Maracujá-amarelo (Passiflora edulis f. Flavicarpa): cinética da secagem artificial e natural da casca / Yellow passion fruit (Passiflora edulis f. Flavicarpa): kinetics of artificial and natural drying of the peel

O Brasil é o maior produtor mundial de maracujá. A polpa é a parte do fruto que é normalmente consumida, enquanto que cascas e sementes são considerados resíduos do seu processamento, não sendo devidamente aproveitados pelas indústrias. O objetivo do trabalho foi avaliar o efeito da temperatura na desidratação artificial e natural da casca do maracujá-amarelo. Os ensaios de secagem artificial foram realizados em secador nas temperaturas de 30, 40, 50, 60 e 70 ºC durante 6 h. Na secagem natural as cascas foram colocadas em bandejas de aço inoxidável, cobertas com telas de náilon sendo expostas ao sol (25 a 38ºC) durante 375 h. O teor de água inicial das cascas do maracujá (aproximadamente 64,2% b.u.), sendo reduzido para 61,2; 58,9; 35,5; 7 e 30,7% b.u. nas temperaturas de secagem, respectivamente. O uso de 60 oC proporcionou a maior perda de umidade, de vitamina C e um aumento da acidez titulável e do teor de sólidos solúveis. Os modelos de Structural Transition 2 (R2 = 0,9934); Structural Transition 2 (R2 = 0,98498); Wang Sing (R2 = 0,9078); Two Term (R2 = 0,9961) e Structural Transition 3 (R2 = 0,9907) descreveram melhor os processos artificiais nas temperaturas de 30 a 70 oC. O teor de água inicial (63,2%) nas amostras submetidas à secagem natural diminuiu entre 75 e 97% nas primeiras 96 h de secagem atingindo valores próximos a 2% após 250 h. A secagem natural permitiu uma maior perda de umidade em baixas temperaturas (30 a 40 ° C) do que no processo artificial (4,8 e 8,3%). O uso de condições naturais poderiam reduzir os custos do processo e ser um método de secagem mais favorável para a agricultura familiar.  

The complete genome sequence of Chromobacterium violaceum reveals remarkable and exploitable bacterial adaptability

Chromobacterium violaceum is one of millions of species of free-living microorganisms that populate the soil and water in the extant areas of tropical biodiversity around the world. Its complete genome sequence reveals (i) extensive alternative pathways for energy generation, (ii) ≈500 ORFs for transport-related proteins, (iii) complex and extensive systems for stress adaptation and motility, and (iv) wide-spread utilization of quorum sensing for control of inducible systems, all of which underpin the versatility and adaptability of the organism. The genome also contains extensive but incomplete arrays of ORFs coding for proteins associated with mammalian pathogenicity, possibly involved in the occasional but often fatal cases of human C. violaceum infection. There is, in addition, a series of previously unknown but important enzymes and secondary metabolites including paraquat-inducible proteins, drug and heavy-metal-resistance proteins, multiple chitinases, and proteins for the detoxification of xenobiotics that may have biotechnological applications

Trajetórias da Educomunicação nas Políticas Públicas e a Formação de seus Profissionais

Esta obra é composta com os trabalhos apresentados no primeiro subtema, TRAJETÓRIA – Educação para a Comunicação como Política pública, nas perspectivas da Educomunicação e da Mídia-Educação, do II Congresso Internacional de Comunicação e Educação. Os artigos pretendem propiciar trocas de informações e produzir reflexões com os leitores sobre os caminhos percorridos, e ainda a percorrer, tendo como meta a expansão e a legitimação das práticas educomunicativas e/ou mídia-educativas como política pública para o atendimento à formação de crianças, adolescentes, jovens e adultos, no Brasil e no mundo

Construction and characterization of a bovine herpesvirus 5 mutant with a deletion of the GI, GE and US9 genes

