A polyphasic taxonomic approach including analysis of phenotypic, physiological and genotypic characteristics, 16S rRNA gene sequence and DNA–DNA hybridization analysis was used to determine the most consistent affiliation of Pseudomonas pictorum . Pseudomonas pictorum ATCC 23328T exhibited phenotypic traits of members of the genus Stenotrophomonas including cellular fatty acid composition, quinone and limited range of substrates that could be used. Antibiotic susceptibility and physiological characteristics were determined. The DNA G+C content was 65.7 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the type strains of Stenotrophomonas terrae , Stenotrophomonas humi , Stenotrophomonas nitritireducens and Stenotrophomonas acidaminiphila were the nearest relatives (16S rRNA gene sequence similarity of 98.0 to 98.8 %). All the other type strains of species of the genus Stenotrophomonas showed high 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities (96.8 to 97.2 %). DNA–DNA hybridizations revealed 31.0, 32.0, 43.3 and 43.6 % reassociation between Pseudomonas pictorum ATCC 23328T and the type strains of S. terrae , S. humi , S. nitritireducens and S. acidaminiphila , respectively. Our overall results indicate that Pseudomonas pictorum should be transferred to the genus Stenotrophomonas as a novel species of this genus, Stenotrophomonas pictorum comb. nov. Since the original description of the genus Stenotrophomonas was made with only one species ( Stenotrophomonas maltophilia ), an emendation of the genus description is proposed in order to match better with the characteristics of the eleven novel species assigned to this genus since then.

In recent years, research on yeasts as probiotics has gained more and more interest, which will allow the development of “new” products in the probiotics market. In this context, seventeen yeast strains isolated from Rabilé, a traditional beer produced in Burkina Faso, were assessed for their probiotic attributes. The yeast identification was performed by molecular methods, including PCR-RFLP and 5.8S-ITS region sequencing. Saccharomyces cerevisiae (14 strains) was the predominantly identified species, followed by Pichia kudriavzevii (2 strains) and Rhodotorula mucilaginosa (1 strain). Except for R. mucilaginosa, all yeast strains grew well at human temperature. The yeast strains showed high resistance when they were exposed to simulated gastrointestinal conditions. Auto-aggregation ability was between 70.20 ± 10.53% and 91.82 ± 1.96%, while co-aggregation with E. coli ranged from 24.92 ± 3.96% to 80.68 ± 9.53% and with S. enterica serovar Typhimurium from 40.89 ± 8.18% to 74.06 ± 7.94%. Furthermore, the hydrophobicity of isolated strains toward n-hexane was in the range from 43.17 ± 5.07% to 70.73 ± 2.42%. All yeast strains displayed high antioxidant capabilities, and the strains did not show hemolysis halos, such that they can be considered safe. Additionally, S. cerevisiae strains strongly inhibited the growth of foodborne pathogens. This is the first preliminary study to identify and characterize the yeast strains isolated from Rabilé with interesting probiotic properties.

This study implemented and assessed, over a period of four weeks, a full-scale constructed wetland designed to collect and treat the greywater for a rural household located in an arid environment typical of Africa’s Sahel region. The system was constructed from local materials and consisted of a shower room, a receiving basin, a pre-treatment filter, and a subsurface horizontal flow wetland planted with Chrysopogon zizanioides. Results showed the overall removal of organic matter was greater than 90%, and orthophosphate and ammonium were reduced by 73% and 60%, respectively, allowing for the treated water to retain some embedded nutrients. The removal efficiency of fecal bacteria varied from 3.41 (enterococci) to 4.19 (fecal coliforms) log10 units which meets World Health Organization Guidelines for restricted irrigation. Our assessment of the full-scale household constructed wetland technology adds to the relatively low number of constructed wetland studies conducted outside a laboratory setting. Furthermore, it supports efforts to promote safe reuse of an underutilized resource at the rural household level in Sub-Saharan Africa and other arid regions in the developing world, supporting prospects for using treated greywater for agricultural reuse in regions that experience water scarcity, climate variability, and land degradation.

Biogas is a bioenergy produced from organic or all types of biological degradable wastes and could make it possible to limit energy dependence. Sludge is the best alternative substrate for biogas production at a community-level biogas plant. The literature shows that co-digestion can increase the efficiency of sludge anaerobic digestion. This research, thus, focused on (i) determining the conditions of optimal biogas production in the co-digestion of primary sludge (PS) and bovine dung (BD), (ii) evaluating the impact of leachate from organic waste and cellulose on biogas production. Primary sludge was collected in Bacau town wastewater treatment plant in Romania. The sampling of municipal solid waste was carried out in Ouagadougou pre-collect centers (Burkina Faso). Batch tests were conducted in glass bottles through anaerobic digestion (1 L). The following parameters were monitored during the digestion process: pH, volatile fatty acid (VFA), volatile solids (VS) and biogas production. Primary sludge, bovine dung and leachate showed 50.51%, 72.41% and 70.48% of volatile solids content, respectively. Sludge showed good stability, unlike the other two substrates, such as bovine dung and leachate, with VFA to alkalinity ratio 0.54. Leachate from organic waste had high values of VFA to alkalinity ratio > 3600. Co-digestion could make it possible to raise the levels of organic matter and improve microbial growth and the stability of anaerobic biomass. The best biogas production yield of 152.43 mL/g VS was obtained with a combination of 30% bovine dung and 70% primary sludge at 45 °C, with a 21.57% reduction in organic matter. An improvement in biogas productivity was effective with the addition of leachate, which could be used as an additive element during anaerobic digestion.