Javier Moleres

Distribution of genes involved in sialic acid utilization in strains of Haemophilus parasuis

Haemophilus parasuis is a porcine respiratory pathogen, well known as the aetiological agent of Glässers disease. H. parasuis comprises strains of different virulence, but the virulence factors of this bacterium are not well defined. A neuraminidase activity has been previously detected in H. parasuis, but the role of sialylation in the virulence of this bacterium has not been studied. To explore the relationship between sialic acid (Neu5Ac) and virulence, we assessed the distribution of genes involved in sialic acid metabolism in 21 H. parasuis strains from different clinical origins (including nasal and systemic isolates). The neuraminidase gene nanH, together with CMP-Neu5Ac synthetase and sialyltransferase genes neuA, siaB and lsgB, were included in the study. Neuraminidase activity was found to be common in H. parasuis isolates, and the nanH gene from 12 isolates was expressed in Escherichia coli and further characterized. Sequence analysis showed that the NanH predicted protein contained the motifs characteristic of the catalytic site of sialidases. While an association between the presence of nanH and the different origins of the strains was not detected, the lsgB gene was predominantly present in the systemic isolates, and was not amplified from any of the nasal isolates tested. Analysis of the lipooligosaccharide (LOS) from reference strains Nagasaki (virulent, lsgB(+)) and SW114 (non-virulent, lsgB(-)) showed the presence of sialic acid in the LOS from the Nagasaki strain, supporting the role of sialylation in the virulence of this bacterial pathogen. Further studies are needed to clarify the role of sialic acid in the pathogenicity of H. parasuis.

Genotypic and phenotypic diversity of the noncapsulated Haemophilus influenzae: Adaptation and pathogenesis in the human airways

The human respiratory tract contains a highly adapted microbiota including commensal and opportunistic pathogens. Noncapsulated or nontypable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) is a human-restricted member of the normal airway microbiota in healthy carriers and an opportunistic pathogen in immunocompromised individuals. The duality of NTHi as a colonizer and as a symptomatic infectious agent is closely related to its adaptation to the host, which in turn greatly relies on the genetic plasticity of the bacterium and is facilitated by its condition as a natural competent. The variable genotype of NTHi accounts for its heterogeneous gene expression and variable phenotype, leading to differential host-pathogen interplay among isolates. Here we review our current knowledge of NTHi diversity in terms of genotype, gene expression, antigenic variation, and the phenotypes associated with colonization and pathogenesis. The potential benefits of NTHi diversity studies discussed herein include the unraveling of pathogenicity clues, the generation of tools to predict virulence from genomic data, and the exploitation of a unique natural system for the continuous monitoring of long-term bacterial evolution in human airways exposed to noxious agents. Finally, we highlight the challenge of monitoring both the pathogen and the host in longitudinal studies, and of applying comparative genomics to clarify the meaning of the vast NTHi genetic diversity and its translation to virulence phenotypes.

Relative Contribution of P5 and Hap Surface Proteins to Nontypable Haemophilus influenzae Interplay with the Host Upper and Lower Airways

Nontypable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) is a major cause of opportunistic respiratory tract disease, and initiates infection by colonizing the nasopharynx. Bacterial surface proteins play determining roles in the NTHi-airways interplay, but their specific and relative contribution to colonization and infection of the respiratory tract has not been addressed comprehensively. In this study, we focused on the ompP5 and hap genes, present in all H. influenzae genome sequenced isolates, and encoding the P5 and Hap surface proteins, respectively. We employed isogenic single and double mutants of the ompP5 and hap genes generated in the pathogenic strain NTHi375 to evaluate P5 and Hap contribution to biofilm growth under continuous flow, to NTHi adhesion, and invasion/phagocytosis on nasal, pharyngeal, bronchial, alveolar cultured epithelial cells and alveolar macrophages, and to NTHi murine pulmonary infection. We show that P5 is not required for bacterial biofilm growth, but it is involved in NTHi interplay with respiratory cells and in mouse lung infection. Mechanistically, P5NTHi375 is not a ligand for CEACAM1 or α5 integrin receptors. Hap involvement in NTHi375-host interaction was shown to be limited, despite promoting bacterial cell adhesion when expressed in H. influenzae RdKW20. We also show that Hap does not contribute to bacterial biofilm growth, and that its absence partially restores the deficiency in lung infection observed for the ΔompP5 mutant. Altogether, this work frames the relative importance of the P5 and Hap surface proteins in NTHi virulence.

