Influence Of Fine-Grained Montmorillonite On Microfungal Pellets Growth In Aqueous Suspensions

The paper presents an inhibition effect of clay mineral – montmorillonite – on the growth of microscopic filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger in the aqueous solution. The significant reduction in growth of the final size of spherical fungal pellets as well as total amount of produced microbial biomass was found out. Within the observed range of additions of clay mineral of 1, 5, 10, 15 and 20 g in the total volume of the 80 ml suspension, this size was in indirect relation to the weight of montmorillonite. However, the most significant inhibition effect was observed at the lowest concentration of the sorbent (1 g). Microscopic analysis of pellets referred to the presence of mineral particles in their pore structure and the distribution of particles in the spatial structure of fungal hyphae was variable. The experiment clearly demonstrated an inhibition effect of montmorillonite. This inhibition could be answered by the experiments focused on the detection of the influence of size and shape of inorganic sorption particles together with the influence of the physicochemical properties of its surface. It could be stated that the simultaneous application of the microscopic fungus Aspergillus niger and the clay mineral montmorillonite for decontamination of waste waters should be disadvantage due to their interaction if compared with the decontamination based on bioaccumulation and sorption separately

The Activity of Two Different Solutions against Selected Fungal Phyto-Pathogens

Two different solutions differing in their composition were tested against the following fungal phyto-pathogens: Cladosporium cladosporioides, Alternaria infectoria, Botrytis cinerea, Monilia fructigena, Aspergillus clavatus and Penicillium digitatum. The two different solutions were a fatty acid-based DPB solution and the development batch of a substance labeled M-decanocide. The tested species of fungal phyto-pathogens, namely Penicillium digitatum, Aspergillus clavatus and Cladosporium cladosporioides, grew rapidly and sporulated heavily on the agar plates with the product M-decanocide applied. In Aspergillus clavatus and Cladosporium cladosporioides cases, growth-free zones were formed around the cuts when the tested solution was applied, which confirmed its positive antifungal effect. The fungicidal effect of the tested DPB solution was not confirmed for the selected fungal phyto-pathogens

Biocoagulation of Dried Algae Chlorella sp. and Pellets of Aspergillus Niger in Decontamination Process of Wastewater, as a Presumed Source of Biofuel

The removal of microalgae represents a problematic part of the water decontamination process, in which most techniques are expensive and non-ecological. In the paper, we focus on the synergistic relationship between microscopic filamentous fungi and algal culture. In the process of decontamination of a model sample containing ammonium ions, efficient biocoagulation, resp. co-pelletization of dried algae Chlorella sp. and Aspergillus niger sensu stricto are shown. The microscopic filamentous fungus species A. niger was added to a culture of an algal suspension of Chlorella sp., where the adhesion of the algal cells to the fungi subsequently occurred due to the electrostatic effect of the interaction, while the flocculation activity was approximately 70 to 80%. The algal cells adhered to the surface of the A. niger pellets, making them easily removable from the solution. The ability of filamentous fungi to capture organisms represents a great potential for the biological isolation of microalgae (biocoagulation) from production solutions because microalgae are considered to be a promising renewable source of oil and fermentables for bioenergy. This form of algae removal, or its harvesting, also represents a great low-cost method for collecting algae not only as a way of removing unnecessary material but also for the purpose of producing biofuels. Algae are a robust bioabsorbent for absorbing lipids from the environment, which after treatment can be used as a component of biodiesel. Chemical analyses also presented potential ecological innovation in the area of biofuel production. Energy-efficient and eco-friendly harvesting techniques are crucial to improving the economic viability of algal biofuel production

Responses of Aspergillus niger to selected environmental factors

Four wild type strains of A. niger were collected from soil and stream sediments representing environments with variable level of As, Sb, Al, Fe, Cd, Cu, and Zn contamination. Banská Štiavnica-Šobov (S), Pezinok-Kolársky vrch (P) and Slovinky (Sl) represent contaminated localities. Locality Gabčíkovo (G) was as a control site. The influence of toxic elements in these substrates on fungal growth, colony size, enzymatic activity, production of organic acids and their pelletization in water suspensions with montmorillonite was studied. The aim of our study was to find out how the wild type strains from (contaminated) environment will behave in different model solutions. We also wanted to add some new information in this area of study, because that there is some gap in the available knowledge

