Direct electricity production from Microalgae Choricystis sp. and investigation of the boron to enhance the electrogenic activity

In this work, a new bio-electrochemical fuel cell was constructed and the effect of boron was investigated to obtain improved electrogenic activity of a green algae (Choricystis sp.). In a specially designed bio-electrochemical fuel cell, electrode combinations of indium tin oxide (ITO) and a carbon layer are used. Open circuit potential (OCP) measurements of algal cells placed bio-electrochemical fuel cells were performed with a cyclic on-off illumination of a LED light source. The results revealed that 60 μM is the efficient boron concentration for the algal growth and pigmentation. Higher doses of boron limited the algal growth. However, the algal growth reduced slightly at higher doses, pointing out a possible boron export mechanism in green algae. OCP analysis showed that hydrogen was electro-catalytically reduced at the cathode site and an 18 mV voltage was obtained from boron-deficient (0 μM) Choricystis sp. samples. A significant enhancement in voltage output up to 33 mV was achieved from 60 μM of boron-treated algal samples. The maximum power density was calculated from the boron-treated Choricystis sp. at pseudo-steady state as 42.2 mW m⁻² at a current density of 154 mA m⁻².     

Optimization for microbial degradation of petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) by Enterobacter sp. S-1 using response surface methodology

In this research, the response surface method designed by Box-Behnken was used to study the effect of temperature, pH value and TPH concentration on the biodegradation of Enterobacter sp. S-1contaminated soil. The value of determination coefficient (R²=0.9565) by analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated a satisfactory agreement between the quadratic model and the experimental data. It was found that TPH degradation rate was more significantly affected (P?<?0.0006) by temperature compared with other two parameters. In the temperature of 30?°C, pH value of 7.14 and TPH concentration was 4.83?g/L, the best degradation rate was 81.63%.     

Characterisation of a novel laminarinase from Microbulbifer sp. ALW1 and the antioxidant activity of its hydrolysates

Laminarin and its derived oligosaccharides have diverse bioactivities. The β-1,3-glucanase in marine bacteria can be employed as a tool to digest laminarin in the cell wall of brown algae. Here, we cloned, expressed and characterised a β-1,3-glucanase (laminarinase), MaLamNA, from the previously characterised marine bacterium Microbulbifer sp. ALW1, phylogenetically distinct from the glycoside hydrolase families of characterised laminarinases. The recombinant laminarinase was heterologously expressed and purified from Pichia pastoris GS115 cells with a molecular mass of 57.3 kDa. MaLamNA exerted its hydrolytic activity specifically against laminarin, with the highest activity at 45 °C and pH 4.5–5.5, respectively, and demonstrated high stability against extreme acidic and alkaline pH exposure. The addition of reducing agent dithiothreitol could significantly enhance the activity of MaLamNA. The hydrolytic products of laminarin by MaLamNA exhibited more effective antioxidant activities than the undigested laminarin. These characteristics of MaLamNA provide clues to its industrial application for laminarin bioresource development.     

The alginate fermentation strain Pantoea sp. F16-PCAi-T3P21 and ethanol production

Bio-ethanol production from algae is a promising way to help solve the energy problem. Alginate is a major component of algae, but it cannot be utilized by existing ethanol fermentation microorganisms. In order to improve the utilization rate of brown algae, high alginate fermentation strains should be obtained. In this research, strains for algae fermentation were got from several experiments. The ethanol yield of strain A was the highest, which was 0.095 g/g (ethanol to alginate). The identification of strain A was carried out and it was 99% identical to Pantoea sp. F16-PCAi-T3P21. Fermentation experiments with different substrates were carried out, such as laminaran, mannitol, L. japonica and acid hydrolysate of L. japonica, and the ethanol yield rate of L. japonica acid hydrolysate was the highest, which reached 0.17 g/g ethanol to L. japonica. It showed that strain A can converse alginate to ethanol in a relatively high yield rate, and might be a promising strain with L. japonica as the substrate, we believe more research should be carried out on this strain.     

