Mesophilic Ones Research Articles

Hydrogen Production from Sugarcane Bagasse Pentose Liquor Fermentation Using Different Food/Microorganism and Carbon/Nitrogen Ratios under Mesophilic and Thermophilic Conditions

Hydrogen is a well-known clean energy carrier with a high energetic yield. Its versatility allows it to be produced in diverse ways, including biologically. Specifically, dark fermentation takes advantage of organic wastes, such as agro-industrial residues, to obtain hydrogen. One of these harmful wastes that is poorly discharged into streams is sugarcane bagasse pentose liquor (SBPL). The present study aimed to investigate hydrogen generation from SBPL fermentation in batch reactors by applying different food/microorganism (2–10 F/M) and carbon/nitrogen (10–200 C/N) ratios under mesophilic and thermophilic conditions. Biohydrogen was produced in all pentose liquor experiments along with other soluble microbial products (SMPs): volatile fatty acids (VFAs) (at least 1.38 g L−1 and 1.84 g L−1 by the average of C/N and F/M conditions, respectively) and alcohols (at least 0.67 g L−1 and 0.325 g L−1 by the average of C/N and F/M conditions, respectively). Thermophilic pentose liquor reactors (t-PLRs) showed the highest H2 production (H2 maximum: 1.9 ± 0.06 L in 100 C/N) and hydrogen yield (HY) (1.9 ± 0.54 moles of H2 moles of substrate−1 in 2 F/M) when compared to mesophilic ones (m-PLRs). The main VFA produced was acetate (>0.85 g L−1, considering the average of both nutritional conditions), especially through the butyrate pathway, which was the most common metabolic route of experimental essays. Considering the level of acid dilution used in the pretreatment of bagasse (H2SO4 (1%), 1.1 atm, 120 °C, 60 min), it is unlikely that toxic compounds such as furan derivatives, phenol-like substances (neither was measured), and acetate (<1.0 g L−1) hinder the H2 production in the pentose liquor reactors (PLRs). Sugarcane bagasse pentose liquor fermentation may become a suitable gateway to convert a highly polluting waste into a renewable feedstock through valuable hydrogen production.

Achieving unprecedented stability in lyophilized recombinase polymerase amplification with thermostable pyruvate kinase from Thermotoga maritima

Recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) is an isothermal DNA amplification reaction at around 41°C using recombinase (Rec), single-stranded DNA-binding protein (SSB), strand-displacing DNA polymerase (Pol), and an ATP-regenerating enzyme. Considering the onsite use of RPA reagents, lyophilized RPA reagents with long storage stability are highly desired. In this study, as one of the approaches to solve this problem, we attempted to use a thermostable pyruvate kinase (PK). PK gene was isolated from a thermophilic bacterium Thermotoga maritima (Tma-PK). Tma-PK was expressed in Escherichia coli and purified from the cells. Tma-PK exhibited higher thermostability than human PK. The purified Tma-PK preparation was applied to RPA as an ATP-regenerating enzyme. Liquid RPA reagent with Tma-PK exhibited the same performance as that with human PK. Lyophilized RPA reagent with Tma-PK exhibited higher performance than that with human PK. Combined with our previous results of RPA reagents of thermostable Pol from a thermophilic bacterium, Aeribacillus pallidus, the results in this study suggest that thermostable enzymes are preferable to mesophilic ones as a component in lyophilized RPA reagents.

Comprehensive insights on environmental adaptation strategies in Antarctic bacteria and biotechnological applications of cold adapted molecules.

