The aim of this synthesis is to highlight and illustrate the approach adopted by TEEB: namely to show how economic concepts and tools can help equip society with the means to incorporate the values of nature into decision making at all levels.

The economics of ecosystems and biodiversity : mainstreaming the economics of nature : a synthesis of the approach, conclusions and recommendations of TEEB

In order to characterize the genome-wide transcriptional response of the hyperthermophilic, aerobic crenarchaeote Sulfolobus solfataricus to UV damage, we used high-density DNA microarrays which covered 3,368 genetic features encoded on the host genome, as well as the genes of several extrachromosomal genetic elements. While no significant up-regulation of genes potentially involved in direct DNA damage reversal was observed, a specific transcriptional UV response involving 55 genes could be dissected. Although flow cytometry showed only modest perturbation of the cell cycle, strong modulation of the transcript levels of the Cdc6 replication initiator genes was observed. Up-regulation of an operon encoding Mre11 and Rad50 homologs pointed to induction of recombinational repair. Consistent with this, DNA double-strand breaks were observed between 2 and 8 h after UV treatment, possibly resulting from replication fork collapse at damaged DNA sites. The strong transcriptional induction of genes which potentially encode functions for pilus formation suggested that conjugational activity might lead to enhanced exchange of genetic material. In support of this, a statistical microscopic analysis demonstrated that large cell aggregates formed upon UV exposure. Together, this provided supporting evidence to a link between recombinational repair and conjugation events.

Response of the Hyperthermophilic Archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus to UV Damage

Chromium tolerance, bioaccumulation and localization in plants: An overview.

Keratinases are well-recognized enzymes with the unique ability to attack highly cross-linked, recalcitrant structural proteins such as keratin. Their potential in environmental clean-up of huge amount of feather waste has been well established since long. Today, they have gained importance in various other biotechnological and pharmaceutical applications. However, commercial availability of keratinases is still limited. Hence, to attract entrepreneurs, investors and enzyme industries it is utmost important to explicitly present the market potential of keratinases through detailed account of its application sectors. Here, the application areas have been divided into three parts: the first one is dealing with the area of exclusive applications, the second emphasizes protease dominated sectors where keratinases would prove better substitutes, and the third deals with upcoming newer areas which still await practical documentation. An account of benefits of keratinase usage, existing market size, and available commercial sources and products has also been presented.

Biotechnological applications and prospective market of microbial keratinases

Metagenomic insights into salinity effect on diversity and abundance of denitrifying bacteria and genes in an expanded granular sludge bed reactor treating high-nitrate wastewater

East Calcutta Wetland (ECW) is an example of wise use of cities solid and liquid waste
through integrated resource recovery, mainly for pisciculture, vegetable as well as paddy cultivation
and manure production. Amaranthus caudatus, Amaranthus blithum and Spinacia oleracea grown at
ECW were analyzed for their accumulation of elements using Energy Dispersive X Ray Fluorescence
(EDXRF) and compared to those grown in south eastern parts of West Bengal (Midnapur). The
objective was to analyze the health hazard, if any, underlying the use of wastewater and solid waste for
cultivation of green leafy vegetables at ECW. The following results were obtained upon comparing the
data collected from the two different sites: (a) higher accumulation in ECW grown plants of elements
like Ca, Cu and Pb in Amaranthus caudatus; of Ca in Amaranthus blithum; of Cl and Cu in Spinacia
oleracea, (b) for the same species grown in non-ECW site, higher concentration of elements like Mn
and Fe in Amaranthus caudatus; of Cl, Mn and Br in Amaranthus blithum; of Ca, Mn, Fe and Br in
Spinacia oleracea. The net consumption of the aforementioned elements per person per day was
calculated and found to be much below the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) levels in all
cases. Thus the vegetables grown out of integrated resource recovery mechanism at East Calcutta
Wetland appear to be safe for human consumption. This further corroborated by the healthy
appearance of these vegetables. This result has profound implications of far reaching significance for
environmental management and health economics.

/pdf/integrated-resource-recovery-at-east-calcutta-wetland-how-1ntjy232jn.pdf

Integrated Resource Recovery at East Calcutta Wetland: How Safe is These?

Calcutta has a unique waste management system which uses the traditional non conventional practice for treating both the solid as well as soluble waste for its 12 million inhabitants . It not only detoxifies the waste but also generates resources for the existing society in form of employment as well as edibles like sufficient vegetable, fish as well as paddy for consumption. The elemental analysis of these products showed no metal toxicity due to their cultivation using waste resource. Thus East Calcutta Wetland can be sited as the best example of integrated resource recovery.

