Biology subjects

Correia, S.

Publications and source records attributed to Correia, S..

5 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Pathogen-dependent biocontrol activity of Chlorella sorokoniana aqueous extracts against fungal and oomycete plant pathogens

Fungal and oomycete plant pathogens are major drivers of yield losses worldwide and are spurring the search for sustainable alternatives to synthetic pesticides. Algae, in general, and microalgae, in particular, represent a promising source of bioactive compounds for crop protection. Despite this, their efficacy across different host-pathogen systems remains poorly characterised. This study evaluated the biocontrol potential of the aqueous extract of Chlorella sorokoniana against three economically important phytopathogens using complementary in vitro, ex vivo, and in planta assays. The strongest activity was observed against Magnaporthe oryzae, with the extract reducing fungal growth by approximately 70% in vitro, inhibiting appressorium formation by 55%, suppressing lesion development on detached rice leaves by more than 75%, and reducing rice blast severity by 64.5% as a preventive foliar treatment. In contrast, the extract showed little or no direct in vitro antifungal activity against Pythium ultimum and Rhizoctonia solani, yet it significantly reduced disease severity in planta by 13-37% and 48-55%, respectively. The contrasting responses among pathosystems suggest that C. sorokoniana aqueous extracts act through different mechanisms depending on the pathogen and the crop, combining direct antifungal activity against M. oryzae with plant-associated protective effects against soil-borne pathogens. These findings highlight the importance of evaluating candidate biocontrol products using complementary in vitro and in planta approaches, as laboratory antimicrobial assays alone may substantially underestimate their agricultural potential. The broad-spectrum protection achieved with an unrefined aqueous extract further supports C. sorokoniana as a promising source of sustainable crop protection products and provides a strong foundation for future mechanistic studies, formulation development, and field validation. O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=115 SRC="FIGDIR/small/742703v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (45K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@428ebaorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1a85992org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@190a605org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@183b905_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2026

Habitat-specific environmental characteristics are associated with the movement of male and female loggerhead sea turtles

Linking animal movements to environmental drivers is essential for understanding ecological processes and anticipating species responses to climate change. We investigated habitat-specific movements in a globally significant aggregation of loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) nesting in Cabo Verde. Satellite tags on 15 adults (12 females, 3 males) provided multi-year tracks spanning breeding, migration, and foraging habitats. Movements and phenology differed by habitat. During the breeding season, females used either coastal areas, remaining within [~]20 m depth, or undertook long looping forays up to 360 km. Males showed two strategies: two remained resident in Cabo Verde waters, including Fra, the largest male tracked (Curved carapace length of 105 cm compared with a male mean of 90.7 {+/-} 10.3 cm), while the third migrated annually to distant foraging grounds and returned ahead of the subsequent breeding season. In foraging habitats, turtles adopted neritic or oceanic strategies: neritic turtles remained localised in warm, productive waters, whereas oceanic turtles ranged widely in deeper, less productive areas. Time- and space-shift analyses showed that oceanic foragers used intermediate sea surface temperature and chlorophyll-a conditions relative to nearby or temporally shifted alternatives, consistent with movement within a thermal-trophic trade-off. Together, these results show how sex, body size, and energy balance drive habitat-specific movement dynamics in a changing ocean.

zoology↗

bioRxiv2025

Proteomic and Kinetic Characterization of Prion Seeding in Distinct Human CJD Strains Unveils Early Diagnostic Biomarkers

