galdy Hernández-Zárate, Ruby Valdez-Ojeda and Liliana Alzate-Gaviria
Life 2022, 12(8), 1214; https://doi.org/10.3390/life12081214 - 10 Aug 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2048
Abstract
The constant golden tides of Sargassum spp., identified to be a mixture of Sargassum natans and Sargassum fluitans, observed recently in the Mexican Caribbean have affected the marine ecosystem and the local economy and have created the need for solutions for their [...] Read more.
The constant golden tides of Sargassum spp., identified to be a mixture of Sargassum natans and Sargassum fluitans, observed recently in the Mexican Caribbean have affected the marine ecosystem and the local economy and have created the need for solutions for their management and use. The Sargassum arrivals have thus been considered as third-generation feedstock for biofuel. Their potential for energetic conversion to biomethane was investigated, with hydrolysis as the limiting step due to its complex composition; therefore, in the present study, different physical, chemical, and enzymatic pretreatments and a combination of them have been evaluated, with the additional use of granular activated carbon, to determine the best yield and methane quality. The combined pretreatments of 2.5% hydrogen peroxide, followed by an enzymatic pretreatment (enzymatic extract from Trametes hirsuta isolated from decomposing wood in the Yucatán Peninsula-Mexico), was the best option, reaching a biodegradability of 95% and maximum methane yield of 387 ± 3.09 L CH4/kg volatile solid. The use of a conductive material, such as granular activated carbon, did not generate significant changes in performance and methane concentration. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Environmental Microbiology)
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19 pages, 3331 KiB  
Article
Kinetic, Isotherm and Thermodynamic Aspects of Zn2+ Biosorption by Spirulina platensis: Optimization of Process Variables by Response Surface Methodology
by Nada K. Alharbi, Mayasar I. Al-Zaban, Fawziah M. Albarakaty, Sayed F. Abdelwahab, Sedky H. A. Hassan and Mustafa A. Fawzy
Life 2022, 12(4), 585; https://doi.org/10.3390/life12040585 - 14 Apr 2022
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 2244
Abstract
The aim of this study was to assess the efficiency of Spirulina platensis for removing Zn2+ ions from the aqueous solutions. The optimized conditions of 4.48 g/L algal dose, pH of 6.62 and initial zinc concentration of 29.72 mg/L obtained by response [...] Read more.
The aim of this study was to assess the efficiency of Spirulina platensis for removing Zn2+ ions from the aqueous solutions. The optimized conditions of 4.48 g/L algal dose, pH of 6.62 and initial zinc concentration of 29.72 mg/L obtained by response surface methodology were employed for Zn2+ biosorption by S. platensis and up to 97.90% Zn2+ was removed, showing that there is a favorable harmony between the experimental data and model predictions. Different kinetic and equilibrium models were used to characterize the biosorption manner of Spirulina as a biosorbent. The kinetic manner of Zn2+ biosorption was well characterized by the pseudo-second-order, implying that the adsorption process is chemical in nature. The Langmuir and Dubinin–Radushkevich isotherm models were best fit to the equilibrium data. The maximum adsorption capacity of the Langmuir monolayer was 50.7 mg/g. Furthermore, the thermodynamic analysis revealed that Zn2+ biosorption was endothermic, spontaneous and feasible. As a result of biosorption process, FTIR, SEM, and EDX investigations indicated noticeable alterations in the algal biomass’s properties. Therefore, the dried Spirulina biomass has been shown to be cost-effective and efficient for removing the heavy metals, particularly zinc ions from wastewater, and the method is practicable, and environmentally acceptable. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Environmental Microbiology)
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