Phytoremediation of contaminated soils by using Cannabis sativa L. and the associated valorization of the resulting biomass

Increasing urbanization, industrialization and over population cause fast and considerable degradation of soil and vegetation cover, which necessitate pursuing the methods of managing derelict industrial lands. On such chemically devastated lands vegetation plays increasingly important ecological and sanitary role. Proper management of plants from such areas may significantly contribute to restoring the natural environment. Numerous efforts have been undertaken recently to find methods of cleaning up soils contaminated by xenobiotic compounds, such as phytoremediation. The aim of this thesis work is to analyse the influence of heavy metals and organic contaminants of soil on the growth yield and content of pollutants in Cannabis sativa L. This plant was selected because a) it grows rapidly, reaching full harvest in just 100-120 days (depending on local conditions) and produces a sphere of roots that extends from 1.5 to 2.5 meters into the soil, without requiring nutrients, herbicides and pesticides; b) it is a non-food crop, suitable for the production of a wide variety of renewable products more efficiently than what can be done with other non-food crops; and c) it produces components with relevant market opportunities through a stepwise breakdown. Hemp biomass can be used for the preparation of several commercial items, including paper, textiles, clothing, biodegradable plastics, paint, insulation, biofuel, food, and animal feed. However, hemp presents a key disadvantage: it is also used as an illegal narcotics and often that costs discriminates between fiber types and drug type use of hemp crop. Consequently, only cultivars which set seed in a given member state are permitted to be grown in the EU

Development of an improved Pseudoalteromonas haloplanktis TAC125 strain for recombinant protein secretion at low temperature

Background: In a previous paper, we reported the accomplishment of a cold gene-expression system for the recombinant secretion of heterologous proteins in Pseudoalteromonas haloplanktis TAC125. This system makes use of the psychrophilic α-amylase from P. haloplanktis TAB23 as secretion carrier, and allows an effective extra-cellular addressing of recombinant proteins. However, Pseudoalteromonales are reported to secrete a wide range of extra-cellular proteases. This feature works against the efficiency of the cold-adapted secretion system, because of the proteolytic degradation of recombinant products. The aim of this study is the construction of a P. haloplanktis TAC125 mutant strain with reduced extra-cellular proteolytic activity. Results: P. haloplanktis TAC125 culture medium resulted to contain multiple and heterogeneous proteases. Since the annotation of the Antarctic bacterium genome highlighted the presence of only one canonical secretion machinery, namely the Type II secretion pathway (T2SS), we have inactivated this secretion system by a gene insertion strategy. A mutant strain of P. haloplanktis TAC125 in which the gspE gene was knocked-out, actually displayed a remarkable reduction of the extra-cellular protease secretion. Quite interestingly this strain still retained the ability to secrete the psychrophilic amylase as efficiently as the wild type. Moreover, the decrease in extra-cellular proteolytic activity resulted in a substantial improvement in the stability of the secreted amylase-β-lactamase chimera. Conclusion: Here we report a cell engineering approach to the construction of a P. haloplanktis TAC125 strain with reduced extra-cellular protease activity. The improved strain is able to secrete the psychrophilic α-amylase (the carrier of our recombinant secretion system), while it displays a significant reduction of protease content in the culture medium. These features make the gspE mutant an improved host with a remarkable biotechnological potential in recombinant protein secretion at low temperature. Moreover this work demonstrates that P. haloplanktis TAC125 is a versatile psychrophilic host for recombinant protein production since it can be easily improved by a directed engineering approach. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first described example of a strain improvement strategy applied to an Antarctic bacterium

Interrelated diversification and internationalization: critical drives of global industries

This paper discusses the influence of two economic trends that arise as a consequence of globalisation: the industrial interrelated diversification process through related varieties and the internationalisation of both production and innovation. These two trends are evidenced in two industries located in the Basque Country region, the former furniture industry and the wind energy sector. Our study reveals how companies and territories that are in condition to pick up the opportunities derived from the above trends are also the ones that may guarantee their sustainability in the marketplace. In contrast, the firms that respond to these challenges by merely targeting their traditional and/or local markets might be saving their short-run competitiveness while jeopardizing their future prospect

The new complexity: new dynamics in clusters and districts

Recently, service clusters have been identified, such as in the case of the logistics and transportation cluster in the Basque Country (e.g. transportation of people and ware, intelligent transport services, etc.) or that of port activities (warehousing services, loading-unloading of goods, shipping service, etc.). Simultaneously, several multi-sector clusters around a specific client are rising. It is the case of the child cluster in France or in Catalunya that includes much more than traditional clusters focused on a final homogeneous product; in fact this includes the production of toys, kids clothes, health products and furniture for children, among others, which belonged to separate sectors and clusters before. In addition to identifying new types of clusters that strengthen the visibility and work of their firms , the great majority of these clusters and districts, e.g. in the Basque Country, have become more ‘complex’ in depth (division and specialization of labor) and extension to a variety of activities that were quite separated from one another, though can now come together with the objective to respond to the new demand of local and global society. For instance, the demand for new renewable sources of energy promotes a change in sectoral/entrepreneurial attitudes, for which such diversified sectors as oil refinery, wind, maritime and solar energy, find representation in the same cluster association and recognize themselves as part of one 'complex' cluster that gains in visibility and scale of operations for global agents such as large industries, large scale construction projects, among others. The identification and the activity of such clusters and districts, sometimes associated in a specific locality, in other occasions to a wider territory, exhibit the growing awareness of the strengths and diversities of the territorial production fabric and the importance businesses and agents attribute to identifying themselves as such in order to develop joint initiatives that can generate important economies of scale and scope that help competing in the new globalized economy, particularly when these local production systems strive to open their way in global production networks and in international markets.

