NIH researchers discover novel class of anti-malaria antibodies

New antibodies could lead to next generation of interventions against malaria

NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

 

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Plasmodium falciparum sporozoites (purple/blue) with bound monoclonal antibodies (yellow/orange).

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Credit: NIAID

WHAT:
A novel class of antibodies that binds to a previously untargeted portion of the malaria parasite could lead to new prevention methods, according to a study from researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) published today in Science. The most potent of the new antibodies was found to provide protection against malaria parasites in an animal model. The researchers say antibodies in this class are particularly promising because they bind to regions of the malaria parasite not included in current malaria vaccines, providing a potential new tool for fighting this dangerous disease.

Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by Plasmodium parasites, which are spread through the bites of infected mosquitoes. Although malaria is not common in the United States, its global impact is devastating, with 263 million cases and 597,000 deaths estimated by the World Health Organization in 2023. Of the five species of Plasmodium that cause malaria, Plasmodium falciparum is the most common in African countries where the burden of malaria is largest and where young children account for the majority of malaria deaths. Safe and effective countermeasures are critical for reducing the immense burden of this disease.

In recent years, new interventions have been developed against malaria, including vaccines that currently are being rolled out for young children in regions where the disease is prevalent. Anti-malarial monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are another promising new tool that have been shown to be safe and efficacious against infection with P. falciparum in adults and children in early clinical trials. The anti-malarial mAbs evaluated in trials in malaria-endemic regions target the P. falciparum sporozoite—the life stage of the parasite that is transmitted from mosquitoes to people. By binding to and neutralizing the sporozoite, the mAbs prevent sporozoites from infecting the liver, where they otherwise develop into blood-stage parasites that infect blood cells and cause disease and death.

The most promising anti-malarial mAbs tested in humans to date bind to a protein on the sporozoite surface called the circumsporozoite protein (PfCSP) at locations near to or containing amino acid repeats in a region called the central repeat region. This portion of PfCSP also is included in the two available malaria vaccines. The researchers in the current study aimed to find mAbs that target new sites on the sporozoite surface. 

Led by scientists at NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the research team used a novel approach to find new portions—or epitopes—on the sporozoite surface where antibodies bind. They isolated human mAbs produced in response to whole sporozoites, rather than to specific parts of the parasite, and then tested the mAbs to see if they could neutralize sporozoites in a mouse model of malaria. One mAb, named MAD21-101, was found to be the most potent, providing protection against P. falciparum infection in mice.

This new mAb binds to an epitope on PfCSP outside of the central repeat region that is conserved—or similar—between different strains of P. falciparum. Notably, the epitope, called pGlu-CSP, is exposed only after a specific step in the development of the sporozoite, but it is widely accessible on the sporozoite surface—a scenario that the researchers say could mean pGlu-CSP would be effective at eliciting a protective immune response if used in a vaccine. As pGlu-CSP is not included in currently used malaria vaccines, mAbs targeting this epitope are unlikely to interfere with the efficacy of these vaccines if the vaccines and mAbs are co-administered. According to the scientists, this could provide an advantage because this new class of antibodies may be suitable to prevent malaria in at-risk infants who have not yet received a malaria vaccine, but may receive one in the future. 

Findings from the study will inform future strategies for the prevention of malaria and may facilitate the development of new antibodies and vaccines against the disease, the researchers indicate. The scientists also note that more research is needed to examine the activity and effectiveness of the newly identified antibody class and epitope, according to their paper. The approach used in this study could also aid the development of a new generation of countermeasures against other pathogens, in addition to malaria.  

ARTICLE: 
C Dacon, R Moskovitz et al. Protective antibodies target cryptic epitope unmasked by cleavage of malaria sporozoite protein. Science DOI:10.1126/science.adr0510 (2025).

WHO:
Joshua Tan, Ph.D., chief of NIAID’s Antibody Biology Unit, is available to discuss this research.

CONTACT:
To schedule interviews, please contact NIAID News & Science Writing Branch, 301-402-1663, niaidnews@niaid.nih.gov.

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NIAID conducts and supports research—at NIH, throughout the United States, and worldwide—to study the causes of infectious and immune-mediated diseases, and to develop better means of preventing, diagnosing and treating these illnesses. News releases, fact sheets and other NIAID-related materials are available on the NIAID website.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit https://www.nih.gov/.

