Antimicrobial activities of the bacteriocin-like substances produced by lactic acid bacteria isolated from Moroccan dromedary milk

A total of 450 different colonies, isolated from 25 samples of dromedary milk collected from Laâyoune region of Morocco, were tested for antimicrobial compounds production. Out of these, 30 were determined to be lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and able to inhibit the growth of the indicator strain Listeria innocua CECT 4030. Seven isolates were selected by the large and clear zones of inhibition when tested by the agar well diffusion assay. They were classified by phenotypic and biochemical analysis as two Enterococcus durans (E204 and E214), two Lactococcus lactis (R75 and R76), one Enterococcus faecium R111, one Lactococcus cremoris R112 and one Enterococcus avium R122. Their antimicrobial compounds were detected in cell-free culture supernatant fluids under conditions that eliminate acid and hydrogen peroxide inhibition. The antimicrobial activity was altered after treatment with trypsin, -chymotrypsin, pepsin or papain which confirms the proteinaceous nature of the inhibition. It was heat stable even at autoclaving temperature (121°C for 15 min) and also active over a wide pH range (2 to 10). This fact suggests that bacteriocin-like produced by the seven LAB strains may find application as biopreservatives in food products.Key words: Dromedary milk, lactic acid bacteria, bacteriocin-like substances, antimicrobial activity

Use of the Sentinel‐2 and Landsat‐8 Satellites for Water Quality Monitoring: An Early Warning Tool in the Mar Menor Coastal Lagoon

During recent years, several eutrophication processes and subsequent environmental crises have occurred in Mar Menor, the largest hypersaline coastal lagoon in the Western Mediterranean Sea. In this study, the Landsat‐8 and Sentinel‐2 satellites are jointly used to examine the evolution of the main water quality descriptors during the latest ecological crisis in 2021, resulting in an important loss of benthic vegetation and unusual mortality events affecting different aquatic species. Several field campaigns were carried out in March, July, August, and November 2021 to measure water quality variables over 10 control points. The validation of satellite biogeochemical variables against on‐site measurements indicates precise results of the water quality algorithms with median errors of 0.41 mg/m3 and 2.04 FNU for chlorophyll‐a and turbidity, respectively. The satellite preprocessing scheme shows consistent performance for both satellites; therefore, using them in tandem can improve mapping strategies. The findings demonstrate the suitability of the methodology to capture the spatiotemporal distribution of turbidity and chlorophyll‐a concentration at 10– 30 m spatial resolution on a systematic basis and in a cost‐effective way. The multitemporal products allow the identification of the main critical areas close to the mouth of the Albujon watercourse and the beginning of the eutrophication process with chlorophyll‐a concentration above 3 mg/m3. These innovative tools can support decision makers in improving current monitoring strategies as early warning systems for timely assistance during these ecological disasters, thus preventing detrimental conditions in the lagoon.0,64

Necrobiosis lipoidica developing within a surgical scar in a non-diabetic patient: Type III Koebner phenomenon (isomorphic response), Wolf's isotopic response or Ruocco's immunocompromised cutaneous district?

Sir, Necrobiosis lipoidica is a chronic granulomatous disease typically associated with diabetes mellitus. We report a case of necrobiosis lipoidica occurring in a surgical scar in a non-diabetic patient. We found only nine previous reports of necrobiosis lipoidica appearing after trauma or in surgical scars, as a manifestation of Type III Koebner phenomenon. Most of these were in diabetic patients..