Bottom‐Up Preparation of Fully sp2‐Bonded Porous Carbons with High Photoactivities

Porous carbons, possessing exceptional stability, high surface area, and electric conductivity, are broadly used as superior adsorbent, supporter, or electrode material for environmental protection, industrial catalysis, and energy storage and conversion. The construction of such kinds of materials with designable structures and properties will extremely extend their potential applications, but remains a huge synthetic challenge. Herein, a bottom‐up approach is presented to synthesize one type of fully sp² carbon–bonded frameworks by transition metal–catalyzed cross‐coupling of different polyphenylenes with electron‐withdrawing 9,9′‐bifluorenylidene (9,9′‐BF) through its 2,7‐position. The resulting porous polymeric carbons exhibit substantial semiconducting properties, such as strong light‐harvesting capabilities in the visible light region, likely due to their π‐extended backbones with donor–acceptor characters. Their electronic and porous structures can be finely tuned via the polyphenylene spacers. The intriguing properties allow these porous carbons to efficiently catalyze dye degradation under visible light or even natural sunlight with high reusability. Meanwhile, associated with their intrinsic structures, these porous carbons also exhibit highly selective degradation activities toward different dyes. In particular, the photodegradation mechanism involving oxygen and electron is elucidated for the first time for such kinds of materials, related to the presence of specific 9,9′‐BF units in their π‐conjugated skeletons.     

VC发酵大菌不同组分对小菌生长及产酸的影响

在VC的二步混菌发酵中,作为伴生菌,巨大芽孢杆菌(大菌)对酮古龙酸杆菌(小菌)的生长和产酸有促进作用.通过比较大菌培养液不同分子量的组分对小菌的促进作用,发现分子量小于1 000的组分对小菌的促进作用最明显.     

Biodegradation ofVernonia galamensis seed Oil byAcinetobacter andPseudomonas sp.

The biodegradability ofVernonia galamensis seed oil (VO) has been demonstrated with two environmental bacterial strains,Acinetobacter Iwoffi (HU 3955), andPseudomonas sp. (HU 4020). A time-dependent increase in the degradative activities of both bacteria species was apparent. There wasca. 60% decrease in the amount of VO over an eightday incubation period. Additionally, lipolytic activity was evident from the amount of free fatty acid (FFA) that was generated. The percent FFA of the residual oil were 82% for thePseudomonas strain, and 62% for theAcinetobacter strain. The weight per epoxy value of the VO in the fermentation medium remained relatively constant over the incubation period, suggesting the lack of preference for either the epoxidized or nonepoxidized acids present in VO.     

Production of eicosapentaenoic acid bySaprolegnia sp. 28YTF-1

Saprolegnia sp. 28YTF-1, isolated from a freshwater sample, is a potent producer of 5,8,11,14,17-cis-eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). The fungus used various kinds of carbon sources, such as starch, dextrin, sucrose, glucose, and olive oil for growth, and olive oil was the best carbon source for EPA production. The EPA content reached 17 mg/g dry mycelium (0.25 mg/L) when the fungus was grown in a medium that contained 2.5% olive oil and 0.5% yeast extract, at pH 6.0 and 28°C for 6 d with shaking. Accompanying production of arachidonic acid (AA; 3.2 mg/g dry mycelia, EPA/AA = 5.1) and other ω6 polyunsaturated fatty acids was low. Both EPA content and EPA/AA ratio increased in parallel by lowering growth temperature. Triglyceride was the major mycelial lipid (ca. 84%), but EPA comprised only 2.2% of the total fatty acids of this lipid. About 40% of the EPA produced was found in polar lipids, such as phosphatidylethanolamine (EPA content, 28.2%), phosphatidylcholine (13.6%), and phosphatidylserine (21.2%).     

UV-B辐射下NO对衣藻生长及抗氧化酶活性的影响

以衣藻(Chlamydomorm sp.)为实验材料,研究了在紫外线(Uv-B)辐射增强的情况下,外源SNP(硝普钠,N0供体)对其抗氧化酶SOD(超氧化物岐化酶)、CAT(过氧化氢酶)、POD(过氧化物酶)活性的变化以及对衣藻生长曲线的影响.探讨了NO对藻类在辐射休克情况下的生理保护作用.