Current advances in the bacterial toolbox for the biotechnological production of monoterpene-based aroma compounds

Monoterpenes are plant secondary metabolites, widely used in industrial processes as precursors of important aroma compounds, such as vanillin and (−)-menthol. However, the physicochemical properties of monoterpenes make difficult their conventional conversion into value-added aromas. Biocatalysis, either by using whole cells or enzymes, may overcome such drawbacks in terms of purity of the final product, ecological and economic constraints of the current catalysis processes or extraction from plant material. In particular, the ability of oxidative enzymes (e.g., oxygenases) to modify the monoterpene backbone, with high regio- and stereo-selectivity, is attractive for the production of “natural” aromas for the flavor and fragrances industries. We review the research efforts carried out in the molecular analysis of bacterial monoterpene catabolic pathways and biochemical characterization of the respective key oxidative enzymes, with particular focus on the most relevant precursors, β-pinene, limonene and β-myrcene. The presented overview of the current state of art demonstrates that the specialized enzymatic repertoires of monoterpene-catabolizing bacteria are expanding the toolbox towards the tailored and sustainable biotechnological production of values-added aroma compounds (e.g., isonovalal, α-terpineol, and carvone isomers) whose implementation must be supported by the current advances in systems biology and metabolic engineering approaches.This work was supported by the project VALEU (PTDC/EAM-AMB/30488/2017); by the strategic program UID/BIA/04050/2019 through the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) I.P.; and by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the COMPETE2020-Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI). The work was also supported by a Ph.D grant (grant number PD/BD/146184/2019) to F.S

Bioprospection of the bacterial β-myrcene-biotransforming trait in the rhizosphere

The biocatalysis of β-myrcene into value-added compounds, with enhanced organoleptic/therapeutic properties, may be performed by resorting to specialized enzymatic machinery of β-myrcene-biotransforming bacteria. Few β-myrcene-biotransforming bacteria have been studied, limiting the diversity of genetic modules/catabolic pathways available for biotechnological research. In our model Pseudomonas sp. strain M1, the β-myrcene catabolic core-code was identified in a 28-kb genomic island (GI). The lack of close homologs of this β-myrcene-associated genetic code prompted a bioprospection of cork oak and eucalyptus rhizospheres, from 4 geographic locations in Portugal, to evaluate the environmental diversity and dissemination of the β-myrcene-biotransforming genetic trait (Myr+). Soil microbiomes were enriched in β-myrcene-supplemented cultures, from which β-myrcene-biotransforming bacteria were isolated, belonging to Alphaproteobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, and Sphingobacteriia classes. From a panel of representative Myr+ isolates that included 7 bacterial genera, the production of β-myrcene derivatives previously reported in strain M1 was detected in Pseudomonas spp., Cupriavidus sp., Sphingobacterium sp., and Variovorax sp. A comparative genomics analysis against the genome of strain M1 found the M1-GI code in 11 new Pseudomonas genomes. Full nucleotide conservation of the β-myrcene core-code was observed throughout a 76-kb locus in strain M1 and all 11 Pseudomonas spp., resembling the structure of an integrative and conjugative element (ICE), despite being isolated from different niches. Furthermore, the characterization of isolates not harboring the Myr+-related 76-kb locus suggested that they may biotransform β-myrcene via alternative catabolic loci, being thereby a novel source of enzymes and biomolecule catalogue for biotechnological exploitation. KEY POINTS: • The isolation of 150 Myr+ bacteria hints the ubiquity of such trait in the rhizosphere. • The Myr+ trait is spread across different bacterial taxonomic classes. • The core-code for the Myr+ trait was detected in a novel ICE, only found in Pseudomonas spp.Open access funding provided by FCT|FCCN (b-on). This work was supported by the project VALEU (PTDC/EAM-AMB/30488/2017), by the strategic program UID/BIA/04050/2013 (POCI-01–0145-FEDER-007569), by the GenomePT project (POCI-01–0145-FEDER-022184), supported by COMPETE 2020—Opera tional Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation (POCI), Lisboa Portugal Regional Operational Programme (Lisboa2020), Algarve Portugal Regional Operational Programme (CRESC Algarve2020), under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, funded by national funds through the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) I.P. and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), through the COMPETE2020-Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI). The work was supported as well through the Ph.D. grants to P.S-C (grant number SFRH/BD/76894/2011) and to F.S. (grant number PD/BD/146184/2019)