Novel blaROB-1-bearing plasmid conferring resistance to β-lactams in Haemophilus parasuis isolates from healthy weaning pigs

ABSTRACT Haemophilus parasuis, the causative agent of Glässers disease, is one of the early colonizers of the nasal mucosa of piglets. It is prevalent in swine herds, and lesions associated with disease are fibrinous polyserositis and bronchopneumonia. Antibiotics are commonly used in disease control, and resistance to several antibiotics has been described in H. parasuis. Prediction of H. parasuis virulence is currently limited by our scarce understanding of its pathogenicity. Some genes have been associated with H. parasuis virulence, such as lsgB and group 1 vtaA, while biofilm growth has been associated with nonvirulent strains. In this study, 86 H. parasuis nasal isolates from farms that had not had a case of disease for more than 10 years were obtained by sampling piglets at weaning. Isolates were studied by enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus PCR and determination of the presence of lsgB and group 1 vtaA, biofilm formation, inflammatory cell response, and resistance to antibiotics. As part of the diversity encountered, a novel 2,661-bp plasmid, named pJMA-1, bearing the bla ROB-1 β-lactamase was detected in eight colonizing strains. pJMA-1 was shown to share a backbone with other small plasmids described in the Pasteurellaceae, to be 100% stable, and to have a lower biological cost than the previously described plasmid pB1000. pJMA-1 was also found in nine H. parasuis nasal strains from a separate collection, but it was not detected in isolates from the lesions of animals with Glässers disease or in nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae isolates. Altogether, we show that commensal H. parasuis isolates represent a reservoir of β-lactam resistance genes which can be transferred to pathogens or other bacteria.

Relationship between Azithromycin Susceptibility and Administration Efficacy for Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae Respiratory Infection

ABSTRACT Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHI) is an opportunistic pathogen that is an important cause of acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD). COPD is an inflammatory disease of the airways, and exacerbations are acute inflammatory events superimposed on this background of chronic inflammation. Azithromycin (AZM) is a macrolide antibiotic with antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties and a clinically proven potential for AECOPD prevention and management. Relationships between AZM efficacy and resistance by NTHI and between bactericidal and immunomodulatory effects on NTHI respiratory infection have not been addressed. In this study, we employed two pathogenic NTHI strains with different AZM susceptibilities (NTHI 375 [AZM susceptible] and NTHI 353 [AZM resistant]) to evaluate the prophylactic and therapeutic effects of AZM on the NTHI-host interplay. At the cellular level, AZM was bactericidal toward intracellular NTHI inside alveolar and bronchial epithelia and alveolar macrophages, and it enhanced NTHI phagocytosis by the latter cell type. These effects correlated with the strain MIC of AZM and the antibiotic dose. Additionally, the effect of AZM on NTHI infection was assessed in a mouse model of pulmonary infection. AZM showed both preventive and therapeutic efficacies by lowering NTHI 375 bacterial counts in lungs and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and by reducing histopathological inflammatory lesions in the upper and lower airways of mice. Conversely, AZM did not reduce bacterial loads in animals infected with NTHI 353, in which case a milder anti-inflammatory effect was also observed. Together, the results of this work link the bactericidal and anti-inflammatory effects of AZM and frame the efficacy of this antibiotic against NTHI respiratory infection.

Genome Expression Profiling-Based Identification and Administration Efficacy of Host-Directed Antimicrobial Drugs against Respiratory Infection by Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae

ABSTRACT Therapies that are safe, effective, and not vulnerable to developing resistance are highly desirable to counteract bacterial infections. Host-directed therapeutics is an antimicrobial approach alternative to conventional antibiotics based on perturbing host pathways subverted by pathogens during their life cycle by using host-directed drugs. In this study, we identified and evaluated the efficacy of a panel of host-directed drugs against respiratory infection by nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi). NTHi is an opportunistic pathogen that is an important cause of exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We screened for host genes differentially expressed upon infection by the clinical isolate NTHi375 by analyzing cell whole-genome expression profiling and identified a repertoire of host target candidates that were pharmacologically modulated. Based on the proposed relationship between NTHi intracellular location and persistence, we hypothesized that drugs perturbing host pathways used by NTHi to enter epithelial cells could have antimicrobial potential against NTHi infection. Interfering drugs were tested for their effects on bacterial and cellular viability, on NTHi-epithelial cell interplay, and on mouse pulmonary infection. Glucocorticoids and statins lacked in vitro and/or in vivo efficacy. Conversely, the sirtuin-1 activator resveratrol showed a bactericidal effect against NTHi, and the PDE4 inhibitor rolipram showed therapeutic efficacy by lowering NTHi375 counts intracellularly and in the lungs of infected mice. PDE4 inhibition is currently prescribed in COPD, and resveratrol is an attractive geroprotector for COPD treatment. Together, these results expand our knowledge of NTHi-triggered host subversion and frame the antimicrobial potential of rolipram and resveratrol against NTHi respiratory infection.

