Search

As we begin the third decade of the twenty-first century, argument and debate are not habitual practices of university science education. This can be explained by the hegemony of instructor-centered traditional approaches in many of these practices. The COVID-19 pandemic has not only pushed university education online but also seems to provide an unforeseen opportunity to develop deep educational transformations. Here, we report on the case of a university online science course that, because of the COVID-19 crisis, used online verbal argumentative interaction (OVAI) to provide students with explicit opportunities to co-construct reason-based and/or evidence-based arguments and counterarguments in an undergraduate-centered science learning environment. The written arguments and counterarguments co-constructed by forty students (20 females and 20 males, 19-24 years old) during OVAI sessions were analyzed to determine their quality. Also, students' opinions about the use of OVAI in times of COVID-19 were documented. The results indicate that the students co-constructed high-quality arguments and counterarguments in the OVAI sessions. Most importantly, participants showed positive impressions about the use of OVAI in university online science education. The outcomes carry important educational implications considering the growing university online science courses in the pandemic and post-pandemic eras.

In theory, there is broad agreement among science education stakeholders that supporting the achievement of scientific literacy is crucial for citizens to make informed and critical decisions about socioscientific issues (SSI). Likewise, it is widely held that argumentation is an important component of scientific literacy. In practice, however, university science courses give undergraduates limited opportunities to strengthen their argumentation skills. The purpose of this study was to provide evidence to explore the use of drama to enrich students' argumentation about genetically modified (GM) foods. This study was conducted in Colombia where an eventual banning of GM crops is the subject of discussion in Congress. Data include the oral and written arguments produced by seventy-five students (55 females and 20 males, 18-24 years old) in a university science course during a complete drama-based teaching-learning sequence. Coding of students' responses to open-ended questions, Cohen's d effect size, and chi-square tests were performed. The outcomes suggest that the sequence effectively provided participants with explicit opportunities to enrich their GM food argumentation, producing arguments about their viewpoints and anticipating counterarguments. The evidence provided in this study contributes to the exploration of an emergent possibility in science education, namely, the use of drama as a platform for enriching students' argumentation about SSI.

Socio-scientific argumentation (SSA) is increasingly being recognized as a key aspect of scientific literacy. Much of the reason for this is that this skill is crucial for helping students to become active participants in twenty-first-century democratic societies in which the construction of informed and critical views of socio-scientific issues (e.g. climate change, COVID-19 vaccination, genetic testing) plays a fundamental role. The problem is that instructors rarely give students explicit and research-based opportunities to enrich their SSA skills. Therefore, the aim of this study was to provide evidence that drama can be used as a platform to enrich argumentation in genetic testing. The data were derived from the written responses and the audio recordings of seventy-six university students (37 females and 39 males, 16-29 years old) in Colombia during a complete drama-based teaching-learning sequence (TLS) supervised by the same instructor. The outcomes suggest that the sequence can be used to enrich argumentation in genetic testing as it effectively provided participants with explicit opportunities to produce both arguments and counterarguments about the controversy whether the use of genetic tests among people should be encouraged. This study contributes to the literature on SSA in science education by demonstrating that drama is a promising tool to enhance argumentation about science-based social issues.

La familia Solanaceae es considerada el tercer taxa botánico más importante a nivel agronómico, hecho que ha generado que mundialmente se invierta un gran esfuerzo en estudiar la biología, ecología y diversidad de hábitats de muchas de sus especies. En Colombia, las especies más cultivadas son comúnmente atacadas por patógenos que limitan la producción y la calidad final del producto. El presente documento expone la recopilación de los estudios publicados realizados en Colombia, referentes a las enfermedades causadas por tres de los patógenos más importantes que afectan la familia Solanaceae: Phytophthora, Alternaria y Ralstonia.

