Persona: Aguilera, Angeles
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Centro de Astrobiologia
El Centro de Astrobiología (CAB) es un centro mixto de investigación en astrobiología, dependiente tanto del Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial (INTA) como del Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC).
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Aguilera
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Angeles
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Publicación Restringido Occurrence and transport of microplastics sampled within and above the planetary boundary layer(Elsevier BV, 2021-03-20) González Pleiter, M.; Edo, C.; Aguilera, Angeles; Viúdez Moreiras, Daniel; Pulido Reyes, G.; González-Toril, Elena; Osuna Esteban, Susana; De Diego Castilla, Graciela; Leganés, F.; Fernández Piñas, F.; Rosal, R.; Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI); Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO); 0000-0003-0816-8775; 0000-0003-0340-7327; 0000-0002-7674-4167Nowadays, there is no direct evidence about the presence of microplastics (MPs) in the atmosphere above ground level. Here, we investigated the occurrence, chemical composition, shape, and size of MPs in aircraft sampling campaigns flying within and above the planetary boundary layer (PBL). The results showed that MPs were present with concentrations ranging from 1.5 MPs m−3 above rural areas to 13.9 MPs m−3 above urban areas. MPs represented up to almost one third of the total amount of microparticles collected. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy allowed identifying seven types of MPs with the highest diversity corresponding to urban areas. Atmospheric transport and deposition simulations were performed using the HYbrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model. Air mass trajectory analyses showed that MPs could be transported more than 1000 km before being deposited. This pioneer study is the first evidence of the microplastic presence above PBL and their potential long-range transport from their point of release even crossing distant borders.Publicación Restringido Metagenomic analysis of the microbial community at the Riutort oil shale mine (NE Spain): Potential applications in bioremediation and enhanced oil recovery(Elsevier, 2023-10-10) González-Toril, Elena; Permanyer, Albert; Gallego, José R.; Márquez, Gonzalo; Lorenzo, Erica; Aguilera, Angeles; Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN); Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO); Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI)Preservation of the environment of the Riutort oil shale mine for more than a century has favored the presence of a paradigmatic ecosystem of oil-degrading microorganisms. After extensive sampling and analysis by 16S rRNA sequencing, a marked prokaryotic community comprising diverse groups of bacteria (genus such as Methylobacter, Thiothrix, and Desulfobacca) and archaea (e.g., Methanobrevibacter genus) with hydrocarbon-degrading activity was found. Aerobic microorganisms were predominant in several samples but facultative microorganisms were also present, and there was an interesting transition to strict anaerobic conditions in some areas. One of the samples contained oil degrading aerobic bacteria such as Pseudomonas spp. and Brevundimonas spp. Of the microbes studied, we conducted a laboratory assessment of the capacity of this specific consortium for bioremediation of petroleum-polluted soil and microbial enhanced oil recovery processes. To this end, we used oily sludge-contaminated soil from La Libertad Refinery and cores from the Ancón Field, respectively, both sites in southwestern Ecuador. The Riutort consortium degraded 50.8% of total petroleum hydrocarbons, 64.2% of saturates, 41.3% of aromatics, and 37.4% of polar compounds after a 60-day incubation using oily sludge as the sole source of carbon. The performance of this consortium reflects its notable potential for bioremediation purposes. In turn, flooding with the natural Riutort consortium and its metabolites achieved a 7.2% (v/v) incremental recovery of crude oil through a sand-pack assay. These results are comparable to those reported using synthetic bacterial consortia, and thus reveal the great interest of the study seepages, not only for understanding microbial activities in oil degradation but also their use in biotechnological applications.Publicación Restringido Viable Microorganisms on Fibers Collected within and beyond the Planetary Boundary Layer(ACS Publications, 2020-08-25) González Pleiter, M.; Edo, C.; Casero Chamorro, M. C.; Aguilera, Angeles; González-Toril, Elena; Wierzchos, J.; Leganés, F.; Fernández