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Genomes of alfalfa root nodule bacteria, Sinorhizobium meliloti, symbionts of alfalfa are enriched in non-symbiotic (cryptic) plasmids, which gene pool is remained weakly studied. S. meliloti strains are significantly varied in number and size of these plasmids. The goal of the study was to assess the occurrence of phage-related sequences (PRS) on cryptic plasmids. Whole genome sequences of 12 S. meliloti strains native to Caucasian and Kazakhstan centers of alfalfa diversity (NCG and PAG, correspondingly) were st...

The presence of nitrate concentration in drinking water can cause high toxicity to the human body, being considered among the most important pollutant in the environment. Among the many methods available such as biological treatment, electrodialysis, reverse osmosis, adsorption, ion exchange, adsorption is the most used technique due to its low cost and simplistic design. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to study the retention of nitrate anion from high concentration aqueous solutions on a novel magnetic adsor...

Many oilfields such as supergiant Romaschkinskoye oilfield in Russia contain heavy oils that are complicated to recover. In order to increase the proportion of obtained oil, methods of enhanced oil recovery are implemented, and microbial methods (MEOR) are considered as safe and efficient once. In-situ MEOR are based on stimulation of oilwell microflora that partly decomposes hydrocarbon molecules or alters oil-water interface tension. Despite oilwells are an environments with anaerobic conditions, many allochtono...

Harvested bee pollen has been used since ancient times for its healthy properties and nutritional value. In terms of composition, bee pollen contains a large number of different substances such as proteins, carbohydrates and lipids as well as phenolic organic compounds. The protein content is the second most abundant component, its levels (10 to 40%, w/w) depending on the type of plant. Recently, numerous studies have demonstrated the beneficial properties of pollen in promoting health and reducing the risk of dev...

In the latest years, there was an interest in seeking for antimicrobial substances of botanical parts that have capability to suppress foodborne pathogens. Therefore, the antibacterial activity was evaluated on the crude juices produced from the mechanical pressing of some agro and food industrial byproducts, i.e., pomegranate leaves and peels and the leaves of fig, guava and olive. Also, the cytotoxicity effects of these crude juices on normal cells were estimated to check the safety of these crude juices on the ...

In recent years, because the gluten intolerance has become a worldwide problem, there were a sharp increase in the consumers demand for gluten-free bakery products that to be attractive, both in terms of sensory and nutritional value. This work had as a first goal obtaining of two innovative gluten-free bread types, one from almond flour, brown rice flour and psyllium bran (P1), and the second from buckwheat flour and psyllium bran (P2). A second aim of the paper was to determine total polyphenols (FolinCiocalteu ...

The biodiversity of grassland ecosystems is strongly affected by climatic changes, i.e., by the galloping progression of desertification. These aspects are more and more visible on permanent grasslands (communal pastures). Most researchers in grassland science consider as a major priority the conservation of biodiversity and of the productive potential of permanent grasslands, given that the decrease in the number of livestock has been accelerated. Thus, in recent years, they started case studies on permanent gras...

Microbial communities associated with the plant rhizosphere play an important role in carbon sequestration, regulation of nutrient cycling, and the efficient functioning of the ecosystem as a whole. The diversity of microorganisms inhabiting the plant rhizosphere and their complex interactions with the host plant significantly affect the morphology, physiology, growth, development, and health of plants. At the same time, it is known that the soil microbiome diversity is affected by the type of soil, the type of cu...

Chicken manure is a source of biogenic elements and therefore can be used as a nonconventional fertilizer after composting. However, chicken manure can contain different hazardous substances including antibiotic resistant bacteria and corresponding genes of antibiotic resistance that can be transmitted to human and livestock trough soils and plants even after composting. Besides chicken manure composts can contain heavy metals that not only harm soils and yields directly but also stimulate the process of antibioti...

The way of land use and implicitly the spatio-temporal distribution of plant species are subject to quantitative and qualitative changes, under the influence of natural and/or anthropogenic factors. Appreciation of the spatio-temporal "mobility" of vegetation can be done through different work protocols, some of which are geomatic methods applied to satellite images. In this context, the purpose of this study is to analyze the trends in the dynamics of vegetation and land use, over a period of approximately 35 yea...