Climate change and the induced environmental disturbances is one of the major threats that have a strong impact on bacterial communities in the Antarctic environment. To cope with the persistent extreme environment and inhospitable conditions, psychrophilic bacteria are thriving and displaying striking adaptive characteristics towards severe external factors including freezing temperature, sea ice, high radiation and salinity which indicates their potential in regulating climate change's environmental impacts. The review illustrates the different adaptation strategies of Antarctic microbes to changing climate factors at the structural, physiological and molecular level. Moreover, we discuss the recent developments in "omics" approaches to reveal polar "blackbox" of psychrophiles in order to gain a comprehensive picture of bacterial communities. The psychrophilic bacteria synthesize distinctive cold-adapted enzymes and molecules that have many more industrial applications than mesophilic ones in biotechnological industries. Hence, the review also emphasizes on the biotechnological potential of psychrophilic enzymes in different sectors and suggests the machine learning approach to study cold-adapted bacteria and engineering the industrially important enzymes for sustainable bioeconomy.

Thermal Inactivation Mechanism and Structural Features Providing Enhanced Thermal Stability of Hyperthermophilic Thermococcus sibiricus L-Asparaginase in Comparison with Mesophilic and Thermophilic L-Asparaginases

This work aimed to study the structural features and mechanisms of thermoinactivation of hyperthermophilic L-asparaginase (L-ASNase) from archaea Thermococcus sibiricus (TsA) in comparison with bacterial L-ASNases from Melioribacter roseus (MrA) and Rhodospirillum rubrum (RrA). The catalytic parameters of L-asparagine hydrolysis under optimal conditions (pH 9) were determined for these enzymes by circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy. TsA showed the highest activity among the studied L-ASNases (640 IU/mg at 90 °C). Thermo-inactivation kinetics were studied at temperatures close to the enzyme optimum: the first-order inactivation constants were 0.065 min−1 (TsA), 0.011 min−1 (MrA), and 0.026 min−1 (RrA). In contrast to RrA and MrA, aggregation was detected as one of the thermoinactivation mechanisms for TsA. From the analysis of thermograms obtained with CD spectroscopy, the melting temperatures (Tm) for RrA, MrA, and TsA were determined as 50, 69, and 89 °C, respectively. A significant increase in the percentage of β-structures for TsA during heating (from 8 to 16%) indicating aggregation was observed in the interval from 70 to 100 °C. For RrA and MrA this value did not increase. Changes in the tertiary structure of the enzymes during heating were monitored by fluorescence spectroscopy. Thermal inactivation of RrA and MrA were accompanied by changes in the tertiary structure. For TsA, the observed denaturation enthalpy (ΔH) was 346 kJ/mol, which was 1.5–2 times higher than the same values for RrA and MrA. The study of the specific thermoinactivation mechanisms and structural- features in hyperthermophilic enzymes in comparison with mesophilic ones allows us to shed light on the molecular adaptation variants of the enzyme to function at high temperatures.

Comparing the effect of mesophilic and thermophilic anaerobic co-digestion for sustainable biogas production: An experimental and recurrent neural network model study

Anaerobic digestion is a promising technology for treating bio wastes from energetic and environmental point of views. Co-digestion of wastes and process temperature are essential parameters that affect biogas production. In this study, comparing the effect of mesophilic and thermophilic anaerobic co-digestion of waste activated sludge and wheat straw at different mixing ratios is applied for sustainable biogas production based on energetic, environmental, and economic perspectives. Moreover, modeling and optimizing the process by using a time-series model and a partially connected recurrent neural network (RNN) based a slime mold algorithm (SMA) is established to calculate the optimal structure of the RNN model and the optimal values of its parameters such as the optimal number of neurons in the hidden layers, number of feedback connections, activation functions, and connection weights. The results show that the co-digestion of sludge and straw improves the carbon to nitrogen (C/N) ratio and enhances biogas production. The highest biogas production is recorded at C/N ratio of 33.15 and is approximately 30% higher in thermophilic digesters compared to mesophilic ones. Moreover, thermophilic digesters show higher chemical oxygen demand (COD) (75.38%) and total volatile solids (TVS) (72.37%) elimination than mesophilic digesters. The thermophilic digester increases the produced energy by 25.67% and decreases the production cost by 20.43% compared to the mesophilic digester in case using evacuated tube solar collectors. Furthermore, the RNN model could effectively predict biogas production, and the SMA could determine the optimal structure of the RNN model.

