A simultaneous treatment of lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) and low density oxodegradable polyethylene (LDPE oxo ) was carried-out using Pleurotus ostreatus at microcosm scale to obtain biotransformed plastic and oxidized lignocellulosic biomass. This product was used as raw matter (RM) to produce biochar enriched with phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB). Biochar potential as biofertilizer was evaluated in Allium cepa culture at greenhouse scale. Experiments including lignocellulosic mix and LDPE oxo were performed for 75 days in microcosm. Biotransformation progress was performed by monitoring total organic carbon (TOC), CO 2 production, laccase (Lac), manganese peroxidase (MnP), and lignin peroxidase (LiP) enzymatic activities. Physical LDPE oxo changes were assessed by atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and static contact angle (SCA) and chemical changes by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Results revealed P . ostreatus was capable of LCB and LDPE oxo biotransformation, obtaining 41% total organic carbon (TOC) removal with CO 2 production of 2,323 mg Kg -1 and enzyme activities of 169,438 UKg -1 , 5,535 UKg -1 and 5,267 UKg -1 for LiP, MnP and Lac, respectively. Regarding LDPE oxo , SCA was decreased by 84%, with an increase in signals at 1,076 cm -1 and 3,271 cm -1, corresponding to C-O and CO-H bonds. A decrease in signals was observed related to material degradation at 2,928 cm -1 , 2,848 cm -1 , agreeing with CH 2 asymmetrical and symmetrical stretching, respectively. PSB enriched biochar favored A . cepa plant growth during the five-week evaluation period. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of an in vitro circular production model, where P . ostreatus was employed at a microcosmos level to bioconvert LCB and LDPE oxo residues from the agroindustrial sector, followed by thermoconversion to produce an enriched biochar with PSB to be used as a biofertilizer to grow A . cepa at greenhouse scale.

Agro-food, petroleum, textile, and leather industries generate saline wastewater with a high content of organic pollutants such as aromatic hydrocarbons, phenols, nitroaromatics, and azo dyes. Halophilic microorganisms are of increasing interest in industrial waste treatment, due to their ability to degrade hazardous substances efficiently under high salt conditions. However, their full potential remains unexplored. The isolation and identification of halophilic and halotolerant microorganisms from geographically unrelated and geologically diverse hypersaline sites supports their application in bioremediation processes. Past investigations in this field have mainly focused on the elimination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and phenols, whereas few studies have investigated N-aromatic compounds, such as nitro-substituted compounds, amines, and azo dyes, in saline wastewater. Information regarding the growth conditions and degradation mechanisms of halophilic microorganisms is also limited. In this review, we discuss recent research on the removal of organic pollutants such as organic matter, in terms of chemical oxygen demand (COD), dyes, hydrocarbons, N-aliphatic and N-aromatic compounds, and phenols, in conditions of high salinity. In addition, some proposal pathways for the degradation of aromatic compounds are presented.

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We produced and characterised biochar made from Caribbean pine sawdust as raw material. The biochar (BC500) was used as biocompatible support to co-inoculate phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB) (BC500/PSB) on Allium cepa L., plants at a greenhouse scale for four months. The three biomaterials study included proximate analysis, elemental analysis, aromaticity analysis, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), adsorption studies at different pH and PSB stability as a function of time. The results indicated that BC500 is suitable as organic support or solid matrix to maintain the viability of PSB able to solubilise P from phosphate rock (PR). The biofertilizer (BC500/PSB) allows increasing germination, seedling growth, nutrient assimilation, and growth of Allium cepa L., because PSB immobilised on BC500 promoted nutrient mobilisation, particularly P, during cultivation of Allium cepa L., at pots scale. The two treatments to evaluate the biofertilizer (BC500/PSB) showed the highest concentrations of total P with 1.25 ± 0.13 and 1.38 ± 0.14 mg bulb−1 in A. cepa L. This work presents the benefits of a new product based on bacteria naturally associated with onion and an organic material (BC500) serving as a bacterial carrier that increases the adsorption area of highly reactive nutrients, reducing their leaching or precipitation with other nutrients and fixation to the solid matrix of the soil.

