AbstractHeterotrophic bacteria (HPC) are commonly found in water samples. While these bacterial counts do not necessarily indicate a health hazard, high counts provide a good indication of the efficiency of water disinfection and integrity of distribution systems. The aim of this study was to compare the PetrifimTM AC method to the Pour Plate technique...

AbstractThermo-acidic pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass is required to make it amenable to microbial metabolism and results in generation of furfural due to breakdown of pentose sugars. Furfural is toxic to microbial metabolism and results in reduced microbial productivity and increased production costs. This study asks if deletion of yghZ gene...

AbstractThe endosymbiotic bacteria Spiroplasma (Mollicutes) infect diverse plants and arthropods, and some of which induce male killing, where male hosts are killed during development. Male-killing Spiroplasma strains belong to either the phylogenetically distant Citri-Poulsonii or Ixodetis groups. In Drosophila flies, Spiroplasma poulsonii induces...

AbstractKetohexokinase (KHK) catalyzes the ATP-dependent phosphorylation of fructose, forming fructose-1-phosphate and ADP. The enzyme is well studied in Eukarya, in particular in human and other vertebrates, but homologs have not been identified in Bacteria and Archaea. Here we report the identification of a novel type of KHK from the haloarchaeon...

AbstractHabitat type is a strong determinant of microbial composition. Habitat interfaces, such as the boundary between aquatic and terrestrial systems, present unique combinations of abiotic factors for microorganisms to contend with. Aside from the spillover of certain harmful microorganisms from agricultural soils into water (e.g. fecal coliform...