Genetic Bioengineering in the Achievement of Algae Biofuels and High-Value Bio-products

The dependence to fossil fuels has increased the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.That is why,the production of renewable and sustainable biofuels has gained a long-term importance for both scientific and political necessities.In this context,algae are promising in terms of alternative biofuels resources.For this reason,intensive scientific researches have been carried out in recent years on providing optimum efficiency in this regard.Bioengineering is a discipline that applies engineering principles of design and analysis to biological systems and biomedical technologies.Examples of bioengineering research include bacteria or microalgae engineered to produce valuable bioactive chemicals.Microalgae by target gene modification may serve as a promising source for the production of biofuels and bio-based chemicals.A lot of research has been carried out by applying microalgae genomic editing technique with the aim to produce numerous biotechnological products.Some successful previously reported research and production activities are still underway in this area.However,in order to produce the desired products efficiently with manipulated microalgae biorefinery,there is a need to overcome the problem of low biomass production despite high production costs.The aim of this work is to give special attention to the rich potential content of microalgae and to provide information on algal genetic manipulations to increase products by bioengineering methods.

Functionally assessing the sustainability of regional ecosystem services:a case study of Hohhot City

"The value of the world’s ecosystem services and natural capital" by R.Costanza et al.in 1997 is generally regarded as a monument to the research of valuing ecosystem services.However,the classification of ecosystem services,the method of various services summation,and the purpose for static global value had many criticisms.Based on a summary of these criticisms and suggestions,further study direction—on the sustainability of ecosystem services—is presented.The two basis indicators in ecology—productivity and biodiversity,respectively characterize the ability of producing and self-organizing—not only represent the internal function of ecosystem,but also can be proportioned to its external function of supporting and providing for human life.Theoretically,the two indicators combined could physically assess the sustainability of ecosystem services based on the traditional procedure of Costanza’s.The case study of Hohhot City in 1995-2005 shows that the new model reflects the changes of ecosystem services at spatial and temporal scale,and the functionally adjusted assessment shows the sustainability of Hohhot City became gradually stronger during the study decade.But due to the enormous value per unit of water ecosystem,the minimal loss of water area leads to the final result being opposite to the processing analysis,which gives a clue to the further experimental testing research.

Effect of pH and temperature on acidogenic and hydrogenic activities of glucose-degrading bio-granules

Series batch experiments were made to investigate the influences of pH and temperature on the activity of acidogenus and acidogenus in glucose-degrading bacteria cultured in an UASB(up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket) reactor for glucose fermentation and hydrogen production. The bacteria exhibited different capability to recover to produce hydrogen at different initial pH and temperature. Hydrogen production, VFA production, COD removal and COD balance were measured at different pH and 20, 37 ℃ respectively with the same glucose and VSS in vials. Results showed that there are different influences on the activity of acidogenic bacteria at varied pH and result in a variety of amount of hydrogen production, specific hydrogen production and VFA production, etc. Through the present study, when nonmalized to the weight of VSS, a maximal biogas and hydrogen production of 1 717 1 ml/g and 870 0 ml/g were obtained when pH equals 9 at 37 ℃ and 679 00 ml/g of biogas, 246 35 ml/g of hydrogen were also got when pH equals 5 at 20 ℃ respectively. The maximal specific hydrogen production (SHA) was 116 56 ml/h,g around 8 of pH value at 37 ℃ and 6 46 ml/h,g around 4 of pH value at 20 ℃, which were obtained by calculating the slope of the accumulated hydrogen gas via time. Butyric acid fermentation was important for hydrogen production. Large quantity of unknown COD was found in the vials when a small quantity of bio-gas was produced, but relative less unknown COD was determined when there was large quantity of hydrogen produced. This revealed a better engineering foreground for application of hydrogen bio-production.

Antagonistic Potential of Bacterial Species against Fungal Plant Pathogens(FPP)and Their Role in Plant Growth Promotion(PGP):A Review

