Applied and Environmental Science
Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceExoenzymes as a Signature of Microbial Response to Marine Environmental ConditionsMicrobes release exoenzymes into the environment to break down complex organic matter and nutrients into simpler forms that can be assimilated and utilized, thereby addressing their cellular carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus requirements. Despite its importance, the factors associated with the synthesis of exoenzymes are not clearly defined, especially for the marine environment. Here, we found that exoenzymes associated with nitrogen...
Sponsored Content Minireview | Applied and Environmental ScienceEnergetic Basis of Microbial Growth and Persistence in Desert EcosystemsMicrobial life is surprisingly abundant and diverse in global desert ecosystems. In these environments, microorganisms endure a multitude of physicochemical stresses, including low water potential, carbon and nitrogen starvation, and extreme temperatures. In this review, we summarize our current understanding of the energetic mechanisms and trophic dynamics that underpin microbial function in desert ecosystems. Accumulating evidence...
Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceTracking the Dairy Microbiota from Farm Bulk Tank to Skimmed Milk PowderMicroorganisms can enter and persist in dairy at several stages of the processing chain. Detection of microorganisms within dairy food processing is currently a time-consuming and often inaccurate process. This study provides evidence that high-throughput sequencing can be used as an effective tool to accurately identify microorganisms along the processing chain. In addition, it demonstrates that the populations of microbes change from...
Editor's Pick Minireview | Applied and Environmental Science2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic: Built Environment Considerations To Reduce TransmissionWith the rapid spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that results in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), corporate entities, federal, state, county, and city governments, universities, school districts, places of worship, prisons, health care facilities, assisted living organizations, daycares, homeowners, and other building owners and occupants have an opportunity to reduce the potential for...
Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceStructural and Functional Changes in Prokaryotic Communities in Artificial Pit Mud during Chinese Baijiu ProductionStrong-flavor baijiu (SFB) accounts for more than 70% of all Chinese liquor production. In the Chinese baijiu brewing industry, artificial pit mud (APM) has been widely used since the 1960s to construct fermentation cellars for production of high-quality SFB. To gain insights at the systems level into the mechanisms driving APM prokaryotic taxonomic and functional dynamics and into how this variation is connected with high-quality SFB...
Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceFORENSIC: an Online Platform for Fecal Source IdentificationFORENSIC is an online platform to identify sources of fecal pollution without the need to create reference libraries. FORENSIC is based on the ability of random forest classification to extract cohesive source microbial signatures to create classifiers despite individual variability and to detect the signatures in environmental samples. We primarily focused on defining sewage signals, which are associated with a high human health risk...
Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceDairy Products and Dairy-Processing Environments as a Reservoir of Antibiotic Resistance and Quorum-Quenching Determinants as Revealed through Functional MetagenomicsThe study shows the potential of functional metagenomics analyses to uncover the diversity of functions in microbial communities prevailing in dairy products and their processing environments, evidencing that lactic acid bacteria (LAB) dominate the cheese microbiota, whereas Gram-negative microorganisms of animal or soil origin dominate the microbiota of milk and cheese-processing environments. The functional and in silico...
Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceMetagenome Mining Reveals Hidden Genomic Diversity of Pelagimyophages in Aquatic EnvironmentsSAR11 clade members are among the most abundant bacteria on Earth. Their study is complicated by their great diversity and difficulties in being grown and manipulated in the laboratory. On the other hand, and due to their extraordinary abundance, metagenomic data sets provide enormous richness of information about these microbes. Given the major role played by phages in the lifestyle and evolution of prokaryotic cells, the contribution...
Editor's Pick Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceValidating the Cyc2 Neutrophilic Iron Oxidation Pathway Using Meta-omics of Zetaproteobacteria Iron Mats at Marine Hydrothermal VentsIron oxides are important components of our soil, water supplies, and ecosystems, as they sequester nutrients, carbon, and metals. Microorganisms can form iron oxides, but it is unclear whether this is a significant mechanism in the environment. Unlike other major microbial energy metabolisms, there is no marker gene for iron oxidation, hindering our ability to track these microbes. Here, we investigate a promising possible iron...
Methods and Protocols | Applied and Environmental ScienceVisualizing Microbial Community Dynamics via a Controllable Soil EnvironmentMicrobial communities are key components of the soil ecosystem. Recent advances in metagenomics and other omics capabilities have expanded our ability to characterize the composition and function of the soil microbiome. However, characterizing the spatial metabolic and morphological diversity of microbial communities remains a challenge due to the dynamic and complex nature of soil microenvironments. The SoilBox system, demonstrated in...