Home Sweet Home: Setting the Best Thriving Conditions for the Ad Hoc Engineered Microbial Consortium in the Zero Mile System

Wastewaters from household appliances, such as dishwashers and washing machines, are an untapped resource of recoverable water and/or nutrients. The Zero Mile system has been developed to reuse/upcycle dishwasher wastewaters through bioremediation activity carried out by an ad hoc engineered phototrophic/heterotrophic microbial consortium. The choice of both suitable microorganisms for engineering consortia and detailed knowledge on their structure, behaviour and interaction are essential to optimising consortium culture conditions and drive the biofilter container design (structure and topology). To these aims, the effect of abiotic conditions (i.e., irradiance, pH and organic load) on the microbial consortium growth and its capability to survive and thrive in different dishwasher wastewater dilutions have been evaluated. At the same time, the crucial interplay between biological and design research has allowed us to define the characteristics of the biofilter container and plan its development for the industrial application of the Zero Mile system, bringing sustainability benefits as it moves household wastewater from a traditional linear model to a more sustainable, circular approach

Freshwater plastisphere: a review on biodiversity, risks, and biodegradation potential with implications for the aquatic ecosystem health

The plastisphere, a unique microbial biofilm community colonizing plastic debris and microplastics (MPs) in aquatic environments, has attracted increasing attention owing to its ecological and public health implications. This review consolidates current state of knowledge on freshwater plastisphere, focussing on its biodiversity, community assembly, and interactions with environmental factors. Current biomolecular approaches revealed a variety of prokaryotic and eukaryotic taxa associated with plastic surfaces. Despite their ecological importance, the presence of potentially pathogenic bacteria and mobile genetic elements (i.e., antibiotic resistance genes) raises concerns for ecosystem and human health. However, the extent of these risks and their implications remain unclear. Advanced sequencing technologies are promising for elucidating the functions of plastisphere, particularly in plastic biodegradation processes. Overall, this review emphasizes the need for comprehensive studies to understand plastisphere dynamics in freshwater and to support effective management strategies to mitigate the impact of plastic pollution on freshwater resources

Evaluating biomass of Baltic filamentous cyanobacteria by image analysis

The biovolume of heterocystous cyanobacteria in the Central Baltic Sea was determined in natural, mixed-species samples by image analysis. Epifluorescence microscopy combined with computer-mediated image analysis was used to distinguish phycobiliprotein autofluorescent filaments of Anabaena, Aphanizomenon and Nodularia from other phytoplankters collected on membrane filters. A detailed description is given of the method based on the automatic measurement of single filament morphometry. Manual interactions and mathematical corrections were necessary during image processing to overcome filament overlapping and curvature on filters as well as the coiling of Nodularia spp.. The autofluorescence patchiness of Aphanizomenon sp. made it necessary to trace its dimensions manually. The data obtained were used to estimate variations in the vertical distribution of the biomass of the 3 cyanobacterial genera over a diel cycle