Publications by authors named "Laura Mercado"

Objective: To evaluate the effects of topical application of 0.5% tropicamide and 1% atropine on pupil diameter (PD), intraocular pressure (IOP), and tear production (TP) in healthy pet rabbits.

Animals Studied: Ten healthy client-owned rabbits.

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The utilization of grape juice from low oenological value grape varieties for bioethanol production represent an alternative for diversification and value addition in viticulture. Optimizing Very High Gravity (VHG) fermentation can significantly increase ethanol productivity while reducing water and energy consumption. In this study, the impact of different nitrogen sources on growth and fermentative performance of locally selected yeast strains was investigated.

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Article Synopsis
  • Tryptophan is often located on the surfaces of membrane-associated proteins, making it hard to determine the specific roles of each tryptophan due to their complex interactions.
  • The study explores using racemic protein crystallography with the tryptophan-rich bacteriocin aureocin A53 to examine how this amino acid interacts with different ligands, revealing important hydrogen bond networks crucial for antibacterial activity.
  • Results showed that certain tryptophan residues are essential for both antibacterial function and the protein's structure, suggesting a similar mechanism could apply to a related bacteriocin, lacticin Q.
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Global warming has a significant impact on different viticultural parameters, including grape maturation. An increment of photosynthetic activity generates a rapid accumulation of sugars in the berry, followed by a dehydration process which leads to a higher concentration of soluble solids. This effect is exacerbated by current viticultural practices which favor the harvest of very mature grapes to obtain wines with sweet tannins.

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Current consumer preferences are determined by well-structured, full-bodied wines with a rich flavor and with reduced alcohol levels. One of the strategies for obtaining wines with reduced ethanol content is sequential inoculation of non-Saccharomyces and Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeasts. However, different factors affect the production of metabolites like ethanol, glycerol and acetic acid by inoculated yeasts.

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We propose an alternative GMO based strategy to obtain Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutant strains with a slight reduction in their ability to produce ethanol, but with a moderate impact on the yeast metabolism. Through homologous recombination, two truncated Pdc2p proteins Pdc2pΔ344 and Pdc2pΔ519 were obtained and transformed into haploid and diploid lab yeast strains. In the pdc2Δ344 mutants the DNA-binding and transactivation site of the protein remain intact, whereas in pdc2Δ519 only the DNA-binding site is conserved.

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Ethanol content of wine has increased over the last decades as consequence of searching phenolic maturity, requiring increased grape maturity. This may result in the production of wines with excessive alcohol levels (sometimes more than 15% (v/v)), sluggish and stuck fermentations and excessive volatile acidity. Many strategies to reduce ethanol in wines are being studied, and microbial methods have some additional advantages.

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The "Zona Alta del Río Mendoza" (ZARM) is the major Malbec grape viticulture region of Argentina. The aim of the present study was to explore Saccharomyces cerevisiae biodiversity in ZARM vineyards. Interdelta PCR and RFLP mtDNA molecular markers were applied to differentiate S.

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Three molecular typing techniques were applied to assess the molecular relationships of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains isolated from winery equipment, grapes, and spontaneous fermentation in a cellar located in "Zona Alta del Río Mendoza" (Argentina). In addition, commercial Saccharomyces strains widely used in this region were also included. Interdelta PCR typing, mtDNA restriction analysis, and microsatellite (SSR) genotyping were applied.

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