^14CO2 Fixation and Translocation of Photoassimilates as Selection Criteria of Egyptian Taro Genotypes

The growth characterlstlcs, different physlological parameters, photosynthetic activity （^14CO2 fixation）, and the translocatlon rate of photoassimllates In different taro （Colocasia esculenta L. Schott） genotypes was studled In order to determlne the posslble use of these parameters as selectlon crlterla for dlfferent wldely used genotypes of taro （Delta No. 9, 15, 20, 21, and balady）. The results obtalned suggest that Delta No. 21 shows the most slgnlflcant increase In all parameters tested compared wlth the control （balady）, followed by Delta No. 9, 15, and 20, respectively. The results show a positive correlation between photosynthetlc actlvlty, translocatlon efflclency, and total yield. The selected clone Delta No. 21 Is recommended for cultlvatlon In the delta reglon of Egypt.

The Effects of Cells Density Arrangement in Chlorella vulgaris Culture to C02 Fixation and Essential Substances Production

Global warming that triggered the climate change is largely due to increased CO2 concentrations. Utilization of Chlorella sp. to reduce CO2 gas is a promising potential. Chlorella can efficiently reduce CO2 and easily be adapted into the photobioreactor system engineering. In this research, the type of microalgae which is used is Chlorella vulgaris in Benneck medium. The system of used reactor is mid-scale bubble column photobioreactor flowed by air which contains 5% CO2. Chlorella vulgaris biomass production will be increased by adjusting the cell density in the photobioreactor. These arrangements will be implemented through a continuous treatment of cell entrapment. The arrangement of cell density in continuous reactor has been proven to increase production of Chlorella vulgaris biomass about 1.25 times more than cultivation without arrangement of cell density by using the same number of inoculums. The results also have shown that the average rate of CO2 fixation and Carbon Transfer Rate （CTR） are obtained at cell entrapment condition about 17 times larger. Continuous cellular entrapment method is very potential to be developed as a method for the production of biomass. Lipids and carotene that have been produced from Ch. vulgaris respectively are 18.24% and 9.42 ppm.

Semiconducting Mineral Photocatalytic Regeneration of Fe^(2+) Promotes Carbon Dioxide Acquisition by Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans

Chemoautotrophic organisms have once been excluded from the development of universally applicable CO2 fixation technology due to its low production yields of biomass. In this study, we used Acidithiobacillusferrooxidans （A.f.） as a model chemoautotrophic microorganism to test the hypothesis that exogenetic photoelectrons from semiconducting mineral photocatalysis can enable the regeneration of Fe^2＋ that could be then used by A.f. and support its growth. In a simulated electrochemical system, where exogenetic electrons were provided by an electrochemical approach, an accelerated growth rate of A.f. was observed as compared with that in traditional batch cultivation. In a coupled system, where light-irradiated natural rutile provided the primary electron source to feed A.f., the bacterial growth rate as well as the subsequent CO2 fixation rate was demonstrated to be in a light-dependent manner. The sustaining flow of photogenerated electrons from semiconducting mineral to bacteria provided an inexhaustible electron source for chemoautotrophic bacteria growth and CO2 fixation. This finding might contribute to the development of novel effective CO2 fixation technology.

Microbial Processes in Stratified Lake Doroninskoe(Transbaikal Region)

In recent decades,meromictic ponds attract the attention of researchers in different directions,because here the character of the physical,chemical and biological processes differ from those of typical mixing waters(Kuznetsov,1970;Hutchinson,1969).In Transbaikalia widely distributed soda and salt lakes with different salinity.Notable among them is Lake Doroninskoye,which has a pronounced stratification for a

Selection of microalgae for high CO_2 fixation efficiency and lipid accumulation from ten Chlorella strains using municipal wastewater

