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In vitro plant cultures are able to remove and metabolise xenobiotics, making them promising tools for decontamination strategies. In this work, we evaluated Brassica napus hairy roots (HRs) to tolerate and remove high concentrations of the azo dye Naphthol Blue-Black (NBB). Experiments were performed using both growing and resting culture systems at different pHs. Reuse of HRs biomass was evaluated in successive decolourisation cycles. Proteomics was applied to understand the molecular responses likely to be involved in the tolerance and removal of NBB. The HRs tolerated up to 480 µg mL-1 NBB, and 100 % removal was achieved at 180 µg mL-1 NBB after 10 days using both culture systems. Interestingly, the HRs are robust enough to be reused, showing 55-60 % removal even after three reuse cycles. The highest dye removal rates were achieved during the first 2 days of incubation, as initial removal is mainly driven by passive processes. Active mechanisms are triggered later by regulating the expression of proteins with different biological functions, mainly those related to xenobiotic metabolism, such as hydrolytic and redox enzymes. These results suggest that B. napus HRs are a robust tool that could make a significant contribution to textile wastewater treatment.

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In vitro cultures of undifferentiated plant cells of Tessaria absinthioides, a native herb popularly recognized and used for its health benefits, were studied as potential food supplements. These tissues were incubated under two light conditions, and the biomass obtained was freeze-dried and oven-dried. To evaluate their nutritional value, their physicochemical and functional properties were determined. Although in some cases there were significant differences in the results according to the drying methodology applied, all these tissues presented a high proportion of proteins (23.6-28.3%), a low percentage of fats (< 2%) constituted mainly by phytosterols, and a significant amount of crude fibers (6.9-9.0%) and ashes (> 10%). In addition, the freeze-dried calli resulted in a product with better functional properties. On the other hand, their phytochemical profiles and antioxidant capacity were studied and compared with tissues from wild specimens and with green tea and chamomile as reference extracts.

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Although many countries banned the insecticide endosulfan, it is still an environmental pollutant. Plants metabolize the two diastereomers of the formulations known as technical grade endosulfan (TGE) by two phase I pathways: hydrolysis leading to less toxic derivatives and oxidation giving endosulfan sulfate which is as toxic as endosulfan itself. We assessed the removal, bioaccumulation and phase I metabolization of TGE from water matrices using hairy root clones (HRs) of three edible species, Brassica napus, Raphanus sativus and Capsicum annuum. B. napus and C. annuum HRs removed 86% of TGE from the bioreaction media in 2 and 96 h, respectively, whereas R. sativus HRs removed 91% of TGE within 6 h of biotreatment. In the experiments with B. napus, only endosulfan sulfate was detected in both biomass and medium, whereas R. sativus and C. annuum accumulated endosulfan sulfate and endosulfan alcohol. Besides, endosulfan lactone was detected in C. annuum reaction medium. Acute ichthyotoxicity assays toward Poecilia reticulata showed that media contaminated with TGE lethal levels did not produce mortality after the phytotreatments. This research highlights the feasibility of using HRs to evaluate plant enzymatic abilities toward xenobiotics and their potential for the design of ex situ decontamination processes.

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Endophytic fungi live inside vegetal tissues without causing damage to the host plant and may provide lead compounds for drug discovery. The co-culture of two or more endophytic fungi can trigger silent gene clusters, which could lead to the isolation of bioactive compounds. In this study, two endophytic strains isolated from Handroanthus impetiginosus leaves, identified as Talaromyces purpurogenus H4 and Phanerochaete sp. H2, were grown in mixed and axenic cultures. The meroterpenoid austin was detected only in the extracts from the mixed culture. Once isolated, austin displayed very interesting trypanocidal activity, with an IC50 value of 36.6 ± 1.2 µg/mL against Trypanosoma cruzi in the epimastigote form. The results obtained highlight the importance of the co-culturing of endophytic fungi to obtain natural bioactive products. The findings also enhance our understanding of the ecological relationships between endophytic fungi.

