Valorization of coffee agro-industry residues for prebiotic production by one-pot fermentation

Prebiotics are interesting compounds able to modulate the gut microbiota by inducing the growth or activity of beneficial bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract, while the pathogenic ones are inhibited. Several carbohydrates have been considered prebiotics including xylooligosaccarides (XOS). XOS are the only nutraceuticals that can be produced from lignocellulosic biomass. Indeed, XOS can be produced from agro-residues, which is encouraging to the food ingredient industries, as these raw materials are inexpensive, abundant and renewable in nature. In particular, the coffee agro-industry generates million tonnes of solid residues yearly worldwide, including coffee sliver skin (CSS). The use of coffee agro-industry residues for XOS production through a sustainable process is undoubtably aligned with the concept of circular economy. In this work, the production potential of XOS was evaluated for CSS and CSS pellets (CP), using one-pot fermentation by recombinant Bacillus subtills. In previous work, this strain was genetically modified to express the xylanase gene (xyn2) from Trichoderma reesei. CP presented the highest potential for XOS production. After process optimization, the highest reducing sugars yield (63 ± 3 mg.gCP-1) was achieved at 8 h, 45 °C, pH 7.0 and 10 g.L-1 of CP. One-pot fermentation proved to be a promising strategy for XOS production from CP, presenting advantages over the use of commercial enzymes. This study provides important insights for novel bioprocess integration approaches using agro-residues towards production cost reduction.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Zymomonas mobilis: a promising microorganism for prebiotic production

Zymomonas mobilis (ZM) is an ethanologenic bacterium with outstanding characteristics which makes it an interesting chassis for the biotechnological production of prebiotics. Fructooligosaccharides (FOS) are promising prebiotics in the increasing market of functional food. In this work, a Box-Behnken design approach was used to optimize the medium composition and maximize the FOS content. Under optimal conditions, 45.3 g/L of FOS were obtained. Sucrose was the most significant variable; thus, its concentration was further increased to 350 g/L leading to a 1.13-fold enhance in FOS titer. Afterwards, a scale-up to bioreactor was performed resulting in a high yield, content and productivity of FOS (58 %, 156.5 g/L 4.8 g/L h). Furthermore, 45 g/L of sorbitol and 8 g/L of levan were also produced. After purification of the FOS mixture through an activated charcoal column, an in vitro model using human fecal inoculum was used to assess its prebiotic potential. The results suggest that the produced prebiotic mixture has potential to be used to improve the human health. The present work describes for the first time the production of a prebiotic mixture with ZM ZM4 in an in vivo single-step approach that has potential to be commercialized as functional food ingredient.João Rainha, Beatriz B. Cardoso and Daniela Gomes acknowledge their grants (UMINHO/BPD/4/2019, SFRH/BD/138325/2018, SFRH/BD/132324/2017, and SFRH/BD/04433/2020, respectively) from Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). The study received financial support from Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UIDB/04469/2020 unit and the project FoSynBio (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029549).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Drug targeting of inflammatory bowel diseases by biomolecules

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of disabling, destructive and incurable immune-mediated inflammatory diseases comprising Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), disorders that are highly prevalent worldwide and demand a large investment in healthcare. A persistent inflammatory state enables the dysfunction and destruction of healthy tissue, hindering the initiation and endurance of wound healing. Current treatments are ineffective at counteracting disease progression. Further, increased risk of serious side effects, other comorbidities and/or opportunistic infections highlight the need for effective treatment options. Gut microbiota, the key to preserving a healthy state, may, alternatively, increase a patient's susceptibility to IBD onset and development given a relevant bacterial dysbiosis. Hence, the main goal of this review is to showcase the main conventional and emerging therapies for IBD, including microbiota-inspired untargeted and targeted approaches (such as phage therapy) to infection control. Special recognition is given to existing targeted strategies with biologics (via monoclonal antibodies, small molecules and nucleic acids) and stimuli-responsive (pH-, enzyme- and reactive oxygen species-triggered release), polymer-based nanomedicine that is specifically directed towards the regulation of inflammation overload (with some nanosystems additionally functionalized with carbohydrates or peptides directed towards M1-macrophages). The overall goal is to restore gut balance and decrease IBD's societal impact.Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), FEDER funds by means of Portugal 2020 Competitive Factors Operational Program (POCI) and the Portuguese Government (OE) for funding the project PEPTEX with reference PTDC/CTMTEX/28074/2017 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-028074). Using national funds through FCT/MCTES (Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education) the authors are also grateful for the funding associated with the project UID/CTM/00264/2020 of Centre for Textile Science and Technology (2C2T), and UIDB/QUI/50006/2020 of Associated Laboratory for Green Chemistry-Clean Technologies and Processes (LAQV). SCL acknowledges funding from FCT/MEC (Ministry of Education and Science; CEECIND/01620/2017), CN is thankful to FCT for the investigator Grant (IF/00293/2015) and JMD thanks FCT PhD grant 2020.07387.B

