Monika Vítězová

• doc. Mgr. Ph.D.
• Head of Department at Masaryk University

Over the past decades, anaerobic biotechnology is commonly used for treating high-strength wastewaters from different industries. This biotechnology depends on interactions and co-operation between microorganisms in the anaerobic environment where many pollutants’ transformation to energy-rich biogas occurs. Properties of wastewater vary across ind...

Anaerobic sludge stabilization is a commonly used technology. Most fermenters are operated at a mesophilic temperature regime. Modern trends in waste management aim to minimize waste generation. One of the strategies can be achieved by anaerobically stabilizing the sludge by raising the temperature. Higher temperatures will allow faster decompositi...

Biogas is a valuable product of the anaerobic digestion process, which is used for the generation of renewable energy. The main component of biogas is methane together with impurities like carbon dioxide water vapour, hydrogen sulphide, siloxanes, hydrocarbons, ammonia, oxygen, carbon monoxide and nitrogen. Their presence is undesired, reducing the...

The small-large intestine axis in hydrogen sulfide accumulation and testing of sulfate and lactate in the gut-gut axis of the intestinal environment has not been well described. Sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) of the Desulfovibrio genus reduce sulfate to hydrogen sulfide and can be involved in ulcerative colitis development. The background of the r...

The paper explores how biodegradable packaging materials influence microbial respiration in activated sewage sludge. Experiments were conducted to measure biological oxygen demand (BOD) and anaerobic biodegradation, evaluating the biodegradability and methane production potential of different bioplastic samples. These bioplastics often contain meta...

Colorectal cancer is influenced by genetic mutations, lifestyle factors, and diet, particularly high fat intake, which raises bile acid levels in the intestinal lumen. This study hypothesized that bile acids contribute to tumorigenesis by disrupting ion transport and ATPase activity in the intestinal mucosa. The effects of 3-sulfo-taurolithocholic...

This research represents the first attempt to study the structure and diversity of the archaeal and methanogenic archaeal community in selected lakes around the Czech polar station J.G. Mendel on James Ross Island (JRI), Antarctica. Sediment samples from a total of 19 of JRI and the nearby Vega Island and Long Island, were analyzed using 16S rRNA a...

The bacterial light-dependent energy metabolism can be divided into two types: oxygenic and anoxygenic photosynthesis. Bacterial oxygenic photosynthesis is similar to plants and is characteristic for cyanobacteria. Bacterial anoxygenic photosynthesis is performed by anoxygenic phototrophs, especially green sulfur bacteria (GSB; family Chlorobiaceae...

Considerable evidence has accumulated regarding the molecular relationship between gut microbiota (GM) composition and the onset (clinical presentation and prognosis of ulcerative colitis (UC)). In addition, it is well documented that short-chain fatty acid (SCFA)-producing bacteria may play a fundamental role in maintaining an anti-inflammatory in...

Bafilomycin A1 inhibits V-type H⁺ ATPases on the molecular level, which acidifies endo-lysosomes. The main objective of the study was to assess the effect of bafilomycin A1 on Ca²⁺ content, NAADP-induced Ca²⁺ release, and ATPase activity in rat hepatocytes and human colon cancer samples. Chlortetracycline (CTC) was used for a quantitative measure o...

The purpose of writing the chapter was to generalize the results of previously conducted studies on the chemical toxicity of organochlorine compounds, especially hexachlorobenzene, its distribution in the environment and impact on living organisms, as well as ways of soils bioremediation from organochlorine pollution. The chapter presents the resul...

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in extending the potential of underground gas storage (UGS) facilities to hydrogen and carbon dioxide storage. However, this transition to hydrogen storage raises concerns regarding potential microbial reactions, which could convert hydrogen into methane. It is crucial to gain a comprehensive under...

Mycotoxins can pose a threat to biogas production as they can contaminate the feedstock used in biogas production, such as agricultural crops and other organic materials. This research study evaluated the contents of deoxynivalenol (DON), zearalenone (ZEA), fumonisin (FUM), and aflatoxin (AFL) mycotoxins in maize silage prior to it being processed...

