Higher detectability method for the analysis of nucleosides, putative tumor biomarkers, in blood serum samples by CE-UV with reversed EOF.

The development and validation of methodologies for the analysis of biological samples is of outcome importance in order to obtain trustworthy results. This work reports a novel CE-UV method for the assessment of nucleosides, putative tumor biomarkers, in blood serum. The separation of seven nucleosides within c.a. 20 min has been achieved with: BGE 30 mmol/L borate at pH 9.90, 50 mmol/L CTAB, and 10% methanol; V = -10 kV; T = 20°C; and capillary dimensions of 56 cm × 50 µm. The sample plug was concentrated by a modified large volume sample stacking strategy that provided better detectability. Validation showed that the method is suitable for bioanalytical purposes and initial applications in serum samples from healthy subjects are also presented. Finally, statistical methods were applied to verify the effect of characteristics such as age, smoking habits, and alcohol consumption on nucleoside concentrations in blood serum. Univariate statistical analysis tests emphasized the need for age matching, which was confirmed by PCA-DA and PLS-DA. Cancer history in the nearby family may also interfere in nucleoside levels in blood serum, since adenosine concentrations were statistically higher for volunteers who declared having diseased relatives.

Penicillium chrysogenum var. halophenolicum, a new halotolerant strain with potential in the remediation of aromatic compounds in high salt environments.

A halotolerant phenylacetate-degrading fungus Penicillium CLONA2, previously isolated from a salt mine at Algarve (Portugal), was identified as a variant of P. chrysogenum using the ITS-5,8S rDNA and the D1/D2 domain of 28S rDNA sequences. The metabolic features and genetic characteristics suggest that this strain belongs to a subgroup of P. chrysogenum, named var. halophenolicum. The presence of the penicillin biosynthetic cluster was proven by Southern hybridizations using probes internal to the pcbAB and penDE genes and sequencing of the pcbAB-pcbC intergenic region. However the pcbAB-pcbC divergent promoter region contained 20 point modifications with respect to that of the wild type P. chrysogenum NRRL1951. The CLONA2 strain produced non-aromatic natural penicillins rather than benzylpenicillin in a medium containing potassium phenylacetate (the precursor of benzylpenicillin) and was able to grow well on phenylacetatic acid using it as sole carbon source. Due to the ability of P. chrysogenum CLONA2 to degrade aromatic compounds, this strain may be an interesting organism for aromatic compounds remediation in high salinity environments.

Resorcinol degradation by a Penicillium chrysogenum strain under osmotic stress: mono and binary substrate matrices with phenol.

A phenol-degrading Penicillium chrysogenum strain previously isolated from a salt mine was able to grow at 1,000 mg l(-1) of resorcinol on solid medium. The aerobic degradation of resorcinol by P. chrysogenum CLONA2 was studied in batch cultures in minimal mineral medium with 58.5 g l(-1) of sodium chloride using resorcinol as the sole carbon source. The fungal strain showed the ability to degrade up to 250 mg l(-1) of resorcinol. Resorcinol and phenol efficiency degradation by P. chrysogenum CLONA2 was compared. This strain removes phenol faster than resorcinol. When phenol and resorcinol were in binary substrate matrices, phenol enhanced resorcinol degradation, and organic load decreased with respect to the mono substrate matrices. The acute toxicity of phenol and resorcinol, individually and in combination, to Artemia franciscana larvae has been verified before and after the bioremediation process with P. chrysogenum CLONA2. The remediation process was effective in mono and binary substrate systems.