STI–DUI learning modes, firm–university collaboration and innovation

In this study, the relationship between the formation of different types of collaborative agreements and firm innovation is examined. Two types of agreements are distinguished: ‘‘science and technology-based’’ (STI) and ‘‘learning-by-doing, by-using and byinteracting-based’’ (DUI) partnerships. A fixed-effects logit estimation is applied on an extensive panel of Spanish manufacturing and service firms to analyze the separate and combined impact of collaborative agreements associated to STI and/or DUI modes of learning, paying special attention to the role of partnerships with universities. While STI and DUI partnerships are important for product and process innovation in both separate and combined ways, the results demonstrate that different types of collaboration lead to different types of innovation. Product innovation benefits more from the combination of DUI and STI partnerships and process innovation seems to be more closely linked to DUI-related partnerships undertaken by firms. Findings also show that firm–university collaboration, without the engagement of other STI and DUI agents in the partnership, seems to be weak for product innovation

The biofilm matrix of Pseudomonas sp. OX1 grown on phenol is mainly constituted by alginate oligosaccharides

The structure of the major constituent of the biofilm matrix produced by Pseudomonas sp. OX1, when grown on phenol as the sole carbon source is described. This investigation, carried out by chemical analysis, NMR spectroscopy and MALDI-TOF MS spectrometry, showed the presence of an oligosaccharide blend with the typical alginate structure, namely (1-->4) substituted beta-D-mannuronic (ManA) and alpha-L-guluronic acid (GulA). GulA residues were non-acetylated whereas ManA was always O-acetylated at C-2 or C-3

Evaluación de la fragmentación en los Sistemas Regionales de Innovación: Una tipología para el caso de España

El presente artículo tiene por objeto la realización de una estimación de la conectividad de los Sistemas Regionales de Innovación (SRI) españoles. Para ello, evaluamos el fenómeno de la fragmentación explicada en términos de «fallos de sistema», los cuales habían sido descritos de forma fundamentalmente teórica. Por el contrario, nuestra aproximación emplea cuatro conjuntos de indicadores cuantitativos integrados en un marco interpretativo formado por los principales subsistemas del SRI. Así, los denominados: «brechas directivas», «brechas estructurales », «brechas de innovación» y el «valle de la muerte», son situados en el marco presentado para ser posteriormente analizados sobre los SRI de las Comunidades Autónomas españolas a partir de indicadores basados en datos explotados ad hoc por parte del Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE) y de la Asociación Española de Entidades de Capital Riesgo (ASCRI). Simplificamos la dimensionalidad de la tabla resultante a través de la aplicación de técnicas multivariantes como el Análisis Factorial Múltiple (AFM) o el análisis clúster, las cuales nos conducen a la presentación de una nueva tipología para el caso de España. Descubrimos comportamientos asimétricos en lo que respecta a los «fallos de sistema» expuestos; lo cual podría justificar el diseño de medidas exclusivas para su corrección en atención a la singularidad manifestada por cada sistema observado

Structural Investigation of the Oligosaccharide Portion Isolated from the Lipooligosaccharide of the Permafrost Psychrophile Psychrobacter arcticus 273-4

Psychrophilic microorganisms have successfully colonized all permanently cold environments from the deep sea to mountain and polar regions. The ability of an organism to survive and grow in cryoenviroments depends on a number of adaptive strategies aimed at maintaining vital cellular functions at subzero temperatures, which include the structural modifications of the membrane. To understand the role of the membrane in the adaptation, it is necessary to characterize the cell-wall components, such as the lipopolysaccharides, that represent the major constituent of the outer membrane. The aim of this study was to investigate the structure of the carbohydrate backbone of the lipooligosaccharide (LOS) isolated from the cold-adapted Psychrobacter arcticus 273-4. The strain, isolated from a 20,000-to-30,000-year-old continuously frozen permafrost in Siberia, was cultivated at 4 °C. The LOS was isolated from dry cells and analyzed by means of chemical methods. In particular, it was degraded either by mild acid hydrolysis or by hydrazinolysis and investigated in detail by (1)H and (13)C NMR spectroscopy and by ESI FT-ICR mass spectrometry. The oligosaccharide was characterized by the substitution of the heptose residue, usually linked to Kdo in the inner core, with a glucose, and for the unusual presence of N-acetylmuramic acid

Biofilm as an adaptation strategy to extreme conditions

Biofilm is the most successful and widely distributed form of life on earth, it is not simply structured collections of cells attached to surfaces but is a dynamic complex biological system able to respond to environmental changes. The biofilm characteristics make it unique and central to microbial evolution and adaptation. The ability to establish biofilms is a key trait for microorganisms growing in extreme environments like extreme temperature, high radiation, acidic or alkaline pH values, heavy metal pollution, and high salinity. In this article, we report the main features of biofilm and how these characteristics make biofilms a successful survival strategy in extreme conditions. All aspects examined in this article help to explain why biofilms are a successful survival strategy in extreme conditions and why the ability to establish biofilms is a key trait for microorganisms growing in extreme environments