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Kalanchoe beharensis, a vulnerable species according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, is highly prized for its ornamental value and medicinal properties. Therefore, an efficient methodology to propagate this ecologically significant species would be of particular interest. The propagation of K. beharensis has traditionally been achieved by seed or cuttings, but these methods are limited in efficiency. Micropropagation provides a more efficient and controlled alternative by enabling the in vitro production of numerous plants in a small space and in a short period of time. Despite its advantages, no micropropagation protocol for K. beharensis has been reported in the literature. In this study, we report an efficient in vitro regeneration protocol for K. beharensis. In order to implement this, we evaluated the morphogenetic response of leaf and root explants in media supplemented with auxins, cytokinins, or a combination of both growth regulators. Surprisingly, the best results were observed in indole-3-acetic acid-supplemented media. Adventitious shoots were rooted in either hormone-free or auxin-supplemented media, with indole-3-acetic acid yielding the best results. Rooted plants were acclimatized in the greenhouse, achieving over 80% survival during acclimatization. This protocol improves multiplication rate, space utilization, and uniformity, providing a viable alternative to conventional propagation methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The production of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) through the acidogenic fermentation of wastewater is an emerging technology that requires further research to optimize operational variables for specific substrates. Cassava wastewater, which is a byproduct of the cassava sour starch extraction process, has been minimally studied regarding its potential for VFA production through acidogenic fermentation. Batch reactors were used to evaluate the effects of the substrate-to-microorganism (S/M) ratio and temperature on VFA production from cassava wastewater. The results showed no statistically significant differences between the evaluated S/M ratios. The maximum total VFA concentration observed was 2214.64 mg of acetic acid (HAc)/L (0.32 gCODVFA/gCOD), which was achieved at a S/M ratio of 4 gCOD/gVS. This concentration was predominantly composed of acetic acid (42.7%), followed by butyric acid (30.1%) and propionic acid (24.6%), with a minor quantity of isovaleric acid (2.6%). The statistical analysis for the temperature variable showed significant differences between the evaluated conditions. The maximum concentration of total VFAs was 2650.19 mgHAc/L (0.45 gCODVFA/gCOD) at 34 ± 1 °C, with acetic (40.9%), butyric (29.8%), and propionic (29.3%) acids as primary metabolites. Cassava wastewater shows promise as a potential substrate for VFA production, warranting evaluation in continuous reactors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Featured Application: This review elucidates the transformative impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on viticulture, showcasing its practical applications in disease prediction, pest management, automated grape harvesting, and the optimization of water and nutrient management. The implementation of AI-driven technologies enables vineyard managers to effectively mitigate challenges such as disease outbreaks and pest infestations, resulting in healthier vines and increased yields. Automated harvesting systems improve the efficiency and consistency of grape picking, which are essential for the production of high-quality wine. Furthermore, AI's data-centric approaches to resource management promote sustainable practices by optimizing water and nutrient use. These developments illustrate the potential of AI to revolutionize traditional viticultural practices, addressing the industry's increasing demands for quality and sustainability in winemaking. This review explores the transformative role of artificial intelligence (AI) in the entire winemaking process, from viticulture to bottling, with a particular focus on enhancing food safety and traceability. It discusses AI's applications in optimizing grape cultivation, fermentation, bottling, and quality control, while emphasizing its critical role in managing microbiological risks such as mycotoxins. The review aims to show how AI technologies not only refine operational efficiencies but also raise safety standards and ensure traceability from vineyard to consumer. Challenges in AI implementation and future directions for integrating more advanced AI solutions into the winemaking industry will also be discussed, providing a comprehensive overview of AI's potential to revolutionize traditional practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acidogenic fermentation is a technology that involves halting methanogenesis in the conventional anaerobic digestion process to produce mainly volatile fatty acids (VFAs). VFAs serve as direct precursors to energy-rich or higher value-added products upon undergoing additional processing. In this study, batch reactors were utilized to assess the individual and interaction effects of fermentation time and pH variables on VFA production from acidogenic fermentation of cassava wastewater through the establishment of a completely randomized design and a second-order response surface (rotatable central composite design), respectively. The maximum VFA production observed was 3444.04 mg of acetic acid (HAc)/L (0.58 gCODVFA/gCOD) in a fermentation time of 6 days, with acetic (48.5%), propionic (28.3%), and butyric (13.6%) acids identified as the main metabolites. Additionally, in the assessment of the effect of pH, the maximum VFA production reached 2547.72 mgHAc/L (0.34 gCODVFA/gCOD) at pH 5.9, and acetic acid was identified as the predominant organic acid. Statistically, the fermentation time and pH variables individually affect VFA