No abstract

The effects of abundant Mancozeb (Mn, Zn—bisdithiocarbamate) applications (2.5 kg ha−1week−1 for 10 years) on soil and surface-, subsurface- and groundwater pollution were monitored in a banana production region of tropical Mexico. In soils, severe manganese accumulation was observed, wheras the main metabolite ethylenethiourea was near the detection limit. Surface and subsurface water was highly polluted with ethylenethiourea, the main metabolite of Mancozeb (22.5 and 4.3 μg L−1, respectively), but not with manganese. In deep ground water, no ethylenethiourea was detected. The level of pollution in the region presents a worrisome risk for aquatic life and for human health.

Glyphosate is an agrochemical widely used to control weeds. However, glyphosate spreads to water bodies by spray-drift, run-off and leaching, potentially causing detrimental effects on non-target biota. There is no information on the occurrence of this herbicide in water bodies near crop fields in Mexico, although it is the most commonly used pesticide in this country. To fill this gap, we quantified glyphosate in water bodies from twenty-three locations, including natural protected areas and agricultural areas in southern Mexico, during the dry and the rainy seasons. We expected (1) higher concentrations during the dry season due to reduced dilution by precipitation and, (2) absence of glyphosate in the protected areas. In agreement with our expectation, concentration of glyphosate was higher during the dry season (up to 36.7 μg/L). Nonetheless, glyphosate was detected in all samples-including natural protected areas. These results emphasize the need for an evaluation of the impact of glyphosate on native species as well as regulate its use.

The potential of three Serratia marcescens strains (CFFSUR-B2, CFFSUR-B3 and CFFSUR-B4) isolated from tropical regions in Mexico to inhibit the mycelial growth and conidial germination of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, causal agent of fruit anthracnose, was evaluated. The ability of these strains to produce prodigiosin and chitinases when cultivated in oil seed-based media (peanut, sesame, soybean and castor bean) and in Luria-Bertani medium was determined. All of the strains exhibited similar fungal antagonistic activities and inhibited myceliar growth by more than 40% while inhibiting conidial germination by 81-89% (P = 0.01). The highest level of prodigiosin (40 μg/ml) was produced in the peanut-based medium while growth in soybean-based medium allowed the highest production of chitinases (56 units/ml), independent of the strain used. Strain CFFSUR-B2 grown in peanut medium was used to evaluate the effect of inoculum density and initial pH on metabolite production. The amount of prodigiosin produced increased with greater inoculum densities, with an initial density of 1 × 10(12) resulting in the highest production (60 μg/ml). Prodigiosin production was not affected by pH. The strains studied have the advantage of being adapted to tropical climates and are able to produce chitinases in the absence of chitin induction in vitro. These characteristics suggest their potential as biocontrol agents for fungal pathogens in tropical regions of the world.

Organochlorine (OC) pesticides have been extensively used for pest control in agriculture and against malaria vectors in the region of Soconusco, Chiapas, in southern Mexico. Our study aimed to identify whether the inhabitants of four Soconusco communities at different locations (i.e., altitudes) and with different history of use of OC pesticides, have been similarly exposed to residues of these pesticides. In particular, we analyzed the potential relationship between levels of OC pesticides in plasma and the age, gender, and residence of the study population (n = 60). We detected seven pesticides in total (γ-HCH, β-HCH, OPEN ACCESS Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2014, 1110445 heptachlor, p,pʹ-DDE, p,p'-DDT, β-endosulfan, endrin aldehyde). Of these, p,pʹ-DDE and β-endosulfan were the most frequently found (in 98% and 38% of the samples, respectively). The low-altitude (<20 m above sea level; masl) and mid-altitude (520 masl) locations had the highest levels of p,pʹ-DDE, with geometric means of 50.6 µg/L and 44.46 µg/L, respectively. The oldest subjects (>60 years) had the highest p,pʹ-DDE level (56.94 ± 57.81 µg/L) of all age groups, while men had higher p,pʹ-DDE (34.00 ± 46.76 µg/L) than women. Our results demonstrate that residents of the Soconusco region are exposed to p,pʹ-DDE because of high exposure to DDT in the past and current environmental exposure to this DDT-breakdown product.

Feruloyl, chlorogenate esterases, and tannases are enzymes useful in phenolic modifications of pharmaceutical relevance as protectors against several degenerative human diseases. Therefore, there is a growing interest in discovering new sources of these enzymes. However, traditional methods for their activity measurements are time-consuming and poorly adapted for high-throughput screening. In this study, a successful new microplate high-throughput screening method for the simultaneous quantification of all mentioned activities is demonstrated. This method allows the detection of activities as low as 1.7 mU ml(-1). Furthermore, reaction rates increased proportionally with the amount of enzyme added, and no interferences with the other commercial hydrolases tested were found. The utility of the method was demonstrated after simultaneously screening feruloyl, chlorogenate esterase, and tannase activities in solid state fermentation extracts obtained during the kinetics of production of 20 fungal strains. Among these, seven strains were positive for at least one of the esterase activities tested. This result shows the potential for the rapid routine screening assays for multiple samples of moderate low to high enzymatic levels.

No abstract

: An approach to the modelling of suspended-growth anaerobic digestion systems based on the assumption of an incompletely mixed reactor is presented. The mathematical model developed describes the dynamic behaviour of anaerobic sludge digesters under non-ideal mixing conditions. The microbial kinetic model for the anaerobic digestion of waste-activated sludge distinguishes the processes of death and lysis of activated sludge cells, hydrolysis of particulate material, fermentation of soluble substrates, volatile fatty acids utilisation and methane formation. The interaction of two microbial groups is considered, i.e. acid-formers and methanogens. Their growth is assumed to depend on Monod kinetics for the substrates. Death and lysis, hydrolysis and biomass decay are described by Ðrst order reactions. The biokinetic expressions were linked to a simple mixing model which considered the reactor volume split into two sections : the Ñow-through and the retention regions. The transfer of material between regions was assumed to be limited. Deviations from an ideal completely mixed regime were represented by changing the relative volume of the Ñow-through region (a) and the turnover time of material in the vessel (q). The dynamic model described the e †ects of the retention time and reactantsÏ distribution, resulting from the mixing condition, on process performance. Computer simulations under di †erent conditions showed a considerable decline in methane production and treatment efficiency due to incomplete mixing. The COD removal efficiency increased by extending the retention time and the degree of mixing. The evaluation of the impact of the mixing parameters showed that a has a far more signiÐcant e †ect on the performance of anaerobic digestion than q does. Nevertheless, both are important and the overall efficiency is a complex function of both parameters. The results obtained conÐrm and emphasise the importance of considering mixing when simulating anaerobic digestion, calculating process conversion efficiency, and during anaerobic reactor design.