Recent advances in extracellular biopolymer flocculants

Extracellular biopolymer flocculants (EBFs) are flocculating substances, consisting of polysaccharides, proteins, and lipids, which are secreted in the culture broth by many microorganisms. Some of EBFs have attracted much attention as biodegradable and nontoxic substitutes for conventional chemical flocculants. This paper reviews the recent development of EBFs. Aspects discussed include an introduction to conventional chemical flocculants and EBFs, isolation of novel bioflocculant-producing microorganisms, culture conditions, chemical structure and molecular weight of EBFs, the physico-chemical factors affecting flocculating activity, fermentation process design and recent and emerging application fields of EBFs.     

絮凝微生物采收微藻的作用机制研究进展

微藻广泛分布于自然界,其易培养,生长快且应用价值高,普遍用于生物燃料、医学原料、优质食品源及畜牧养殖业等。近年来,通过对光生物反应器改造设计、高产藻株筛选、代谢通路基因改造等方法实现微藻产量的提高,而在微藻处理的下游过程的研究与创新不足,特别是微藻采收已经成为其产业发展的瓶颈。本文综述了絮凝法在微藻采收中的作用,重点讨论了絮凝微生物在微藻采收中的作用,并对絮凝微生物对微藻的絮凝机制进行广泛探讨,为絮凝微生物采收微藻提供理论依据。     

Recent advances in polysaccharide bio-based flocculants

Natural polysaccharides, derived from biomass feedstocks, marine resources, and microorganisms, have been attracting considerable attention as benign and environmentally friendly substitutes for synthetic polymeric products. Besides many other applications, these biopolymers are rapidly emerging as viable alternatives to harmful synthetic flocculating agents for the removal of contaminants from water and wastewater. In recent years, a great deal of effort has been devoted to improve the production and performance of polysaccharide bio-based flocculants. In this review, current trends in preparation and chemical modification of polysaccharide bio-based flocculants and their flocculation performance are discussed. Aspects including mechanisms of flocculation, biosynthesis, classification, purification and characterization, chemical modification, the effect of physicochemical factors on flocculating activity, and recent applications of polysaccharide bio-based flocculants are summarized and presented.     

Species selection in a reactor-settler system

The competition between flocculating and nonflocculating microorganisms was investigated in a continuous reactor-settler system (e.g. activated sludge). Co existence states were found to be possible, over a certain domain of operating conditions, even with simple monotonic kinetics and simple competition. Multiple solutions exist when coexistence states are unstable. Coexistence solutions are stable when the flocculating bacteria grow faster at feed conditions as in the activated sludge problem. The analysis applies to one or several mixed or plug flow reactors. Other effects, such as enrichment of the recycle stream by the flocculating microorganism or substrate adsorption and storage, may change the structure of solution.     

Chemical and autoflocculation of microorganisms in biological wastewater treatment

Experimental evidence is presented which indicates that both chemical and autoflocculation of microorganisms occur by the same mechanism. Basically, long chain polymeric species attach themselves between the microbial particles and agglomerate them into flocculant particles of sufficient magnitude to subside from suspension under quiescent conditions. Properties of the polymers which are produced during autoflocculation are investigated and these polymers are shown to be capable of causing the agglutination of inorganic colloids such as alumina. It is hypothesized that these biologically generated flocculating polymers could belong to a class of compounds known as transport enzymes. The experimental data qualitatively agrees with this hypothesis.     

Bioflocculant production by culture of Serratia ficaria and its application in wastewater treatment

A bioflocculant-producing bacterium was isolated from soil and identified as Serratia ficaria. Using optimized culture conditions a flocculating activity of 95.4% was obtained. It was found to be effective for flocculation of a kaolin suspension over weakly acidic pH (5-7); divalent cations (Ca2+ and Mg2+) enhanced the flocculating activity, while the co-presence of Al3+ and Fe3+ resulted the negative effect. Measurements of zeta potential revealed that charge neutralization played an important role in the flocculation. It could flocculate a variety of real wastewaters, including river water, brewery wastewater, meat processing wastewater and soy sauce brewing wastewater. The bioflocculant was also used to treat pulp effluent, and the removal rate of color and chemical oxygen demand (COD) were up to 99.9% and 72.1%, respectively, which were better than traditional chemical flocculants.     