production from cassava wastewater; however, the interaction between them generated a non-significant effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing approaches in plant disease management and phytopathological research. This review analyzes current applications and future directions of AI in addressing evolving agricultural challenges. Plant diseases annually cause 10–16% yield losses in major crops, prompting urgent innovations. Artificial intelligence (AI) shows an aptitude for automated disease detection and diagnosis utilizing image recognition techniques, with reported accuracies exceeding 95% and surpassing human visual assessment. Forecasting models integrating weather, soil, and crop data enable preemptive interventions by predicting spatial-temporal outbreak risks weeks in advance at 81–95% precision, minimizing pesticide usage. Precision agriculture powered by AI optimizes data-driven, tailored crop protection strategies boosting resilience. Real-time monitoring leveraging AI discerns pre-symptomatic anomalies from plant and environmental data for early alerts. These applications highlight AI's proficiency in illuminating opaque disease patterns within increasingly complex agricultural data. Machine learning techniques overcome human cognitive constraints by discovering multivariate correlations unnoticed before. AI is poised to transform in-field decision-making around disease prevention and precision management. Overall, AI constitutes a strategic innovation pathway to strengthen ecological plant health management amidst climate change, globalization, and agricultural intensification pressures. With prudent and ethical implementation, AI-enabled tools promise to enable next-generation phytopathology, enhancing crop resilience worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lathyrane-type diterpenes have a wide range of biological activities. Among them, euphoboetirane A (1) exerts neurogenesis-promoting activity. In order to increase the structural diversity of this type of lathyrane and explore its potential use in neurodegenerative disorders, the biotransformation of 1 by Streptomyces puniceus BC-5GB.11 has been investigated. The strain BC-5GB.11, isolated from surface sediments collected from the intertidal zone of the inner Bay of Cadiz, was identified as Streptomyces puniceus, as determined by phylogenetic analysis using 16S rRNA gene sequence. Biotransformation of 1 by BC-5GB.11 afforded five products (3–7), all of which were reported here for the first time. The main biotransformation pathways involved regioselective oxidation at non-activated carbons (3–5) and isomerization of the ∆12,13 double bond (6). In addition, a cyclopropane-rearranged compound was found (7). The structures of all compounds were elucidated on the basis of extensive NMR and HRESIMS spectroscopic studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant pathogenic infections causing substantial global food losses are a persistent challenge. This study investigates a potential biocontrol strategy against the necrotrophic fungus Botrytis cinerea using the endophytic fungus Sordaria tomento-alba isolated from Gliricidia sepium in Colombia. Today, synthetic fungicides dominate B. cinerea control, raising environmental and health concerns. S. tomento-alba exhibits notable in vitro effects, inhibiting B. cinerea growth by approximately 60% during co-culture and 50% in double disc co-culture. Additionally, it suppresses botryanes production and produces the compound heptacyclosordariolone, which has proven effective in inhibiting B. cinerea mycelial growth and spore germination in vitro. This biocontrol agent could be a potential eco-friendly alternative to replace synthetic fungicides. Our study provides insights into the chemical and biological mechanisms underpinning the antagonistic activity of S. tomento-alba, emphasizing the need for further research to understand its biosynthesis pathways and optimize its biocontrol potential. It also contributes molecular evidence of fungal interactions with implications for advanced forums in molecular studies in biology and chemistry, particularly in addressing plant pathogenic infections and promoting sustainable agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fungal strain BC17 was isolated from sediments collected in the intertidal zone of the inner Bay of Cadiz and characterized as Emericellopsis maritima. On the basis of the one strain–many compounds (OSMAC) approach, four new eremophilane-type sesquiterpenes (1–4), together with thirteen known derivatives (5–17) and two reported diketopiperazines (18, 19), were isolated from this strain. The chemical structures and absolute configurations of the new compounds were determined through extensive NMR and HRESIMS spectroscopic studies and ECD calculation. Thirteen of the isolated eremophilanes were examined for cytotoxic and antimicrobial activities. PR toxin (16) exhibited cytotoxic activity against HepG2, MCF-7, A549, A2058, and Mia PaCa-2 human cancer cell lines with IC50 values ranging from 3.75 to 33.44 µM. (+)-Aristolochene (10) exhibited selective activity against the fungal strains Aspergillus fumigatus ATCC46645 and Candida albicans ATCC64124 at 471 µM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agriculture currently confronts a multitude of challenges arising from the excessive utilization of chemical pesticides and the proliferation of phytopathogenic fungi strains that exhibit resistance to commonly employed active compounds in the field. Botrytis cinerea and Colletotrichum acutatum are phytopathogenic fungi that inflict substantial economic losses within agriculture and food due to their high impacts on crops both pre- and post-harvest. Furthermore, the emergence of fungal strains that are resistant to commercial fungicides has exacerbated this problem. To explore more environmentally sustainable alternatives for the control of these pathogens, an investigation into the endophytic