Macrofauna de invertebrados del Cretácico superior de la Depresión Central Asturiana

Se reporta y comenta la fauna de inocerámidos, rudistas, ammonites, braquiópodos y equmnidos recogida y localizada en yacimientos o series estratigráficas de detalle, durante los trabajos de campo de la tesis doctoral del primero de los autores (E.B.) sobre los seláceos del Cretácico de Asturias. La distribución, principalmente de inocerámidos y ammonites, permite identificar el Cenomaniense superior y el Turoniense inferior y medio. Se han reconocido rudistas del Turoniense superior y del Coniaciense, braquiópodos del Cenomaniense y del Santoniense inferior y un registro relativamente rico y variado de equínidos desde el Cenomaniense hasta el Coniaciense.The fauna collected and located on fossil localities or stratigraphical profiles, during the field work of the first author's doctoral thesis on the Cretaceous selachians from Asturias, is reported and commented. It includes inoceramids, rudists, ammonoids, brachiopods and echinoids. Distribution of, mainly inoceramids and ammonoids, allowed to identify the Upper Cenomanian and the Lower and Middle Turonian. LateTuronian and Coniacian rudists have been recognized, as well as Cenomanian and lower Santonian brachiopods and a quite rich and diversified record of echinoids ranging from Cenomanian to Coniacian

Revisión bioestratigráfica de las pizarras del Ordovícico Medio en el noroeste de España (zonas Cantábrica, Asturoccidental-leonesa y Centroibérica septentrional)

A complete review of more than one hundred Middle Ordovician fossil localities, distributed within the north western part of the Hesperian Massif, shows that the sedimentation of the dark shales (Luarca Fo rmation and equivalents) that overlie Arenig quartzites with Cruziana (the 'Armorican Quartzite' facies) was not as uniform as it has been supposed for the whole NW Spain. These shales were mainly deposited during the Oretanian in the West Asturian-Leonese Zone and in nort h e rn Central-Iberian Zone (Domain of the Ollo de Sapo Antiform). In these zones, the top of the unit is close to the Oretanian/Dobrotivian boundary, without any fossils with proved Dobrotivian age. In the Cantabrian Zone, clay sedimentation started in the latest Oretanian and continued during the Dobrotivian. Several local or regional stratigraphic gaps are proposed and characterized for the whole study area. In addition, the most recent paleog e ographical reconstructions proposed are discussed, in accordance with new paleoecological and paleobiog e ographical data. These data indicate that sedimentation took place in open shelf areas, relative ly deeper than in the southern Central Iberian shelf, and with trough areas where some mesopelagic elements are recorded. We identified a total of 97 different fossil taxa (67 from Oretanian rocks and 45 from Dobrotivian rocks), remarkable among which are the first known appearance of certain trilobites and ostracodes, the latest record of other taxa, and also the presence of some taxa in common with Avalonia and Baltica, that were previously unknown from any area of SW Europe

Hydrological Variability In Chilean Altiplano Lakes during the Last Millennia

Peer Reviewe

Characteristics of the Shiga-toxin-producing enteroaggregative Escherichia coli O104:H4 German outbreak strain and of STEC strains isolated in Spain

A Shiga-toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) strain belonging to serotype O104:H4, phylogenetic group B1 and sequence type ST678, with virulence features common to the enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC) pathotype, was reported as the cause of the recent 2011 outbreak in Germany. The outbreak strain was determined to carry several virulence factors of extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli (ExPEC) and to be resistant to a wide range of antibiotics. There are only a few reports of serotype O104:H4, which is very rare in humans and has never been detected in animals or food. Several research groups obtained the complete genome sequence of isolates of the German outbreak strain as well as the genome sequences of EAEC of serotype O104:H4 strains from Africa. Those findings suggested that horizontal genetic transfer allowed the emergence of the highly virulent Shiga-toxin-producing enteroaggregative E. coli (STEAEC) O104:H4 strain responsible for theoutbreak in Germany. Epidemiologic investigations supported a linkage between the outbreaks in Germany and France and traced their origin to fenugreek seeds imported from Africa. However, there has been no isolation of the causative strain O104:H4 from any of the samples of fenugreek seeds analyzed. Following the German outbreak, we conducted a large sampling to analyze the presence of STEC, EAEC, and other types of diarrheagenic E. coli strains in Spanish vegetables. During June and July 2011, 200 vegetable samples from different origins were analyzed. All were negative for the virulent serotype O104:H4 and only one lettuce sample (0.6%) was positive for a STEC strain of serotype O146:H21 (stx1, stx2), considered of low virulence. Despite the single positive case, the hygienic and sanitary quality of Spanish vegetables proved to be quite good. In 195 of the 200 samples (98%), <10 colony-forming units (cfu) of E. coli per gram were detected, and the microbiological levels of all samples were satisfactory (<100 cfu/g). The samples were also negative for other pathotypes of diarrheagenic E. coli (EAEC, ETEC, tEPEC, and EIEC). Consistent with data from other countries, STEC belonging to serotypeO157:H7 and other serotypes have been isolated from beef, milk, cheese, and domestic (cattle, sheep, goats) and wild (deer, boar, fox) animals in Spain. Nevertheless, STEC outbreaks in Spain are rare

