Diversity and biomass accumulation in cultured phototrophic biofilms

Molecular diversity of phototrophic biofilms on building stone.

Composition and diversity of aeroterrestrial phototrophic microbial communities are up to now poorly understood. Here, we present a comparative study addressing the composition of algal communities on sandstone substrata based upon the analysis of rRNA gene clone libraries from environmental samples and crude cultures. From a west-facing, shaded wall area of the mediaeval castle ruin Gleichen (...

Electroactivity of Phototrophic River Biofilms and Constitutive

Modeling phototrophic biofilms in a plug-flow reactor.

The use of phototrophic biofilms in wastewater treatment has been recognized as a potential option for development of new reactor configurations. For better understanding of these systems, a numerical model was developed including relevant microbial processes. As a novelty, this model was implemented in COMSOL Multiphysics, a modern computational environment for complex dynamic models. A two-di...

Carbon isotope fractionation in developing natural phototrophic biofilms

1 Department of Marine Microbiology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology – KNAW, P.O. Box 140, 4400 AC Yerseke, The Netherlands 2 Marine Biological Laboratory, Institute of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Strandpromenaden 5, 3000 Helsingør, Denmark 3 Department of Environmental Biotechnology, TU Delft, Julianalaan 67, 2628 BC Delft, The Netherlands * now at: Department of Environmental Biotechn...

Electroactivity of phototrophic river biofilms and constitutive cultivable bacteria.

Electroactivity is a property of microorganisms assembled in biofilms that has been highlighted in a variety of environments. This characteristic was assessed for phototrophic river biofilms at the community scale and at the bacterial population scale. At the community scale, electroactivity was evaluated on stainless steel and copper alloy coupons used both as biofilm colonization supports and...