Catalytic conversion of caffeine into molecules of valuable interest via N-demethylation reaction

This work aims to apply catalytic processes to promote the conversion of caffeine into valuable dimethylxanthines via N-demethylation reaction. Thus, we seek to evaluate the products formed and propose the reactions involved and their mechanisms. Reaction conditions were evaluated including different concentrations of Fenton reagent and ascorbic acid to evaluate caffeine oxidation. Theobromine, paraxanthine, and theophylline formation was proven by HPLC-DAD and mass spectrometry analysis evidencing the N-demethylation reactions, via radicals, with about 1 % yield. These results open the way for new N-demethylation reaction routes to be studied with applications for caffeine and other biomolecules in diverse areas such as biochemistry and medicinal chemistry. Application of the Fenton catalysis as alternative to promote the conversion of caffeine in other xanthines by N-demethylation. In this scenario was verified the capability of ascorbic acid in promoting same reaction, both environmentally friendly processes. This work investigates the possibility of using a well known biocompound as a precursor to obtain value added molecules.This study was financially supported by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Brasil (CAPES) – Finance Code 001 and by CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020) through FEDER under Program PT2020. In addition, the authors acknowledge Central de Análise e Prospecção Química – CAPQ and Laboratório Central de Biologia Molecular (LCBM), Chemistry Department/UFLA for their technical support. Jose L. Diaz De Tuesta acknowledges the financial support through the program of Atracción al Talento of Comunidad de Madrid (Spain) for the individual research grant 2022-T1/AMB-23946.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Kinetic insights on wet peroxide oxidation of caffeine using EDTA-functionalized low-cost catalysts prepared from compost generated in municipal solid waste treatment facilities

Nowadays, sorted organic fraction of municipal solid waste is typically treated by anaerobic digestion processes, resulting therein a solid stream, further processed to obtain compost, whose production is higher than the existing demand as fertilizer. The current work proposes an alternative strategy for the recovering of compost through the production of low-cost catalysts by calcination (1073 K) and sulfuric acid treatments, followed by sequential functionalization with tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) and ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA). Activity and stability of the catalysts are assessed in the wet peroxide oxidation of synthetic wastewater effluents contaminated with caffeine, a model micro-pollutant, achieving its complete removal after 6 h at 353– 383 K and catalyst loads of 0.5–2.5 g L−1. The increase of the catalytic activity of the materials upon functionalization with TEOS and EDTA is demonstrated and a kinetic modeling of caffeine degradation and hydrogen peroxide consumption with the best catalyst is assessed by pseudo-first power-law rate equations.This work was financially supported by project ‘‘VALORCOMP - Valorización de compost y otros desechos procedentes de la fracción orgánica de los residuos municipales’’, 0119_VALORCOMP_2_P, through FEDER under Program INTERREG; and CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020) through FEDER under Program PT2020.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Application of catalysts developed from compost derived from municipal solid waste in the removal of caffeine by wet peroxide oxidation

Nowadays, waste management through mechanical biological treatment (MBT) consists on the use of the separated organic fraction of municipal solid waste (MSW) to feed anaerobic digestion processes, resulting therein a solid stream, further processed to compost, which can be used as fertilizer. Currently, the production of compost from MBT is higher than the existing demand, and the expected developments on up-coming directives ruling “End-of-waste” criteria are leading to barriers on the use of waste-derived fertilizers (European Commision, 2013). In this context, the current work proposes an alternative strategy to the valorisation of compost, through the production of low-cost materials to be applied in the catalytic wet peroxide oxidation (CWPO) of synthetic wastewater effluents contaminated with caffeine, used as a model pollutant of emerging concern. Caffeine is the most consumed psychoactive drug worldwide. It is one of the components of painkillers, medication against migraine, fatigue, drowsiness and breathing problems. Its consumption is also associated with an overall lower risk of malignant growth like hepatocellular, endometrial or colorectal cancer (Ganzenko et al., 2015). However, the effect of caffeine and its environmental degradation products on aquatic living species is not properly known. Caffeine, is a world wide consumed psychoactive drug, in a way that becomes a persistent compound and cannot be efficiently removed by municipal wastewater treatment facilities (Ganzenko et al., 2015). As a consequence, caffeine and its metabolites are present in the effluents of wastewater treatment plants (Gracia-Lor et al., 2017).This work was financially supported by project “VALORCOMP - Valorización de compost y otros desechos procedentes de la fracción orgánica de los residuos municipales”, 0119_VALORCOMP_2_P, and project “AIProcMat@N2020 - Advanced Industrial Processes and Materials for a Sustainable Northern Region of Portugal 2020”, reference NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000006, supported by NORTE 2020, under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, through FEDER, and Project Associate Laboratory LSRE-LCM - UID/EQU/50020/2019 - funded by national funds through FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Modulation of the expression of mimivirus-encoded translation-related genes in response to nutrient availability during Acanthamoeba castellanii infection

International audienceThe complexity of giant virus genomes is intriguing, especially the presence of genes encoding components of the protein translation machinery such as transfer RNAs and aminoacyl-tRNA-synthetases; these features are uncommon among other viruses. Although orthologs of these genes are codified by their hosts, one can hypothesize that having these translation-related genes might represent a gain of fitness during infection. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of translation-related genes by mimivirus during infection of Acanthamoeba castellanii under different nutritional conditions. In silico analysis of amino acid usage revealed remarkable differences between the mimivirus isolates and the A. castellanii host. Relative expression analysis by quantitative PCR revealed that mimivirus was able to modulate the expression of eight viral translation-related genes according to the amoebal growth condition, with a higher induction of gene expression under starvation. Some mimivirus isolates presented differences in translation-related gene expression; notably, polymorphisms in the promoter regions correlated with these differences. Two mimivirus isolates did not encode the tryptophanyl-tRNA in their genomes, which may be linked with low conservation pressure based on amino acid usage analysis. Taken together, our data suggest that mimivirus can modulate the expression of translation-related genes in response to nutrient availability in the host cell, allowing the mimivirus to adapt to different hosts growing under different nutritional conditions

