Nitrate is an important nutrient and electron acceptor for microorganisms, having a key role in nitrogen (N) cycling and electron transfer in anoxic sediments. High-nitrate inputs into sediments could have a significant effect on N cycling and its associated microbial processes. However, few studies have been focused on the effect of nitrate addition on the functional diversity, composition, structure and dynamics of sediment microbial communities in contaminated aquatic ecosystems with persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Here we analyzed sediment microbial communities from a field-scale in situ bioremediation site, a creek in Pearl River Delta containing a variety of contaminants including polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), before and after nitrate injection using a comprehensive functional gene array (GeoChip 4.0). Our results showed that the sediment microbial community functional composition and structure were markedly altered, and that functional genes involved in N-, carbon (C)-, sulfur (S)-and phosphorus (P)-cycling processes were highly enriched after nitrate injection, especially those microorganisms with diverse metabolic capabilities, leading to potential in situ bioremediation of the contaminated sediment, such as PBDE and PAH reduction/degradation. This study provides new insights into our understanding of sediment microbial community responses to nitrate addition, suggesting that indigenous microorganisms could be successfully stimulated for in situ bioremediation of POPs in contaminated sediments with nitrate addition.

Aquaponics is considered as a possible method to produce aquatic animals and plants in an environmentally-friendly way, but its commercialization is seriously hindered owing to some technical and economic problems. Recently, the integration of microbial community with aquaponics is on the way to becoming the next-generation technology for the sustainable development and commercialization of the aquaponics industry. This article provides an authoritative discussion on the novel microbial community-assisted aquaponics, which will be emerging from the research environment to industrial application in the coming future. Principles and key technologies of this novel aquaponics, as well as the potential challenges to its commercialization, are discussed. It is expected that the emerging technologies discussed in this work could address the existed technical problems and further promote the commercialization of aquaponics.

Aiming at treating piggery wastewater and producing useful products, a novel method using a co-culture of Chlorella pyrenoidosa and Rhodotorula glutinis in piggery wastewater was proposed in this study to improve nutrient removal and the protein content in the feed produced.

Dendrobium officinale polysaccharide (DOP) attenuates inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), but its role in regulating cross-talk between intestinal epithelial cells (IEC) and macrophages against IBD is unclear. This study aimed to investigate DOP protective effects on the intestinal inflammatory response through regulation by miRNA in small extracellular vesicles (sEVs). Our results show that DOP interfered with the secretion of small extracellular vesicles (DIEs) by IEC, which reduced the levels of inflammatory mediators. Increased miR-433-3p expression in DIEs was identified as an important protector against intestinal inflammation. DOP regulated the loading of miR-433-3p by hnRNPA2B1 into the intestinal sEV to increase the abundance of miR-433-3p. DIEs delivered miR-433-3p to lipopolysaccharide-induced macrophages and targeted the MAPK8 gene, leading to inhibition of the MAPK signaling pathway and reduced production of inflammatory cytokines. One protective mechanism of DOP is mediated by intestinal sEV containing miR-433-3p, which is a potential therapeutic agent for the prevention of inflammatory factor accumulation from excessive intestinal macrophage activity and for restoring homeostasis in the intestinal microenvironment.

Due to the low concentration of nitrate and high contents of organics, brewery effluent was not suitable for the cultivation of Spirulina sp. This work changed the nutrient profile of brewery effluent effectively by dilution, addition of nitrate, and anaerobic digestion. The result showed that the optimum dilution rate and NaNO addition for brewery effluent were 20% and 0.5 g/L, respectively. Spirulina sp. grown in pretreated brewery effluent produced 1.562 mg/L biomass and reduced concentrations of nutrients to reach the permissible dischargeable limits. In addition, Spirulina sp. grown in pretreated brewery effluent had much higher protein content and oil content. So the appropriate treatment converted brewery effluent into a nutrient balanced medium for algae cultivation and alleviated the potential environmental problems. Pretreatment procedure developed in this work is an effective way to realize the sustainable utilization of brewery effluent and produce algal biomass with valuable nutrients.