Cassava bacterial blight (CBB) caused by Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. manihotis (Xam) is a destructive disease in the South América and África and yield losses range between 12 and 100%. Cytochemistry and biochemistry of defense response to CBB have been well studied. However, the response of the plant to pathogen attack at the molecular and cellular level remains uncharacterized. Identification of genes associated with defense responses is one of most critical steps leading to the elucidation of disease resistance mechanisms in cassava. In this study, we identified differentially expressed genes during pathogen attack by subtractive hybridization, using the Differential Subtraction Chain method (DSC). A population of cDNA obtained from infected plants was used as ";treatment"; and a population of cDNA obtained from healthy plants was used as ";control";. 1536 clones were isolated from the resistant varieties (MBRA 685 and SG 107-35). Of these, 110 randomly selected clones were sequenced and a homology search was conducted. The sequence analysis showed that 14 cDNA clones shared homology with plant genes involved in defense responses, 70 clones were either homologous to plant genes of unknown function or showed no homology, representing new genes potentially involved in cassava defense responses. A cDNA microarray was constructed by spotting the clones identified from our subtractive libraries. Other clones potentially involved in cassava defense responses were also included. The cassava defense cDNA microarray was used to confirm the differential expression of the clones. Keywords: cassava, bacterial blight, gene expression, subtractive library, microarrays.

Traditionally, cognitive skills in mathematics and language have been described as key indicators for success. However, the social, technological, and economic changes that have occurred in the 21st century have made critical thinking, creativity, communication, and collaboration, key competences to face the challenges of a rapidly changing world. In this study, we developed a Computational Thinking (CT) curriculum based on student-centred pedagogical strategies to enhance these four competences. This curriculum was designed under the socio-cultural vision of learning, in which individuals interact in communities to build significant knowledge. An embedded mixed-method approach was implemented to evaluate improvements in competence development both in quantitative and qualitative ways in a sample of 42 students. The results indicate an encouraging increase in skills related to the competences of interest thanks to the implementation of a student-centred pedagogical curriculum based on CT. Additionally, by designing the curriculum under socio-cultural ideas of education the results show that the students and the teacher were able to form a community to facilitate teaching and learning.

Purpose: Seeking online bilingual scientific information is a key aspect of bilingual scientific Web literacy -- abilities to engage critically with science on the Web using two languages. This study aims to determine whether factors such as age, education major, gender and type of school attended at secondary level (monolingual, bilingual, trilingual) influence undergraduates' ability to search online Spanish-English bilingual scientific information. Design/methodology/approach: The participants in this study were 60 students (43 females and 17 males, 18-25 years old) enrolled in a university bilingual science course at a high-ranked Colombian university. They were asked to complete two tasks in which they had to seek online scientific information in Spanish and in English and post their responses on the Web application, Padlet® (padlet.com). Findings: Results indicate that students' gender and age influence their academic performance in both tasks and level of originality in using information obtained via the Web, respectively. Moreover, the "scientific journal" was the top source of online information from which participants sought most information to complete both tasks. Originality/value: People are becoming increasingly accustomed to seeking and sharing online scientific information to support points of view and make decisions. However, it is not known which factors influence students' ability to seek online first language-English bilingual scientific information in countries where English is the second or foreign language.

The identification and the evaluation of arguments are fundamental elements of critical thinking. However, the explicit promotion of these elements is virtually absent from university science courses. Much of the reason for this is that in most universities, across nearly all disciplines, instructors are required to see the conceptual content coverage of the syllabus as a priority. Moreover, lack of preparation and the fact that critical thinking activities are time-consuming rapidly reduce the interest of many instructors to include them in their courses. Here, we describe the use of a dialogue-based critical thinking classroom scenario (CTCS). The study used a mixed-methods approach with both quantitative and qualitative analyses of questionnaire responses. One hundred and seventeen undergraduates (73 females; 44 males; ages 16-24 years), enrolled in an introductory science course in Colombia, were asked to identify and evaluate arguments regarding a dialogue between two scientists who explore the controversial question of whether or not the concept of race is applicable to humans. It was found that the dialogue-based CTCS provided students with opportunities to identify and evaluate arguments both for and against the question and to make informed decisions about whether or not the concept of race in humans is biologically meaningful. Moreover, analyses of responses to closed-ended and open-ended questions revealed that more than half the participants were able to evaluate arguments in a fair-minded way. Practical implications for the cultivation of critical thinking skills in higher education and further research are discussed.