Temperature affects variations of class 1 integron during sludge anaerobic digestion

Revealing class 1 integron characteristics under different operating conditions is of great importance to control antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) during sludge anaerobic digestion (AD). This study investigated the variations of class 1 integrons and the ARGs carried by class 1 integrons in anaerobic sludge digesters under 25 °C, 35 °C, and 55 °C. The results showed lower intI1 abundance and fewer class I integrons with long gene cassette arrays at 55 °C than at 25 °C and 35 °C. Multi-resistance gene cassette arrays were observed in the digesters at 25 °C and 35 °C. Abundant ARGs were detected on class 1 integrons in all digesters with aminoglycosides as the dominant class. The abundance of ARGs on class 1 integrons in digesters at 55 °C was lower than that at 25 °C and 35 °C. Thermophilic AD is better than mesophilic ones in the control of ARGs carried by class 1 integrons.

Mesophilic and thermophilic anaerobic digestion of animal manure: Integrated insights from biogas productivity, microbial viability and enzymatic activity

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is considered a promising technology for the sustainable management of current large quantities of animal waste. However, the efficiency and underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood, particularly regarding the different characteristics of different types of animal wastes. The present study investigated the methane production, community structure, microbial viability, and enzymatic activity following mesophilic and thermophilic AD of four types of animal waste, including carnivores (lion), herbivores (elephant), and omnivores (hippopotamus and orangutan). Methane yield obtained with thermophilic AD of four animals was higher than mesophilic ones. The methane yields of lion manure under the mesophilic and thermophilic AD were 0.326 L/g VS and 0.391 L/g VS, respectively, higher than that of herbivore and omnivore waste. Bacteria were divided into low-DNA (LDNA) and high-DNA (HDNA) bacteria by flow cytometry based on DNA content. Compared with mesophilic AD, thermophilic AD had higher cells density, which has the same trend with methane production. The results showed that the live LDNA bacteria abundance was increased by 98.6% in orangutan manure AD system after heating up to 55 ℃. However, most of the dead bacteria were HDNA, indicating sensitivity of HDNA cells to environmental conditions. For functional enzymes, the activities of dehydrogenase, phosphotransacetylase and protease were enhanced in the thermophilic AD system of all kinds of animal manure. Nevertheless, the acetate kinase activities of herbivorous animal manure and coenzyme F420 activities of omnivorous animal manure had been inhibited at high temperatures.

Digested Sludge Quality in Mesophilic, Thermophilic and Temperature-Phased Anaerobic Digestion Systems

Anaerobic digestion (AD) technology is commonly used to treat sewage sludge from activated sludge systems, meanwhile alleviating the energy demand (and costs) for wastewater treatment. Most often, anaerobic digestion is run in single-stage systems under mesophilic conditions, as this temperature regime is considered to be more stable than the thermophilic one. However, it is known that thermophilic conditions are advantageous over mesophilic ones in terms of methane production and digestate hygienisation, while it is unclear which one is better concerning the digestate dewaterability. Temperature-phased anaerobic digestion (TPAD) is a double-stage AD process that combines the above-mentioned temperature regimes, by operating a thermophilic digester followed by a mesophilic one. The aim of this study is to compare the digestate quality of single-stage mesophilic and thermophilic AD and TPAD systems, in terms of the dewaterability, pathogenic safety and lower calorific value (LCV) and, based on the comparison, consider digested sludge final disposal alternatives. The research is conducted in lab-scale reactors treating waste-activated sludge. The dewaterability is tested by two methods, namely, centrifugation and mechanical pressing. The experimental results show that the TPAD system is the most beneficial in terms of organic matter degradation efficiency (32.4% against 27.2 for TAD and 26.0 for MAD), producing a digestate with a high dewaterability (8.1–9.8% worse than for TAD and 6.2–12.0% better than for MAD) and pathogenic safety (coliforms and Escherichia coli were not detected, and Clostridium perfringens were counted up to 4.8–4.9 × 103, when for TAD it was only 1.4–2.5 × 103, and for MAD it was 1.3–1.8 × 104), with the lowest LCV (19.2% against 15.4% and 15.8% under thermophilic and mesophilic conditions, respectively). Regarding the final disposal, the digested sludge after TAD can be applied directly in agriculture; after TPAD, it can be used as a fertilizer only in the case where the fermenter HRT assures the pathogenic safety. The MAD digestate is the best for being used as a fuel preserving a higher portion of organic matter, not transforming into biogas during AD.