Transformed Recombinant Enrichment Profiling Rapidly Identifies HMW1 as an Intracellular Invasion Locus in Haemophilus influenzae

Many bacterial species actively take up and recombine homologous DNA into their genomes, called natural competence, a trait that offers a means to identify the genetic basis of naturally occurring phenotypic variation. Here, we describe “transformed recombinant enrichment profiling” (TREP), in which natural transformation is used to generate complex pools of recombinants, phenotypic selection is used to enrich for specific recombinants, and deep sequencing is used to survey for the genetic variation responsible. We applied TREP to investigate the genetic architecture of intracellular invasion by the human pathogen Haemophilus influenzae, a trait implicated in persistence during chronic infection. TREP identified the HMW1 adhesin as a crucial factor. Natural transformation of the hmw1 operon from a clinical isolate (86-028NP) into a laboratory isolate that lacks it (Rd KW20) resulted in ~1,000-fold increased invasion into airway epithelial cells. When a distinct recipient (Hi375, already possessing hmw1 and its paralog hmw2) was transformed by the same donor, allelic replacement of hmw2A Hi375 by hmw1A 86-028NP resulted in a ~100-fold increased intracellular invasion rate. The specific role of hmw1A 86-028NP was confirmed by mutant and western blot analyses. Bacterial self-aggregation and adherence to airway cells were also increased in recombinants, suggesting that the high invasiveness induced by hmw1A 86-028NP might be a consequence of these phenotypes. However, immunofluorescence results found that intracellular hmw1A 86-028NP bacteria likely invaded as groups, instead of as individual bacterial cells, indicating an emergent invasion-specific consequence of hmw1A-mediated self-aggregation.

Modulation of Haemophilus influenzae interaction with hydrophobic molecules by the VacJ/MlaA lipoprotein impacts strongly on its interplay with the airways

Airway infection by nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) associates to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbation and asthma neutrophilic airway inflammation. Lipids are key inflammatory mediators in these disease conditions and consequently, NTHi may encounter free fatty acids during airway persistence. However, molecular information on the interplay NTHi-free fatty acids is limited, and we lack evidence on the importance of such interaction to infection. Maintenance of the outer membrane lipid asymmetry may play an essential role in NTHi barrier function and interaction with hydrophobic molecules. VacJ/MlaA-MlaBCDEF prevents phospholipid accumulation at the bacterial surface, being the only system involved in maintaining membrane asymmetry identified in NTHi. We assessed the relationship among the NTHi VacJ/MlaA outer membrane lipoprotein, bacterial and exogenous fatty acids, and respiratory infection. The vacJ/mlaA gene inactivation increased NTHi fatty acid and phospholipid global content and fatty acyl specific species, which in turn increased bacterial susceptibility to hydrophobic antimicrobials, decreased NTHi epithelial infection, and increased clearance during pulmonary infection in mice with both normal lung function and emphysema, maybe related to their shared lung fatty acid profiles. Altogether, we provide evidence for VacJ/MlaA as a key bacterial factor modulating NTHi survival at the human airway upon exposure to hydrophobic molecules.

Inactivation of the Thymidylate Synthase thyA in Non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae Modulates Antibiotic Resistance and Has a Strong Impact on Its Interplay with the Host Airways

Antibacterial treatment with cotrimoxazol (TxS), a combination of trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole, generates resistance by, among others, acquisition of thymidine auxotrophy associated with mutations in the thymidylate synthase gene thyA, which can modify the biology of infection. The opportunistic pathogen non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) is frequently encountered in the lower airways of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients, and associated with acute exacerbation of COPD symptoms. Increasing resistance of NTHi to TxS limits its suitability as initial antibacterial against COPD exacerbation, although its relationship with thymidine auxotrophy is unknown. In this study, the analysis of 2,542 NTHi isolates recovered at Bellvitge University Hospital (Spain) in the period 2010–2014 revealed 119 strains forming slow-growing colonies on the thymidine low concentration medium Mueller Hinton Fastidious, including one strain isolated from a COPD patient undergoing TxS therapy that was a reversible thymidine auxotroph. To assess the impact of thymidine auxotrophy in the NTHi-host interplay during respiratory infection, thyA mutants were generated in both the clinical isolate NTHi375 and the reference strain RdKW20. Inactivation of the thyA gene increased TxS resistance, but also promoted morphological changes consistent with elongation and impaired bacterial division, which altered H. influenzae self-aggregation, phosphorylcholine level, C3b deposition, and airway epithelial infection patterns. Availability of external thymidine contributed to overcome such auxotrophy and TxS effect, potentially facilitated by the nucleoside transporter nupC. Although, thyA inactivation resulted in bacterial attenuation in a lung infection mouse model, it also rendered a lower clearance upon a TxS challenge in vivo. Thus, our results show that thymidine auxotrophy modulates both the NTHi host airway interplay and antibiotic resistance, which should be considered at the clinical setting for the consequences of TxS administration.

