Molybdenum Blue Production from Serratia sp. strain DRY5: Secondary Modeling

In this work, kinetic growth models such as Luong, Yano, Teissier-Edward, Aiba, Haldane, Monod, Han and Levenspiel were used to model molybdenum blue production from Serratia sp. strain DRY5. Based on statistical analyses such as root-mean-square error (RMSE), adjusted coefficient of determination (adjR2), bias factor (BF), and accuracy factor (AF), the Monod model was chosen as the best. The calculated values for the monod constants qmax (the maximum specific substrate degradation rate (h−1), and Ks (concentration of substrate at the half maximal degradation rate (mg/L)) were found to be 3.86 (95% confidence interval of 2.29 to 5.43), and 43.41 (95% confidence interval of 12.36 to 74.46) respectively. The novel constants discovered during the modelling exercise could be used in further secondary modelling.

A novel coconut-malt extract medium increases growth rate of morels in pure culture

Morels are gourmet wild edible mushrooms that can grow on several substrates with significant growth rate variations. Such variations have hindered the development of a standardized culture media to promote morel’s sustainable production. The aim of this study is developing a novel culture media that takes advantage of coconut water as a complementary component of culture media. Coconut water has been extensively used as a growth-promoting component for plant tissue cultures; however, its application as component of fungi cultivation medium has not been fully developed. This study confirms that coconut water can be efficiently used as culture media component for morels using a kinetic characterization. Morchella sp. kinetic growth is evaluated in different cultures: agar, malt extract agar (MEA), lactose, coconut water (15%) and combinations of them. Kinetic growth parameters (lag phase, λ and maximum specific growth rate, µmax) are estimated using primary modeling methods. Among the selected models, the best fit is achieved using Baranyi’s model. A significant increase from 15.8% to 43.4% of the µmax values was observed when culture media (agar, lactose, MEA) is supplemented with coconut water. The largest values of µmax are obtained in MEA-coconut cultures (21.13 ± 0.43–22.57 ± 0.35). Micro-sclerotia and late sclerotia are observed in all cultures containing coconut water justifying the development of a feasible and cost-effective way of culturing morels. The results demonstrate that coconut water can be used for formulation of standard media for morel cultivation leading to a cheap alternative to produce dense mycelium and promote sclerotia formation.

Characterization and adaptation of Caldicellulosiruptor strains to higher sugar concentrations, targeting enhanced hydrogen production from lignocellulosic hydrolysates

Background The members of the genus Caldicellulosiruptor have the potential for future integration into a biorefinery system due to their capacity to generate hydrogen close to the theoretical limit of 4 mol H2/mol hexose, use a wide range of sugars and can grow on numerous lignocellulose hydrolysates. However, members of this genus are unable to survive in high sugar concentrations, limiting their ability to grow on more concentrated hydrolysates, thus impeding their industrial applicability. In this study five members of this genus, C.owensensis, C. kronotskyensis, C.bescii, C.acetigenus and C.kristjanssonii, were developed to tolerate higher sugar concentrations through an adaptive laboratory evolution (ALE) process. The developed mixed population C.owensensis CO80 was further studied and accompanied by the development of a kinetic model based on Monod kinetics to quantitatively compare it with the parental strain. Results Mixed populations of Caldicellulosiruptor tolerant to higher glucose concentrations were obtained with C.owensensis adapted to grow up to 80 g/L glucose; other strains in particular C. kristjanssonii demonstrated a greater restriction to adaptation. The C.owensensis CO80 mixed population was further studied and demonstrated the ability to grow in glucose concentrations up to 80 g/L glucose, but with reduced volumetric hydrogen productivities ($$Q_{{{\text{H}}_{2} }}$$ Q H 2 ) and incomplete sugar conversion at elevated glucose concentrations. In addition, the carbon yield decreased with elevated concentrations of glucose. The ability of the mixed population C.owensensis CO80 to grow in high glucose concentrations was further described with a kinetic growth model, which revealed that the critical sugar concentration of the cells increased fourfold when cultivated at higher concentrations. When co-cultured with the adapted C.saccharolyticus G5 mixed culture at a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 20 h, C.owensensis constituted only 0.09–1.58% of the population in suspension. Conclusions The adaptation of members of the Caldicellulosiruptor genus to higher sugar concentrations established that the ability to develop improved strains via ALE is species dependent, with C.owensensis adapted to grow on 80 g/L, whereas C.kristjanssonii could only be adapted to 30 g/L glucose. Although C.owensensis CO80 was adapted to a higher sugar concentration, this mixed population demonstrated reduced $$Q_{{{\text{H}}_{2} }}$$ Q H 2 with elevated glucose concentrations. This would indicate that while ALE permits adaptation to elevated sugar concentrations, this approach does not result in improved fermentation performances at these higher sugar concentrations. Moreover, the observation that planktonic mixed culture of CO80 was outcompeted by an adapted C.saccharolyticus, when co-cultivated in continuous mode, indicates that the robustness of CO80 mixed culture should be improved for industrial application.

