Ganadora – Mercedes Brenes Álvarez
Resumen
The aim of this study was to characterize olive preservation solutions and establish a relationship between their composition and the potential formation of acrylamide in processed olives. The chemical and microbial profile of 37 preservation solutions from 4 different Spanish factories were analyzed along with acrylamide formation in the sterilized solutions. Amino acids, sugars, organic acids, phenolic and oleosidic compounds and acrylamide were monitored by HPLC, and yeasts and bacteria were analyzed by using metagenomic approach. Great variability was found among samples and factories, not only in chemical parameters but also in microbial predominance. While individual amino acids, phenolic and oleosidic compounds, sugars and organic acids did not show significant correlation with the acrylamide formed, a multivariate model accounted for ∼90 % of the variation in acrylamide content using the NIPALS model with 7-fold cross validation. Glucose, asparagine and hydroxytyrosol had high positive coefficients. Moreover, it must be noted that the acrylamide level depended on the pH during sterilization, with a maximum at pH 7 and lesser amounts formed at pH 4 and 9, which is in accordance with Maillard reactions behavior. Likewise, ultrafiltration assays revealed that the precursors of acrylamide formation in the preservation solutions must possess low molecular weight (<1000 Da). Sterilization of these solutions prior to the darkening stage could be a reliable method to estimate acrylamide formation in the final product. Therefore, processors could change the elaboration method of black ripe olives for some batches of olives expected to have a potential high final acrylamide content.
Primer accésit ex aequo – Andrea Fernández Veloso
Resumen
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) is a mature technique in metabolomics due to its non-invasive, highly reproducible, and inherently quantitative nature. However, difficulties in data analysis hinder its standardization in research. Herein, we propose an NMR-based metabolomic workflow that comprises data preprocessing, metabolite annotation, and data analysis. In this work, we apply such workflow to study vernalization, which is a critical process for crop development with largely unknown molecular mechanisms. Our findings suggest that sugar mobility, accessibility, and increased photosynthetic activity support plant viability post-vernalization. In other words, these processes ensure successful transplanting of the plant, highlighting the importance of sufficient cold exposure for flowering, fruiting, and ripening. This study demonstrates that the proposed workflow is suitable to capture metabolic changes in plant development. Such methodology underscores the potential of NMR-based metabolomics as a powerful tool for crop monitoring, aiding in improved agricultural practices and yield optimization.
Primer accésit ex aequo – Christina Arvanitidou
Resumen
Earth’s tilted rotation and translation around the Sun produce pervasive rhythms on our planet, giving rise to photoperiodic changes in diel cycles. Although marine phytoplankton plays a key role in ecosystems, multiomics analysis of its responses to these periodic environmental signals remains largely unexplored. The marine picoalga Ostreococcus tauri was chosen as a model organism due to its cellular and genomic simplicity. Ostreococcus was subjected to different light regimes to investigate its responses to periodic environmental signals: long summer days, short winter days, constant light, and constant dark conditions. Although <5% of the transcriptome maintained oscillations under both constant conditions, 80% presented diel rhythmicity. A drastic reduction in diel rhythmicity was observed at the proteome level, with 39% of the detected proteins oscillating. Photoperiod-specific rhythms were identified for key physiological processes such as the cell cycle, photosynthesis, carotenoid biosynthesis, starch accumulation, and nitrate assimilation. In this study, a photoperiodic plastic global orchestration among transcriptome, proteome, and physiological dynamics was characterized to identify photoperiod-specific temporal offsets between the timing of transcripts, proteins, and physiological responses.
Segundo accésit ex aequo – David Otto Tiede
Segundo accésit ex aequo – Alejandra Pita Milleiro
Resumen
Open-shell systems based on first-row transition metals and their involvement in various catalytic processes are well explored. By comparison, mononuclear open-shell complexes of precious transition metals remain underdeveloped. This is particularly true for IrII complexes, as there is very limited information available regarding their application in catalysis. Here we show that a family of IrII metalloradicals, featuring a C6H3-2,6-(OP(tBu)2)2 (POCOP) pincer ligand, effectively catalyses olefin isomerization—a key step in alkane metathesis—exhibiting up to 20 times higher activity than their IrI counterparts. Computational studies reveal that the IrII/IrIV redox cycling enables faster kinetics than the traditional IrI/IrIII pathway owing to reduced barriers for the oxidative addition and reductive elimination steps. Thus, this study presents a redox catalyst involving an IrII/IrIV pair, highlighting the capabilites of precious-metal systems that extend beyond traditional redox cycles. These findings emphasize the need for expanding catalytic design principles, especially for platinum-group metals.