Abstract Background The genus Xanthomonas comprises several plant pathogenic bacteria affecting a wide range of hosts. Despite the economic, industrial and biological importance of Xanthomonas, the classification and phylogenetic relationships within the genus are still under active debate. Some of the relationships between pathovars and species have not been thoroughly clarified, with old pathovars becoming new species. A change in the genus name has been recently suggested for Xanthomonas albilineans, an early branching species currently located in this genus, but a thorough phylogenomic reconstruction would aid in solving these and other discrepancies in this genus. Results Here we report the results of the genome-wide analysis of DNA sequences from 989 orthologous groups from 17 Xanthomonas spp. genomes available to date, representing all major lineages within the genus. The phylogenetic and computational analyses used in this study have been automated in a Perl package designated Unus, which provides a framework for phylogenomic analyses which can be applied to other datasets at the genomic level. Unus can also be easily incorporated into other phylogenomic pipelines. Conclusions Our phylogeny agrees with previous phylogenetic topologies on the genus, but revealed that the genomes of Xanthomonas citri and Xanthomonas fuscans belong to the same species, and that of Xanthomonas albilineans is basal to the joint clade of Xanthomonas and Xylella fastidiosa. Genome reduction was identified in the species Xanthomonas vasicola in addition to the previously identified reduction in Xanthomonas albilineans. Lateral gene transfer was also observed in two gene clusters.

Abstract Background Phytophthora infestans (Mont.) de Bary, the causal agent of potato late blight, is responsible for tremendous crop losses worldwide. Countries in the northern part of the Andes dedicate a large proportion of the highlands to the production of potato, and more recently, solanaceous fruits such as cape gooseberry (Physalis peruviana) and tree tomato (Solanum betaceum), all of which are hosts of this oomycete. In the Andean region, P. infestans populations have been well characterized in Ecuador and Peru, but are poorly understood in Colombia and Venezuela. To understand the P. infestans population structure in the Northern part of the Andes, four nuclear regions (ITS, Ras, β-tubulin and Avr3a) and one mitochondrial (Cox1) region were analyzed in isolates of P. infestans sampled from different hosts in Colombia and Venezuela. Results Low genetic diversity was found within this sample of P. infestans isolates from crops within several regions of Colombia and Venezuela, revealing the presence of clonal populations of the pathogen in this region. We detected low frequency heterozygotes, and their distribution patterns might be a consequence of a high migration rate among populations with poor effective gene flow. Consistent genetic differentiation exists among isolates from different regions. Conclusions The results here suggest that in the Northern Andean region P. infestans is a clonal population with some within-clone variation. P. infestans populations in Venezuela reflect historic isolation that is being reinforced by a recent self-sufficiency of potato seeds. In summary, the P. infestans population is mainly shaped by migration and probably by the appearance of variants of key effectors such as Avr3a.

