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A combination of experimental and theoretical study results for the reaction of 3-bromopropenyl acetate in the presence of zinc with three different aldehydes are reported. The studies provide insight into structural features of adducts with phenyl ring and the acetate group placed on almost parallel planes which favors stabilizing [pi]-stacking interactions.

Environmental pollution is gradually becoming a major concern for the international community. Metal-based nanoparticles (MNPs) are submicron scale entities made of pure metals or their complexes. Nanoparticles are found widely in nature. Although they can have a natural origin, most of them are produced for biotechnological applications as they constitute a valuable tool for many industrial sectors, e.g. Ag MNPs are used in hundreds of personal care products due to their bactericide properties. As MNPs use is quickly increasing, their accumulation in marine systems has become a worrying environmental issue. Nevertheless, their behavior in marine ecosystems is complex and they tend to aggregate and sediment. Additionally, the number of studies about their toxicity is very limited. On the other hand, recent studies have described that MNPs can trigger numerous impacts on the microbiota of natural environments. For that reason, the effect of Ag and Cd MNPs has been addressed here, either individually or combined, on the microbiota associated to the clam Scrobicularia plana. This bivalve mollusk is considered a good bioindicator of pollution effects due to its wide distribution, sessile lifestyle and filtrating feeding. Animals were exposed to single and binary mixtures of the Ag and Cd MNPs at two concentrations, 5 and 50 µg/L, for 7 days. Clams were then dissected, and their organs were quickly frozen. The microbiome associated to the digestive gland and/or gills was identified by using 16S rRNA genomic analysis. Results showed several changes associated to the presence of the MNPs that can modulate the microbiome of the clam and, thus, affect its health and capacity of survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, pharmaceuticals compounds are one of the main sources of environmental pollution worldwide, due to the increasing use of these chemicals that is related to the increasing life expectancy. Pharmaceutical compounds are present in many environmental compartments (surface water, sediment and biota), and marine organisms are particularly vulnerable, due to the inability of most wastewater depuration systems to eliminate these compounds and to biomagnification processes. Nevertheless, to date the studies carried out about the impact of pharmaceutical active substances on the environmental biota is scarce. In this work we have addressed the impact of two common anti-inflammatory drugs: ibuprofen and diclofenac, either individually or combined, on the microbiota associated to the clam Scrobicularia plana. This bivalve mollusk is considered a good bioindicator for pollution damage due to its wide distribution, sessile lifestyle and filtrating feeding. To do so, animals were exposed to single and binary mixtures of the pharmaceuticals at two concentrations, 5 and 50 µg/L, for 7 days. Clams were then dissected, and their organs were quickly frozen. The microbiome associated to the digestive gland and/or gills was identified by using 16S rRNA genomic analysis. Results showed a pleotropic of changes that can affect the functionality of the microbiome and its interaction/relationship with the host organism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Guadalquivir river is the main hydrographic basin of Andalusia (Southern Spain) that supports the impact of numerous socioeconomic activities (e.g.: urban centers, agricultural, industrial and mining activities). These activities may have a negative impact in the watercourse, thus reducing environmental quality and biodiversity. Managing this water resource properly is crucial, given its high economic, ecological and landscape value. We have carried out a global diagnosis of the river by using different multidisciplinary techniques. From the integration of physicochemical and microbiological analysis, a water quality index (WQI) was quantified. The highest WQI value was observed at the source of the river and decreased with the course influenced by naturally fluctuating variables (turbidity, concentration of anions and cations, etc.) or as a result of anthropogenic activities (heavy metals, total coliforms, pesticides, etc.). Poor water quality values were related to anthropogenic activities carried out in tributaries of the main river, e.g.: Guadaira (high levels of Fe and Cu) and Genil (proliferation of coliform bacteria, such as E. coli) rivers, or in the final stretch of the Guadalquivir river (agricultural activities). Since microorganisms are present in almost every environment in the biosphere playing unique/essential/integral roles, we assessed the utility of water metaomics for environmental diagnosis. Taxonomic identification of bacterial microorganism at different taxonomic levels was performed by 16S rRNA genomic analysis. The application of this culture-independent high-throughput molecular tool allowed to evaluate the alterations of the global structure of the microbiome at the different locations along the river course. Results showed specific changes in bacterial distribution, abundance and diversity associated to physicochemical properties and environmental stress sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new technology MALDI-Imaging or MALDI-Mass Spectrometry Imaging (MSI) can provide multiomics spatial information from within sections of tissues or of a complete organism. MSI is emerging as a powerful tool for investigating the spatial distribution of hundreds of biomolecules (e.g.: proteins, peptides, lipids, metabolites, etc.) in biological samples by doing a single measurement. The molecular data profiling obtained from MSI analyses can be later combined with histological information from classical staining techniques like hematoxylin and eosin to get molecular morphological maps [1]. Here, we show the first molecular imaging mapping applied to environmental studies by using the clam Scrobicularia plana. This bivalve mollusk is widely distributed in European intertidal mudflats and considered a good bioindicador of metal/organic contaminant exposure and bioavailability. The complete peptide and lipid maps from S. plana were generated, which allowed to spatially define the different organs of the bivalve (i.e.: digestive gland, stomach, siphons and foot) at a molecular level. The comparative peptide analysis of different areas of the southwestern Andalusian coast showed significant changes in animals from the Guadalquivir estuary, specifically in the siphons. Finally, specific lipids were associated to the different organs of the clam, and some of them presented altered patterns at different locations of the Huelva estuary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PM2.5 and PAHs bound to PM2.5 were investigated in downtown Bologna, from January to June 2003, in order to determine the burden of the fine fraction in the aerosol of a typical urban environment of the Po Valley, a critical area in Northern Italy in terms of atmospheric pollution. The sampling campaign was divided into three parts: a winter sub-campaign, an intermediate campaign where PM2.5 and PM10 were simultaneously sampled and which identified PM2.5 as the major component of PM10, and a summer sub-campaign. Critical concentrations of both PM2.5 and PAHs were observed in winter time; for example, in January 2003 the mean value for the 24-h average PM2.5 concentration was 58 μg/m3, much higher than the annual arithmetic mean of 15 μg/m3 established by the US ambient air quality standard (NAAQS). Correspondingly, the mean value for benzo[a]pyrene (BAP) in PM2.5 was 1.79 ng/m3, again higher than the annual mean of 1 ng/m3, required by European regulations for BAP in PM10. In summer time the BAP concentration considerably decreases to 0.10 ng/m3 as the likely effect of photolysis and dilution on a higher boundary layer; PM2.5 decreases too, but the mean concentration (22 μg/m3) is still higher than the NAAQS value. Further analysis included TEM microscopy of collected particles and correlations between PM2.5, PAHs and gases (benzene, O3, CO, NO2, SO2). All these observations identified on-road mobile sources as the main source of emissions and, in general, of the poor air quality level in the city of Bologna. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]