Empleabilidad de los primeros egresados y egresadas del máster de Biotecnología Sanitaria de la UPO

Motivación: Una vez terminada la primera edición del máster de Biotecnología Sanitaria, quisimos evaluar la empleabilidad de los estudiantes recién egresados.Métodos: Para ello, se preparó una ficha con varias preguntas muy concretas en torno a la actual actividad profesional de los estudiantes y su posible relación con la realización del máster. Las fichas fueron rellenadas por todos los estudiante y posteriormente se analizaron los resultados de forma cuantitativa, pero también se revisaron las respuestas personales de cada estudiante.Resultados: El resultado final destaca un alto nivel de empleabilidad entre los estudiantes de la primera promoción del máster.Conclusiones: Este resultado creemos que está especialmente ligado al 2º curso del máster, en el que los estudiantes suelen realizar su trabajo fin de máster en una empresa o laboratorio de investigación

Opening the interregional trade "Black Box": The c-intereg database for the Spanish economy (1995-2005)

Recent literature on border effect has demonstrated that national trade (intra- as well as interregional trade) tends to be more intense than international trade. Unfortunately, owing to the dearth of information on interregional economic relations, this important aspect of the economy has remained relatively ignored. In this article, the authors have described the methodology and main results of the largest estimation of Spanish interregional trade (1995–2005) carried out as a part of the C-Intereg project. The results obtained highlight the importance of the internal trade and the validity of the gravity model. Although the estimation focuses on the Spanish economy, the methodology can easily be applied to other European Union (EU) countries. In the upcoming years, this innovative database will be further developed in all its dimensions (space, time, and sectors) to serve as a promising framework for the application of different techniques such as spatial interaction models or interregional input–output approaches

Optimization and modeling of two-phase olive-oil washing wastewater integral treatment and phenolic compounds recovery by novel weak-base ion exchange resins

In light of the Circular Economy concept, recently emerged as a need for sustainable production, olive oil industry should be concerned to transform the whole process into environmentally friendly, which necessarily implies the treatment of the wastewater by-produced in olive mills. In this work, concentration and recovery of high-added value phenolic compounds from two-phase olive-oil washing wastewater (OOWW) and parallel effluent treatment by a ‘green process’ based on novel weak-base ion exchange (IE) resins was addressed. The key operating input factors of the resin process for the treatment and valorization of OOWW were studied, optimized and further modelled. A Box-Behnken design was implemented and the obtained data were analyzed by ANOVA and interpreted by RSM methodology. The process was ulteriorly modelled by a second-grade quadratic fitting equation comprising the significant operating variables. The optimization of the IE process performance (20.3 °C, pH0 6.7 and 114 g/L Mresin) ensured up to 92.5% recovery of total phenols concentration. Moreover, the purified stream presented good quality (56.6–83.7 mg L−1 total phenols), following standard recommendations by the FAO. The obtained information would be of key importance for the scale-up of the proposed IE operation. Both the treatment and revalorization of OOWW would help implement a definite sustainable production process of olive-oil.Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness is acknowledged for having funded the project CTM2014-61105-JIN ‘Design and development of an integral process for revalorization and treatment of the effluents from olive oil industry’, as well as the University of Granada

Implementación y puesta a punto de un algoritmo de búsqueda automatizada de secuencias homólogas

Motivación: El término “homología” hace referencia al origen evolutivo común entre dos proteínas que han divergido, presentando características comunes a nivel de secuencia y estructura (Fitch, 1970). Generalmente, la búsqueda de proteínas homólogas a una proteína de interés se realiza de forma manual, mediante el uso del algoritmo PSI-BLAST, ya sea en un ordenador propio o en un portal web como el del NCBI (http://blast.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Blast.cgi). La búsqueda de homólogos de forma manual es tediosa y requiere de mucho tiempo y conocimientos básicos de bioinformática. Una alternativa para la búsqueda de homólogos es el uso de algoritmos de acceso abierto disponibles en la web. Adicionalmente, existen muchas bases de datos que recogen conjuntos de proteínas homólogas previamente formados. El problema principal, tanto de los algoritmos como de las bases de datos es su dificultad de uso, ya que por lo general ninguno de estos recursos está destinado ni preparado para investigadores de laboratorio. Resultados: Se ha desarrollado una herramienta escrita en lenguaje de programación Perl para la búsqueda automatizada de proteínas homólogas a una secuencia inicial de interés. El funcionamiento del algoritmo se ha probado con distintos conjuntos de secuencias, a partir de cuyos resultados se han optimizado los parámetros que rigen su funcionamiento. El algoritmo desarrollado es eficiente (sensible, específico y rápido), exhaustivo a la hora de buscar secuencias homólogas y admite el uso de bases de datos del propio usuario. La modificación de los parámetros por defecto permite que el usuario pueda primar un mejor dato de sensibilidad en detrimento del valor de especificidad, o viceversa. Adicionalmente, se ha diseñado una aplicación web de libre acceso para cualquier usuario (http://www.bioinfocabd.upo.es/cgi-bin/orthoFinder/ortholog2.cgi) para el uso del algoritmo. Sólo es necesario subir un archivo con la secuencia de interés para iniciar la ejecución básica del programa, usando los parámetros óptimos por defecto. La simplicidad de la interfaz facilita la ejecución del algoritmo por parte del usuario. Los resultados de una búsqueda están disponibles generalmente en menos de dos minutos, y quedan allí almacenados durante una semana para posibles consultas recurrentes. La facilidad de uso del programa por medio de la aplicación web, así como el método de presentación de los resultados, permiten generar una interfaz de uso del programa por y para distintos tipos de usuarios

