From kitchen to crop: The efficacy and safety of the microbial consortium treated dishwasher wastewater for the Zero Mile system.

A microbial consortium, based on the functional integration of photosynthetic and heterotrophic microorganisms, is the core of the Zero Mile System. This system is designed for reusing and upcycling household greywaters, a still untapped water resource. The previous challenges of dishwasher wastewater bioremediation demonstrated the capability of an ad hoc consortium (including a photosynthetic cyanobacterium and three heterotrophic bacterial isolates from dishwasher wastewater) to reclaim the wastewater at small/medium scale. In this study the wastewater treatment demonstrated to be effective in nutrient recycling and upcycling at a larger scale, i.e. 4 L (in three replicates to treat the total amount of wastewater discharged by the dishwasher), by removing high percentage of N and P from the wastewater (70% nitrogen, 50% phosphorous, respectively). Again, the reclaimed wastewater successfully fertilized lettuce plants both indoor (in the Zero Mile System demonstrator) and outdoor (in open field). Plants showed a significant higher biomass productivity in fresh weight compared to control plants and comparable or better values of the pigments and quality indices (e.g., soluble solids, total phenols, total flavonoids). Furthermore, the safety of the reclaimed wastewater is demonstrated by the analysis of the metabolic/ecologically relevant functions of the microbial communities in both untreated and treated wastewater. Colonizers were mainly organic matter degraders and bacteria involved in nitrogen cycling. The human related genera are quite few and no pathogens or potential microbiological contaminants of water bodies (as E. coli), were found. Hence, the utilization of treated dishwasher wastewater does not imply biological risks to agricultural products, soil, or groundwater.

Freshwater plastisphere: a review on biodiversity, risks, and biodegradation potential with implications for the aquatic ecosystem health.

The plastisphere, a unique microbial biofilm community colonizing plastic debris and microplastics (MPs) in aquatic environments, has attracted increasing attention owing to its ecological and public health implications. This review consolidates current state of knowledge on freshwater plastisphere, focussing on its biodiversity, community assembly, and interactions with environmental factors. Current biomolecular approaches revealed a variety of prokaryotic and eukaryotic taxa associated with plastic surfaces. Despite their ecological importance, the presence of potentially pathogenic bacteria and mobile genetic elements (i.e., antibiotic resistance genes) raises concerns for ecosystem and human health. However, the extent of these risks and their implications remain unclear. Advanced sequencing technologies are promising for elucidating the functions of plastisphere, particularly in plastic biodegradation processes. Overall, this review emphasizes the need for comprehensive studies to understand plastisphere dynamics in freshwater and to support effective management strategies to mitigate the impact of plastic pollution on freshwater resources.

Microparticles from dental calculus disclose paleoenvironmental and palaeoecological records.

Plants have always represented a key element in landscape delineation. Indeed, plant diversity, whose distribution is influenced by geographic/climatic variability, has affected both environmental and human ecology. The present contribution represents a multi-proxy study focused on the detection of starch, pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs in ancient dental calculus collected from pre-historical individuals buried at La Sassa and Pila archaeological sites (Central Italy). The collected record suggested the potential use of plant taxa by the people living in Central Italy during the Copper-Middle Bronze Age and expanded the body of evidence reported by previous palynological and palaeoecological studies. The application of a microscopic approach provided information about domesticated crops and/or gathered wild plants and inferred considerations on ancient environments, water sources, and past health and diseases. Moreover, the research supplied data to define the natural resources (e.g., C4-plant intake) and the social use of the space during that period. Another important aspect was the finding of plant clues referable to woody habitats, characterised by broad-leaved deciduous taxa and generally indicative of a warm-temperate climate and grassy vegetation. Other unusual records (e.g., diatoms, brachysclereids) participated in defining the prehistoric ecological framework. Thus, this work provides an overview on the potential of the human dental calculus analysis to delineate some features of the ancient plant ecology and biodiversity.

Long-term oscillations in the normalized biomass-size spectrum reveal the impact of oligotrophication on zooplankton trophic structure in the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre.

Ocean warming of the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre (NASG) induced oligotrophication and a decrease in integrated net primary production during the 2010s, potentially affecting higher trophic levels. We analyzed long-term records (1994-2019) of daytime and nighttime zooplankton biomass in five size classes from the NASG. Daytime biomass decreased in the three largest size classes during the 2010s, while decrease in nighttime biomass was less evident due to the relative stability in diel vertical migrator biomass. We used the normalized biomass size spectrum (NBSS) to estimate the relative transfer efficiency between trophic levels. The steepness of the NBSS slope at the end of the time series increased by 14% (daytime) and 24% (nighttime) from the maximum observed annual average values (2011 and 2009, respectively). This suggests oligotrophication during the 2010s led to a significant reduction in the transfer of biomass across trophic levels, with negative impacts on the NASG planktonic food web.