Bovine herpesvirus 5 (BoHV-5) is a important cause of viral encephalitis in cattle in South America. Within the framework of developing a differential vaccine against BoHV-5, a deletion mutant was constructed based on a Brazilian BoHV-5 isolate. The target of the deletions were genes that code proteins implicated in the neurovirulence of BoHV-5, the glycoprotein I (gI), glycoprotein E (gE) and membrane protein US9. To construct the deletion mutant of BoHV-5, the flanking regions of all three genes were cloned in a prokaryotic plasmid. This deletion fragment was co-transfected with the viral DNA into bovine cells. Identification of deletion mutants was performed by immunostaining with an anti-gE monoclonal antibody. One of the gE negative viral populations found was purified, amplified and further examined by restriction endonuclesase analysis of its genomic DNA. The plaque sizes and penetration kinetics of the deletion mutant and wild type viruses were compared. The plaque sizes of the deletion mutant were significantly smaller than those of the parental strain (p ≤ 0.05), but no statistical differences were observed in penetration kinetics. The results indicate that the gI/ gE/US9 deletion mutant of BoHV-5 may have a reduced virulence in the host and is still viable enough to be a good candidate for the development of a BoHV-5 vaccine

Construction and characterization of a bovine herpesvirus 5 mutant with a deletion of the GI, GE and US9 genes

Bovine herpesvirus 5 (BoHV-5) is a important cause of viral encephalitis in cattle in South America. Within the framework of developing a differential vaccine against BoHV-5, a deletion mutant was constructed based on a Brazilian BoHV-5 isolate. The target of the deletions were genes that code proteins implicated in the neurovirulence of BoHV-5, the glycoprotein I (gI), glycoprotein E (gE) and membrane protein US9. To construct the deletion mutant of BoHV-5, the flanking regions of all three genes were cloned in a prokaryotic plasmid. This deletion fragment was co-transfected with the viral DNA into bovine cells. Identification of deletion mutants was performed by immunostaining with an anti-gE monoclonal antibody. One of the gE negative viral populations found was purified, amplified and further examined by restriction endonuclesase analysis of its genomic DNA. The plaque sizes and penetration kinetics of the deletion mutant and wild type viruses were compared. The plaque sizes of the deletion mutant were significantly smaller than those of the parental strain (p ≤ 0.05), but no statistical differences were observed in penetration kinetics. The results indicate that the gI/ gE/US9 deletion mutant of BoHV-5 may have a reduced virulence in the host and is still viable enough to be a good candidate for the development of a BoHV-5 vaccine

PLoS ONE

p. 1-15Background: Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis, a Gram-positive, facultative intracellular pathogen, is the etiologic agent of the disease known as caseous lymphadenitis (CL). CL mainly affects small ruminants, such as goats and sheep; it also causes infections in humans, though rarely. This species is distributed worldwide, but it has the most serious economic impact in Oceania, Africa and South America. Although C. pseudotuberculosis causes major health and productivity problems for livestock, little is known about the molecular basis of its pathogenicity. Methodology and Findings: We characterized two C. pseudotuberculosis genomes (Cp1002, isolated from goats; and CpC231, isolated from sheep). Analysis of the predicted genomes showed high similarity in genomic architecture, gene content and genetic order. When C. pseudotuberculosis was compared with other Corynebacterium species, it became evident that this pathogenic species has lost numerous genes, resulting in one of the smallest genomes in the genus. Other differences that could be part of the adaptation to pathogenicity include a lower GC content, of about 52%, and a reduced gene repertoire. The C. pseudotuberculosis genome also includes seven putative pathogenicity islands, which contain several classical virulence factors, including genes for fimbrial subunits, adhesion factors, iron uptake and secreted toxins. Additionally, all of the virulence factors in the islands have characteristics that indicate horizontal transfer. Conclusions: These particular genome characteristics of C. pseudotuberculosis, as well as its acquired virulence factors in pathogenicity islands, provide evidence of its lifestyle and of the pathogenicity pathways used by this pathogen in the infection process. All genomes cited in this study are available in the NCBI Genbank database (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ genbank/) under accession numbers CP001809 and CP001829