provides a foundation for studying the toxic components of HTL-AP and possible mechanisms by which treatments can remove these components.

Chen, S., Liu, Z., Jiang, S., Hou, H., 2020. Carbonization: A feasible route for reutilization of plastic wastes. Science of The Total Environment 710, 136250.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969719362461 Plastics not only bring convenience and color to human life, but also bring endless troubles and disaster to our environment. Reutilization of plastic wastes is in favor of energy conservation and emission reduction, thereby is a significant pathway of plastic wastes disposal. Carbonization is an effective way of converting polymer precursors to valuable carbon materials for use in fields of energy conversion and storage, environmental protection and restoration. Here, we present a systematic multi-perspective overview of carbonization as a feasible route of reutilization of plastic wastes. A brief summary of conventional routes for plastic wastes is followed by a brief introduction of carbonization for converting plastics to carbon materials. Special emphasis is paid on the carbonization pathways and mechanisms of common plastics. Finally, the feasibility, application prospect and challenge of carbonization as one method of reutilization of plastic wastes are proposed. By presenting a consolidated information source on different carbonization mechanisms, this review provides a valuable guideline for reutilization of plastic wastes by carbonization.

Chen, captivus Chen, captivus S., Sun, S., Xu, Y., Chen, F., Liu, J., 2020. sp. nov., an extremely halophilic archaeon isolated from a subterranean salt mine. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 113, 221-231.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-019-01332-1 T An extremely halophilic archaeon, strain ZY21 , was isolated from a subterranean rock salt sample in Yunnan, T China. Colonies of strain ZY21 on nutrient-rich agar plates are orange, wet and transparent. Cells are pleomorphic, motile, Gram-stain negative and lyse in distilled water. Cells can grow at 20 - 55 °C (optimum 42 2+ °C), in the presence of 15 - 30% (w/v) NaCl (optimum 18 - 20%) and at pH 6.0 - 9.5 (optimum 7.5). Mg is T required for growth (optimum 0.3 M). The major polar lipids of strain ZY21 are phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol sulfate and phosphatidylglycerol phosphate methyl ester, sulfated mannosyl-glucosyl- glycerol diether-1 and seven unidentified glycolipids. Sequence similarity searches with the 16S rRNA gene T T and rpoB′ gene showed that strai n ZY21 is closely related to Halobellus rufus CBA1103 (sequence T similarities: 97.5% for 16S rRNA gene and 93.3% for rpoB′ gene). The DNA G+C content of strain ZY21 was determined to be 63.0 mol% based on the draft genome sequence. Genome-based sequence similarity analysis showed that the values of the ANI, AAI, and DDH were far below the boundary for delineation of new species. T Phenotypic, chemotaxonomic characteristics and phylogenetic properties suggest that strain ZY21 represents a novel species in the genus Halobellus, for which the name Halobellus captivus sp. nov. is proposed. The type T T T strain is ZY21 (= CGMCC 1.16343 =NBRC 113439 ).

Chen, S., Wang, P., Liu, H., Xie, W., Wan, X.S., Kao, S.-J., Phelps, T.J., Zhang, C., 2020. Population dynamics of methanogens and methanotrophs along the salinity gradient in Pearl River Estuary: implications for methane metabolism. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 104, 1331-1346.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-019-10221-6 Methane, a major greenhouse gas, plays an important role in global carbon cycling and climate change. Methanogenesis is identified as an important process for methane formation in estuarine sediments. However, the metabolism of methane in the water columns of estuaries is not well understood. The goal of this research was to examine the dynamics in abundance and community composition of methanogens and methanotrophs, and to examine whether and how they take part in methane metabolism in the water columns from the lower Pearl River (freshwater) to the coastal South China Sea (seawater). Quantitative PCR (qPCR) and high- throughput sequencing results showed that the abundance of methanogens decreased with increasing salinity, suggesting that growth of these methanogens in the Pearl River Estuary may be influenced by high salinity.