The present study investigated the antimicrobial behaviour of E. coli and Salmonella spp. strains, isolated from pigs after their weaning age. Antimicrobial testing susceptibility by the Kirby-Bauer method allowed the identification of bacterial strains with multiple antibiotic resistance (58.02% for E. coli isolated strains and 47.27% for Salmonella isolated strains). Thus, it was noted that all 54 strains of E. coli showed resistance to trimethoprim; sulfathiazole with sulfacetamide and sulfabenzamide; sulphamet...

Surfactants as detergents and emulsifying agents are used in various fields of industry and agriculture. These amphiphilic compounds contain hydrophobic and hydrophilic fragments and are usually produced by large-scale chemical synthesis processes. However, recently there is a request to develop biotechnological methods to obtain surfactants, since biosurfactants have many advantages above their chemical analogues - higher tolerance to extreme temperatures, pH and salinity, higher stability and lower or zero negat...

Herbal teas are a popular beverage, that can be prepared very easily (by pouring hot water on various dried herbs). It is very important to monitor and develop a screening methodology for detecting the metal content of both tea plants and herbal tea. A variety of bioactive phytochemicals in the human diet are from f plant-based foodstuffs. Due to their minor side effects, the medicinal plants are widely used to treat many human diseases. Polyphenols, the most abundant components in tea, determine the quality and h...

The development of modern dairy farming is aimed at creating larger farms with more intensive production in accordance with the market needs. New larger livestock facilities need new approaches to management and logistics. The Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning (ML) and cloud computing are forming the basis of digital animal husbandry as they are increasingly being introduced into dairy farming. The collection of IoT sensor data and their storage in the information cloud allows the use of machine learning ...

Biosurfactants produced by soil microorganisms are now widely used in various industries and are able to compete with synthetic detergents. However, in contrast with chemical surfactants, biological ones have disadvantage: it is difficult to obtain the product of high purity since the microbes usually produce a complex mixture of compounds, besides the cultural medium itself contains a lot of various components. Thus, the conventional scheme of lipopeptide isolation involves acid precipitation, extraction with the...

The chocolate is one of the most popular foods all over the world, representing a highly nutritious source of energy. In this paper is proposed a way to improve the antioxidant function of chocolate by rosehip powder incorporation in the recipe. Additionally, a part of cocoa from its manufacturing recipe was replaced by carob powder. Rosehip powder brings along a high intake of vitamin C, B1, B2, K, carotenoids, pectin, carbohydrates, and also organic acids. Due to the high level of vitamin content, it is recommen...

Taking into account the fact that by fortifying chocolate, more nutritious and healthier chocolates are obtained, in this work we set out to obtain an assortment of milk chocolate with the addition of chicken eggshell powder and to evaluate its mineral intake. Practically, the purpose of this experiment is the superior valorization of eggshell waste from household activities as a mineral fortification for milk chocolate. Four types of milk chocolates were prepared with the addition of 0, 1, 2 and 4% chicken eggshe...

There is an emergent trend for the protection of geographical indication (GI) of medicinal plants, herbs and teas not only in the context of intellectual property rights, but also due to multiple concerns regarding contamination from polluted air, soil and water in some source countries, climate change, quality control and traceability. The mineral content coupled with chemometrics can be used to create elemental fingerprints. Lime flower (Tilia cordata), chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla), and Lady-s Bedstraw (Gal...

Humanity currently faces the great challenge of achieving a safe and sustainable future to give future generations the opportunity to experience the quality of life they deserve; all inside the development of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations that define the world we want with ensure that no one is left behind. This objective implies an inescapable commitment to sustainability, which only can achieved if during the training of our new generations they receive an environmental education that f...

The paper presents an analysis of the impact of the enterprise on the state of the soil layer. The impact was considered as a complex of separate physical and physico-chemical processes. To do this, we used the method of determining the cleaning efficiency indicators developed by the author, which is based on a simulation experiment. The algorithm for conducting a simulation experiment on a set of models was used, taking into account the established coefficients, and 10,000 of its implementations were carried out....