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Journal

Science

DOI

10.1126/science.adr0510 

 

Pollinators, pollen and varieties determine fruit quality

A new look at the peculiarities of crop-pollinator interactions

Peer-Reviewed Publication

University of Göttingen

 

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Almond plantation in bloom in Australia

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Credit: Wiebke Kämper

Pollination by animals contributes to a third of global food production, but little research has been done into the extent to which the identity of pollinators, pollen and crop varieties influence fruit quality when it comes to the nutritional, sensory and commercial value of crops. Pollinators influence the quality of crops through their movement patterns on the plantations and through the plant variety they visit. In an article published in Trends in Plant Science, researchers from the University of Göttingen argue that the blanket promotion of pollinators has so far been too much of a priority – at the expense of plant quality, which could be improved by taking into account the species-specific behaviour of pollinators and the distribution patterns of crop varieties in the field.

 

Animal pollination is important for two thirds of the world's most important crops and is estimated to be worth several hundred billion US dollars per year. Crops that depend wholly or partly on animal pollinators (for example many fruits, nuts and pulses) contain more than 90 per cent of the vitamin C in our diet as well as nutritionally important carotenoids and antioxidants. For example, bees improve the nutritional value of rapeseed by increasing the polyunsaturated fatty acid content and total oil content, and they boost the oil content and fruit weight of avocado.

 

The research team from the University of Göttingen emphasises the importance of paying attention to the specificity of the pollinator species, the crop variety and the pollen that is transferred – and how this network affects the quality of the fruit. Pollen transfer between different varieties can fail if the behaviour of the pollinators or the arrangement of the plants changes. The quality of the crop therefore depends not only on which and how many pollinators are active, but also on how different species interact spatially and temporally.

 

“The results of our review show that future research should not only focus on the quantity, but also more on the quality of the crops. After all, a better nutrient composition benefits the health of consumers,” emphasise the authors Professor Teja Tscharntke, Dr Carolina Ocampo-Ariza and Dr Wiebke Kämper from the Functional Agrobiodiversity and Agroecology Group at the University of Göttingen. “This includes promoting cross-pollination by taking into account the variety of the crop plants and the quality of the pollen. In addition, the quality of self-pollinated and cross-pollinated varieties should be compared and the design of the cultivated areas and the surrounding landscape should be organised in such a way that pollinators can move around as effectively as possible.”

Bumblebee on strawberry blossoms

Credit

Susanne Schiele

Original publication: Teja Tscharntke, Carolina Ocampo-Ariza, Wiebke Kämper. Pollinator, pollen, and cultivar identity drive crop quality. Trends in Plant Science 2024 DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2024.10.004

 

Contact:

Internet: www.uni-goettingen.de/en/92552.html

Internet: www.uni-goettingen.de/en/676148.html

 

Journal

Trends in Plant Science

DOI

10.1016/j.tplants.2024.10.004 

Method of Research

News article

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Pollinator, pollen, and cultivar identity drive crop quality

Some bacteria evolve like clockwork with the seasons

The longest natural metagenome time series ever collected, with microbes, reveals a startling evolutionary pattern on repeat.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

University of Texas at Austin

 

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The team analyzed genetic material from microbes in a one-of-a-kind archive of water samples collected over 20 years from Lake Mendota in Wisconsin.

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Credit: Robin Rohwer/University of Texas at Austin.

Like Bill Murray in the movie “Groundhog Day,” bacteria species in a Wisconsin lake are in a kind of endless loop that they can’t seem to shake. Except in this case, it’s more like Groundhog Year.

According to a new study in Nature Microbiology, researchers found that through the course of a year, most individual species of bacteria in Lake Mendota rapidly evolved, apparently in response to dramatically changing seasons. Gene variants would rise and fall over generations, yet hundreds of separate species would return, almost fully, to near copies of what they had been genetically prior to a thousand or so generations of evolutionary pressures. (Individual microbes have lifespans of only a few days — not whole seasons — so the scientists’ work involved comparing bacterial genomes to examine changes in species over time.) This same seasonal change played out year after year, as if evolution was a movie run back to the beginning each time and played over again, seemingly getting nowhere.

“I was surprised that such a large portion of the bacterial community was undergoing this type of change,” said Robin Rohwer, a postdoctoral researcher at The University of Texas at Austin in the lab of co-author Brett Baker. “I was hoping to observe just a couple of cool examples, but there were literally hundreds.”

