Evolutionary history of versatile-lipases from Agaricales through reconstruction of ancestral structures

8 p.-3 fig.-1 tab.[Background] Fungal “Versatile carboxylic ester hydrolases” are enzymes with great biotechnological interest. Here we carried out a bioinformatic screening to find these proteins in genomes from Agaricales, by means of searchingfor conserved motifs, sequence and phylogenetic analysis, and three-dimensional modeling. Moreover, wereconstructed the molecular evolution of these enzymes along the time by inferring and analyzing the sequence of ancestral intermediate forms.[Results] The properties of the ancestral candidates are discussed on the basis of their three-dimensional structural models, the hydrophobicity of the lid, and the substrate binding intramolecular tunnel, revealing all of them featured properties of these enzymes. The evolutionary history of the putative lipases revealed an increase on the length and hydrophobicity of the lid region, as well as in the size of the substrate binding pocket, during evolution time. These facts suggest the enzymes’ specialization towards certain substrates and their subsequent loss of promiscuity.[Conclusions] These results bring to light the presence of different pools of lipases in fungi with different habitats and life styles. Despite the consistency of the data gathered from reconstruction of ancestral sequences, the heterologous expression of some of these candidates would be essential to corroborate enzymes’ activities.This work was supported by the Spanish projects BIO2015-73697-JIN-AEI/FEDER/UE, BIO2015-68387-R and RTC-2014-1777-3 from MEICOMP and S2013/MAE-2972 from Comunidad de Madrid. We acknowledge support of the publication fee by the CSIC Open Access Publication Support Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI).Peer reviewe

Evaluación de la expresión de colina-quinasa como factor pronóstico en el carcinoma no microcítico de pulmón

Tesis doctoral inédita leída en la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Facultad de Medicina. Fecha de lectura: 17-Mayo-200

Potential Accumulative Effect of the Herbicide Glyphosate on Glyphosate-Tolerant Maize Rhizobacterial Communities over a Three-Year Cultivation Period

BACKGROUND: Glyphosate is a herbicide that is liable to be used in the extensive cultivation of glyphosate-tolerant cultivars. The potential accumulation of the relative effect of glyphosate on the rhizobacterial communities of glyphosate-tolerant maize has been monitored over a period of three years. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The composition of rhizobacterial communities is known to vary with soil texture, hence, the analyses have been performed in two agricultural fields with a different soil texture. The accumulative effects of glyphosate have been monitored by means of high throughput DNA pyrosequencing of the bacterial DNA coding for the 16S rRNA hypervariable V6 region from rhizobacterial communities. The relative composition of the rhizobacterial communities does vary in each field over the three-year period. The overall distribution of the bacterial phyla seems to change from one year to the next similarly in the untreated and glyphosate-treated soils in both fields. The two methods used to estimate bacterial diversity offered consistent results and are equally suitable for diversity assessment. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The glyphosate treatment during the three-year period of seasonal cultivation in two different fields did not seem to significantly change the maize rhizobacterial communities when compared to those of the untreated soil. This may be particularly relevant with respect to a potential authorisation to cultivate glyphosate-tolerant maize in the European Union

Watershed Monitoring in Galicia from UAV Multispectral Imagery Using Advanced Texture Methods

Watershed management is the study of the relevant characteristics of a watershed aimed at the use and sustainable management of forests, land, and water. Watersheds can be threatened by deforestation, uncontrolled logging, changes in farming systems, overgrazing, road and track construction, pollution, and invasion of exotic plants. This article describes a procedure to automatically monitor the river basins of Galicia, Spain, using five-band multispectral images taken by an unmanned aerial vehicle and several image processing algorithms. The objective is to determine the state of the vegetation, especially the identification of areas occupied by invasive species, as well as the detection of man-made structures that occupy the river basin using multispectral images. Since the territory to be studied occupies extensive areas and the resulting images are large, techniques and algorithms have been selected for fast execution and efficient use of computational resources. These techniques include superpixel segmentation and the use of advanced texture methods. For each one of the stages of the method (segmentation, texture codebook generation, feature extraction, and classification), different algorithms have been evaluated in terms of speed and accuracy for the identification of vegetation and natural and artificial structures in the Galician riversides. The experimental results show that the proposed approach can achieve this goal with speed and precisionThis work was supported in part by the Civil Program UAVs Initiative, promoted by the Xunta de Galicia and developed in partnership with the Babcock company to promote the use of unmanned technologies in civil services. We also have to acknowledge the support by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Government of Spain (grant number PID2019-104834GB-I00), and Consellería de Educación, Universidade e Formación Profesional (grant number ED431C 2018/19, and accreditation 2019–2022 ED431G-2019/04). All are co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)S

Identification and characterization of laccase-type multicopper oxidases involved in dye-decolorization by the fungus Leptosphaerulina sp.