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Aldo-keto reductases (AKRs) are nicotinamide-dependent enzymes that catalyze the transformation of aldehydes and ketones into alcohols. They are spread across all phyla, and those from microbial origin have proved to be highly robust and versatile biocatalysts. In this work, we have discovered and characterized a microbial AKR from the yeast Rhodotorula mucilaginosa by combining genome-mining and expression assays. The new enzyme, named AKR3B4, was expressed by a simple protocol in very good amounts. It displays a selective substrate profile exclusively transforming aldehydes into alcohols. Also, AKR3B4 shows very good stability at medium temperatures, in a broad range of pH values and in the presence of green organic solvents. Conversion assays demonstrate it is an excellent biocatalyst to be used in the synthesis of aromatic alcohols, and also to produce furan-3-ylmethanol and the valuable sweetener xylitol. These results show that AKR3B4 displays attractive features so as to be used in chemoenzymatic processes.

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The culture of fungal species from agro-waste allows for the sustainable preparation of valuable biotechnological products and contributes to establish the Circular Economy concept. The Ganoderma lucidum species is well known as producer of laccases (EC 1.10.3.2), which serves as a tool to oxidize chemicals. When producing G. lucidum E47 basidiomes with edible purposes out of rice crop residues, its laccase remains as by-product. In this work, we report the biotechnological characterization and application of the laccase recovered from spent cultures of the G. lucidum E47 strain. We detected at least one polypeptide (ca. 59 kDa) which displays attractive activity and stability values when used in the range of 18-45 °C in mildly acidic environment (pH 4.8-5.8). These parameters can be enhanced in the presence of organic cosolvents such as butyl acetate and methyl iso-butyl ketone, but the opposite effect is observed with solvents of lower log P. The best activity-stability performance is reached when the biocatalyst is used in pH 4.8 buffer with 5% (v/v) butyl acetate at 37 °C. The laccase was capable of decolorizing xanthene, azo and triarylmethane dyes, exhibiting excellent selectivity on bromocresol green and bromocresol purple. Furthermore, the biocatalyst displayed an attractive activity when assessed for the decolorization of bromocresol green in a proof-of-concept effluent biotreatment.

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A preparation of ß-ketosulfides avoiding the use of thiols is described. The combination of a multicomponent reaction and a lipase-catalysed hydrolysis has been developed in order to obtain high chemical diversity employing a single sulfur donor. This methodology for the selective synthesis of a set of ß-ketosulfides is performed under mild conditions and can be set up in one-pot two-step and on a gram-scale.

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Secondary metabolites play a major role in the adaptation of plants to the environment. Furan neo-clerodane diterpenes are characteristic secondary metabolites in Baccharis flabellata Hook. & Arn. var. flabellata. One of the main compounds is the diene ent-15,16-epoxy-19-hydroxy-1,3,13(16),14-clerodatetraen-18-oic acid (DAC). In this work a new dimeric compound (DACD) has been isolated and identified by NMR and MS techniques. The presence of other minor dimers was also observed in the same plant methanolic extracts. Assuming that they may be the products of [4 + 2] condensation of two monomeric moieties, the formation of adducts by photochemical dimerization was checked by inducing the in vitro [4 + 2] cycloaddition of DAC. Moreover, the DAC and DACD accumulation rates in aerial parts of B. flabellata specimens were analyzed monthly during a complete phenological cycle. The accumulation of monomer depends on the plant phonological stage; meanwhile the dimer proportion arises in detriment of the monomer as the solar UV radiation increases. Since plants exposed to strong UV intensities produce radical species, the scavenger properties of these compounds toward reactive nitrogen species (RNS), and reactive oxygen species (ROS), were analyzed. Albeit DAC and DACD show significant superoxide radical scavenger activities, the monomer proved to be more effective than the dimer toward ROS, while DACD was an excellent RNS scavenger.

