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Grapes are globally popular with wine production being one of the most well-known uses of grapes worldwide. Brazil has a growing wine industry, and the Serra Gaúcha region is a significant contributor to the country's wine production. Nonetheless, other states are increasing their relevance in this segment. Environmental factors and the soil microbiome (bacteria and fungi) heavily influence grape quality, shaping the crucial "terroir" for wines. Here, soil quality was assessed through nutrient analysis and bacteria microbial diversity, which could significantly impact grape health and final wine attributes. Soil samples from São Paulo's vineyards, focusing on Syrah, Malbec, and Cabernet Sauvignon, underwent chemical and microbial analysis via 16S rRNA metabarcoding and highlighted significant differences in soil composition between vineyards. Statistical analyses including PCA and CAP showcased region-based separation and intricate associations between microbiota, region, and grape variety. Correlation analysis pinpointed microbial genera linked to specific soil nutrients. Random Forest analysis identified abundant bacterial genera per grape variety and the Network analysis revealed varied co-occurrence patterns, with Cabernet Sauvignon exhibiting complex microbial interactions. This study unveils complex relationships between soil microbiota, nutrients, and diverse grape varieties in distinct vineyard regions. Understanding how these specific microorganisms are associated with grapes can improve vineyard management, grape quality, and wine production. It can also potentially optimize soil health, bolster grapevine resilience against pests and diseases, and contribute to the unique character of wines known as terroir.

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The production of ethanol from lignocellulosic sources presents increasingly difficult issues for the global biofuel scenario, leading to increased production costs of current second-generation (2G) ethanol when compared to first-generation (1G) plants. Among the setbacks encountered in industrial processes, the presence of chemical inhibitors from pre-treatment processes severely hinders the potential of yeasts in producing ethanol at peak efficiency. However, some industrial yeast strains have, either naturally or artificially, higher tolerance levels to these compounds. Such is the case of S. cerevisiae SA-1, a Brazilian fuel ethanol industrial strain that has shown high resistance to inhibitors produced by the pre-treatment of cellulosic complexes. Our study focuses on the characterization of the transcriptomic and physiological impact of an inhibitor of this type, p-coumaric acid (pCA), on this strain under chemostat cultivation via RNAseq and quantitative physiological data. It was found that strain SA-1 tend to increase ethanol yield and production rate while decreasing biomass yield when exposed to pCA, in contrast to pCA-susceptible strains, which tend to decrease their ethanol yield and fermentation efficiency when exposed to this substance. This suggests increased metabolic activity linked to mitochondrial and peroxisomal processes. The transcriptomic analysis also revealed a plethora of differentially expressed genes located in co-expressed clusters that are associated with changes in biological pathways linked to biosynthetic and energetical processes. Furthermore, it was also identified 20 genes that act as interaction hubs for these clusters, while also having association with altered pathways and changes in metabolic outputs, potentially leading to the discovery of novel targets for metabolic engineering toward a more robust industrial yeast strain.

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Anacardium humile Saint Hilaire is a tropical shrub native to the Cerrado biome. It is a fruiting species with biological, medicinal, and socioeconomic significance. Thus, knowing how the genetic variability of natural populations is organized allows for the establishment of strategies for conservation and the sustainable use of the species and its biome. Six microsatellite loci previously developed from Anacardium occidentale were used to investigate the spatial genetic structure and genetic diversity of eight natural A. humile populations based on analyses of 242 adult plants. The results obtained indicate that these populations show a high level of genetic diversity (expected heterozygosity = 0.710). The endogamy coefficient was positive and significant for most populations, with a mean of 0.142 (P = 0.001). The genetic differentiation between populations was low (θ = 0.075 and GST = 0.066) but significant (P = 0.0001). The genotypes of five of the eight populations were non-randomly distributed with clusters of related plants for which the coancestry values were positive and significant. These populations exhibited high and significant endogamy indices. The results obtained for A. humile populations show that genetic conservation programs should be implemented to maintain this species.

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The objective of this study was to assess the spatial genetic structure (SGS) at different life stages (cohorts) in a remnant population (N = 101) of Copernicia prunifera in the semiarid region of northeastern Brazil. Using seven inter-simple sequence repeat molecular markers, we were able to analyze 93 loci with 100% polymorphism. Seedlings had the highest level of genetic diversity (HE = 0.411, HO = 0.599), followed by juveniles (HE = 0.394, HO = 0.579) and adults (HE = 0.267, HO = 0.427). Based on analysis of molecular variance, the majority of genetic variations were observed to occur within the life stages (93.42%) rather than between the life stages (6.58%). We found a recent reduction in the population size (bottleneck) based on the number of loci with heterozygosity excess for the two models used (infinite allele = 92 and stepwise = 91). All the life stages showed significant SGS, with positive and significant kinship values. Sp values were 0.040 for seedlings, 0.093 for juveniles, 0.156 for adults, and 0.053 for the total population. We found an increase in SGS from the seedling to adult stages, indicating that the plants were from related adult progenitors. Data from this study can be used in designing effective management and conservation strategies for the species.

