Biology subjects

Rodrigues, A. S.

Publications and source records attributed to Rodrigues, A. S..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Unraveling grapevine taxonomic and functional soil microbiome under different edaphic conditions within a vineyard plot.

Grapevine, mainly Vitis vinifera, occupies an elite position among crops worldwide. Soil and plant rhizosphere microbiomes are known to act as promoters of plant growth and health status. Plant root systems can select microbial communities through root exudates, while soil physicochemical parameters influence the structure and composition of the microbial community. In this work, we characterize the taxonomic composition and potential functional microbiome in combination with a large set of physicochemical parameters from the same soil samples collected at short distance (250 m) within a conventionally managed commercial vineyard plot. Metabarcoding and metagenome analysis, using amplicon and shotgun sequencing, allowed us to explore the structure and composition of the microbiomes and their functional activity. Soil microbial structure and functionality, as well as physicochemical parameters, differed between the two locations. Levels of locations elevation, boron, and sodium showed high correlation with the sample distribution of microbial community and functional genes suggesting they could affect directly the microbial community and their interaction with grapevine roots. Elevation variable, which includes a set of stochastic and deterministic factors, could have exacerbated further the differences in the microbial community and functionality. As a result, Burkholderia-Caballeronia-Paraburkholderia, Pseudomonas, Pseudoxanthomonas, and Streptomyces genera, which were described to effectively improve plant growth and resistance to abiotic stresses, were significantly more abundant in one location presenting lower levels of boron, zinc and active limestone and higher levels of sodium (within safe ranges). Microbial activity points out to have higher positive plant interactions in the same location registering genes associated with biofilm formation and quorum sensing pathways together with lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis and membrane transport. Altogether this data contributes to a better understanding of complex systems such as grapevine soil since soil physicochemical properties and microbial communities present significant variation within the vineyard, which can eventually impact wine quality.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2025

Coping with extremes: How Epigenetic and Molecular Adaptations Enable Earthworms to Thrive in Volcanic Soils

Earthworms thriving in naturally occurring geothermal soils offer rare insight into rapid adaptation to environmental extremes. Here, we show that the pantropical earthworm Amynthas gracilis survives and flourishes in soils of the Furnas Volcano (Sao Miguel Island, Azores), where conditions include elevated temperatures (up to 40 {degrees}C), high CO2 (88.6%), low O2 (10%), toxic metals, and mildly acidic pH. In a reciprocal-transplant, mesocosm-based experiment between soils overlying areas of active degassing volcanic gassing (hereafter active degassing soils) and reference soils, convergence of the epidermal thickness of the transplanted earthworms to the resident-soil phenotype (24 {+/-} 3.9 {micro}m active degassing soil, 43.8 {+/-} 8 {micro}m reference soil), was observed within 31 days. Combining RNA-Seq, DNA (5-cytosine) methylation mapping, and microRNA profiling, this phenotypic change results from coordinated transcriptional and epigenetic reprogramming. While gene-body methylation occurred at [~]98 % of loci, levels varied, and differentially methylated regions were enriched ffor genes with altered expression under volcanic stress. Multi-omics network analysis identified epithelial morphogenesis, circulatory system formation, and neural development as regulatory hubs, highlighted by a set of 41 epithelial-morphogenesis genes showing consistent methylation and miRNA patterns. Additional modules governing ion transport and signal transduction complemented the adaptive response. Collectively these findings demonstrate that A. gracilis employs dynamic DNA methylation and microRNA regulation alongside transcriptional reprogramming to generate a persistent phenotypic adjustment to a volcanic stress. This work advances our understanding of extremophile resilience and provides a scalable model for predicting organismal adaptive capacity in the face of environmental extremes.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2021

Motor dysfunction in Drosophila melanogaster as a biomarker for developmental neurotoxicity

Humans interact with numerous chemical compounds with direct health implications, with several able to induce developmental neurotoxicity (DNT), which bear developmental, behavioral, and cognitive consequences from a young age. Current guidelines for DNT testing are notably costly, time consuming, and unsuitable for testing large numbers of chemicals. Therefore, there is a need for adequate alternatives to conventional animal testing for neurotoxicity and DNT. Here we show that detailed kinematic analysis can provide a strong indicator for DNT, using known (chlorpyrifos, CPS) or putative ({beta}-N-methylamino-L-alanine, BMAA) neurotoxic compounds. We exposed Drosophila melanogaster to these compounds during development and evaluated for common general toxicity -- notably developmental survival and pupal positioning, together with the FlyWalker system, a detailed adult kinematics evaluation method. At concentrations that do not induce general toxicity, the solvent DMSO had a significant effect on kinematic parameters. Nonetheless, CPS not only induced developmental lethality but also significantly impaired coordination in comparison to DMSO, altering 16 motor parameters, validating the usefulness of our kinematic approach. Interestingly, BMAA, although not lethal during development, induced a dose-dependent motor decay, targeting most parameters in young adult animals, phenotypically resembling normally aged, non-exposed flies. This effect was subsequently attenuated during ageing, indicating an adaptive response. Furthermore, BMAA induced an abnormal terminal differentiation of leg motor neurons, without inducing degeneration, underpinning the observed altered mobility phenotype. Overall, our results support our kinematic approach as a novel, highly sensitive and reliable tool to assess potential DNT of chemical compounds.

neuroscience↗