Neotropical termite microbiomes as sources of novel plant cell wall degrading enzymes

Romero Victorica, Matías. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Agrobiotecnología y Biología Molecular (IABIMO). Hurlingham, Buenos Aires, Argentina.Soria, Marcelo Abel. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Departamento de Biología Aplicada y Alimentos. Cátedra de Microbiología Agrícola. Buenos Aires, Argentina.Batista García, Ramón Alberto. Universidad Autónoma del Estado Morelos. Instituto de Investigación en Ciencias Básicas y Aplicadas. Centro de Investigación en Dinámica Celular. Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico.Ceja Navarro, Javier A. Biological Systems and Engineering Division. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Berkeley, California, USA.Vikram, Surendra. Department Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology. Centre for Microbial Ecology and Genomics. University of Pretoria. Pretoria, South Africa.Ortiz, Maximiliano. University of Pretoria. Centre for Microbial Ecology and Genomics. Genetics and Microbiology. Pretoria, South Africa.Ontañon, Ornella. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Agrobiotecnología y Biología Molecular (IABIMO). Hurlingham, Buenos Aires, Argentina.Ghio, Silvina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Agrobiotecnología y Biología Molecular (IABIMO). Hurlingham, Buenos Aires, Argentina.14In this study, we used shotgun metagenomic sequencing to characterise the microbial metabolic potential for lignocellulose transformation in the gut of two colonies of Argentine higher termite species with diferent feeding habits, Cortaritermes fulviceps and Nasutitermes aquilinus. Our goal was to assess the microbial community compositions and metabolic capacity, and to identify genes involved in lignocellulose degradation. Individuals from both termite species contained the same fve dominant bacterial phyla (Spirochaetes, Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Fibrobacteres and Bacteroidetes) although with diferent relative abundances. However, detected functional capacity varied, with C. fulviceps (a grass-wood-feeder) gut microbiome samples containing more genes related to amino acid metabolism, whereas N. aquilinus (a wood-feeder) gut microbiome samples were enriched in genes involved in carbohydrate metabolism and cellulose degradation. The C. fulviceps gut microbiome was enriched specifcally in genes coding for debranching- and oligosaccharide-degrading enzymes. These fndings suggest an association between the primary food source and the predicted categories of the enzymes present in the gut microbiomes of each species. To further investigate the termite microbiomes as sources of biotechnologically relevant glycosyl hydrolases, a putative GH10 endo-β-1,4- xylanase, Xyl10E, was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. Functional analysis of the recombinant metagenome-derived enzyme showed high specifcity towards beechwood xylan (288.1 IU/mg), with the optimum activity at 50°C and a pH-activity range from 5 to 10. These characteristics suggest that Xy110E may be a promising candidate for further development in lignocellulose deconstruction applications

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Neotropical termite microbiomes as sources of novel plant cell wall degrading enzymes

In this study, we used shotgun metagenomic sequencing to characterise the microbial metabolic potential for lignocellulose transformation in the gut of two colonies of Argentine higher termite species with different feeding habits, Cortaritermes fulviceps and Nasutitermes aquilinus. Our goal was to assess the microbial community compositions and metabolic capacity, and to identify genes involved in lignocellulose degradation. Individuals from both termite species contained the same five dominant bacterial phyla (Spirochaetes, Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Fibrobacteres and Bacteroidetes) although with different relative abundances. However, detected functional capacity varied, with C. fulviceps (a grass-wood-feeder) gut microbiome samples containing more genes related to amino acid metabolism, whereas N. aquilinus (a wood-feeder) gut microbiome samples were enriched in genes involved in carbohydrate metabolism and cellulose degradation. The C. fulviceps gut microbiome was enriched specifically in genes coding for debranching- and oligosaccharide-degrading enzymes. These findings suggest an association between the primary food source and the predicted categories of the enzymes present in the gut microbiomes of each species. To further investigate the termite microbiomes as sources of biotechnologically relevant glycosyl hydrolases, a putative GH10 endo-β-1,4-xylanase, Xyl10E, was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. Functional analysis of the recombinant metagenome-derived enzyme showed high specificity towards beechwood xylan (288.1 IU/mg), with the optimum activity at 50 °C and a pH-activity range from 5 to 10. These characteristics suggest that Xy110E may be a promising candidate for further development in lignocellulose deconstruction applications.Fil: Romero Victorica, Matias. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Veterinarias y Agronómicas. Instituto de Agrobiotecnología y Biología Molecular. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Agrobiotecnología y Biología Molecular; ArgentinaFil: Soria, Marcelo Abel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biociencias Agrícolas y Ambientales. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biociencias Agrícolas y Ambientales; ArgentinaFil: Batista García, Ramón Alberto. Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos.; MéxicoFil: Ceja Navarro, Javier A.. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Estados UnidosFil: Vikram, Surendra. University of the Witwatersrand; SudáfricaFil: Ortiz, Maximiliano. University of Pretoria; SudáfricaFil: Ontañon, Ornella Mailén. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Veterinarias y Agronómicas. Instituto de Agrobiotecnología y Biología Molecular. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Agrobiotecnología y Biología Molecular; ArgentinaFil: Ghio, Silvina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Veterinarias y Agronómicas. Instituto de Agrobiotecnología y Biología Molecular. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Agrobiotecnología y Biología Molecular; ArgentinaFil: Martínez Ávila, Liliana. Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos.; MéxicoFil: Quintero García, Omar Jasiel. Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos.; MéxicoFil: Etcheverry, Clara. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Naturales y Agrimensura. Departamento de Biología. Cátedra Biología de los Invertebrados; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Campos, Eleonora. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Veterinarias y Agronómicas. Instituto de Agrobiotecnología y Biología Molecular. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Agrobiotecnología y Biología Molecular; ArgentinaFil: Cowan, Donald Arthur. University of Pretoria; SudáfricaFil: Arneodo Larochette, Joel Demián. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Veterinarias y Agronómicas. Instituto de Agrobiotecnología y Biología Molecular. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Agrobiotecnología y Biología Molecular; ArgentinaFil: Talia, Paola Monica. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Veterinarias y Agronómicas. Instituto de Agrobiotecnología y Biología Molecular. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Agrobiotecnología y Biología Molecular; Argentin