Relative contribution of P5 and Hap outer membrane proteins to nontypable Haemophilus influenzae host colonisation and pathogenesis

Tesis llevada a cabo para conseguir el grado de Doctor por la Universidad de Complutense de Madrid.--2018-01-15.--Sobresaliente cum laudeContiene 7 documentos (1. Objetivos, alcance y publicaciones. 2. Registro y codigo) y 5 con el softwareespanolLas ciber amenazas afectan a todo tipo de organizaciones, causando frecuentes y costosos impactos globalmente. Recientemente, han surgido productos de ciberseguro con el potencial de reducir el impacto de los riesgos en el ciberespacio. Sin embargo, aun tienen que madurar. En este articulo presentamos varios modelos de analisis de riesgos que podrian facilitar la implantacion y adopcion de ciberseguros. Estos modelos, descritos como diagramas de influencia y diagramas de influencia bi-agente, aportan un marco para estimar el impacto economico de los ciber riesgos a los que se enfrentan aseguradores y asegurados, asi como tambien para calcular sus estrategias optimas de mitigacion y transferencia del riesgo. EnglishCyber threats affect all kinds of organisations with frequent and costly impacts worldwide. Cyber insurance products have recently emerged with the potential of lowering the impact of cyberspace risks. However, they have yet to mature. In this paper we present several risk analysis models that may facilitate the implementation and adoption of cyber insurance. These models, described in terms of influence diagrams and bi-agent influence diagrams, provide a framework for estimating the economic impact of cyber risks that may face insurers and insurees as well as calculating their optimal risk mitigation and transfer strategies.Trabajo presentado a la III Iberoamerican Conference on Supercritical Fluids celebrada en Cartagena de Indias (Colombia) del 1 al 5 de abril de 2013.Trabajo presentado a la 26th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference, celebrada en Kyoto (Japon) del 17 al 22 de octubre de 2016.The Joint Iberian Meeting on Atomic and Molecular Physics (IBER), Barcelona, September 12-14th, 2017. -- http://iber2017.com/index.phpPoster presentado en el 10o Congreso de la Asociacion Iberica de Endocrinologia Comparada AIEC, celebrado en Castellon, Espana, del 23 al 25 de septiembre de 2015Resumen del trabajo presentado a la XI Reunion del Grupo de Microbiologia Molecular, celebrada en Sevilla del 6 al 8 de septiembre de 2016.Chinchilla-Rodriguez, Zaida; Miguel, Sandra; Perianes-Rodriguez, Antonio; Ovalle-Perandones, Antonia; Olmeda-Gomez, Carlos. (2016). Autonomy vs. dependency of scientific collaboration in scientific performance . 21st International Conference on Science and Technology Indicators, STI2016. Valencia, Spain, 14-16 September 2016XXV National Spectroscopy Meeting (XXV RNE), IX Iberian Spectroscopy Conference (IX CIE), Alicante, 20th-22nd July, 2016Resumen del trabajo presentado a la 43rd International Conference on Micro and Nano Engineering (MNE), celebrada en Braga (Portugal) del 18 al 22 de septiembre de 2017.Contiene 7 documentos (1. Objetivos, alcance y publicaciones. 2. Registro, interface y codigo) y 5 con el softwarePoster presentado en el congreso 4th SCARCE International Conference, celebrado en Cadiz, Espana el 25 y 26 de noviembre de 2013We present a Cultural Heritage conceptual data model built under the European INSPIRE ( Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community ) Directive. Our model develops the Data Specification on Protected Sites , part of the INSPIRE Annex I. Hence its orientation towards georeferenced heritage data. The data model has been developed by an interdisciplinary group made up of specialists in the field of Geomatics and Cultural Heritage. It is our aim to achieve a generic, extendable and interoperable schema. It should be generic enough to embrace all kind of protected heritage data, from an ancient pilgrim’s way to the last artifact found in an archaeological excavation, extendable to allow any kind of data producer to adapt the model to the nature of their own information and interoperable to combine spatial data sets from different sources through network services, via Internet. The achievement of these three characteristics features international norms and standards referred to our kind of data. This implies adaptation to INSPIRE as well as to several ISO norms: ISO 19100 series regarding geographical information, ISO 21127 (CIDOC-CRM Model) for heritage thematic data and ISO 15836 (Dublin Core) for document resources. The data model comprehends two main dimensions: cultural entities in a strict sense, and the legislative figures created to protect them. This allows for the representation of cultural objects (i.e. historical buildings or archaeological sites) and their link to their legislative protection, keeping them as separate realities. In order to describe the data model, an international common language has been used: UML (Unified Modeling Language), a