Comparative Study on Multiway Enhanced Bio- and Phytoremediation of Aged Petroleum-Contaminated Soil

Bioremediation and phytoremediation of soil polluted with petroleum hydrocarbons (PHs) are an e ective and eco-friendly alternative to physicochemical methods of soil decontamination. These techniques can be supported by the addition of e ective strains and/or surface-active compounds. However, to obtain maximum e cacy of bioremediation, the interactions that occur between the microorganisms, enhancement factors and plants need to be studied. Our study aimed to investigate the removal of petroleum hydrocarbons from an aged and highly polluted soil (hydrocarbon content about 2.5%) using multiway enhanced bio- and phytoremediation. For this purpose, 10 enhanced experimental groups were compared to two untreated controls. Among the enhanced experimental groups, the bio- and phytoremediation processes were supported by the endophytic strain Rhodococcus erythropolis CDEL254. This bacterial strain has several plant growth-promoting traits and can degrade petroleum hydrocarbons and produce biosurfactants. Additionally, a rhamnolipid solution produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa was used to support the total petroleum hydrocarbon loss from soil. After 112 days of incubation, the highest PH removal (31.1%) was observed in soil planted with ryegrass (Lolium perenne L. cv. Pearlgreen) treated with living cells of the CDEL254 strain and rhamnolipid solution. For non-planted experimental groups, the highest PH loss (26.1%) was detected for soil treated with heat-inactivated CDEL254 cells and a rhamnolipid solution. In general, the di erences in the e cacy of the 10 experimental groups supported by plants, live/dead cells of the strain tested and rhamnolipid were not statistically significant. However, each of these groups was significantly more e ective than the appropriate control groups. The PH loss in untreated (natural attenuation) and soils that underwent phytoremediation reached a value of 14.2% and 17.4%, respectively. Even though the CDEL254 strain colonized plant tissues and showed high survival in soil, its introduction did not significantly increase PH loss compared to systems treated with dead biomass. These results indicate that the development of e ective biological techniques requires a customized approach to the polluted site and e ective optimization of the methods used

Fagi - cudowne leki?

Bacteriophages (phages, bacterial viruses) are intracellular parasites that for replication need bacterial cells. The attachment of the phage to the surface of the bacterium is a crucial step in the phage infections. For this purpose phages can use e.g. parts of bacterial capsule, flagellum or lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The observed increasing bacterial multidrug resistance, caused that the idea of the therapeutic application of phages is more real than ever before. Phage therapy can be based on the use of either natural or engineered bacteriophages. In the forties of the last century, phage therapy has been already utilized e.g. in the cure of the suppurating wounds, and infections of the upper respiratory tract. Bacteriophage therapy is believed to be potent not only in the treatment of plant, animal and human chronic bacterial infections, but also in controlling disease outbreaks. Another interesting aspect of phage application is the use of phage particles as enzyme inhibitors and as well as chemotherapeutic carrier; in production of vaccines and treatment of addictions. Moreover, phages are efficient in both killing the biofilm-forming bacteria and dissolving the organic biofilm matrix

White rot fungi can be a promising tool for removal of bisphenol A, bisphenol S, and nonylphenol from wastewate

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDC) are a wide group of chemicals that interfere with the endocrine system. Their similarity to natural steroid hormones makes them able to attach to hormone receptors, thereby causing unfavorable health effects. Among EDC, bisphenol A (BPA), bisphenol S (BPS), and nonylphenol (NP) seem to be particularly harmful. As the industry is experiencing rapid expansion, BPA, BPS, and NP are being produced in growing amounts, generating considerable environmental pollution. White rot fungi (WRF) are an conomical, ecologically friendly, and socially acceptable way to remove EDC contamination from ecosystems. WRF secrete extracellular ligninolytic enzymes such as laccase, manganese peroxidase, lignin peroxidase, and versatile peroxidase, involved in lignin deterioration. Owing to the broad substrate specificity of these enzymes, they are able to remove numerous xenobiotics, including EDC. Therefore, WRF seem to be a promising tool in the abovementioned EDC elimination during wastewater treatment processes. Here, we review WRF application for this EDC removal from wastewater and indicate several strengths and limitations of such methods