Thermophilic rather than mesophilic sludge anaerobic digesters possess lower antibiotic resistant genes abundance

For exploring the impact of temperature on antibiotic resistant genes (ARGs) during sludge anaerobic digestion (AD), the dynamic variations of sludge ARGs, plasmid ARGs, and cell-free ARGs in mesophilic (25 °C and 35 °C) and thermophilic (55 °C) digesters were investigated. The study revealed that the abundance of sludge ARGs and plasmid ARGs in thermophilic sludge AD was significantly lower than that in mesophilic digesters, while the cell-free ARGs abundance of the thermophilic digesters was similar to mesophilic digesters. Higher archaea abundance, lower bacteria abundance, and different microbial community were found in thermophilic digesters compared to that of mesophilic ones. Firmicutes might be a main group of potential hosts of ARGs in sludge AD. The distinct microbial community was the main contributor to the low ARGs abundance in thermophilic sludge AD. Thermophilic operation at 55 °C rather than mesophilic operation is more conducive to control ARGs in sludge anaerobic digestion.

Use of organic waste for biohydrogen production and volatile fatty acids via dark fermentation and further processing to methane

Despite the suitability of organic waste for dark fermentation (DF), anaerobic digestion (AD) counteracts its large-scale use for biohydrogen production. Therefore, 12 types of organic waste obtained from sugar, textile, food, and milk industries are investigated in batch single-stage AD and compared energetically to batch two-stage DF with subsequent AD. From the viewpoint of DF, a parametric study of mesophilic and thermophilic conditions, different substrate concentrations, and mixed cultures, i.e., granular and digested sludge, is conducted. Hydrogen yields of 90–160 LN/kgoDM (mean) and maximum yields of 199–291 LN/kgoDM are achieved with starchy and sugary wastes. Concentrations of volatile fatty acids of 9.7–14.5 g/L (mean) show the possible material uses. Thermophilic conditions are more suitable than mesophilic ones. Furthermore granular sludge is applicable for DF. The energetic comparison of the procedures demonstrates a method for assessing the applicability of waste and allows preliminary economic estimations.

The Variability of the Concentration of Bioaerosols Above the Chambers of Biological Wastewater Treatment

Abstract The article presents the results of research over microorganisms (psychrophilic and mesophilic bacteria and microscopic fungi) found in wastewater in denitrification and nitrification chambers and specifies the proportion of these microorganisms in bioaerosol at various levels above wastewater level (20, 50 and 100 cm). In the denitrification chamber (anoxic) in 1 cm3 of sewage there were on average 30.35 · 106 CFU of mesophilic bacteria, 72.88 · 106 CFU of psychrophilic bacteria, and 37.3 · 105 CFU of microscopic fungi. In the nitrification chamber, where the oxygen concentration ranged from 0.37 to 2.32 mg O2·dm−3 of wastewater, the number of microorganisms was lower. In 1 cm3 of wastewater there were on average 20.2 · 106 CFU of mesophilic bacteria, 51.76 · 106 CFU of psychrophilic bacteria, and 15.22 · 105 CFU of microscopic fungi. In sewage bioaerosols above these chambers, higher numbers of psychrophilic bacteria than mesophilic ones and microscopic fungi were reported. At the same time differences in the number of microorganisms at different heights above the surface of wastewater could be observed in bioaerosol, as well as between the chambers of the bioreactor. It was found that most frequently the amount of microorganisms decreased with height. The percentage emission ratio (ER) of microorganisms in bioaerosols coming from wastewater accounted for only a fraction of a percent and ranged from 1.13 · 10−8 % (microscopic fungi over the denitrification chamber) to 24.53 · 10−9 % (psychrophilic bacteria over the denitrification chamber). It was found that the process of mixing, aeration of wastewater, have an effect on the emission of microorganisms.