Since the 19th century to date,the fungal pathogens have been involved in causing devastating diseases in plants.All types of fungal pathogens have been observed in important agricultural crops that lead to significant pre and postharvest losses.The application of synthetic fungicide against the fungal plant pathogens(FPP)is a traditional management practice but at the same time these fungicides kill other beneficial microbes,insects,animal,and humans and are harmful to environment.The antagonistic microorganism such as bacteria are being used as an alternate strategy to control the FPP.These antagonistic species are cost-effective and eco-friendly in nature.These biocontrol bacteria have a broad mechanism against fungal pathogens present in the phyllosphere and rhizosphere of the plant.The antagonistic bacteria have different strategies against the FPP,by producing siderophore,biofilm,volatile organic compounds(VOCs),through parasitism,antibiosis,competition for limited resources and induce systemic resistance(ISR)in the host plant by activating the immune systems.The commercial bio-products synthesized by the major bacterial species Pseudomonas syringae,Burkholderia cepacia,Streptomyces griseoviridis,Pseudomonas fluorescens and Bacillus subtilis are used to control Fusarium,Pythium,Rhizoctonia,Penicillium,Alternaria,and Geotrichum.The commercial bio-formulations of bacteria act as both antifungal and plant growth regulators.The Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria(PGPR)played a significant role in improving plant health by nitrogen-fixing,phosphorus solubilization,phytohormones production,minimizing soil metal contamination,and by ACC deaminase antifungal activities.Different articles are available on the specific antifungal activity of bacteria in plant diseases.Therefore,this review article has summarized the information on biocontrol activity of bacteria against the FPP and the role of PGPR in plant growth promotion.This review also provided a complete picture of scattered information regarding antifungal activities of bacteria and the role of PGPR.

An Assessment of the Potential Use of Forest Residues for the Production of Bio-Oils in the Urban-Rural Interface of Louisiana

Louisiana is endowed with forest resources. Forest wastes generated after thinning, land clearing, and logging operations, such as wood debris, tree trimmings, barks, sawdust, wood chips, and black liquor, among others, can serve as potential fuels for energy production in Louisiana. This paper aims to evaluate the potential annual volumes of forest wastes established on detailed and existing data on the forest structure in the rural-urban interface of Louisiana. It also demonstrates the state’s prospects of utilizing forest wastes to produce bio-oils. The data specific to the study was deduced from secondary data sources to obtain the annual average total residue production in Louisiana and estimate the number of logging residues available for procurement for bioenergy production. The total biomass production per year was modeled versus years by polynomial regression curve fitting using Microsoft Excel. Results of the model show that the cumulative annual total biomass production for 2025 and 2030 in Louisiana is projected to be 80000000 Bone Dry Ton (BDT) and 16000000 (BDT) respectively. The findings of the study depict that Louisiana has a massive biomass supply from forest wastes for bioenergy production. Thus, the potential for Louisiana to become an influential player in the production of bio-based products from forest residues is evident. The author recommends that future research can use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to create maps displaying the potential locations and utilization centers of forest wastes for bioenergy production in the state.

Engineering yeast for bio-production of food ingredients

The provision of an adequate and high-quality food supply is a challenging issue due to the continued growth of the population and the reduction of arable land resources.To solve these problems,new and efficient food manufacturing processes need to be developed to meet the needs for healthy and nutritious food.Metabolic engineering of microorganisms is a feasible approach to alleviate this problem due to its efficient biosynthesis.For thousands of years,yeast has been used as a cell factory for manufacturing bread,beer and wine.And the development of synthetic biology expands its ability for synthesis of food ingredients,fuels,pharmaceuticals and chemical products.This mini review focuses on metabolic engineering of yeast cell factories to synthesize compounds that have been used as food ingredients with highlighting four food flavors.

Heparin mimetics as potential intervention for COVID-19 and their bio-manufacturing

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused severe health problems worldwide and unprecedented decimation of the global economy.Moreover,after more than 2 years,many populations are still under pressure of infection.Thus,a broader perspective in developing antiviral strategies is still of great importance.Inspired by the observed multiple benefits of heparin in the treatment of thrombosis,the potential of low molecular weight heparin(LMWH)for the treatment of COVID-19 have been explored.Clinical applications found that LMWH decreased the level of inflammatory cytokines in COVID-19 patients,accordingly reducing lethality.Furthermore,several in vitro studies have demonstrated the important roles of heparan sulfate in SARS-CoV-2 infection and the inhibitory effects of heparin and heparin mimetics in viral infection.These clinical observations and designed studies argue for the potential to develop heparin mimetics as anti-SARS-CoV-2 drug candidates.In this review,we summarize the properties of heparin as an anticoagulant and the pharmaceutical possibilities for the treatment of virus infection,focusing on the perspectives of developing heparin mimetics via chemical synthesis,chemoenzymatic synthesis,and bioengineered production by microbial cell factories.The ultimate goal is to pave the eminent need for exploring novel compounds to treat coronavirus infection-caused diseases.