Time For Chocolate: Current Understanding And New Perspectives On Cacao Witches' Broom Disease Research

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Theobroma cacao is a tropical understory tree that is one of the most important perennial crops in agriculture. Treasured by ancient civilizations in Mesoamerica for over 3,000 years, the cocoa bean now supports a multibillion-dollar industry that is involved in the production and commercialization of chocolate, a treat appreciated worldwide. The cacao tree is originally from the Amazon rainforest and is currently grown in more than 50 countries throughout the humid tropics, serving as a major source of income for over 40 million people. Each year, more than 3 million tons of cocoa beans are produced, mostly by smallholder farmers in areas of high biodiversity. Notably, the cacao tree does not require direct sunlight and naturally grows under the canopy of other, taller trees. This characteristic often encourages farmers to preserve existing forests and to plant additional trees to shelter their cacao plants [1], thereby reducing the environmental impacts of cacao cultivation. Despite its great importance, the cacao tree is affected by a number of untreatable diseases that reduce fruit production and threaten our global supply of cacao. Among them, witches' broom disease (WBD) stands out as one of the most severe problems that affect this crop, accounting for production losses of up to 90%.1110Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)FAPESP [09/50119-9]CNPq [475535/2013-8

Processo De Fermentacao Com Uso Demicroorganismos Floculantes Condicionais

Processo de fermentação com uso de micro-organismos floculantes condicionais, o qual compreende a geração e utilização de linhagens floculantes condicionais de micro-organismos, que partem de uma linhagem selvagem não floculante, na qual é então introduzido um gene de floculação com o seu promotor modificado, sendo que essa modificação do promotor visa tornar a expressão do gene de floculação reprimida à presença de um substrato especifico.BR0001122 (B1); BR0001122 (A)C12N15/81C12P7/06C12P7/06C12N15/81BR20000001122C12N15/81C12P7/06C12P7/06C12N15/8

Positive selection evidence in xylose-related genes suggests methylglyoxal reductase as a target for the improvement of yeasts' fermentation in industry

Xylose assimilation and fermentation are important traits for second generation ethanol production. However, some genomic features associated with this pentose sugar's metabolism remain unknown in yeasts. Comparative genomics studies have led to important insights in this field, but we are still far from completely understanding endogenous yeasts' xylose metabolism. In this work, we carried out a deep evolutionary analysis suited for comparative genomics of xylose-consuming yeasts, searching for of positive selection on genes associated with glucose and xylose metabolism in the xylose-fermenters' clade. Our investigation detected positive selection fingerprints at this clade not only among sequences of important genes for xylose metabolism, such as xylose reductase and xylitol dehydrogenase, but also in genes expected to undergo neutral evolution, such as the glycolytic gene phosphoglycerate mutase. In addition, we present expansion, positive selection marks, and convergence as evidence supporting the hypothesis that natural selection is shaping the evolution of the little studied methylglyoxal reductases. We propose a metabolic model suggesting that selected codons among these proteins caused a putative change in cofactor preference from NADPH to NADH that alleviates cellular redox imbalance. These findings provide a wider look into pentose metabolism of yeasts and add this previously overlooked piece into the intricate puzzle of oxidative imbalance. Although being extensively discussed in evolutionary works the awareness of selection patterns is recent in biotechnology researches, rendering insights to surpass the reached status quo in many of its subareas11719231938COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR - CAPESFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESPnão tem2013/08293-7; 2015/05578-6; 2017/07008-8; 2017/08519-

Transcriptome Analysis Of Leaves, Flowers And Fruits Perisperm Of Coffea Arabica L. Reveals The Differential Expression Of Genes Involved In Raffinose Biosynthesis

