Sterol-Targeted Laboratory Evolution Allows the Isolation of Thermotolerant and Respiratory-Competent Clones of the Industrial Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Sterol composition plays a crucial role in determining the ability of yeast cells to withstand high temperatures, an essential trait in biotechnology. Using a targeted evolution strategy involving fluconazole (FCNZ), an inhibitor of the sterol biosynthesis pathway, and the immunosuppressant FK506, we aimed to enhance thermotolerance in an industrial baker's yeast population by modifying their sterol composition. This approach yielded six isolates capable of proliferating in liquid YPD with μ values ranging from 0.

Proteomic Variation in the Oral Secretion of Spodoptera exigua and Spodoptera littoralis Larvae in Response to Different food Sources.

The Spodoptera genus is defined as the pest-rich genus because it contains some of the most destructive lepidopteran crop pests, characterized by a wide host range. During feeding, the caterpillars release small amounts of oral secretion (OS) onto the wounded leaves. This secretion contains herbivore-induced molecular patterns (HAMPs) that activate the plant defense response, as well as effectors that may inhibit or diminish the plant's anti-herbivory response.

DNA Triplet Energies by Free Energy Perturbation Theory.

Determining the energetics of triplet electronic states of nucleobases in the biological macromolecular environment of nucleic acids is essential for an accurate description of the mechanism of photosensitization and the design of drugs for cancer treatment. In this work, we aim at developing a methodological approach to obtain accurate free energies of triplets in DNA beyond the state of the art, able to reproduce the decrease of triplet energies measured experimentally for in DNA (270 kJ/mol) vs in the isolated nucleotide in aqueous solution (310 kJ/mol). For such purposes, we adapt the free energy perturbation method to compute the free energy related to the transformation of a pure singlet state into a pure triplet state via "alchemical" intermediates with mixed singlet-triplet nature.

Proteomic Analysis of the Murine Liver Response to Oral Exposure to Aflatoxin B1 and Ochratoxin A: The Protective Role to Bioactive Compounds.

Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and Ochratoxin A (OTA) are considered the most important mycotoxins in terms of food safety. The aim of this study was to evaluate the hepatotoxicity of AFB1 and OTA exposure in Wistar rats and to assess the beneficial effect of fermented whey (FW) and pumpkin (P) as functional ingredients through a proteomic approach. For the experimental procedures, rats were fed AFB1 and OTA individually or in combination, with the addition of FW or a FW-P mixture during 28 days.

Evaluation of Sericin/Polyvinyl Alcohol Mixtures for Developing Porous and Stable Structures.

Fibrous by-products, including defective or double cocoons, are obtained during silk processing. These cocoons primarily contain fibroin and sericin (SS) proteins along with minor amounts of wax and mineral salts. In conventional textile processes, SS is removed in the production of smooth, lustrous silk threads, and is typically discarded.

Proper 5'-3' cotranslational mRNA decay in yeast requires import of Xrn1 to the nucleus.

The budding yeast Xrn1 protein shuttles between the nucleus, where it stimulates transcription, and the cytoplasm, where it executes the major cytoplasmic mRNA decay. In the cytoplasm, apart from catalyzing 5'→3' decay onto non translated mRNAs, Xrn1 can follow the last translating ribosome to degrade the decapped mRNA template, a process known as "cotranslational mRNA decay". We have previously observed that the import of Xrn1 to the nucleus is required for efficient cytoplasmic mRNA decay.

Global retention model based on multisample system parameters for optimising chromatographic fingerprints of medicinal plants.

Background: Developing analytical methods for Traditional Medicine products by liquid chromatography is challenging due to their chemical complexity and the lack of analytical standards for numerous, unidentified constituents. Regulatory agencies recommend chromatographic fingerprint analysis for quality evaluation, relying on peak detection to ensure resolution. Conventional modelling struggles to optimise experimental conditions for such complex samples.

Fungal Planet description sheets: 1697-1780.

Novel species of fungi described in this study include those from various countries as follows: , from accumulated snow sediment sample. , on leaf spots of . , on submerged decaying wood in sea water, on , as endophyte from healthy leaves of .

Dual regulation of the levels and function of Start transcriptional repressors drives G1 arrest in response to cell wall stress.

