20 research outputs found
Chain elongation in anaerobic reactor microbiomes to recover resources from waste
Different microbial pathways can elongate the carbon chains of molecules in open cultures of microbial populations (i.e. reactor microbiomes) under anaerobic conditions. Here, we discuss three such pathways: 1. homoacetogenesis to combine two carbon dioxide molecules into acetate; 2. succinate formation to elongate glycerol with one carbon from carbon dioxide; and 3. reverse ÎČ oxidation to elongate short-chain carboxylates with two carbons into medium-chain carboxylates, leading to more energy-dense and insoluble products (e.g. easier to separate from solution). The ability to use reactor microbiomes to treat complex substrates can simultaneously address two pressing issues: 1. providing proper waste management; and 2. producing renewable chemicals and fuels.The authors thank Wolfgang Bucket (MPI Marburg) for assistance with Figure 1. C.M.S. and L.T.A. were supported by the U. S. Army Research Laboratory and the U. S. Army Research Office under contract/grant number W911NF-12-1-0555. H.R. was supported for this work by the Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station federal formula funds, Project No. NYC-123452 received from the National Institutes for Food and Agriculture (NIFA), U.S. Department of Agriculture. K.R. was supported by the European Research Council Starter Grant Electrotalk and the Multidisciplinary Research Partnership Ghent Bio-Economy. A.J.M.S. was supported by the Chemical Sciences division of the Netherlands Science Foundation (CW-TOP 700.55.343) and the European Research Council (ERC grant 323009)
Family-Centered Preventive Intervention for Military Families: Implications for Implementation Science
In this paper, we report on the development and dissemination of a preventive intervention, Families OverComing Under Stress (FOCUS), an eight-session family-centered intervention for families facing the impact of wartime deployments. Specific attention is given to the challenges of rapidly deploying a prevention program across diverse sites, as well as to key elements of implementation success. FOCUS, developed by a UCLA-Harvard team, was disseminated through a large-scale demonstration project funded by the United States Bureau of Navy Medicine and Surgery (BUMED) beginning in 2008 at 7 installations and expanding to 14 installations by 2010. Data are presented to describe the range of services offered, as well as initial intervention outcomes. It proved possible to develop the intervention rapidly and to deploy it consistently and effectively
A communal catalogue reveals Earth's multiscale microbial diversity
Our growing awareness of the microbial world's importance and diversity contrasts starkly with our limited understanding of its fundamental structure. Despite recent advances in DNA sequencing, a lack of standardized protocols and common analytical frameworks impedes comparisons among studies, hindering the development of global inferences about microbial life on Earth. Here we present a meta-analysis of microbial community samples collected by hundreds of researchers for the Earth Microbiome Project. Coordinated protocols and new analytical methods, particularly the use of exact sequences instead of clustered operational taxonomic units, enable bacterial and archaeal ribosomal RNA gene sequences to be followed across multiple studies and allow us to explore patterns of diversity at an unprecedented scale. The result is both a reference database giving global context to DNA sequence data and a framework for incorporating data from future studies, fostering increasingly complete characterization of Earth's microbial diversity.Peer reviewe
A communal catalogue reveals Earthâs multiscale microbial diversity
Our growing awareness of the microbial worldâs importance and diversity contrasts starkly with our limited understanding of its fundamental structure. Despite recent advances in DNA sequencing, a lack of standardized protocols and common analytical frameworks impedes comparisons among studies, hindering the development of global inferences about microbial life on Earth. Here we present a meta-analysis of microbial community samples collected by hundreds of researchers for the Earth Microbiome Project. Coordinated protocols and new analytical methods, particularly the use of exact sequences instead of clustered operational taxonomic units, enable bacterial and archaeal ribosomal RNA gene sequences to be followed across multiple studies and allow us to explore patterns of diversity at an unprecedented scale. The result is both a reference database giving global context to DNA sequence data and a framework for incorporating data from future studies, fostering increasingly complete characterization of Earthâs microbial diversity
Long-Term <i>n</i>âCaproic Acid Production from Yeast-Fermentation Beer in an Anaerobic Bioreactor with Continuous Product Extraction
Multifunctional reactor microbiomes
can elongate short-chain carboxylic
acids (SCCAs) to medium-chain carboxylic acids (MCCAs), such as <i>n</i>-caproic acid. However, it is unclear whether this microbiome
biotechnology platform is stable enough during long operating periods
to consistently produce MCCAs. During a period of 550 days, we improved
the operating conditions of an anaerobic bioreactor for the conversion
of complex yeast-fermentation beer from the corn kernel-to-ethanol
industry into primarily <i>n</i>-caproic acid. We incorporated
and improved in-line, membrane liquidâliquid extraction to
prevent inhibition due to undissociated MCCAs at a pH of 5.5 and circumvented
the addition of methanogenic inhibitors. The microbiome accomplished
several functions, including hydrolysis and acidogenesis of complex
organic compounds and sugars into SCCAs, subsequent chain elongation
with undistilled ethanol in beer, and hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis.
The methane yield was 2.40 ± 0.52% based on COD and was limited
by the availability of carbon dioxide. We achieved an average <i>n-</i>caproate production rate of 3.38 ± 0.42 g L<sup>â1</sup> d<sup>â1</sup> (7.52 ± 0.94 g COD L<sup>â1</sup> d<sup>â1</sup>) with an <i>n</i>-caproate yield
of 70.3 ± 8.81% and an <i>n</i>-caproate/ethanol ratio
of 1.19 ± 0.15 based on COD for a period of âŒ55 days.
The maximum production rate was achieved by increasing the organic
loading rates in tandem with elevating the capacity of the extraction
system and a change in the complex feedstock batch