The present invention provides a method for profiling plant endophyte microbiomes, wherein the method provides for identification of endophyte strains that are phylogenetically related to a desired endophyte strain. More particularly, the present invention relates to method for identifying, characterising and/or comparing endophyte strains and to novel endophyte strains selected and/or isolated by the method. The present invention also relates to methods for transferring endophyte strains between plants.

The present invention provides a consortium of resistant microorganisms for biodegrading carbohydrates in the organic fraction of any source of solid waste. The genetic, metabolic and morphological structure of these resistant microorganisms works efficiently by biodegrading and mineralising solid biodegradable waste from municipal or harvest solid waste, reducing the production of gases and leachates. This compound enriches and increases the concentration of beneficial microorganisms, generating high-quality biological fertilisers suitable for use in agricultural production, in land recovery and conservation, under the parameters established in sustainable organic farming, which seeks to conserve, recover and use nature or the environment without generating the least negative impact.

The present invention relates to a bio-assisted method for treatment of spent caustic by treating with haloalkaliphilic consortium of bacteria capable of reducing or transforming sulphides, thiols, mercaptants and other sulphur containing compounds, phenols, hydrocarbons, naphthenic acids and their derivatives in spent caustic.

Provided herein are methods for integrating a gene of interest into a chromosome of a host cell. In some embodiments, the methods include introducing into a host cell a first plasmid comprising a transposase coding sequence and a donor sequence, which includes a selectable marker coding sequence flanked by a first and a second lox site and is itself flanked by inverted repeats recognized by the transposase. Following transposase-mediated chromosomal integration of the donor sequence into the host cell, a second plasmid is introduced, which comprises the gene of interest and a second selectable marker coding sequence, both flanked by a first and a second lox site. The gene of interest is chromosomally integrated into the host cell by recombinase-mediated cassette exchange (RMCE) between the donor sequence and the second plasmid via Cre-/cuc recombination. Further provided herein are host cells, vectors, and methods of producing a product related thereto.

The present invention relates to a substantially purified or isolated endophyte strain from a plant, wherein said endophyte is a strain of Curtobacterium laccumfaciens and/or Arthrobacter sp., and wherein said endophyte provides improved environmental stress tolerance to plants into which it is inoculated. The present invention also relates to plants infected with the endophytes and related methods.

The present application relates to plant growth promoting microbes (PGPMs), compositions comprising these PGPMs and methods of using these PGPMs and a plant or plant seed, wherein the plant or plant seed comprises at least one grain yield enhancing trait, for enhancing plant health, plant growth and/or plant yield, and/or for preventing, inhibiting, or treating the development of plant pathogens or the development of phytopathogenic diseases.

To provide a ketose 3-epimerase that can be used in the food industry and is highly safe, highly active, and heat resistant, a microorganism that produces this enzyme, and a method of producing a ketose. The present invention provides a ketose 3-epimerase that can be obtained from a microorganism belonging to the genus Arthrobacter, has a molecular mass of about 36 kDa as measured by SDS-PAGE, and has the following substrate specificities (A) and (B): (A) having an activity of epimerizing position 3 of a D- or L-ketose and preparing a D- or L-ketose corresponding thereto, and (B) having the highest epimerization activity on position 3 of D-allulose, among D- or L-ketohexoses.

An Arthrobacter pascens X-1 for promoting a growth of nodules and increasing an abundance of probiotic microorganism populations is disclosed. After the Arthrobacter pascens X-1 provided by the disclosure is applied, nutrient elements required by plants such as potassium, calcium and magnesium in rock powder are effectively released, rock erosion is accelerated to form soil, simultaneously effective nitrogen fixation of soybeans is promoted, nitrogen required for soybean growth is provided, symbiotic nitrogen fixation capability of rhizobium and host plants is obviously exerted, total weight of root nodules is promoted to be increased by 150.00%, content of hydrolyzed nitrogen is improved to be increased by 11.58%, and symbiotic nitrogen fixation capability is effectively exerted. At the same time, the relative abundance of Bradyrhizobium in the soil is increased from 0.21% to 52.47%.

The present invention has revealed that an antiviral agent containing a serine protease such as subtilisin, nattokinase, and trypsin has an effect of inactivating non-envelope type viruses, and that combining such an antiviral agent containing a serine protease with a cationic polymer enhances the inactivation effect of the antiviral agent against non-envelope type viruses. As a result, an antiviral agent that is highly safe, that has a high virus inactivation ability, and that contains a component that is inexpensive in terms the manufacturing cost and a cationic polymer, was discovered.

The present invention relates to isolated plant growth promoting microbes (PGPMs), isolated cultures of these PGPMs and compositions comprising same, including compositions comprising plants or parts thereof, particularly seeds. The present invention further relates to methods of using these isolated PGPMs, isolated cultures and compositions comprising same for enhancing plant health, plant growth and/or plant yield.