Rohwer led the research, first as a doctoral student working with Trina McMahon at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and then at UT.

Lake Mendota changes greatly from season to season — during the winter, it’s covered in ice, and during the summer, it’s covered in algae. Within the same bacterial species, strains that are better adapted to one set of environmental conditions will outcompete other strains for a season, while other strains will get their chance to shine during different seasons.

The team used a one-of-a-kind archive of 471 water samples collected over 20 years from Lake Mendota by McMahon, Rohwer and other UW-Madison researchers as part of National Science Foundation-funded long-term monitoring projects. For each water sample, they assembled a metagenome, all of the genetic sequences from fragments of DNA left behind by bacteria and other organisms. This resulted in the longest metagenome time series ever collected from a natural system.

“This study is a total game changer in our understanding of how microbial communities change over time,” Baker said. “This is just the beginning of what these data will tell us about microbial ecology and evolution in nature.”

This archive also revealed longer-lasting genetic changes.

In 2012, the lake experienced unusual conditions: The ice cover melted early, the summer was hotter and drier than usual, the flow of water from a river that feeds into the lake dwindled, and algae, which are an important source of organic nitrogen for bacteria, were more scarce than usual. As Rohwer and the team discovered, many of the bacteria in the lake that year experienced a major shift in genes related to nitrogen metabolism, possibly due to the scarcity of algae.

“I thought, out of hundreds of bacteria, I might find one or two with a long-term shift,” Rohwer said. “But instead, 1 in 5 had big sequence changes that played out over years. We were only able to dig deep into one species, but some of those other species probably also had major gene changes.”

Climate scientists predict more extreme weather events — like the hot, dry summer experienced at Lake Mendota in 2012 — for the midwestern U.S. during the coming years.

“Climate change is slowly shifting the seasons and average temperatures, but also causing more abrupt, extreme weather events,” Rohwer said. “We don’t know exactly how microbes will respond to climate change, but our study suggests they will evolve in response to both these gradual and abrupt changes.”

Unlike another famous bacterial evolution experiment at UT, the Long-Term Evolution Experiment, Rohwer and Baker’s study involved bacterial evolution under complex and constantly changing conditions in nature. The researchers used the supercomputing resources at the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) to reconstruct bacterial genomes from short sequences of DNA in the water samples. The same work that took a couple of months to complete at TACC would have taken 34 years with a laptop computer, Rohwer estimated, involving over 30,000 genomes from about 2,800 different species.

“Imagine each species’ genome is a book, and each little DNA fragment is a sentence,” Rohwer said. “Each sample has hundreds of books, all cut up into these sentences. To reassemble each book, you have to figure out which book each sentence came from and put them back together in order.”

Other co-authors of the new study are Mark Kirkpatrick at UT; Sarahi Garcia of Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg (Germany) and Stockholm University; and Matthew Kellom of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Joint Genome Institute.

This is one of two related papers publishing today in the journal; the companion paper focuses on the ecology and evolution of viruses from the same lake samples.

Support for this research was provided in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation, U.S. National Institutes of Health, the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Simons Foundation and the E. Michael and Winona Foster-WARF Wisconsin Idea Graduate Fellowship in Microbiology.

The team analyzed genetic material from microbes in a one-of-a-kind archive of water samples collected over 20 years from Lake Mendota in Wisconsin.

Credit

Robin Rohwer/University of Texas at Austin.

Most species of bacteria in Lake Mendota rapidly evolved with the change of seasons, returning to a similar state every year, for 20 years. The blue dots represent how much individual species within the genus Nanopelagicus changed genetically over time. The black line represents a 6-month moving average.

Credit

University of Texas at Austin

Journal

Nature Microbiology

DOI

10.1038/s41564-024-01888-3 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Twenty years of bacterial ecology and evolution in a freshwater lake

Article Publication Date

3-Jan-2025

One of the world’s largest social programs greatly reduced tuberculosis among the most vulnerable

A landmark study involving 54 million Brazilians shows that conditional cash transfer programmes such as Bolsa Família can help meet global tuberculosis targets

Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal)

Brazil’s Bolsa Família Program (BFP), one of the world’s largest conditional cash transfer programmes, was responsible for the reduction of more than half the number of tuberculosis cases and deaths among those living in extreme poverty and indigenous groups, shows a large study coordinated by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a centre supported by “la Caixa” Foundation, the Institute of Collective Health, and the CIDACS-FIOCRUZ in Bahia, Brazil. The findings, published in Nature Medicine, have strong implications for public policies on social protection and TB control worldwide.