bacteria associated with ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.) was conducted. The primary focus of this study involved evaluating their inhibitory efficacy against the fungi and assessing their potential for promoting plant growth. The endophytic bacteria genera Lelliottia, Lysinibacillus, Kocuria, Agrococcus, Acinetobacter, Agrobacterium, Zymobacter, and Mycolicibacterium were identified. All isolates showed remarkable in vitro antagonistic ability against B. cinerea (>94%) and C. acutatum (>74%). Notably, the Lelliottia amnigena J29 strain exhibited a notable proficiency in producing extracellular enzymes and indole compounds (IAA), solubilizing phosphate and potassium, and forming biofilm. Furthermore, the Lysinibacillus capsici J26, Agrococcus citreus J28, and Mycolicibacterium sp. J5 strains displayed the capacity for atmospheric nitrogen fixation and siderophore production. These findings underscore the agricultural and biotechnological potential of endophytic bacteria derived from ginger plants and suggest the feasibility of developing alternative approaches to manage these two phytopathogenic fungi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a bibliometric analysis of the scientific literature on volatile fatty acids (VFA) production from wastewater fermentation published from 1981 to 21 June 2021. A total of 618 papers obtained from the Scopus database were analyzed using VOSviewer 1.6.16 software. According to the results, this topic has been capturing the attention of researchers over the years, but with different research approaches, including optimization of anaerobic digestion in two-stage reactors, biological removal of nutrients from wastewater, energy production in bioelectrochemical systems, and recovery of VFA as value-added intermediate products to be used as inputs in a variety of industries. In addition, the bibliometric networks obtained from the authors' keyword frequency showed that wastewater treatment by using fermentation to obtain VFA as a value-added by-product is an emerging topic that undoubtedly requires further research and collaboration between scientific institutions. In this regard, different types of wastewater have been used as a substrate for acidogenic fermentation; however, and based on the results, the production of VFA from cassava processing wastewater is seen as one of the emerging issues of this field. Finally, evaluating the effect of operating conditions on the fermentation process, such as pH, hydraulic retention time, organic loading rate, temperature, inoculum and substrate concentration, independent of the final application of the VFA produced, is a relevant aspect for bioprocess optimization and implementation on a large scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the infection of grapevine (Vitis vinifera) by the fungus Botrytis cinerea, the concentration of polyamines, which are toxic substances for the phytopathogen, increases in the grape. Nine NRPS genes have been identified in the genome of B. cinerea, yet the function of five of them remains unknown. For this reason, we have studied the expression of the 9 NRPS genes by RT-qPCR in a medium supplemented with sublethal concentrations of three polyamines (1,3-diaminopropane (1,3-DAP), spermidine (SPD), and spermine (SPM)). Our results show that the presence of polyamines in the culture medium triggered the overexpression of the Bcnrps1 gene in the pathogen. Deleting Bcnrps1 did not affect mycelial growth or adaptation to osmotic stress, and we show that its expression is not essential for the cycle of infection of the B. cinerea. However, mutating the Bcnrps1 gene resulted in overexpression of the Bcnrps6 gene, which encodes for the excretion of siderophores of the coprogen family. Moreover, gene deletion has reduced the tolerance of B. cinerea B05.10 to toxic substances such as the polyamine SPD and the fungicide pyrimethanil, and its virulence has increased. Our findings provide new insights into the function of the Bcnrps1 gene and its involvement in the tolerance of B. cinerea against exogenous toxic compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proteomics has become one of the most relevant high-throughput technologies. Several approaches have been used for studying, for example, tumor development, biomarker discovery, or microbiology. In this "post-genomic" era, the relevance of these studies has been highlighted as the phenotypes determined by the proteins and not by the genotypes encoding them that is responsible for the final phenotypes. One of the most interesting outcomes of these technologies is the design of new drugs, due to the discovery of new disease factors that may be candidates for new therapeutic targets. To our knowledge, no commercial fungicides have been developed from targeted molecular research, this review will shed some light on future prospects. We will summarize previous research efforts and discuss future innovations, focused on the fight against one of the main agents causing a devastating crops disease, fungal phytopathogens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The manufacturing process of the aircraft cabin interior panels is expensive and time-consuming, and the resulting panel requires rework due to damages that occurred during their fabrication. The aircraft interior panels must meet structural requirements; hence sandwich composites of a honeycomb core covered with two layers of pre-impregnated fiberglass skin are used. Flat sandwich composites are transformed into panels with complex shapes or geometries using the compression molding process, leading to advanced manufacturing challenges. Some aircraft interior panels are required for non-structural applications; hence sandwich composites can be substituted by cheaper alternative materials and transformed using disruptive manufacturing techniques. This paper evaluates the feasibility of replacing the honeycomb and fiberglass skin layers core with rigid polyurethane foams and thermoplastic polymers. The results show that the structural composites have higher mechanical performances than the proposed sandwich composites, but they are compatible with non-structural applications. Sandwich composite fabrication using the vacuum forming process is feasible for developing non-structural panels. This manufacturing technique is fast, easy, economical, and ecological as it uses recyclable materials. The vacuum forming also covers the entire panel, thus eliminating tapestries, paints, or finishes to the aircraft interior panels. The conclusion of the article describes the focus of future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sandwich composites are widely used in the manufacture of aircraft cabin interior panels for commercial aircraft, mainly due to the light weight of the composites and their high strength-to-weight ratio. Panels are used for floors, ceilings, kitchen walls, cabinets, seats, and cabin dividers. The honeycomb core of the panels is a very light structure that provides high rigidity, which is considerably increased with fiberglass face sheets. The panels are manufactured using the compression molding process, where the honeycomb core is crushed up to the desired thickness. The crushed core breaks fiberglass face sheets and causes other damage, so the panel must be reworked. Some damage is associated with excessive build-up of resin in localized areas, incomplete curing of the pre-impregnated fiberglass during the manufacturing process, and excessive temperature or residence time during the compression molding. This work evaluates the feasibility of using rigid polyurethane foams as a substitute for the honeycomb core. The thermal and viscoelastic behavior of the cured prepreg fiberglass under different manufacturing conditions is studied. The first part of this work presents the influence of the manufacturing parameters and the feasibility of using rigid foams in manufacturing flat panels oriented to non-structural applications. The conclusion of the article describes the focus of future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Plant–microorganism associations date back more than 400 million years. Plants host microorganisms that establish many different relationships with them, some negative and others very positive for both organisms. A type of this relationship is established with microorganisms that live inside them, known as endophytic microorganisms; they can include bacteria, yeasts, and fungi. In this study, we isolate endophytic bacteria from maize plants, and we characterize them in order to check their potential for being used as biocontrol agents against Botrytis cinerea, one of the most important phytopathogenic fungi in the world. The endophytic bacteria showed this antagonistic effect during in vitro assay and also during in vivo assay in Phaseolus vulgaris. At the same time, they showed the capacity for promoting growth in Zea mays plants. Plant diseases are one of the main factors responsible for food loss in the world, and 20–40% of such loss is caused by pathogenic infections. Botrytis cinerea is the most widely studied necrotrophic phytopathogenic fungus. It is responsible for incalculable economic losses due to the large number of host plants affected. Today, B. cinerea is controlled mainly by synthetic fungicides whose frequent application increases risk of resistance, thus making them unsustainable in terms of the environment and human health. In the search for new alternatives for the biocontrol of this pathogen, the use of endophytic microorganisms and their metabolites has gained momentum in recent years. In this work, we isolated endophytic bacteria from Zea mays cultivated in Colombia. Several strains of Bacillus subtilis, isolated and characterized in this work, exhibited growth inhibition against B. cinerea of more than 40% in in vitro cultures. These strains were characterized by studying several of their biochemical properties, such as production of lipopeptides, potassium solubilization, proteolytic and amylolytic capacity, production of siderophores, biofilm assays, and so on. We also analyzed: (i) its capacity to promote maize growth (Zea mays) in vivo, and (ii) its capacity to biocontrol B. cinerea during in vivo infection in plants (Phaseolus vulgaris). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work deals with the manufacture and mechanical characterization of natural-fiber-reinforced biobased epoxy resins. Biolaminates are attractive to various industries because they are low-density, biodegradable, and lightweight materials. Natural fibers such as Ixtle, Henequen, and Jute were used as reinforcing fabrics for two biobased epoxy resins from Sicomin®. The manufacture of the biolaminates was carried out through the vacuum-assisted resin infusion process. The mechanical characterization revealed the Jute biolaminates present the highest stiffness and strength, whereas the Henequen biolaminates show high strain values. The rigid and semirigid biolaminates obtained in this work could drive new applications targeting industries that require lightweight and low-cost sustainable composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copper from a solid source was diffused into undoped n-type bulk ZnO (001) single crystals at 1000 °C under a nitrogen atmosphere at different diffusion times. The Cu diffusion profiles were obtained by Secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS), and the fitting reveals a diffusion case from a constant concentration source. A value for the diffusion coefficient of 2.42(±0.2) × 10−12 cm2∙s−1 was obtained. Electrical measurements present an increment of carrier concentration with diffusion time, but remains n-type which indicates an increase in the donor levels produced by structural defects in ZnO. Photoluminescence (PL) spectra showed an increment of green emission intensity associated with Cu incorporation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]