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While many redox enzymes are nowadays available for synthetic applications, the toolbox of ene-reductases is still limited. Consequently, the screening for these enzymes from diverse sources in the search of new biocatalyst suitable for green chemistry approaches is needed. Among 13 plant tissue cultures, Medicago sativa and Tessaria absinthioides calli, as well as Capsicum annuum hairy roots, were selected due to their ability to hydrogenate the CC double bond of the model substrate 2-cyclohexene-1-one. The three axenic plant cultures showed more preference toward highly activated molecules such as nitrostyrene and maleimide rather than the classical substrates of the well-known Old Yellow Enzymes, resembling the skills of the NAD(P)H-dependent flavin-independent enzymes. When the three biocatalytic systems were applied in the reduction of chalcones, T. absinthioides showed high chemoselectivity toward the CC double bond whereas the other two demonstrated abilities to biohydrogenate the CC double bounds and the carbonyl groups in a sequential fashion.

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Lignocellulosic biomasses, either from non-edible plants or from agricultural residues, stock biomacromolecules that can be processed to produce both energy and bioproducts. Therefore, they become major candidates to replace petroleum as the main source of energy. However, to shift the fossil-based economy to a bio-based one, it is imperative to develop robust biotechnologies to efficiently convert lignocellulosic streams in power and platform chemicals. Although most of the biomass processing facilities use celluloses and hemicelluloses to produce bioethanol and paper, there is no consolidated bioprocess to produce valuable compounds out of lignin at industrial scale available currently. Usually, lignin is burned to provide heat or it remains as a by-product in different streams, thus arising environmental concerns. In this way, the biorefinery concept is not extended to completion. Due to Nature offers an arsenal of biotechnological tools through microorganisms to accomplish lignin valorization or degradation, an increasing number of projects dealing with these tasks have been described recently. In this review, outstanding reports over the last 6 years are described, comprising the microbial utilization of lignin to produce a variety of valuable compounds as well as to diminish its ecological impact. Furthermore, perspectives on these topics are given.

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The research on the synthesis of steroids and its derivatives is of high interest due to their clinical applications. A particular focus is given to molecules bearing a D-ring lactone like testolactone because of its bioactivity. The Aspergillus genus has been used to perform steroid biotransformations since it offers a toolbox of redox enzymes. In this work, the use of growing cells of Aspergillus parasiticus to study the bioconversion of dehydro-epi-androsterone (DHEA) is described, emphasizing the metabolic steps leading to D-ring lactonization products. It was observed that A. parasiticus is not only capable of transforming bicyclo[3.2.0]hept-2-en-6-one, the standard Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenase (BVMO) substrate, but also yielded testololactone and the homo-lactone 3ß-hydroxy-17a-oxa-D-homoandrost-5-en-17-one from DHEA. Moreover, the biocatalyst degraded the lateral chain of cortisone by an oxidative route suggesting the action of a BVMO, thus providing enough metabolic evidences denoting the presence of BVMO activity in A. parasiticus. Furthermore, since excellent biotransformation rates were observed, A. parasiticus is a promising candidate for the production of bioactive lactone-based compounds of steroidal origin in larger scales.

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The use of native bacteria is a useful strategy to decontaminate industrial effluents as well as the environment. Acinetobacter sp. RTE1.4 was previously isolated from polluted environments and constitutes a promising alternative for this purpose due to its capability to remove phenol from synthetic solutions and industrial effluents. In this work, this strain was identified at species level as A. tandoii RTE1.4. Phenol degradation pathway was studied and some reaction intermediates were detected, confirming that this strain degraded phenol through ortho-cleavage of the aromatic ring. Phenol removal assays were carried out in a stirred tank bioreactor and a complete degradation of the contaminant was achieved after only 7 h, at an aeration rate of 3 vvm and at agitation of 600 rpm. Moreover, this bacterium was immobilized into calcium alginate beads and an increase in phenol biodegradation with respect to free cells was observed. The immobilized cells were reused for four consecutive cycles and stored at 4°C for 9 months, during which phenol removal efficiency was maintained. Post-removal solutions were evaluated by Microtox® test, showing a toxicity reduction after bacterial treatment. These findings demonstrated that A. tandoii RTE1.4 might be considered as a useful biotechnological tool for an efficient treatment of different solutions contaminated with phenol in bioreactors, using either free or immobilized cells.