Brazil’s Bolsa Família Program (BFP) is one of the largest conditional cash transfer programmes implemented worldwide. Since 2004, the BFP has provided financial support to the poorest families in Brazil, on the condition that they fulfil certain conditions such as taking their children to the doctor and ensuring school attendance. While these programmes are well-known for reducing economic and social inequalities, they have also been shown to improve health outcomes such as child mortality, maternal deaths, and HIV cases and deaths.

Tuberculosis (TB), one of the leading infectious killers in Brazil and other low- and middle-income countries, is closely linked to poverty. “We know that TB is driven by poverty, but until now, the effects of cash transfers on disease outcomes among the most vulnerable populations had not been fully analysed,” says the coordinator of the study, Davide Rasella, head of the Health Impact Assessment and Evaluation group at ISGlobal and collaborating professor of the Institute of Collective Health.

Rasella and his colleagues in Brazil analysed data, including ethnic and socioeconomic conditions, from 54.5 million low-income Brazilians between 2004 and 2015. They compared TB incidence (number of new cases), mortality (number of deaths in the population) and case fatality rate (how many people who have the disease die) among people who received BFP support (23.9 million) or not (30.6 million). In total, there were 159,777 new TB diagnoses and 7,993 TB deaths in the cohort under study. 

Stronger effects among indigenous and extremely poor people

The results show a large decrease in TB cases and deaths among those benefiting from cash transfers. The decrease was of over 50% in extremely poor people and more than 60% among the indigenous populations. Although the program reduced TB cases across all groups, its effect was smaller in those who were less poor, and there was no significant reduction in TB deaths in that group. The TB case fatality rate (i.e. how deadly the disease is in those affected) was also lower among Bolsa Família beneficiaries compared to non-beneficiaries, although the difference between the two groups was not statistically significant.

The reason behind the BFP’s effect on TB outcomes is not a mystery. “We know that the program improves access to food, both in quantity and quality, which reduces food insecurity and malnutrition- a major risk factor for TB- and strengthens people’s immune defences as a result. It also reduces barriers to accessing healthcare,” says Gabriela Jesus, co-first author of the study along with Priscila Pinto, both from FIOCRUZ.

Global implications

Expanding the BFP can help Brazil address the worrying increase in TB cases among vulnerable populations following the COVID-19 pandemic. But the implications of these findings extend beyond Brazil.

“Our study has far-reaching implications for policy-making in all countries with a high burden of TB,” says Rasella. The message is clear: social protection programmes not only help reduce poverty and malnutrition, but can also play a crucial role in achieving the targets of the END-TB strategy and those of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Reference

Jesus GS, Pinto PFPS, Silva AF et al. Effects of conditional cash transfers on tuberculosis incidence and mortality according to race, ethnicity and socioeconomic factors in the 100 Million Brazilians cohort. Nat Med. 10.1038/s41591-024-03381-0

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Journal

Nature Medicine

DOI

10.1038/s41591-024-03381-0 

Method of Research

Data/statistical analysis

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Effects of conditional cash transfers on tuberculosis incidence and mortality according to race, ethnicity and socioeconomic factors in the 100 Million Brazilians cohort

Article Publication Date

3-Jan-2025

COI Statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

 

Study: Mediterranean diet changes gut bacteria, boosting memory and cognition

Bacterial changes correlated with better memory and cognitive performance

Tulane University

A new Tulane University study suggests the Mediterranean diet's brain-boosting benefits may work by changing the balance of bacteria in the gut.

In a study published in Gut Microbes Reports, researchers at Tulane University School of Medicine found that subjects following a Mediterranean diet developed distinctly different gut bacteria patterns compared to those eating a typical Western diet. These bacterial changes correlated with better memory and cognitive performance.

"We've known that what we eat affects brain function, but this study explores how that could be happening," said lead author Rebecca Solch-Ottaiano, PhD, neurology research instructor at Tulane’s Clinical Neuroscience Research Center. “Our findings suggest that dietary choices can influence cognitive performance by reshaping the gut microbiome."