Abstract Background HIV-1 can be inhibited by RNA interference in vitro through the expression of short hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) that target conserved genome sequences. In silico shRNA design for HIV has lacked a detailed study of virus variability constituting a possible breaking point in a clinical setting. We designed shRNAs against HIV-1 considering the variability observed in naïve and drug-resistant isolates available at public databases. Methods A Bioperl-based algorithm was developed to automatically scan multiple sequence alignments of HIV, while evaluating the possibility of identifying dominant and subdominant viral variants that could be used as efficient silencing molecules. Student t-test and Bonferroni Dunn correction test were used to assess statistical significance of our findings. Results Our in silico approach identified the most common viral variants within highly conserved genome regions, with a calculated free energy of ≥ -6.6 kcal/mol. This is crucial for strand loading to RISC complex and for a predicted silencing efficiency score, which could be used in combination for achieving over 90% silencing. Resistant and naïve isolate variability revealed that the most frequent shRNA per region targets a maximum of 85% of viral sequences. Adding more divergent sequences maintained this percentage. Specific sequence features that have been found to be related with higher silencing efficiency were hardly accomplished in conserved regions, even when lower entropy values correlated with better scores. We identified a conserved region among most HIV-1 genomes, which meets as many sequence features for efficient silencing. Conclusions HIV-1 variability is an obstacle to achieving absolute silencing using shRNAs designed against a consensus sequence, mainly because there are many functional viral variants. Our shRNA cocktail could be truly effective at silencing dominant and subdominant naïve viral variants. Additionally, resistant isolates might be targeted under specific antiretroviral selective pressure, but in both cases these should be tested exhaustively prior to clinical use.

Recent studies show that English as the medium of instruction seems impractical and ineffective in countries where English is the second or foreign language. The situation becomes even more complicated because of students' resistance to an English-only format. In response to this, universities around the world also offer first language-English bilingual courses. Although bilingual courses are a legitimate opportunity to achieve internationalization, very little is known about bilingual teaching practices (BTPs) and the instructors' espoused beliefs about this type of practice. In this cross-sectional study, the twenty-eight-item questionnaire created by Archila and Truscott de Mejía (2020a) was adapted to explore the practices and espoused beliefs of three hundred eleven instructors from twelve schools at a Colombian university. Findings indicate that instructors used to include some BTPs in their courses. Nonetheless, there was evidence that they needed more preparation and support for the creation, implementation, and assessment of this type of practice. Most importantly, our results support the claim that bi/multilingual higher education policies should respond to the nature of each discipline. Relevant policy implications are discussed in light of the call of some authors to move towards university first language-English bilingual courses.

In many higher education institutions in countries where English is the second or foreign language; English for Academic Purposes (EAP), English-medium instruction (EMI), Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), and first language-English bilingual modules are attracting interest because of their potential to contribute to the internationalization of higher education. However, it is still not very clear whether students' monolingual, bilingual, or trilingual abilities really influence their academic performance in these modules. This study aims to determine if there is a relationship between participants' academic performance and their type of school attended at secondary level (monolingual, bilingual, trilingual) or age. The total sample of this correlational research was 177 undergraduates (105 females and 72 males, 15-30 years old) who took a university Spanish-English bilingual Biology module at a prestigious Colombian university. Here, we report the results obtained on 2.5 years of data generated by students' quizzes and exams. Independent t-tests showed that the grades obtained in quizzes and exams by the undergraduates who attended monolingual schools at secondary level were slightly lower than those of the university students who attended bilingual or trilingual schools, but there were no statistical differences between them.

The rise in university bilingual science courses is explained by a certain phenomenon, the internationalization of higher education. Bilingual Argument Mapping (BAM) -- the ability to construct argument maps using two languages -- is a key aspect of bilingual scientific literacy. An argument map is a visual representation of argument structure. The problem is that little is known about how to foster BAM in this type of course. The goal of this study was to explore the possibility of using formal and informal formative assessment (FIFA) -- a type of assessment for learning in which feedback is both preplanned and instantaneous --, to support undergraduates' BAM. The data consist of the bilingual argument maps constructed by forty-four students (27 females and 17 males, 18-23 years old) in Colombia during a university Spanish-English bilingual science course. Results indicate that FIFA helped the participants' creation of valid and coherent argument maps in Spanish, in English and in a hybrid version using code-switching as response to argumentative questions related to the scientific topics covered in the course. The potential contributions of FIFA and its implications are discussed in light of research and theory of bilingual science education.