standard itself. Thus, we present a class-diagram depicting all legal and cultural entities, in the form of classes with their corresponding relations, attributes, constraints and stereotypes.Trabajo presentado en el 11th Spanish-Italian Symposium on Organic Chemistry SISOC-XI celebrado en San Sebastian (Espana), del 13 al 15 de julio de 2016.Trabajo presentado en el XVIII Congreso Peruano de Geologia, celebrado en Lima (Peru), del 16 al 19 de octubre de 2016Poster presentado en las XXXIII Jornadas de la Asociacion Espanola de Entomologia, celebradas en Almeria, del 15 al 18 de noviembre de 2017This research has been funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, through research projects POSTFIRE (CGL2013-47862-C2-1-R) and GEOFIRE (CGL2012-38655-C04-01)The main contribution of this work is the improvement of the efficiency of a PEMFC power system while guaranteeing conditions that also improve its durability. Adopting the NMPC scheme with the distributed parameter model and the nonlinear observer, the efficiency of the PEMFC-based system can be maximized guaranteeing at the same time the appropriate internal gas concentration profiles to avoid global and local hydrogen and oxygen starvation and proper membrane humidification.Trabajo presentado en la 13a Reunion de la Red Espanola de Bacterias Lacticas (RedBAL), celebrada en Madrid (Espana) del 17 al 18 de junio de 2019Memoria de tesis doctoral presentada por Uxue Tilves Matheu para obtener el titulo de Doctora en Ciencias del Mar por la Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya (UPC), realizada bajo la direccion de la Dra. Ana Maria Sabates Freijo y de la Dra. Veronica Lorena Fuentes del Institut de Ciencies del Mar (ICM-CSIC).-- 149 pages, appendicesTrabajo presentado por Nuria Vallverdu Coll para la obtencion del grado de Master universitario en investigacion basica y aplicada en recursos cinegeticos, realizado en el Instituto de Investigacion en Recursos Cinegeticos (IREC, CSIC-UCLM-JCCM).Resumen del poster presentado a la 7th International Conference on Polyphenols and Health, celebrada en Tours (Francia) del 27 al 30 de octubre de 2015.Trabajo financiado con el Proyecto DR3AMCGL2014-55118 del MINECO (Proyecto coordinado del proyecto SALTACRES).Trabajo presentado en el Congreso Iberoamericano de Hidrogeno y Pilas de Combustible, celebrado en Barcelona (Espana) del 15 al 17 de octubre de 2014.El presente articulo describe el empleo del flujo de diseno basado en modelos para el desarrollo de bloques reconfigurables automaticamente para el procesado de imagenes sobre FPGA. Para ello se han concebido arquitecturas hardware que aprovechan caracteristicas especificas de algunos algoritmos de procesado y que pueden ser modificadas a traves de un novedoso procedimiento software. Este aspecto, unido a las restantes opciones de parametrizacion de los diferentes modulos, permite liberar al disenador de los detalles especificos de las implementaciones hardware asi como adaptar el consumo de recursos del FPGA a las necesidades de la aplicacion. El proceso de reconfiguracion automatica se ilustra con el bloque de convolucion generico realizando comparaciones entre implementaciones de diferentes arquitecturas sobre un FPGA Spartan-6 LX45.Trabajo presentado en el 8th European Meeting on Solar Chemistry and Photocatalysis, celebrado en Salonica (Grecia) del 25 al 28 de Junio de 2014.Resumen del poster presentado a las I Jornadas Cientificas del CIAL celebradas el 5 de junio de 2014 en Madrid.-- et al.Trabajo presentado en el 4th International Conodont Symposium, celebrado en Valencia (Espana), del 25 al 30 de junio de 2017Comunicacion presentada en el Aquaculture Europe 2014, celebrado en Donostia-San Sebastian, Espana, del 14 al 17 de octubre de 2014Triptico de la reunion celebrada en la Universidad de Murcia del 12 al 14 de Noviembre de 2015.Trabajo presentado en la 11a Reunion de la Red Espanola de Bacterias Lacticas (RedBAL), celebrada en Gijon (Asturias, Espana) del 28 al 30 de Junio de 2017Trabajo Fin de Master: Master en Catalisis Homogenea y Quimica Molecular. Grupo de Cristales liquidos y Polimeros, Departamento de Quimica Organica de la Universidad de Zaragoza (Curso 2014/2015).La elaboracion de este articulo se inscribe en el proyecto de investigacion “Innovacion oculta: cambio de paradigma en los estudios de innovacion” (FFI2011-25475), Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad, Gobierno de Espana.Poster presented at the 18th International Microscopy Congress (ICM 2014) that took place in Prague (Czech Republic) during 7-12th September 2014.Esta investigacion ha sido posible gracias a la financiacion de los proyectos del Plan Nacional CGL2012-36682 y CGL2016-75109-P del Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad, y al Convenio Principado de Asturias-Universidad de Oviedo y MNCN-CSIC.Resumen del poster presentado a la 10th International Conference one Carbon Metabolism, vitamins B and Homocysteine, celebrada en Nancy (Francia) del 7 al 11 de