Piñas, F.; Rosal, R.; Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI); González Pleiter, M. [0000-0002-7674-4167]; Casero, M. C. [0000-0002-0611-4776]; Unidad de Excelencia Científica María de Maeztu Centro de Astrobiología del Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial y CSIC, MDM-2017-0737Fibers are found in all environments. However, the impact of their presence on ecosystems and human health is not yet well understood, especially in the case of the atmosphere. In this work, we presented evidence that fibers traveling through the atmosphere act as vectors to spread microorganisms. Here, we investigated the presence of viable microorganisms on fibers collected within and beyond the planetary boundary layer during flights of C-212 aircraft over Central Spain. In total, seven fibers, six of which transported viable microorganisms, were isolated in two flights. The viability of the microorganisms was determined by confocal microscopy by means of the fluorescent probes SYBR-Green to detect microorganisms and CTC redox dye to assess their cellular respiration activity. The fibers that transported viable microorganisms were spectroscopically analyzed by micro-FTIR and identified as wool-silk and cellulose-cotton. Taken together, the results demonstrated that fibers host viable microorganisms when traveling through the lower free troposphere.Publicación Acceso Abierto Ecological degradation of a fragile semi-arid wetland and the implications in its microbial community: The case study of Las Tablas de Daimiel National Park (Spain)(Elsevier, 2024-05-10) Santofimia, Esther; González-Toril, Elena; De Diego Castilla, Graciela; Rincón-Tomás, Blanca; Aguilera, Angeles; Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI); European Commission (EC); Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio AmbienteLas Tablas de Daimiel National Park (TDNP, Iberian Peninsula) is a semi-arid wetland of international significance for waterfowl and serves as a migratory route for various bird species. However, TDNP presents strong anthropization and fluctuating water levels, making it a highly fragile ecosystem. Water physico-chemical parameters and microbial diversity of the three domains (Bacteria-Archaea- Eukarya) were analysed in Zone A and Zone B of the wetland (a total of eight stations) during spring and summer, aiming to determine how seasonal changes influence the water quality, trophic status and ultimately, the microbial community composition. Additionally, Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) was used to determine the trophic status instead of transparency using Secchi disk, setting the threshold to 20–40 μmol/sm2 for benthic vegetation growth. In spring, both zones of the wetland were considered eutrophic, and physico-chemical parameters as well as microbial diversity were similar to other wetlands, with most abundant bacteria affiliated to Actinobacteriota, Cyanobacteria, Bacteroidota, Gammaproteobacteria and Verrumicrobiota. Methane-related taxa like Methanosarcinales and photosynthetic Chlorophyta were respectively the most representative archaeal and eukaryotic groups. In summer, phytoplankton bloom led by an unclassified Cyanobacteria and mainly alga Hydrodictyon was observed in Zone A, resulting in an increase of turbidity, pH, phosphorus, nitrogen, chlorophyll-a and phycocyanin indicating the change to hypertrophic state. Microbial community composition was geographical and seasonal shaped within the wetland as response to changes in trophic status. Archaeal diversity decreases and methane-related species increase due to sediment disturbance driven by fish activity, wind, and substantial water depth reduction. Zone B in summer suffers less seasonal changes, maintaining the eutrophic state and still detecting macrophyte growth in some stations. This study provides a new understanding of the interdomain microbial adaptation following the ecological evolution of the wetland, which is crucial to knowing these systems that are ecological niches with high environmental value.Publicación Acceso Abierto Toxicity, Physiological, and Ultrastructural Effects of Arsenic and Cadmium on the Extremophilic Microalga Chlamydomonas acidophila(Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI), 2020-03-03) Díaz, S.; De Francisco, P.; Olsson, S.; Aguilera, Angeles; González-Toril, Elena; Martín González, A.; Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI); Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO); Olsson, S. [https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1199-4499]; Unidad de Excelencia Científica María de Maeztu Centro de