The presented study deals with the use of legumes intercropped with maize for the production of biogas from silage. The main goal was to find out whether silages made from mixed cultures can be used in biogas production and how the use of such silages affects qualitative and quantitative parameters of the fermentation process compared with the pure...

Animal and human feces typically include intestinal sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB). Hydrogen sulfide and acetate are the end products of their dissimilatory sulfate reduction and may create a synergistic effect. Here, we report NADH and NADPH peroxidase activities from intestinal SRB Desulfomicrobium orale and Desulfovibrio piger. We sought to com...

Research of new input raw materials for biogas plants is a very actual topic. There are only a very few studies dealing with the possibility of using silage prepared from the above-ground parts of the Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.) and maize (Zea mayse L.) for methane production. This study deals with the determination of methane pro...

In this study we evaluate the extent of degradation of high-density polyethylene by bacterial isolates obtained from landfill. The microorganisms are isolated from plastic wastes deposited in the landfill for 2–3 years and 17 years. Experiments are conducted under laboratory conditions to degrade virgin high-density polyethylene used in the manufac...

This research is the first study focusing to explore the diversity of Archaea and methanogens in sediments of 19 selected lakes nearby the Czech polar station on James Ross Island (JRI), Antarctica. The 16S rRNA gene sequencing provided a general view of a diversity of archaeal members and the mcrA gene sequencing has offered deeper insight into th...

Securing new sources of renewable energy and achieving national self-sufficiency in natural gas have become increasingly important in recent times. The study described in this paper focuses on three geologically diverse underground gas reservoirs (UGS) that are the natural habitat of methane-producing archaea, as well as other microorganisms with w...

As a renewable energy carrier, dark fermentative biohydrogen (H2) represents a promising future alternative to fossil fuels. Recently, the limited H2 yield of 4 moles of H2 per mole glucose, the so-called “Thauer limit”, was surpassed by a defined artificial consortium. In this article, we demonstrate the upscaling of this drawing board design, fro...

The cultivation and investigation of strictly anaerobic microorganisms belong to the fields of anaerobic microbial physiology, microbiology, and biotechnology. Anaerobic cultivation methods differ from classic microbiological techniques in several aspects. The requirement for special instruments, which are designed to prevent the contact of the spe...

Chemical modifications of RNA affect essential properties of transcripts, such as their translation, localization and stability. 5-end RNA capping with the ubiquitous redox cofactor nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) has been discovered in organisms ranging from bacteria to mammals. However, the hypothesis that NAD+ capping might be universal...

In tumor cells with defects in apoptosis, autophagy allows prolonged survival. Autophagy leads to an accumulation of damaged mitochondria by autophagosomes. An acidic environment is maintained in compartments of cells, such as autophagosomes, late endosomes, and lysosomes; these organelles belong to the “acid store” of the cells. Nicotinic acid ade...

Climate neutral and sustainable energy sources will play a key role in future energy production. Biomethanation by gas to gas conversion of flue gases is one option with regard to renewable energy production. Here, we performed the conversion of synthetic carbon monoxide (CO)-containing flue gases to methane (CH4) by artificial hyperthermophilic ar...

In this study, the taxonomic and functional diversity of methanogenic archaea in two parallel 120 l fermenters operated at different temperatures and fed with maize silage was estimated by mcrA metabarcoding analysis using two typical primer pairs (ML and MLA) amplifying part of the functional methyl coenzyme M reductase (mcrA) gene. The alpha dive...

Employing deep reservoirs as UGS (underground gas storage) has a long history across continents. In 2018, 689 underground gas reservoirs with a total volume of 417 bcm were in operation worldwide. It is known that many microbial processes take place in the deep underground, even under the conditions of underground gas reservoirs. In this review, we...

Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) are a heterogeneous group of anaerobic microorganisms that play an important role in producing hydrogen sulfide not only in the natural environment, but also in the gastrointestinal tract and oral cavity of animals and humans. The present review was written with the inclusion of 110 references including the time peri...

Antibiotic resistance has become a global threat in which the anthropogenically influenced aquatic environment represents not only a reservoir for the spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) among humans and animals but also an environment where resistance genes are introduced into natural microbial ecosystems. Wastewater is one of the source...