微生物絮凝剂及其产生菌的研究新进展

介绍了近几年来国内外微生物絮凝剂及其产生菌的一些发展概况,列举了近几年一些研究较深入的胞外生物高聚物絮凝剂的物质属性和化学组成.重点讨论了胞外生物高聚物絮凝剂的成分分析、絮凝机理以及影响絮凝活性的因素,详细综述了絮凝剂产生菌的遗传学和代谢机理方面的研究进展,文章最后提出微生物絮凝剂的发展趋势和研究方向.     

Microbial flocculant from Arcuadendron sp. TS-49

Summary A flocculant was purified from the culture broth of Archuadendron sp. TS-49 by a series of precipitations with acetone, 60% ammonium sulfate-butanol, salting-out by dialysis, and cetylpyridinium chloride. The flocculating activity was observed most highly at pH 3.0 and markedly enhanced by the addition of salts, especially in the case of FeCl₃ or FeSO₄. This bioflocculant efficiently flocculated all tested solids, including various microorganisms and organic/ inorganic materials. Qualitative analyses of the bioflocculant showed that it might contain hexosamine, uronic acid, neutral sugar, and protein.     

天然碱碱泥分离用微生物絮凝剂产生菌的筛选

为解决内蒙天然碱泥分离的问题,从土壤、污水和活性污泥中,经初筛得到的57株产絮凝剂菌株,均有絮凝活性。并通过复筛从中筛选出絮凝活性较高、性状相对更稳定的2株菌株W23和L42。细菌的全培养液对强碱性的天然碱碱泥具有较强絮凝作用,其平均絮凝率分别达到79.80%和87.96%。     

微生物絮凝剂产生菌的筛选及其培养条件优化

从广西大学食用菌废弃料中分离出7株絮凝剂产生菌,以发酵液对高岭土悬浮液絮凝效果为指标衡量其絮凝活性及产絮凝剂能力,经过初筛与复筛,筛选到一株絮凝剂高产菌F00,初步确定属曲霉属(Aspergillus),并对其产生絮凝剂的条件进行优化.     

Algal autoflocculation--verification and proposed mechanism

Biomass autoflocculation in outdoor algal cultures was found to be associated with increases of culture pH levels, due to CO(2) consumption by the algal photosynthetic activity. Under these alkaline conditions, some medium chemical ions precipitated together with the algal biomass. The chemical substances involved with the process and its dependence on pH value were studied by simulation of autoflocculation in laboratory experiments. Proper concentrations of calcium and orthophosphate ions in the medium are important for autoflocculation and, in order to attain it within the pH range 8.5-9.0, the culture should contain 0.1mM-0.2mM orthophosphate and 1.5mM-2.5mM calcium prior to raising the pH level. Calcium phosphate precipitates are considered as the flocculating agent which reacts with the negatively charged surface of the algae and promotes aggregation and flocculation.     

Harvesting of microalgae by bio-flocculation

The high-energy input for harvesting biomass makes current commercial microalgal biodiesel production economically unfeasible. A novel harvesting method is presented as a cost and energy efficient alternative: the bio-flocculation by using one flocculating microalga to concentrate the non-flocculating microalga of interest. Three flocculating microalgae, tested for harvesting of microalgae from different habitats, improved the sedimentation rate of the accompanying microalga and increased the recovery of biomass. The advantages of this method are that no addition of chemical flocculants is required and that similar cultivation conditions can be used for the flocculating microalgae as for the microalgae of interest that accumulate lipids. This method is as easy and effective as chemical flocculation which is applied at industrial scale, however in contrast it is sustainable and cost-effective as no costs are involved for pre-treatment of the biomass for oil extraction and for pre-treatment of the medium before it can be re-used.     