Alfa-amilase em frangos de corte: efeitos do balanço eletrolítico e do nível protéico da dieta Alpha-amylase in broiler chickens: effects of electrolytic balance and dietary protein level

Um experimento foi conduzido com pintos de corte macho para o estudo dos efeitos dos níveis de 20 e 23% de PB combinados com 0, 50, 100, 150, 200, 250 mEq/kg de balanço dietético eletrolítico (BDE) sobre a atividade da alfa-amilase pancreática de frangos de corte de 1 a 21 dias de idade. O delineamento utilizado foi o inteiramente casualizado. Dietas e água foram fornecidas ad libitum. Aos 1, 7, 14 e 21 dias, três aves de cada tratamento foram sacrificadas por deslocamento cervical para remoção do pâncreas, o qual foi removido, homogeneizado, congelado em nitrogênio líquido e liofilizado. Uma alíquota de cada amostra foi solubilizada em água deionizada e centrifugada a 7500 x g por 3 minutos a 4ºC, para determinação da atividade da alfa-amilase no sobrenadante. Aves alimentadas com 20% de PB apresentaram atividades específicas (U/mg de proteína) superiores à daquelas que receberam 23%, exceto para os níveis de BDE de 100 a 200 mEq/kg, aos 14 dias. Observou-se tendência de aumento da atividade específica dos 7 aos 14 dias e redução dos 14 aos 21 dias. Para maior atividade específica de alfa-amilase, recomendam-se dietas com 20% de PB e 200 mEq/kg de BDE na fase pré-inicial e dietas com 20% de PB e 135 a 250 mEq/kg de BDE para frangos de corte dos 8 aos 21 dias de idade.<br>An experiment was conducted with male broiler chicks to study the effects of 20 and 23% of crude protein (CP) combined with 0, 50, 100, 150, 200, 250 mEq/kg of dietary electrolytic balance (DEB) on the pancreatic alpha-amylase activity from 1 to 21 days. A completely randomized factorial design was used. Feed and water were supplied ad libitum. At days 1, 7, 14 and 21, three birds from each treatment were sacrificed by cervical dislocation, pancreas were removed, homogeneized and frozen in liquid nitrogen which were then freeze-dried. An aliquot of each sample was solubilized with deionized water and centrifuged at 7500 x g for three minutes at 4ºC. Activities of the pancreatic alpha-amylase in the supernatants were determined. Chicks fed 20% of CP showed specific activities (U/mg protein) higher than those fed 23%, except for DEB levels from 100 to 200 mEq/kg at 14 days. A tendency to increase specific activity was observed from 7 to 14 days and to reduce from 14 to 21 days. The highest specific activity of pancreatic alpha-amylase was observed in diets with 20% CP and 200 mEq/kg of DEB from 1 to 7 days, diets with 20% of CP and 135 to 250 mEq/kg of DEB from 8 to 21 days of age

Brazilian Flora 2020: Leveraging the power of a collaborative scientific network

International audienceThe shortage of reliable primary taxonomic data limits the description of biological taxa and the understanding of biodiversity patterns and processes, complicating biogeographical, ecological, and evolutionary studies. This deficit creates a significant taxonomic impediment to biodiversity research and conservation planning. The taxonomic impediment and the biodiversity crisis are widely recognized, highlighting the urgent need for reliable taxonomic data. Over the past decade, numerous countries worldwide have devoted considerable effort to Target 1 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC), which called for the preparation of a working list of all known plant species by 2010 and an online world Flora by 2020. Brazil is a megadiverse country, home to more of the world's known plant species than any other country. Despite that, Flora Brasiliensis, concluded in 1906, was the last comprehensive treatment of the Brazilian flora. The lack of accurate estimates of the number of species of algae, fungi, and plants occurring in Brazil contributes to the prevailing taxonomic impediment and delays progress towards the GSPC targets. Over the past 12 years, a legion of taxonomists motivated to meet Target 1 of the GSPC, worked together to gather and integrate knowledge on the algal, plant, and fungal diversity of Brazil. Overall, a team of about 980 taxonomists joined efforts in a highly collaborative project that used cybertaxonomy to prepare an updated Flora of Brazil, showing the power of scientific collaboration to reach ambitious goals. This paper presents an overview of the Brazilian Flora 2020 and provides taxonomic and spatial updates on the algae, fungi, and plants found in one of the world's most biodiverse countries. We further identify collection gaps and summarize future goals that extend beyond 2020. Our results show that Brazil is home to 46,975 native species of algae, fungi, and plants, of which 19,669 are endemic to the country. The data compiled to date suggests that the Atlantic Rainforest might be the most diverse Brazilian domain for all plant groups except gymnosperms, which are most diverse in the Amazon. However, scientific knowledge of Brazilian diversity is still unequally distributed, with the Atlantic Rainforest and the Cerrado being the most intensively sampled and studied biomes in the country. In times of “scientific reductionism”, with botanical and mycological sciences suffering pervasive depreciation in recent decades, the first online Flora of Brazil 2020 significantly enhanced the quality and quantity of taxonomic data available for algae, fungi, and plants from Brazil. This project also made all the information freely available online, providing a firm foundation for future research and for the management, conservation, and sustainable use of the Brazilian funga and flora