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Phallus atrovolvatus, a wild edible mushroom, has attracted increasing interest for consumption due to its unique taste and beneficial health benefits. This study determined the chemical components in the so-called fruiting body during the egg and mature stages and investigated its gut microbiota-modulating activities. The egg stage contained higher total carbohydrates, dietary fiber, glucans, ash, and fat, while the total protein content was lower than in the mature stage. Two consumption forms, including cooked mushrooms and a mushroom aqueous extract from both stages, were used in this study. An in vitro gut fermentation was performed for 24 h to assess gut microbiota regulation. All mushroom-supplemented fermentations increased short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) production compared to the blank control. Furthermore, all mushroom supplementations promoted the growth of Bifidobacterium and Streptococcus. Samples from the mature stage increased the relative abundance of Clostridium sensu stricto 1, while those from the egg stage increased the Bacteroides group. The inhibition of harmful bacteria, including Escherichia-Shigella, Klebsiella, and Veillonella, was only observed for the mature body. Our findings demonstrate that P. atrovolvatus exhibits potential benefits on gut health by promoting SCFA production and the growth of beneficial bacteria, with the mature stage demonstrating superior effects compared to the egg stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The versatility of plastic has resulted in huge amounts being consumed annually. Mismanagement of post-consumption plastic material has led to plastic waste pollution. Biodegradation of plastic by microorganisms has emerged as a potential solution to this problem. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the microbial communities involved in the biodegradation of polypropylene (PP). Mangrove soil was enriched with virgin PP sheets or chemically pretreated PP comparing between 2 and 4 months enrichment to promote the growth of bacteria involved in PP biodegradation. The diversity of the resulting microbial communities was accessed through 16S metagenomic sequencing. The results indicated that Xanthomonadaceae, unclassified Gaiellales, and Nocardioidaceae were promoted during the enrichment. Additionally, shotgun metagenomics was used to investigate enzymes involved in plastic biodegradation. The results revealed the presence of various putative plastic-degrading enzymes in the mangrove soil, including alcohol dehydrogenase, aldehyde dehydrogenase, and alkane hydroxylase. The degradation of PP plastic was determined using Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and Water Contact Angle measurements. The FTIR spectra showed a reduced peak intensity of enriched and pretreated PP compared to the control. SEM images revealed the presence of bacterial biofilms as well as cracks on the PP surface. Corresponding to the FTIR and SEM analysis, the water contact angle measurement indicated a decrease in the hydrophobicity of PP and pretreated PP surface during the enrichment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Wolbachia is an endosymbiont bacterium generally found in about 40% of insects, including mosquitoes, but it is absent in Aedes aegypti which is an important vector of several arboviral diseasesdengue, chikungunya, zika, and yellow fever. The evidence that Wolbachia trans-infected Ae. aegypti mosquitoes lost their vectorial competence and became less capable of transmitting arboviruses to human hosts highlights the potential of using Wolbachia-based approaches for prevention and control of arboviral diseases. Recently, release of Wolbachia trans-infected Ae. aegypti has been deployed widely in many countries for the control of mosquito-borne viral diseases. Field surveillance and monitoring of Wolbachia presence in released mosquitoes is important for the success of these control programs. So far, a number of studies have reported the development of loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assays to detect Wolbachia in mosquitoes, but the methods still have some specificity and cost issues. Methodology/Principal findings: We describe here the development of a LAMP assay combined with the DNA strand displacement-based electrochemical sensor (BIOSENSOR) method to detect wAlbB Wolbachia in trans-infected Ae. aegypti. Our developed LAMP primers used a low-cost dye detecting system and 4 oligo nucleotide primers which can reduce the cost of analysis while the specificity is comparable to the previous methods. The detection capacity of our LAMP technique was 1.4 nM and the detection limit reduced to 2.2 fM when combined with the BIOSENSOR. Our study demonstrates that a BIOSENSOR can also be applied as a stand-alone method for detecting Wolbachia; and it showed high sensitivity when used with the crude DNA extracts of macerated mosquito samples without DNA purification. Conclusions/Significance: Our results suggest that both LAMP and BIOSENSOR, either used in combination or stand-alone, are robust and sensitive. The methods have good potential for routine detection of Wolbachia in mosquitoes during