Yeasts associated with the production of distilled alcoholic beverages

Distilled alcoholic beverages are produced firstly by fermenting sugars emanating from cereal starches (in the case of whiskies), sucrose-rich plants (in the case of rums), fructooligosaccharide-rich plants (in the case of tequila) or from fruits (in the case of brandies). Traditionally, such fermentations were conducted in a spontaneous fashion, relying on indigenous microbiota, including wild yeasts. In modern practices, selected strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae are employed to produce high levels of ethanol together with numerous secondary metabolites (eg. higher alcohols, esters, carbonyls etc.) which greatly influence the final flavour and aroma characteristics of spirits following distillation of the fermented wash. Therefore, distillers, like winemakers, must carefully choose their yeast strain which will be very important in providing the alcohol content and the sensory profiles of spirit beverages. This Chapter discusses yeast and fermentation aspects associated with the production of selected distilled spirits and highlights similarities and differences with the production of wine

Clonal chromosomal mosaicism and loss of chromosome Y in elderly men increase vulnerability for SARS-CoV-2

The pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19) had an estimated overall case fatality ratio of 1.38% (pre-vaccination), being 53% higher in males and increasing exponentially with age. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, we found 133 cases (1.42%) with detectable clonal mosaicism for chromosome alterations (mCA) and 226 males (5.08%) with acquired loss of chromosome Y (LOY). Individuals with clonal mosaic events (mCA and/or LOY) showed a 54% increase in the risk of COVID-19 lethality. LOY is associated with transcriptomic biomarkers of immune dysfunction, pro-coagulation activity and cardiovascular risk. Interferon-induced genes involved in the initial immune response to SARS-CoV-2 are also down-regulated in LOY. Thus, mCA and LOY underlie at least part of the sex-biased severity and mortality of COVID-19 in aging patients. Given its potential therapeutic and prognostic relevance, evaluation of clonal mosaicism should be implemented as biomarker of COVID-19 severity in elderly people. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, individuals with clonal mosaic events (clonal mosaicism for chromosome alterations and/or loss of chromosome Y) showed an increased risk of COVID-19 lethality

In Vivo Rate of Formaldehyde Condensation with Tetrahydrofolate

Formaldehyde is a highly reactive compound that participates in multiple spontaneous reactions, but these are mostly deleterious and damage cellular components. In contrast, the spontaneous condensation of formaldehyde with tetrahydrofolate (THF) has been proposed to contribute to the assimilation of this intermediate during growth on C1 carbon sources such as methanol. However, the in vivo rate of this condensation reaction is unknown and its possible contribution to growth remains elusive. Here, we used microbial platforms to assess the rate of this condensation in the cellular environment. We constructed Escherichia coli strains lacking the enzymes that naturally produce 5,10-methylene-THF. These strains were able to grow on minimal medium only when equipped with a sarcosine (N-methyl-glycine) oxidation pathway that sustained a high cellular concentration of formaldehyde, which spontaneously reacts with THF to produce 5,10-methylene-THF. We used flux balance analysis to derive the rate of the spontaneous condensation from the observed growth rate. According to this, we calculated that a microorganism obtaining its entire biomass via the spontaneous condensation of formaldehyde with THF would have a doubling time of more than three weeks. Hence, this spontaneous reaction is unlikely to serve as an effective route for formaldehyde assimilation

Características de planta, suelo y productividad entre sorgo fertilizado e inoculado con micorriza arbuscula

Inoculation with mycorrhizal fungi is an alternative to improve the biological balance of the soil and reduce the use of inorganic fertilizer (IF). For five consecutive years (2002-2006), some characteristics of soil and plant sorghum grown with mycorrhizal fungi inoculation Rhizofagus intraradices (RI) and fertilized with 60-2000 control (FI) were determined. Grain yield was similar between treatments during the five years, although the inoculated RI exceeded 17.7 % ($216.00 ha-1) benefit-cost relative to the FI relationship. Chlorophyll content, plant height, biomass, pH, organic matter, electrical conductivity, P and K showed no statistical significance between both treatments. The soil N with FI exceeded 6. 7 mg kg-1 soil inoculation with RI. In contrast, root biomass, the number of spores of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in soil and soil CO2 emission increased with mycorrhizae. The impact of R. intraradices showed higher profitability of sorghum production (savings of$ 926.00 ha-1) and biological activity in the soil.La inoculación con hongos formadores de micorrizas es una alternativa para mejorar el balance biológico del suelo y reducir el uso de fertilización inorgánica (FI). Durante cinco años consecutivos (2002-2006), se determinaron algunas características de suelo y planta en sorgo cultivado con inoculación del hongo micorrízico Rhizofagus intraradices (RI) y testigo fertilizado con 60-20-00 (FI). El rendimiento de grano fue similar entre tratamientos durante los cinco años, aunque el inoculado con RI superó en 17.7% ($216.00 ha-1) la relación beneficio-costo con relación a FI. El contenido de clorofila, altura de planta, biomasa pH, materia orgánica, conductividad eléctrica, P y K no presentaron significancia estadística entre los dos tratamientos. El N del suelo en FI superó con 6.7 mg kg-1 al suelo con inoculación de RI. Por el contrario, la biomasa radical, el número de esporas de hongos micorrízicos arbusculares en el suelo y la emisión de CO2 del suelo se incrementaron con la micorrización. El impacto de R. intraradices manifestó mayores rentabilidad de la producción de sorgo (ahorro de$ 926.00ha-1) y actividad biológica en el suelo

An Inventory Model in a Three-Echelon Supply Chain for Growing Items with Imperfect Quality, Mortality, and Shortages under Carbon Emissions When the Demand Is Price Sensitive

This research develops an optimization model for growing items in a supply chain with three stages: farmer, processor, and retailer while considering imperfect quality, mortality, shortages with full backordering, and carbon emissions. In the farmer stage, during the growing period, not all articles survive until the end of the period, so a density function of the probability of survival and death of the growing articles is taken into account. Moreover, it is considered imperfect quality in the retailer’s stage because as the supply chain goes down, there exists a greater probability of product defects. Here, the end customer (consumer) can detect poor-quality aspects such as poorly cut, poorly packed, expired products, etc. An inventory model that maximizes the expected total profit is formulated for a single type of growing items with price-dependent polynomial demand. An algorithm is developed to solve the optimization problem generating the optimal solution for order quantity, backordering quantity, selling price, and the number of shipments that maximizes the expected total profit per unit of time, and a numerical example is used to describe the applicability of the proposed inventory model. Finally, a sensitivity analysis has been carried out for all the input parameters of the inventory model, where the effect of each of the parameters on the decision variables is shown to extract some management knowledge. It was found that holding costs in the three stages of the supply chain have a substantial impact on the total profit per unit of time. In addition, as the demand scale parameter increases, the company must raise the selling price, which directly impacts the expected total profit per unit of time. This inventory model has the advantage that it can be applied to any growing item, including animals or plants, so it helps the owners of farms or crops to generate the most significant possible profit with their existing resources

Evidence for folate salvage reactions in plants

none10siFolates in vivo undergo oxidative cleavage, giving pterin and p-aminobenzoylglutamate (pABAGlu) moieties. These breakdown products are excreted in animals, but their fate is unclear in microorganisms and unknown in plants. As indirect evidence from this and previous studies strongly suggests that plants can have high folate-breakdown rates (approximately 10% per day), salvage of the cleavage products seems likely. Four sets of observations support this possibility. First, cleavage products do not normally accumulate: pools of pABAGlu (including its polyglutamyl forms) are equivalent to, at most, 4-14% of typical total folate pools in Arabidopsis thaliana, Lycopersicon esculentum and Pisum sativum tissues. Pools of the pterin oxidation end-product pterin-6-carboxylate are, likewise, fairly small (3-37%) relative to total folate pools. Second, little pABAGlu built up in A. thaliana plantlets when net folate breakdown was induced by blocking folate synthesis with sulfanilamide. Third, A. thaliana and L. esculentum tissues readily converted supplied breakdown products to folate synthesis precursors: pABAGlu was hydrolysed to p-aminobenzoate and glutamate, and dihydropterin-6-aldehyde was reduced to 6-hydroxymethyldihydropterin. Fourth, both these reactions were detected in vitro; the reduction used NADPH as cofactor. An alternative salvage route for pABAGlu, direct reincorporation into dihydrofolate via the action of dihydropteroate synthase, appears implausible from the properties of this enzyme. We conclude that plants are excellent organisms in which to explore the biochemistry of folate salvage.openOrsomando G; Bozzo GG; de la Garza RD; Basset GJ; Quinlivan EP; Naponelli V; Rébeillé F; Ravanel S; Gregory JF 3rd; Hanson ADOrsomando, Giuseppe; Bozzo, Gg; de la Garza, Rd; Basset, Gj; Quinlivan, Ep; Naponelli, V; Rébeillé, F; Ravanel, S; Gregory JF, 3rd; Hanson, A