As we begin the third decade of the twenty-first century, in countries where English is the second or foreign language, the goal of internationalization is causing a rise in university first language-English bilingual science courses. Even though bilingual written scientific argumentation (BWSA)--a twenty-first-century skill--is an essential aspect of bilingual scientific literacy (BSL), little is known about how to promote this skill in this type of courses. The purpose of this study was to provide research evidence that formal formative assessment (FFA) could be a possibility for promoting BWSA among university students. A FFA-based pedagogical strategy involving preplanned feedback and peer critique was implemented with fifty-seven students (32 females and 25 males, 16-24 years old) in Colombia during a university Spanish-English bilingual science course. The data were derived from undergraduate students' written productions in Spanish and in English. The results demonstrated that the pedagogical strategy can be useful for providing students with explicit opportunities to enrich their BWSA. This study contributes to the construction of research-based bilingual practices aimed at legitimating BSL and BWSA in university bilingual science courses. Implications for higher education institutions are discussed.

Recent studies show that the exploration of ways to involve students in effective bi/multilingual science education is gaining attention at all educational levels. Introducing students to the construction of bilingual scientific argument maps--visual representations of scientific argument structure using two languages--contributes to the quality of bilingual science education as they are a key aspect of bilingual scientific literacy; however, very little is known about how to promote the construction of these maps in bilingual science courses. Here we provide evidence for the claim that peer feedback and instructor feedback can be integrated to support the construction of bilingual scientific argument maps. A pedagogical strategy that integrates both peer feedback and instructor feedback was implemented in a university bilingual science course with 29 students (23 females and 6 males, 18-24 years-old) in Colombia. Results show that the strategy effectively supported the construction of scientific argument maps in Spanish and English. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

This manuscript builds on a novel, automatic, freely-available Bayesian approach to extract information in abstracts and titles to classify research topics by quartile. This approach is demonstrated for all N= 149,129 ISI-indexed publications in biological sciences journals during 2017. A Bayesian multinomial inverse regression approach is used to extract rankings of topics without the need of a pre-defined dictionary. Bigrams are used for extraction of research topics across manuscripts, and rankings of research topics are constructed by quartile. Worldwide and local results (e.g., comparison between two peer/aspirational research institutions in Colombia) are provided, and differences are explored both at the global and local levels. Some topics persist across quartiles, while the relevance of others is quartile-specific. Challenges in sustainable development appear as more prevalent in top quartile journals across institutions, while the two Colombian institutions favour plant and microorganism research. This approach can reduce information inequities, by allowing young/incipient researchers in biological sciences, especially within lower income countries or universities with limited resources, to freely assess the state of the literature and the relative likelihood of publication in higher impact journals by research topic. This can also serve institutions of higher education to identify missing research topics and areas of competitive advantage.

Abstract Background Members of the genus Phytophthora are notorious pathogens with world-wide distribution. The most devastating species include P. infestans, P. ramorum and P. sojae. In order to develop molecular methods for routinely characterizing their populations and to gain a better insight into the organization and evolution of their genomes, we used an in silico approach to survey and compare simple sequence repeats (SSRs) in transcript sequences from these three species. We compared the occurrence, relative abundance, relative density and cross-species transferability of the SSRs in these oomycetes. Results The number of SSRs in oomycetes transcribed sequences is low and long SSRs are rare. The in silico transferability of SSRs among the Phytophthora species was analyzed for all sets generated, and primers were selected on the basis of similarity as possible candidates for transferability to other Phytophthora species. Sequences encoding putative pathogenicity factors from all three Phytophthora species were also surveyed for presence of SSRs. However, no correlation between gene function and SSR abundance was observed. The SSR survey results, and the primer pairs designed for all SSRs from the three species, were deposited in a public database. Conclusion In all cases the most common SSRs were trinucleotide repeat units with low repeat numbers. A proportion (7.5%) of primers could be transferred with 90% similarity between at least two species of Phytophthora. This information represents a valuable source of molecular markers for use in population genetics, genetic mapping and strain fingerprinting studies of oomycetes, and illustrates how genomic databases can be exploited to generate data-mining filters for SSRs before experimental validation.