Astrobiología del Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial y CSIC, MDM-2017-0737The cytotoxicity of cadmium (Cd), arsenate (As(V)), and arsenite (As(III)) on a strain of Chlamydomonas acidophila, isolated from the Rio Tinto, an acidic environment containing high metal(l)oid concentrations, was analyzed. We used a broad array of methods to produce complementary information: cell viability and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation measures, ultrastructural observations, transmission electron microscopy energy dispersive x-ray microanalysis (TEM-XEDS), and gene expression. This acidophilic microorganism was affected differently by the tested metal/metalloid: It showed high resistance to arsenic while Cd was the most toxic heavy metal, showing an LC50 = 1.94 mu M. Arsenite was almost four-fold more toxic (LC50= 10.91 mM) than arsenate (LC50 = 41.63 mM). Assessment of ROS generation indicated that both arsenic oxidation states generate superoxide anions. Ultrastructural analysis of exposed cells revealed that stigma, chloroplast, nucleus, and mitochondria were the main toxicity targets. Intense vacuolization and accumulation of energy reserves (starch deposits and lipid droplets) were observed after treatments. Electron-dense intracellular nanoparticle-like formation appeared in two cellular locations: inside cytoplasmic vacuoles and entrapped into the capsule, around each cell. The chemical nature (Cd or As) of these intracellular deposits was confirmed by TEM-XEDS. Additionally, they also contained an unexpected high content in phosphorous, which might support an essential role of poly-phosphates in metal resistance.Publicación Acceso Abierto Environmental parameters, and not phylogeny, determine the composition of extracellular polymeric substances in microbial mats from extreme environments(Elsevier, 2019-02-10) Blanco, Yolanda; Rivas, Luis Alfonso; González-Toril, Elena; Ruiz-Bermejo, Marta; Moreno Paz, Mercedes; Parro, Víctor; Palacín, Arantxa; Aguilera, Angeles; Puente Sánchez, Fernando; Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO); Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI)The ability to establish biofilms is a key trait for microorganisms growing in extreme environments. The extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) present in biofilms provide not only surface attachment, but also protection against all kinds of environmental stressors, including desiccation, salinity, temperature or heavy metal pollution. The acquisition of suitable biofilm characteristics might thus be an important process mediating the adaptation of microorganisms to novel environmental conditions. In this work we have characterized the EPS of 20 phylogenetically diverse biofilms collected in situ from five contrasting extreme environments, including two geothermal areas (Copahue, Argentina; Seltun, Iceland), two cold areas (Pastoruri glacier, Peru; Byers Peninsula, Antarctica) and one extremely acidic river (Río Tinto, Spain). Biofilms were subjected to biochemical characterization, glycan profiling and immunoprofiling with an antibody microarray. Our results showed that environmental conditions strongly influence biofilm characteristics, with microorganisms from the same environment achieving similar EPS compositions regardless of the phylogeny of their main species. The concentration of some monosaccharides in the EPS could be related to environmental conditions such as temperature or heavy metal toxicity, suggesting that in some cases stress resistance can be mediated by specific sugars. Overall, our results highlight the existence of conserved EPS compositional patterns for each extreme environment, which could in turn be exploited to engineer ecological adaptations in genetically modified microorganisms.Publicación Acceso Abierto Physiological plasticity of high-temperature intertidal cyanobacterial microbial mats to temperature and salinity: daily and seasonal in situ photosynthetic performance(Taylor and Francis Online, 2020-01-08) Aguilera, Angeles; Suominen, S.; Pétursdóttir, S.; Olgudóttir, E.; Gudmundsdottir, E. E.; Altamirano, M.; González-Toril, Elena; Hreggvidsson, G. O.; Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI); Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO); European Commission (EC)The physiological plasticity of five cyanobacteria microbial mats from an extreme high temperature intertidal environment (SW Iceland) was analysed both daily and seasonally. Daily cycles under in situ natural conditions were monitored from June to October using pulse-amplitude modulated (PAM) fluorometry and pigment composition in order to study the photosynthetic