ECA - Wspólny antygen powierzchniowy pałeczek rodziny Enterobacteriaceae

Almost all the strains of bacteria belonging to the Enterobacteriaceae family share at least one common antigenic component, ECA, which is not present in other Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. From the observations made with immunofluorescence and immunoferritin techniques, it has been concluded that ECA is localized in the outer leaflet of the outer membrane of Gram-negative enteric bacteria. ECA is a glycolipid consisting of linear trisaccharide repeating units composed of [→3)-α-D-Fucp4NAc-(1→4)-β-D-ManpNAcA-(1→4)-α-D-GlcpNAc-(1→]. It occurs in three structural forms: ECAPG linked to phosphatidylglycerol, ECALPS anchored to LPS core region and ECACYC not expressed on the surface. ECA is believed to be connected to the LPS outer core. However, it should be emphasized that Yersinia enterocolitica serotype O:3 mutants defective in outer core synthesis were also ECA-immunogenic. The genes involved in ECA biosynthesis are located in the chromosomal wec gene cluster, from wecA to wecG and the ECA expressions is downregulated at host temperature. So far, ECA has been thoroughly analyzed at the structural and genetic level, however, its significance in vivo has been investigated in relatively few studies. ECA has been linked to pathogenesis in several species of bacteria, although this function seems to differ between the species. ECA has been shown to be involved in the flagellar assembly and motility in Serratia marcescens Also, the ECA-negative mutants of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium proved to be significantly less virulent than the parental strain. ECA as a marker of Enterobacteriaceae family is a valuable indicator of water and food contaminations with enteric bacteria

A comprehensive study on bisphenol A degradation by newly isolated strains Acinetobacter sp. K1MN and Pseudomonas sp. BG12

Bisphenol A (BPA) is an endocrine disrupting chemical. Its extensive use has led to the wide occurrence of BPA in various environmental ecosystems, at levels that may cause negative effects to the ecosystem and public health. Although there are many bacteria able to BPA utilization, only a few of them have a strong capacity for its biodegradation. Therefore, it is important to search for new bacteria strains, investigate their BPA biodegradation ability and potential effect of pH and other organic compounds on the process. These tasks have become the object of the present study. The results of our research show that for the newly isolated strains Acinetobacter sp. K1MN and Pseudomonas sp. BG12 after 15 days, with an initial BPA concentration of 100 mg L- 1, the highest BPA removal was achieved at pH 8, while sodium glutamate as a biostimulant best accelerated BPA degradation. Kinetic data for BPA biodegradation by both strains best fitted the Monod model. The specific degradation rate and the half saturation constant were estimated respectively as 8.75 mg L- 1 day- 1 and 111.27 mg L- 1 for Acinetobacter sp. K1MN, and 8.6 mg L- 1 day- 1 and 135.79 mg L- 1 for Pseudomonas sp. BG12. The half-maximal effective concentration (EC50) of BPA for Acinetobacter sp. K1MN was 120 mg L- 1 and for Pseudomonas sp. BG12 it was 123 mg L- 1. The toxicity bioassay (Microtox test) showed that elimination of BPA by both strains is accompanied by reduction of its toxic effect. The ability of tested strains to degrade BPA combined with their high resistance to this xenobiotic indicates that Acinetobacter sp. K1MN and Pseudomonas sp. BG12 are potential tools for BPA removal during wastewater treatment plant

A high manganese-tolerant pseudomonas sp. strain isolated from metallurgical waste heap can be a tool for enhancing manganese removal from contaminated soil

Manganese (Mn) is widely used in industry. However, its extensive applications have generated a great amount of manganese waste, which has become an ecological problem and has led to a decrease in natural resources. The use of microorganisms capable of accumulating Mn ions from contaminated ecosystems o ers a potential alternative for the removal and recovery of this metal. The main aim of this work was an investigation of removal potential of Mn from soil by isolated bacterial. For this purpose, eleven bacterial strains were isolated from the soil from metallurgical waste heap in Upper Silesia, Poland. Strain named 2De with the highest Mn removal potential was selected and characterized taking into account its ability for Mn sorption and bioaccumulation from soil and medium containing manganese dioxide. Moreover, the protein profile of 2De strain before and after exposition to Mn was analyzed using SDS/PAGE technique. The 2De strain was identified as a Pseudomonas sp. The results revealed that this strain has an ability to grow at high Mn concentration and possesses an enhanced ability to remove it from the solution enriched with the soil or manganese dioxide via a biosorption mechanism. Moreover, changes in cellular protein expression of the isolated strain were observed. This study demonstrated that autochthonous 2De strain can be an e ective tool to remove and recover Mn from contaminated soil

