Search results for "microorganism"
showing 10 items of 449 documents
Antimicrobial Properties of the Modified Cotton Textiles by the Sol-Gel Technology
2015
Comparison of the antimicrobial properties of textiles with amorphous coatings containing Zn and Si obtained by the sol-gel technology against microorganismsPseudomonas fluorescens,Saccharomyces cerevisae,Trichoderma viridethat can cause cotton textile destruction was made. Modified textile were evaluated using scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. Investigation of antimicrobial properties of the cotton fabric samples treated with different zinc acetate dihydrate concentration sols and various thermal post-treatments was made. Strong inhibition of microbial growth was detected for all cotton textile samples treated via sol-gel method according all tests microor…
Microbiological and physico-chemical aspects in dry-salted Spanish ham.
1988
The main microbiological and physico-chemical parameters in dry-salted ham previously selected were determined during the elaboration process. All determinations were performed at 2 levels: surface and internal. The selected microbiological parameters were: total aerobes, halotolerant, lactic acid bacteria, yeasts and hazardous microorganisms. NaCl, nitrate, nitrite, water activity, moisture, pH, temperature and loss of weight were selected for the physico-chemical study. All microbial groups showed a similar behaviour, increasing along the first stages up to the third month of drying, then decreasing to numbers similar to the initial ones. Only the halotolerants maintained fairly high numb…
The chemical composition of the flowers essential oil of Inula crithmoides (Asteraceae) growing in aeolian islands, Sicily (Italy) and its biocide pr…
2021
Essential oils have been used for a long time in several fields of interest. Recently, they have also been applied in the conservation of Cultural Heritage to contrast biodeterioration replacing the most current biocides toxic for humans and environment. Inula crithmoides L. (syn. Limbarda crithmoides (L.) Dumort) is a halophyte species distributed along the Mediterranean coasts and it is used as an edible vegetable since the young leaves or shoots are eaten raw or cooked. Several biological properties have been determined for this plant including antimicrobial activities. In this study the volatile composition of the aerial part of an accession from the Aeolian Islands, Sicily (Italy) is d…
Plant growth promoting potential of bacterial endophytes from three terrestrial mediterranean orchid species
2020
Orchids are highly dependent on symbiotic microorganisms during their entire life cycle. Whereas an important role in orchid seed germination and early plant development is well established for mycorrhizal fungi, the influence of endophytic bacteria on orchid growth has been less investigated. Here, we report the isolation of endophytic bacteria from different organs of three terrestrial Mediterranean orchid species (Spiranthes spiralis, Serapias vomeracea and Neottia ovata), the investigation of their potential Plant Growth-Promoting (PGP) traits and their interaction with the orchid mycorrhizal (OM) fungus Tulasnella calospora in vitro. Little overlap was found among endophytic bacteria i…
Restoration practices in Mediterranean habitats using native woody species
2017
Since the beginning of the XXI century, Legambiente (a national environmental association), supported by the University of Palermo, has launched several naturalization projects within three Sicilian nature reserves: 1)Isola di Lampedusa (Agrigento Province); 2)Macalube di Aragona (Agrigento Province); 3)Lago Sfondato (Caltanissetta Province). Interventions were carried out on bare lands and degraded sites where natural vegetation cover was almost completely disappeared. The main aim was to restore native habitats following the principles of ecological restoration. Accordingly, differently from the classical approach, consisting in the use of preparatory species, usually Pines, native shrubs…
Potential pitfalls of FISH microscopy as assessment method for anaerobic digesters
2016
AbstractIn the present work we investigated how the state of a biogas reactor impacts the enumeration of prokaryotic cells by fluorescencein situhybridisation (FISH). Therefore, the correlation between gas production and FISH hybridisation rates was analysed in different anaerobic digester sludges. High gasification activity coincided with high hybridisation rates. Low hybridisation rates were especially achieved with reactor samples subjected to long starvation periods showing low biogas production.Based on our findings we conclude that samples for FISH analysis should be fixed as soon as possible to prevent a loss of microbial activity resulting in lower FISH signals. Furthermore, the loc…
Microbial communities of the Mediterranean rocky coast: ecology and biotechnological potential
2018
AbstractMicrobial communities from harsh environments hold great promise as sources of biotechnologically-relevant strains. In the present work, we have deeply characterized the microorganisms from three different rocky locations of the Mediterranean coast, an environment characterised by being subjected to harsh conditions such as high levels of irradiation and large temperature and salinity fluctuations. Through culture-dependent and culture-independent techniques, we have retrieved a complete view of the ecology and functional aspects of these communities and assessed the biotechnological potential of the cultivable microorganisms. A culture-independent approach through high-throughput 1…
Geothermal Gases Shape the Microbial Community of the Volcanic Soil of Pantelleria, Italy
2020
The Favara Grande nature reserve on the volcanic island of Pantelleria (Italy) is known for its geothermal gas emissions and high soil temperatures. These volcanic soil ecosystems represent “hot spots” of greenhouse gas emissions. The unique community might be shaped by the hostile conditions in the ecosystem, and it is involved in the cycling of elements such as carbon, hydrogen, sulfur, and nitrogen. Our metagenome study revealed that most of the microorganisms in this extreme environment are only distantly related to cultivated bacteria. The results obtained profoundly increased the understanding of these natural hot spots of greenhouse gas production/degradation and will help to enrich …
Degradation of simazine by microorganisms isolated from soils of Spanish olive fields.
2005
Special Issue: Pesticides, Microbial Functions and Biodiversity in Soil; The capability of the microbial flora isolated from an olive field soil from Andalusia to mineralize simazine has been analyzed. From this soil, a group of bacteria capable of degrading 60 mg simazine litre-1 in less than a week has been isolated. These microorganisms showed a low capacity for degrading this herbicide to carbon dioxide. When total DNA was isolated from this group of bacteria, we were able to detect by PCR the presence of only the atzC and the trzN genes. Some components of this bacterial population have been identified by sequencing of specific fragments from bacterial 16S rDNA, including Variovorax sp…
Influence of the methodology of inoculation in the performance of air-breathing microbial fuel cells
2017
In this work, four air-breathing microbial fuel cells (AB-MFC) were operated for 1 month in order to determine if the methodology of inoculation affects the steady-state performance of this type of MFCs. For this purpose, anaerobic and aerobic sludge were fed to two identical AB-MFCs without any external carbon source into a tight sealed environment during the first three days of start-up. For comparison purposes, other two AB-MFCs were operated mixing the initial sludge and an amount of sodium acetate as substrate. Results point out that the inoculation procedure does not affect the steady-state treatment capacity of the cells but it affects very seriously the production of electricity. On…