Anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) coupled to sulfate reduction (AOM-SR) is a biological process mediated by anaerobic methanotrophs (ANME) and sulfate reducing bacteria. It has scientifi c and societal relevance in regulating the global carbon cycle and biotechnological application for treating sulfate-rich wastewater. This research aimed to enhance the recent knowledge on ANME distribution and its enrichment in different bioreactor confi gurations, i.e. membrane bioreactor (MBR), biotrickling fi lter (BTF) and high pressure bioreactor (HPB). Marine sediment from Ginsburg mud volcano, Gulf of Cadiz was used as inoculum in the BTF and MBR. The BTF operation showed the enrichment of ANME in the biofi lm, especially ANME-1 (40%) and ANME-2 (10%). Whereas, the dominancy of ANME-2 and Desulfosarcina aggregates was observed in the MBR. Moreover, HPB study was performed by using highly enriched ANME-2 community from Captain Arutyunov mud volcano. During the study of HPB at different temperature and pressure conditions, the incubation at 10 MPa pressure and 15 ̊C was observed to be the most suitable condition for the studied AOM-SR community. Furthermore, AOM-SR activity in the coastal sediments from marine Lake Grevelingen (the Netherlands) was explored and the microbial community was characterised which was dominated by ANME-3 among known ANME types.

Material-Microbes Interactions: Environmental Biotechnological Perspective brings great insights into microbes-material interactions, biofilm formation and emerging bioprocesses within the field of applied biotechnology. The book systematically summarizes the fundamental principles, the state-of-the-art in microbes-material interaction, and its application in bioprocess and environmental technology development. Understanding the fundamental processes of biofilm formation, the role of material to exchange the energy with microbes, biofilm matrix, and optimization of the biofilm formation process is useful to everyone involved with bioprocess development. This book will be of significant interest to environmental technology developers, researchers, university professors, policymakers, graduate and postgraduate students and other stakeholders. Interestingly, academic institutions, wastewater treatment plants and research centers have upscaled biofilm-based environmental technologies, such as moving bed bioreactors, microalgae, tricking bed reactors, biofilters, and bioelectrochemical process as promising environmental technologies. - Illustrates growing interest in biofilm-based technology development, either wastewater treatment using carrier materials or valorizing waste material into resources using biofilm-based bioprocess - Focuses explicitly on the microbes-material interactions in various biotechnologies - Covers a broad range of biofilm-based bioprocesses, including new and state-of-the-art options and trends within the field - Includes photo-sets on biofilm development and bioreactor systems

The aim of this Ph.D. was to develop a technology for the remediation of seleniferous soils/sediments and to explore microbial reduction of selenium oxyanions under different respiration conditions and bioreactor configurations. Seleniferous soil collected from the wheat-grown agricultural land in Punjab (India) was characterized and its soil washing was optimized by varying parameters, where addition of oxidizing agents showed a maximum selenium removal efficiency. Aquatic plants, Lemna minor and Egeria densa were used to study phytoremediation of the selenium-rich soil leachate containing oxidizing agents. Additionally, migration of the soluble selenium fraction from the upper to the lower layers and its subsequent reduction and accumulation in the lower layers of the soil column was observed during soil flushing. Furthermore, the soil leachate containing selenium oxyanions obtained from soil washing was treated in a UASB reactor by varying the organic feed. Ex situ bioremediation of selenium oxyanions was studied under variable conditions. An aerobic bacterium (Delftia lacustris) capable of transforming selenate and selenite to elemental selenium was isolated and characterized. Anaerobic bioreduction of selenate coupled to methane oxidation was investigated in serum bottles and a biotrickling filter using marine sediment as inoculum. Finally, the effect of contamination of other chalcogen oxyanions (tellurium) on selenium bioreduction was studied in a continuous system (UASB reactor).

The Prokaryotes is a comprehensive, multi-authored, peer reviewed reference work on Bacteria and Achaea. This fourth edition of The Prokaryotes is organized to cover all taxonomic diversity, using the family level to delineate chapters. Different from other resources, this new Springer product includes not only taxonomy, but also prokaryotic biology and technology of taxa in a broad context. Technological aspects highlight the usefulness of prokaryotes in processes and products, including biocontrol agents and as genetics tools. The content of the expanded fourth edition is divided into two parts: Part 1 contains review chapters dealing with the most important general concepts in molecular, applied and general prokaryote biology; Part 2 describes the known properties of specific taxonomic groups. Two completely new sections have been added to Part 1: bacterial communities and human bacteriology. The bacterial communities section reflects the growing realization that studies on pure cultures of bacteria have led to an incomplete picture of the microbial world for two fundamental reasons: the vast majority of bacteria in soil, water and associated with biological tissues are currently not culturable, and that an understanding of microbial ecology requires knowledge on how different bacterial species interact with each other in their natural environment. The new section on human microbiology deals with bacteria associated with healthy humans and bacterial pathogenesis. Each of the major human diseases caused by bacteria is reviewed, from identifying the pathogens by classical clinical and non-culturing techniques to the biochemical mechanisms of the disease process. The 4th edition of The Prokaryotes is the most complete resource on the biology of prokaryotes. The following volumes are published consecutively within the 4th Edition: Prokaryotic Biology and Symbiotic Associations Prokaryotic Communities and Ecophysiology Prokaryotic Physiology and Biochemistry Applied Bacteriology and Biotechnology Human Microbiology Actinobacteria Firmicutes Alphaproteobacteria and Betaproteobacteria Gammaproteobacteria Deltaproteobacteria and Epsilonproteobacteria Other Major Lineages of Bacteria and the Archaea

The new series "Microbiology Monographs" begins with two volumes on intracellular components in prokaryotes. In this first volume, "Inclusions in Prokaryotes", the components, labeled inclusions, are defined as discrete bodies resulting from synthesis of a metabolic product. Research on the biosynthesis and reutilization of the accumulated materials is still in progress, and interest in the inclusions is growing. This comprehensive volume provides historical background and comprehensive reviews of eight well-known prokaryotic inclusions.