Alternative methods for improving traditional food processing have increased in the last decades. Additionally, the development of novel dairy products is gaining importance due to an increased consumer demand for palatable, healthy, and minimally processed products. Ultrasonic processing or sonication is a promising alternative technology in the food industry as it has potential to improve the technological and functional properties of milk and dairy products.
Viticulture is a valuable sector worldwide with an extraordinary socio-economic impact in Spain. Numerous pests and diseases threaten vineyards, and their management primarily relies on the use of conventional agrochemicals. The current paradigm of sustainability pursues the implementation of ecologically sound strategies in vineyard ecosystems. The use of cover crops is arising as an alternative with numerous benefits, including favoring above-belowground biodiversity and the presence of beneficial soil organisms such as the entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs).
The biochemical effects of trees may significantly influence local pedogenesis as well as pedocomplexity, biodiversity and forest dynamics on both stand and landscape scales. One such effect is the decay of tree trunks, which is driven by organisms, and especially by the microbiome. Decomposition modifies soil formation, which due to the existence of many feedbacks affects the composition of the decomposer community.
Background: Recently, we reported that patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) harbor specific signature of bacteria in their gut and that a modified Mediterranean ketogenic diet (MMKD) improves Alzheimer's disease (AD) markers in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and the signatures of gut bacteria. However, other microbial population such as gut fungi (mycobiome) in relation to MCI/AD pathology, gut bacteria and diet remain unknown.
Decades of population-based health outcomes data highlight the importance of understanding how environmental exposures in pregnancy affect maternal and neonatal outcomes. Animal model research and epidemiological studies have revealed that such exposures are able to alter fetal programming through stable changes in the epigenome, including altered DNA methylation patterns and histone modifications in the developing fetus and infant.
Soil organic matter (OM) stratification and macro and micro fauna are both good indicators for the evaluation of soil ecological functioning, which is interrelated with nutrient cycles. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, responses of the degree of OM stratification with soil depth expressed as a ratio, and belowground biota to forest degradation and land cover changes have received little attention, particularly in northern Iran.
Climate change and population growth generates a decrease in water availability around the world which can compromise the maintenance of sustainable agriculture. Thus, treated wastewater (TWW) became an alternative to minimize water shortage. However, this may indirectly affect the soil's microbial properties. In this study different soils irrigated for 0, 1, 8 and 20 years with TWW were sampled and from the east central region of Tunisia.
Insect populations are declining even in protected areas, but the underlying causes are unclear. Here, I consider whether the factors driving the loss of insect diversity include invasive and/or introduced insects transmitting pathogens to less-resistant native species. The introduction of insects into new areas for biocontrol, to promote pollination, or for mass rearing in insect farms, threatens the health and diversity of indigenous insects by the co-introduction of entomopathogens whose spillover is difficult to control.
Although the effects of nitrogen (N) fertilization on soil microflora have been well studied, the effects should be verified across soil types and N-added levels. To understand the impacts of N fertilization on shifts in soil biological traits and bacterial communities and to further explore the coupling mediation of these parameters with respect to crop yields, we sampled soils from three experimental sites (each site received three levels of N fertilization (0, 168 and 312 kg N ha−1)) that share the same climatic conditions but have different soil types (clay, alluvial and sandy soils).
As emerging contaminants, antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) have become a public concern. This study aimed to investigate the occurrence and diversity of ARGs, and variation in the composition of bacterial communities in source water, drinking water treatment plants, and tap water in the Pearl River Delta region, South China. Various ARGs were present in the different types of water. Among the 27 target ARGs, floR and sul1 dominated in source water from three large rivers in the region.