Agro-industrial wastes as alternative substrates for the production of prebiotic with Zymomonas mobilis

Fructooligosaccharides (FOS) are promising prebiotics in the relevant and increasing market of functional food. However, to achieve a more sustainable process, the industrial production of FOS should use cheap substrates. Zymomonas mobilis (ZM) has great potential for the production of FOS due to the presence of native enzymes (levansucrase) capable of metabolizing sucrose. In addition, ZM can use different carbon sources, such as molasses and sugarcane juice, which make the FOS production process cost-effective. In this study, sugarcane molasses (a potential replacement of sucrose) and corn step liquor (CSL) (a potential replacement of yeast extract (YE)), were used as nutrients for FOS production using ZM in an in vivo bioprocess approach. FOS production process from sucrose was first optimized and 52 g/L of FOS with a yield of 0.16 g/g was obtained. Afterwards, molasses and CSL were used as alternative nutrients. After studying different combinations of CSL and YE, the highest amount of FOS (54 g/L, with a yield of 0.18 g/g) was obtained with 12 g/L of CSL and 8 g/L of YE. In addition, 45 g/L of FOS were produced from molasses containing 200 g/L of sucrose, with a yield of 0.3 g/g. With this approach, it was possible to reduce around 5.5-times the cost associated with the FOS production medium. Moreover, this study proposed a sustainable process for the valorization of agro-industrial wastes contributing to the future Circular (Bio)Economy and the EU Green Deal.Cláudia Amorim, João Rainha, Beatriz B. Cardoso and Daniela Gomes acknowledge their grants (2020.0029.CEECIND, SFRH/BD/138325/2018, SFRH/BD/132324/2017 and SFRH/BD/04433/2020, respectively) from Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). The study received financial support from Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UIDB/04469/2020 unit and by LABBELS – Associate Laboratory in Biotechnology, Bioengineering and Microelectromechanical Systems, LA/P/0029/2020.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Hydrolysates containing xylooligosaccharides produced by different strategies: structural characterization, antioxidant and prebiotic activities

" Available online 22 May 2022"This study explores the structural characterization, antioxidant and prebiotic activities of hydrolysates containing xylooligosaccharides (XOS) produced by different strategies: direct fermentation of beechwood xylan (FermBX) and enzymatic treatment of beechwood (EnzBX) and rice husk (EnzRH) xylans. EnzBX and EnzRH showed XOS with a backbone of (1 4)-linked-xylopyranosyl residues and branches of arabinose, galactose, and uronic acids. FermBX presented the highest content of total phenolic compounds (14 mg GAE/g) and flavonoids (0.6 mg QE/g), which may contribute to its antioxidant capacity 39.1 mol TE/g (DPPH), 45.7 mol TE/g (ABTS), and 79.9 mol Fe II/g (FRAP). The fermentation of hydrolysates decreased the abundance of microorganisms associated with intestinal diseases from Eubacteriales, Desulfovibrionales and Methanobacteriales orders, while stimulating the growth of organisms belonging to Bacteroides, Megamonas and Limosilactobacillus genera. The production of short-chain fatty acids, ammonia, and CO2 suggested the prebiotic potential. In conclusion, hydrolysates without previous purification and obtained from non-chemical approaches demonstrated promising biological activities for further food applications.This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) – Finance Code 001; by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) – Grant numbers 423285/2018-1 and 304857/2018-1; by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UIDB/04469/2020 unit; by the BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020 – Programa Operacional Regional do Norte; by the COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145- FEDER-006684); by the FoSynBio (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029549); and LAQV/REQUIMTE (UIDB/50006/2020, UIDP/50006/2020) through national founds and, where applicable, co-financed by the FEDER, within the PT2020 Partnership Agreement. GG acknowledges the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande for the financial support from Postgraduate Student Mobility Program (PROPESP/FURG). BC, CA, and SPS acknowledge their grants (SFRH/BD/132324/2017, 2020.00293 CEECIND, and SFRH/BD/136471/2018) from FCT. LB also acknowledge FCT for the junior research contract (CEECIND/03280/2020). EC thanks the research contract (CDL-CTTRI-88-ARH/2018 – REF. 049-88-ARH/2018) funded by national funds (OE), through FCT, in the scope of the framework contract foreseen in the numbers 4, 5 and 6 of the article 23, of the Decree-Law 57/2016, of August 29, changed by Law 57/2017, of July 19.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Zymomonas mobilis an emerging microbial cell factory to produce prebiotics