Chemical Profile and Safety Assessment of a Food-Grade Acetogenin-Enriched Antimicrobial Extract from Avocado Seed.

Acetogenins are bioactive fatty acid derivatives found in avocado tissues. Their efficacy as antimicrobials has been documented and initiated interest to use them as replacements of synthetic food additives. The present work focused on evaluation of multiple analytical methodologies for detection and quantification of organic solids present in a food-grade acetogenin-enriched extract (Avosafe®), and on its safety evaluations using bacterial reverse mutation (AMES) tests and acute oral toxicity to rat assays. Results confirmed chemical structures of two acetogenins as present in Avosafe® (AcO-avocadyne-(0) and AcO-avocadiene B-(3)), and together with seven other previously known compounds, quantified 94.74 ± 5.77% w/w of its solids as acetogenins. Safety evaluations indicated that Avosafe® was non-mutagenic and had an acute median lethal oral dose (LD50) to rats higher than the maximum concentration tested (>2000 mg·kg-1), with no signs of macroscopic abnormalities in organs. Mean body weight and hematological and biochemical parameters were normal after 14 days of a single oral dose of 2000 mg·kg-1. The results advance scientific information on the safety of avocado seed acetogenins and also generate new knowledge on profiles and concentrations of individual acetogenins found in avocado tissues (seed, pulp, and leaves) and in Avosafe®

Chemical Profile and Safety Assessment of a Food-Grade Acetogenin-Enriched Antimicrobial Extract from Avocado Seed

Acetogenins are bioactive fatty acid derivatives found in avocado tissues. Their efficacy as antimicrobials has been documented and initiated interest to use them as replacements of synthetic food additives. The present work focused on evaluation of multiple analytical methodologies for detection and quantification of organic solids present in a food-grade acetogenin-enriched extract (Avosafe®), and on its safety evaluations using bacterial reverse mutation (AMES) tests and acute oral toxicity to rat assays. Results confirmed chemical structures of two acetogenins as present in Avosafe® (AcO-avocadyne-(0) and AcO-avocadiene B-(3)), and together with seven other previously known compounds, quantified 94.74 ± 5.77% w/w of its solids as acetogenins. Safety evaluations indicated that Avosafe® was non-mutagenic and had an acute median lethal oral dose (LD50) to rats higher than the maximum concentration tested (>2000 mg·kg−1), with no signs of macroscopic abnormalities in organs. Mean body weight and hematological and biochemical parameters were normal after 14 days of a single oral dose of 2000 mg·kg−1. The results advance scientific information on the safety of avocado seed acetogenins and also generate new knowledge on profiles and concentrations of individual acetogenins found in avocado tissues (seed, pulp, and leaves) and in Avosafe®

Improving folate (vitamin B-9) stability in biofortified rice through metabolic engineering

Biofortification of staple crops could help to alleviate micronutrient deficiencies in humans. We show that folates in stored rice grains are unstable, which reduces the potential benefits of folate biofortification. We obtain folate concentrations that are up to 150 fold higher than those of wild-type rice by complexing folate to folate-binding proteins to improve folate stability, thereby enabling long-term storage of biofortified high-folate rice grains