julio de 2015.La celulosa es la fuente de energia mas abundante que hay en la Tierra. Su transformacion en glucosa se considera la etapa mas importante en la produccion de biocombustibles a partir de biomasa lignocelulosica. Para esta transformacion es necesaria la accion sinergica de tres tipos de enzimas que hidrolizan los enlaces s-1,4 de la celulosa: (i) las endoglucanasas, que actuan al azar sobre enlaces internos, (ii) las celobiohidrolasas, que operan progresivamente por los extremos reductores y no reductores de la cadena, y (iii) las s-glucosidasas (BGL), que hidrolizan celobiosa y los celooligosacaridos mas pequenos hasta glucosa. Los hongos filamentosos son la principal fuente de celulasas, siendo los crudos del genero Trichoderma los mas estudiados y comercializados historicamente. Sin embargo, estos hongos secretan niveles insuficientes de BGL para una conversion efectiva de la celulosa, por lo que con frecuencia requieren ser suplementados con preparaciones ricas en esta enzima procedentes de otros hongos. Recientemente, se han descrito cepas de Penicillium con gran capacidad para secretar altos niveles de BGL al medio extracelular. Ademas de su papel en la hidrolisis de la celulosa las BGL tambien pueden emplearse para sintetizar compuestos de interes industrial mediante reacciones de transglicosilacion. En este trabajo se ha estudiado una nueva cepa fungica productora de celulasas, identificada como Talaromyces amestolkiae, en base a un analisis molecular y morfologico. Se han purificado a homogeneidad electroforetica tres BGL (BGL-1, BGL-2 y BGL-3) secretadas por el hongo y se han caracterizado bioquimicamente. BGL-1 y BGL-2 son proteinas monomericas, mientras que BGL-3 es un dimero funcional. Los valores de actividad maxima de estas enzimas se obtuvieron a pH 4,0 y entre 50-60 oC, siendo estables en un rango de pH de 4-7 y a 50 oC. Las tres mostraron distinto comportamiento en funcion del sustrato (pNPG o celobiosa), ensayandose tambien el efecto de determinados compuestos quimicos e inhibidores en su actividad. Las tres pueden hidrolizar celooligosacaridos de diferente longitud, disminuyendo la eficacia de hidrolisis con el aumento de la polimerizacion, y no son activas frente a polisacaridos. Ademas, mostraron actividad de transglicosilacion, formando alquilglicosidos y celooligosacaridos de mayor longitud que los usados como sustratos. Las tres BGL se identificaron mediante huella peptidica y en base la alta homologia con otras BGL fungicas relacionadas filogeneticamente, se disenaron cebadores especificos que permitieron la secuenciacion de los genes que codifican cada una de ellas. El analisis de las secuencias aminoacidicas mostro que BGL-1 es miembro de la familia 1 de las glicosil hidrolasas, mientras que BGL-2 y BGL-3 pertenecen a la familia 3. Teniendo en cuenta que existen pocas BGL fungicas cristalizadas, se construyeron modelos moleculares de estas ultimas en base a las estructuras con las que presentaron mayor identidad. El crudo enzimatico de T. amestolkiae, rico en BGL, se uso de forma individual y como suplemento de otros cocteles comerciales en experimentos de sacarificacion a partir de slurry acido de paja de trigo. Los resultados obtenidos indican que el hongo secreta, ademas de celulasas, otras enzimas complementarias que potencian la liberacion de azucares fermentables. Se analizo el secretoma de T. amestolkiae usando Avicel o slurry acido de paja de trigo como fuente de carbono. Las celulasas fueron las enzimas mas abundantes en ambas condiciones, sin embargo, en el crudo obtenido a partir de los cultivos en slurry aumento la proporcion de BGL y otras enzimas distintas a las celulasas, indicando que para la degradacion de un sustrato complejo es necesaria mayor diversidad enzimatica. Los resultados obtenidos en este trabajo abren nuevas vias para la formulacion de cocteles enzimaticos eficaces en el contexto de la degradacion de la biomasa lignocelulosica.Trabajo presentado en el 4th International Congress on Ichnology - ICHNIA 2016: Ichnology for the 21st century: (Palaeo) Biological Traces towards Sustainable Development, celebrado en Idanha-a-Nova (Portugal), del 6 al 9 de mayo de 2016Resumen del trabajo presentado al Joint European Magnetic Symposia (JEMS), celebrado en Glasgow (UK) del 21 al 26 de agosto de 2016.Vazquez, J. T. ... et. al.-- Inciativa Iberica para el Estudio de las Fallas Activas, Tercera Reunion Iberica sobre Fallas Activas y Paleosismologia IBERFAULT 2018 - Third Iberian Meeting on Active Faults and Paleoseismology, 11-13 June 2018, Alicante, Spain.