The aim of this paper was to evaluate the influence of some sweeteners adding on sensorial characteristics (appearance, consistency, colour, smell and taste), and some physico-chemical indicators (acidity, total soluble solids, total polyphenols content and antioxidant activity) of the chamomile soft drinks. The parameters were evaluated at 7 and 14 days respectively. These fermented soft drinks were obtained from chamomile flowers, bran, lemon juice and four types of sweeteners: white sugar, brown sugar, bee hone...

SARS-CoV-2 researchers faced the problem of specificity for ACE-2 receptors. In mice and rats, ACE-2 has a low affinity for this virus. In contrast, the Syrian hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) when infected with SARS-CoV-2 show clinical signs of infection with this virus. Therefore, it is necessary to assess the severity of pathological lesions and immune response for relevance to preclinical new drugs against SARS-CoV-2. In this study, we studied blood counts, serum levels of Il-6, TNF-?, IFN-? and IFN-? and the hi...

Almonds can be infected by mycotoxigenic fungi both during the vegetation and during storage after harvesting. Most of the times the almonds are healthy, but during the improper storage they can be contaminated by fungi from the genus Aspergillus, Fusarium and Penicillium. The mentioned fungi are very dangerous for health because they are producing carcinogenic mycotoxins. The purpose of the work was to identify the fungi that are growing on the marketed almonds when they are placed on culture media after a previo...

Providing an affordable high quality animal protein, a high chance for investment, job opportunities and a great source of income for the small holders, poultry production/farming remains as a stable investment all over the world. However the recent pandemic - Corona Virus Disease -19 (Covid-19) affected the sustainability of various animal production sectors worldwide and in developing countries and the influences of these are more severe. Excluded from the mandatory closures are those industries involved in the ...

Recent years have seen an increase in microbial biofilm resistance, which has led to great challenges for the medical community in terms of treating diseases and the food industry in terms of contamination and the loss of shelf life. The purpose of this work is to test the antimicrobial efficacy against the biofilm formed by the following reference strains: Streptococcus pyogenes (ATCC 19615), Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923), Shigella flexneri (ATCC 12022), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853), Escherichia coli ...

Amorpha fruticosa L. (false indigo bush) is an invasive shrub species from Fabaceae family originating from North America. Nowadays this species creates great problems because it is invading floodplains along the rivers from Europe, even the Danube River floodplain reaching to the Danube Delta. The floodplain area of the river Mure? is highly affected by this invasion, this species occupying great surfaces of grassland and arable land. The researches were developed on the lowland area alongside the river Mure? (Ar...

At one of the Kazakh uranium deposits, studies were carried out on the effect of ironoxidizing bacteria on the redox potential of leaching solutions. The studies carried out on three bioreactors with a volume of 1 m3 and one bioreactor with volume 6 m3 made it possible to establish a close relationship between the content of ferric iron in the solution and the redox potential of the leaching solution. In situ recovery of uranium uses sulfuric acid leaching solutions containing sulfuric acid from 3.5 g/liter to 25 ...

In the era of sustainable development, the sustainability-era, the different instruments, and modern tools to carry out actions and activities that lead to an increase in the quality of life, both rural and urban environment, led us to ask the following questions: What are in fact the visible or less visible costs, in the medium and long term, when we choose to carry out activities related to agriculture that have easy and short-term success? What are the risks or benefits of such activities, in the medium and lon...

Triticum spelta is one of the most popular wheat species with multiple applications in the bakery industry. Lingonberries fruits are considered as some of the most valuable fruits due to its antioxidant and antimicrobial properties being widely used in the pharmaceutical industry, but also in food processing. This paper presents a study on the influence of using dehydrated and grinded lingonberries fruit as an addition to spelt wheat flour on its baking properties, physicochemical characteristics, antioxidant prop...

Various secondary metabolites isolated from Ophiocordyceps sinensis, the Chinese caterpillar fungus, have been reported to possess high therapeutic potential. Paecilomyces hepiali has even more biologically important chemical components with interesting pharmacological activity. Traditional Chinese medicine uses Ophiocordyceps sinensis to treat lung and respiratory system problems, hyposexuality, hypolipidemia kidney, or liver, heart, and immune system conditions. In addition, it has been used to treat various for...

