Halomonas sp. strain KO116 was isolated from Nile Delta Mediterranean Sea surface water enriched with insoluble organosolv lignin. It was further screened for growth on alkali lignin minimal salts medium agar. The strain tolerates the ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate. Its complete genome sequence is presented in this report.

The detection and quantification of naturally occurring microbial cellular densities is an essential component of environmental systems monitoring. While there are a number of commonly utilized approaches for monitoring microbial abundance, capacitance-based biosensors represent a promising approach because of their low-cost and label-free detection of microbial cells, but are not as well characterized as more traditional methods. Here, we investigate the applicability of enhanced alternating current electrokinetics (ACEK) capacitive sensing as a new application for rapidly detecting and quantifying microbial cellular densities in cultured and environmentally sourced aquatic samples. ACEK capacitive sensor performance was evaluated using two distinct and dynamic systems - the Great Australian Bight and groundwater from the Oak Ridge Reservation in Oak Ridge, TN. Results demonstrate that ACEK capacitance-based sensing can accurately determine microbial cell counts throughout cellular concentrations typically encountered in naturally occurring microbial communities (10(3)-10(6) cells/mL). A linear relationship was observed between cellular density and capacitance change correlations, allowing a simple linear curve fitting equation to be used for determining microbial abundances in unknown samples. This work provides a foundation for understanding the limits of capacitance-based sensing in natural environmental samples and supports future efforts focusing on evaluating the robustness ACEK capacitance-based within aquatic environments.

Here, we report the complete genome sequences of two Megasphaera elsdenii strains, ATCC 25940 and NCIMB 702410. M. elsdenii is an anaerobic bacterium capable of producing butanoate and hexanoate and is a member of the Negativicutes.

Clostridium thermocellum is a potentially useful organism for the production of lignocellulosic biofuels because of its ability to directly deconstruct cellulose and convert it into ethanol. Previously engineered C. thermocellum strains have achieved higher yields and titers of ethanol. These strains often initially grow more poorly than the wild type. Adaptive laboratory evolution and medium supplementation have been used to improve growth, but the mechanism(s) by which growth improves remain(s) unclear. Here, we studied (1) wild-type C. thermocellum, (2) the slow-growing and high-ethanol-yielding mutant AG553, and (3) the faster-growing evolved mutant AG601, each grown with and without added formate. We used a combination of transcriptomics and proteomics to understand the physiological impact of the metabolic engineering, evolution, and medium supplementation. Medium supplementation with formate improved growth in both AG553 and AG601. Expression of C1 metabolism genes varied with formate addition, supporting the hypothesis that the primary benefit of added formate is the supply of C1 units for biosynthesis. Expression of stress response genes such as those involved in the sporulation cascade was dramatically over-represented in AG553, even after the addition of formate, suggesting that the source of the stress may be other issues such as redox imbalances. The sporulation response is absent in evolved strain AG601, suggesting that sporulation limits the growth of engineered strain AG553. A better understanding of the stress response and mechanisms of improved growth hold promise for informing rational improvement of C. thermocellum for lignocellulosic biofuel production.