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Variabilidade da quantidade de ADN em zaragatoas bucais –estudo preliminar

Poster apresentado no 12º Congresso Nacional de Medicina Legal e Ciências Forenses. Porto, Portugal, 7 -9 de Novembro de 2013Os laboratórios de Genética Forense têm como objetivo a obtenção de perfis genéticos com vista à identificação humana, para a resolução de perícias do âmbito cível e criminal. Com vista à obtenção dos perfis genéticos dos indivíduos, é necessário efetuar colheitas de amostras biológicas dos mesmos, denominadas por amostras de referência. As mais comummente usadas são as obtidas por descamação do epitélio da mucosa bucal, com recurso ao uso de zaragatoas bucais. A variabilidade da quantidade de células colhidas através deste procedimento, pode ser originada por diversos fatores. O objetivo deste estudo é avaliar fatores que eventualmente possam contribuir para tal facto.N/

MAMMALS IN PORTUGAL : A data set of terrestrial, volant, and marine mammal occurrences in P ortugal

Mammals are threatened worldwide, with 26% of all species being includedin the IUCN threatened categories. This overall pattern is primarily associatedwith habitat loss or degradation, and human persecution for terrestrial mam-mals, and pollution, open net fishing, climate change, and prey depletion formarine mammals. Mammals play a key role in maintaining ecosystems func-tionality and resilience, and therefore information on their distribution is cru-cial to delineate and support conservation actions. MAMMALS INPORTUGAL is a publicly available data set compiling unpublishedgeoreferenced occurrence records of 92 terrestrial, volant, and marine mam-mals in mainland Portugal and archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira thatincludes 105,026 data entries between 1873 and 2021 (72% of the data occur-ring in 2000 and 2021). The methods used to collect the data were: live obser-vations/captures (43%), sign surveys (35%), camera trapping (16%),bioacoustics surveys (4%) and radiotracking, and inquiries that represent lessthan 1% of the records. The data set includes 13 types of records: (1) burrowsjsoil moundsjtunnel, (2) capture, (3) colony, (4) dead animaljhairjskullsjjaws, (5) genetic confirmation, (6) inquiries, (7) observation of live animal (8),observation in shelters, (9) photo trappingjvideo, (10) predators dietjpelletsjpine cones/nuts, (11) scatjtrackjditch, (12) telemetry and (13) vocalizationjecholocation. The spatial uncertainty of most records ranges between 0 and100 m (76%). Rodentia (n=31,573) has the highest number of records followedby Chiroptera (n=18,857), Carnivora (n=18,594), Lagomorpha (n=17,496),Cetartiodactyla (n=11,568) and Eulipotyphla (n=7008). The data setincludes records of species classified by the IUCN as threatened(e.g.,Oryctolagus cuniculus[n=12,159],Monachus monachus[n=1,512],andLynx pardinus[n=197]). We believe that this data set may stimulate thepublication of other European countries data sets that would certainly contrib-ute to ecology and conservation-related research, and therefore assisting onthe development of more accurate and tailored conservation managementstrategies for each species. There are no copyright restrictions; please cite thisdata paper when the data are used in publications.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio