Humibacter albus gen. nov., sp. nov., isolated from sewage sludge compost

A bacterial strain isolated from sewage sludge compost, strain SC-083T, was characterized. The isolate was a motile, Gram-positive, short rod, forming coryneform V-shaped cells during the early stages of growth. The organism was strictly aerobic and able to grow between 22 and 36 °C and between pH 5.5 and 8.0. The predominant fatty acids were cyclohexyl-C17 : 0, anteiso-C17 : 0 and iso-C16 : 0, the major respiratory quinones were menaquinone 11 (MK-11) and 12 (MK-12), and the genomic DNA G+C content was 68 mol%. The peptidoglycan contained the diagnostic diamino acids ornithine and 2,4-diaminobutyric acid and was of acetyl type. The 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that this isolate belongs to the family Microbacteriaceae with the type strains of the species Leifsonia xyli (96 % gene sequence similarity), Leifsonia shinshuensis (96 %), Leifsonia naganoensis (95 %), Leifsonia aquatica (95 %), Agromyces ramosus (95 %) and Curtobacterium citreum (95 %) among the closest phylogenetic neighbours. The phylogenetic analysis and phenetic characteristics support the proposal of a new genus and a novel species, with the name Humibacter albus gen. nov., sp. nov. The type strain of Humibacter albus is SC-083T (=DSM 18994T =CCUG 54538T =LMG 23996T

A case study of molinate application in a Portuguese rice field: herbicide dissipation and proposal of a clean-up methodology

This study was designed to monitor molinate losses in surface and underground waters during Ordram application in a rice field situated in central Portugal. Water samples were collected from different sites, before, during and about one month and a half after Ordram application. Molinate quantification was based on a solid-phase microextraction (SPME) method followed by gas chromatography with flame photometric detector (GC–FPD) analysis, and led to the conclusion that the herbicide was dissipated in the environment, reaching levels as high as 3.9 lg l⁻¹ in underground water and 15.8 lg l⁻¹ in the river receiving tail waters. The feasibility of the application of treatment methodologies based on adsorption or biodegradation as processes to remove molinate from real-world waters was assessed. These methods seem suitable to reduce molinate concentrations to values in the range of the legally recommended limits (<0.5 lg l⁻¹)

Abordagem da nutrição em manuais escolares: um estudo longitudinal

No âmbito do Projeto Europeu “BIOHEAD-CITIZEN”, desenvolveu-se em 19 países Europeus, Africanos e do Médio Oriente uma grelha de análise para o estudo de manuais dos ensinos básico e secundário, acerca de Educação para a Saúde. Neste estudo procedeu-se à análise histórica de manuais portugueses. Verificamos que é dado progressivamente mais ênfase ao tópico nutrição nos manuais analisados, o que poderá estar relacionado com uma progressiva alteração nos hábitos alimentares dos Portugueses.undação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - CIEC unidade de investigação 31

X-metabolomics : a software tool for dynamic mass spectroscopy automated signal processing

One of the major challenges of today's biotechnology is to be able to obtain the maximum of metabolic information for the holistic interpretation of biological systems. Herein we present a new computational application for gas-chromatography mass spectroscopy automated signal processing, named 'X-Metabolomics', that shows to be a potential framework for dynamic systems as fermentation processes interpretation by compounds and pathways identification and quantification and moreover for new metabolites discovery. Our GC-MS signal processing pipeline is implemented into an X-window interface using Tcl/Tk interface and based on R statistical programming environment for comprehensive statistical computing of results and access to 'Bioconductor' bioinformatics platform under Unix, Linux and MacOS. This approach focuses on the robustness of peak extraction algorithms for further identification, quantification and biological interpretation by multivariate analysis, evolving the following steps: i) peaks extraction; ii) supervised filtering; iii) identification of candidate fragments and removal of possible contaminants; iv) compounds identification/quantification; v) compounds expression and co-expression in time-course; and vi) sample classification and biological interpretation by multivariate analysis. 'X-Metabolomics' can be an useful tool in different fields such as pharmacology, genetics, living cells systems, promising to be innovative and very helpful for new drug discovery and new advances in dynamic systems understanding

A novel pathway for mineralization of the thiocarbamate herbicide molinate by a defined bacterial mixed culture

A bacterial mixed culture able to mineralize molinate as established, through enrichment, using mineral medium with molinate as the only carbon, nitrogen and energy source. The combination of five cultivable isolates, purified from the enrichment culture, permitted the reconstitution of a degrading consortium. Both enrichment and defined cultures were able to mineralize molinate without accumulation of degradation products by the end of the growth. Among the five isolates constituting the defined mixed culture, an actinomycete, strain ON4, was essential for biodegradation, being involved in the cleavage of the thioester bond of molinate, the initial step of the degradation pathway. Isolate ON4 was able to grow on molinate at concentrations below 2 mM, with the accumulation of ethanethiol and diethyl disulphide. These sulphur compounds were toxic to strain ON4 when accumulating at higher concentrations. However, this inhibitory effect was avoided by the presence of other members of the mixed culture, out of which isolates ON1 and ON2 were observed to consume ethanethiol and diethyl disulphide. In this way, interactions among defined mixed culture members involve metabolic and detoxifying associatio