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Acrocomia emensis, popularly known as the creeping tucum, belongs to the family Arecaceae, and is an oilseed specie of the Brazilian Savannah. The expansion of agricultural activity has rapidly destroyed its natural habitat, leading to a decrease in its population size. Genetic studies can be used to investigate the genetic variability, and may assist with the charting future conservation strategies. In this study the genetic diversity and structure of 150 individuals sampled in three locations in Minas Gerais were analysed, based on the transferability of six microsatellite markers, previously developed for A. aculeata. The results indicate that the populations studied have low levels of genetic variability (Ho = 0.148) and high, positive and significant inbreeding coefficient, indicating an excess of homozygotes. The average heterozygosity within the population (Hs = 0.700) accounted for 95.03% of the total genetic diversity, indicating that there is greater variability within population than between them, consistent with low genetic differentiation between population (GST = 0.046). Bayesian analysis identified three distinct groups; however, populations shared large numbers of alleles, which can be explained by the reduced distance between populations. These results reveal the need to implement genetic conservation programs for the maintenance of this species and to prioritize population from Bonito and Brasília, which showed the lowest values of genetic diversity.

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Macaúba (Acrocomia aculeata) is a palm of economic importance, widely distributed in natural forests from Mexico to Uruguay. We analyzed the genetic diversity of populations of macaúba (A. aculeata) in the northern region of the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Young leaves from 10 macaúba individuals encompassing 49 genotypes of macaúba were collected from Montes Claros, Itacambira, Brasília de Minas, Mirabela, and Grão Mogol. After extraction and amplification of samples, the amplified fragments were separated by electrophoresis. We found high levels of genetic diversity within the populations. Genetic diversity indices were high, except in the Itacambira and Mirabela populations. Results show that Mirabela and Itacambira populations can require conservation strategies because they present lower values of genetic diversity.

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Genetic diversity analyses of tropical tree species are relevant to landscape management, plant genetic resource inventory, and biological conservation of threatened species. Annona crassiflora is an endangered fruit tree native to the Cerrado biome that is threatened by reduction of natural populations and fruit extraction. We examined the intra- and interpopulational genetic diversity of this species in the northern region of Minas Gerais State. Seventy-two individuals from four natural populations were genotyped using RAPD markers. We found moderate genetic diversity among populations, with Shannon's I index varying between 0.31 and 0.44, and Nei's genetic diversity (H(E)) for the population set equal to 0.31. AMOVA indicated a greater genetic variation within (77.38%) rather than among populations (22.62%), tending towards isolation by distance (Mantel's r = 0.914; P = 0.089). Nei's genetic identity estimates among populations revealed a hierarchical pattern of genetic similarity of form [(CA1, CA2), MC], [(GM)], corroborating the high genetic differentiation between spatially isolated populations.

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Lifetime exposure to benzene is associated to a variety of blood disorders, and except for the risk of cancer, almost nothing is known concerning health impairment in individuals who are no longer exposed. In Brazil, this exposure is one of the serious problems in workplaces, and many workers have been laid off their jobs due to this intoxication, particularly in the State of Bahia, the largest producer of benzene in Latin America, which is the area of this study. From a larger study to describe health effects and genetic polymorphisms among workers with chronic benzene poisoning (CBP), this previous specific investigation analyzes the association between CBP and the pattern of sub-populations of lymphocytes. The study was performed with a CBP group (n=24) and a control group with other occupational diseases (n=24); both were selected at the Workers Health Study Center in the State of Bahia, Brazil. Clinical and epidemiologic variables were collected from medical records and from a detailed questionnaire. The average age was similar in the two groups (51.1 and 50.7, respectively). Analyzing the mean proportions of the sub-populations of lymphocytes, statistically significant differences were found for T cytotoxic cells (TCD8) (27.9; 19.4; p=0.002) and T helper memory cell (CD4CD45RO) (31.2; 37.0; p=0.015), respectively, for the CBP group and control group. These results should be viewed with caution because of the small sample size, but they strengthen a previous impression that workers exposed to benzene have their immune system impaired, even in the long term, which may contribute to some disorders and carcinogenesis process. These workers must be strictly followed up in a medical surveillance program. Although this problem has been known for a long time, this is the first attempt to study these specific effects in Brazil.

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