An Overview of Parasite Diversity
Eric S. Loker, Bruce V. Hofkin in Parasitology, 2023
Members of the kingdom Animalia (animals, or metazoans) are unique among the world’s organisms for the development in most of integrated nervous and muscular systems that give them unprecedented mobility and responsiveness to environmental circumstances. Animals are multicellular heterotrophs that usually acquire their energy from ingestion of organic compounds (phagotrophy), although several parasitic groups acquire nutrients by absorption across their body walls. Many of the world’s most familiar and medically significant parasites are found among animals. Parasitism has arisen independently on several occasions with estimates ranging from 60 to over 223 occasions, in both major and minor lineages, but especially in the Arthropoda, the largest phylum by far in the animal kingdom. Some lineages of animals are exclusively parasitic, some have a mixture of free-living and parasitic species, and some as best we know are without parasitic representatives (Figure 2.18).
Organic Matter
Michael J. Kennish in Ecology of Estuaries Physical and Chemical Aspects, 2019
Green plants, via photosynthesis, supply most of the organic carbon production of estuaries. Photosynthetic bacteria, although potentially important in polluted and eutrophic systems, account for only a minor portion of the total organic carbon produced. Sulfate-reducing bacteria are obligate anaerobes (growing only in environments devoid of oxygen) frequently encountered at the upper edge of the reduced zone of tidal mudflat sediments and in anaerobic water masses. Chemosynthetic bacteria appear to be intermediate between autotrophs and heterotrophs,64 responsible for what is termed “secondary primary production”. Heterotrophs participate directly in carbon cycling by ingesting organic matter, converting plant organic carbon into animal organic carbon, and respiring or excreting metabolites and ultimately releasing elements subsequent to death and microbial decay.292 Various pathways of carbon transformation exist; however, carbon fixed by autotrophs ultimately enters abiotic carbon pools through respiration (CO2), mortality and defecation (POC), and secretion and degradation (DOC).24
Biodiesel Production from Microalgal Biomass
Gokare A. Ravishankar, Ranga Rao Ambati in Handbook of Algal Technologies and Phytochemicals, 2019
Open cultivation systems are used in many algal industries for large scale production of microalgal biomass for food, feed, nutraceuticals and value-added products (Ranga Rao et al. 2012; Ravishankar et al. 2012). Open cultivation systems are easier to construct and operate as compared to closed cultivation systems. The most commonly used open cultivation systems are shallow big ponds, circular ponds and raceway ponds. In these ponds, the CO2, nutrients and water are circulated continuously using paddlewheels. The algae are exposed to sunlight for these systems. Due to the simple structure, these open ponds have very low production and operational costs. However, these open cultivation systems have some drawbacks like limited sunlight penetration to the cells, evaporative losses, atmospheric CO2 diffusion and requirement of large areas of land. Furthermore, due to the limited control in its operation, contamination with other fast-growing heterotrophs is inevitable. In addition, the inefficient stirring mechanisms decrease the overall mass transfer rates leading to poor biomass productivity. These limitations have thus restricted the commercial production of algae in open systems since they may not be suitable for several forms (Kumar et al. 2015).
Blautia—a new functional genus with potential probiotic properties?
Published in Gut Microbes, 2021
Xuemei Liu, Bingyong Mao, Jiayu Gu, Jiaying Wu, Shumao Cui, Gang Wang, Jianxin Zhao, Hao Zhang, Wei Chen
Blautia species are strictly anaerobic, non-motile, 1.0–1.5 × 1.0–3.0 μm in size, usually spherical or oval, and appear in pairs or strands, with most strains being sporeless. The optimum temperature and pH for most Blautia strains are 37°C and 7.0, respectively.11 Some species such as B. producta possess both heterotrophic and autotrophic properties and can use CO, H2/CO2, and carbohydrates as energy sources.34 Carbohydrate utilization experiments have shown that all Blautia strains can use glucose, but different strains showed different abilities to use sucrose, fructose, lactose, maltose, rhamnose, and raffinose (Table 2). The final products of glucose fermentation by Blautia are acetic acid, succinic acid, lactic acid, and ethanol, and the main biochemical tests have revealed negative results for lecithin, lipase, catalase, and indole. The long-chain fatty acids produced by Blautia strains are classified into linearly saturated and monounsaturated types, with C14:0, C16:0, and C16:00 dimethyl acetal fatty acids as the main species. The GC content of Blautia DNA is 37–47 mol%, and the type species of this genus is B. coccoides.11
Neglecting the ecosystemic dimension of life hinders efficient environmental protection from radiation and other hazards
Published in International Journal of Radiation Biology, 2022
Perhaps, the easiest understandable example of collaborative interaction betwen species in ecosystems is the trophic interdependance which promotes bioregeneration: autotrophic photosynthtic species transform inorganic (CO2, minerals, …) into organic matter (mostly carbohydrates) that is used as a food source by heterotrophic animal species, the autotrophs also regenerate the O2, required by the heterotrophs respiration, from the CO2 these later produce whislt oxydising the organic matter that they ingest as food. Thus, the ecosystem features a bioregeneration capacity through an autotrophs-heteroptrophs cycling where the by-products from autotrophs are used by heterotrophs as ressources and vice versa.
Multistep approach to control microbial fouling of historic building materials by aerial phototrophs
Published in Biofouling, 2019
Paulina Nowicka-Krawczyk, Joanna Żelazna-Wieczorek, Anna Koziróg, Anna Otlewska, Katarzyna Rajkowska, Małgorzata Piotrowska, Beata Gutarowska, Bogumił Brycki
It is impossible to halt the gradual degradation and deterioration of man-made objects. Their surfaces degrade with the passing of time and under the influence of physical, chemical and biological factors, no matter what material they are made of. Microorganisms promote the deterioration of such materials as a result of their role in the environment (Junier and Joseph 2017). Some are decomposers of organic matter (Güsevell and Gessner 2009), while others are pioneer organisms producing organic matter from simple mineral components by photosynthesis (Graham et al. 2009). The latter are easily spread by wind throughout the terrestrial environments of all climatic zones and colonize substrata, creating visible ‘green’ coatings (Barberousse et al. 2007; Genitsaris et al. 2011). However, from an environmental perspective, the question arises whether colonization should be considered a problem. The answer depends on our social and cultural needs. In terms of history, evidence of the changes taking place over the centuries to buildings, memorials and monuments is extremely important. Phototrophic coatings not only decrease the aesthetic value, but also in many cases accelerate the rate of deterioration. Cyanobacteria and algae are able to grow into the substratum, causing mechanical deterioration, whilst changes in the volume of cells during water accumulation or secretion also cause microdamage to the substratum (Samad and Adhikary 2008; Grbić et al. 2010; Rajkowska et al. 2014). Some authors have questioned the direct contribution of phototrophs to the biodeterioration of historic objects, claiming that they are not the primary damaging factors (Ortega-Calvo et al. 1995; Gullota et al. 2018). However, they produce and secrete organic and inorganic compounds, which have been found to affect substrata and change their chemical composition (Cutler et al. 2013). Gaylarde and Morton (1999) highlight the deterioration abilities of cyanobacteria in tropical climate zones. Moreover, aerial phototrophs, being pioneers and primary producers, provide significant organic matter input, facilitating bacterial and fungal colonization, and thus allowing successive deterioration by heterotrophic microorganisms (Ortega-Calvo et al. 1995; May et al. 2011).
Related Knowledge Centers
- Animal
- Autotroph
- Bacteria
- Carbon Dioxide
- Microbiology
- Primary Nutritional Groups
- Chemotroph
- Photoheterotroph
- Sunlight
- Photoautotrophism