T Cell Priming by Activated Nlrc5-Deficient Dendritic Cells Is Unaffected despite Partially Reduced MHC Class I Levels.

NLRC5, a member of the NOD-like receptor (NLR) protein family, has recently been characterized as the master transcriptional regulator of MHCI molecules in lymphocytes, in which it is highly expressed. However, its role in activated dendritic cells (DCs), which are instrumental to initiate T cell responses, remained elusive. We show in this study that, following stimulation of DCs with inflammatory stimuli, not only did NLRC5 level increase, but also its importance in directing MHCI transcription. Despite markedly reduced mRNA and intracellular H2-K levels, we unexpectedly observed nearly normal H2-K surface display in Nlrc5(-/-) DCs. Importantly, this discrepancy between a strong intracellular and a mild surface defect in H2-K levels was observed also in DCs with H2-K transcription defects independent of Nlrc5. Hence, alongside with demonstrating the importance of NLRC5 in MHCI transcription in activated DCs, we uncover a general mechanism counteracting low MHCI surface expression. In agreement with the decreased amount of neosynthesized MHCI, Nlrc5(-/-) DCs exhibited a defective capacity to display endogenous Ags. However, neither T cell priming by endogenous Ags nor cross-priming ability was substantially affected in activated Nlrc5(-/-) DCs. Altogether, these data show that Nlrc5 deficiency, despite significantly affecting MHCI transcription and Ag display, is not sufficient to hinder T cell activation, underlining the robustness of the T cell priming process by activated DCs

Bases ecofisiológicas da assimilação de carbono e suas implicações na produção de forragem.

essa revisão busca enfatizar os aspectos ecofisiológicos da assimilação do carbono e mostrar como mudanças ambientais podem proporcionar diferentes respostas das plantas. Essas respostas são importantes, pois influenciam diretamente as estratégias de manejo das pastagens e o planejamento da oferta de alimento durante o ano.bitstream/item/117756/1/CNPASA-2014DOC7.pd

Relative water content in two grass cultivars in crop-livestock system in the State of Tocantins, Brazil.

In this presentation, we report the results of two grasses on Integrated Crop-Livestock System in the Tocantins Cerrado

Acidogenic Fermentation of Brewers’ Spent Grain Monitored through Two-Dimensional Fluorescence Spectroscopy

Funding Information: This research was funded by national funds from the FCT─Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P. through the project PTDC/BTA-BTA/31746/2017, in the scope of projects UIDP/04378/2020 and UIDB/04378/2020 of the Research Unit on Applied Molecular Biosciences─UCIBIO, project LA/P/0140/2020 of the Associate Laboratory Institute for Health and Bioeconomy─i4HB, and the project UIDB/50016/2020 of the Associate Laboratory Centro de Biotecnologia e Química Fina─CBQF. This research was also funded by the Associate Laboratory for Green Chemistry─LAQV, which is financed by national funds from FCT/MCTES (UIDB/50006/2020 and UIDP/50006/2020). E.C.G. gratefully acknowledges FCT for grant SFRH/BD/136300/2018. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.Biological systems are commonly controlled and monitored through offline and time-consuming tools, which often impairs an effective and real-time response to counteract system disturbances. The feasibility of using two-dimensional (2D) fluorescence spectroscopy as a non-invasive, non-destructive, and real-time procedure to monitor the acidogenic fermentation of brewer’s spent grain (BSG) in a granular sludge reactor was evaluated. For that, the effect of pH fluctuations on the system response was used as a model to ascertain the 2D fluorescence spectroscopy applicability to monitor the process performance, namely, to predict the fermentation products (FP) and the soluble protein (SProt) concentrations in the effluent stream through mathematical analysis. The pH fluctuations over the course of the reactor’s operation altered the granules’ microbiome composition, leading to different effluent FP profiles. Fluorescence excitation-emission matrices (EEMs) were used with projection to latent structures (PLS) modeling to predict the FP and SProt concentrations in the effluent with average errors below 0.75 and 0.43 g L-1, respectively. Both models were able to capture the tendency of the data even when the accuracy of prediction was not so high. The combined approach of using 2D fluorescence spectroscopy and mathematical analysis seemed promising for real-time monitoring of the acidogenic fermentation of complex substrates.publishersversioninpres

A two-stage process for conversion of brewer’s spent grain into volatile fatty acids through acidogenic fermentation