To enhance understanding of early diagnosis, differential disease progression rates, and the molecular profiles of human prion strains, we analyzed prion seeding activity over time in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD)-infected mice using the real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) assay. Our previous work highlighted pre- clinical alterations in endocytic machinery and cytoskeleton-associated responses in CJD-affected brain regions. In this study, infectious prion strains derived from human CJD-MM1 and VV2 brain tissues were inoculated into tg340, tg361 (expressing approximately four times the human PrP-M129 and PrP-V129, respectively), and tg650 (expressing approximately six times the human PrP-M129) mice. A total of 188 brain samples (cortex) were analyzed from confirmed CJD-infected mice and control mice at both pre-clinical and clinical stages of the disease. Notably, we observed region- specific and PrP strain-specific differences in seeding activity at the pre-clinical stage of disease in CJD-MM1 and VV2 infected mice. The lag phase between the positive response ranged from 7.5 to 24.5 hours across all regions and disease stages. In the cortex, CJD-MM1-infected tg340 mice exhibited a prolonged lag phase ([~]24.5 hours), while CJD-VV2-infected tg341 mice showed minimal seeding response and relative fluorescence unit (RFU) signal rates. In contrast, the cerebellum of VV2 clinical stage mice exhibited a shorter lag phase, and VV2 preclinical stage mice showed significantly lower RFU signal rates. Proteomic profiling via SWATH-MS identified 500 and 682 differentially expressed proteins in the MM1 and VV2 models, respectively. Key proteins such as Gnl1, Stxbp1, Pllp, Gps1, Nefh, Ahsa1, Rala, Cacybp, Pdk1, Unc13a, Rab21, Rraga, Ppp1r9a, Eif4b, Atp2b2, Vps51, H2afx in CJD-MM1 and Gm10358, Tnc, Calb2, Ppm1h, Dnaja1, Gm45808, Hpcal1, Prkca, Dock3, Syn2, Agap2, Tmem126a, Fdps, Ndufa4 in CJD- VV2 showed significant alterations at the early pre-clinical stages, correlating with detectable prion replication. These molecular shifts highlight potential early-stage diagnostic biomarkers. Functional analyses revealed that both MM1 and VV2 subtypes engage early compensatory responses; however, MM1 primarily involves metabolic reprogramming and enhanced vesicle clearance, while VV2 is characterized by pronounced disturbances in calcium signaling and structural integrity at early stage of the disease. These findings emphasize the utility of RT-QuIC and proteomics in characterizing prion seeding and progression, providing valuable insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying prion diseases and potential early diagnostic markers.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2022

Thermopriming-associated proteome and sugar content responses in Pinus radiata embryogenic tissue

Improving the capacity of plants to face adverse environmental conditions requires a deep understanding of the molecular mechanisms governing stress response and adaptation. Proteomics, combined with metabolic analyses, offers a wide resource of information to be used in plant breeding programs. Previous studies have shown that somatic embryogenesis in Pinus spp. is a suitable tool not only to investigate stress response processes but also to modulate the behaviour of somatic plants. Based on this, the objective of this study was to analyse the protein and soluble sugar profiles of Pinus radiata embryonal masses after the application of high temperatures to unravel the mechanisms involved in thermopriming and memory acquisition at early stages of the somatic embryogenesis process. Results confirmed that heat provokes deep readjustments in the life-cycle of proteins, together with a significant reduction in the carbon-flux of central-metabolism pathways. Heat-priming also promotes the accumulation of proteins involved in oxidative stress defence, in the synthesis of specific amino acids such as isoleucine, influences cell division, the organization of the cytoskeleton and cell-walls, and modifies the levels of free soluble sugars like glucose or fructose. All this seems to be regulated by proteins linked with epigenetic, transcriptional and post-transcriptional mechanisms.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2018

Reconstruction of consensus tissue-specific metabolic models

Genome-Scale Metabolic Models have shown promising results in biomedical applications, such as understanding cancer metabolism and drug discovery. However, to take full advantage of these models there is the need to address the representation and simulation of the metabolic phenotypes of distinct cell types. With this aim, several algorithms have been recently proposed to reconstruct tissue-specific metabolic models based on available data. Here, the most promising were implemented and used to reconstruct models for two case studies, using omics data from distinct sources. The set of obtained models were compared and analyzed, being shown they are highly variable and that no combination of algorithm and data source can achieve models with acceptable phenotype predictions. We propose an algorithm to achieve a consensus model from the set of models available for a given tissue/cell line, and to improve it given functional data (e.g. known metabolic tasks). The results show that the resulting models are more accurate, both considering the prediction of known metabolic phenotypes and of experimental data not used in the model construction. Two case studies used for model validation consider healthy hepatocytes and a glioblastoma cell line. The open-source implementation of the algorithms is provided, together with the models built, in a software container, allowing full reproducibility, and representing by itself a contribution for the community.

systems biology↗