COVID-19 literacy, induced by the coronavirus disease (2019), is characterized as the understanding of COVID-19 as well as informed decisions based upon this understanding. This type of literacy is closely related to health literacy, scientific literacy, and scientific media literacy. It may be obvious to say that COVID-19 literacy is a key factor for governments to effectively manage the COVID-19 transition. However, lack of literature exists about COVID-19 literacy among university students. Therefore, the current study aimed to determine the COVID-19 literacy level among 4168 students from a Colombian university. The data were derived from students' responses to a 25-item anonymous online self-reporting questionnaire. We found that 21-25-year age group, graduate students, students enrolled prior to 2015, and medical students had a significantly higher mean score. Moreover, the Internet (86.8%) was the most popular source of information from which participants gained most information regarding COVID-19. Furthermore, 58.5% of the participants considered health workers as a source that can provide accurate information. Most importantly, the findings reveal the students' knowledge about (1) the role of an eventual process of vaccination, (2) the test currently used as diagnostic for COVID-19, and (3) the fatality rate, three aspects of COVID-19 literacy that deserve more attention. The findings provide a useful basis for the formulation of policies and concrete actions in improving COVID-19 literacy.

A well-informed populace is vitally important for the proper functioning of democracy. Media news articles constitute an essential means by which the public comes into contact with scientific issues. However, not all of the scientific information presented in news articles is trustworthy or accurate. Naturally, the situation becomes more complicated because most university science departments spend little empirical effort considering how to foster undergraduates' scientific media literacy (SML). This article discusses the effect of a teaching-learning sequence (TLS) in (1) providing undergraduates with opportunities to explicitly reflect on the ways in which news articles promote the public (mis)understanding of science and (2) engaging them in argumentative classroom interactions (such as debates). It examines the written and oral arguments produced by 115 undergraduates (62 females and 53 males, 17-23 years old) in Colombia during a complete TLS supervised by the same instructor. The data used in this analysis were collected from students' written responses and audio recordings. The findings suggest that the TLS can be a good start to show undergraduates some of the different ways in which news articles promote the public (mis)understanding of science and, thus, enrich their SML. The study contributes to the development of a research-based university science education that can inform the design of the SML curriculum for higher education.

Premise: The prompt categorization of Phytophthora infestans isolates into described clonal lineages is a key tool for the management of its associated disease, potato late blight. New isolates of this pathogen are currently classified by comparing their microsatellite genotypes with characterized clonal lineages, but an automated classification tool would greatly improve this process. Here, we developed a flexible machine learning–based classifier for P. infestans genotypes. Methods: The performance of different machine learning algorithms in classifying P. infestans genotypes into its clonal lineages was preliminarily evaluated with decreasing amounts of training data. The four best algorithms were then evaluated using all collected genotypes. Results: mlpML, cforest, nnet, and AdaBag performed best in the preliminary test, correctly classifying almost 100% of the genotypes. AdaBag performed significantly better than the others when tested using the complete data set (Tukey HSD P < 0.001). This algorithm was then implemented in a web application for the automated classification of P. infestans genotypes, which is freely available at https://github.com/cpatarroyo/genotypeclas. Discussion: We developed a gradient boosting–based tool to automatically classify P. infestans genotypes into its clonal lineages. This could become a valuable resource for the prompt identification of clonal lineages spreading into new regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A bacterium belonging to the phylum Synergistetes, genus Dethiosulfovibrio was isolated in 2007 from a saline spring in Colombia. Dethiosulfovibrio salsuginis USBA 82T (DSM 21565T= KCTC 5659T) is a mesophilic, strictly anaerobic, slightly halophilic, Gram negative bacterium with a diderm cell envelope. The strain ferments peptides, amino acids and a few organic acids. Here we present the description of the complete genome sequencing and annotation of the type species Dethiosulfovibrio salsuginis USBA 82T. The genome consisted of 2.68 Mbp with a 53.7% G + C. A total of 2609 genes were predicted and of those, 2543 were protein coding genes and 66 were RNA genes. We detected in USBA 82T genome six Synergistetes conserved signature indels (CSIs), specific for Jonquetella, Pyramidobacter and Dethiosulfovibrio. The genome of D. salsuginis contained, as expected, genes related to amino acid transport, amino acid metabolism and thiosulfate reduction. These genes represent the major gene groups of Synergistetes, related with their phenotypic traits, and interestingly, 11.8% of the genes in the genome belonged to the amino acid fermentation COG category. In addition, we identified in the genome some ammonification genes such as nitrate reductase genes. The presence of proline operon genes could be related to de novo synthesis of proline to protect the cell in response to high osmolarity. Our bioinformatics workflow included antiSMASH and BAGEL3 which allowed us to identify bacteriocins genes in the genome.