As significant differences in cellular physiology, metabolic potential and genetics occur among strains with morphological similarity, the screening of appropriate microalgae species for effective CO2 fixation and biodiesel production is extremely critical. In this study, ten strains of Chlorella were cultivated in municipal wastewater influent（MWI） and their tolerance for MWI, CO2 fixation efficiency and lipid productivity were assessed. The results showed that the biomass concentrations of four strains（Chlorella vulgaris, Chlorella64.01, Chlorella regularis var. minima and Chlorella sp.） were significantly higher than other strains. When the cultivation systems were aerated with 10% CO2, Chlorella sp. showed the highest CO2 fixation efficiency（35.51%）, while the highest lipid accumulation（58.48%） was observed with C. vulgaris. Scanning electron microscopy images revealed that the cells of both Chlorella sp. and C. vulgaris kept their normal morphologies after 15 day batch culture.These findings indicated that Chlorella sp. and C. vulgaris have fairly good tolerance for MWI,and moreover, Chlorella sp. was appropriate for CO2 fixation while C. vulgaris represented the highest potential for producing biodiesel.

Development of an activity-directed selection system enabled significant improvement of the carboxylation efficiency of Rubisco

Photosynthetic CO2 fixation is the ultimate source of organic carbon on earth and thus is essential for crop production and carbon sequestration, Ribulose-1,5-bis- phosphate carboxylase/oxygenase （Rubisco） catalyzes the first step of photosynthetic CO2 fixation. However, the extreme low carboxylation efficiency of Rubisco makes it the most attractive target for improving pho- tosynthetic efficiency. Extensive studies have focused on re-engineering a more efficient enzyme, but the effort has been impeded by the limited understanding of its structure-function relationships and the lack of an effi- cient selection system towards its activity. To address the unsuccessful molecular engineering of Rubisco, we developed an Escherichia coil-based activity-directed selection system which links the growth of host cell solely to the Rubisco activity therein. A Synechococcus sp. PCC7002 Rubisco mutant with E49V and D82G sub- stitutions in the small subunit was selected from a total of 15,000 mutants by one round of evolution. This mutant showed an 85% increase in specific carboxyla- tion activity and a 45% improvement in catalytic efficiency towards CO2. The small-subunit E49V mutation was speculated to influence holoenzyme catalysis through interaction with the large-subunit Q225. This interaction is conserved among various Rubisco from higher plants and Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Knowledge of these might provide clues for engineering Rubisco from higher plants, with the potential of increasing the crop yield.

Unraveling the Acidithiobacillus caldus complete genome and its central metabolisms for carbon assimilation

Acidithiobacillus caldus is one of the dominant sulfur-oxidizing bacteria in bioleaching reactors. It plays the essential role in maintaining the high acidity and oxidation of reduced inorganic sulfur compounds during bioleaching process. In this report, the complete genome sequence of A. caldus SM-1 is presented. The genome is composed of one chromosome （2,932,225 bp） and four plasmids （pLAtcl, pLAtc2, pLAtc3, pLAtcm） and it is rich in repetitive sequences （accounting for 11% of the total genome）, which are often associated with transposable genetic elements. In particular, twelve copies of ISAtfe and thirty-seven copies of ISAtcl have been identified, suggesting that they are active transposons in the genome. A. caldus SM-1 encodes all enzymes for the central metabolism and the assimilation of carbon compounds, among which 29 proteins/enzymes were identifiable with proteomic tools. The SM-1 fixes CO2 via the classical Calvin-Bassham--Benson （CBB） cycle, and can operate complete Embden-Meyerhof pathway （EMP）, pentose phosphate pathway （PPP）, and gluconeogenesis. It has an incomplete tricarboxylic acid cycle （TCA）. Four putative transporters involved in carbohydrate uptake were identified. Taken together, the results suggested that SM-1 was able to assimilate carbohydrates and this was subsequently confirmed experimentally because addition of 1% glucose or sucrose in basic salt medium significantly increased the growth of SM-1. It was concluded that the complete genome of SM-1 provided fundamental data for further investigation of its physiology and genetics, in addition to the carbon metabolism revealed in this study.