This work is focused on the valorization of brewer’s spent grains (BSG) into volatile fatty acids (VFA) through acidogenic fermentation. VFAs are building blocks for several applications, such as bioplastics’ production. Using acid hydrolysis as pre-treatment, several batch assays were performed and the impact of organic load (OL) and pH on VFA production from BSG hydrolysate was assessed. Regardless of the condition, the produced acids were mainly butyric and acetic acids followed by propionic acid. The OL had a direct impact on the total organic acid concentration with higher concentrations at the highest OL (40 gCOD L-1). pH affected the concentration of individual organic acid, with the highest fermentation products (FP) diversity attained at pH 5.0 and OL of 40 gCOD L-1. To assess the potential application of organic acids for biopolymers (such as polyhydroxyalkanoates) production, the content in hydroxybutyrate (HB) and hydroxyvalerate (HV) monomers was estimated from the respective precursors produced at each pH and OL. The content in HV precursors increased with pH, with a maximum at pH 6.0 (ca. 16% C-mol basis). The acidogenic fermentation of BSG hydrolysate was also assessed in continuous operation, using an expanded granular sludge bed reactor (EGSB). It was shown that the BSG hydrolysate was successfully converted to VFAs without pH control, achieving higher productivities than in the batch operation mode.publishersversionpublishe

Spatial variability of nitrogen dioxide and formaldehydeand residential exposure of children in the industrial area of Viadana, Northern Italy

Chipboard production is a source of ambient air pollution. We assessed the spatial variability of outdoor pollutants and residentialexposure of children living in proximity to the largest chipboard industry in Italy and evaluated the reliability of exposureestimates obtained from a number of available models. We obtained passive sampling data on NO2and formaldehyde collectedby the Environmental Protection Agency of Lombardy region at 25 sites in the municipality of Viadana during 10 weeks (2017-2018) and compared NO2measurements with average weekly concentrations from continuous monitors. We compared interpo-lated NO2and formaldehyde surfaces with previous maps for 2010. We assessed the relationship between residential proximity tothe industry and pollutant exposures assigned using these maps, as well as other available countrywide/continental models basedon routine data on NO2, PM10, andPM2.5. The correlation between NO2concentrations from continuous and passive samplingwas high (Pearson'sr= 0.89), although passive sampling underestimated NO2especially during winter. For both 2010 and 2017-2018, we observed higher NO2and formaldehyde concentrations in the south of Viadana, with hot-spots in proximity to theindustry. PM10and PM2.5exposures were higher for children at 3.5 km to theindustry, whereas NO2exposure was higher at 1-1.7 km to the industry. Road and population densities were also higher close tothe industry. Findings from a variety of exposure models suggest that children living in proximity to the chipboard industry inViadana are more exposed to air pollution and that exposure gradients are relatively stable over time

Hidroquímica das águas do Sistema Aquífero Integrado Guarani/Serra Geral nos municípios de Águas Frias e Quilombo, SC.

As águas subterrâneas são de extrema importância para o desenvolvimento da região oeste de Santa Catarina. O Sistema Aquífero Serra Geral (SASG) e o Sistema Aquífero Guarani (SAG) presentes na região têm sido tratados como um sistema integrado, denominado Sistema Aquífero Integrado Guarani/Serra Geral, devido a diversos estudos que identificaram a mistura entre as águas de ambos aquíferos, relacionada a grandes fraturas regionais que permitem sua circulação. A hidroquímica é um dos critérios utilizados para diferenciar a proveniência das águas e compreender sua evolução. Desta forma, este trabalho teve como objetivo analisar as características hidroquímicas de 31 amostras de poços tubulares do SASG nos municípios de Águas Frias e Quilombo, situados na Bacia Hidrográfica do Rio Chapecó, para estabelecer a classificação hidroquímica das águas e verificar a possível mistura com as águas do SAG e/ou aquíferos permianos subjacentes. Os resultados foram submetidos ao cálculo do balanço iônico e filtrados dentro de uma faixa de no máximo 10% de erro. Logo após, as águas foram classificadas através da plotagem no diagrama de Piper da proporção dos íons maiores HCO3⁻ , Cl⁻ , SO4 2- , Mg2+, Ca2+, Na+ e K+ . Os parâmetros sólidos totais dissolvidos (STD), pH e condutividade foram divididos em 4 classes de acordo com os quartis estatísticos e o método Boxplot, para identificação preliminar de valores atípicos no intervalo amostral para cada parâmetro. Foram identificados 7 tipos hidroquímicos principais: águas bicarbonatadas-cálcicas-magnesianas e bicarbonatadas-cálcicas, consideradas águas típicas do SASG, com menor tempo de residência; águas bicarbonatadas-sódicas com maior tempo de residência e/ou com mistura com as águas provenientes do SAG através de recarga por ascensão; e águas cloradas-sulfatadas-sódicas, cloradas-sódicas, sulfatadas-cálcicas e sulfatadas-sódicas, que representam as águas com maior tempo de residência, consideradas típicas de porções mais profundas do SAG e dos aquíferos permianos subjacentes. As classes geradas através do Boxplot permitiram a identificação de zonas de ocorrência dos valores extremos de STD, pH e condutividade. As classes com valores mais elevados (acima do limite superior da caixa central) dos 3 parâmetros podem indicar a ocorrência de águas com maior tempo de residência e/ou mistura das águas entre o aquífero superior e os aquíferos mais profundos. Por outro lado, as classes com os menores valores (abaixo do limite inferior da caixa central), podem indicar águas com menor tempo de residência, tendendo à meteóricas. A avaliação da distribuição espacial dos tipos hidroquímicos e das demais classes demonstrou a existência de um alinhamento principal com ocorrência das águas com características típicas de mistura, e que pode estar relacionado a uma estrutura tectônica que permita a ascensão das águas dos aquíferos profundos

