Evaluation of planktonic cyanobacteria in Peruvian freshwater lentic water bodies: prevalence and regulatory framework to aid policy making.

Increasing reports of cyanobacteria or cyanotoxins around the world expose a major threat for the environment, animal, and human health. Current water treatment processes are ineffective at eliminating cyanotoxins; hence, risk management relies mostly on early detection and on the development of specific regulatory frameworks. In developed countries, well-documented monitoring activities offer a good assessment of the cyanobacterial and/or cyanotoxin status and are used to prevent intoxications.

Evaluation of low-cost SARS-CoV-2 RNA purification methods for viral quantification by RT-qPCR and next-generation sequencing analysis: Implications for wider wastewater-based epidemiology adoption.

Based Epidemiology (WBE) consists of quantifying biomarkers in sewerage systems to derive real-time information on the health and/or lifestyle of the contributing population. WBE usefulness was vastly demonstrated in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many methods for SARS-CoV-2 RNA determination in wastewater were devised, which vary in cost, infrastructure requirements and sensitivity.

Spatiotemporal Surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in the Sewage of Three Major Urban Areas in Peru: Generating Valuable Data Where Clinical Testing Is Extremely Limited.

Peru has been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. By January 2022, Peru had surpassed 200 000 COVID-19 deaths, constituting the highest death rate per capita worldwide. Peru has had several limitations during the pandemic: insufficient testing access, limited contact tracing, a strained medical infrastructure, and many economic hurdles.

Assessing cellulose microfibrillar structure changes due to cellulase action.

There is a need to understand how cellulose structural properties impact productive cellulase-cellulose interactions toward solving the mechanisms of the heterogeneous reaction. We coupled biochemical studies of cellulose hydrolysis by a purified Trichoderma reesei Cel7A (TrCel7A) cellobiohydrolase with atomic force microscopy (AFM) to study the impact of the cellulolytic activity on the fibrillar structure of cellulose. Bacterial cellulose (BC) fibrils were hydrolyzed by TrCel7A then immobilized by hydrophobic interactions on glass for AFM imaging.

Starch self-processing in transgenic sweet potato roots expressing a hyperthermophilic α-amylase.

Sweet potato is a major crop in the southeastern United States, which requires few inputs and grows well on marginal land. It accumulates large quantities of starch in the storage roots and has been shown to give comparable or superior ethanol yields to corn per cultivated acre in the southeast. Starch conversion to fermentable sugars (i.

Plant cell calcium-rich environment enhances thermostability of recombinantly produced alpha-amylase from the hyperthermophilic bacterium Thermotoga maritime.

In the industrial processing of starch for sugar syrup and ethanol production, a liquefaction step is involved where starch is initially solubilized at high temperature and partially hydrolyzed with a thermostable and thermoactive alpha-amylase. Most amylases require calcium as a cofactor for their activity and stability, therefore calcium, along with the thermostable enzyme, are typically added to the starch mixture during enzymatic liquefaction, thereby increasing process costs. An attractive alternative would be to produce the enzyme directly in the tissue to be treated.