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Endosulfan is a Persistent Organic Pollutant insecticide still used in many countries. It is commercially available as mixtures of two diastereomers, α- and ß-endosulfan, known as technical grade endosulfan (TGE). A laboratory model based on the use of axenic plant cell cultures to study the removal and metabolization of both isomers from contaminated water matrixes was established. No differences were recorded in the removal of the two individual isomers with the two tested endemic plants, Grindelia pulchella and Tessaria absinthioides. Undifferentiated cultures of both plant species were very efficient to lower endosulfan concentration in spiked solutions. Metabolic fate of TGE was evaluated by analyzing the time course of endosulfan metabolites accumulation in both plant biomass and bioremediation media. While in G. pulchella we only detected endosulfan sulfate, in T. absinthioides the non-toxic endosulfan alcohol was the main metabolite at 48h, giving the possibility of designing phytoremediation approaches.

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Aromatic carboxylic acids are readily obtained from lignin in biomass processing facilities. However, efficient technologies for lignin valorization are missing. In this work, a microbial screening was conducted to find versatile biocatalysts capable of transforming several benzoic acids structurally related to lignin, employing vanillic acid as model substrate. The wild-type Aspergillus flavus growing cells exhibited exquisite selectivity towards the oxidative decarboxylation product, 2-methoxybenzene-1,4-diol. Interestingly, when assaying a set of structurally related substrates, the biocatalyst displayed the oxidative removal of the carboxyl moiety or its reduction to the primary alcohol whether electron withdrawing or donating groups were present in the aromatic ring, respectively. Additionally, A. flavus proved to be highly tolerant to vanillic acid increasing concentrations (up to 8 g/L), demonstrating its potential application in chemical synthesis. A. flavus growing cells were found to be efficient biotechnological tools to perform self-sufficient, structure-dependent redox reactions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a biocatalyst exhibiting opposite redox transformations of the carboxylic acid moiety in benzoic acid derivatives, namely oxidative decarboxylation and carboxyl reduction, in a structure-dependent fashion.

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The antibacterial activity of lime (Citrus x aurantifolia) essential oil (EO) against the foodborne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes in tyndallised apple juice was studied at two temperatures. The EO concentration required to produce a significant increase in the lag phase of bacterial growth was determined. The addition of 200 µL of lime EO per 100 mL of apple juice completely inhibited the growth of L. monocytogenes at 5 ºC and at 37 ºC. This concentration of EO extended the lag time at least 292.7% compared to juice without EO. This is especially important considering that L. monocytogenes was able to grow in the juice at low temperatures in the absence of EOs.

En este trabajo se estudió la actividad antibacteriana del aceite esencial de lima (Citrus x aurantifolia) contra Listeria monocytogenes, patógeno alimentario, cultivado en jugo de manzana tindalizado a dos temperaturas. Se determinó la concentración necesaria del aceite esencial para producir una extensión significativa de la fase de retraso. La adición de 200 µL de aceite esencial de lima por 100 mL de jugo de manzana tindalizado, a 5 ºC produjo la inhibición total del crecimiento de L. monocytogenes, en tanto que con el mismo volumen a 37 ºC la fase de retraso se extendió a 24,7 h (292,7%). Esto es importante debido a que L. monocytogenes fue capaz de crecer en este sustrato a temperaturas bajas en ausencia de aceite esencial.