Flocculant Production by Paecilomyces sp. Taxonomic Studies and Culture Conditions for Production

Screening of microorganisms producing a new kind of flocculating substance was carried out. A fungus that produced a large amount of a strong microbial cell flocculant was isolated from soil. The fungus was classified as a Paecilomyces species. The substance produced showed very interesting and unique flocculation characteristics. It could efficiently flocculate all tested suspended solids in aqueous solution, and flocculation was practically not affected by ionic strength, pH or temperature.

The influence of components of the culture medium upon the flocculant production by Paecilomyces sp. 1-1 was studied. Addition of hydrolysates of casein such as casamino acid and polypeptone stimulated the production of the flocculant. A high concentration of calcium ions also significantly increased the mycelial growth and the production of the flocculant. Under the optimum cultural conditions, a 500-fold dilution of the culture filtrate could efficiently flocculate and sediment E. coli cells.     

High ecosystem stability of evergreen broadleaf forests under severe droughts

Global increase in drought occurrences threatens the stability of terrestrial ecosystem functioning. Evergreen broadleaf forests (EBFs) keep leaves throughout the year, and therefore could experience higher drought risks than other biomes. However, the recent temporal variability of global vegetation productivity or land carbon sink is mainly driven by non‐evergreen ecosystems, such as semiarid grasslands, croplands, and boreal forests. Thus, we hypothesize that EBFs have higher stability than other biomes under the increasingly extreme droughts. Here we use long‐term Standardized Precipitation and Evaporation Index (SPEI) data and satellite‐derived Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) products to quantify the temporal stability (ratio of mean annual EVI to its SD), resistance (ability to maintain its original levels during droughts), and resilience (rate of EVI recovering to pre‐drought levels) at biome and global scales. We identified significantly increasing trends of annual drought severity (SPEI range: ?0.08 to ?1.80), area (areal fraction range: 2%–19%), and duration (month range: 7.9–9.1) in the EBF biome over 2000–2014. However, EBFs showed the highest resistance of EVI to droughts, but no significant differences in resilience of EVI to droughts were found among biomes (forests, grasslands, savannas, and shrublands). Global resistance and resilience of EVI to droughts were largely affected by temperature and solar radiation. These findings suggest that EBFs have higher stability than other biomes despite the greater drought exposure. Thus, the conservation of EBFs is critical for stabilizing global vegetation productivity and land carbon sink under more‐intense climate extremes in the future.     

微生物絮凝剂的研制——菌种选育、絮凝效果及提取工艺

从土壤、河泥、活性污泥中分离出 75 2株细菌 ,以发酵液对高岭土悬浮液絮凝效果中国石油化工股份有限公司科学技术研究开发资金资助项目 (No . 990 0 1 8)收稿日期 :2 0 0 0 0 4 0 3 ,修改日期 :2 0 0 0 1 2 3 0为指标 ,筛选出 1株絮凝剂产生高效菌。该菌在实验室培养条件下 ,以 0 2mL/3 0mL接种量 ,5h种龄的种子液接种 ,2 5℃、pH7摇床培养 3d可达最高絮凝活性。最佳培养基配方为 :葡萄糖 2 0g ,尿素 0 3g ,酵母膏 0 6g ,Na     

Production and characterization of bioflocculants from bacteria isolated from wastewater treatment plant in South Africa

Bioflocculants produced by six bacteria obtained from activated sludge at a wastewater treatment plant were quantified, purified, and characterized. Effects of pH, temperature, cationic salt content, and specific potential inhibitors on the flocculating activities of the bioflocculants were also determined. Bioflocculants produced by the different bacterial isolates ranged between 6.33 and 27.66 g/L in concentration and were composed of both carbohydrate and protein in varying amounts, as well as a relatively high concentration of uronic acid. The flocculating activity of the broth culture increased during the logarithmic phase of bacterial growth with a maximum ranging from 2.395 to 3.709/OD. Optimum pH for the flocculating activity of the bioflocculants was between 8 and 9, with generally higher flocculating activity observed at 28°C. Of the cations tested, Mg²⁺ and Mn²⁺ improved flocculating activity up to 5.2 fold. The stability of these bacterial bioflocculants under various environmental and nutritional conditions suggests their possible use in the industries and environmental applications. Therefore, this study details important implications in providing a safer alternative flocculation method for wastewater treatment.     

