DigitUMa
Repositório Institucional da Universidade da Madeira
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Inhibitory activity of the peel and seed of Annona cherimola Mill. against Fusarium and Aspergillus pathogens
Publication . Trindade, Clarissa; Gouveia, Carla S .S.; Oliveira, Maria Cristina O.; Nóbrega, Humberto; Freitas, José G. R. de; Carvalho, Miguel A. A. Pinheiro de; Gouveia, Carla; Oliveira, Cristina; Nóbrega, Humberto; Almeida Pinheiro de Carvalho, Miguel Angelo
The food industry plays a critical role in waste production, and new studies that propose
innovative uses to bio-residue are of high importance. Annona cherimola Mill., also known as custard
apple and cherimoya, has been described as a powerful source of bioactive compounds with various
applications, such as antifungal applications. Fungal infection can lead to crop productivity limitation,
product contamination, and food loss. This work evaluates the antifungal action of Annona cherimola
Mill. oils against Fusarium oxysporum and Aspergillus niger. The oils were extracted from peel and
seeds of 8 different A. cherimola varieties exclusive to Madeira Island (Portugal) and tested for their
antifungal potential. This fruit waste was tested, using two different growth measurement methods.
The extracted oils restricted the fungi growth, providing the first insights on antifungal properties of
the varieties waste. Between the tested tissues, peel oils exhibited a slight better action over F.
oxysporum than seed oils. Overall colony expansion of F. oxysporum was better controlled by custard
apple oils than A. niger. Anis exhibited distinctive action against A. niger and Funchal, Perry Vidal,
Matteus, and Dona Mécia controlled better F. oxysporum growth, suggesting phytochemical
differences between them. There is no previous research on the biowaste oil extracts from Annona
varieties found in Madeira Island and their properties against pathogens. This study successfully opened new insights on these varieties and the results exposed interesting properties that deserve
further research.
Organic farming enhances diversity and recruits beneficial soil fungal groups in traditional banana plantations
Publication . Oliveira, Maria Cristina O.; Alves, Artur; Ragonezi, Carla; Freitas, José G. R. de; Carvalho, Miguel A. A. Pinheiro de; Oliveira, Cristina; Ragonezi, Carla; Almeida Pinheiro de Carvalho, Miguel Angelo
This study investigates the impact of organic (OF) and conventional farming (CF) on soil fungal communities in banana monoculture plantations on Madeira Island. We hypothesized that OF promotes beneficial fungal groups over harmful ones, sustaining soil health. Soil samples were collected from six plantations (three OF and three CF) for ITS amplicon sequencing to assess fungal diversity. Results showed that OF significantly enhanced fungal alpha-diversity (Shannon–Wiener index) and Evenness. The phylum Ascomycota dominated OF systems, while Basidiomycota prevailed in CF. Mortierella, a beneficial genus, was abundant in OF and is observed in CF but was less evident, being the genus Trechispora the most well represented in CF agrosystems. Additionally, OF was associated with higher soil pH and Mg levels, which correlated positively with beneficial fungal groups. Functional analysis revealed that OF promoted saprotrophic fungi, crucial for the decomposition of organic matter and nutrient cycling. However, both systems exhibited low levels of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, likely due to high phosphorus levels. These findings suggest that organic practices can enhance soil fungal diversity and health, although attention to nutrient management is critical to further improving soil–plant–fungi interactions.
Variations in the structure and function of the soil fungal communities in the traditional cropping systems from Madeira Island
Publication . Oliveira, Maria Cristina O.; Alves, Artur; Fidalgo, Cátia; Freitas, José G. R. de; Carvalho, Miguel A. A. Pinheiro de; Oliveira, Cristina; Almeida Pinheiro de Carvalho, Miguel Angelo
Agricultural soils are responsible for ecological functions and services that include primary production of food, fiber and fuel, nutrient cycling, carbon cycling and storage, water infiltration and purification, among others. Fungi are important drivers of most of those ecosystem services. Given the importance of fungi in agricultural soils, in this study, we aimed to characterize and analyse the changes of the soil fungal communities of three cropping systems from Madeira Island, where family farming is predominant, and investigate the response of fungi and its functional groups to soil physicochemical properties. To achieve that, we sequenced amplicons targeting the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) of the rRNA region, to analyse soil samples from 18 agrosystems: 6 vineyards (V), 6 banana plantations (B) and 6 vegetable plantations (H). Our results showed that alpha diversity indices of fungal communities are similar in the three cropping systems, but fungal composition and functional aspects varied among them, with more pronounced differences in B. Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, and Mortierellomycota were the main phyla found in the three cropping systems. Agaricomycetes and Sordariomycetes are the predominant classes in B, representing 23.8 and 22.4%, respectively, while Sordariomycetes (27.9%) followed by Eurotiomycetes (12.3%) were the predominant classes in V and Sordariomycetes (39.2%) followed by Tremellomycetes (8.9%) in the H. Saprotrophs are the fungal group showing higher relative abundance in the three cropping systems, followed by plant pathogens. Regarding symbionts, endophytes were highly observed in B, while mycorrhizal fungi was predominant in V and H. The structure of fungal communities was mainly correlated with soil content of P, K, N, Fe, and Cu. In addition, we identified bioindicators for each cropping system, which means that cultivated crops are also drivers of functional groups and the composition of communities. Overall, the three cropping systems favored diversity and growth of taxa that play important roles in soil, which highlights the importance of conservative management practices to maintain a healthy and resilient agrosystem.
Microorganism community structure: a characterisation of agrosystems from Madeira Archipelago
Publication . Oliveira, Maria Cristina O.; Ragonezi, Carla; Valente, Sofia; Freitas, José G. R. de; Carvalho, Miguel A. A. Pinheiro de; Oliveira, Cristina; Ragonezi, Carla; Valente, Sofia; Almeida Pinheiro de Carvalho, Miguel Angelo
Abstract
Microbial diversity profoundly influences soil ecosystem functions, making it vital to monitor community dynamics to comprehend its structure. Our study focused on six agrosystems in Madeira Archipelago, analysing bacteria, archaea, fungi and AMF through classical microbiology and molecular techniques. Despite distinct edaphoclimatic conditions and management practices, bacterial structures exhibited similarities, with Alphaproteobacteria at 18%–20%, Bacilli at 11%–18% and Clostridia at 9%–14%. The predominance of copiothrophic groups suggested that soil nutrient content was the driver of these communities. Regarding archaea, the communities changed among sites, and it was evident that agrosystems provided niches for methanogens. The Crenarchaeota varied between 15% and 29%, followed by two classes of Euryarchaeota, Methanomicrobia (17%–25%) and Methanococci (4%–32%). Fungal communities showed consistent composition at the class level but had differing diversity indices due to management practices and soil texture. Sordaryomycetes (21%–28%) and Agaricomycetes (15%–23%) were predominant. Conversely, AMF communities appeared to be also influenced by the agrosystem, with
Glomus
representing over 50% of the community in all agrosystems. These insights into microbial groups' susceptibilities to environmental conditions are crucial for maintaining healthy soil and predicting climate change effects on agrosystems' productivity, resilience and sustainability. Additionally, our findings enable the development of more robust prediction models for agricultural practices.
Editorial - Carta de marear para um tempo de inquietações
Publication . Lousada, Isabel; Paolinelli, Luísa; Sousa, Vanda de; Cavalcanti, Vanessa; Marinho Antunes Paolinelli, Luisa