Publications by authors named "Evangelia Papadopoulou"

Synthetic nitrification inhibitors are routinely used with nitrogen fertilizers to reduce nitrogen losses from agroecosystems, despite having drawbacks like poor efficiency, cost, and entry into the food chain. Plant-derived BNIs constitute a more environmentally conducive alternative. Knowledge on the activity of BNIs to soil nitrifiers is largely based on bioassays with a single strain which does not constitute a dominant member of the community of ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms (AOM) in soil.

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The tumor microenvironment facilitates cancer progression and therapeutic resistance. Tumor collagens and their architecture play an essential role in this process. However, little is known about the mechanisms by which tumor cells sense and respond to this extracellular matrix environment.

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Dicyandiamide (DCD) and nitrapyrin (NP) are nitrification inhibitors (NIs) used in agriculture for over 40 years. Recently, ethoxyquin (EQ) was proposed as a novel potential NI, acting through its derivative quinone imine (QI). Still, the specific activity of these NIs on the different groups of ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms (AOM), and mostly their effects on other soil microbiota remain unknown.

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Nitrification inhibitors (NIs) applied to soil reduce nitrogen fertilizer losses from agr-ecosystems. NIs that are currently registered for use in agriculture appear to selectively inhibit ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), while their impact on other nitrifiers is limited or unknown. Ethoxyquin (EQ), a fruit preservative shown to inhibit ammonia-oxidizers (AO) in soil, is rapidly transformed to 2,6-dihydro-2,2,4-trimethyl-6-quinone imine (QI), and 2,4-dimethyl-6-ethoxy-quinoline (EQNL).

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Auxotrophy to amino acids and vitamins is a common feature in the bacterial world shaping microbial communities through cross-feeding relations. The amino acid auxotrophy of pollutant-degrading bacteria could hamper their bioremediation potential, however, the underlying mechanisms of auxotrophy remain unexplored. We employed genome sequence-based metabolic reconstruction to identify potential mechanisms driving the amino acid auxotrophy of a strain degrading the fungicide -phenylphenol (OPP) and provided further verification for the identified mechanisms bacterial assays.

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Pesticides are intentionally applied to agricultural fields for crop protection. They can harm non-target organisms such as soil microorganisms involved in important ecosystem functions with impacts at the global scale. Within the frame of the pesticide registration process, the ecotoxicological impact of pesticides on soil microorganisms is still based on carbon and nitrogen mineralization tests, despite the availability of more extensive approaches analyzing the abundance, activity or diversity of soil microorganisms.

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Diphenylamine (DPA) is a common soil and water contaminant. A strain, recently isolated from a wastewater disposal site, was efficient in degrading DPA. Thorough knowledge of the metabolic capacity, genetic stability and physiology of bacteria during biodegradation of pollutants is essential for their future industrial exploitation.

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The application of the fungicide thiabendazole (TBZ) in fruit packaging plants (FPP) results in the production of effluents which are often disposed in adjacent field sites. These require remediation to prevent further environmental dispersal of TBZ. We assessed the bioaugmentation potential of a newly isolated TBZ-degrading bacterial consortium in a naturally contaminated soil (NCS) exhibiting a natural gradient of TBZ levels (12000, 400, 250 and 12 mg kg).

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Ortho-phenylphenol (OPP) is a fungicide contained in agro-industrial effluents produced by fruit-packaging plants. Within the frame of developing bio-strategies to detoxify these effluents, an OPP-degrading Sphingomonas haloaromaticamans strain was isolated. Proteins/genes with a putative catabolic role and bacterium adaptation mechanisms during OPP degradation were identified via genomic and proteomic analysis.

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Microbial degradation constitutes the key soil dissipation process for iprodione. We recently isolated a consortium, composed of an Arthrobacter sp. strain C1 and an Achromobacter sp.

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Wastewaters from fruit-packaging plants contain high loads of toxic and persistent pesticides and should be treated on site. We evaluated the depuration performance of five pilot biobeds against those effluents. In addition we tested bioaugmentation with bacterial inocula as a strategy for optimization of their depuration capacity.

