The present disclosure provides methods and compositions of matter directed to removing heavy metals, such as lead, from aqueous solutions by bioremediation. The methods use bacteria, which thrive in the presence of heavy metals to precipitate the heavy metals from the aqueous solution. In some embodiments, the bacteria comprise Bacillus licheniformis.

The invention provides a method and related compositions for preparing an effective probiotic bacteria formulation that can be stored, transported and used for protecting a variety of marine organisms against infection by potential pathogens.

A composite shell particle including a composite shell layer is provided. The composite shell layer is a hollow shell, wherein the composite shell layer includes a porous biological layer and a metallic layer. The porous biological layer is composed of an organic substance including a cell wall or a cell membrane of a bacteria or algae. The metallic layer is crosslinked with the porous biological layer to form the composite shell layer. The metallic layer includes at least one metal selected from the group consisting of iron, molybdenum, tungsten, manganese, zirconium, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, and calcium, and/or includes at least one selected form the group consisting of metal chelates, metal oxides, metal sulfides, metal chlorides, metal selenides, metal acid salt compounds, and metal carbonate compounds. A method of manufacturing the composite shell particle, and a biological material including the composite shell particle and the applications thereof are also provided.

The present invention relates to a method of preparing xylitol by using a xylose secondary mother liquor through fermentation. In the method, fermentation treatment is performed on a mixed liquid of the xylose secondary mother liquor and a xylose concentrate, and the xylose secondary mother liquor is subsequently batch-fed instead of glucose in the fermentation process. Thus, a glucose content in the fermentation system is stabilized, and some xylose is provided at the same time. In this way, the use amount of glucose and costs are reduced, and the system xylose can be relatively stabilized, thus improving the entire conversion rate. In the present invention, adding the xylose secondary mother liquor by mixed fermentation and batch feeding and the like enables the contents of heterosaccharides such as arabinose and mannose in the fermentation system to be always within a range of metabolization by fermenting strains, facilitating subsequent purification and improving the xylitol purity.

The disclosure herein relates to construction and application of engineering bacteria capable of secreting and expressing diacetylchitobiose deacetylase, and belongs to the technical field of fermentation engineering. Firstly, recombinant B. subtilis capable of heterologously secreting and expressing a diacetylchitobiose deacetylase gene is constructed, and a signal peptide fragment yncM is added into the recombinant vector for the first time. The signal peptide can secrete the target protein diacetylchitobiose deacetylase outside the cells of the recombinant B. subtilis, and a mutant of the 5-end untranslated region is acquired, thereby significantly increasing the expression level of the target protein, and greatly simplifying the subsequent enzyme separation and purification steps. When the acquired diacetylchitobiose deacetylase is fermented and cultured in a fermentation medium for 50-60 h, the enzyme activity reaches a maximum of 1,548.7 U/mL, and the maximum yield of the diacetylchitobiose deacetylase is about 620 mg/L. Simultaneously, the method has the advantages of low production cost, mild production conditions, simple purification process steps, safe production operation and the like.

A system for identifying Candida auris is disclosed. The system has two aspects. The first is a positive selection of C. auris based on C. auris's distinctive resistance to quaternary ammonium compounds (especially at elevated incubation temperatures). The second is a negative selection of C. auris based on C. auris's distinctive sensitive to tert-Butyl-hydroperoxide. C. auris can be identified in a sample through use of a positive-selection culture medium, which fosters C. auris colony growth while suppressing growth of other yeasts. The isolate can be confirmed as C. auris through use of a negative-selection culture medium, which suppresses C. auris colony growth while permitting growth of other yeasts.

An expression system and process for the production of Diphtheria toxin polypeptides or mutated forms thereof, such as the toxoid CRM197 polypeptide, in genetically-modified E. coli with high yield is described. The system and process is based on the uncoupling of biomass growth from recombinant protein induction, i.e. using an inducer of protein production that cannot be used as a carbon source for growth by the bacteria. The use of specific components and conditions that improve protein yields are also described.

The present invention provides a process for the treatment of sewage sludge with enzymes, which process comprises treating a sewage sludge resulting from the treatment of municipal or industrial waste water with a composition comprising a fermentation supernatant product from a Saccharomyces cerevisiae culture and a non-ionic surfactant, wherein said fermentation supernatant product is free of active enzymes, at conditions suitable for generating said active enzymes from said sewage sludge in situ.

The invention is directed to tools, compositions, and methods for the cultivation of microorganisms in culture media that is devoid of animal-derived materials such as blood, and, in particular, to compositions of meat-free media.

A Pseudomonas sp. ECO-1 strain was preserved at the China General Microbiological Culture Collection Center (CGMCC) on Mar. 31, 2017, with the preservation number of CGMCC No. 13960. The Pseudomonas sp. ECO-1 strain was separated from POPs (Persistent Organic Pollutants) polluted soil for the first time. The bifunctional enzyme preparation capable of efficiently degrading polychlorinated biphenyl and atrazine was prepared by utilizing the strain for the first time; especially, the bifunctional enzyme preparation has remarkable degradation activity on the polychlorinated biphenyl which is difficult to degrade under an aerobic condition, which is completely different from functions of existing known Pseudomonas sp. and enzyme preparations thereof.