Diversity of soil microscopic filamentous fungi in Dystric Cambisol at the Banská Štiavnica – Šobov (Slovakia) locality after application of remediation measures

This paper evaluates the effect of remediation at the site Banska Stiavnica - Sobov, which has been defined as an environmental burden. Remediation at the site, which is located in the protected landscape area Stiavnicke vrchy in central Slovakia, was undertaken 20 years ago. The area has been officially registered as an environmental burden since 1995. Mining activity induced soil pollution, surface and underground water pollution, destruction of vegetation cover and lower biodiversity at this site. To minimise these threats to the environment, remediation interventions took place from 1995 to 1999. The interventions were aimed at reducing acid mine drainage (AMD) from the heap. Measurements of basic chemical properties at the study area confirmed ongoing acidification, with an effect on soil properties. Acidification of the soil environment is also reflected in the composition of microscopic filamentous fungi, with the main domination of Penicillium species (20) and the random presence of Zygomycota species. The finding of the species Penicillium vulpinum and Trichophaea abundans was of interest. A low similarity of mycocoenoses was confirmed between a plot without vegetation cover or with only very rarely tufts of grass and showing a high level of water erosion (S1) and a plot covered with acidophilic plant species (S2). Similarity was higher between a plot without vegetation cover or with only very rarely tufts of grass and showing a high level of water erosion (S1) and a plot covered by compact meadow vegetation (S3), and the highest similarity was between samples from plots S2 and S3. It was also confirmed that the structure of microfungal communities is directly influenced by soil reaction (pH) and is closely linked to the soil type.Web of Science7672131212

Differences in metabolites production using the Biolog FF Microplate™ system with an emphasis on some organic acids of Aspergillus niger wild type strains

This paper investigates the differences in some metabolites using Biolog FF Microplate (TM) system and the production of organic acids such as beta-hydroxybutyric, p-hydroxyphenylacetic, and others. Another group of organic acids such as gluconic, oxalic and citric acid were studied during cultivation in a liquid medium. Four different Aspergillus niger (An) wild type strains were used as a model organism. Three strains, from the Banska Stiavnica - Sobov (An - S), Pezinok (An - P) and Slovinky (An - Sl) localities were isolated from contaminated old mining areas with soil with ultra acidic to strong alkaline reactions. The fourth strain isolated from the Gabcikovovo (An - G) locality was used for comparative purposes. According to the RAMP analysis, the strains are clustered into two groups, An - S and An - P (similarity 82%), An - G and An - Sl (similarity 64%) which correlates with the pH values of the original environment. However, significant differences were found in metabolic processes in the reaction with a wide range of organic acids. In general, the reactions with D-lactic acid and D-malic acid correlate with the results of the RAMP analysis of fungal genotype similarities, the An - S and An - P strains had an identical negative reaction, and an identical positive reaction was found in the An - Sl and An - G strains. During incubation the wild-type strains produced substantial amounts of gluconic acid, oxalic acid and small amounts of citric acid. The appearance and accumulation of organic acids was found to be highly pH dependent with the most active strain isolated from an ultra-acidic environment. The comparative strain differs entirely in the production of oxalic acid.Web of Scienc

Autochthonous microbiota in arsenic-bearing technosols from Zemianske Kostolany (Slovakia) and its potential for bioleaching and biovolatilization of arsenic