Sintomatologia do desalinhamento e desajustamento de sistemas de informação

Dissertação de mestrado em Engenharia e Gestão de Sistemas de InformaçãoNo panorama atual das organizações que compõem a nossa sociedade, as Tecnologias e Sistemas de Informação (TSI) desempenham um papel relevante na manipulação da informação e no suporte às variadíssimas atividades organizacionais. O significado atribuído a essa informação constitui a principal base das ações organizacionais, e sendo um ato tipicamente humano, emergem, assim, as pessoas como parte integrante dessas mesmas ações. A forma de planear, decidir, administrar e de atribuir significado não pode ser somente entendida como um exercício formal dado que se poderá inculcar a visão de que tudo é objetivo e apolítico e que as relações e decisões tomadas nas organizações são baseadas somente na racionalidade. Assim, ajustar os Sistemas de Informação (SI) à mudança requer que sejam tidas em conta essas preocupações organizacionais. Considerando as circunstâncias internas e externas a uma organização que influenciam o processo de ajuste à mudança de SI, é coerente diagnosticar problemas na relação entre os vários eixos que desempenham um papel importante na problemática do alinhamento de SI. Assumindo que o alinhamento de SI é uma condição política que conjuga vários interesses constituintes dos vários atores dos SI, emerge a perspetiva do desalinhamento e consequentemente do desajustamento, cujos focos se associam a uma miríade de "maleitas" organizacionais que tornam as organizações menos preparadas para procurar novas formas de acrescentar valor ao negócio. É necessário ter em conta, portanto, atividades como a correção e verificação de discrepâncias de significação e ação organizacionais entre os vários atores, de forma a melhor compreender o fenómeno do desalinhamento e desajustamento de SI. Com efeito, este trabalho de investigação visa auxiliar as organizações a reduzir o seu grau de desalinhamento e desajustamento de SI. Para tal concebeu-se uma sintomatologia, onde se identificaram, caracterizaram e estruturaram sintomas, se associaram causas e se enunciaram ações terapêuticas, adotando-se para esse efeito a Design Science Research como estratégia de investigação. Como resultado principal foi especificado um modelo de desalinhamento e desajustamento de SI, fundado naquela sintomatologia, de modo a auxiliar as organizações a reduzir o seu grau de desalinhamento e desajustamento de SI.In the current scenario of organizations that compounds our society, Information Systems and Technologies (IST) play an important role in information handling and supporting an extensive range of organizational activities. The meaning attributed to such information is the main base of organization actions, and people emerge as an integral part of these same actions. The way of thinking and assigning meaning cannot be understood only as a formal exercise since it can inculcate the view that everything is objective e apolitical, and that organizational relationships and decisions are base solely on rationality. Thus, adjusting Information Systems (IS) to change requires to be taken into account these organizational concerns. Considering the internal and external circumstances to an organization that influence the process of adjusting IS, it is consistent to diagnose relationships problems between the various axis that play an important role in the problem of Business/IS Alignment. Assuming that Business/IS alignment is a political condition needed to combine several constituent interests of various IS actors, emerges the prospect of Business/IS misalignment and hence the prospect of Business/IS maladjustment whose focuses are associated with a myriad of organizational "ailments" that make organizations less prepared to seek new ways of adding value to business. It is necessary to take into account, therefore, activities such as verification and correction of discrepancies of meaning and action among the various organizational actors in order to better understand Business/IS misalignment and maladjustment phenomenon. Indeed, this research work aims to help organizations to reduce their degree of Business/IS misalignment and maladjustment. For such, was conceived a symptomology, where identified, characterized and structured symptoms that were associated causes and enunciated therapeutic actions, adopting for this purpose, the Design Science Research as a research strategy. As primary outcome was specified a Business/IS misalignment and maladjustment model, founded on that simptomology, in order to help organizations reducing their degree of Business/IS misalignment and maladjustment

Palatability of the Asian clam Corbicula fluminea (Müller 1774) in an invaded system

Biotic interactions such as predation may influence the success of invasive alien species (IAS). Although the Asian clam Corbicula fluminea is recognized as one of the most problematic aquatic IAS, few studies have investigated its use as a food resource. In this study, we aimed to investigate (i) the palatability of C. fluminea under natural (Minho River) and laboratory conditions and (ii) if C. fluminea submitted to different conditions (individuals from Lima and Minho Rivers) vary in palatability. Soft tissues from different Corbicula populations, plus soft tissues from a native clam, tuna and Corbicula shell powder were offered to consumers. Field assays were performed seasonally and laboratory assays only in summer; both assays also tested possible differences during distinct periods of the day. Overall, in natural conditions, the treatments containing C. fluminea had a low palatability. In laboratory assays, higher consumption (almost two times) was observed for Cyprinus carpio and Anguilla anguilla. Also, C. fluminea palatability was different between populations, with the treatment Corbicula Lima being more consumed than Corbicula Minho. Despite the low values of consumption in the field, laboratory results suggest that C. fluminea soft tissues can be a food resource to some species.This study was conducted as part of the project FRESCHO: Multiple implications of invasive species on Freshwater Mussel coextinction processes, supported by FCT (contract: PTDC/AGRFOR/1627/2014). MI is supported by a Post-doc grant (SFRH/BPD/90088/2012) from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology—FCT through POPH/FSE funds. RS also acknowledge the support of the strategic programme UID/BIA/04050/2013 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER007569) funded by national funds through the FCT I.P and by the ERDF through the COMPETE2020—Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI)

Effects of different environmental conditions on the mechanical characteristics of a structural epoxy