field surveillance and monitoring of Wolbachia-based release programs, especially in countries with limited resources. Author summary: Mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue, chikungunya, zika, and yellow fever are transmitted to humans mainly by the bites of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Controlling the vectors of these diseases relies mostly on the use of insecticides. However, the efficiency has been reduced through the development of insecticide resistance in mosquitoes. Wolbachia is an endosymbiotic bacterium that is naturally found in 40% of insects, including mosquitoes. The bacterium can protect its insect hosts from viral infections and can also cause sterility in insect host populations, therefore, providing an opportunity to use it for human disease control. Application of a Wolbachia trans-infected mosquitoes needs simple, rapid and sensitive methods for detecting the bacteria in released mosquitoes. In this paper, we develop the methods of LAMP and BIOSENSORS for detecting wAlbB Wolbachia in mosquitoes. Our positive LAMP reaction can be visualized by color change from violet to blue at a sensitivity of ≥ 10 pg of genomic DNA. When used in combination with the BIOSENSOR method, the sensitivity increases a millionfold without losing specificity. Our study suggests that both developed methods, either used in combination or stand-alone, are efficient and cost-effective, hence, they could be applied for routine surveys of Wolbachia in mosquito control programs that use Wolbachia-based approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tiamulin (TIA) is a widely used antibiotic in Thai swine farms and persists in swine manure storage. Significant amounts remain in swine manure after composting, posing risks related to the spread of the compound and the evolution of resistant genes when this compost is used as a fertilizer. Therefore, it is necessary to enhance TIA degradation. This study successfully purified TIA-degrading fungi, which have a high capacity for treating antibiotic-contaminated manure. Twelve strains were collected from swine farms and preliminarily examined for their ability to degrade recalcitrant compounds using brilliant green and crystal violet dyes at 0.05% (w/v). Three isolated fungi and three white-rot fungal strains–namely, Lasiodiplodia sp. F1, Fusarium sp. F5, Galactomyces sp. F8, Verticillium sp., Trametes versicolor , and Trametes hirsuta AK4–capable of developing considerable decolorized zones on both dyes exhibited their abilities to degrade 10 mg l −1 of TIA over a period of 12 days: 93.2 ± 0.0%, 82.4 ± 10.2%, 73.8 ± 5.6%, 89.3 ± 0.0%, 86.1 ± 0.0%, and 66.8 ± 4.8%, respectively. Lasiodiplodia sp. F1, Verticillium sp., and Trametes versicolor were able to remove TIA most efficiently (>85%) and have the potential to be applied to swine waste for the elimination of antibiotic substances. Manganese peroxidase (MnP) was predominantly produced; MnP expression was induced by tiamulin, suggesting its main role in TIA degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microbial regrowth causes problems during water reuse. Comprehensive understanding of the microorganisms that can regrow in reclaimed water and their substrate requirements are necessary. In this study, potential regrowth organisms were isolated from seven water reclamation plants in Japan. Based on 16S rDNA analysis, the isolates were grouped into 34 operational taxonomic units, belonging to Alphaproteobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Firmicutes. Substrate utilization profiling using Biolog microplate™ classified the isolates into four groups. Bacteria in Cluster 1 (e.g., Methylobacterium sp. and Acinetobacter sp.) mainly utilized polymers, esters, amides, and alcohol. Isolates in Cluster 2 (e.g., Flavobacterium sp. and Microbacterium sp.) preferred to utilize polymers, carbohydrates, and esters. Isolates in Cluster 3 (e.g., Pseudomonas sp. and Acidovorax sp.) mainly utilized esters, carboxylic acids, and amino acids. Isolates in Cluster 4 (e.g., Enterobacter sp. and Rhodococcus sp.) utilized carbohydrates, esters, and amino acids. All isolates grew in reclaimed water treated by sand filtration, whereas some isolates could not grow in reclaimed water treated by coagulation and ozonation. Most bacteria in the same Biolog clusters exhibited similar growth characteristics in water samples. The potential of bacteria to regrow in reclaimed water likely depended on substrate requirement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aims of this work were to study the gold leaching by the isolated bacteria from silicate ore. Three strains were isolated and identified as Macrococcus caseolyticus, Acinetobacter calcoaceticus, and Bacillus sp. MBEA40. However, only M. caseolyticus and A. calcoaceticus were capable of gold bioleaching. In order to examine only the effect of microorganisms involved in the gold bioleaching process, minimal medium and ethanol mineral salt medium without amino acids were used for culturing M. caseolyticus and A. calcoaceticus, respectively. The result showed that the growth supernatant (in the absence of microorganisms) of both strains might be more suitable to leaching gold from ore than leaching by microorganisms (in the presence of microorganisms) directly. This might be due to the fact that there is no interference of gold absorption and metal toxicity in microorganisms in the long-term operation. The result also confirmed that amino acids/peptides/proteins produced by microorganisms might be involved in gold bioleaching, as shown in the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) results. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) study also found that amine groups and carboxylic groups played important roles in gold bioleaching by M. caseolyticus and A. calcoaceticus. In addition, the bioleaching process had significantly higher gold leaching than mixed pure amino acids due to the growth supernatant containing mixed amino acids/peptides/proteins and other compounds. Therefore, the growth supernatant of M. caseolyticus and A. calcoaceticus can be applied in gold bioleaching under neutral pH conditions, which is considered to be a safe, not corrosive, and environmentally friendly leaching process. This study is also needed further study in order to increase the percentage of gold bioleaching and decrease times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Acclimatization increased 2-MBT removal efficiency of bacterial consortia. • The most efficient consortium degraded up to 300 mg L−1 2-MBT in medium. • It had higher efficiency than the previously reported bacterial strains. • The dominant populations were Pseudomonas and Stenotrophomonas. • When applied to rubber wastewater, it removed 79 % 2-MBT and 93 % COD. Benzothiazoles especially 2-mercaptobenzothiazole (2-MBT) in rubber industrial wastewater can be released into the environment. They can cause adverse health impacts. This study aimed to obtain efficient 2-MBT-degrading bacteria for wastewater application. The bacterial consortia were enriched by incubating rubber wastewater sludge in a medium containing 2-MBT for 28 days. Stepwise acclimatization was conducted with increasing 2-MBT concentrations from 50 to 200 mg L−1 in nitrogen-containing medium for 76 days. The process significantly increased the bacterial number and changed the dominant populations. Among these consortia, the EN consortium from benzothiazole-containing sludge had the highest specific 2-MBT biodegradation rate of 5.2 ± 0.5 mg L−1 day−1 mg protein-1 and could degrade up to 300 mg L−1 2-MBT. From 16S rRNA gene analysis, Pseudomonas was the dominant genus at approximately 70 % of the total population. S tenotrophomonas was the second most abundant populations and have never been reported for 2-MBT biodegradation. The EN consortium removed 65–79 % and 90–93 % of 112 mg L−1 2-MBT and ∼4000 mg L−1 COD in rubber wastewater, respectively, which were significantly higher than the values of natural attenuation. Therefore, the EN consortium could be an ideal inoculum for the post-treatment of benzothiazoles in rubber industrial wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peri-urban aquacultures produce nutritious food in proximity to markets, but poor surface water quality in rapidly expanding megacities threatens their success in emerging economies. Our study compared, for a wide range of parameters, water quality downstream of Bangkok with aquaculture regulations and standards. For parameters not meeting those requirements, we sought to establish whether aquaculture practice or external factors were responsible. We applied conventional and advanced methods, including micropollutant analysis, genetic markers, and 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, to investigate three family-owned aquacultures spanning extensive, semi-intensive and intensive practices. Canals draining the city of Bangkok did not meet quality standards for water to be used in aquaculture, and were sources for faecal coliforms, Bacteriodes , Prevotella , Human E. coli , tetracycline resistance genes, and nitrogen into the aquaculture ponds. Because of these inputs, aquacultures suffered algae blooms, with and without fertilizer and feed addition to the ponds. The aquacultures were sources of salinity and the herbicide diuron into the canals. Diuron was detectable in shrimp, but not at a level of concern to human health. Given the extent and nature of pollution, peri-urban water policy should prioritize charging for urban wastewater treatment over water fees for small-scale agricultural users. The extensive aquaculture attenuated per year an estimated twenty population equivalents of nitrogen pollution and trillions of faecal coliform bacteria inputs from the canal. Extensive aquacultures could thus contribute to peri-urban blue-green infrastructures providing ecosystem services to the urban population such as flood risk management, food production and water pollution attenuation. Unlabelled Image • Extensive, semi-intensive and intensive aquacultures near Bangkok were investigated. • Aquaculture water quality was severely affected by urban pollution in the canals. • Aquacultures released herbicides/algaecides into canals. • Extensive aquacultures attenuated faecal pollution inputs from the canals. • Extensive aquaculture could be integrated in blue-green infrastructures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]