Genome mining for peptidases in heat-tolerant and mesophilic fungi and putative adaptations for thermostability

BackgroundPeptidases (EC 3.4) consist of a large group of hydrolytic enzymes that catalyze the hydrolysis of proteins accounting for approximately 65% of the total worldwide enzyme production. Peptidases from thermophilic fungi have adaptations to high temperature that makes them adequate for biotechnological application. In the present study, we profiled the genomes of heat-tolerant fungi and phylogenetically related mesophilic species for genes encoding for peptidases and their putative adaptations for thermostability.ResultsWe generated an extensive catalogue of these enzymes ranging from 241 to 820 peptidase genes in the genomes of 23 fungi. Thermophilic species presented the smallest number of peptidases encoding genes in relation to mesophilic species, and the peptidases families with a greater number of genes were the most affected. We observed differences in peptidases in thermophilic species in comparison to mesophilic counterparts, at (i) the genome level: a great reduction in the number of peptidases encoding genes that harbored a higher number of copies; (ii) in the primary protein structure: shifts in proportion of single or groups of amino acids; and (iii) in the three-dimensional structure: reduction in the number of internal cavities. Similar results were reported for extremely thermophilic proteins, but here we show for the first time that several changes also occurred on the moderate thermophilic enzymes of fungi. In regards to the amino acids composition, peptidases from thermophilic species in relation to the mesophilic ones, contained a larger proportion of Ala, Glu, Gly, Pro, Arg and Val residues and a lower number of Cys, His, Ile, Lys, Met, Asn, Gln, Ser, Thr and Trp residues (P < 0.05). Moreover, we observed an increase in the proportion of hydrophobic and charged amino acids and a decrease in polar amino acids.ConclusionsAlthough thermophilic fungi present less genes encoding for peptidases, these have adaptations that could play a role in thermal resistance from genome to protein structure level.

PHYSIOLOGICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL CHANGES IN ALGAL CULTURES OF CHLORELLA VULGARIS AND SYNECHOCYSTIS SALINA (MESOPHILIC AND ANTARCTIC ISOLATES) OCCURING AFTER TREATMENT WITH UV-B RADIATION

Determination of biomass production and viability of algal cells of Chlorella vulgaris and Synechocystis salina exposed to UV-B radiation were carried out in this study together with comparison of the mesophilic and antarctic isolates of both investigated strains. Estimation of the content of the pigments: chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, β-carotene, C-phycocyanin and allo-phycocyanin in algal cells exposed to UV-B radiation was also accomplished. The obtained results showed that the antarctic algae are more resistant to oxidative stress than their mesophilic counterparts. The antarctic isolates of Ch. vulgaris and S. salina compared with the mesophilic ones - up to 72 h showed tolerance to low exposures of radiation, expressed in a slight stimulation of growth and viability of the cells. Antarctic isolates also showed greater resistance to low doses of UV-B radiation manifested by stimulation of the synthesis of chlorophyll a and β-carotene. The registered increase in the amount of C- and allo-phycocyanin in antarctic isolates of S. salina showed that they had developed protective strategies against UV-B radiation by increasing the concentration of the phycobiliproteins. As a result of increased UV-B background, in antarctic isolates, stronger antioxidant defence mechanisms are triggered, which proved the possibility of using them as markers of oxidative stress.

