Publications by authors named "Susana de la Torre-Zavala"

Environmental pollution caused by petroleum-derived plastics continues to increase annually. Consequently, current research is interested in the search for eco-friendly bacterial polymers. The importance of bacteria as producers of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) has been recognized because of their physiological and genetic qualities.

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Microbial syntrophy, a cooperative metabolic interaction among prokaryotes, serves a critical role in shaping communities, due to the auxotrophic nature of many microorganisms. Syntrophy played a key role in the evolution of life, including the hypothesized origin of eukaryotes. In a recent exploration of the microbial mats within the exceptional and uniquely extreme Cuatro Cienegas Basin (CCB), a halophilic isolate, designated as AD140, emerged as a standout due to its distinct growth pattern.

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The quest for microbial cellulases has intensified as a response to global challenges in biofuel production. The efficient deconstruction of lignocellulosic biomass holds promise for generating valuable products in various industries such as food, textile, and detergents. This article presents a systematic bioprospection aimed at isolating actinomycetes with exceptional cellulose deconstruction capabilities.

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Microbial mats are biologically diverse communities that are analogs to some of the earliest ecosystems on Earth. In this study, we describe a unique transiently hypersaline microbial mat uncovered in a shallow pond within the Cuatro Cienegas Basin (CCB) in northern México. The CCB is an endemism-rich site that harbors living stromatolites that have been studied to understand the conditions of the Precambrian Earth.

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The isolation and molecular and chemo-taxonomic identification of seventeen halophilic archaea from the Santa Bárbara saltern, Sonora, México, were performed. Eight strains were selected based on pigmentation. Molecular identification revealed that the strains belonged to the and genera.

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Article Synopsis
  • A bioprospecting study in the Cuatro Cienegas Basin aimed to discover new anticancer molecules from microalgae, focusing on reducing side effects and resistance to current treatments.
  • A specific microalgae species was identified through gene sequencing and found to exhibit significant anticancer activity against several human cancer cell lines and normal cells, with low IC values in most cases.
  • The microalgae extract demonstrated the ability to disrupt cancer cell membranes, inhibit proliferation, induce apoptosis, and activate key caspases, showing potential as a powerful anticancer agent comparable to doxorubicin.
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Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola produces phaseolotoxin in a temperature dependent manner, being optimally synthesized between 18°C and 20°C, while no detectable amounts are present above 28°C. The Pht cluster, involved in the biosynthesis of phaseolotoxin, contains 23 genes that are organized in five transcriptional units.

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The phylum Actinobacteria constitutes one of the largest and anciently divergent phyla within the Bacteria domain. Actinobacterial diversity has been thoroughly researched in various environments due to its unique biotechnological potential. Such studies have focused mostly on soil communities, but more recently marine and extreme environments have also been explored, finding rare taxa and demonstrating dispersal limitation and biogeographic patterns for Streptomyces.

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The bacterium Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola produces phaseolotoxin in a temperature dependent manner, being optimally produced between 18°C and 20°C, while no detectable amounts are present above 28°C. Phaseolotoxin is an effective inhibitor of ornithine carbamoyltransferase (OCTase) activity from plant, mammalian and bacterial sources and causes a phenotypic requirement for arginine.

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Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola is the causal agent of halo blight disease of beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), which is characterized by watersoaked lesions surrounded by a chlorotic halo resulting from the action of a non-host specific toxin known as phaseolotoxin.

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