The present disclosure provides novel endophyte strains or cultures thereof that have a symbiotic relationship with plants. The present disclosure further provides methods of improving seed vitality, biotic and abiotic stress resistance, plant health and yield under both stressed and unstressed environmental conditions, comprising inoculating a seed with the novel endophyte strains and cultivating a plant therefrom.

In one aspect, the present invention is directed to a plant or plant part coated with a composition comprising a bacterial spore and a germinative compound. In another aspect the present invention is directed to a method of enhancing the growth of a plant or plant part comprising coating such plant or plant part with such a composition. In yet another aspect, the present invention is directed to a composition comprising a bacterial spore and a germinative compound where such components are maintained in an inactive form. The present invention also relates to use of the compositions in wastewater treatment, environmental remediation, oil recovery, aquaculture systems, and direct fed microbials.

A composite biochar for controlling heavy metal pollution and a process for producing the same, in particular enrichment of heavy metals such as arsenic and lead in soil with centipede grass, thereafter centipede grass is sintered with hydroxyapatite, sepiolite and chitosan, and compounded with microorganisms to produce said composite biochar; through the process of the present invention, heavy metals such as arsenic and lead are stably enriched or coated in said composite biochar, significantly reducing the potential hazard of arsenic and lead to the environment, and also providing new developmental ideas for treating heavy metal biomass.

Systems and methods for treating contaminated soil and groundwater are contemplated. An aqueous slurry may be formulated from particles of solid-phase organic materials having particle sizes between 0.1 and 100 microns, which serve as organic electron donors which may biodegrade subsurface contaminants. The aqueous slurry is injected into an environmental subsurface at a pressure lower than the fracture pressure of the subsurface, which will result in a more uniform distribution of the slurry throughout the subsurface, rather than concentrated deposition of the solid-phase organic materials at points along the fractures, and will also tend to reduce disruption of the architecture of the soil matrix, increasing the utility of the remediated soil and preventing an increase in the rates of generation and efflux of methane and nitrous oxide from the soil to the atmosphere.

Described herein is a process for producing saccharides and ethanol from biomass feedstock that includes (a) producing an enzyme composition by culturing a fungal strain(s) in the presence of a lignocellulosic medium, (b) using the enzyme composition to saccharify the biomass feedstock, and (c) fermenting the saccharified biomass feedstock to produce ethanol. The process is scalable and, in certain aspects, is capable of being deployed on farms, thereby allowing local production of saccharides and ethanol and resulting in a reduction of energy and other costs for farm operators. Optional steps to improve the biomass-to-fuel conversion efficiency are also contemplated, as are uses for byproducts of the process described herein.

Disclosed is a soil conditioner, comprising the following components in parts by weight: 10-20 parts of distiller's grains; 1-10 parts of cow dung; 1-10 parts of vermicompost; 1-10 parts of oil cake; 10-20 parts of dregs of decoction; 20-40 parts of fallow soil; and 20-40 parts of river sand. Also disclosed is a method for preparing a soil conditioner, comprising: first, separately fermenting distiller's grains, cow dung, vermicompost, oil cake, and dregs of decoction, and then mixing them with river sand and fallow soil for secondary solid fermentation to obtain the soil conditioner. The present invention has a remarkable restoration effect on obstructive soil, the microbial diversity index of the restored soil is increased, the microbial ecological structure of the soil is improved, and the quality of crops is enhanced.

The present disclosure provides compositions comprising novel endophytes capable of promoting germination endophytes that have a symbiotic relationship with plants. The present disclosure further provides methods of improving seed vitality, biotic and abiotic stress resistance, plant health and yield under both stressed and unstressed environmental conditions, comprising inoculating a seed with the novel endophyte strains and cultivating a plant therefrom.

The disclosure provides polynucleotides, polypeptides, transgenic plants, cells and vectors useful for crop plants to augment the basal level of aluminum and heavy metal tolerance.

Biocatalytic composition to be used in the agricultural, zootechnical and environmental recovery fields, to transform substrates which is reacted with, to non-polluting substances, including a component with coenzymatic activity including Vitamin A, Vitamin D3, Vitamin E, Propylgallate, Raw fats, Raw proteins; a component with enzymatic activity including Bacillus licheniformis, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus thuringiensis, Bacillus SPP, Aspergillus Oryzae, Aspergillus Niger, Lactobacillus bifidus, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Amylase, Protease, Lipase, Cellulase, Gumase; and a component including substances regulating pH, including Humic acids, Fulvic acids, Crenic acids, Apocrenic acids, Vitamin A, Vitamin D3, Vitamin PP, Arthrospira maxima, among others.

A method, for mitigating an environmental condition, may include assessing a geographic area with which the environmental condition is associated; and creating a plan to mitigate the environmental condition. The plan may identify a bio-crop for mitigating the environmental condition and a bio-product to be produced from the bio-crop. The method may also include planting the bio-crop in soil that is located within the geographical area. The bio-crop may be planted in a manner that enables the environmental condition to be mitigated. The method may further include harvesting the bio-crop based on planting the bio-crop; processing the harvested bio-crop to obtain biomass; producing the bio-product based on the biomass; and outputting the bio-product based on producing the bio-product.