Comparative analysis of the digestibility of sewage fine sieved fraction and hygiene paper produced from virgin fibers and recycled fibers

Sewage fine sieved fraction (FSF) is a heterogeneous substrate consisting of mainly toilet paper fibers sequestered from municipal raw sewage by a fine screen. In earlier studies, a maximum biodegradation of 62% and 57% of the sewage FSF was found under thermophilic (55°C) and mesophilic (35°C) conditions, respectively. In order to research this limited biodegradability of sewage FSF, this study investigates the biodegradation of different types of cellulosic fibers-based hygiene papers including virgin fibers based toilet paper (VTP), recycled fiber based toilet paper (RTP), virgin pulp for paper production (VPPP) as a raw material, as well as microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) as a kind of fiberless reference material. The anaerobic biodegradation or digestibility tests were conducted under thermophilic and mesophilic conditions. Results of the experiments showed different biomethane potential (BMP) values for each tested cellulose fiber-based substrate, which might be associated with the physical characteristics of the fibers, type of pulping, presence of lignin encrusted fibers, and/or the presence of additive chemicals and refractory compounds. Higher hydrolysis rates (Kh), higher specific methane production rates (SMPR) and shorter required incubation times to achieve 90% of the BMP (t90%CH4), were achieved under thermophilic conditions for all examined substrates compared to the mesophilic ones. Furthermore, the biodegradability of all employed cellulose fiber-based substrates was in the same range, 38–45%, under both conditions and less than the observed FSF biodegradability, i.e. 57–62%. MCC achieved the highest BMP and biodegradability, 86–91%, among all cellulosic substrates.

Extremophiles and biotechnology: current uses and prospects.

Biotechnology has almost unlimited potential to change our lives in very exciting ways. Many of the chemical reactions that produce these products can be fully optimized by performing them at extremes of temperature, pressure, salinity, and pH for efficient and cost-effective outcomes. Fortunately, there are many organisms (extremophiles) that thrive in extreme environments found in nature and offer an excellent source of replacement enzymes in lieu of mesophilic ones currently used in these processes. In this review, I discuss the current uses and some potential new applications of extremophiles and their products, including enzymes, in biotechnology.

Structural and Biochemical Studies of a Moderately Thermophilic Exonuclease I from Methylocaldum szegediense

A novel exonuclease, designated as MszExo I, was cloned from Methylocaldum szegediense, a moderately thermophilic methanotroph. It specifically digests single-stranded DNA in the 3ʹ to 5ʹ direction. The protein is composed of 479 amino acids, and it shares 47% sequence identity with E. coli Exo I. The crystal structure of MszExo I was determined to a resolution of 2.2 Å and it aligns well with that of E. coli Exo I. Comparative studies revealed that MszExo I and E. coli Exo I have similar metal ion binding affinity and similar activity at mesophilic temperatures (25–47°C). However, the optimum working temperature of MszExo I is 10°C higher, and the melting temperature is more than 4°C higher as evaluated by both thermal inactivation assays and DSC measurements. More importantly, two thermal transitions during unfolding of MszExo I were monitored by DSC while only one transition was found in E. coli Exo I. Further analyses showed that magnesium ions not only confer structural stability, but also affect the unfolding of MszExo I. MszExo I is the first reported enzyme in the DNA repair systems of moderately thermophilic bacteria, which are predicted to have more efficient DNA repair systems than mesophilic ones.

Nonlinear Analysis of tRNAs Nucleotide Sequences by Random Walks: Randomness and Order in the Primitive Informational Polymers

In order to test the hypothesis that the nucleotide sequences of the primitive informational polymers might not be chosen randomly and in the attempt to compare among taxa, we propose a comparison of computer-generated random sequences with tRNAs nucleotide sequences present in the bacterial and archaeal genomes, being tRNAs molecules possible "fossils" of the time (billions years ago) in which life arose. Our approach is based on the analysis of sequences of tRNAs described as random walks and the distances from the origin evaluated by the use of nonlinear indexes (largest Lyapunov exponent, entropy, BDS statistic). Six different tRNAs of Bacteria and Archaea (ten Archaea and ten Bacteria, thermophilic and mesophilic ones; n = 120), and computer-generated random sequences (n = 50) were studied. Our data show that tRNAs present indices statistical lower than the ones of computer-generated random data (tRNAs own a more ordered sequence than random ones: Lyapunov, p < 0.01; entropy, p < 0.05; BDS, p < 0.01). The observed deviation from pure randomness should be arisen from some constraints like the secondary structure of this biologic macromolecule and/or from a "frozen" stochastic transition, or even from the possible peculiar origin of tRNA by replication of older proto-RNA. Comparing between taxa, in the species studied, Bacteria present BDS and Base ratio (G+C)/(A+T) indexes statistically lower than in Archaea, together which a 20% of entropy increase. The analysis of a greater number of tRNAs and species will permit to explain if this finding, showing a higher randomness in the bacterial tRNAs sequences, is linked to the different base ratio, to the different environments in which the microorganisms live or to an evolutionary effect.

