Plant biostimulants from cyanobacteria: An emerging strategy to improve yields and sustainability in agriculture

Cyanobacteria can be considered a promising source for the development of new biostimulants as they are known to produce a variety of biologically active molecules that can positively affect plant growth, nutrient use efficiency, qualitative traits of the final product, and increase plant tolerance to abiotic stresses. Moreover, the cultivation of cyanobacteria in controlled and confined systems, along with their metabolic plasticity, provides the possibility to improve and standardize composition and effects on plants of derived biostimulant extracts or hydrolysates, which is one of the most critical aspects in the production of commercial biostimulants. Faced with these opportunities, research on biostimulant properties of cyanobacteria has undergone a significant growth in recent years. However, research in this field is still scarce, especially as regards the number of investigated cyanobacterial species. Future research should focus on reducing the costs of cyanobacterial biomass production and plant treatment and on identifying the molecules that mediate the biostimulant effects in order to optimize their content and stability in the final product. Furthermore, the extension of agronomic trials to a wider number of plant species, different application doses, and environmental conditions would allow the development of tailored microbial biostimulants, thus facilitating the diffusion of these products among farmers

Energy balance of algal biomass production in a 1-ha "Green Wall Panel" plant: How to produce algal biomass in a closed reactor achieving a high Net Energy Ratio

The annual productivity of Tetraselmis suecica in a 1-ha Green Wall Panel-II (GWP-II) plant in Tuscany (Italy) is 36 t (dry weight) ha-1 year-1, which corresponds to an energy output of 799 GJ ha-1 year-1. The energy inputs necessary to attain that productivity amount to 1362 GJ ha-1 year-1, mainly given by the embodied energy of the reactor (about 30%), mixing (about 40%), fertilizers (11%) and harvesting (10%). The Net Energy Ratio (NER) of T. suecica production is thus 0.6. In a more suitable location (North Africa) productivity nearly doubles, reaching 66 t ha-1 year-1, but the NER increases only by 40% and the gain (difference between output and inputs) remains negative. In a GWP-II integrated with photovoltaics (PV), the NER becomes 1.7 and the gain surpasses 600 GJ ha-1 year-1. Marine microalgae cultivation in a GWP plant, in a suitable location, can attain high biomass productivities and protein yields 30 times higher than those achievable with traditional crops (soya). When the GWP reactor is integrated with PV, the process attains a positive energy balance, which substantially enhances its sustainability

Risk of congenital anomalies around a municipal solid waste incinerator: a GIS-based case-control study.

BACKGROUND: Waste incineration releases into the environment toxic substances having a teratogenic potential, but little epidemiologic evidence is available on this topic. We aimed at examining the relation between exposure to the emissions from a municipal solid waste incinerator and risk of birth defects in a northern Italy community, using Geographical Information System (GIS) data to estimate exposure and a population-based case-control study design. By modelling the incinerator emissions, we defined in the GIS three areas of increasing exposure according to predicted dioxins concentrations. We mapped the 228 births and induced abortions with diagnosis of congenital anomalies observed during the 1998-2006 period, together with a corresponding series of control births matched for year and hospital of birth/abortion as well as maternal age, using maternal address in the first three months of pregnancy to geocode cases and controls. RESULTS: Among women residing in the areas with medium and high exposure, prevalence of anomalies in the offspring was substantially comparable to that observed in the control population, nor dose-response relations for any of the major categories of birth defects emerged. Furthermore, odds ratio for congenital anomalies did not decrease during a prolonged shut-down period of the plant. CONCLUSION: Overall, these findings do not lend support to the hypothesis that the environmental contamination occurring around an incineration plant such as that examined in this study may induce major teratogenic effects

Tisochrysis lutea F&M-M36 Mitigates Risk Factors of Metabolic Syndrome and Promotes Visceral Fat Browning through β3-Adrenergic Receptor/UCP1 Signaling

Pre-metabolic syndrome (pre-MetS) may represent the best transition phase to start treatments aimed at reducing cardiometabolic risk factors of MetS. In this study, we investigated the effects of the marine microalga Tisochrysis lutea F&M-M36 (T. lutea) on cardiometabolic components of pre-MetS and its underlying mechanisms. Rats were fed a standard (5% fat) or a high-fat diet (20% fat) supplemented or not with 5% of T. lutea or fenofibrate (100 mg/Kg) for 3 months. Like fenofibrate, T. lutea decreased blood triglycerides (p < 0.01) and glucose levels (p < 0.01), increased fecal lipid excretion (p < 0.05) and adiponectin (p < 0.001) without affecting weight gain. Unlike fenofibrate, T. lutea did not increase liver weight and steatosis, reduced renal fat (p < 0.05), diastolic (p < 0.05) and mean arterial pressure (p < 0.05). In visceral adipose tissue (VAT), T. lutea, but not fenofibrate, increased the β3-adrenergic receptor (β3ADR) (p < 0.05) and Uncoupling protein 1 (UCP-1) (p < 0.001) while both induced glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP1R) protein expression (p < 0.001) and decreased interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-1β gene expression (p < 0.05). Pathway analysis on VAT whole-gene expression profiles showed that T. lutea up-regulated energy-metabolism-related genes and down-regulated inflammatory and autophagy pathways. The multitarget activity of T. lutea suggests that this microalga could be useful in mitigating risk factors of MetS