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Microorganisms
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Microbial Advances in a Sustainable Environment: Biological Waste Treatment and...
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Microbial Advances in a Sustainable Environment: Biological Waste Treatment and Bioconversion Technology 2.0

A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Microbial Biotechnology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2024) | Viewed by 3721

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Guangli Cao

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China
Interests: microbial diversity; sustainable environment; zero-waste approaches; biodegradation; bioenergy; multi-omics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Xin Zhao

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Environmental Engineering, School of Resources and Civil Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819, China
Interests: wastes anaerobic fermentation; bioenergy recovery, biological processes; wastes conversion and biological treatment; wastewater treatment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Lili Dong

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Ecology and Environment, Hainan University, Haikou, China
Interests: bio-H2 production; anaerobic digestion; lignocellulosic biomass pretreatment; bioenergy recovery; microbial ecology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue is the continuation of our previous special issue "Microbial Advances in a Sustainable Environment: Biological Waste Treatment and Bioconversion Technology".

At present, environmental pollution has increased due to intensive anthropogenic activities along with the emergence of new materials that were previously not found in nature. The occurrence of emerging diverse contaminants along with the lack of in-depth information about microbial processes are major obstacles in the application of bioconversion approaches. There is an urgent need for more research to explore different ecosystems to (1) find microbes with potential activities, (2) understand microbial behavior in various environments (such as anaerobic digesters, fermenters, and waste treatments plants), (3) integrate various technologies to improve microbes’ productivity, and (4) mediate zero-waste approaches via microorganisms for sustainable environmental development.

In this Special Issue, we intend to gather recent research work and critical reviews in the field of environmental microbiology and bioenergy, especially on waste treatment during bioenergy production. Topics of interest include but are not limited to:

  • Screening potential microbes for waste treatment and bioenergy production;
  • Realizing microbial conversion of waste/biomass toward a zero-waste approach;
  • Enhancing fermentation processes via co-culturing, biostimulation, and technology innovation;
  • Applying novel molecular-based techniques, changes in microbial communities, and functional genomics and/or proteomics for improved bioenergy/bioproduct yield.

Dr. Guangli Cao
Dr. Xin Zhao
Dr. Lili Dong
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. Microorganisms 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 2700 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

  • sustainable environment
  • waste treatment
  • biomass
  • zero-waste
  • biodegradation