The European Union and its Member States have set themselves to achieve climate neutrality across the EU by 2050. The agricultural sector is one of the emitters of greenhouse gases (GHG). To achieve its climate neutrality goals of reducing the increase in global temperature to below 2-C and limiting it to 1.5-C, the EU has adopted the Green Deal and the Farm to Fork Strategy based on it. These goals create the need for the development and implementation of innovations. The agricultural sector will experience sever...

Fish oils with a high content of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are gaining increasing interest in the food and nutraceutical industry, due to their important functional properties for human beings- health improvement. The most important PUFAs have at least two double bonds placed on the carbon chain. These include ?-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahaxaneoic acid (DHA). Microencapsulation is a technique used to protect the bioactive compounds from oxidative damage, to ensure their ...

Digital Twins can be seen as powering the next generation of IoT-connected solutions. Digital Twins model the real world by using historical and real-time data to represent the past and present and simulate the predictable future. Digital twins are related to a set of concepts such as digital representation and 3D visualization, integration, monitoring, control, computation, prediction, and decision-making. They are digital replicas of physical objects having bidirectional data flow. The physical object and its di...

Chicken manure is one of the most wide spread waste worldwide. One of its hazardous properties is contamination with live pathogens or pathogens- spores. Being introduced into soil for fertilization, fresh, cured or treated manure can cause soil contamination with those pathogens. Further, transmission of the pathogens through soil and plant tissues to human or animal food is possible. The objective of the present work was to reveal the level of pathogenic contamination of wheat grains cultivated on soil that was ...

Aromatic plants play an important role in economic, social, medical, cultural and ecological aspects all over the world. The cultivation and processing of vegetable raw materials of plants containing essential oils with the help of green technologies are one the topical issues. The article discusses the results of the introduction and cultivation of an important aromatic plant in the Batumi Botanical Garden (Georgia) by green technologies. Based on the studies, Cumin passes the full cycle of growth and flowering i...

Georgia is distinguished by diverse of ecosystem parameters. Accordingly, unique phylogenetic resource is the richest and most interesting in its composition, the unique species of medicinal, aromatic, dye, spicy and poisonous or useful plants are spread here, which are not found anywhere else. At the same time, ethnobotanical skills of their sustainable use are interesting. Origanum vulgare, one of the widely used of medicinal, aromatic, spicy and dye plants, is a perennial herbaceous plant from the Labiatae fami...

This paper presents the preliminary results obtained for the determination of some nutritional parameters of homemade chocolate fortified with nettle powder (NP) obtained from young nettle leaves grown in spontaneous flora, in pollution-free areas. 4 types of homemade chocolate with the addition of 2.5 - 10 % NP and a control chocolate (without the addition of NP) were prepared. Samples were analyzed from the proximate composition and mineral content point of view. The obtained preliminary results show that the ch...

Spectrophotometric methods for total protein analysis are generally simple, rapid and sensitive. Such sensitive protein assays may have applications in forensic science, in the detection of protein contaminants in drugs and in a number of other applications of research interest. Biuret reaction with proteins and peptides is widely used in clinical and biological laboratories. In this work, instead of copper sulphate, sodium hydroxide and Seignette salt, we used insoluble copper phosphate, potassium or sodium hydro...

Gluten is present in a variety of foods consumed in everyday life, and due to its dominant presence in the diet, over the years an increasing number of people have started to develop intolerance to it, often causing allergies, sensitivity or coeliac disease. The main objective of this study was to develop a gluten-free product that meets high quality standards to satisfy the consumer. In order to achieve the objective, a product based on almond flour, rice flour with added cranberry powder with high nutritional va...

Romania-s physical-geographical and lithological complexity creates a great diversity of climatic and pedological conditions, which determines the richness of the types of ecosystems and habitats, as well as the presence of five biogeographical regions, including the Alpine bioregion. In Romania this biogeographical region includes both Carpathians peaks and coniferous and mixed forests of the Carpathians, but also the intermountain depressions and higher hills along the mountain chain. Various mountains are home ...