-- 4 pages, 2 figuresLa infeccion temprana por Verticillium dahliae en olivar y la discriminacion entre niveles de severidad de la Verticilosis es viable mediante la utilizacion de imagenes termicas, multiespectrales e hiperespectrales adquiridas con vehiculos aereos no tripulados a escala de parcela o tripulados a escala de comarca. El indicador relacionado con la temperatura de copa (CWSI), indices de reflectancia (B, BG1, BR1) y la fluorescencia clorofilica (FLD3) se identifican como buenos indicadores para detectar la Verticilosis en etapas tempranas del desarrollo de la enfermedad, mientras que NDVI, PRI515, R/G, HI e indices de estimacion de clorofila y carotenos demuestran ser buenos indicadores para la cuantificacion de dano moderado o severo causada por Verticilosis, lo que puede ser de utilidad para el diseno de estrategias de control de la Verticilosis a escala de parcela y de comarca. La infeccion temprana por Verticillium dahliae en olivar y la discriminacion entre niveles de severidad de la Verticilosis es viable mediante la utilizacion de imagenes termicas, multiespectrales e hiperespectrales adquiridas con vehiculos aereos no tripulados a escala de parcela o tripulados a escala de comarca. El indicador relacionado con la temperatura de copa (CWSI), indices de reflectancia (B, BG1, BR1) y la fluorescencia clorofilica (FLD3) se identifican como buenos indicadores para detectar la Verticilosis en etapas tempranas del desarrollo de la enfermedad, mientras que NDVI, PRI515, R/G, HI e indices de estimacion de clorofila y carotenos demuestran ser buenos indicadores para la cuantificacion de dano moderado o severo causada por Verticilosis, lo que puede ser de utilidad para el diseno de estrategias de control de la Verticilosis a escala de parcela y de comarca. El olivo (Olea europaea L.) es el cultivo lenoso no tropical que ocupa mayor superficie en todo el mundo, con el 95% de la produccion mundial localizada en la cuenca mediterranea. Espana es el pais con mayor superficie de olivar del mundo con 2,6 MHa y aproximadamente el 39% de la produccion mundial. La Verticilosis, causada por el hongo de suelo Verticillium dahliae Kleb, constituye la principal amenaza para el olivar. Esta enfermedad afecta al olivo en todos los paises de tradicion olivarera y causa importantes perdidas de rendimiento y muerte de los arboles (Jimenez-Diaz y col., 2012). Este patogeno coloniza el sistema vascular de la planta, bloqueando el flujo del agua y finalmente induciendo estres hidrico (Van Alfen, 1989).Espana es el mayor productor de citricos de la Union Europea y el quinto a nivel mundial, con una produccion anual superior a cinco millones de toneladas (MAGRAMA, 2016). Este sector genera una gran cantidad de subproductos, con un elevado aporte energetico y alto contenido en pectinas y azucares, por lo que podrian usarse como materias primas en dietas para rumiantes. Sin embargo, los subproductos de citricos son muy diversos, por lo que su composicion quimica y valor nutritivo tambien puede ser variable (FEDNA, 2010; Feedipedia, 2016). El objetivo de este trabajo fue analizar la composicion quimica y la produccion de gas in vitro de subproductos de citricos producidos en nuestro pais.Resumen del trabajo presentado a las I Jornadas Cientificas del CIAL celebradas el 5 de junio de 2014 en Madrid.The Indian Summer Monsoon onset is one of the meteorological events most anticipated in the world. Due to its relevance for the population, the India Meteorological Department has dated the onset over the southern tip of the Indian Peninsula (Kerala) since 1901. The traditional method to date the onset was based in the judgment of skilled meteorologist and because of this, the method was considered subjective and not adequate for the study of long-term changes in the onset.Resumen del poster presentado a las I Jornadas Cientificas del CIAL celebradas el 5 de junio de 2014 en Madrid.Trabajo presentado en el European Workshop on Experimental and Behavioral Economics (EWEBE), organizado por la Universidad de Bologna los dias 26 y 27 de mayo de 2017 con el titulo: The impact of deliberative structures on voting behavio.--Trabajo presentado en los Bilkent Microeconomics Seminars organizados por la Bilkent University (Ankara, Turkey) el dia 29 de noviembre de 2017La compacidad del racimo es un rasgo de gran interes en la vid, dado que puede condicionar su calidad y rendimiento. Estos efectos se producen fundamentalmente a traves de su relacion, directa o indirecta, con la arquitectura del racimo, el comportamiento reproductivo y el grado o modo de exposicion de las bayas al ambiente. Respecto a los dos primeros, en un estudio previo, determinamos que tanto la longitud del raquis y sus primeras ramas como el numero de bayas por racimo son los caracteres con mayor incidencia en la compacidad entre los analizados. Ahora bien, el estudio de la base genetica responsable del numero de bayas requiere de su diseccion previa, dado que es una variable secundaria, resultado del numero de flores por inflorescencia y de la tasa de cuajado o conversion de flor en fruto. En este trabajo se presenta un estudio preliminar en el que se han caracterizado fenotipicamente 104 variedades de vid para estudiar su comportamiento reproductivo. Asi, sobre una base amplia de diversidad varietal, se han estimado variables como el numero de flores, la tasa de cuajado, corrimiento, millerandage, etc., evaluando su