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A screening based on undifferentiated plant cells allowed identifying Gardenia jasminoides as the best biocatalyst to perform the kinetic resolution of 1-phenylethanol. This species was further tested for its ability to oxidize stereoselectively the (S)-isomers from racemic mixtures of secondary alcohols leaving their antipodes unaffected in Tris-HCl buffer. Those substrates which afforded the best results in the kinetic resolution were subjected to a chemo-enzymatic sequence of deracemization. G. jasminoides immobilized cells in calcium alginate were used for the oxidation of the (S)-enantiomers and, in a second step, NaBH(4) was added to the same vessel for the reduction of the corresponding ketone. The sequential repetition of these two steps allowed obtaining the R-alcohols in 82-90% yield in high optical purity (71-96% ee). Despite the viability of the cells is affected by the chemical reagent, their enzymes remain active due to the protective environment of the calcium alginate beads.

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Some members of a series of cinnamic acid derivatives possess promising inhibitory activities in cellular assays against fungi of the Aspergillus genus. In order to search for a possible molecular target of such compounds, their role as Taq polymerase I inhibitors was studied. Four of the compounds studied displayed IC50 values within the range of those considered active as DNA polymerase inhibitors when searching for new cytotoxic molecules. The results obtained in our molecular modeling study appear to show that the inhibitory activity depends on the presence of a stabilizing interaction between the phenylpropanoid derivatives and the residues Asp610, Thr664, Phe667, Tyr671, and Asp785 located in the active site of Taq polymerase I. Also, it is possible to assert that the polymerization of DNA would be the molecular target of cinnamic acid derivatives with antifungal activity, which correlates with the inhibition of Taq polymerase I and the quantitative descriptor for the lipophilia (ClogP).

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Coumarin metabolism by several Aspergillus strains was studied. Aspergillus ochraceus and Aspergillus niger carried out the reduction of the C3-C4 double bond to yield dihydrocoumarin in 24h. Meanwhile, the first strain did not transform dihydrocoumarin after 7d, A. niger demonstrated to have two divergent catabolic pathways: (a) the lactone moiety opening and further reduction of the carboxylic acid furnishing the primary alcohol 2-(3-hydroxypropyl)phenol and, (b) the hydroxylation of the aromatic ring of dihydrocoumarin at a specific position to give 6-hydroxy-3,4-dihydrochromen-2-one. Aspergillus flavus did not perform double bond reductions, and only produced oxygenated metabolites, mainly 5-hydroxycoumarin. Enzyme-specific inhibitors and a coumarin analogous were useful to confirm the A. niger catabolic route.

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In this work, a novel catalpol derivative (6,10,2',6'-tetraacetyl-O-catalpol), which was previously obtained by our group and shown experimentally to inhibit a type of Taq DNA polymerase, was studied in silico. Studies of the interaction of 6,10,2',6'-tetraacetyl-O-catalpol with the Klentaq fragment of the Taq DNA polymerase I from Thermus aquaticus helped to elucidate the mechanism of inhibition of the enzyme, and offered valuable information that can be used to propose substrate structural modifications aimed at increasing the binding affinity. Classical and semi-empirical methods were used to characterize the conformational preferences of this organic compound in solution. Using docking simulations, the most probable binding mode was found, and the stabilities of the docked solutions were tested in a series of molecular dynamics experiments. Results indicated that the mechanism of inhibition may be competitive, which agrees with previous binding experiments done with 6,10,2',6'-tetraacetyl-O-catalpol.

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A structure-antifungal activity relationship (SAR) study of 22 related cinnamic acid derivatives was carried out. Attention was focused on the antifungal activities exhibited against Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus terreus, and Aspergillus niger. (E)-3-(4-methoxy-3-(3-methylbut-2-enyl)phenyl)acrylic acid (16) exhibited antifungal activity against A. niger, comparable to that of miconazole and a significant antifungal effect against A. flavus and A. terreus as well. A structure-activity relationship (SAR) study of related cinnamic acid derivatives has allowed a model to be proposed for the recognition of the minimal structural requirements for the antifungal effect in this series.

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