Evaluation of Moringa oleifera seed flour as a flocculating agent for potential biodiesel producer microalgae

Microalgal biofuel alternatives have been hindered by their cost and energy intensive production. In the microalgal harvesting process, the intermediate step of flocculation shows potential in drastically reducing the need for costly centrifugation processes. Moringa oleifera seeds, which have been used for water treatment due to their high flocculation potential, low cost and low toxicity, are presented in this paper as strong candidate for flocculating Chlorella vulgaris, a microalgae with high biodiesel production potential. Early results of our group showed a very high flocculation (around 85% of biomass recovery). The aim of this work was to investigate the influence of Moringa oleifera seed flour concentration, sedimentation time and pH on the flocculation efficiency. Cell suspensions treated with Moringa seed flour (1 g L^-1) had their flocculation significantly increased with the rise of pH, reaching 89% of flocculation in 120 min at pH 9.2. Sedimentation time of 120 min and a concentration of 0.6 g L^-1 proved to be ample for substantial flocculation efficiency. In spite of the need for more research to ensure the economic viability and sustainability of this process, these results corroborate Moringa oleifera seeds as a strong candidate as a bioflocculant for Chlorella vulgaris cells and indicate optimal pH range of its action.     

Aluminum and sulphate removal by a highly Al-resistant dissimilatory sulphate-reducing bacteria community

A highly Al-resistant dissimilatory sulphate-reducing bacteria community was isolated from sludge of the wetland of Urgeiri?a mine (community W). This community showed excellent sulphate removal at the presence of Al3?. After 27 days of incubation, 73, 86 and 81% of sulphate was removed in the presence of 0.48, 0.90 and 1.30 mM of Al3?, respectively. Moreover, Al3? was simultaneously removed: 55, 85 and 78% of metal was removed in the presence of 0.48, 0.90 and 1.30 mM of Al3?, respectively. The dissociation of aluminium-lactate soluble complexes due to lactate consumption by dissimilatory sulphate-reducing bacteria can be responsible for aluminum removal, which probably precipitates as insoluble aluminium hydroxide. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene showed that this community was mainly composed by bacteria closely related to Desulfovibrio desulfuricans. However, bacteria affiliated to Proteus and Ralstonia were also present in the community.     

Local signaling within stem cell niches: insights from Drosophila

Tissue stem cells are found in specialized microenvironments (niches) where they are exposed to diverse systemic and local signals that are integrated with cell intrinsic factors to regulate stem cell behavior. In general, systemic signals are utilized to coordinate the response of tissues to acute or long-term changes that affect the whole organism, such as variations in nutrient availability or aging. In contrast, local signaling regulates tissue maintenance by balancing stem cell self-renewal with differentiation under homeostatic conditions and in response to local damage. In this review, we highlight the role of the JAK-STAT pathway in two Drosophila stem cell systems, the testis and intestine, and compare and contrast how activation of this pathway leads to tissue maintenance under both homeostatic conditions and in response to stress or injury.     

Screening for glycosidase activities of lactic acid bacteria as a biotechnological tool in oenology

The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability from a number of lactic acid bacteria isolated from different sources to produce glycosidase enzymes. Representative isolates (225) from clusters obtained after genotyping, using randomly amplified polymorphic DNA-polymerase chain reaction (RAPD-PCR) analysis, of 1,464 isolates, were screened for β-D-glucosidase activity. Thirty-five of them were selected for subsequent analysis. These strains were able to hydrolyze α-D-glucopyranoside, β-D-xylopyranoside and α-L-arabinofuranoside although β-D-glucosidase activity was the predominant activity for 22 of the selected strains. Only some of them did so with α-L-rhamnopyranoside. All of these were from wine samples and were identified as belonging to the Oenococcus oeni species using Amplification and Restriction Analysis of 16S-rRNA gene (16S-ARDRA). When the influence of pH, temperature and ethanol or sugars content on β-D-glucosidase activity was assayed, a strain-dependent response was observed. The β-D-glucosidase activity occurred in both whole and sonicated cells but not in the supernatants from cultures or obtained after cell sonication. Strains 10, 17, 21, and 23 retained the most β-D-glucosidase activity when they were assayed at the conditions of temperature, pH, ethanol and sugar content used in winemaking. These results suggest that these strains could be used as a source of glycosidase enzymes for use in winemaking.     

Application of the Apn2/MAT locus to improve the systematics of the Colletotrichum gloeosporioides complex: an example from coffee (Coffea spp.) hosts

To improve phylogenetic resolution of the Colletotrichum gloeosporioides species complex we developed and tested the performance of a new set of primers for the Apn2/MAT locus with a case study of 22 isolates. These were isolated mainly from coffee plants and represent six divergent and well characterized species within the C. gloeosporioides complex. Following previous studies on this locus, we have generated sequence data from an expanded region (> 4600 bp), revealing increased phylogenetic informativeness when compared to other commonly used markers such as ITS, β-tub2 and GS. Within the Apn2/MAT locus the ApMAT marker alone was almost as informative in terms of phylogenetic resolution as a seven-gene concatenated dataset. Our results further revealed that gene-tree discordance may come to be a common issue in resolving evolutionary relationships in the C. gloeosporioides complex, highlighting the importance of multilocus approaches. The use of state-of-the-art data analysis techniques and a highly informative dataset as employed here may abate this issue and hopefully assist in disentangling the C. gloeosporioides complex.     