Innovative approach to address challenges and opportunities to conservation agriculture adoption in Brazilian agricultural frontier.

Brazilian agriculture is facing another expansion cycle to the Cerrado region, more specific in the Northeast. The first agriculture expansion cycle to the Midwest was in seventies encouraged and developed by Brazilian Government with farmers from southern and southeast Brazil, which were traditional small farmers with some experience, low budget and a remarkable determination. All of these efforts after 20 years resulted in an outstanding development of a part of the country with economy based on agribusiness (soybean, corn, cotton, livestock, poultry, swine, etc.). In late nineties, another cycle initiated in the Cerrado Northeastern region known as MATOPIBA (acronyms of Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí, and Bahia states). Bahia and Maranhão were more pronounced and became very strong over time. Recently, basically in the last 5 years Tocantins and Piauí states started to increase agricultural production in high rates, reaching in Tocantins state a 30% increase of crop area per year and 34 % increase of total grain production per year and soybean is the major crop. Most of technologies developed in other Cerrado regions are not well adapted to MATOPIBA and a technology transfer is necessary to address conservation agriculture principles to farmers, agronomists, consultants and extension agents

Valorization of brewery waste through Polyhydroxyalkanoates production supported by a metabolic specialized microbiome

Raw brewers’ spent grain (BSG), a by-product of beer production and produced at a large scale, presents a composition that has been shown to have potential as feedstock for several biological processes, such as polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) production. Although the high interest in the PHA production from waste, the bioconversion of BSG into PHA using microbial mixed cultures (MMC) has not yet been explored. This study explored the feasibility to produce PHA from BSG through the enrichment of a mixed microbial culture in PHA-storing organisms. The increase in organic loading rate (OLR) was shown to have only a slight influence on the process performance, although a high selectivity in PHA-storing microorganisms accumulation was reached. The culture was enriched on various PHA-storing microorganisms, such as bacteria belonging to the Meganema, Carnobacterium, Leucobacter, and Paracocccus genera. The enrichment process led to specialization of the microbiome, but the high diversity in PHA-storing microorganisms could have contributed to the process stability and efficiency, allowing for achieving a maximum PHA content of 35.2 ± 5.5 wt.% (VSS basis) and a yield of 0.61 ± 0.09 CmmolPHA/CmmolVFA in the accumulation assays. Overall, the production of PHA from fermented BSG is a feasible process confirming the valorization potential of the feedstock through the production of added-value products.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

NLRC5 promotes transcription of BTN3A1-3 genes and Vγ9Vδ2 T cell-mediated killing

BTN3A molecules-BTN3A1 in particular-emerged as important mediators of Vγ9Vδ2 T cell activation by phosphoantigens. These metabolites can originate from infections, e.g. with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, or by alterations in cellular metabolism. Despite the growing interest in the BTN3A genes and their high expression in immune cells and various cancers, little is known about their transcriptional regulation. Here we show that these genes are induced by NLRC5, a regulator of MHC class I gene transcription, through an atypical regulatory motif found in their promoters. Accordingly, a robust correlation between NLRC5 and BTN3A gene expression was found in healthy, in M. tuberculosis-infected donors' blood cells, and in primary tumors. Moreover, forcing NLRC5 expression promoted Vγ9Vδ2 T-cell-mediated killing of tumor cells in a BTN3A-dependent manner. Altogether, these findings indicate that NLRC5 regulates the expression of BTN3A genes and hence open opportunities to modulate antimicrobial and anticancer immunity