13 p.-4 fig.-4 tab.[Background] Fungal laccases are multicopper oxidases (MCOs) with high biotechnological potential due to their capability to oxidize a wide range of aromatic contaminants using oxygen from the air. Albeit the numerous laccase-like genes described in ascomycete fungi, ascomycete laccases have been less thoroughly studied than white-rot basidiomycetous laccases. A variety of MCO genes has recently been discovered in plant pathogenic ascomycete fungi, however little is known about the presence and function of laccases in these fungi or their potential use as biocatalysts. We aim here to identify the laccase-type oxidoreductases that might be involved in the decolorization of dyes by Leptosphaerulina sp. and to characterize them as potential biotechnological tools.[Results] A Leptosphaerulina fungal strain, isolated from lignocellulosic material in Colombia, produces laccase as the main ligninolytic oxidoreductase activity during decolorization of synthetic organic dyes. Four laccase-type MCO genes were partially amplified from the genomic DNA using degenerate primers based on laccase-specific signature sequences. The phylogenetic analysis showed the clustering of Lac1, Lac4 and Lac3 with ascomycete laccases, whereas Lac2 grouped with fungal ferroxidases (together with other hypothetical laccases). Lac3, the main laccase produced by Leptosphaerulina sp. in dye decolorizing and laccase-induced cultures (according to the shotgun analysis of both secretomes) was purified and characterized in this study. It is a sensu-stricto laccase able to decolorize synthetic organic dyes with high efficiency particularly in the presence of natural mediator compounds.[Conclusions] The searching for laccase-type MCOs in ascomycetous families where their presence is poorly known, might provide a source of biocatalysts with potential biotechnological interest and shed light on their role in the fungus. The information provided by the use of genomic and proteomic tools must be combined with the biochemical evaluation of the enzyme to prove its catalytic activity and applicability potential.This research was supported by the Program for Interuniversity Cooperation and Scientific Reasearch (PCI) from the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Development (AECID), Project AP/033932/11, and the Spanish Project NOESIS BIO2014-56388-R.Peer reviewe

Phylogenetic and metabolic diversity of Tunisian forest wood-degrading fungi: a wealth of novelties and opportunities for biotechnology

16 p.-2 fig.-5 tab.In this study, 51 fungal strains were isolated from decaying wood samples collected from forests located in the Northwest of Tunisia in the vicinity of Bousalem, Ain Draham and Kef. Phylogenetic analysis based on the sequences of the internal transcribed spacers of the ribosomal DNA showed a high diversity among the 51 fungal isolates collection. Representatives of 25 genera and 29 species were identified, most of which were members of one of the following phyla (Ascomycota, Basidiomycota and Zygomycota). In addition to the phylogenetic diversity, a high diversity of secreted enzyme profiles was also detected among the fungal isolates. All fungal strains produced at least one of the following enzymes: laccase, cellulase, protease and/or lipase.This project received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under Grant Agreement No. 245268 (to L.B.). This study was also supported by the SwissBOL project, financed by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (Grant holder L.B.), the Swiss State Secretariat for Education and Research (L.B. Grant Reference: SER No. C09.0139), and the European Union for the COST action FP0801 ‘‘Established and Emerging Phytophthora: Increasing Threats to Woodland and Forest Ecosystems in Europe’’.Peer reviewe

Monitoring and analysis of vital signs of a patient through a multi-agent application system

In the medical environment, the clinical study of the most basic vital signs of a patient represents the simplest and most effective way to detect and monitor health problems. There are many diseases that can be diagnosed and controlled through regular monitoring of these medical data. The purpose of this study is to develop a monitoring and tracking system for the various vital signs of a patient. In particular, this work focuses on the design of a multi-agent architecture composed of virtual organizations with capabilities to integrate different medical sensors on an open, low-cost hardware platform. This system integrates hardware and software elements needed for the routine measurement of vital signs, performed by the patient or caregiver without having to go to a medical center

Wireless controller and smartphone based interaction system for electric bicycles

[EN]Throughout the last years, great improvements have been made in the automotive industry, a sector with a high impact in both economics and social environments. Many development efforts have targeted on satisfying the need of providing smart environments to the end user in vehicles, such as cars. This paper proposes a brand-new solution in the automotive field, consisting of a new product family which aims to transform the traditional bicycle to an electric bicycle using an architecture that provides an adaptive environment to the user, improving the driving experience enabling value-added services