Mejora de la seguridad y la vida útil de alimentos de origen vegetal mediante métodos biológicos

Los alimentos de origen vegetal están a menudo implicados en la aparición de brotes de intoxicaciones alimentarias. El control biológico de los microorganismos patógenos o alterantes en alimentos vegetales no deja de ser una herramienta interesante, como lo demuestra la intensidad de los estudios realizados en este campo sobre los agentes antimicrobianos producidos por microorganismos, en especial los conocidos como bacteriocinas, así como los antimicrobianos naturales presentes en las plantas y sus aceites esenciales. Los bacteriófagos son una herramienta muy interesante para la inactivación de patógenos en alimentos, como lo demuestra el reciente desarrollo de preparados comerciales. Los antimicrobianos naturales funcionan mejor cuando se emplean como parte de la tecnología de obstáculos o barreras, pudiendo establecer efectos sinérgicos con otros agentes antimicrobianos o con tratamientos físico químicos.Vegetable foods are often involved in outbreaks of foodborne illnesses. Biological control of human pathogenic and food spoiling bacteria in vegetable foods still remains a viable approach, as shown by the numerous studies published in recent years on antimicrobial substances from microorganismos, especially the so-called bacteriocins, as well as on plant-derived natural antimicrobial compounds and essential oils. Bacteriophages are also a relevant tool for inactivation of foodborne pathogens, as shown by recent development of commercial phage preparations. The efficacy of natural antimicrobials can be improved considerably if they are used as part of hurdle technology, since they can act synergistically with other antimicrobials or with physico-chemical treatments

Resistencia a antimicrobianos en enterococos aislados de alimentos de origen animal, pescado y mariscos

La incidencia de resistencias a agentes antimicrobianos en alimentos es una preocupación de la que ya se ha hecho eco la Autoridad Europea de Seguridad Alimentaria (EFSA). Dado que los enterococos están presentes con gran frecuencia en alimentos y son considerados como un reservorio de elementos genéticos transmisibles implicados en la diseminación de resistencias, hemos estudiado la incidencia de resistencia a diferentes antimicrobianos en una colección de cepas procedentes de queso, carne, pescado, y marisco. Los resultados obtenidos indican una elevada incidencia de resistencias a antimicrobianos en cepas de enterococos procedentes de queso y carne, siendo también frecuente la presencia de cepas multirresistentes. Por el contrario, las cepas de enterococos procedentes de pescado y marisco presentan una frecuencia menor de resistencia a antimicrobianos

Optimization of polymeric nanofiltration performance for olive-oil-washing wastewater phenols recovery and reclamation

The core of the present work was to model and optimize an environmentally friendly nanofiltration (NF) treatment process for two-phase olive-oil-washing wastewater (OOWW) valorization throughout the concentration and recovery of its phenolic fraction and the obtention of a purified permeate stream. For this objective, a factorial design was used for the optimization of the process. Results were interpreted by means of the response surface methodology. A statistical multifactorial analysis was performed in order to quantify all the potential complex conjugated effects of the input parameters in the NF process. The process was subsequently modelled by means of a second-grade quadratic fitting model equation. Finally, the parametric quality standards that permit to reuse the purified stream for irrigation, recycling or even discharge in-site reuse purposes were checked. To the author's knowledge, no previous work on the optimization and statistical modelling of membrane processes for OOWW purification and valorization can be found up to the present. The optimized parameters for the proposed OOWW purification process – operating pressure of 26.5 bar, tangential velocity 32.7 m s−1, system temperature 35 °C and pH of 3.7 – ensured high and stable membrane flux (106.2 L h−1 m−2). The obtained optimized data are very relevant for the feasible scale-up of the proposed process in the mills, since the NF membrane (TFC polyamide/polysulfone, MWCO 300 Da) was highly efficient at ambient temperature conditions and raw effluent pH. The optimized conditions provided a permeate stream that could be reused for irrigation purposes and a retantate stream concentrated in volume up to 6.5 times, with a total phenolic content of minimum 1315.7 mg/L.Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness is acknowledged for having funded the project CTM2014-61105-JIN ‘Design and development of an integral process for revalorization and treatment of the effluents from olive oil industry’, as well as the University of Granada