/pdf/waste-management-a-case-study-of-ongoing-traditional-4enb4qykw5.pdf

Waste Management: A Case Study of Ongoing Traditional Practices at East Calcutta Wetland

The current study is on East Calcutta Wetland (ECW) which is a model for multi-use resource recovery system with activities like pisciculture and agriculture. The entire city's soluble waste is disposed into the raw sewage canals which finally drains into the shallow, flat bottom fish ponds called Bheri. These sewage fed fisheries act simultaneously for the purification process like removal of heavy metals, coliform reduction as well as fish production at a commercial scale. The fishes from these Bheri are analyzed for the extent of metal accumulation in them as compared with those collected from the fresh water ponds around Calcutta. This comparative study was done to access the risk involved, if any, in fish cultivation and its subsequent consumption from these wastewater fed fisheries. Two types of commonly consumed fishes were chosen for the study namely Labeo rohita and Cirrhinus mrigala. Analysis of elements like P, S, Cl, K, Ca, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Br, Rb, Sr and Pb was done by Energy Dispersive X Ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) in order to quantify the level of accumulation. The analysis inferred that elements like Cr, Cu, Rb, Pb shows accumulation in substantial amount in both type of fishes collected from the sewage fed as well as freshwater sources. The uptake of these fishes by human population thereby causes the consumption of these elements in relatively higher level as compared to the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA). Thus consumption of waste water cultivated fishes pose no additional health hazard. The accumulation of these metals in fishes from both Bheri as well as fresh water pond put forth a plausible action of diverse microscopic population and certain geochemical factors acting beneath the phenomenon of sedimentation as well as biomagnification of metal in the fish pond and their subsequent uptake in the aquatic food chain.

/pdf/traditional-aquaculture-practice-at-east-calcutta-wetland-4hh10fv1lr.pdf

Traditional Aquaculture Practice at East Calcutta Wetland: The Safety Assessment

Tethi Biswas1,2, Debasmita Chatterjee3, Sinchini Barman3, Amrita Chakraborty1, Nabanita Halder1, Srimoyee Banerjee1, and Shaon Ray Chaudhuri1* 1Department of Microbiology, Tripura University, Suryamaninagar, Tripura West, 799022, India 2Centre of Excellence in Environmental Technology and Management, 3Department of Biotechnology, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology, Haringhata, Nadia, West Bengal-741249, India

Cultivable Bacterial Community Analysis of Dairy Activated Sludge for Value Addition to Dairy Wastewater

Problem statement: Nitrate and phosphate are two major pollutants due to anthropogenic activity like excessive use of fertilizers in agriculture. Their contamination has emerged as a global problem and its potential threat is marked on the environmental sustainance as well as on the public health. Approach: The objective of the current study is to isolate efficient nitrate and phosphate removing microbes from various environmental sites that have been selected on the basis of the nature of polutants received by them and their water quality assessment. These well characterized isolates could in future be used for the remediation of waste water. 30 different sites were screened using culture based method. The nitrate and phosphate removing abilities of the microbes were checked in enriched medium (Himedia M439) after 16 h of incubation at 37°C. Results: 7 efficient isolates were obtained from rhizosphere of Water lily, Marine beaches, Paddy field and Raw sewage canal. The highest nitrate removal (88.3%) was shown by isolate (WBUNB009) from raw sewage canal and the highest phosphate removal (82.9%) was shown by isolate (WBUNB004) from rhizosphere of Water lily. Morphologically all the isolates were gram positive bacilli as reconfirmed by environmental scanning electron microscopy. Biochemically as well as physiologically they differ from each other. Conclusion/Recommendation: This study leads to the isolation of efficient nitrate and phosphate removers from environmental origin. The phosphate removing efficiency is much higher than the type strain under identical condition. These native microbes might be responsible for maintaining the phosphate and nitrate levels at the 30 sites investigated inspite of the received pollution load. These isolates could be the potential bioremedial agents for other sites with high nitrate and phosphate contamination level.

Shaon RayChaudhuri

Papers

Integrated Resource Recovery at East Calcutta Wetland: How Safe is These?

Waste Management: A Case Study of Ongoing Traditional Practices at East Calcutta Wetland

Traditional Aquaculture Practice at East Calcutta Wetland: The Safety Assessment

Cultivable Bacterial Community Analysis of Dairy Activated Sludge for Value Addition to Dairy Wastewater

Isolation of Nitrate and Phosphate Removing Bacteria from Various Environmental Sites