16 documents found, page 1 of 2
Assessing the antitumor potential of variants of the extracellular carbohydrate...
Mota, Rita; Lima, Raquel T.; Flores, Carlos; Silva, Juliana F.; Cruz, Beatriz; Alves, Bárbara; Pinto, Marta T.; Adessi, Alessandra; Pereira, Sara B.Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide with a huge societal and economic impact. Clinically effective and less expensive anticancer agents derived from natural sources can help to overcome limitations and negative side effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Previously, we showed that the extracellular carbohydrate polymer of a Synechocystis ΔsigF overproducing mutant displayed a strong antitumor activi...
Pilot scale production of Crocosphaera chwakensis CCY0110 and evaluation of its...
Matinha-Cardoso, Jorge; Santos, Tamara; Pereira, Hugo; Varela, João; Tamagnini, Paula; Mota, RitaIn recent years, the large-scale cultivation and commercialization of microalgae/cyanobacteria biomasses have become a worldwide trend, mainly directed to the animal and human nutrition markets due to their outstanding nutritional value. However, only a very limited number are currently classified as food ingredients by Food Safety regulators worldwide. Crocosphaera chwakensis CCY0110 is a marine unicellular cy...
A new cyanobacterial species with a protective effect on lettuce grown under sa...
Brito, Ângela; Rocha, Mariana; Kaštovský, Jan; Vieira, Jorge; Vieira, Cristina P.; Ramos, Vitor; Correia, Manuel; Santos, Marina; Mota, RitaIn this work, a new terrestrial cyanobacterial species, Oculatella lusitanica LEGE 161147, was isolated and characterized using a polyphasic approach. Morphologically, O. lusitanica shares characteristics with different Oculatella species (mainly with O. crustae-formantes), lacking distinctive features. However, the phylogeny based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence and the 16S-23S ITS secondary structures support t...
The Extremophile Endolithella mcmurdoensis gen. et sp. nov. (Trebouxiophyceae, ...
Martins, Teresa P.; Ramos, Vitor; Hentschke, Guilherme S.; Castelo-Branco, Raquel; Rego, Adriana; Monteiro, Maria; Brito, Ângela; Tamagnini, PaulaThe McMurdo Dry Valleys constitute the largest ice-free region of Antarctica and one of the most extreme deserts on Earth. Despite the low temperatures, dry and poor soils and katabatic winds, some microbes are able to take advantage of endolithic microenvironments, inhabiting the pore spaces of soil and constituting photosynthesis-based communities. We isolated a green microalga, Endolithella mcmurdoensis gen....
Glyphosate-dependent effects on photosynthesis of Solanum lycopersicum L. an ec...
Soares, Cristiano; Pereira, Ruth; Martins, Maria; Tamagnini, Paula; Serôdio, João; Moutinho-Pereira, José; Cunha, Ana; Fidalgo, FernandaThis study aimed to assess the toxicity of glyphosate (GLY; 0, 10, 20 and 30?mg?kg-1) in Solanum lycopersicum L., particularly focusing on the photosynthetic metabolism. By combining ecophysiological, ultrastructural, biochemical and molecular tools, the results revealed that the exposure of tomato plants to GLY led to alterations in leaf water balance regulation [increasing stomatal conductance (gs) and decrea...
Cyanoflan: a cyanobacterial sulfated carbohydrate polymer with emulsifying prop...
Mota, Rita; Vidal, Ricardo; Pandeirada, Carolina; Flores, Carlos; Adessi, Alessandra; De Philippis, Roberto; Nunes, Cláudia; Coimbra, Manuel A.The extracellular polysaccharides produced by cyanobacteria have distinctive characteristics that make them promising for applications ranging from bioremediation to biomedicine. In this study, a sulfated polysaccharide produced by a marine cyanobacterial strain and named cyanoflan was characterized in terms of morphology, chemical composition, and rheological and emulsifying properties. Cyanoflan has a 71 % ca...
Glyphosate-dependent effects on photosynthesis of Solanum lycopersicum L.-An ec...
Soares, Cristiano; Pereira, Ruth; Martins, Maria; Tamagnini, Paula; Serôdio, João; Moutinho-Pereira, José; Cunha, Ana; Fidalgo, FernandaThis study aimed to assess the toxicity of glyphosate (GLY; 0, 10, 20 and 30 mg kg-1) in Solanum lycopersicum L., particularly focusing on the photosynthetic metabolism. By combining ecophysiological, ultrastructural, biochemical and molecular tools, the results revealed that the exposure of tomato plants to GLY led to alterations in leaf water balance regulation [increasing stomatal conductance (gs) and decrea...
Extracellular proteins: Novel Key components of metal resistance in cyanobacteria?
Joaquín, Giner-Lamia; Pereira, Sara B.; Bovea-Marco, Miquel; Futschik, Matthias E.; Tamagnini, Paula; Oliveira, PauloMetals are essential for all living organisms and required for fundamental biochemical processes. However, when in excess, metals can turn into highly-toxic agents able to disrupt cell membranes, alter enzymatic activities, and damage DNA. Metal concentrations are therefore tightly controlled inside cells, particularly in cyanobacteria. Cyanobacteria are ecologically relevant prokaryotes that perform oxygenic p...
Preparation and characterization of polysaccharides/PVA blend nanofibrous membr...
Santos, Carla; Silva, Carla J. S. M.; Büttel, Zsófia; Guimarães, Rodrigo; Pereira, Sara B.; Tamagnini, Paula; Zille, AndreaA series of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), PVA/chitosan (CS) and PVA/cyanobacterial extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) blended nanofibrous membranes were produced by electrospinning using a microfiltration poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) basal membrane, for potential applications in water filtration. Nanofibres were obtained from solutions of 20% (w/w) PVA with 1% (w/w) CS or EPS, using a weight ratio of 60/40...
Evaluation of the antioxidant activity of cell extracts from microalgae
Guedes, A. Catarina; Gião, Maria S.; Seabra, Rui; Ferreira, Antonio; Tamagnini, Paula; Moradas-Ferreira, Pedro; Malcata, F. XavierA growing market for novel antioxidants obtained from non-expensive sources justifies educated screening of microalgae for their potential antioxidant features. Characterization of the antioxidant profile of 18 species of cyanobacteria (prokaryotic microalgae) and 23 species of (eukaryotic) microalgae is accordingly reported in this paper. The total antioxidant capacity, accounted for by both water- and lipid-s...