The study found that rats fed a Mediterranean-style diet rich in olive oil, fish and fiber over 14 weeks showed increases in four beneficial types of gut bacteria and decreases in five others compared to rats eating a Western diet high in saturated fats. These bacterial changes were linked to improved performance on maze challenges designed to test memory and learning.

Specifically, higher levels of bacteria such as Candidatus Saccharimonas were associated with better cognitive performance, while increased levels of other bacteria, such as Bifidobacterium, correlated with poorer memory function.

The Mediterranean diet group also showed better cognitive flexibility — the ability to adapt to new information — and improved working memory compared to the Western diet group. They maintained lower levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol.

This study is the first to assess the effects of the Mediterranean on microbiota and cognitive function outcomes relative to the Western diet in a rodent model. The researchers used young rats approximately equivalent in age to 18-year-old humans to model the effects of diet during a critical developmental period. The diets were based on human consumption and used ingredients reflecting the complexity of human diets. The Mediterranean diet (MeDi) showed clear benefits for cognitive flexibility, memory, and gut health, suggesting potential parallels in young adults whose brains and bodies are still maturing.

“Our findings suggest that the Mediterranean diet or its biological effects could be harnessed to improve scholastic performance in adolescents, or work performance in young adults,” said corresponding author Dr. Demetrius M. Maraganore, Herbert J. Harvey, Jr. Chair of Neurosciences. “While these findings are based on animal models, they echo human studies linking the Mediterranean diet to improved memory and reduced dementia risk.”

The researchers emphasize that larger human studies are needed to confirm these effects and better understand the complex relationship between diet, gut bacteria, and brain function in young people.

For those interested in following a Mediterranean eating pattern, key components include:
- Olive oil as the primary fat source
- Abundant vegetables, fruits and whole grains
- Fish and lean proteins
- Limited red meat and saturated fats
- High fiber intake from various plant sources

Other Tulane co-authors of the study include Elizabeth B. Engler-Chiurazzi, Colin Harper, Savannah Wasson, Sharon Ogbonna, Blake Ouvrier, Hanyun Wang, Madison Prats, Katherine McDonald, Ifechukwude J. Biose, Lori A. Rowe, MaryJane Jones, Chad Steele and Gregory Bix.

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Journal

Gut Microbes Reports

DOI

10.1080/29933935.2024.2439490 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

Comparison between two divergent diets, Mediterranean and Western, on gut microbiota and cognitive function in young sprague dawley rats

 MILITARIZATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION

TalTech and the Defence Resources Agency cooperate to develop technologies for national defense

Estonian Research Council

 

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TalTech

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Credit: TalTech

The Defence Resources Agency and TalTech have joined forces to jointly develop technologies and efficient technical solutions aimed at strengthening national defence.

The Agency offers engineering and IT students opportunities to address national defence challenges as part of their studies and theses, and assists the university in finding supervisors with expertise in national defence. The first tasks have already been assigned to the students.

According to Aare Jamnes, the head of the national defence education sector at the Defence Resources Agency, numerous opportunities for IT development in national defence are well within the capabilities of even undergraduate students. "For example, TalTech is starting to develop a minefield passport application to automatically locate and map minefields," said Jamnes.

Mari-Anne Meister, Lieutenant Commander in the reserves and lecturer at the Tallinn University of Technology's Seebeck Department of Electronics, knows that a battlefield, as portrayed in the media, is digital and technologically complex. "The advantage goes to those who have better situational awareness, more accurate weaponry, and smarter fighters. Radio-controlled electronic devices allow for precise control across a wide range of applications, from drones to military systems. TalTech can play a key role and actively contribute to all of this in the defence sector."

The cooperation agreement outlines information activities to promote various career opportunities in national defence. One of the opportunities is the Defence Resources Agency's scholarship program for students pursuing engineering and technical education, which is open for applications every year from November to December.

 

Defence Resources Agency calls up and prepares citizens for compulsory military service, recruits citizens for duty in the active service, ensures an overview of the state’s available mobilization resources and supports the national defence course in schools.

Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech) is the only flagship in engineering and IT science and education in Estonia, providing higher education at all levels in engineering and technology, information technology, economics, science, and maritime. TalTech’s mission is to be a promoter of science, technology, and innovation and a leading provider of engineering and economic education in Estonia

 

Reed beds: Nature’s hidden ally in combating sludge pollution

Zhejiang University

 

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Exploring Microbial Dynamics in Sludge Treatment Wetlands.