Mannosylglycerate stabilizes staphylococcal nuclease with restriction of slow β-sheet motions

Mannosylglycerate is a compatible solute typical of thermophilic marine microorganisms that has a remarkable ability to protect proteins from thermal denaturation. This ionic solute appears to be a universal stabilizing agent, but the extent of protection depends on the specific protein examined. To understand how mannosylglycerate confers protection, we have been studying its influence on the internal motions of a hyperstable staphylococcal nuclease (SNase). Previously, we found a correlation between the magnitude of protein stabilization and the restriction of fast backbone motions. We now report the effect of mannosylglycerate on the fast motions of side-chains and on the slower unfolding motions of the protein. Side-chain motions were assessed by (13)CH(3) relaxation measurements and model-free analysis while slower unfolding motions were probed by H/D exchange measurements at increasing concentrations of urea. Side-chain motions were little affected by the presence of different concentrations of mannosylglycerate or even by the presence of urea (0.25M), and show no correlation with changes in the thermodynamic stability of SNase. Native hydrogen exchange experiments showed that, contrary to reports on other stabilizing solutes, mannosylglycerate restricts local motions in addition to the global motions of the protein. The protein unfolding/folding pathway remained undisturbed in the presence of mannosylglycerate but the solute showed a specific effect on the local motions of β-sheet residues. This work reinforces the link between solute-induced stabilization and restriction of protein motions at different timescales, and shows that the solute preferentially affects specific structural elements of SNase.     

Marine planktonic microbes survived climatic instabilities in the past

In the geological past, changes in climate and tectonic activity are thought to have spurred the tempo of evolutionary change among major taxonomic groups of plants and animals. However, the extent to which these historical contingencies increased the risk of extinction of microbial plankton species remains largely unknown. Here, I analyse fossil records of marine planktonic diatoms and calcareous nannoplankton over the past 65 million years from the world oceans and show that the probability of species' extinction is not correlated with secular changes in climatic instability. Further supporting these results, analyses of genera survivorship curves based on fossil data concurred with the predictions of a birth-death model that simulates the extinction of genera through time assuming stochastically constant rates of speciation and extinction. However, my results also show that these marine microbes responded to exceptional climatic contingencies in a manner that appears to have promoted net diversification. These results highlight the ability of marine planktonic microbes to survive climatic instabilities in the geological past, and point to different mechanisms underlying the processes of speciation and extinction in these micro-organisms.     

DNA fingerprinting validates seed dispersal curves from observational studies in the neotropical legume parkia

Background

Determining the distances over which seeds are dispersed is a crucial component for examining spatial patterns of seed dispersal and their consequences for plant reproductive success and population structure. However, following the fate of individual seeds after removal from the source tree till deposition at a distant place is generally extremely difficult. Here we provide a comparison of observationally and genetically determined seed dispersal distances and dispersal curves in a Neotropical animal-plant system.

Methodology/Principal Findings

In a field study on the dispersal of seeds of three Parkia (Fabaceae) species by two Neotropical primate species, Saguinus fuscicollis and Saguinus mystax, in Peruvian Amazonia, we observationally determined dispersal distances. These dispersal distances were then validated through DNA fingerprinting, by matching DNA from the maternally derived seed coat to DNA from potential source trees. We found that dispersal distances are strongly right-skewed, and that distributions obtained through observational and genetic methods and fitted distributions do not differ significantly from each other.

Conclusions/Significance

Our study showed that seed dispersal distances can be reliably estimated through observational methods when a strict criterion for inclusion of seeds is observed. Furthermore, dispersal distances produced by the two primate species indicated that these primates fulfil one of the criteria for efficient seed dispersers. Finally, our study demonstrated that DNA extraction methods so far employed for temperate plant species can be successfully used for hard-seeded tropical plants.     

Group B streptococcus GAPDH is released upon cell lysis, associates with bacterial surface, and induces apoptosis in murine macrophages

Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenases (GAPDH) are cytoplasmic glycolytic enzymes that, despite lacking identifiable secretion signals, have been detected at the surface of several prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms where they exhibit non-glycolytic functions including adhesion to host components. Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a human commensal bacterium that has the capacity to cause life-threatening meningitis and septicemia in newborns. Electron microscopy and fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS) analysis demonstrated the surface localization of GAPDH in GBS. By addressing the question of GAPDH export to the cell surface of GBS strain NEM316 and isogenic mutant derivatives of our collection, we found that impaired GAPDH presence in the surface and supernatant of GBS was associated with a lower level of bacterial lysis. We also found that following GBS lysis, GAPDH can associate to the surface of many living bacteria. Finally, we provide evidence for a novel function of the secreted GAPDH as an inducer of apoptosis of murine macrophages.