Biomineralization is a known natural phenomenon associated with a wide range of bacterial species. Bacterial-induced calcium carbonate precipitation by marine isolates was investigated in this study. Three genera of ureolytic bacteria, Sporosarcina sp., Bacillus sp. and Brevundimonas sp. were observed to precipitate calcium carbonate minerals. Of these species, Sporosarcina sp. dominated the cultured isolates. B. lentus CP28 generated higher urease activity and facilitated more efficient precipitation of calcium carbonate at 3.24 ± 0.25 × 10−4 mg/cell. X-ray diffraction indicated that the dominant calcium carbonate phase was calcite. Scanning electron microscopy showed that morphologies of the minerals were dominated by cubic, rhombic and polygonal plate-like crystals. The dynamic process of microbial calcium carbonate precipitation revealed that B. lentus CP28 precipitated calcite crystals through the enzymatic hydrolysis of urea, and that when ammonium ion concentrations reached 746 mM and the pH reached 9.6, that favored calcite precipitation at a higher level of 96 mg/L. The results of this research provide evidence that a variety of marine bacteria can induce calcium carbonate precipitation, and may influence the marine carbonate cycle in natural environments.

Chemical investigation on the root of R. laevigata led the isolation and identification of two new flavonoids, (+)-catechin-8-acetic acid (1) and guibourtacacidine 4-methyl ether (2), one known flavonoid, guibourtacacidine (3), along with seven known triterpenoids, euscaphic acid (4), kajiichigoside F1 (5), nigaichigoside F2 (6), rubuside J (7), tomentic acid (8), rosamutin (9) and betulinic acid (10). Their structures were established on the basis of spectroscopic evidence and comparisons with literature data. Compounds 1, 2 and 3 showed considerable radical scavenging activity in the 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay.

La investigación química de las raíces de R. laevigata condujo al aislamiento de dos nuevos flavonoides, 8-(+)-catequin-ácido acético (1) y éter 4-metílico de guibourtacacidina (2); un flavonoide conocido, guibourtacacidina (3), y siete triterpenos conocidos, ácido euscáfico (4), kajichi-gósido F1 (5), nigaichigósido F2 (6), rubúsido J (7), ácido toméntico (8), rosamutina (9) y ácido betulínico (10). Las estructuras fueron establecidas de acuerdo a las evidencias espectroscópicas y comparaciones con los datos informados en la literatura. Los compuestos 1, 2 y 3 mostraron actividad atrapadora de radicales en el ensayo del 1,1-difenil-2-picrilhidracilo (DFPH).

Microbiologically induced deterioration (MID) causes corrosion of concrete by producing acids (including organic and inorganic acids) that degrade concrete components and thus compromise the integrity of sewer pipelines and other structures, creating significant problems worldwide. Understanding of the fundamental corrosion process and the causal agents will help us develop an appropriate strategy to minimize the costs in repairs. This review presents how microorganisms induce the deterioration of concrete, including the organisms involved and their colonization and succession on concrete, the microbial deterioration mechanism, the approaches of studying MID and safeguards against concrete biodeterioration. In addition, the uninvestigated research area of MID is also proposed.

The use of the filamentous fungus, Ashbya gossypii, to improve riboflavin production at an industrial scale is described in this paper. A riboflavin overproducing strain was isolated by ultraviolet irradiation. Ten minutes after spore suspensions of A. gossypii were irradiated by ultraviolet light, a survival rate of 5.5% spores was observed, with 10% of the surviving spores giving rise to riboflavin-overproducing mutants. At this time point, a stable mutant of the wild strain was isolated. Riboflavin production of the mutant was two fold higher than that of the wild strain in flask culture. When the mutant was growing on the optimized medium, maximum riboflavin production could reach 6.38 g/l. It has even greater promise to increase its riboflavin production through dynamic analysis of its growth phase parameters, and riboflavin production could reach 8.12 g/l with pH was adjusted to the range of 6.0-7.0 using KH2PO4 in the later growth phase. This mutant has the potential to be used for industrial scale riboflavin production.