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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Application Of Nitrate To An Anaerobic Subsurface Bioremediation, Cassie Marie Roberts Jan 2023

Application Of Nitrate To An Anaerobic Subsurface Bioremediation, Cassie Marie Roberts

Masters Theses

"The highly contaminated subsurface matrix of the Baird and McGuire Superfund site is currently threatening the health and safety of the surrounding environment of Holbrook, MA. Contaminants of significant concern due to high concentration are inorganic arsenite and petroleum hydrocarbons, such as naphthalene. Parsons Corporation and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection have implemented a bioremediation pilot to attempt to degrade the hydrocarbons and arsenic with the application of nitrate. The nitrate would act as an electron acceptor for biodegradation of the hydrocarbon contaminants, produce nitrite that would oxidize reduced iron, and iron oxides would sequester arsenic. Preliminary data showed …


Xylan Metabolism By Caulobacter Crescentus, Viet Bui Jan 2019

Xylan Metabolism By Caulobacter Crescentus, Viet Bui

Masters Theses

Bacteria present unique opportunities to explore the molecular mechanisms of nutrient acquisition processes at single cell level under various experimental conditions. Caulobacter crescentus is a gram-negative oligotrophic environmental bacterium with adaptive physiological responses, such as slow growth or complete arrest of cell cycle, presence of sessile and motile progenies with the sessile cells growing stalk to enhance nutrient uptake for growth in low-nutrient conditions. Details of plant polysaccharide-derived carbon compound, such as cellobiose, maltose, and xylose utilization by C. crescentus can be found but molecular details or mechanisms of polysaccharide utilization, such as xylan, has not been reported. Database analyses …


Geochemical Control Of Methanogenesis In Cape Lookout Bight, North Carolina, Richard Kevorkian Aug 2015

Geochemical Control Of Methanogenesis In Cape Lookout Bight, North Carolina, Richard Kevorkian

Masters Theses

Hydrogen exerts thermodynamic control over the exclusion of methanogens by sulfate reducers in Cape Lookout Bight, NC, marine sediments. This has been demonstrated by previous in situ measurements, but has never been demonstrated in a batch incubation of unamended sediments and has never been combined with identification of the microorganisms involved in this process. We made triplicate anoxic incubations of sediments from the upper 3 cm of sediment over 122 days while taking weekly samples for DNA extraction, cell counts, and measurements of methane, sulfate, and hydrogen. The headspaces of the bottles were initially gassed with nitrogen and the third …


Environmental Constraints On Cyanomyophage Abundance In The Subtropical Pacific Ocean, Tiana Maria Pimentel Dec 2013

Environmental Constraints On Cyanomyophage Abundance In The Subtropical Pacific Ocean, Tiana Maria Pimentel

Masters Theses

Viruses are abundant in the world’s oceans and are thought to be important participants in marine biogeochemical cycling. Of these viruses, cyanophages are considered especially important because they infect and lyse cyanobacteria, which are some of the main primary producers in marine environments. Cyanophages are thought to influence the abundance and diversity of cyanobacterial populations and impart significant mortality, thereby affecting primary productivity and microbial community structure. Despite their ecological relevance, little is known about how environmental factors shape cyanophage abundance and diversity over large temporal and spatial scales. To address this gap in knowledge, seawater samples were collected during …