Comparison of mesophilic and thermophilic dry anaerobic digestion of OFMSW: Kinetic analysis

Temperature is a significant variable in anaerobic digestion (AD) since it determines the values of the main kinetic parameters for the process and, hence, the rate of the microbiological process. Thus, in this study, batch AD experiments were carried out, at mesophilic (35°C) and thermophilic (55°C) conditions, with the aim to compare the kinetic of both processes. Tests were performed in dry conditions (concentration of Total Solids (TSs) of 20%) using the Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste (OFMSW) as feedstock.Romero model [1] was used to fit the experimental results from both, the organic matter consumption and the biogas production. This model has been used extensively in the analysis of results of AD process in a wide range of experimental conditions [2–4].The values of the maximum specific growth rate of microorganisms (μMAX) are 27–60% higher for thermophilic process than for mesophilic ones and, therefore, the same level of organic matter degradation and methane production can be achieved in a shorter operating time, 20days in thermophilic instead of 40days in mesophilic. Moreover, the yield coefficient for methane production (αP/S) and the initial amount of active microorganisms (XV0/YX/S) show values 107% and 129% higher, respectively, in thermophilic processes.

Gas biofuels from solid substrate hydrogenogenic–methanogenic fermentation of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste

The objective of this work was to evaluate the performance of a two-stage hydrogenogenic–methanogenic (H–M) semi-continuous process in terms of mass retention time (MRT) for hydrogenogenic stage (H-stage), feed source for methanogenic stage (M-stage) and thermal regime (35 and 55°C) for both stages. The substrate was a model organic fraction of municipal solid wastes (OFMSW) at 35% total solids.In H-stage, mesophilic temperature had a positive significant effect on higher hydrogen productivities and lower amounts of hydrogen sinks compared to thermophilic operation. Calculations based on mass balances and biochemical stoichiometry confirmed that acid fermentation deviation was linked to low biohydrogen yields. The M-stage performance was influenced by both the temperature and feed source. Bioreactors in thermophilic regime performed better than mesophilic ones. Maximum methane productivity was 341NmL CH4/(kgwmrd) that corresponded to the thermophilic bioreactor fed with fermented solids from H stage at 14d MRT. The two-stage process showed higher gross energetic potential when compared to an only methanogenic process operated at equivalent MRT (control); this was due to a higher methane productivity in the M-stage of the series process. The main contribution of H-stage seemed to be associated to hydrolysis of the complex substrate thus generating metabolites for the M-stage rather than the hydrogen production itself.

Detecting thermophilic proteins through selecting amino acid and dipeptide composition features

Detecting thermophilic proteins is an important task for designing stable protein engineering in interested temperatures. In this work, we develop a simple but efficient method to classify thermophilic proteins from mesophilic ones using the amino acid and dipeptide compositions. Since most of the amino acid and dipeptide compositions are redundant, we propose a new forward floating selection technique to select only a useful subset of these compositions as features for support vector machine-based classification. We test the proposed method on a benchmark data set of 915 thermophilic and 793 mesophilic proteins. The results show that our method using 28 amino acid and dipeptide compositions achieves an accuracy rate of 93.3% evaluated by the jackknife cross-validation test, which is higher not only than the existing methods but also than using all amino acid and dipeptide compositions.