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coffea arabica L. is an important crop in several developing countries. Despite its economic importance, minimal transcriptome data are available for fruit tissues, especially during fruit development where several compounds related to coffee quality are produced. To understand the molecular aspects related to coffee fruit and grain development, we report a large-scale transcriptome analysis of leaf, flower and perisperm fruit tissue development. Illumina sequencing yielded 41,881,572 high-quality filtered reads. De novo assembly generated 65,364 unigenes with an average length of 1,264 bp. A total of 24,548 unigenes were annotated as protein coding genes, including 12,560 full-length sequences. In the annotation process, we identified nine candidate genes related to the biosynthesis of raffinose family oligossacarides (RFOs). These sugars confer osmoprotection and are accumulated during initial fruit development. Four genes from this pathway had their transcriptional pattern validated by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Furthermore, we identified similar to 24,000 putative target sites for microRNAs (miRNAs) and 134 putative transcriptionally active transposable elements (TE) sequences in our dataset. This C. arabica transcriptomic atlas provides an important step for identifying candidate genes related to several coffee metabolic pathways, especially those related to fruit chemical composition and therefore beverage quality. Our results are the starting point for enhancing our knowledge about the coffee genes that are transcribed during the flowering and initial fruit development stages.121Brazilian Coffee Research Consortium, National Institute for Coffee Science and Technology (INCT-Cafe)Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)National Council of Technological and Scientific Development (CNPq)Brazilian Innovation Agency (FINEP)Center for Computational Engineering and Sciences at Unicamp/SP-BrazilCAPESFundacao Araucaria (FA)CNPqCoordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq

Unraveling The Genetic Basis Of Xylose Consumption In Engineered Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Strains

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)The development of biocatalysts capable of fermenting xylose, a five-carbon sugar abundant in lignocellulosic biomass, is a key step to achieve a viable production of second-generation ethanol. In this work, a robust industrial strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was modified by the addition of essential genes for pentose metabolism. Subsequently, taken through cycles of adaptive evolution with selection for optimal xylose utilization, strains could efficiently convert xylose to ethanol with a yield of about 0.46 g ethanol/g xylose. Though evolved independently, two strains carried shared mutations: amplification of the xylose isomerase gene and inactivation of ISU1, a gene encoding a scaffold protein involved in the assembly of iron-sulfur clusters. In addition, one of evolved strains carried a mutation in SSK2, a member of MAPKKK signaling pathway. In validation experiments, mutating ISU1 or SSK2 improved the ability to metabolize xylose of yeast cells without adaptive evolution, suggesting that these genes are key players in a regulatory network for xylose fermentation. Furthermore, addition of iron ion to the growth media improved xylose fermentation even by non-evolved cells. Our results provide promising new targets for metabolic engineering of C5-yeasts and point to iron as a potential new additive for improvement of second-generation ethanol production.6BNDESFINEPBrazil's CAPESNational Institute of General Medical Sciences of the USA National Institutes of Health (NIGMS-NIH) [R35GM119788]Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES

ComposiÇÃo Para ModificaÇÃo QuÍmica Da Madeira De Eucaliptos, MÉtodo De AplicaÇÃo E Seus Usos

COMPOSIÇÃO PARA MODIFICAÇÃO QUÍMICA DA MADEIRA DE EUCALIPTOS, MÉTODO DE APLICAÇÃO E SEUS USOS. A forma de alteração da química da madeira de eucalipto descrita na presente invenção permite que se obtenham indivíduos modificados sem a necessidade de transgenia e adequados para utilização na indústria papeleira e para geração de energia. Nela é descrita uma composição formada por narigenin e narigenin-chalcona para modificação química da madeira de eucaliptos, bem como seu método de aplicação e usos que permitem que a madeira de eucaliptos seja modificada de forma que se altere a sua lignificação. Desse modo, a madeira passa a apresentar menor teor de lignina em relação aos monômeros Syringil e Guayacil, sem, entretanto, alterar a quantidade total de lignina do eucalipto, fazendo com que o indivíduo cuja madeira se alterou permaneça inviável, já que a quantidade de lignina é fator determinante para o crescimento adequado de eucaliptos.BR102012026981 (A2)C07D311/32A01N43/16A01P21/00BR20121026981C07D311/32A01N43/16A01P21/0