Background The co-transformation of solid waste of natural and anthropogenic origin can be carried out through solid-state-fermentation systems to obtain bio-products with higher added value and lower environmental impact. Methods To evaluate the effect of Pleurotus ostreatus on co-transformation of oxo-degradable low-density polyethylene (LDPEoxo) sheets and lignocellulosic biomass (LCB), were assembled two 0.75 L microcosm systems in vertical (VMS) and horizontal (HMS) position. The pre-treated sheets with luminescent O2 plasma discharges were mixed with pine bark, hydrolyzed brewer’s yeast and paper napkin fragments and incubated for 135 days at 20 ± 1.0 °C in the presence of the fungus. With the co-transformation residues, biochar (BC) was produced at 300 ± 1.0 °C (BC300) for 1 h, then used to carry out adsorption studies, using the malachite green dye (MG) at pH 4.0, 7.0 and 9.0 ± 0.2. Finally, the biochar was the substrate for the germination of carnation seeds (Dianthus caryophyllus) and Ray-grass (Lolium sp.) in vitro. Results For HMS, the decrease in static contact angle (SCA) was 63.63% (p = 0.00824) and for VMS 74.45% (p = 0.00219), concerning the pristine. Plastic roughness in VMS was higher (26%) concerning the control. Throughout the 135 days, there were fungal growth and consequently laccase (Lac), manganese peroxidase (MnP) and lignin peroxidase (LiP) activities. During the first 75 days, CO2 production increased to 4.78 ± 0.01 and 4.98 ± 0.01 mg g-1 for HMS and VMS, respectively. In MG adsorption studies, the highest amount of the colourant adsorbed at both pH 4.0 and 7.0 ± 0.2. Conclusions Finally, the biochar or the biochar enriched with low concentrations of plant growth-promoting microorganisms and inorganic fertilizer favours the germination of Dianthus caryophyllus and Lolium sp., seeds.

Spinal cord injury is a very common pathological event that has devastating functional consequences in patients. In recent years, several research groups are trying to find an effective therapy that could be applied in clinical practice. In this study, we analyzed the combination of different strategies as a potential therapy for spinal cord injury. Immunization with neural derived peptides (INDP), inhibition of glial scar formation (dipyridyl: DPY), as well as the use of biocompatible matrix (fibrin glue: FG) impregnated with bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were combined and then its beneficial effects were evaluated in the induction of neuroprotection and neuroregeneration after acute SCI. Sprague-Dawley female rats were subjected to a moderate spinal cord injury and then randomly allocated into five groups: 1) phosphate buffered saline; 2) DPY; 3) INDP + DPY; 4) DPY+ FG; 5) INDP + DPY + FG + MSCs. In all rats, intervention was performed 72 hours after spinal cord injury. Locomotor and sensibility recovery was assessed in all rats. At 60 days after treatment, histological examinations of the spinal cord (hematoxylin-eosin and Bielschowsky staining) were performed. Our results showed that the combination therapy (DPY+ INDP + FG + MSCs) was the best strategy to promote motor and sensibility recovery. In addition, significant increases in tissue preservation and axonal density were observed in the combination therapy group. Findings from this study suggest that the combination theapy (DPY+ INDP + FG + MSCs) exhibits potential effects on the protection and regeneration of neural tissue after acute spinal cord injury. All procedures were approved by the Animal Bioethics and Welfare Committee (approval No. 178544; CSNBTBIBAJ 090812960) on August 15, 2016.

The inflammatory response is probably one of the main destructive events occurring after spinal cord injury (SCI). Its progression depends mostly on the autoimmune response developed against neural constituents. Therefore, modulation or inhibition of this self-reactive reaction could help to reduce tissue destruction. Anterior chamber associated immune deviation (ACAID) is a phenomenon that induces immune-tolerance to antigens injected into the eye´s anterior chamber, provoking the reduction of such immune response. In the light of this notion, induction of ACAID to neural constituents could be used as a potential prophylactic therapy to promote neuroprotection. In order to evaluate this approach, three experiments were performed. In the first one, the capability to induce ACAID of the spinal cord extract (SCE) and the myelin basic protein (MBP) was evaluated. Using the delayed type hypersensibility assay (DTH) we demonstrated that both, SCE and MBP were capable of inducing ACAID. In the second experiment we evaluated the effect of SCE-induced ACAID on neurological and morphological recovery after SCI. In the results, there was a significant improvement of motor recovery, nociceptive hypersensitivity and motoneuron survival in rats with SCE-induced ACAID. Moreover, ACAID also up-regulated the expression of genes encoding for anti-inflammatory cytokines and FoxP3 but down-regulated those for pro-inflamatory cytokines. Finally, in the third experiment, the effect of a more simple and practical strategy was evaluated: MBP-induced ACAID, we also found significant neurological and morphological outcomes. In the present study we demonstrate that the induction of ACAID against neural antigens in rats, promotes neuroprotection after SCI.

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