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Assessment of dissipation constitutes an integral part of pesticides risk assessment since it provides an estimate of the level and the duration of exposure of the terrestrial ecosystem to pesticides. Within the frame of an overall assessment of the soil microbial toxicity of pesticides, we investigated the dissipation of a range of dose rates of three model pesticides, isoproturon (IPU), tebuconazole (TCZ), and chlorpyrifos (CHL), and the formation and dissipation of their main transformation products following a tiered lab-to-field approach. The adsorption of pesticides and their transformation products was also determined.

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Several lines evidence indicate that the non-competitive N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist ketamine and the mixed dopamine (DA) D1/D2 receptor agonist apomorphine induce schizophrenia-like symptoms in rodents, including memory impairments and social withdrawal. Nitric oxide (NO) has been proposed to act as an intracellular messenger in the brain and its overproduction is associated with schizophrenia. The current study was designed to investigate the ability of the inducible NO synthase (iNOS) inhibitor aminoguanidine (AG) to counteract schizophrenia-like behavioural deficits produced by ketamine and apomorphine in rats.

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Citrus fruit-packaging plants (FPP) produce large wastewater volumes with high loads of fungicides like ortho-phenylphenol (OPP) and imazalil (IMZ). No methods are in place for the treatment of those effluents and biobeds appear as a viable alternative. We employed a column study to investigate the potential of spent mushroom substrate (SMS) of Pleurotus ostreatus, either alone or in mixture with straw and soil plus a mixture of straw /soil to retain and dissipate IMZ and OPP.

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Thiabendazole (TBZ), imazalil (IMZ), ortho-phenylphenol (OPP), diphenylamine (DPA), and ethoxyquin (EQ) are used in fruit-packaging plants (FPP) with the stipulation that wastewaters produced by their application would be depurated on site. However, no such treatment systems are currently in place, leading FPP to dispose of their effluents in agricultural land. We investigated the dissipation of those pesticides and their impact on soil microbes known to have a key role on ecosystem functioning.

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Pesticides generate transformation products (TPs) when they are released into the environment. These TPs may be of ecotoxicological importance. Past studies have demonstrated how difficult it is to predict the occurrence of pesticide TPs and their environmental risk.

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Background: A limited number of pesticides are available for the control of soil pests in potato. This, together with the monoculture nature of potato cultivation, does not favour chemical rotation, increasing the risk of reduced biological efficacy due to microbial adaptation. The dissipation of three major organophosphates (chlorpyrifos, ethoprophos and fosthiazate) was studied in comparison with fipronil, an insecticide recently introduced in potato cultivation, in 17 soils from potato monoculture areas in Greece to explore the extent of enhanced biodegradation development.

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The antioxidant diphenylamine (DPA) is used in fruit-packaging plants for the control of the physiological disorder apple scald. Its use results in the production of DPA-contaminated wastewater which should be treated before finally discharged. Biological treatment systems using tailored-made microbial inocula with specific catabolic activities comprise an appealing and sustainable solution.

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Wastewaters from the fruit-packaging industry constitute a serious point source contamination with pesticides. In the absence of effective depuration methods, they are discharged in municipal wastewater treatment plants or spread to land. Modified biobeds could be an applicable solution for their treatment.

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Introduction: Byzantine physicians (4th-7th and 8th-12th centuries A.D.), especially those interested in Surgery, developed a number of interesting concepts, views and opinions referring to the field now recognized as Oral and Cranio-maxillofacial Surgery and Pathology.

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Introduction: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) affects many organs, including the heart. Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) can assess heart pathophysiology in RA.

Aim: To evaluate, using CMR, RA patients under remission with recent onset of cardiac symptoms.

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Biopurification systems (BPS) have been introduced to minimise the risk for point source contamination of natural water resources by pesticides. Their depuration efficiency relies mostly on the high biodegradation of their packing substrate (biomixture). Despite that, little is known regarding the interactions between biomixture microflora and pesticides, especially fungicides which are expected to have a higher impact on the microbial community.

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