posible relacion con la compacidad del racimo. Este trabajo, una vez completado durante varios anos, permitira conocer la diversidad existente para el comportamiento reproductivo en la vid, asi como, de forma mas concreta, abordar la caracterizacion de los procesos geneticos responsables de las diferencias fenotipicas detectadas para el comportamiento reproductivo y sus elementos individuales y para la compacidad del racimo, identificando los posibles genes involucrados en dichos procesos.Trabajo presentado en la 11th International Conference on Grapevine Breeding and Genetics, celebrada en Pekin del 29 de julio al 2 de agosto de 2014.The Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (PHI) is the first deep-space solar spectropolarimeter, on-board the Solar Orbiter (SO) space mission. It faces: stringent requirements on science data accuracy, a dynamic environment, and severe limitations on telemetry volume. SO/PHI overcomes these restrictions through on-board instrument calibration and science data reduction, using dedicated firmware in FPGAs. This contribution analyses the accuracy of a data processing pipeline by comparing the results obtained with SO/PHI hardware to a reference from a ground computer. The results show that for the analysed pipeline the error introduced by the firmware implementation is well below the requirements of SO/PHI.This work has been financed within the framework of the projects P/309307 Arqueoastronomia of the IAC, and Orientatio ad sidera III (AYA2011-26759) of the Spanish MINECO. ACGG is Ramon y Cajal researcher of the MINECO.Este trabajo ha sido financiado por el proyecto RECUPERA 2020 del MINECO y EU-FEDER; y por el proyecto TRANS·FORMA (PP.TRA.TAA201600.9). La investigacion realizada por E. Rodriguez ha sido realizada gracias al programa DOC-INIA (INIA-FEDER).Trabajo presentado en el XXIV Congreso Iberoamericano de Catalisis (CICat 2014), “Catalisis para Biorrefineria”, celebrado en Medellin del 11 al 13 de septiembre de 2014.2 paginas y 1 tabla.- Trabajo presentado en el IX Congreso de Mejora Genetica de Plantas celebrado en Murcia entre el 18 y el 20 de septiembre de 2018.3 paginas, 1 tabla, 1 figura.--Trabajo presentado a las XVI Jornadas sobre Produccion Animal AIDA (Zaragoza, 19 al 20 de mayo, 2015).Poster presentado en el XVI International Clay Conference from the Oceans to Space Granada, Spain, July 17-21, (2017)XIII Reunion Iberica de Algas Toxicas y Biotoxinas Marinas (REDIBAL 2018) - XIII Reunion Iberica de Fitoplancton Toxico - XIII Iberian Toxic Algae and Marine Biotoxins Meeting, VI Simposio Internacional de Ciencias del Mar - VI International Symposium of Marine Sciences (ISMS 2018), 20- 22 June 2018, Vigo.-- 2 pagesThis research was financed with project AGL2011-22783 granted by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competiveness. M.C. Soto was supported by a CONACYT (Mexican Council of Sciences and Technology) doctoral fellowship.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (grants CGL2012-36251 and CGL2015-64727-P to X.B., and BFU2010-15906 to JLM), and Catalan Government (2014 SGR 619). The research has also benefited from FEDER funds.Trabajo presentado en el IX International Symposium on Grapevine Physiology and Biotechnology, celebrado en La Serena (Chile) del 21 al 26 de abril de 2013.5 paginas, 4 figuras, 1 tabla.--Trabajo presentado a las: XLI Jornadas Cientificas y XVII Jornadas Internacionales de Ovinotecnia y Caprinotecnia. (Talavera de la Reina, Toledo, Espana, 14-16 septiembre, 2016).Se presenta una revisión histórica de los equinodermos Ordovícicos de Portugal. Todos los registros conocidos hasta el momento pertenecen al Ordovícico Medio-Superior (Darriwiliense-Katiense) y las asociaciones presentan gran diversidad aunque en general los taxones están poco o mal conocidos. La mayor parte de los yacimientos se concentran en las regiones de Amêndoa-Mação y Buçaco, aunque también existen citas de equinodermos en Arouca, Dornes, Moncorvo y Valongo. Por último se comentan futuras líneas de trabajo que ayudarán a comprender mejor estas faunas, perfeccionar y completar el conocimiento del registro fósil del grupo en el Ordovícico centroibérico. Ordovician echinoderms from Portugal: state of the artResumen del trabajo presentado al 37o Convegno Internazionale dei Docenti della Rappresentazione de la Unione Italiana Disegno (UDI), celebrado en Torino (Italia) del 17 al 19 de septiembre de 2015.Trabajo presentado al Danish Days on Caloric Materials and Devices, celebrado en Roskilde (Dinamarca) del 2 al 3 de octubre de 2017.Trabajo presentado en el ImageNano 2015 (Bringing together Nanoscience and Nanotechnology), celebrado en Bilbao del 10 al 13 de marzo de 2015.Este estudio ha sido financiado por el proyecto AGL-2012-40172-C02-01 del Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (MINECO). AEF agradece al MINECO la financiacion de su contrato de investigacion (FPI).We present a detailed study of a X -ray selected sample of 5 submillimeter bright QSOs at