With the aim of characterising a commercially available epoxy adhesive used for fibre-reinforced polymers strengthening applications, when submitted to different environmental conditions, mainly thermal (TC), freeze-thaw (FT), and wet-dry (WD) cycles and immersion in pure (PW) and water with chlorides (CW) for periods of exposure that lasted up to 16 months, an experimental program was carried out. Several methodologies were used in its characterization, mainly the scanning electron microscope (SEM), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), standard tensile tests (STT) coupled with digital image correlation (DIC). In general the results revealed that the chemical composition was not affected by the environmental conditions. Nevertheless, it was verified through DMA and STT that the modulus of elasticity and tensile strength of the epoxy adhesive increased in the TC, while the specimens submitted to PW and CW faced a high degradation in terms of its mechanical properties. Eventually, the glass transition temperature (Tg) was not affected by the environmental conditions, apart from the specimens subjected to TC and FT, presenting a higher and lower Tg, respectively, when compared with the reference specimens.This work is supported by FEDER funds through the Operational Program for Competitiveness Factors - COMPETE and National Funds through FCT - Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology under the project FPReDur PTDC/ECM-EST/2424/2012. The first and second authors wishes also to acknowledge the grants SFRH/BD/89768/2012 and SFRH/BD/80338/2011, respectively, provided by FCT

Search for extra dimensions using diphoton events in 7 TeV proton–proton collisions with the ATLAS detector

Using data recorded in 2011 with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider, a search for evidence of extra spatial dimensions has been performed through an analysis of the diphoton final state. The analysis uses data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.12 fb^-1 of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV proton-proton collisions. The diphoton invariant mass spectrum is observed to be in good agreement with the expected Standard Model background. In the large extra dimension scenario of Arkani-Hamed, Dimopoulos and Dvali, the results provide 95% CL lower limits on the fundamental Planck scale between 2.27 and 3.53 TeV, depending on the number of extra dimensions and the theoretical formalism used. The results also set 95% CL lower limits on the lightest Randall-Sundrum graviton mass of between 0.79 and 1.85 TeV, for values of the dimensionless coupling k/\bar{M}_{Pl} varying from 0.01 to 0.1. Combining with previously published ATLAS results from the dielectron and dimuon final states, the 95% CL lower limit on the Randall-Sundrum graviton mass for k/\bar{M}_{Pl} = 0.01 (0.1) is 0.80 (1.95) TeV.Peer Reviewe

Search for events with large missing transverse momentum, jets, and at least two tau leptons in 7 TeV proton–proton collision data with the ATLAS detector

A search for events with large missing transverse momentum, jets, and at least two tau leptons has been performed using 2 fb^-1 of proton-proton collision data at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. No excess above the Standard Model background expectation is observed and a 95% CL visible cross section upper limit for new phenomena is set. A 95% CL lower limit of 32 TeV is set on the GMSB breaking scale Lambda independent of tan(beta). These limits provide the most stringent tests to date in a large part of the considered parameter space.Peer Reviewe

Measurement of D∗+/−D^{*+/-} meson production in jets from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper reports a measurement of D*+/- meson production in jets from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The measurement is based on a data sample recorded with the ATLAS detector with an integrated luminosity of 0.30 pb^-1 for jets with transverse momentum between 25 and 70 GeV in the pseudorapidity range |eta| D0pi+, D0 -> K-pi+, and its charge conjugate. The production rate is found to be N(D*+/-)/N(jet) = 0.025 +/- 0.001(stat.) +/- 0.004(syst.) for D*+/- mesons that carry a fraction z of the jet momentum in the range 0.3 < z < 1. Monte Carlo predictions fail to describe the data at small values of z, and this is most marked at low jet transverse momentum.Peer Reviewe

Searches for supersymmetry with the ATLAS detector using final states with two leptons and missing transverse momentum in s=7\sqrt{s}=7 TeV proton-proton collisions

Results of three searches are presented for the production of supersymmetric particles decaying into final states with missing transverse momentum and exactly two isolated leptons, e or mu. The analysis uses a data sample collected during the first half of 2011 that corresponds to a total integrated luminosity of 1 fb^-1 of sqrt{s} = 7 TeV proton-proton collisions recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Opposite-sign and same-sign dilepton events are separately studied, with no deviations from the Standard Model expectation observed. Additionally, in opposite- sign events, a search is made for an excess of same-flavour over different-flavour lepton pairs. Effective production cross sections in excess of 9.9 fb for opposite-sign events containing supersymmetric particles with missing transverse momentum greater than 250 GeV are excluded at 95% CL. For same-sign events containing supersymmetric particles with missing transverse momentum greater than 100 GeV, effective production cross sections in excess of 14.8 fb are excluded at 95% CL. The latter limit is interpreted in a simplified weak gaugino production model excluding chargino masses up to 200 GeV.Peer Reviewe

Search for pair production of a heavy up-type quark decaying to a W boson and a b quark in the lepton+jets channel with the ATLAS detector

A search is presented for production of a heavy up-type quark (t') together with its antiparticle, assuming subsequent decay to a W boson and a b quark, t't'bar -> W+b W-bbar. The search is based on 1.04 fb^-1 of proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV collected by the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. Data are analyzed in the lepton+jets final state, characterized by a high transverse momentum isolated electron or muon, high missing transverse momentum and at least three jets. No significant excess of events above the background expectation is observed. A 95% C.L. lower limit is set at m(t') > 404 GeV.Peer Reviewe