This paper reports on continuing research at Coventry University into the improvement of highway water quality following flow through a permeable pavement. Such pavements have been shown elsewhere to be efficient in-situ bio-reactors, capable of degrading large quantities of clean motor oil. Further laboratory research, reported here, demonstrates that a commercially obtained oil degrading, mic...

Rheinheimera sp. strain F8 is a biofilm-forming gammaproteobacterium that has been found to produce large amounts of filamentous extracellular DNA. Here, we announce the de novo assembly of its genome. It is estimated to be 4,464,511 bp in length, with 3,970 protein-coding sequences and 92 RNA-coding sequences.

Methyl-Coenzyme M reductase (MCR) as key enzyme for methanogenesis as well as for anaerobic oxidation of methane represents an important metabolic marker for both processes in microbial biofilms. Here, the potential of MCR-specific polyclonal antibodies as metabolic marker in various methanogenic Archaea is shown. For standard growth conditions in laboratory culture, the cytoplasmic localizatio...

Bacteria attached to surfaces in biofilms are responsible for the contamination of industrial processes and many types of microbial infections and disease. Once established, biofilms are notoriously difficult to eradicate. A more complete understanding of how biofilms form and behave is crucial if we are to predict, and ultimately control, biofilm processes. A major breakthrough in biofilm rese...

High sensitivity methods such as next generation sequencing and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) are adversely impacted by organismal and DNA contaminants. Current methods for detecting contaminants in microbial materials (genomic DNA and cultures) are not sensitive enough and require either a known or culturable contaminant. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) is a promising approach for detecting co...

While drinking water biofilms have been characterized in various drinking water distribution systems (DWDS), little is known about the impact of different DNA extraction methods on the subsequent analysis of microbial communities in drinking water biofilms. Since different DNA extraction methods have been shown to affect the outcome of microbial community analysis in other environments, it is n...