View on a mechanistic model of Chlorella vulgaris in incubated shake flasks

Kinetic growth models are a useful tool for a better understanding of microalgal cultivation and for optimizing cultivation conditions. The evaluation of such models requires experimental data that is laborious to generate in bioreactor settings. The experimental shake flask setting used in this study allows to run 12 experiments at the same time, with 6 individual light intensities and light durations. This way, 54 biomass data sets were generated for the cultivation of the microalgae Chlorella vulgaris. To identify the model parameters, a stepwise parameter estimation procedure was applied. First, light-associated model parameters were estimated using additional measurements of local light intensities at differ heights within medium at different biomass concentrations. Next, substrate related model parameters were estimated, using experiments for which biomass and nitrate data were provided. Afterwards, growth-related model parameters were estimated by application of an extensive cross validation procedure. Graphic abstract

The Bacterial Control of Poly (Lactic Acid) Nanofibers Loaded with Plant-Derived Monoterpenoids via Emulsion Electrospinning

Plant-derived monoterpenoids have been shown to possess various biological effects, providing a scientific basis for their potential usage as antibacterial agents. Therefore, considering problems surrounding bacteria′s antibacterial resistance, the utilization of natural antimicrobial compounds such as monoterpenoids in different industries has gained much attention. The aim of this study was to fabricate and characterize various concentrations of plant-derived monoterpenoids, geraniol (G) and carvacrol (C), loaded into poly(lactic acid) (PLA) nanofibers via emulsion electrospinning. The antibacterial activities of the fabricated nanofibers were evaluated using three types of antibacterial assays (inhibition zone tests, live/dead bacterial cell assays, and antibacterial kinetic growth assays). Among the samples, 10 wt% carvacrol-loaded PLA nanofibers (C10) had the most bactericidal activity, with the widest inhibition zone of 5.26 cm and the highest visible dead bacteria using the inhibition zone test and live/dead bacterial cell assay. In order to quantitatively analyze the antibacterial activities of 5 wt% carvacrol-loaded PLA nanofibers (C5), C10, 5 wt% geraniol-loaded PLA nanofibers (G5), and 10 wt% geraniol-loaded PLA nanofibers (G10) against E. coli and S.epidermidis, growth kinetic curves were analyzed using OD600. For the results, we found that the antibacterial performance was as follows: C10 > C5 > G10 > G5. Overall, carvacrol or geraniol-loaded PLA nanofibers are promising antibacterial materials for improving fiber functionality.

Prediction in the Dynamics and Spoilage of Shewanella putrefaciens in Bigeye Tuna (Thunnus obesus) by Gas Sensors Stored at Different Refrigeration Temperatures

Shewanella putrefaciens have a faster growth rate and strong spoilage potential at low temperatures for aquatic products. This study developed a nondestructive method for predicting the kinetic growth and spoilage of S. putrefaciens in bigeye tuna during cold storage at 4, 7 and 10 °C by electronic nose. According to the responses of electronic nose sensor P30/2, the fitted primary kinetic models (Gompertz and logistic models) and secondary model (square root function model) were able to better simulate the dynamic growth of S. putrefaciens, with high R2 and low RMSE values in the range of 0.96–0.99 and 0.021–0.061, respectively. A partial least squares (PLS) regression model based on both electronic nose sensor response values and electrical conductivity (EC) values predicted spoilage of S. putrefaciens in bigeye tuna more accurately than the PLS model based on sensor signal values only. In addition, SPME/GC-MS analysis suggested that 1-octen-3-ol, 2-nonanone, 2-heptanone, dimethyl disulfide and methylamine, N, N-dimethyl- are the key VOCs of tuna inoculated with S. putrefaciens.

The Duplex Coating Formation Using Plasma Nitriding and CrN PVD Deposition on X39CrMo17-1 Stainless Steel

The nitriding process is a well-known technology for increasing of wear resistance of steel. The conventional gas nitriding process of stainless steel is difficult in the case of surface passivation and formation of Cr2O3. The using of plasma enables to form hard surface area during the nitriding process. The plasma nitriding process was developed using Ionit Metaplas device. The kinetic growth was analysed in 2, 4, 6 and 8 h processes. The plasma gasses composition was selected for formation only diffusion layer without “white area” of nitrides. The microstructure, chemical and phase composition were analysed. As a result, the diffusion layer was formed. The iron nitrides formed the precipitations in the diffusion layer. The obtained results showed that 4h process enables to form nitride layer with required composition and hardness. The relationship between process time and nitride layer thickness and its hardness was observed.

Behavior of Vibrio spp. in Table Olives

The presence of Vibrio species in table olive fermentations has been confirmed by molecular biology techniques in recent studies. However, there has been no report of any foodborne outbreak caused by Vibrio due to the consumption of table olives, and their role as well as the environmental conditions allowing their survival in table olives has not been elucidated so far. The aims of this work were to model the behavior of an inoculated Vibrio cocktail in diverse table olive environments and study the possible behavior of an inoculated Vibrio cocktail in table olives. First, an in vitro study has been performed where the microbial behavior of a Vibrio cocktail was evaluated in a laboratory medium and in olive brines using predictive models at different NaCl concentrations (2–12%) and pH levels (4.0–9.0). Afterward, a challenge testing was done in lye-treated olives inoculated at the beginning of fermentation with the Vibrio cocktail for 22 days. The Vibrio cocktail inoculated in table olives has not been detected in olive brines during fermentation at different pH levels. However, it was observed that this microorganism in a laboratory medium could reach an optimal growth at pH 9 and 2% salt, without time of constant absorbance (tA), and the maximum absorbance value (yend) observed was at pH 8 and 2% salt conditions. The statistical analysis demonstrated that the effect of salt concentration was higher than pH for the kinetic growth parameters (μmax, tA, and yend). On the other hand, it was confirmed that no growth of the Vibrio cocktail on any sample was noticed in lye-treated olive fermentations. Thus, it was concluded that the presence of olive compounds (unknown) did not allow the development of Vibrio strains, so it is a very safety product as it has a natural antimicrobial compound, but the possibility that a native Vibrio sp. is able to acquire the capacity to adapt to this compound should be considered in further studies.