Luz Estela Gonzalez de-Bashan Ph. D.
Water bioremediation and advanced wastwater treatments (basic and applied studies)

-Transmission electron microscopy of the plant growth-promoting bacterium Azospirillum brasilense (Az) sharing the same cavity ( c ) within alginate beads (Al) with the microalga Chlorella vulgaris (ch). This unique preparation is used for wastewater treatment.

-Microalgae used in the nutrient removal from wastewaters

-Microalgae and the bacterium A. brasilense coimmobilized in alginate beads

-The microalgae and bacteria coimmobilized in alginate beads are cultivated in semicontinuos systems in a fermentor.

Most relevant publications in the last 3 years:

• Gonzalez, L.E., and Bashan, Y. 2000. Growth promotion of the microalga Chlorella vulgaris when coimmobilized and cocultured in alginate beads with the plant growth-promoting bacterium Azospirillum brasilense. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 66: 1537-1541.
• Gonzalez-Bashan, L.E., V. Lebsky, J. P. Hernandez, J.J. Bustillos & Y. Bashan. 2000. Changes in the metabolism of the microalgae Chlorella vulgaris when coimmobilized in alginate with the nitrogen-fixing Phyllobacterium myrsinacearum. Canadian Journal of Microbiology 46: 653-659.
• Lebsky, V.K., Gonzalez-Bashan, L.E., and Bashan, Y. 2001. Ultrastructure of interaction in alginate beads between  the microalga Chlorella vulgaris with its natural associative bacterium Phyllobacterium myrsinacearum and with the plant growth-promoting bacterium Azospirillum brasilense. Canadian Journal of Microbiology 47: 1-8.
• de-Bashan, L.E., Moreno, M. Hernandez, J.-P., and Bashan, Y. 2002. Ammonium and phosphorus removal from continuous and semi-continuous cultures by the microalgae Chlorella vulgaris coimmobilized in alginate beads with Azospirillum brasilense. Water Research 36:2941-2948.
• Valderrama, L.T., Del Campo, C.M., Rodriguez, C.M., de-Bashan, L.E., and Bashan, Y. 2002. Treatment of recalcitrant wastewater from ethanol and citric acid production using the microalga Chlorella vulgaris and the macrophyte Lemna minuscula. Water Research 36:4185-4192.
• de-Bashan, L.E., Bashan, Y., Moreno, M., Lebsky, V.K., and Bustillos, J.J. 2002. Increased lipid and pigment content, lipid viriety, and cell and population size of the microalgae Chlorella spp. when coimmobilized in alginate beads with the microalgae-growth-promoting bacterium Azospirillum brasilenses. Canadian Journal of Microbiology 48:514-521.