Background: Many different stress signaling pathways converge in a common response: slowdown or arrest cell cycle in the G1 phase. The G1/S transition (called Start in budding yeast) is a key checkpoint controlled by positive and negative regulators. Among them, Whi7 and Whi5 are transcriptional repressors of the G1/S transcriptional program, yeast functional homologs of the Retinoblastoma family proteins in mammalian cells.

Survival of viruses in water microcosms.

Human enteric viruses and emerging viruses such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, influenza virus and monkeypox virus, are frequently detected in wastewater. Human enteric viruses are highly persistent in water, but there is limited information available for non-enteric viruses. The present study evaluated the stability of hepatitis A virus (HAV), murine norovirus (MNV), influenza A virus H3N2 (IAV H3N2), human coronavirus (HCoV) 229E, and vaccinia virus (VACV) in reference water (RW), effluent wastewater (EW) and drinking water (DW) under refrigeration and room temperature conditions.

Determination of collagen types and mineral contents in fish skin and collagen-containing skin-derived protein hydrolysates before and after simulated digestion.

An digestion model was established to characterize the types of collagens in skin of cod, white fish, and salmon as well as their collagen-containing skin-derived protein hydrolysates (CSPH) before and after digestion. Moreover, the mineral content and their bioaccessibility were evaluated. Finally, the presence of heavy metals was evaluated to assess the safety of these products.

Improved Description of Environment and Vibronic Effects with Electrostatically Embedded ML Potentials.

Incorporation of environment and vibronic effects in simulations of optical spectra and excited state dynamics is commonly done by combining molecular dynamics with excited state calculations, which allows to estimate the spectral density describing the frequency-dependent system-bath coupling strength. The need for efficient sampling, however, usually leads to the adoption of classical force fields despite well-known inaccuracies due to the mismatch with the excited state method. Here, we present a multiscale strategy that overcomes this limitation by combining EMLE simulations based on electrostatically embedded ML potentials with the QM/MMPol polarizable embedding model to compute the excited states and spectral density of 3-methyl-indole, the chromophoric moiety of tryptophan that mediates a variety of important biological functions, in the gas phase, in water solution, and in the human serum albumin protein.

Deciphering the Energy Transfer Mechanism Across Metal Halide Perovskite-Phthalocyanine Interfaces.

Energy transfer processes in nanohybrids are at the focal point of conceptualizing, designing, and realizing novel energy-harvesting systems featuring nanocrystals that absorb photons and transfer their energy unidirectionally to surface-immobilized functional dyes. Importantly, the functionality of these dyes defines the ultimate application. Herein, CsPbBr perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) are interfaced with zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc) dyes featuring carboxylic acid.

Untangling the role of single-atom substitution on the improvement of the hydrogen evolution reaction of YNS MXene in acidic media.

The production of hydrogen (H) fuel through electrocatalysis is emerging as a sustainable alternative to conventional and environmentally harmful energy sources. However, the discovery of cost-effective and efficient materials for this purpose remains a significant challenge. In this study, we explore the potential of the transition-metal-substituted YNS MXene as a promising candidate for hydrogen production through the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER).

Bioavailability study of OTA, ZEN, and AFB1 along with bioactive compounds from tiger nut beverage and its by-products.

Mycotoxins pose significant health risks due to their prevalence in food products and severe health implications, including carcinogenicity. This study investigates the bioavailability of mycotoxins aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), ochratoxin A (OTA), and zearalenone (ZEN) individually and combined, in the presence of identified polyphenols from tiger nut beverage (TNB) and tiger nut by-product (TNBP) using the in vitro model Caco-2 cells, which simulates the human intestinal barrier. The objective is to understand how bioactive compounds from TNBP can mitigate the effects of AFB1, OTA and ZEN (and their combination) by bioavailability interference, contributing to safer food products and innovative food safety strategies.

Optimizing Recovery of High-Added-Value Compounds from Complex Food Matrices Using Multivariate Methods.

In today's food industry, optimizing the recovery of high-value compounds is crucial for enhancing quality and yield. Multivariate methods like Response Surface Methodology (RSM) and Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) play key roles in achieving this. This review compares their technical strengths and examines their sustainability impacts, highlighting how these methods support greener food processing by optimizing resources and reducing waste.

Mechanistic Studies on the Gold-Catalyzed Intramolecular Hydroalkylation of Ynamides to Indenes.