Studies dealing with the development of edible/biodegradable packaging have been gaining popularity since these commodities are marked as being ecofriendly, especially when byproducts are incorporated. Consequently, this study aimed at the development of chitosan-based coatings with plant byproducts. Their sensory properties, colour attributes, occ...

There are two main types of bacterial photosynthesis: oxygenic (cyanobacteria) and anoxygenic (sulfur and non-sulfur phototrophs). Molecular mechanisms of photosynthesis in the phototrophic microorganisms can differ and depend on their location and pigments in the cells. This paper describes bacteria capable of molecular oxidizing hydrogen sulfide,...

Hydrogen sulfide is a toxic compound that can affect various groups of water microorganisms. Photolithotrophic sulfur bacteria including Chromatiaceae and Chlorobiaceae are able to convert inorganic substrate (hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide) into organic matter deriving energy from photosynthesis. This process takes place in the absence of mol...

This paper is devoted to microscopic methods for the identification of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB). In this context, it describes various habitats, morphology and techniques used for the detection and identification of this very heterogeneous group of anaerobic microorganisms. SRB are present in almost every habitat on Earth, including freshwat...

Many farms run livestock production along with a biogas plant. Priority is the effort to prepare high-quality feed and high-quality feedstock for the biogas plant. However, deciding which harvesting technique to choose seems a difficult task. In this study, the influence of harvest technique on silage quality and thus on the methane yield during an...

The monitoring of trace metals in microbial cells is relevant for diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) represent an important factor in the IBD development. The content of trace metals in bacterial cells may reflect the functioning of the enzyme systems and the environmental impact on the occurrence of SRB....

Meta-analysis is a statistical process summarizing comparable data from a number of scientific papers. The use of meta-analysis in microbiology allows decision-making that has an impact on public health policy. It can happen that the primary researches come to different conclusions, although these are targeted with the same research question. It is...

Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) represent a group of prokaryotic microorganisms that are widely spread in the anoxic environment (seabed, riverbed and lakebed sediments, mud, intestinal tract of humans and animals, metal surfaces). SRB species also have an impact on processes occurring in the intestinal tract of humans and animals, including the co...

Methods of growing plant biomass for the production of biogas in anaerobic digestion plants have a decisive influence on arable land and on the evaluation of biogas plant technologies from the environmental point of view. The main benefit of anaerobic digestion is the possibility to use various agricultural crops for energy production. Some of thes...

Biogas is a valuable product of the anaerobic digestion process, which is used for the generation of renewable energy. The main component of biogas is methane together with impurities like carbon dioxide water vapour, hydrogen sulphide, siloxanes, hydrocarbons, ammonia, oxygen, carbon monoxide and nitrogen. Their presence is undesired, reducing the...

The number of cases of oral cavity inflammation in the population has been recently increasing, with periodontitis being the most common disease. It is caused by a change in the microbial composition of the biofilm in the periodontal pockets. In this context, an increased incidence of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) in the oral cavity has been foun...

Background: Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) are multifactorial illnesses of the intestine, to which microorganisms are contributing. Among the contributing microorganisms, sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) are suggested to be involved in the process of bowel inflammation due to the production of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) by dissimilatory sulfate redu...

A comparative study of the kinetic characteristics (specific activity, initial and maximum rate, and affinity for substrates) of key enzymes of assimilatory sulfate reduction (APS reductase and dissimilatory sulfite reductase) in cell-free extracts of sulphate-reducing bacteria (SRB) from various biotopes was performed. The material for the study r...

Purpose This study was carried out in order to find a possible use for waste produced during the processing of vegetables and maize. Anaerobic fermentation is a suitable way to handle this wet and easily biodegradable organic material. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of waste corn kernels, peas, crushed corn kernels, French beans,...

Ensuring high quality drinking water sources is important task nowadays. To reach this task, knowledge about the impact of different chemicals on aerobic wastewater treatment is mandatory. A mixture of different chemicals reaches wastewater treatment plant every day. With the growing discharge volume of mobile toilet chemicals, active substances in...

