Screening and evaluation of some green algal strains (Chlorophyceae) isolated from freshwater and soda lakes for biofuel production

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Isolation and genome characterization of Lloviu virus from Italian Schreibers’ bent-winged bats

13 Pág.Lloviu cuevavirus (LLOV) was the first identified member of Filoviridae family outside the Ebola and Marburgvirus genera. A massive die-off of Schreibers’ bent-winged bats (Miniopterus schreibersii) in the Iberian Peninsula in 2002 led to its discovery. Studies with recombinant and wild-type LLOV isolates confirmed the susceptibility of human-derived cell lines and primary human macrophages to LLOV infection in vitro. Based on these data, LLOV is now considered as a potential zoonotic virus with unknown pathogenicity to humans and bats. We examined bat samples from Italy for the presence of LLOV in an area outside of the currently known distribution range of the virus. We detected one positive sample from 2020, sequenced the complete coding sequence of the viral genome and established an infectious isolate of the virus. In addition, we performed the first comprehensive evolutionary analysis of the virus, using the Spanish, Hungarian and the Italian sequences. The most important achievement of this article is the establishment of an additional infectious LLOV isolate from a bat sample using the SuBK12-08 cells, demonstrating that this cell line is highly susceptible to LLOV infection. These results further confirms the role of these bats as the host of this virus, possibly throughout their entire geographic range. This is an important result to further understand the role of bats as the natural hosts for zoonotic filoviruses.This work was supported by the National Research, Development and Innovation Office, Hungary under grants NKFIH FK131465 (G.K.) and FK137778 (T.G.), and RRF-2.3.1-21-2022-00010; and the National Institutes of Health under grant R21AI169646 (E.M.). T.G. was supported by the János Bolyai Research Scholarship of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.N

The effect of easily degradable substrate feeding on the community structure of laboratory-scale wastewater sludge digesters

The effect of several easily degradable substrates, such as protein, starch and sunflower oil was investigated on the bacterial community of a laboratory-scale biogas model system. Besides measuring gas yield, Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (DGGE), Phospholipids Fatty Acid Analysis (PLFA) for Bacteria and T-RFLP analysis of the mcrA gene for Archaea were used. The community of the examined biogas reactors adapted to the new substrates through a robust physiological reaction followed by moderate community abundance shifts. Gas yield data clearly demonstrated the physiological adaptation to substrate shifts. Statistical analysis of DNA and chemotaxonomic biomarkers revealed community abundance changes. Sequences gained from DGGE bands showed the dominance of the phyla Bacteroidetes and the presence of Firmicutes (Clostridia) and Thermotogae. This was supported by the detection of large amounts of branched 15-carbon non-hydroxy fatty acids in PLFA profiles, as common PLFA markers of the Bacteroidetes group. Minor abundance ratios changes were observed in the case of Archaea in accordance with changes of the fed substrates