Interaction of human mannose-binding lectin (MBL) with Yersinia enterocolitica lipopolysaccharide

tThe lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is involved in the interaction between Gram-negative pathogenic bacteriaand host. Mannose-binding lectin (MBL), complement-activating soluble pattern-recognition receptortargets microbial glycoconjugates, including LPS. We studied its interactions with a set of Yersinia ente-rocolitica O:3 LPS mutants. The wild-type strain LPS consists of lipid A (LA) substituted with an inner coreoligosaccharide (IC) which in turn is substituted either with the O-specific polysaccharide (OPS) or theouter core hexasaccharide (OC), and sometimes also with the enterobacterial common antigen (ECA). TheLPS mutants produced truncated LPS, missing OPS, OC or both, or, in addition, different IC constituentsor ECA. MBL bound to LA-IC, LA-IC-OPS and LA-IC-ECA but not LA-IC-OC structures. Moreover, LA-IC sub-stitution with both OPS and ECA prevented the lectin binding. Sequential truncation of the IC heptosesdemonstrated that the MBL targets the IC heptose region. Furthermore, microbial growth temperatureinfluenced MBL binding; binding was stronger to bacteria grown at room temperature (22◦C) than to bac-teria grown at 37◦C. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that MBL can interact with Y. enterocoliticaLPS, however, the in vivo significance of that interaction remains to be elucidated

Serological characterization of the enterobacterial common antigen substitution of the lipopolysaccharide of "Yersinia enterocolitica" O:3

Enterobacterial common antigen (ECA) is a polysaccharide present in all members of Enterobacteriaceae anchored either via phosphatidylglycerol (PG) or LPS to the outer leaflet of the outer membrane (ECAPG and ECALPS, respectively). Only the latter form is ECAimmunogenic. We previously demonstrated that Yersinia enterocolitica O: 3 and its rough (Ospecific polysaccharide-negative) mutants were ECA-immunogenic, suggesting that they contained ECALPS; however, it was not known which part of the LPS core region was involved in ECA binding. To address this, we used a set of three deep-rough LPS mutants for rabbit immunization. The polyvalent antisera obtained were: (i) analysed for the presence of anti-LPS and anti-ECA antibodies; (ii) treated with caprylic acid (CA) to precipitate IgM antibodies and protein aggregates; and (iii) adsorbed with live ECA-negative bacteria to obtain specific anti-ECA antisera. We demonstrated the presence of antibodies specific for both ECAPG and ECALPS in all antisera obtained. Both CA treatment and adsorption with ECA-negative bacteria efficiently removed anti-LPS antibodies, resulting in specific anti-ECA sera. The LPS of the ECALPS-positive deepest-rough mutant contained only lipid A and 3-deoxy-D-manno-oct-2-ulosonic acid (Kdo) residues of the inner core, suggesting that ECALPS was linked to the Kdo region of LPS in Y. enterocolitica O:3

Outer Membrane Vesicles as Mediators of Plant–Bacterial Interactions

Plants have co-evolved with diverse microorganisms that have developed different mechanisms of direct and indirect interactions with their host. Recently, greater attention has been paid to a direct “message” delivery pathway from bacteria to plants, mediated by the outer membrane vesicles (OMVs). OMVs produced by Gram-negative bacteria play significant roles in multiple interactions with other bacteria within the same community, the environment, and colonized hosts. The combined forces of innovative technologies and experience in the area of plant–bacterial interactions have put pressure on a detailed examination of the OMVs composition, the routes of their delivery to plant cells, and their significance in pathogenesis, protection, and plant growth promotion. This review synthesizes the available knowledge on OMVs in the context of possible mechanisms of interactions between OMVs, bacteria, and plant cells. OMVs are considered to be potential stimulators of the plant immune system, holding potential for application in plant bioprotection