The constantly growing bacterial resistance against antibiotics is recently causing serious problems in the field of human and veterinary medicine as well as in agriculture. The mechanisms of resistance formation and its preventions are not well explored in most bacterial genera. The aim of this review is to analyse recent literature data on the pr...

Introduction: Increased numbers of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) are often found in the feces of people and animals with inflammatory bowel disease. The final products of their metabolism are hydrogen sulfide and acetate, which are produced during dissimilatory sulfate reduction process. Objectives: The aim of the study was to monitor processe...

Sulfate is present in foods, beverages, and drinking water. Its reduction and concentration in the gut depend on the intestinal microbiome activity, especially sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB), which can be involved in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Assimilatory sulfate reduction (ASR) is present in all living organisms. In this process, sulfate...

Background: Hydrogen sulfide is the final product of sulfate-reducing bacteria metabolism. Its high concentration in the gut can affect adversely bowel environment and intestinal microbiota by toxicity and pH lowering. Aim of review: The aim of the review was to give observations related to the properties of bacterial communities inhabiting the...

Background: In recent years, various substrates have been tested to increase the sustainable production of biomethane. The effect of these substrates on methanogenesis has been investigated mainly in small volume fermenters and were, for the most part, focused on studying the diversity of mesophilic microorganisms. However, studies of thermophilic...

The gut microbiota is a complex component of humans that depends on diet, host genome, and lifestyle. The background: The study purpose is to find relations between nutrition, intestinal lactic acid bacteria (LAB) from various environments (human, animal intestine, and yogurt) and sulfate-reducing microbial communities in the large intestine; to co...

Biogas reactors are now a common part of wastewater treatment systems. The quality of produced biogas is the result of many factors, mainly the input substrate and microbial composition of the bioreactor. The aim of this research was to evaluate the microbial community of the Modřice biogas reactor together with the possible changes in biogas compo...

Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) are often isolated from animals and people with ulcerative colitis and can be involved in the IBD development in the gut–intestine axis. The background of the research consisted of obtaining mixed cultures of SRB communities from healthy mice and mice with colitis, finding variation in the distribution of their morph...

In the last decades, methanogenic archaea have been increasingly investigated with regard to their impact on the environment, technological applications or role in human health. Today, high-throughput sequencing of the functional mcrA gene is routinely used to assess methanogenic archaea diversity in environmental samples. Compared to the 16S rRNA...

The production of biomass from legumes for energy purposes is considered an important element of sustainable agriculture. Leguminous plants allow the biological fixation of nitrogen (BFN), which contributes to reduction in the input of mineral fertilizers, and hence lightens the environmental burden. Replacing mineral inputs into crop production us...

Spent coffee ground (SCG) may affect wastewater treatment processes due to high coffee consumption worldwide. The impact of the main chemical compounds present in SCG on respiration activity of sewage sludge was investigated. The results showed approximately two times higher respiration in the samples where various types of SCG were present in comp...

The possibility of the fruit stillage usage was verified in this work as a suitable material for the anaerobic fermentation for the purpose of increase in the biogas production and the proportion of methane in the biogas. The stillage is a material, which is characterized by a high content of chemical oxygen demand and biological oxygen demand with...

The aim of the presented research was application of optimized cultivation conditions for lipid production using the oleaginous microalga Chlorella pyrenoidosa Chick (IPPAS C2), followed by an assessment of the bioenergy potential of lipid-rich biomass and biomethane production. The optimization of cultivation parameters led to an increase in lipid...

In recent years, various substrates for increasing the production of biomethane are increasingly exploring. The effect of such substrates on methanogenesis is investigated mainly in small volume digesters. However, operating acetogenic biogas plants depending on substrates combinations and monitoring of microbial communities in the anaerobic digest...

Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) belonging to the intestinal microbiota are the main producers of hydrogen sulfide and their increasing amount due to the accumulation of this compound in the bowel are involved in the initiation and maintenance of inflammatory bowel disease. The purpose of this experiment is to study the relative toxicity of hydrogen...

