Understanding the ecology of coniferous forests is very important because these environments represent globally largest carbon sinks. Metatranscriptomics, microbial community and enzyme analyses were combined to describe the detailed role of microbial taxa in the functioning of the Picea abies-dominated coniferous forest soil in two contrasting seasons. These seasons were the summer, representi...

Pressure-resistant circulating systems were constructed to enable the investigation of attached and unattached microbial populations under in situ pressure (2.5 MPa), diversity, dissolved gas and chemistry conditions. Three parallel flow cell cabinets were configured to allow observation of the effect on microbial metabolic activity of adding 3 mM hydrogen or 2.4 mM acetate, compared with an un...

A new epifluorescent microscopy based method using 5-cyano-2, 3-ditolyl tetrazolium chloride (CTC) and 5-(4,6-dichlorotriazinyl) aminofluoroscein (DTAF) was developed for quantifying total microbial biomass and evaluating levels of microbial activity. CTC is a tetrazolium dye that forms fluorescent intracellular formazan when biologically reduced by components of the electron transport system a...

Zero-valent iron (Fe0)-based permeable reactive barrier treatment has been generating great interest for passive groundwater remediation, yet few studies have paid particular attention to the microbial activity and characteristics within and in the vicinity of the Fe0-barrier matrix. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the microbial population and community composition in the reducing ...

Grassland managements can affect carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) storage in grassland ecosystems with consequent feedbacks to climate change. We investigated the impacts of compound fertilization and clipping on grass biomass, plant and soil (0-20 cm depth) C, N storage, plant and soil C: N ratios, soil microbial activity and diversity, and C, N sequestration rates in grassland in situ in the Natio...

We analyzed the regional distribution of bulk heterotrophic prokaryotic activity (leucine incorporation) and selected single-cell parameters (cell viability and nucleic acid content) as parameters for microbial functioning, as well as bacterial and archaeal community structure in the epipelagic (0 to 200 m) and mesopelagic (200 to 1,000 m) subtropical Northeast Atlantic Ocean. We selectively sa...

A new screening method for inhibitors of cellulose biosynthesis is described. This method utilized three microbial strains; a cellulose-containing fungus Phytophthora, and a cellulose non-containing fungus Candida, and a bacterial strain of Acetobacter, a cellulose-producing acetic acid bacterium. The primary screen examined microbial cultures for selective growth inhibition against Phytophthor...

Soil samples were collected at both jointing and maturing stages of maize and wheat to compare the effects of 4-year no-tillage (NT) and conventional tillage (CT) on seasonal variations of microbial biomass carbon (C), metabolic quotient, and invertase activity in a sandy loam soil in North China. Soil invertase activity significantly increased (P < 0.05) from summer to spring of the next year ...

It is often assumed that planted wastewater treatment systems outperform unplanted ones, mainly because plants stimulate belowground microbial population. Yet, fundamental interactions between plants and associated microorganisms remain only partly understood. The aim of our project was to evaluate microbial density and activity associated to the rhizosphere of three plant species. Experimental...

In this study, the construction a model distribution system suitable for studies of attached and suspended microbial activity in drinking water under controlled circumstances is outlined. The model system consisted of two loops connected in series with a total of 140 biofilm sampling points. The biofilm from the system was studied using 11 different microbial methods and the results were compar...