Effect of mass transfer resistance on the Lineweaver-Burk plots for flocculating microorganisms

It is shown that the mass transfer resistance can significantly distort the linearity of the Lineweaver-Burk plot of the kinetic data for a microbial culture which forms aggregates. For small flocs, the linearity of the Lineweaver-Burk plot is largely retained, but a different slope and intercept will be obtained compared with flocs free from mass transfer resistance. For large flocs, the Lineweaver-Burk plot shows pronounced curvature at high limiting substrate concentrations. Hence, if the true intrinsic kinetic parameters are to be extracted from a highly flocculating microbial culture, sufficient agitation has to be provided to remove the effect of mass transfer resistance. If the behavior of the flocculating microbial culture is to be explored, additional values for some physical parameters, such as the effective diffusion coefficient of the substrate in floc, the floc density, and the mean floc radius, are needed.     

植物根际微生物群落构建的研究进展

植物根际是指植物根系与土壤的交界面,是根系自身生命活动和代谢对土壤影响最直接、最强烈的区域,其物理、化学和生物性质不同于土体土壤。在这个区域里,与植物发生相互作用的大量微生物,被称为根际微生物。根际微生物在植物的生长发育和植物病虫害的生物防治等方面都具有十分重要的意义。本文总结了根际微生物群落构建的研究现状,介绍了根际微生物的经典和最新的研究方法,包括根箱法、同位素技术以及高通量测序、菌群定量分析、高通量分离培养等方法在根际微生物研究中的应用,讨论了植物根系分泌物(碳水化物、氨基酸、黄酮类、酚类、激素及其信号物质)和土壤物理化学性质对根际微生物群落的影响,概述了根际微生物-植物的互作机制,以及根际微生物群落对植物的促生作用、提高植物抗逆性和抑制作用,并对根际微生物群落研究中存在的问题和未来发展方向进行了展望。     

Physical properties of an extracellular polysaccharide produced by Bacillus sp. CP912

AIMS: In this study, some physical properties of Bacillus sp. exo-polysaccharide were investigated. METHODS AND RESULTS: An extracellular polysaccharide was purified by sequential precipitations after homogenization of the diluted culture supernatant of Bacillus sp. CP912. Its physical properties were examined such as lipid emulsifying effect on several vegetable oils and flocculating activity against the activated carbon suspension. The melting point and endothermic calories of the polysaccharide were 128.7 degrees C and 50.864 kCal mol-1, respectively. Its pyrolysis temperature was 284.58 degrees C. The polysaccharide showed high lipid emulsifying activity on oil-water emulsion, against olive, peanut, sunflower and corn oils. It exhibited high flocculating activity as well against activated carbon. CONCLUSIONS: The present findings suggest that the extracellular polysaccharide produced by Bacillus sp. CP912 has a great industrial potential because of its high lipid emulsifying and flocculating activity. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: These data represent a novel Bacillus sp. extracellular polysaccharide possessing high emulsifying and flocculating effects.     

Applications of yeast flocculation in biotechnological processes

A review on the main aspects associated with yeast flocculation and its application in biotechnological processes is presented. This subject is addressed following three main aspects—the basics of yeast flocculation, the development of “new” flocculating yeast strains and bioreactor development. In what concerns the basics of yeast flocculation, the state of the art on the most relevant aspects of mechanism, physiology and genetics of yeast flocculation is reported. The construction of flocculating yeast strains includes not only the recombinant constitutive flocculent brewer's yeast, but also recombinant flocculent yeast for lactose metabolisation and ethanol production. Furthermore, recent work on the heterologous β-galactosidase production using a recombinant flocculentSaccharomyces cerevisiae is considered. As bioreactors using flocculating yeast cells have particular properties, mainly associated with a high solid phase hold-up, a section dedicated to its operation is presented. Aspects such as bioreactor productivity and culture stability as well as bioreactor hydrodynamics and mass transfer properties of flocculating cell cultures are considered. Finally, the paper concludes describing some of the applications of high cell density flocculation bioreactors and discussing potential new uses of these systems.