Lower intraluminal colonic pH is an indication for the development of inflammatory bowel disease including active ulcerative colitis. Involvement of intestinal sulfate-reducing bacteria in decreasing bowel pH by the production of H 2 S and acetate as well as their sensitivity has never been reported before. The study of the relative pH and survival...

With growing demand for clean and cheap energy resources, biogas production is emerging as an ideal solution, as it provides relatively cheap and clean energy, while also tackling the problematic production of excessive organic waste from crops and animal agriculture. Behind this process stands a variety of anaerobic microorganisms, which turn orga...

Sulfate-reducing bacteria can be involved in inflammatory bowel disease. Cross-correlation parameters of their metabolic process in the gut have never been reported before. The aim of the research was to statistically (cross-correlation) evaluate the parameters of growth (biomass) of Desulfovibrio species from colitis people and healthy as well as...

Sewage sludge management is a problem of growing importance. Anaerobic sewage sludge stabilization is commonly used technology, where organic matter contained in primary and activated sewage sludge is converted into biogas, so both, pollution control and energy recovery can be achieved. The paper deals with the effect of process temperature (36 °C,...

Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) are anaerobic microorganisms, which use sulfate as an electron acceptor in the process of dissimilatory sulfate reduction. The final metabolic product of these anaerobic microorganisms is hydrogen sulfide, which is known as toxic and can lead to damage to epithelial cells of the large intestine at high concentrations...

Anaerobic technology has a wide scope of application in different areas such as manufacturing, food industry, and agriculture. Nowadays, it is mainly used to produce electrical and thermal energy from crop processing, solid waste treatment or wastewater treatment. More intensively, trend nowadays is usage of this technology biodegradable and biomas...

The respiratory activity of microorganisms in sewage sludge is affected by several physicochemical factors and a considerable amount of information concerning the influence of individual factors has been recorded. However, very little is known about their effects in combination. In the recent past, the concentration of chlorides entering wastewater...

Agriculture, food industry, and manufacturing are just some of the areas where anaerobic technology can be used. Currently, anaerobic technologies are mainly used for wastewater treatment, solid waste treatment, or for the production of electrical and thermal energy from energy crops processing. However, a clear trend is towards more intensive use...

An increased number of sulfate-reducing bacteria is often isolated from faeces of patients with gastrointestinal diseases, which can be the cause of the development of bowel inflammation. Frequent use of antibiotics causes the resistance of intestinal microorganisms and ineffective treatment of these diseases. The antimicrobial activity and biologi...

Biogas represents one of the possible renewable resource of energy. It is produced by the breakdown of biodegradable waste. This process involves anaerobic microorganisms. One of the biggest problem of biogas is that raw biogas contains, besides useful methane, other unfavorable gases, such as carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide (typical compositio...

The production of high-quality methane depends on many factors, including temperature, pH, substrate, composition and relationship of the microorganisms. The qualitative and quantitative composition of methanogenic and sulfate-reducing microorganisms and their relationship in the experimental bioreactors has never been studied. The aim of this rese...

Inflammatory bowel disease including ulcerative colitis are complex multifactorial diseases of unknown aetiology. Sulphate-reducing bacteria are often associated with the occurrence of the disease. The physiological properties of intestinal sulphate-reducing bacteria including kinetic characteristic of their growth have never been reported. The aim...

Winter road maintenance is particularly ensured using the application of chemicals on roads. Especially in urbanised areas, the solution of water with de-icing salts is discharged into sewer system transporting this water to wastewater treatment plant, where it can cause lot of problems. Beside the corrosive effects of salt on the materials used fo...

In a one-year vegetation pot experiment, we compared the effect of digestate from a biogas station and mineral fertilisers on yield and quality parameters of kohlrabi, variety Moravia. Four treatments were used in the trial: 1) untreated control, 2) urea, 3) digestate, 4) urea, triple superphosphate, KCl, MgSO 4 . The N dose was the same in treatme...

Biogas production in the Czech Republic has expanded substantially, including marginal regions for maize cultivation. Therefore, there are increasingly sought materials that could partially replace maize silage, as a basic feedstock, while secure both biogas production and its quality. Two samples of rye grass ( Lolium multiflorum var. westerwoldic...