Here we present the physiological features of Pseudomonas extremaustralis strain USBA-GBX-515 (CMPUJU 515), isolated from soils in Superparamo ecosystems, > 4000 m.a.s.l, in the northern Andes of South America, as well as the thorough analysis of the draft genome. Strain USBA-GBX-515 is a Gram-negative rod shaped bacterium of 1.0-3.0 μm × 0.5-1 μm, motile and unable to form spores, it grows aerobically and cells show one single flagellum. Several genetic indices, the phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence and the phenotypic characterization confirmed that USBA-GBX-515 is a member of Pseudomonas genus and, the similarity of the 16S rDNA sequence was 100% with P. extremaustralis strain CT14-3T. The draft genome of P. extremaustralis strain USBA-GBX-515 consisted of 6,143,638 Mb with a G + C content of 60.9 mol%. A total of 5665 genes were predicted and of those, 5544 were protein coding genes and 121 were RNA genes. The distribution of genes into COG functional categories showed that most genes were classified in the category of amino acid transport and metabolism (10.5%) followed by transcription (8.4%) and signal transduction mechanisms (7.3%). We performed experimental analyses of the lipolytic activity and results showed activity mainly on short chain fatty acids. The genome analysis demonstrated the existence of two genes, lip515A and est515A, related to a triacylglycerol lipase and carboxylesterase, respectively. Ammonification genes were also observed, mainly nitrate reductase genes. Genes related with synthesis of poly-hydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), especially poly-hydroxybutyrates (PHBs), were detected. The phaABC and phbABC operons also appeared complete in the genome. P. extremaustralis strain USBA-GBX-515 conserves the same gene organization of the type strain CT14-3T. We also thoroughly analyzed the potential for production of secondary metabolites finding close to 400 genes in 32 biosynthetic gene clusters involved in their production.

The internationalisation of higher education as well as the emergence of evidence for the claim that bi/multilingualism in science should be the norm, not just an option, are conditions that explain the rise in university bilingual science courses. Thus far, however, little is known about how to foster bilingual scientific argumentation in this type of course. The purpose of this study was to provide evidence that the creation of bilingual scientific argument podcasts (BSAP) – a form of podcast where two languages are used to communicate elements of scientific argument structure (e.g. argument, counterargument, rebuttal) – can be used as a springboard to foster undergraduate bilingual scientific argumentation. The data was derived from scripts of the podcast episodes produced by twenty-seven students (19 females and 8 males, 19–25 years old) during a university Spanish-English bilingual science course taught within a formative assessment environment. Results indicate that student-created BSAP effectively enriched participants' skills to produce (counter) arguments and rebuttals in Spanish (g = 0.79) and in English (g = 1.20). Moreover, findings suggest that undergraduates benefited from formative assessment practices such as instructor feedback and peer feedback. Implications related to bilingual science education practices and supporting students' development of bilingual scientific argumentation within formative assessment environments are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]