performance of these microbial mats in relation to environmental fluctuations linked to irradiance and temperature. In vitro temperature and salinity experiments of photosynthetic responses were also conducted. A total of 10 taxa were identified, the most abundant species being Cyanobacterium sp. and Geitlerinema sp. The microbial mats showed a remarkable photosynthetic adaptation to daily and seasonal changes in temperature and solar radiation. For all microbial mats, rETRmax values decreased from June to October, while Fv/Fm remained constant in terms of absolute values. Although high irradiances during June and July affected photosynthesis through photoinhibition, recovery was observed under high temperatures (between 40–50°C), which supports the hypothesis that temperature is a determining factor in the photosynthetic performance of these cyanobacterial mats. Our results showed a significant increase in the Chla-b and phycobiliproteins content from June to October, as well as a significant decrease in total carotenoids content.Publicación Acceso Abierto Biofilm mechanics in an extremely acidic environment: microbiological significance(Royal Society of Chemistry, 2021-02-15) Souza Egipsy, V.; Vega, J.; González-Toril, Elena; Aguilera, Angeles; Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI); 0000-0002-9690-9889; 0000-0002-0377-4410; 0000-0002-5750-0765; 0000-0003-4979-7578A variety of natural biofilms were collected from an extremely acidic environment at Río Tinto (Spain). In order to provide insights into the structure–function relationship, the microstructure of the biofilms was explored using low temperature scanning electron microscopy (LTSEM) in combination with rheological analysis. The creep-recovery experiment results have demonstrated the typical behaviour of viscoelastic materials that combine both elastic and viscous characters. The LTSEM visualization and rheological characterization of biofilms revealed that the network density increased in bacterial biofilms and was the lowest in protist Euglena biofilms. This means that, in the latter biofilms, a lower density of interactions exist, suggesting that the whole system experiences enhanced mobility under external mechanical stress. The samples with the highest dynamic moduli (Leptospirillum–Acidiphilium, Zygnemopsis, Chlorella and Cyanidium) have shown the typical strain thinning behaviour, whereas the Pinnularia and Euglena biofilms exhibited a viscous thickening reaction. The Zygnemopsis filamentous floating structure has the highest cohesive energy and has shown distinctive enhanced resilience and connectivity. This suggests that biofilms should be viewed as soft viscoelastic systems the properties of which are determined by the main organisms and their extracellular polymeric substances. The fractional Maxwell model has been found to explain the rheological behaviour of the observed complex quite well, particularly the power-law behaviour and the characteristic broad relaxation response of these systems.Publicación Restringido Characterization of an electrostatic filter prototype for bioaerosol flowmetering for INTA Investigation Aerial Platforms(Elsevier, 2019-08-20) Sor, Suthyvann; Bardera, Rafael; García-Magariño, Adelaida; González, Elena; Aguilera, Angeles; Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial (INTA)The characterization of the airborne microorganisms at different altitudes of the atmosphere is usually conducted by means of aerial platforms. It is very interesting to know the biological processes in the atmosphere. However, there are problems associated to the fact that sampling systems are embarked on an aircraft and the low presence of microorganisms at high altitude. A prototype of a new electrostatic filter for bioaersol flowmetering dedicated to biology investigations has been developed. This prototype was designed to be installed on board in aerial platforms of INTA. The experimental characterization of the aerodynamic flow was performed in order to investigate the behaviour of the filter when different air intake widths and different mechanical deflectors are employed. A combination of these impactor with the filters based on industrial electrostatic precipitator technology have been studied. Non-intrusive Particle Image Velocimetry technique has been used to measure the flow field inside the filter when it was running under controlled conditions in laboratory. This study is a first investigation on the flow field of filter for bioaerosol flowmetering to be embarked on an aircraft. The results show the influence of each parameter in the flow field that could be used for further investigations and designs.