Iodixanol Pharmacokinetics in Children

The objective of this report was to study the elimination pharmacokinetics of iodixanol in children. Iodixanol (V isipaque ®, Nycomed Inc., Wayne, PA, USA) is a new iso-osmolar iodinated radiocontrast agent. We hypothesized that elimination of this agent would be dependent on age-related differences in renal clearance. Seven centers enrolled 43 patients. Cardiac catheterization was performed in 41 patients and cranial computed tomography in 2. Patients were entered into 5 age groups: newborn to 6 months of age that is comparable to normal adults. Prolonged elimination in children <6 months of age is related to renal immaturity.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/42384/1/246-22-3-223_10220223.pd

Sanitation of blackwater via sequential wetland and electrochemical treatment

The discharge of untreated septage is a major health hazard in countries that lack sewer systems and centralized sewage treatment. Small-scale, point-source treatment units are needed for water treatment and disinfection due to the distributed nature of this discharge, i.e., from single households or community toilets. In this study, a high-rate-wetland coupled with an electrochemical system was developed and demonstrated to treat septage at full scale. The full-scale wetland on average removed 79 +/- 2% chemical oxygen demand (COD), 30 +/- 5% total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), 58 +/- 4% total ammoniacal nitrogen (TAN), and 78 +/- 4% orthophosphate. Pathogens such as coliforms were not fully removed after passage through the wetland. Therefore, the wetland effluent was subsequently treated with an electrochemical cell with a cation exchange membrane where the effluent first passed through the anodic chamber. This lead to in situ chlorine or other oxidant production under acidifying conditions. Upon a residence time of at least 6 h of this anodic effluent in a buffer tank, the fluid was sent through the cathodic chamber where pH neutralization occurred. Overall, the combined system removed 89 +/- 1% COD, 36 +/- 5% TKN, 70 +/- 2% TAN, and 87 +/- 2% ortho-phosphate. An average 5-log unit reduction in coliform was observed. The energy input for the integrated system was on average 16 +/- 3 kWh/m(3), and 11 kWh/m(3) under optimal conditions. Further research is required to optimize the system in terms of stability and energy consumption

Neotropical termite microbiomes as sources of novel plant cell wall degrading enzymes

In this study, we used shotgun metagenomic sequencing to characterise the microbial metabolic potential for lignocellulose transformation in the gut of two colonies of Argentine higher termite species with different feeding habits, Cortaritermes fulviceps and Nasutitermes aquilinus. Our goal was to assess the microbial community compositions and metabolic capacity, and to identify genes involved in lignocellulose degradation. Individuals from both termite species contained the same five dominant bacterial phyla (Spirochaetes, Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Fibrobacteres and Bacteroidetes) although with different relative abundances. However, detected functional capacity varied, with C. fulviceps (a grass-wood-feeder) gut microbiome samples containing more genes related to amino acid metabolism, whereas N. aquilinus (a wood-feeder) gut microbiome samples were enriched in genes involved in carbohydrate metabolism and cellulose degradation. The C. fulviceps gut microbiome was enriched specifically in genes coding for debranching- and oligosaccharide-degrading enzymes. These findings suggest an association between the primary food source and the predicted categories of the enzymes present in the gut microbiomes of each species. To further investigate the termite microbiomes as sources of biotechnologically relevant glycosyl hydrolases, a putative GH10 endo-β-1,4- xylanase, Xyl10E, was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. Functional analysis of the recombinant metagenome-derived enzyme showed high specificity towards beechwood xylan (288.1 IU/mg), with the optimum activity at 50 °C and a pH-activity range from 5 to 10. These characteristics suggest that Xy110E may be a promising candidate for further development in lignocellulose deconstruction applications.CONICET Fellowships, the Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA), Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (ANPCyT) Proyectos de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (PICT), Conacyt and the Conacyt Fellowships.http://www.nature.com/srepam2021BiochemistryGeneticsMicrobiology and Plant Patholog