Identification of emerging hazards in mussels by the Galician Emerging Food Safety Risks Network (RISEGAL). A first approach

Emerging risk identification is a priority for the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). The goal of the Galician Emerging Food Safety Risks Network (RISEGAL) is the identification of emerging risks in foods produced and commercialized in Galicia (northwest Spain) in order to propose prevention plans and mitigation strategies. In this work, RISEGAL applied a systematic approach for the identification of emerging food safety risks potentially affecting bivalve shellfish. First, a comprehensive review of scientific databases was carried out to identify hazards most quoted as emerging in bivalves in the period 2016–2018. Then, identified hazards were semiquantitatively assessed by a panel of food safety experts, who scored them accordingly with the five evaluation criteria proposed by EFSA: novelty, soundness, imminence, scale, and severity. Scores determined that perfluorinated compounds, antimicrobial resistance, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, hepatitis E virus (HEV), and antimicrobial residues are the emerging hazards that are considered most imminent and severe and that could cause safety problems of the highest scale in the bivalve value chain by the majority of the experts consulted (75%). Finally, in a preliminary way, an exploratory study carried out in the Galician Rías highlighted the presence of HEV in mussels cultivated in class B production areas.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Volcanism and climate change as drivers in Holocene depositional dynamic of Laguna del Maule (Andes of central Chile – 36° S)

Late Quaternary volcanic basins are active landscapes from which detailed archives of past climate and seismic and volcanic activity can be obtained. A multidisciplinary study performed on a transect of sediment cores was used to reconstruct the depositional evolution of the high-elevation Laguna del Maule (LdM) (36∘ S, 2180 m a.s.l., Chilean Andes). The recovered 5 m composite sediment sequence includes two thick turbidite units (LT1 and LT2) and numerous tephra layers (23 ash and 6 lapilli). We produced an age model based on nine new 14C AMS dates, existing 210Pb and 137Cs data, and the Quizapú ash horizon (1932 CE). According to this age model, the relatively drier Early Holocene was followed by a phase of increased productivity during the mid-Holocene and higher lake levels after 4.0 ka cal BP. Major hydroclimate transitions occurred at ca. 11, 8.0, 4.0 and 0.5 ka cal BP. Decreased summer insolation and winter precipitation due to a southward shift in the southern westerly winds and a strengthened Pacific Subtropical High could explain Early Holocene lower lake levels. Increased biological productivity during the mid-Holocene (∼8.0 to 6.0 ka cal BP) is coeval with a warm–dry phase described for much of southern South America. Periods of higher lake productivity are synchronous to a higher frequency of volcanic events. During the Late Holocene, the tephra layers show compositional changes suggesting a transition from silica-rich to silica-poor magmas at around 4.0 ka cal BP. This transition was synchronous with increased variability of sedimentary facies and geochemical proxies, indicating higher lake levels and increased moisture at LdM after 4.0 ka cal BP, most likely caused by the inception of current El Niño–Southern Oscillation and Pacific Decadal Oscillation (ENSO–PDO) dynamics in central Chile.Postprin