Studied technosols represent a unique system of a 50-year-old environmental burden after dam failure of coal-ash pond. The released ashes rich in arsenic with a thickness of 1–2 m were covered by a 40-cm thick layer of soil. Long-term exposure and selection pressure of elevated concentrations of arsenic (a range of 93–634 μg/g) induced the formation of the specific adapted autochthonous microorganisms. The phylum Proteobacteria was identified as a dominant phylum in the soils and represented only by one class—Gammaproteobacteria with six species. The species of phylum Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes and Actinobacteria were also identified. Thirty-three species of identified autochthonous microscopic fungi belong to 18 genera with the most abundant Mortierella alpina (Zygomycota). The most frequent identified mycobiota belongs to genera Penicillium, Aspergillus, Trichoderma and Alternaria. The isolates of Alternaria triticina, Bionectria ochroleuca, Chrysosporium queenslandicum, Exophiala psychrophila, Metarhizium robertsii, Trichoderma rossicum and Phlebia acerina were identified for the first time in Slovakia. Despite the stimulation of autochthonous community by nutrient medium and augmentation by native species, As leachability was relatively low—on average 5.63 wt.%, 9.23 wt.% and 17.04 wt.% of the total As for inoculated Pseudomonas chlororaphis ZK-1, Pseudomonas putida ZK-5 and Aspergillus niger, respectively. The highest As leachability was achieved through biostimulation of autochthonous microbiota using liquid SAB medium (34.73 wt.% of total As content). Additionally, microbial activity was efficient in the biovolatilization of As from soils (∼70 wt.% of the total As volatilized). It appears that bioremediation using microorganisms represents one of the possible ways of As removal from soils containing coal-combustion ashes with elevated concentrations of As.Web of Science2279art. no. 33

Учебная программа для специальности: 1-23 01 12 Музейное дело и охрана историко-культурного наследия (направление культурное наследие и туризм) (3 курс. дневн.)

Учебная программа составлена на основе учебной программы дисциплины «История музейного дела», утверждена 16.10.2011 г., регистрационный № УД – 4904/ баз

Soil Microbiota of Dystric Cambisol in the High Tatra Mountains (Slovakia) after Windthrow

There has been much more damage to forests in the Slovak Republic in the second half of the 20th century than to other European countries. Forested mountain massifs have become a filter of industrial and transportation emissions from abroad, as well as from domestic origins. There are not only acidic deposits of sulphur and heavy metals present in forest soils, but other additional environmental problems, such as climate change, storms, fires, floods, droughts, are worsening the situation. Therefore, forest terrestrial ecosystems are becoming more vulnerable due to changes in natural and environmental conditions. In the High Tatra Mountains in Slovakia, which are protected as a national park, four internationally monitored localities were established after the windthrow disaster in 2004 and fire in 2005: REF, with intact forest; EXT, with extracted wood mass; NEX, with non-extracted wood mass; and FIR, the burnt locality. Soils from these localities were microbiologically analysed with special attention to fungi. Bacterial microbiota detected by high-throughput sequencing showed the prevalence of the genera Acidothermus, Mycobacterium, and Nocardia, and a very low presence of the genera Acidibacter, Burkholderia-Paraburkholderia, Optitus and the uncultured genus Desulfurellaceae H16 in the soil sample from the burnt locality when compared with the unburned sites. Additionally, soil mycocoenoses showed a low similarity between the locality with an intact forest ecosystem and the localities with extracted (REF–EXT) and non-extracted (REF–NEX) wood mass. There was no similarity with the burnt locality (FIR), where heat-resistant fungi dominated. It was shown that the windthrow disaster and subsequent extraction or non-extraction of wood mass did not affect the soil microbial communities or their development. On the other hand, the influence of fire was significant

Alkaline Technosol contaminated by former mining activity and its culturable autochthonous microbiota

Technosols or technogenic substrates contaminated by potentially toxic elements as a result of iron mining causes not only contamination of the surrounding ecosystem but may also lead to changes of the extent, abundance, structure and activity of soil microbial community. Microbial biomass were significantly inhibited mainly by exceeding limits of potentially toxic metals as arsenic (in the range of 343 511 mg/kg), copper (in the range of 7980-9227 mg/kg), manganese (in the range of 2417-2670 mg/kg), alkaline and strong alkaline pH conditions and minimal contents of organic nutrients. All of the 14 bacterial isolates, belonged to 4 bacterial phyla, Actinobacteria, Firmicutes; beta-and gamma-Proteobacteria. Thirteen genera and 20 species of microscopic filamentous fungi were recovered. The most frequently found species belonged to genera Aspergillus (A. clavatus, A. niger, A. flavus, A. versicolor, Aspergillus sp.) with the dominating A. niger in all samples, and Penicillium (P. canescens, P. chrysogenum, P. spinulosum, Penicillium sp.). Fungal plant pathogens occurred in all surface samples. These included Bjerkandera adustata, Bionectria ochioleuca with anamorph state Clonostachys pseudochloleuca, Lewia infectoria, Phoma macrostoma and Rhizoctonia sp.Web of Science171968