Articles

Genetic improvement of microorganisms for applications in biorefineries

The development of biorefineries directed to the production of fuels, chemicals and energy is important to reduce economic dependence and environmental impacts of a petroleum-based economy. Microorganisms are ...

Authors: Bárbara G Paes and João RM Almeida

Extraction and characterization of bio-effectors from agro-food processing by-products as plant growth promoters

Recently, a novel concept ‘bio-effectors’ rose on to describe a group of products that are able to improve plant performance rather than fertilizers. Agro-food processing residues and by-products potentially r...

Authors: Ziad Al Chami, Deaa Alwanney, Sandra Angelica De Pascali, Ivana Cavoski and Francesco Paolo Fanizzi

The potential of the energy cane as the main biomass crop for the cellulosic industry

The last century was the scene of an extraordinary social and economic development of mankind. This development had the fossil energy as one of its pillars. The discovery of petrol led the society to shape a d...

Authors: Osmar V Carvalho-Netto, Jose A Bressiani, Hugo L Soriano, Celso S Fiori, Joao M Santos, Geraldo VS Barbosa, Mauro A Xavier, Marcos GA Landell and Goncalo AG Pereira

An analysis of Brazilian sugarcane bagasse ash behavior under thermal gasification

Ashes from sugarcane were analyzed by X-ray fluorescence, ash content, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). FactSage 6.4 database software was used t...

Authors: Catia Fredericci, Gerhard Ett, Guilherme FB Lenz e Silva, João B Ferreira Neto, Fernando JG Landgraf, Ricardo L Indelicato and Tiago R Ribeiro

Arachidonic acid as an elicitor of the plant defense response to phytopathogens

Review summarizes both literature and own experimental data on the application of arachidonic acid (AA, C_20:4 omega-6) as an elicitor of the plant defense reactions to phytopathogens. The elicitation activity of ...

Authors: Emiliya G Dedyukhina, Svetlana V Kamzolova and Mikhail B Vainshtein

Biobased fibers and materials in Brazil

The human evolution is directly associated to the use of materials. During the last century, humanity had significant development powered by the use of fossil resources, which largely impacted the materials di...

Authors: Leonardo F Valadares

Stimulation of plant growth and biocontrol by Bacillus amyloliquefaciens subsp. plantarum FZB42 engineered for improved action

During the last decade, the use of plant-root colonizing bacteria with plant growth-promoting activity has been proven as an efficient and environmental-friendly alternative to chemical pesticides and fertiliz...

Authors: Jun-Qing Qiao, Hui-Jun Wu, Rong Huo, Xue-Wen Gao and Rainer Borriss

Natural products: an extraordinary source of value-added compounds from diverse biomasses in Brazil

The biodiversity of Brazil contains an extraordinary number of compounds from natural products with a wide and complex variety of molecular structures, therefore representing an economic potential in biomasses...

Authors: Viviane Cândida da Silva and Clenilson Martins Rodrigues

Molecular dynamics simulation of humic substances

Humic substances (HS) are complex mixtures of natural organic material which are found almost everywhere in the environment, and particularly in soils, sediments, and natural water. HS play key roles in many p...

Authors: Mario Orsi

Bioprocesses for biofuels: an overview of the Brazilian case

Renewables are 46% in the Brazilian energy matrix, while the world scenario differs from this context to use only 13% of these resources. The biomass conversion using bioprocess has great potential to be appli...

Authors: Monica Caramez Triches Damaso, Cristina Maria Monteiro Machado, Dasciana de Sousa Rodrigues, Silvia Goncalves Belem and Thais Fabiana Chan Salum

A renewable chemistry linked to the Brazilian biofuel production

The transition from the current dependence on non-renewable raw materials to biomass as an oil substitute has become a strategic challenge to the twenty-first century. Chemicals have the highest potential to a...

Authors: Sílvio Vaz

Green synthesis from biomass

This review describes how to apply green chemistry principles to transform biomass into several types of molecules. On the basis of selected papers published over the last three to four years, it includes the ...

Authors: Paulo M Donate

The glycerol biorefinery: a purpose for Brazilian biodiesel production

According to estimates from the International Energy Agency, global energy consumption will increase by at least one third, between 2010 and 2035. The additional power required will be provided not only by fos...

Authors: Emerson Léo Schultz, Daniela Tatiane de Souza and Mônica Caramez Triches Damaso

Metabolites produced by Gnomoniopsis castanea associated with necrosis of chestnut galls

In this manuscript, we report the isolation and characterization of two secondary metabolites produced by a Gnomoniopsis castanea strain isolated in the Campania region (Italy) from chestnut galls infested with D...

Authors: Francesco Vinale, Michelina Ruocco, Gelsomina Manganiello, Emilio Guerrieri, Umberto Bernardo, Pierluigi Mazzei, Alessandro Piccolo, Filomena Sannino, Simonetta Caira, Sheridan L Woo and Matteo Lorito

Green chemistry, sustainable agriculture and processing systems: a Brazilian overview

There is a pressing need for renewable and optimal use of resources towards sustainable primary production and processing systems worldwide. Current technologies for food and feedstock production are held acco...

Authors: Bruno Perlatti, Moacir R Forim and Vânia G Zuin

Chemical and spectroscopic characterization of insoluble and soluble humic acid fractions at different pH values

Humic acids (HA) are organic molecules with complex structure and function and variable properties. They are insoluble in strongly acid pH conditions. At present, it is not clear how much is the amount of HA i...

Authors: Andrea Baglieri, Daniela Vindrola, Mara Gennari and Michèle Negre

Physiological responses to humic substances as plant growth promoter

Humic substances (HS) have been widely recognized as a plant growth promoter mainly by changes on root architecture and growth dynamics, which result in increased root size, branching and/or greater density of...

Authors: Luciano P Canellas and Fábio L Olivares

pH-controlled release of auxin plant hormones from cucurbit[7]uril macrocycle

The influence of pH on the formation of host-guest complexes between the cucurbit[7]uril (CB[7]) macrocyclic host and three auxin plant hormones, namely indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), 2-naphthalene acetic acid (2...

Authors: Assunta Nuzzo, Oren A Scherman, Pierluigi Mazzei and Alessandro Piccolo

Editorial

Authors: Alessandro Piccolo