Biodiversity of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi in South America: A Review

Identification of species is crucial in understanding how diversity changes affect ecosystemic processes. Particularly, soil microbial are key factors of ecosystemic functioning .Among soil microbes, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF, phylum Glomeromycota) are worldwide distributed and form symbiotic associations with almost 80% of the vascular plants of the earth, except for one species, Geosiphon pyriformis, which associates with the cyanobacteria Nostoc. AMF comprise around 300 morphologically defined or 350–1000 molecularly defined taxa. Since AMF associate with aboveground community, their occurrence and composition can influence ecosystemic processes either through affecting plant community composition and thus its processes rates, or soil microbial communities, which are directly involved in nutrient cycling. Soil microorganisms are considered a potentially suitable target for studying regional and local effects on diversity. The symbiosis with AMF not only increases nutrient uptake by the plant of mainly phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) in exchange for plant-assimilated carbon (C), but also improves the tolerance of plants to various biotic and abiotic stresses such as pathogens, salinity, and drought

Proteometabolomic Analysis Reveals Molecular Features Associated with Grain Size and Antioxidant Properties amongst Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) Seeds Genotypes

Legumes are an essential source of nutrients that complement energy and protein requirements in the human diet. They also contribute to the intake of bioactive compounds such as polyphenols, whose content can vary depending on cultivars and genotypes. We conducted a comparative proteomics and metabolomics study to determine if there were significant variations in relevant nutraceutical compounds in the five genotypes of Kabuli-type chickpea grains. We performed an isobaric tandem mass tag (TMT) couple to synchronous precursor selection (SPS)-MS3 method along with a targeted and untargeted metabolomics approach based on accurate mass spectrometry. We observed an association between the overproduction of proteins involved in starch, lipid, and amino acid metabolism with gibberellin accumulation in large grains. In contrast, we visualized the over-accumulation of proteins associated with water deprivation in small grains. It was possible to visualize in small grains the over-accumulation of some phenolics such as vanillin, salicylic acid, protocatechuic acid, 4-coumaric acid, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, vanillic acid, ferulic acid, and kaempferol 3-O-glucoside as well as the amino acid l-phenylalanine. The activated phenolic pathway was associated with the higher antioxidant capacity of small grains. Small grains consumption could be advantageous due to their nutraceutical properties

Risk perception and level of knowledge of diseases transmitted by Aedes aegypti

ABSTRACT Diseases caused by viruses such as dengue, chikungunya and zika are mosquito-borne diseases transmitted by Aedes aegypti. We performed a cross-sectional study of healthcare personnel and the general population using questionnaires to identify the level of knowledge, attitudes and practices, and risk perception for dengue, chikungunya and zika. A total of 248 questionnaires were applied, 63.3% to healthcare personnel and 36.7% to the general population. Of the healthcare personnel, 53% were men, and in the general population 74% were women. Nahuatl and Spanish were spoken by both, healthcare personnel (28%) and the general population (23%). The level of knowledge, attitudes and practices and risk perception of the population and personnel showed significant differences (p<0.05). Among healthcare personnel, nurses and vector operating staff had the lowest level of knowledge. On the other hand, the questions with the lowest scores were 1) symptoms of Zika in both groups, 2) circulating dengue serotypes in healthcare personnel and 3) symptoms of chikungunya in the general population. The results of this work allow us to identify information gaps in which knowledge, attitudes and practices, and risk perception need to be increased