Aromatic plants have been one of the important concerns of man since the beginning of his existence. Seasoning plants, due to the presence in their composition of active principles with antibacterial and antifungal effect, allow a better preservation of food, a fact that over time has played an important role in preventing possible infections. Chlorophyll is the pigment that gives plants their green color and supports plants in absorbing energy and nutrients. Chlorophyll is found in most green plants and vegetable...

Sinorhizobium meliloti are agriculturally valuable species of soil bacteria that form nitrogen-fixing symbiosis with alfalfa plants. Global climate changes lead to an increase of agricultural areas subjected to salinity. Current knowledge about about high-salt stress impact on soil saprophitic root nodulated microsymbionts of legumes is weakly studied and rhizobia gene pool responsible for salt tolerance are fragment and far from clear. An increase of bacteria nonspecific resistance (immune status) to unfavorable ...

The purpose of the study was the introduction and cultivation using green technologies of a perennial aromatic plant species - Iris pallida Lam. (Dalmatian iris or sweet iris, Iridaceae Juss.), widely recognized for its highly decorative and perfumery production, in the humid subtropical climate of the Batumi Botanical Garden, followed by its study for the content of biologically active substances. Iris pallida have been studied in seven different locations in the garden with varying exposure and soil composition....

The use of magnetic nanoparticles in biocatalysis, due to their unique properties, such as controlled particle size, large surface area, and ease of separating them and the reaction mixture by applying an external magnetic field, makes it possible to reuse enzymes immobilized on magnetic nanoparticles for catalytic processes. In this work, horseradish root peroxidase was immobilized on Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles. The carrier surface was modified and activated before enzyme immobilization using 3- aminopropyltrie...

This article presents the biocatalytic influence of alfa-amylase and beta-amylase enzymes on the rheological parameters of the dough obtained from white flour used in bakery industry. Using alveographic and consistographic methods we were able to determine the rheological characteristics of the dough and make a comparison between alfa-amylase and beta-amylase taking into account different dosages and monitoring the effects in the flour and finished product. Amylase hydrolyzes starch to soluble dextrins and can aff...

The productivity of the grasslands is determined by the biodiversity of the plant species present in the vegetation, their quality, but also their exploitation. For their inventory, a series of determination methods are used, methods that are difficult to manage and that require a good knowledge of the plant species. For an agronomic characterization of the plots, it is sufficient to consider only the main species that dominate the plant biomass. A more simplified method is that of botanical surveys which focus on...

If we refer to the sustainable development of a territory, it can be stated that the natural resources and implicitly the land resources, occupy the central place within this process, in this case, the land use can be seen as an "indicator" element of the trends of the process of sustainable development. The specialized literature shows, in various studies, the direct and indirect influence of the relief on the way of land use, implicitly on the distribution of grasslands, through altitude, slope or morphometric c...

A good soil fertility program requires vision and planning. Achieving cost-effective and efficient wheat production involves providing sufficient amounts of plant nutrients when and where the crop needs them. Wheat is a particularly demanding crop for fertilization, which reacts positively to the application of fertilizers. Cereal consumes moderate amounts of nutrients due to the fact that its roots explore a smaller volume of soil. The influence of foliar fertilizers for different crops is diverse and depends on ...

Halobacterium salinarum is an extremely halophilic marine Gram-negative obligate aerobic archaeon. Despite its name, this is not a bacterium, but rather a member of the domain Archaea, which lives in hypersaline lakes. Bacteriorhodopsin (BRh) is the red retinal-containing protein found in the cell membranes of H. salinarum and is considered a light-activated proton pump that transports protons across the plasma membrane. Bacteriorhodopsin photointermediates have been defined in kinetic and spectroscopic terms as B...

The benefits of using biopolymers in the food industry have motivated the scientists to develop products with better characteristics than the regular ones. Biocompatibility with the human body, edibility and ease of use have paved the way for biopolymers such as agar, sodium alginate, carrageenan, chitosan, etc. for using it in the biomedical and pharmaceutical industries. In addition to their well-known characteristics, biopolymers have the ability to incorporate various natural substances, representing an almost...