Project description:The increased urban pressures are often associated with specialization of microbial communities. Microbial communities being a critical player in the geochemical processes, makes it important to identify key environmental parameters that influence the community structure and its function.In this proect we study the influence of land use type and environmental parameters on the structure and function of microbial communities. The present study was conducted in an urban catchment, where the metal and pollutants levels are under allowable limits. The overall goal of this study is to understand the role of engineered physicochemical environment on the structure and function of microbial communities in urban storm-water canals. Microbial community structure was determined using PhyoChio (G3)
Project description:The increased urban pressures are often associated with specialization of microbial communities. Microbial communities being a critical player in the geochemical processes, makes it important to identify key environmental parameters that influence the community structure and its function.In this proect we study the influence of land use type and environmental parameters on the structure and function of microbial communities. The present study was conducted in an urban catchment, where the metal and pollutants levels are under allowable limits. The overall goal of this study is to understand the role of engineered physicochemical environment on the structure and function of microbial communities in urban storm-water canals.
Project description:The increased urban pressures are often associated with specialization of microbial communities. Microbial communities being a critical player in the geochemical processes, makes it important to identify key environmental parameters that influence the community structure and its function.In this proect we study the influence of land use type and environmental parameters on the structure and function of microbial communities. The present study was conducted in an urban catchment, where the metal and pollutants levels are under allowable limits. The overall goal of this study is to understand the role of engineered physicochemical environment on the structure and function of microbial communities in urban storm-water canals. Microbial community structure was determined using PhyoChio (G3) Water and sediment samples were collected after a rain event from Sungei Ulu Pandan watershed of >25km2, which has two major land use types: Residential and industrial. Samples were analyzed for physicochemical variables and microbial community structure and composition. Microbial community structure was determined using PhyoChio (G3)
Project description:In the search for sustainable drinking water, many countries are weighing up the benefits of advanced treatment technologies as a proactive measure to assist with the transformation of treated wastewater into a source of water used for the production of potable water. We investigated the biological effects along a pilot plant with an advanced water treatment process, using zebrafish embryos at different stages of development. The study took an innovative approach, comparing phenotypic observations with whole genome responses. This enabled us to keep an open mind about which chemicals might be influencing the biological activity. There was no evidence of acute toxicity at any stage of treatment, but distinctive abnormalities – skeletal, cardiovascular and pigmentation – occurred in a small proportion of embryos along the treatment process, and in a tap water, that were not detected in the aquarium water control. Reverse osmosis (RO) reduced the concentration of measured chemical contaminants in the water the most, whilst eliminating the occurrence of abnormalities detected in the fish. In contrast, advanced oxidation appeared to reverse the benefits of RO treatment by increasing the frequency of teratogenic and sub-lethal abnormalities seen in embryos. Genomic analysis found alterations to the retinoid system, which was consistent with the teratogenic abnormalities observed. In addition, we found evidence of changes to metabolic pathways, including tryptophan metabolism associated with the production of melatonin required for the control of normal circadian rhythms. Although we cannot extrapolate these preliminary findings in zebrafish embryos to human or environmental health, we show that underexplored forms of biological activity (that existing Test Guidelines are not designed to capture) occur in treated wastewater effluent, and/or may be created depending on the type of advanced treatment process used. Although the identity of the culprit chemicals are unknown at this time, our innovative approach highlights the need for more research into the effects of chemicals on the retinoid system (and metabolism).
Project description:The increased urban pressures are often associated with specialization of microbial communities. Microbial communities being a critical player in the geochemical processes, makes it important to identify key environmental parameters that influence the community structure and its function.In this proect we study the influence of land use type and environmental parameters on the structure and function of microbial communities. The present study was conducted in an urban catchment, where the metal and pollutants levels are under allowable limits. The overall goal of this study is to understand the role of engineered physicochemical environment on the structure and function of microbial communities in urban storm-water canals. Water and sediment samples were collected after a rain event from Sungei Ulu Pandan watershed of >25km2, which has two major land use types: Residential and industrial. Samples were analyzed for physicochemical variables and microbial community structure and composition. Functional gene abundance was determined using GeoChip.
Project description:Marine microbial communities are critical for biogeochemical cycles and the productivity of ocean ecosystems. Primary productivity, at the base of marine food webs, is constrained by nutrient availability in the surface ocean, and nutrient advection from deeper waters can fuel photosynthesis. In this study, we compared the transcriptional responses by surface microbial communities after experimental deep water mixing to the transcriptional patterns of in situ microbial communities collected with high-resolution automated sampling during a bloom in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. Transcriptional responses were assayed with the MicroTOOLs (Microbiological Targets for Ocean Observing Laboratories) marine environmental microarray, which targets all three domains of life and viruses. The experiments showed that mixing of deep and surface waters substantially affects the transcription of photosystem and nutrient response genes among photosynthetic taxa within 24 hours, and that there are specific responses associated with the addition of deep water containing particles (organisms and detritus) compared to filtered deep water. In situ gene transcription was most similar to that in surface water experiments with deep water additions, showing that in situ populations were affected by mixing of nutrients at the six sampling sites. Together, these results show the value of targeted metatranscriptomes for assessing the physiological status of complex microbial communities.
Project description:We established simple synthetic microbial communities in a microcosm model system to determine the mechanisms that underlay cross-feeding in microbial methane-consuming communities. Co-occurring strains from Lake Washington sediment were used that are involved in methane consumption, a methanotroph and two non-methanotrophic methylotrophs.
Project description:We reported the microbial communities in wastewater between conventional membrane bioreactor (MBR) system and biofilm MBR system using Illumina sequencing.