Experiments suggest that biodiversity enhances the ability of ecosystems to maintain multiple functions, such as carbon storage, productivity, and the buildup of nutrient pools (multifunctionality). However, the relationship between biodiversity and multifunctionality has never been assessed globally in natural ecosystems. We report here on a global empirical study relating plant species richness and abiotic factors to multifunctionality in drylands, which collectively cover 41% of Earth’s land surface and support over 38% of the human population.

Prospecting macroalgae (seaweeds) as feedstocks for bioconversion into biofuels and commodity chemical compounds is limited primarily by the availability of tractable microorganisms that can metabolize alginate polysaccharides. Here, we present the discovery of a 36–kilo–base pair DNA fragment from Vibrio splendidus encoding enzymes for alginate transport and metabolism. The genomic integration of this ensemble, together with an engineered system for extracellular alginate depolymerization, generated a microbial platform that can simultaneously degrade, uptake, and metabolize alginate.

Alarmed at signs that the overuse of antibiotics in farm animals is blunting these key weapons against human disease, governments are taking action.

Controlling who is allowed access to information about mutations in the H5N1 bird flu virus is unacceptable, says Peter Palese.

As human activity in the Arctic increases, so does the risk of hydrocarbon pollution events. On site bioremediation of contaminated soil is the only feasible clean up solution in these remote areas, but degradation rates vary widely between bioremediation treatments. Most previous studies have focused on the feasibility of on site clean-up and very little attention has been given to the microbial and functional communities involved and their ecology.

Scientists of the Joint BioEnergy Institute identify a new microbe-produced advanced biofuel as an alternative to diesel.

Blue green algae (BGA) possess immense morphological and metabolic diversity and can be used in economic developmentand environment management like wastewater treatment, land reclamation, production of fine chemicals, atmospheric fixation ofnitrogen, production of methane fuel, conversion of solar energy, therapeutic functions and so on. This review presents applicationsof BGA in agriculture, food and industry.

Contamination of aquatic resources by a variety of heavy metals is of growing concern because of health risk posed by the exposure to flora and fauna as well as human being. The vast majority of toxic metals are the waste products/by products of industrial and metallurgical processes. Other possible sources include the effluent from electroplating, storage battery manufacturing industries, tanneries, municipal sludges, extractive metallurgy processes, and metal finishing operations contains high amount of dissolved metals and the concentration reaches to a significant range.

One approach to reducing the costs of advanced biofuel production from cellulosic biomass is to engineer a single microorganism to both digest plant biomass and produce hydrocarbons that have the properties of petrochemical fuels. Such an organism would require pathways for hydrocarbon production and the capacity to secrete sufficient enzymes to efficiently hydrolyze cellulose and hemicellulose.