Structural and spectroscopic evidence of strong electronic delocalization through a cyanido bridge in a mixed-valence Os-Ru complex

We report the properties of a trinuclear cyanido-bridged complex, trans-(dmap)4RuII(Âμ-NC)OsIII(CN) 524- [14-; dmap = 4-(dimethylamino)pyridine], whose structure and electronic and vibrational spectra present strong evidence of partial redox states for the three metal ions, an unprecedented feature for cyanido-bridged systems. Matching the energy of metal fragments bonded by a cyanido bridge results in asystem that is better described as having partial RuII/III and OsII/ III character as evidenced by its structure and its spectroscopic analysis.Fil: Rossi, Melina Brenda. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Química, Física de los Materiales, Medioambiente y Energía. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Química, Física de los Materiales, Medioambiente y Energía; ArgentinaFil: Abboud, Khalil A.. University of Florida; Estados UnidosFil: Alborés, Pablo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Química, Física de los Materiales, Medioambiente y Energía. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Química, Física de los Materiales, Medioambiente y Energía; ArgentinaFil: Baraldo Victorica, Luis Mario. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Química, Física de los Materiales, Medioambiente y Energía. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Química, Física de los Materiales, Medioambiente y Energía; Argentin

Fibre types in different llama (Lama glama) muscles used as meat source

Many studies take variations in muscle fibre type population as a tool, which contributes to measure the meat quality according to selection and diets of the meat animal species. The aim of this research was to determine the fibre type populations in different llama muscles as a useful preliminary study for any future approach about meat quality in this species. Samples from llama biceps femoris, gluteus medius, rectus femoris and semitendinosus muscles, were staining by myofibrillar adenosine triphosphatase for determining the fibre type population. Results show that I, IIA, IIX, IIB, IIXB, IIXA and IIC have the following distribution: 17.98, 16.29, 31.46, 27.53, 6.18 y 0.56 %; 19.16, 22.16, 37.13, 18.56, 1.20, 0.30 y 1.50 %; 20.12, 20.12, 37.02, 8.76, 9.52, 3.53 y 0.92 %; 13.56, 9.31, 41.50, 26.72, 8.70, 0.20 % respectively (X2 ±95%). The fibre type distribution is linked to pondered muscles. Rectus femoris and gluteus medius muscles have a higher oxidative profil that other considered muscles, and less quantity of the IIB type fibres. This muscle fibre population give them a better condition about taste, juiceless and pH postmortem while they could have an unsuccessful performance during tenderisation process.Fil: Graziotti, G.H. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Area de Anatomía. Buenos Aires, ArgentinaFil: Rodríguez Menéndez, J. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Area de Anatomía. Buenos Aires, ArgentinaFil: Montesano, A. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Area de Anatomía. Buenos Aires, ArgentinaFil: Jalley, S. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Area de Anatomía. Buenos Aires, ArgentinaFil: Affricano, N.O. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Area de Anatomía. Buenos Aires, ArgentinaFil: Victorica, C.L. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Area de Anatomía. Buenos Aires, ArgentinaDiversos estudios utilizan las variaciones en la población de las fibras musculares como un elemento que contribuye a evaluar la calidad de la carne en especies de interés zootécnico según genética, sistemas de producción y dietas. El objetivo de este trabajo ha sido determinar en diversos músculos de llama (Lama glama) el tipo fibrilar como estudio preliminar útil para ulteriores investigaciones sobre la calidad de la carne. Muestras de los músculos bíceps femoral, glúteo medio, recto femoral y semitendinoso de llama fueron tratadas mediante la técnica de miosina adenosina trifosfatasa (para determinar el tipo fibrilar). Los resultados muestran para los tipos I, IIA, IIX , IIB, IIXB, IIXA y IIC respectivamente, la siguiente distribución porcentual: 17.98, 16.29, 31.46, 27.53, 6.18 y 0.56 %; 19.16, 22.16, 37.13, 18.56, 1.20, 0.30 y 1.50 %; 20.12, 20.12, 37.02, 8.76, 9.52, 3.53 y 0.92 %; 13.56, 9.31, 41.50, 26.72, 8.70, 0.20 % respectivamente (X2 ± 95%). La distribución del tipo de fibra depende de los músculos considerados. Los músculos recto femoral y glúteo medio tienen mayor nivel oxidativo que los músculos restantes, y menor cantidad de fibras IIB que los otros músculos considerados, teniendo en principio mejor condición relativa al sabor, jugosidad y pH postmortem, y menor para la consideración de la tiernización