Aa9 And Aa10: From Enigmatic To Essential Enzymes

The lignocellulosic biomass, comprised mainly of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, is a strong competitor for petroleum to obtain fuels and other products because of its renewable nature, low cost, and non-competitiveness with food production when obtained from agricultural waste. Due to its recalcitrance, lignocellulosic material requires an arsenal of enzymes for its deconstruction and the consequent release of fermentable sugars. In this context, enzymes currently classified as auxiliary activity 9 (AA9/formerly GH61) and 10 (AA10/formerly CBM 33) or lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMO) have emerged as cellulase boosting enzymes. AA9 and AA10 are the new paradigm for deconstruction of lignocellulosic biomass by enhancing the activity and decreasing the loading of classical enzymes to the reaction and, consequently, reducing costs of the hydrolysis step in the second-generation ethanol production chain. In view of that disclosed above, the goal of this work is to review experimental data that supports the relevance of AA9 and AA10 for the biomass deconstruction field.100191

AA9 and AA10: from enigmatic to essential enzymes

The lignocellulosic biomass, comprised mainly of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, is a strong competitor for petroleum to obtain fuels and other products because of its renewable nature, low cost, and non-competitiveness with food production when obtained from agricultural waste. Due to its recalcitrance, lignocellulosic material requires an arsenal of enzymes for its deconstruction and the consequent release of fermentable sugars. In this context, enzymes currently classified as auxiliary activity 9 (AA9/formerly GH61) and 10 (AA10/formerly CBM 33) or lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMO) have emerged as cellulase boosting enzymes. AA9 and AA10 are the new paradigm for deconstruction of lignocellulosic biomass by enhancing the activity and decreasing the loading of classical enzymes to the reaction and, consequently, reducing costs of the hydrolysis step in the second-generation ethanol production chain. In view of that disclosed above, the goal of this work is to review experimental data that supports the relevance of AA9 and AA10 for the biomass deconstruction field1001916sem informaçã

Genomic Analyses And Expression Evaluation Of Thaumatin-like Gene Family In The Cacao Fungal Pathogen Moniliophthora Perniciosa

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Thaumatin-like proteins (TLPs) are found in diverse eukaryotes. Plant TLPs, known as Pathogenicity Related Protein (PR-5), are considered fungal inhibitors. However, genes encoding TLPs are frequently found in fungal genomes. In this work, we have identified that Moniliophthora perniciosa, a basidiomycete pathogen that causes the Witches' Broom Disease (WBD) of cacao, presents thirteen putative TLPs from which four are expressed during WBD progression. One of them is similar to small TLPs, which are present in phytopathogenic basidiomycete, such as wheat stem rust fungus Puccinia graminis. Fungi genomes annotation and phylogenetic data revealed a larger number of TLPs in basidiomycetes when comparing with ascomycetes, suggesting that these proteins could be involved in specific traits of mushroom-forming species. Based on the present data, we discuss the contribution of TLPs in the combat against fungal competitors and hypothesize a role of these proteins in M. perniciosa pathogenicity. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.4664629636Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)FAPESP [2009/50810-3, 2010/52636-8, 2009/50119-9

Composição Herbicida Seletiva Para DicotiledÈnea, E Método De Aplicação Da Referida Composição

COMPOSIÇÃO HERBICIDA SELETIVA PARA DICOTILEDÔNEA, E MÉTODO DE APLICAÇÃO DA REFERIDA COMPOSIÇÃO. Herbicidas são produtos utilizados na agricultura para o controle de ervas classificadas como daninhas. Os mais utilizados pela indústria agrícola são os herbicidas químicos, porém, diversos problemas decorrentes da utilização desse tipo de herbicida precisam ser evitados ou minimizados, dentre eles a contaminação ambiental e a toxicidade a animais. Assim, os herbicidas químicos vêm sendo substituidos pelos herbicidas naturais, os quais compreendem em sua formulação substâncias biologicamente ativas. A presente invenção refere-se á composição herbicida que compreende proteínas com ação sinérgíca Cerato-Platanínas (CP), obtida do fungo Moniliophthora perniciosa, patõgeno que causa a doença Vassoura-de-Bruxa no cacaueiro (Theobroma cacau) e das indutoras de necrose e etileno (NEP) e referido uso para ação seletiva para plantas dicotiledôneas.BRPI0911418 (A2)A01N63/04A01P13/00C07K14/37C07K14/375BR2009PI11418A01N63/04A01P13/00C07K14/37C07K14/37