An in-depth experimental and computational study to rationalize the mechanism underlying the gold-catalyzed intramolecular hydroalkylation of ynamides to indenes is reported. Evaluating the reactivity of a set of deuterated ynamides and gold complexes allowed to get valuable insights into the mechanism of this reaction, while DFT calculations allowed to determine a plausible reaction pathway for this unprecedented transformation. This pathway involves the activation of the ynamide followed by a [1,5]-hydride shift from the highly reactive, in situ generated keteniminium ion, and a subsequent cyclization before deprotonation followed by a final protodeauration.

Non-contact lensless holographic reconstruction of diffractive intraocular lenses profiles.

A lensless compact arrangement based on digital in-line holography under Gabor's regime is proposed as a novel contactless method to assess the profile of multifocal intraocular lenses (MIOLs) which are conformed by several diffractive rings. Diffractive MIOLs are a widely adopted ophthalmologic option for the correction of presbyopia in patients undergoing cataract surgery. The MIOL optical design might introduce non-negligible optical performance differences between lenses as well as the introduction of undesirable photic phenomena (such as halos and glare) affecting the vision of users.

Carbonyl compounds responsive 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine doped polydimethylsiloxane based membrane as alternative derivatizing strategy prior to in-tube solid phase microextraction coupled with capillary liquid chromatography analysis.

In this work, a DNPH doped PDMS based membrane was developed to facilitate carbonyl compound derivatization. This membrane delivers DNPH in presence of carbonyl compounds to form hydrazones. Subsequently, the resulting hydrazones are preconcentrated, separated and detected by in-tube solid phase microextraction (IT-SPME) coupled on-line with capillary liquid chromatography (CapLC) with Uv-Vis diode array detection (DAD).

High-pressure phase transition and amorphization of BaVO.

The structural evolution of metavanadate compounds under high pressure offers valuable insights into phase transitions and changes in material properties. This study explores the structural behavior of BaVO under pressures up to 12 GPa using powder X-ray diffraction and density-functional theory (DFT) simulations. The results indicate a phase transition from the ambient pressure orthorhombic phase (space group 222) to a monoclinic phase (space group 2) at 4 GPa, likely driven by the distortion of the vanadium oxide polyhedron.

The Impact of Corneal Oedema on UV Light Transmission: An Experimental Study in Porcine Eyes.

Corneal oedema is known for changing the cornea's optical properties, particularly its ability to transmit ultraviolet (UV) light, which is crucial for visual clarity and eye health. This study explores how changes in corneal thickness in oedematous states affect UV light transmission. This study included 107 porcine eyes with artificially induced corneal oedema.

Valorization of Hom Thong Banana Peel ( sp., AAA Group) as an Anti-Melanogenic Agent Through Inhibition of Pigmentary Genes and Molecular Docking Study.

Prolonged and unprotected exposure to the environment explicitly influences the development of hyperpigmented lesions. The enzyme tyrosinase (TYR) is a key target for regulating melanin synthesis. Several bioactive compounds derived from plant extracts have been found to possess potent anti-melanogenesis properties against TYR.

Nutrients and Quality Aspects Characterizing Cultivated in Valli di Comacchio (Northern Italy) Across Different Seasons.

The quality aspects of () cultured in Valli di Comacchio were examined across different seasons. Nutritional quality parameters, antioxidant activity, total carotenoids, and contaminants were determined in winter, summer, and autumn (December, June, and October). Seasonal variations in nutritional parameters were observed.

Mechanical Properties and In Vitro Digestibility of Fermented Lentil and Quinoa Flour Food Prototypes for Older Adults.

: The increase in the older adult population worldwide and the need to switch to vegetal-origin protein consumption for environmental sustainability point to legumes and pseudocereals as alternative ingredients in new food formulations. This study aimed to assess the impact of food structure and fungal fermentation on the digestibility of new food prototypes made with quinoa and/or lentil flours addressed to older adults. : Four gels and six breads were elaborated and subjected to mechanical analysis and simulated gastrointestinal in vitro digestion.

Quantitative Assessment of Volatile Profile and Sensory Perception of Artisan Bread Made in the City of Valencia.

Artisan bread, known for its simple recipes, natural ingredients, and traditional techniques, has seen a surge in demand, especially following the COVID-19 pandemic. Small bakeries emphasize extended fermentation processes and prioritize sensory qualities in their products. However, the impact of ingredients on the quality characteristics of artisan bread remains underexplored.