A group of different species of microorganisms that act together as a community.

Areas of the earth where hydrocarbon deposits of PETROLEUM and/or NATURAL GAS are located.

One of the three domains of life (the others being Eukarya and ARCHAEA), also called Eubacteria. They are unicellular prokaryotic microorganisms which generally possess rigid cell walls, multiply by cell division, and exhibit three principal forms: round or coccal, rodlike or bacillary, and spiral or spirochetal. Bacteria can be classified by their response to OXYGEN: aerobic, anaerobic, or facultatively anaerobic; by the mode by which they obtain their energy: chemotrophy (via chemical reaction) or PHOTOTROPHY (via light reaction); for chemotrophs by their source of chemical energy: CHEMOLITHOTROPHY (from inorganic compounds) or chemoorganotrophy (from organic compounds); and by their source for CARBON; NITROGEN; etc.; HETEROTROPHY (from organic sources) or AUTOTROPHY (from CARBON DIOXIDE). They can also be classified by whether or not they stain (based on the structure of their CELL WALLS) with CRYSTAL VIOLET dye: gram-negative or gram-positive.

Elimination of ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTANTS; PESTICIDES and other waste using living organisms, usually involving intervention of environmental or sanitation engineers.

Chemicals that are used to oxidize pigments and thus effect whitening.

The simplest saturated hydrocarbon. It is a colorless, flammable gas, slightly soluble in water. It is one of the chief constituents of natural gas and is formed in the decomposition of organic matter. (Grant & Hackh's Chemical Dictionary, 5th ed)

A genus of colorless, filamentous bacteria in the family THIOTRICHACEAE whose cells contain inclusions of sulfur granules. When found in decaying seaweed beds and polluted water, its presence signals environmental degradation.

A sultanate on the southeast coast of the Arabian peninsula. Its capital is Masqat. Before the 16th century it was ruled by independent emirs but was captured and controlled by the Portuguese 1508-1648. In 1741 it was recovered by a descendent of Yemen's imam. After its decline in the 19th century, it became virtually a political and economic dependency within the British Government of India, retaining close ties with Great Britain by treaty from 1939 to 1970 when it achieved autonomy. The name was recorded by Pliny in the 1st century A.D. as Omana, said to be derived from the founder of the state, Oman ben Ibrahim al-Khalil. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p890; Oman Embassy, Washington; Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p391)

A group of gram-negative, anaerobic bacteria that is able to oxidize acetate completely to carbon dioxide using elemental sulfur as the electron acceptor.

Tools or devices for generating products using the synthetic or chemical conversion capacity of a biological system. They can be classical fermentors, cell culture perfusion systems, or enzyme bioreactors. For production of proteins or enzymes, recombinant microorganisms such as bacteria, mammalian cells, or insect or plant cells are usually chosen.

A group of PROTEOBACTERIA represented by morphologically diverse, anaerobic sulfidogens. Some members of this group are considered bacterial predators, having bacteriolytic properties.

A nutritious food consisting primarily of the curd or the semisolid substance formed when milk coagulates.

The spectrum of different living organisms inhabiting a particular region, habitat, or biotope.

'Anaerobic Bacteria' are types of bacteria that do not require oxygen for growth and can often cause diseases in humans, including dental caries, gas gangrene, and tetanus, among others.

A collective genome representative of the many organisms, primarily microorganisms, existing in a community.

Constituent of 30S subunit prokaryotic ribosomes containing 1600 nucleotides and 21 proteins. 16S rRNA is involved in initiation of polypeptide synthesis.

The study, utilization, and manipulation of those microorganisms capable of economically producing desirable substances or changes in substances, and the control of undesirable microorganisms.

The presence of bacteria, viruses, and fungi in the soil. This term is not restricted to pathogenic organisms.

One of the three domains of life (the others being BACTERIA and Eukarya), formerly called Archaebacteria under the taxon Bacteria, but now considered separate and distinct. They are characterized by: (1) the presence of characteristic tRNAs and ribosomal RNAs; (2) the absence of peptidoglycan cell walls; (3) the presence of ether-linked lipids built from branched-chain subunits; and (4) their occurrence in unusual habitats. While archaea resemble bacteria in morphology and genomic organization, they resemble eukarya in their method of genomic replication. The domain contains at least four kingdoms: CRENARCHAEOTA; EURYARCHAEOTA; NANOARCHAEOTA; and KORARCHAEOTA.

The relationships of groups of organisms as reflected by their genetic makeup.

A mass of organic or inorganic solid fragmented material, or the solid fragment itself, that comes from the weathering of rock and is carried by, suspended in, or dropped by air, water, or ice. It refers also to a mass that is accumulated by any other natural agent and that forms in layers on the earth's surface, such as sand, gravel, silt, mud, fill, or loess. (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed, p1689)

A multistage process that includes cloning, physical mapping, subcloning, determination of the DNA SEQUENCE, and information analysis.

A functional system which includes the organisms of a natural community together with their environment. (McGraw Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed)

Refuse liquid or waste matter carried off by sewers.

The complete absence, or (loosely) the paucity, of gaseous or dissolved elemental oxygen in a given place or environment. (From Singleton & Sainsbury, Dictionary of Microbiology and Molecular Biology, 2d ed)

The salinated water of OCEANS AND SEAS that provides habitat for marine organisms.

DNA sequences encoding RIBOSOMAL RNA and the segments of DNA separating the individual ribosomal RNA genes, referred to as RIBOSOMAL SPACER DNA.

The presence of bacteria, viruses, and fungi in water. This term is not restricted to pathogenic organisms.

The relationship between two different species of organisms that are interdependent; each gains benefits from the other or a relationship between different species where both of the organisms in question benefit from the presence of the other.

Deoxyribonucleic acid that makes up the genetic material of bacteria.

Inorganic salts of sulfuric acid.

Descriptions of specific amino acid, carbohydrate, or nucleotide sequences which have appeared in the published literature and/or are deposited in and maintained by databanks such as GENBANK, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), National Biomedical Research Foundation (NBRF), or other sequence repositories.

A chemical reaction in which an electron is transferred from one molecule to another. The electron-donating molecule is the reducing agent or reductant; the electron-accepting molecule is the oxidizing agent or oxidant. Reducing and oxidizing agents function as conjugate reductant-oxidant pairs or redox pairs (Lehninger, Principles of Biochemistry, 1982, p471).