Tissue culture of ornamental cacti

Cacti species are plants that are well adapted to growing in arid and semiarid regions where the main problem is water availability. Cacti have developed a series of adaptations to cope with water scarcity, such as reduced leaf surface via morphological modifications including spines, cereous cuticles, extended root systems and stem tissue modifications to increase water storage, and crassulacean acid metabolism to reduce transpiration and water loss. Furthermore, seeds of these plants very often exhibit dormancy, a phenomenon that helps to prevent germination when the availability of water is reduced. In general, cactus species exhibit a low growth rate that makes their rapid propagation difficult. Cacti are much appreciated as ornamental plants due to their great variety and diversity of forms and their beautiful short-life flowers; however, due to difficulties in propagating them rapidly to meet market demand, they are very often over-collected in their natural habitats, which leads to numerous species being threatened, endangered or becoming extinct. Therefore, plant tissue culture techniques may facilitate their propagation over a shorter time period than conventional techniques used for commercial purposes; or may help to recover populations of endangered or threatened species for their re-introduction in the wild; or may also be of value to the preservation and conservation of the genetic resources of this important family. Herein we present the state-of-the-art of tissue culture techniques used for ornamental cacti and selected suggestions for solving a number of the problems faced by members of the Cactaceae family

Enzymatic activity of three wild mushrooms

Wild mushrooms are an important cultural patrimony, used since time immemorial as food and medicines according to traditional ecological knowledge. Chemical and biological characteristics of the wild mushrooms are of interest because they are a natural source of great importance for the production of compounds with potential biotechnological applications. Currently are potential producers of metabolites of biotechnological interest, including enzymes, many of which are of great importance in the food industry. In this study the intracellular and extracellular activity of six hydrolases and laccases produced by three wild mushrooms (Lentinula boryana, Pleurotus djamor var. roseus and Pycnoporus sp.) were determined. All strains were grown on potato-dextrose agar and wheat straw-dextrose agar

Enzymatic activity of three wild mushrooms

Wild mushrooms are an important cultural patrimony, used since time immemorial as food and medicines according to traditional ecological knowledge. Chemical and biological characteristics of the wild mushrooms are of interest because they are a natural source of great importance for the production of compounds with potential biotechnological applications. Currently are potential producers of metabolites of biotechnological interest, including enzymes, many of which are of great importance in the food industry. In this study the intracellular and extracellular activity of six hydrolases and laccases produced by three wild mushrooms (Lentinula boryana, Pleurotus djamor var. roseus and Pycnoporus sp.) were determined. All strains were grown on potato-dextrose agar and wheat straw-dextrose agar

Buen vivir y organizaciones sociales mexicanas. Miradas de la diversidad.

El presente trabajo integra seis experiencias de las organizaciones que integran la Red Socioacadémica de Organizaciones por el Buen Vivir (economías solidarias, soberanía alimentaria, defensa del territorio). En esta compilación podemos encontrar el origen, su desarrollo, los proyectos estratégicos que impulsan, las formas de organización con que se dotan y los retos actuales a que se enfrentan la Alianza Ciudadana para el Desarrollo Regional Alternativo del sur de Jalisco; la Unión Regional de Acción Campesina: Cosechando Juntos lo Sembrado con sede en el estado de Querétaro; el Movimiento Popular de Pueblos y Colonias del Sur con sede en Tlalpan, Ciudad de México; la Unión de Cooperativas de San Ildefonso del municipio de Amealco, Querétaro; la Unión de Cooperativas Tosepan, con presencia en numerosos municipios de la sierra nororiental de Puebla y Yomol A´tel, organización regional con sede en Chilón y en diversos municipios de las cañadas de Chiapas