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Credit: Soil & Environmental Health

A groundbreaking study reveals the environmental and public health advantages of reed wetlands for sludge treatment, demonstrating their potential as an eco-friendly alternative to traditional wastewater management systems. By examining the interplay between reed beds, microbial diversity, and sludge decomposition, researchers present a compelling case for these nature-based systems as a sustainable solution to water pollution.

Sludge, a byproduct of wastewater treatment, often harbors hazardous substances such as heavy metals and excess nutrients that pose significant environmental and health risks if not properly treated. Conventional treatment methods rely heavily on chemicals and energy-intensive processes, making them less sustainable. Sludge treatment reed beds (STRBs) offer a greener alternative by harnessing reeds and microbial communities to naturally degrade pollutants and stabilize sludge. Given the growing urgency to address water pollution, advancing STRB technology is vital for a more sustainable future.

The study, published in Soil & Environmental Health on April 23, 2024 (DOI: 10.1016/j.seh.2024.100083), was conducted by researchers from Sultan Qaboos University. By testing pilot-scale STRBs under varying sludge loading rates, the research employed advanced 16S rRNA sequencing to identify key microbial players responsible for nutrient removal and organic matter stabilization. This represents a significant milestone in refining sludge management solutions, particularly in arid climates.

Researchers analyzed STRB performance across three sludge loading rates (75, 100, and 125 kg/m2/year), focusing on microbial diversity, sludge decomposition, and overall treatment efficiency. Higher sludge loads were linked to increased bacterial diversity but lower community evenness. Reeds played a crucial role in shaping microbial populations by promoting the growth of nitrifying bacteria and methanogens, essential for nutrient cycling and organic matter decomposition. Proteobacteria emerged as dominant players, driving critical carbon and nitrogen cycles, while Bacteroidetes and Actinobacteria supported organic matter degradation and nutrient removal.

Distinct microbial clusters revealed the impact of reeds and sludge loading rates on essential biogeochemical processes. Reeds enhanced microbial activity by creating aerobic niches and releasing root exudates, fostering specialized rhizosphere communities. Notably, STRBs achieved up to a 98% reduction in sludge volume, with the optimal performance observed at 100 kg/m2/year, emphasizing their viability as a sustainable sludge management tool, particularly in hot, arid environments.

"These findings highlight the transformative potential of STRBs in sustainable wastewater management. By leveraging natural processes, STRBs offer an effective and environmentally friendly alternative to traditional methods," said Daniel Menezes Blackburn, lead researcher. "By harnessing natural processes, STRBs provide an effective, eco-friendly alternative to conventional methods, offering valuable insights for real-world applications."

This study validates STRBs as a viable solution for sustainable sludge management, especially in arid regions. By minimizing chemicals and energy use, STRBs contribute to climate resilience and environmental conservation. Future research will focus on diversifying plant species, optimizing sludge load capacities, and assessing greenhouse gas emissions. With their scalability and minimal environmental footprint, STRBs pave the way for achieving global sustainability targets, blending ecological integrity with practical wastewater treatment solutions.

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References

DOI

10.1016/j.seh.2024.100083

Original Source URL

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seh.2024.100083

Funding information

The project “Integrating modern soil and water-smart technologies for salinity management in Sultanate of Oman” for funding this research (SR/AGR/SWAE/21/01).

About Soil & Environmental Health

Soil & Environmental Health (SEH) is an international peer-reviewed journal that publishes high-quality papers with soil and environmental health focus. The journal welcomes high-quality process-oriented and hypothesis-based submissions, which are based on novel research that contribute towards sustainable soil and environmental management, and explore the nexus between soil health and functions, environmental and human health, and related ecosystem services. To take on multiple societal grand challenges, soil and environmental health research requires the integrated contributions of scientists from different disciplines, across the natural and social sciences and engineering disciplines. SEH aims to publish cutting-edge novel research that promotes the fundamental understanding, practical technological applications, and realistic policy implementation to promote soil and environmental health.

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Journal

Soil & Environmental Health

DOI

10.1016/j.seh.2024.100083 

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Bacterial community composition and diversity under increasing loading rates in reed wetland for sludge treatment

Article Publication Date

6-May-2025