Loading...
39 results
Search Results
Now showing 1 - 10 of 39
- Developing non-formal learning activities focused on increasing evolutionary knowledge and scientific literacyPublication . de Lima, Joelyn; Adnađević, Tanja; Barstad, Johan; Georgiou, Martha; Holm, Sile; Kenig, Bojan; Martinelli, Lucia; Nogueira, Teresa; Savković, Uroš; Tsopoglou-Gkina, Despina; Milosevic, TamaraNon-formal learning activities have an important role in continuous education of the general audience, and thus provide an essential element in increasing evolutionary knowledge and scientific literacy for European citizens, beyond the formal schooling. This guide brings together explanations of how non-formal learning can be designed, with special emphasis on evaluating the activities. The guide describes common activity types and examples encountered in our scoping conducted via surveys, personal contacts, and literature and internet search. It also provides reflection points for practitioners (activity designers, educators, science communicators) to embed evaluation as a form of engaging activity participants, as well as a tool to assess the impact and improve practice.
- Designing for viral infection awareness through PLAYMUTATIONPublication . Vale Costa, Liliana; Proença, Frederico; Passos, Ana; Zagolo, Nelson; Nogueira, Teresa; Duarte, Margarida; Ortet, Cláudia; Veloso, Ana
- Are Virulence and Antibiotic Resistance Genes Linked? A Comprehensive Analysis of Bacterial Chromosomes and PlasmidsPublication . Darmancier, Helena; Domingues, Célia P. F.; Rebelo, João S.; Amaro, Ana; Dionisio, Francisco; Pothier, Joel; Serra, Octavio; Nogueira, TeresaAlthough pathogenic bacteria are the targets of antibiotics, these drugs also affect hundreds of commensal or mutualistic species. Moreover, the use of antibiotics is not only restricted to the treatment of infections but is also largely applied in agriculture and in prophylaxis. During this work, we tested the hypothesis that there is a correlation between the number and the genomic location of antibiotic resistance (AR) genes and virulence factor (VF) genes. We performed a comprehensive study of 16,632 reference bacterial genomes in which we identified and counted all orthologues of AR and VF genes in each of the locations: chromosomes, plasmids, or in both locations of the same genome. We found that, on a global scale, no correlation emerges. However, some categories of AR and VF genes co-occur preferentially, and in the mobilome, which supports the hypothesis that some bacterial pathogens are under selective pressure to be resistant to specific antibiotics, a fact that can jeopardize antimicrobial therapy for some human-threatening diseases
- The power of dying slowly - persistence as unintentional dormancyPublication . Rebelo, João S.; Domingues, Célia P. F.; Monteiro, Francisca; Nogueira, Teresa; Dionisio, FranciscoPersistence is a state of bacterial dormancy where cells with low metabolic activity and growth rates are phenotypically tolerant to antibiotics and other cytotoxic substances. Given its obvious advantage to bacteria, several researchers have been looking for the genetic mechanism behind persistence. However, other authors argue that there is no such mechanism and that persistence results from inadvertent cell errors. In this case, the persistent population should decay according to a power-law with a particular exponent of −2. Studying persisters’ decay is, therefore, a valuable way to understand persistence. Here we simulated the fate of susceptible cells in laboratory experiments in the context of indirect resistance. Eventually, under indirect resistance, detoxifying drug-resistant cells save the persister cells that leave the dormant state and resume growth. The simulations presented here show that, by assuming a power-law decline, the exponent is close to −2, which is the expected value if persistence results from unintentional errors. Whether persisters are cells in a moribund state or, on the contrary, result from a genetic program, should impact the research of anti-persistent drugs.
- Database of Metagenomes of Sediments from Estuarine Aquaculture Farms in Portugal—AquaRAM Project CollectionPublication . Nogueira, Teresa; Silva, Daniel G.; Lopes, Susana; Botelho, AnaAquaculture farms and estuarine environments close to human activities play a critical role in the interaction between aquatic and terrestrial surroundings and animal and human health. The AquaRAM project aimed to study estuarine aquaculture farms in Portugal as a reservoir of antibiotic resistance genes and the potential of its spread due to mobile genetic elements. We have assembled a collection of metagenomic data from 30 sediment samples from oysters, mussels, and gilt-head sea bream aquaculture farms. This collection includes samples of the estuarine environment of three rivers and one lagoon located from the north to the south of Portugal, namely, the Lima River in Viana do Castelo, Aveiro Lagoon in Aveiro, Tagus River in Alcochete, and Sado River in Setúbal. Statistical data from the raw metagenome files, as well as the file sizes of the assembled nucleotide and protein sequences, are also presented. The link to the statistics and the download page for all the metagenomes is also listed below.