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 17133 KiB  
Article
Influence of Inhibitors Generated in Lignocellulosic Hydrolysates from Group of Acids on the Growth of Strains TG1 and Tuner of Escherichia coli
by Suelen S. Gaspar, Júnia Alves-Ferreira, Patrícia Moniz, Talita Silva-Fernandes, Adriana I. R. Silvestre, Ivone Torrado, Gaetano R. Pesce, Florbela Carvalheiro, Luís C. Duarte and Maria C. Fernandes
Microorganisms 2025, 13(3), 605; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms13030605 - 5 Mar 2025
Viewed by 670
Abstract
Concerns over fossil fuels are of increasing interest in biorefineries that utilize lignocellulosic residues. Besides sugars, inhibitors are formed during biomass pretreatment, including acetic acid (AI) and formic acid (FI), which can hinder microbial fermentation. The TG1 and Tuner strains of Escherichia coli [...] Read more.
Concerns over fossil fuels are of increasing interest in biorefineries that utilize lignocellulosic residues. Besides sugars, inhibitors are formed during biomass pretreatment, including acetic acid (AI) and formic acid (FI), which can hinder microbial fermentation. The TG1 and Tuner strains of Escherichia coli were subjected to various acid concentrations. Samples were taken during fermentation to monitor growth, sugar consumption, biomass yield, and product yield. With increasing AI, the TG1 strain maintained stable growth (0.102 1/h), while xylose consumption decreased, and product formation improved, making it better suited for high-acetic-acid industrial applications. In contrast, the Tuner strain performed better under low-inhibitor conditions but suffered metabolic inhibition at high AI levels, compensating by increasing lactic acid production—an adaptation absent in TG1. However, Tuner showed greater resistance to formic acid stress, sustaining higher growth and ethanol production, whereas TG1 experienced a greater metabolic decline but maintained stable acetic acid output. Both strains experienced inhibition in formic acid metabolism, but TG1 had a higher yield despite its lower overall robustness in formic acid conditions. The use of TG1 for value-added compounds such as ethanol or formic acid may help to avoid the use of chemicals that eliminate acetic acid. Tuner could be used for lactic acid production, especially in hydrolysates with under moderate concentration. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbial Advances in a Sustainable Environment: Biological Waste Treatment and Bioconversion Technology 2.0)
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25 pages, 5915 KiB  
Article
Construction and Effect Analysis of a Mixed Actinomycete Flora for Straw Returning to Albic Soil in Northeast China
by Xiujie Gong, Yang Yu, Guoyi Lv, Yubo Hao, Lingli Wang, Juntao Ma, Yubo Jiang, Jiahe Zou, Jingyang Li and Qiuju Wang
Microorganisms 2025, 13(2), 385; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms13020385 - 10 Feb 2025
Viewed by 697
Abstract
This research targets straw return in Farm 852’s albic soil, China. The soil is nutrient-poor with few microbes and slow straw decomposition. Through fixed-point sampling and bacterial screening, an actinomycete consortium consisting of four strains was assembled, and two of them were identified [...] Read more.
This research targets straw return in Farm 852’s albic soil, China. The soil is nutrient-poor with few microbes and slow straw decomposition. Through fixed-point sampling and bacterial screening, an actinomycete consortium consisting of four strains was assembled, and two of them were identified as new actinomycetes. After 7 days of fermentation, the lignocellulose degradation rates of this consortium outstripped those of single strains, with cellulose degraded at 69.07%, hemicellulose at 64.98%, and lignin at 68.95%. FTIR, XRD, and SEM verified the damage inflicted on the straw structure. Lab simulations found group D (with the consortium) had a higher straw weight loss rate than group C (with commercialized microbial agents) and controls. The compound actinomycetes stepped up the bacterial abundance with the passage of time. In contrast, their effect on fungal abundance was hardly noticeable, but they had markedly ameliorated the soil fertility. These findings prove that the microbial consortium effectively accelerates straw decomposition and boosts soil microbe abundance and fertility in albic soil. It shows great potential for straw return and provides a microbial solution for this field. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbial Advances in a Sustainable Environment: Biological Waste Treatment and Bioconversion Technology 2.0)
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32 pages, 4780 KiB  
Article
Spent Mushroom Substrate Improves Microbial Quantities and Enzymatic Activity in Soils of Different Farming Systems
by Maša Pintarič, Ana Štuhec, Eva Tratnik and Tomaž Langerholc
Microorganisms 2024, 12(8), 1521; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms12081521 - 24 Jul 2024
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1634
Abstract
Organic fertilizers, such as spent mushroom substrate (SMS), improve soil fertility, but studies comparing their effects on different agricultural soils are limited. In this study, the effects of standard, SMS and composed fertilizers on soils from conventional–integrated, organic and biodynamic farming were investigated. [...] Read more.
Organic fertilizers, such as spent mushroom substrate (SMS), improve soil fertility, but studies comparing their effects on different agricultural soils are limited. In this study, the effects of standard, SMS and composed fertilizers on soils from conventional–integrated, organic and biodynamic farming were investigated. Soil samples were analyzed for microorganisms and the activity of β-glucosidase (β-GLU), β-1,4-N-acetylglucosaminidase (NAG), urease (URE), arylamidase (ARN), phosphatase (PHOS), acid phosphatase (PAC), alkaline phosphatase (PAH) and arylsulphatase (ARS). Biodynamic soil showed the highest microbial counts and enzyme activities, followed by organic and conventional soils. SMS significantly increased the number of microorganisms and enzyme activities, especially in biodynamic and organic soils. Seasonal variations affected all microorganisms and most enzymes in all soils, except NAG in conventional and organic soils. Biodynamic soil showed stable activity of enzymes and microorganisms throughout the year, indicating greater stability. This study concludes that soil microorganisms and enzyme activities respond differently to fertilization depending on the soil type, with SMS demonstrating beneficial effects in all tested soils. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbial Advances in a Sustainable Environment: Biological Waste Treatment and Bioconversion Technology 2.0)
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