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Related Concept Videos

Biofilms01:29

Biofilms

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Biofilms are complex communities of microorganisms encased in a self-produced extracellular polysaccharide matrix attached to surfaces. These microbial consortia can include single or multiple species, providing enhanced survival benefits by forming organized, multilayered structures.The formation of biofilms occurs through four key stages: attachment, colonization, development, and dispersal.During attachment, free-swimming planktonic cells adhere to a surface, often facilitated by...
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Co-activators and Co-repressors02:04

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Gene transcription is regulated by the synergistic action of several proteins that form a complex at a gene regulatory site. This is observed in eukaryotes, where the regulation of gene expression is a complex process. Regulatory proteins in eukaryotes can broadly be classified into two types – regulators that bind directly to specific DNA sequences and co-regulators that associate with regulatory proteins but cannot directly bind to the DNA. These co-regulators are further divided into...
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tRNA Activation02:26

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Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases are present in both eukaryotes and bacteria. Though eukaryotes have 20 different aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases to couple to 20 amino acids, many bacteria do not have genes for all of these aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases. Despite this, they still use all 20 amino acids to synthesize their proteins. For instance, some bacteria do not have the gene encoding the enzyme that couples glutamine with its partner tRNA. In these organisms, one enzyme adds glutamic acid to all of the...
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Activation Energy01:26

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Activation energy is the minimum amount of energy necessary for a chemical reaction to move forward. The higher the activation energy, the slower the rate of the reaction. However, adding heat to the reaction will increase the rate, since it causes molecules to move faster and increase the likelihood that molecules will collide. The collision and breaking of bonds represents the uphill phase of a reaction and generates the transition state. The transition state is an unstable high-energy state...
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Eukaryotic Transcription Activators02:42

Eukaryotic Transcription Activators

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Transcription activators are proteins that promote the transcription of genes from DNA to RNA. In most cases, these proteins contain two separate domains ‒ a domain that binds to DNA and a domain for activating transcription; however, in some cases, a single domain is responsible for both binding and activation of transcription, as seen in the glucocorticoid receptor and MyoD.
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Secondary Active Transport01:55

Secondary Active Transport

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One example of how cells use the energy contained in electrochemical gradients is demonstrated by glucose transport into cells. The ion vital to this process is sodium (Na+), which is typically present in higher concentrations extracellularly than in the cytosol. Such a concentration difference is due, in part, to the action of an enzyme “pump” embedded in the cellular membrane that actively expels Na+ from a cell. Importantly, as this pump contributes to the high concentration of...
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Colorimetric Analysis of Alkaline Phosphatase Activity in S. aureus Biofilm
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Biofilms, active substrata, and me.

Bruce E Rittmann1

  • 1Biodesign Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-5701, USA.

Water Research
|January 12, 2018
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Active substrata enhance biofilms' environmental services. This research explores how engineered materials enable biofilms to treat challenging contaminants like oxidized pollutants and recalcitrant organics, advancing water sustainability.

Keywords:
Active substrataAnode respirationBiofilmMembrane biofilmPhotobiocatalysis

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Area of Science:

  • Environmental microbiology
  • Biotechnology
  • Water treatment

Background:

  • Biofilms are naturally occurring microbial communities with valuable environmental services.
  • Existing biofilm applications include BOD removal, nitrogen transformation, methane generation, and micropollutant biodegradation.
  • Enhanced biofilm capabilities are possible with the aid of active substrata.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore how active substrata can enable biofilms to perform challenging environmental services.
  • To demonstrate the potential of active substrata in expanding biofilm applications for water sustainability.

Main Methods:

  • Membrane biofilm reactors (MBfRs) for delivering hydrogen gas (H2) as an electron donor.
  • Microbial electrochemical cells (MxCs) utilizing biofilm anodes for electron harvesting.
  • Intimately coupled photobiocatalysis (ICPB) integrating photocatalysis with biofilm activity.

Main Results:

  • MBfRs achieve 100% efficiency in delivering H2 for the reduction of oxidized contaminants.
  • Biofilm anode potential in MxCs allows management of microbial ecology and reaction kinetics.
  • ICPB facilitates biodegradation of recalcitrant organics by coupling photocatalysis with biofilm activity.

Conclusions:

  • Active substrata significantly expand the scope of environmental services provided by biofilms.
  • Engineered materials like gas-transfer membranes and macroporous photocatalyst supports are key to these advancements.
  • This approach holds great promise for enhancing water sustainability through innovative biofilm applications.