The Lack of Knowledge on the Microbiome of Golf Turfgrasses Impedes the Development of Successful Microbial Products

Golf courses have a significant environmental impact. High water demands and the intensive use of agricultural chemicals have been a concern for decades and are therefore in the focus of efforts to make golf courses more environmentally sustainable. Products based on modifying or using plant-associated microbiota are one of the fastest-growing sectors in agriculture, but their application on turfgrasses on golf courses is so far negligible. In this review, we summarize the limited knowledge on microbiomes of golf turf ecosystems and show that the lack of holistic studies addressing the structure and function of golf turf microbiomes, including their responses to intense turf management procedures, is currently the main bottleneck for development and improvement of reliable, well-functioning microbial products. We further highlight the endosphere of turfgrasses, which is easily accessible for microbial cultivation through constant mowing, as the most stable and protected micro-environment. Many grass species do possess endophytic bacteria and fungi that have been shown to improve the plants’ resistance towards microbial pathogens and insect pests, and several products using endophyte-enhanced grass varieties are commercially successful. We anticipated that this trend would tee-off on golf courses, too, once a more comprehensive understanding of golf turf microbiomes is available.

Using Molecular Weight-Based Fluorescent Detector to Characterize Dissolved EffluentOrganic Matter in Oxidation Ditch with Algae

Implementation microalgae has been considered for enhancing effluent wastewater quality. However, algae can cause environmental issues due to algae released extracellular organic matter, algal organic matter, instead of bacteria-derived organic matter in the biological process. The objectives of this study are to investigate the characteristics of dissolved effluent organic matter as algal-derived organic and bacteria-derived organic during the oxidation ditch process. Experiments were conducted in the oxidation ditch without algae, with Spirulina platensis and Chlorella vulgaris. The results showed dissolved effluent organic matter increased into higher dissolved organic carbon, more aromatic and hydrophobic than that before treatment. Fluorescence spectroscopy identified two component, namely aromatic protein-like at excitation/emission 230/345 nm and soluble microbial products-like at 320/345 nm after treatment, instead of fulvic acid-like at 230/420 nm and humic acid-like at 320/420 nm in raw wastewater. Fractionation of dissolved organic fluorescence based on average molecular weight cut-offs (MWCOs) has obtained that fractions aromatic protein-like, fulvic acid-like, humic acid-like, and soluble microbial products-like has respectively a high MWCOs 50,000 Da, a high to low MWCOs <1650 Da, medium MWCOs 1650 Da to low MWCOs. Biological oxidation ditch under symbiosis algal-bacteria generated humic acid-like and fulvic acid-like with a higher MWCOs than oxidation without algal. The quality and quantity of dissolved effluent organic matter in oxidation ditch algal reactor has been significant affected by algal-bacteria symbiotic.

A Review on Microbial Products and Their Perspective Application as Antimicrobial Agents

Microorganisms including actinomycetes, archaea, bacteria, fungi, yeast, and microalgae are an auspicious source of vital bioactive compounds. In this review, the existing research regarding antimicrobial molecules from microorganisms is summarized. The potential antimicrobial compounds from actinomycetes, particularly Streptomyces spp.; archaea; fungi including endophytic, filamentous, and marine-derived fungi, mushroom; and microalgae are briefly described. Furthermore, this review briefly summarizes bacteriocins, halocins, sulfolobicin, etc., that target multiple-drug resistant pathogens and considers next-generation antibiotics. This review highlights the possibility of using microorganisms as an antimicrobial resource for biotechnological, nutraceutical, and pharmaceutical applications. However, more investigations are required to isolate, separate, purify, and characterize these bioactive compounds and transfer these primary drugs into clinically approved antibiotics.

The Lack of Knowledge on the Microbiome of Golf Turfgrasses Impedes the Development of Successful Microbial Products

Golf courses have a significant environmental impact. High water demands and the intensive use of agricultural chemicals have been a concern for decades and are therefore in the focus of efforts to make golf courses more environmentally sustainable. Products based on modifying or using plant-associated microbiota are one of the fastest growing sectors in agriculture, but their application on turfgrasses on golf courses is so far negligible. In this review, we summarize the limited knowledge on microbiomes of golf turf ecosystems and show that the lack of holistic studies addressing structure and function of golf turf microbiomes, including their responses to intense turf management procedures, is currently the main bottleneck for development and improvement of reliable, well-functioning microbial products. We further highlight the endosphere of turfgrasses, which is easily accessible for microbial cultivation through constant mowing, as the most stable and protected micro-environment. Many grass species do possess endophytic bacteria and fungi that have shown to improve the plants&rsquo; resistance towards microbial pathogens and insect pests, and several products using endophyte-enhanced grass varieties are commercially successful. We anticipated that this trend would tee-off on golf courses, too, once a more comprehensive understanding of golf turf microbiomes is available.

Effect of the Oxidative Phosphorylation Uncoupler Para-Nitrophenol on the Activated Sludge Community Structure and Performance of a Submerged Membrane Bioreactor

In this work, the metabolic uncoupler para-nitrophenol (pNP) was applied to suppress excess sludge production and to investigate its effects on the system’s performance and activated sludge community structure. The COD removal efficiency decreased from 99.0% to 89.5% prior to and after pNP addition, respectively. Application of pNP transiently reduced NH4+-N, NO3−-N and NO2−-N removal efficiencies, suggesting partial inhibition of both nitrifying and denitrifying activity. However, no changes in the relative abundance of the nitrifying bacteria occurred. Phosphorus removal efficiency was sharply reduced after pNP addition, as the consequence of hydrolysis of stored cell reserves. Tetrasphaera, a key polyphosphate accumulating organism, was also affected by the addition of pNP, a fact that highly influenced system’s ability to remove phosphorus. A drastic drop in Soluble Microbial Products (SMP) and Extracellular Polymeric Substances (EPS) was also detected shortly after the introduction of the uncoupler. On the other hand, MBR’s physicochemical parameters were restored to initial values a week after the addition of pNP. Moreover, remarkable changes in beta-diversity were noted after pNP addition. An increase of Bacteroidetes, Gammaproteobacteria and Firmicutes over Actinobacteria and Alphaproteobacteria was also observed after pNP addition.