Deep-sea hydrothermal vents play an important role in global biogeochemical cycles, providing biological oases at the seafloor that are supported by the thermal and chemical flux from the Earth's interior. As hot, acidic and reduced hydrothermal fluids mix with cold, alkaline and oxygenated seawater, minerals precipitate to form porous sulphide-sulphate deposits. These structures provide microh...

This essay focuses on the theme of intersubjectivity, which is central to the entire Indo-Tibetan Buddhist tradition. It addresses the following five themes pertaining to Buddhist concepts of intersubjectivity: (1) the Buddhist practice of the cultivation of meditative quiescence challenges the hypothesis that individual human consciousness emerges solely from the dynamic interrelation of self ...

Interest in tillage impacts on sequestration of soil organic carbon (SOC) has increased greatly during recent years. The use of reduced and no-tillage (NT) practices generally increases the SOC concentration in surface few centimeters when compared to conventionally tilled soils. However, use of conservation tillage does not always result in increased SOC storage overall. The effects of sample ...

When cultured anaerobically in a chemically defined medium that was treated with Chelex-100 to lower its trace metal content, Streptococcus mutans OMZ176 had no apparent requirement for manganese or iron. Manganese or iron was necessary for aerobic cultivation in deep static cultures. During continuous aerobic cultivation in a stirred chemostat, iron did not support the growth rate achieved wit...

Plants depend upon beneficial interactions between roots and microbes for nutrient availability, growth promotion, and disease suppression. High-throughput sequencing approaches have provided recent insights into root microbiomes, but our current understanding is still limited relative to animal microbiomes. Here we present a detailed characterization of the root-associated microbiomes of the c...

In general, morphological, physiological, and biochemical properties of fungal cells are drastically different among solid-state (SSC), liquid-surface (LSC), and submerged cultivation (SmC) systems. In addition to these traditional cultivation systems, a unique liquid-surface cultivation [liquid-surface immobilization (LSI)] system and interface cultivation systems [extractive liquid-surface im...

Soil compaction was identified as the cause of ‘growth stunting disease’ in sultana grapes and ‘red death’ in cotton at the Lower Orange River and Vaalharts irrigation schemes. In an experiment growth stunting disease was eradicated completely and yields of sultanas increased substantially by deep cultivation, which eliminated compacted soil layers. Ripping increased the quality of tobacco, and...

Background: An economical and integrated high-throughput primary screening strategy was developed for high-aerobic microbe Monascus purpureus cultivation. A novel and effective mixture culture method was proposed and used to realize the whole mutant library being high-throughput screened after mutagenesis. Results: The good correlation of fermentation results between differing-scale cultivation...