- Development and validation of a framework for the assessment of school curricula on the presence of evolutionary concepts (FACE)Publication . Sá-Pinto, Xana; Realdon, Giulia; Torkar, Gregor; Sousa, Bruno; Georgiou, Martha; Jeffries, Alex; Korfiatis, Konstantinos; Paolucci, Silvia; Pessoa, Patrícia; Rocha, Joana; Stasinakis, Panagiotis K.; Cavadas, Bento; Crottini, Angelica; Gnidovec, Tanja; Nogueira, Teresa; Papadopoulou, Penelope; Piccoli, Costanza; Barstad, Johan; Dufour, Heloise D.; Pejchinovska, Milena; Pobric, Alma; Cvetković, Dragana; Mavrikaki, EvangeliaEvolution is a key concept of biology, fundamental to understand the world and address important societal problems, but research studies show that it is still not widely understood and accepted. Several factors are known to influence evolution acceptance and understanding, but little information is available regarding the impacts of the curriculum on these aspects. Very few curricula have been examined to assess the coverage of biological evolution. The available studies do not allow comparative analyses, due to the different methodologies employed by the authors. However, such an analysis would be useful for research purposes and for the development of appropriate educational policies to address the problem of a lack of evolution acceptance in some countries. In this paper we describe the steps through which we developed a valid and reliable instrument for curricula analysis known as FACE: “Framework to Assess the Coverage of biological Evolution by school curricula.” This framework was developed based on the “Understanding Evolution Conceptual Framework” (UECF). After an initial pilot study, our framework was reformulated based on identified issues and experts’ opinions. To generate validity and reliability evidence in support of the framework, it was applied to four European countries’ curricula. For each country, a team of a minimum of two national and two foreign coders worked independently to assess the curriculum using this framework for content analysis. Reliability evidence was estimated using Krippendorf's alpha and resulted in appropriate values for coding the examined curricula. Some issues that coders faced during the analysis were discussed and, to ensure better reliability for future researchers, additional guidelines and one extra category were included in the framework. The final version of the framework includes six categories and 34 subcategories. FACE is a useful tool for the analysis and the comparison of curricula and school textbooks regarding the coverage of evolution, and such results can guide curricula development.
- Evolution of Animal Microbial Communities in Response to Environmental StressPublication . Nogueira, Teresa; Botelho, Ana; Bowler, Lucas; Inácio, João
- Exploiting Potential Probiotic Lactic Acid Bacteria Isolated from Chlorella vulgaris Photobioreactors as Promising Vitamin B12 ProducersPublication . Ribeiro, Mónica; Maciel, Cláudia; Cruz, Pedro; Darmancier, Helena; Nogueira, Teresa; Costa, Margarida; Laranjeira, Joana; Morais, Rui M. S. C.; Teixeira, PaulaLactic acid bacteria (LAB) have been documented as potential vitamin B12 producers and may constitute an exogenous source of cobalamin for the microalga Chlorella vulgaris, which has been described as being able to perform vitamin uptake. Hence, there is an interest in discovering novel B12-producing probiotic LAB. Therefore, the purpose of the current work was to perform a phenotype–genotype analysis of the vitamin B12 biosynthesis capacity of LAB isolated from C. vulgaris bioreactors, and investigate their probiotic potential. Among the selected strains, Lactococcus lactis E32, Levilactobacillus brevis G31, and Pediococcus pentosaceus L51 demonstrated vitamin B12 biosynthesis capacity, with the latter producing the highest (28.19 ± 2.27 pg mL−1 ). The genomic analysis confirmed the presence of pivotal genes involved in different steps of the biosynthetic pathway (hemL, cbiT, cobC, and cobD). Notably, P. pentosaceus L51 was the only strain harboring cobA, pduU, and pduV genes, which may provide evidence for the presence of the cobalamin operon. All strains demonstrated the capability to withstand harsh gastrointestinal conditions, although P. pentosaceus L51 was more resilient. The potential for de novo cobalamin biosynthesis and remarkable probiotic features highlighted that P. pentosaceus L51 may be considered the most promising candidate strain for developing high-content vitamin B12 formulations.
- Os coronavírus dos animais e do HomemPublication . Duarte, Margarida; Nogueira, Teresa; Botelho, Ana; Cavaco, Sandra; Duarte, Ana; Santos, Patricia; Sousa, Rita; Portela, Sara
- Harmful behaviour through plasmid transfer: a successful evolutionary strategy of bacteria harbouring conjugative plasmidsPublication . Domingues, Célia P. F.; Rebelo, João S.; Monteiro, Francisca; Nogueira, Teresa; Dionisio, FranciscoConjugative plasmids are extrachromosomal mobile genetic elements pervasive among bacteria. Plasmids' acquisition often lowers cells' growth rate, so their ubiquity has been a matter of debate. Chromosomes occasionally mutate, rendering plasmids cost-free. However, these compensatory mutations typically take hundreds of generations to appear after plasmid arrival. By then, it could be too late to compete with fast-growing plasmid-free cells successfully. Moreover, arriving plasmids would have to wait hundreds of generations for compensatory mutations to appear in the chromosome of their new host. We hypothesize that plasmid-donor cells may use the plasmid as a ‘weapon’ to compete with plasmid-free cells, particularly in structured environments. Cells already adapted to plasmids may increase their inclusive fitness through plasmid transfer to impose a cost to nearby plasmid-free cells and increase the replication opportunities of nearby relatives. A mathematical model suggests conditions under which the proposed hypothesis works, and computer simulations tested the long-term plasmid maintenance. Our hypothesis explains the maintenance of conjugative plasmids not coding for beneficial genes. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The secret lives of microbial mobile genetic elements’.