Src function in a unicellular relative of metazoans

Motivación: Tyrosine kinases play important roles in different cell signaling cascades in metazoans (1). The non-receptor Src family has been found to be involved in the regulation of cell-cell interaction, cell adhesion and migration (2). For this reason, its malfunctioning is implicated in diseases, such as cancer. Tyrosine kinases were thought to be specific to Metazoa, but recent comparative genomic analyses showed that they are also present in some of the closest unicellular relatives of metazoans (3). The role played by these kinases in these unicellular organisms remains unknown. The goal of this project is to decipher the function of Src in unicellular organisms.Métodos: The src gene was predicted in the genome of Creolimax fragrantissima. The gene was cloned from cDNA by PCR. A dominant negative (DN) version of the gene was designed introducing an amino acid change in the two conserved Tyr that are important for the regulation of the protein, blocking the downstream cascade (4). Both the wild-type version  and DN were cloned in a vector under the beta-tubulin promoter (b-tub) with constitutive expression, and fused to the mCherry fluorescent marker. Transformation was done by electroporation using the Neon® transfection system by Invitrogen (1μg each vector). The experiment consisted on transforming C. fragrantissima with either the normal Src or the DN  constructs plus b-tub::venus and b-tub::H2B-mCherry as controls for the transformation. Negative control had the two lasts constructs but none of the src constructs. The cells were examined using a Nikon fluorescence microscope, and time-lapse was performed when needed.Resultados: We know that the constitutive expression of src affects cell-cell interaction in cell culture experiments. C.fragrantissima has a colonial stage during its cell cycle that “explodes” giving rise to free-living amoebas (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Gvrg1I8jBA). We assume that cell-cell interaction may have some relevance during this stage. For this reason we expected to see a resulting phenotype either during the colony formation or during its development. The preliminary results showed some different phenotypes although they are not significant enough. Experiments on transformation and time-lapse need to be repeated, in order to be sure that differences are found between the overexpressed and the DN src transformants, in the colonies or amoebas

Improvement of nutritional properties of Cassva (Manihot esculenta) through massive analysis of gene expression

Motivation: Currently, the cassava is the basis of food for more than 1 billion people in the world. In this instance, the modification of the nutritional composition of plant foods is an urgent matter, since the basic nutritional needs of the world population are not yet covered. The identification of the transcription factors that regulate oil biosynthesis could give tools to re-direct sucrose to oil in the root of tuberculous cultures. In cassava, most of the research that has been done has focused on the tuber, with little study of the seeds and their characteristics.In Cassava the factors that direct the flow of carbon towards the different reserve tissues and determine the final composition of the tissue in the plant are not known. The proposed research line aims to deepen the knowledge of the fatty acid biosynthesis in cassava and increase the oil content of the roots. Fundamental knowledge to be able to reach the final objective of increasing the oil content. In addition to improving its nutritional value, while the amount of nutrients that contribute to the body.Methods: There are two lines of research. The computer methods are based on searching for genes involved in the biosynthesis pathway of lipid substrates through databases such as Uniref and UniProt. After a series of genes obtained from other trials, we compared their presence in the Manihot Esculenta genome and verified their function. With homologous genes, we can expand the number of candidate genes.The laboratory methods aim to develop the method of genetic transformation of cassava (Ima M Zainuddin et al., Plant Methods 2012, 8:24) in combination with Agrobacterium. From a horizontal cuttings and an in vitro culture of their apical buds, we get a mother plant from which we can obtain somatic embryos and create new seedlings to be able to transform with differentResults: The following results were obtained after a first search for genes obtained from a compilation base don papers previously made in other related organisms. From that list of candidates genes, there are genes that cease to be candidates because they are not found in Manihot esculenta, these being susy, ATP-PFK and FBAGenes that continue as candidates, for being in the genome of cassava, being PK,GPT2 and PPT1. And for the latter, new genes can be obtained, such as APE2 with identifier 16G010700.1 in JGI Phytozome. It is a translocator of triose-phosphate located in the chloroplast.Conclusions: There is a vision of the future in this line of research to be able to start from a new and broader list of genes involved in the synthesis routes of sucrose and oil that are susceptible to modification.There is still a lot to study to reach the goal, but positive results will come out