Optimization process of polyester polymer mortars modified with recycled GFRP waste aggregates – application of factorial experiment design-

Glass fibre-reinforced plastics (GFRP), nowadays commonly used in the construction, transportation and automobile sectors, have been considered inherently difficult to recycle due to both: cross-linked nature of thermoset resins, which cannot be remolded, and complex composition of the composite itself, which includes glass fibres, matrix and different types of inorganic fillers. Presently, most of the GFRP waste is landfilled leading to negative environmental impacts and supplementary added costs. With an increasing awareness of environmental matters and the subsequent desire to save resources, recycling would convert an expensive waste disposal into a profitable reusable material. There are several methods to recycle GFR thermostable materials: (a) incineration, with partial energy recovery due to the heat generated during organic part combustion; (b) thermal and/or chemical recycling, such as solvolysis, pyrolisis and similar thermal decomposition processes, with glass fibre recovering; and (c) mechanical recycling or size reduction, in which the material is subjected to a milling process in order to obtain a specific grain size that makes the material suitable as reinforcement in new formulations. This last method has important advantages over the previous ones: there is no atmospheric pollution by gas emission, a much simpler equipment is required as compared with ovens necessary for thermal recycling processes, and does not require the use of chemical solvents with subsequent environmental impacts. In this study the effect of incorporation of recycled GFRP waste materials, obtained by means of milling processes, on mechanical behavior of polyester polymer mortars was assessed. For this purpose, different contents of recycled GFRP waste materials, with distinct size gradings, were incorporated into polyester polymer mortars as sand aggregates and filler replacements. The effect of GFRP waste treatment with silane coupling agent was also assessed. Design of experiments and data treatment were accomplish by means of factorial design and analysis of variance ANOVA. The use of factorial experiment design, instead of the one factor at-a-time method is efficient at allowing the evaluation of the effects and possible interactions of the different material factors involved. Experimental results were promising toward the recyclability of GFRP waste materials as polymer mortar aggregates, without significant loss of mechanical properties with regard to non-modified polymer mortars

High-throughput plant phenotyping: a role for metabolomics?

High-throughput (HTP) plant phenotyping approaches are developing rapidly and are already helping to bridge the genotype–phenotype gap. However, technologies should be developed beyond current physico-spectral evaluations to extend our analytical capacities to the subcellular level. Metabolites define and determine many key physiological and agronomic features in plants and an ability to integrate a metabolomics approach within current HTP phenotyping platforms has huge potential for added value. While key challenges remain on several fronts, novel technological innovations are upcoming yet under-exploited in a phenotyping context. In this review, we present an overview of the state of the art and how current limitations might be overcome to enable full integration of metabolomics approaches into a generic phenotyping pipeline in the near future.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Effect of the application of oenological products on fumonisin B2 (FB2) reduction/removal in contaminated red and white wines

ICFC 2017 - International Conference on Food Contaminants (Book of Abstracts)Fumonisins are mycotoxins produced by species of Fusarium, mainly F. verticillioides and F. proliferatum. Fumonisins have hepatotoxic and nephrotoxic effects in various animals and are also associated to human esophageal cancer [1] thus being classified by the IARC in Group 2 [2]. Chemically, fumonisins are characterized by a 19- or 20-carbon aminopolyhydroxyalkyl chain that is diesterified with propane-1,2,3-tricarboxylic acid groups [3]. Sharing a basic structure, several related groups of fumonisins have been isolated and identified (A, B, C and P). Fumonisins B (FBs) are the major forms found in most food products. Recently they were detected in grapes, musts and wines around the world. It was established an association between Aspergillus niger and the presence of FB2 in grape must and wine. WHO has recommended a maximum tolerable daily intake of 2 mg/kg of body weight to FB1, FB2 and FB3, alone or in combination [4], therefore it is important to prevent and control its occurrence, as well other mycotoxins, in wines [5]. The main objective of this work was to evaluate the ability of different oenological products on FB2 removal of white and red wines. For this purpose, ten commercial oenological fining agents (mineral, synthetic and organic - proteins of animal and vegetable origin) were studied to remove FB2 in white and red wines artificially contaminated with FB2. In addition to the FB2 removal, the effect of these products on wine physicochemical characteristics, namely, flavonoids, non-flavonoids and total phenolic compounds were evaluated. In red wine all products showed low reduction on FB2 removal, being the highest value (30%) achieved by calcium bentonite. The results obtained by the action of these products may be considered as a pioneer approach on wine FB2 reduction/removal, with relevance for wine industry, in order to select the best fining agent to reduce toxicity and consequently to improve wine quality and safety.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio