Francesc Xavier Prenafeta Boldú

Francesc Xavier Prenafeta Boldú
IRTA Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology | IRTA · Organic Waste Integral Management Programme

PhD - Wageningen University

About

192
Publications
132,412
Reads
How we measure 'reads'
A 'read' is counted each time someone views a publication summary (such as the title, abstract, and list of authors), clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the full-text. Learn more
9,324
Citations
Introduction
My academic background is in Environmental Biotechnology and Engineering, Microbial Ecology, and Agricultural Sciences, and I am interested to solve biologically-related environmental problems. I work at the interface between fundamental and applied sciences, in order to find new engineering applications that tackle real world concerns. My research focuses on bacteria and fungi from extreme environments that convert toxic contaminants into harmless -and even valuable- products. The methodological approach is based on the interdisciplinary study of the ecophysiology and metabolism of specific microbes in the laboratory, as well as complex microbial community dynamics in both the open environment and at bioreactor full-scale.
Additional affiliations
April 2002 - March 2005
Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures (CBS) - Fungal Biodiversity Center
Position
  • PostDoc Position
Description
  • Fundamental research on the ecophysiology and molecular phylogeny of the extremophilic hydrocarbonoclastic fungi.
February 2001 - July 2001
TNO Environment, Energy, and Process Innovation
Position
  • PhD Student
Description
  • Applied research on the biofiltration of gas streams polluted with volatile aromatic hydrocarbons.
February 1998 - January 2001
Wageningen University & Research
Position
  • PhD Student
Description
  • Basic and applied research on the fungal metabolisms of aromatic hydrocarbons, as the sole source of carbon and energy, and on its potential applications in bioremediation.

Publications

Publications (192)
Article
Full-text available
The biodegradation of toluene was studied in two lab-scale air biofilters operated in parallel, packed respectively with perlite granules (PEG) and polyurethane foam cubes (PUC) and inoculated with the same toluene-degrading fungus. Differences on the material pore size, from micrometres in PEG to millimetres in PUC, were responsible for distinct b...
Article
Full-text available
Introducion Fungal melanin is an underexplored natural biomaterial of great biotechnological interest in different areas. This study investigated the physical, chemical, electrochemical, and metal-binding properties of melanin extracted from the metallotolerant black fungus Exophiala mesophila strain IRTA-M2-F10. Materials and methods Specific inh...
Article
Full-text available
A collection of 34 melanized fungi isolated previously from anthropogenic contaminated sites were assessed for their tolerance to toxic concentrations of As(V) and Cr(VI) anions. Three strains of the species Cyphellophora olivacea, Rhinocladiella similis, and Exophiala mesophila (Chaetothyriales) were identified as hyper-metallotolerant, with estim...
Article
Full-text available
Fungi in the order Chaetothyriales are renowned for their ability to cause human infections. Nevertheless, they are not regarded as primary pathogens, but rather as opportunists with a natural habitat in the environment. Extremotolerance is a major trend in the order, but quite different from black yeasts in Capnodiales which focus on endurance, an...
Article
Full-text available
In the course of a taxonomic survey on hyphomycetes from the Atacama Desert, four strains of slow-growing, cycloheximide-tolerant dematiaceous fungi were obtained from soil samples. These isolates presented a blastic conidiogenous apparatus and yeast-like budding cells typical of the genus Exophiala. DNA sequence analyses of the internal transcribe...
Article
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of pen stocking density on animal performance, social behavior, and animal and pen dirtiness in fattening bulls. Two hundred sixty-three bulls (250 ± 24.7 kg BW, and 193 ± 13.2 d age) were group-housed and fed concentrate and unprocessed straw separately, both ad libitum. Animals were assigned to one...
Article
Full-text available
Dietary strategies can potentially help to reduce nitrogen (N) emissions and decrease the environmental impact of beef production. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of dietary crude protein (CP) concentration on animal performance, N excretion, and manure N volatilisation of finishing Holstein animals. In a first study, 105 Holstein bulls (B...
Chapter
Fungi can cause deterioration of building materials and adverse health effects on its occupants. However, knowledge of the mycobiome (fungal biome) from the built environment is still incomplete, and most surveys available in the literature have focused on airborne molds. These molds grow on indoor damp materials and can produce abundant conidia (s...
Article
Intensive livestock production has a negative environmental impact by producing large amounts of animal dejections, which, if not properly managed, can contaminate nearby water bodies with nutrient excess. However, if the animal manure could be transferred efficiently to nearby crops and used as a fertilizer for the plants, pollution/contamination...
Article
Full-text available
Black fungi of the order Chaetothyriales are grown by many tropical plant-mutualistic ants as small so-called “patches” in their nests, which are located inside hollow structures provided by the host plant (“domatia”). These fungi are introduced and fostered by the ants, indicating that they are important for the colony. As several species of Chaet...
Article
Full-text available
Human-made hydrocarbon-rich environments are important reservoirs of microorganisms with specific degrading abilities and pathogenic potential. In particular, black fungi are of great interest, but their presence in the environment is frequently underestimated because they are difficult to isolate. In the frame of a biodiversity study from fuel-con...
Article
Full-text available
Environmental pollution with alkylbenzene hydrocarbons such as toluene is a recurring phenomenon. Their toxicity and harmful effect on people and the environment drive the search for sustainable removal techniques such as bioremediation, which is based on the microbial metabolism of xenobiotic compounds. Melanized fungi present extremophilic charac...
Article
Full-text available
The concurrence of structurally complex petroleum-associated contaminants at relatively high concentrations, with diverse climatic conditions and textural soil characteristics, hinders conventional bioremediation processes. Recalcitrant compounds such as high molecular weight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (HMW-PAHs) and heavy alkanes commonly re...
Preprint
Full-text available
Blockchain is an emerging digital technology allowing ubiquitous financial transactions among distributed untrusted parties, without the need of intermediaries such as banks. This chapter examines the impact of blockchain technology in agriculture and food supply chain, presents existing ongoing projects and initiatives, and discusses overall impli...
Article
Full-text available
The solar drying of pig slurries was tested in a pilot-scale greenhouse (10 m2 footprint), operated with forced ventilation under low and high solar irradiation in Mediterranean conditions. Gaseous emissions were prevented through slurry acidification and by the biofiltration of exhaust gases. Air relative humidity and temperature in and out the gr...
Chapter
Full-text available
Soil organic carbon (SOC) plays an important role on improving soil conditions and soil functions. Increasing land use changes have induced an important decline of SOC content at global scale. Increasing SOC in agricultural soils has been proposed as a strategy to mitigate climate change. Animal manure has the characteristic of enriching SOC, when...
Chapter
Full-text available
Blockchain has recently emerged as a promising digital technology aspiring to offer trusted financial transactions between various untrusted parties without the requirement for intermediaries in the process, such as banking institutes. This chapter focuses on a specific domain where the application of blockchain technology has significant potential...
Article
Full-text available
Intensive livestock production might have a negative environmental impact, by producing large amounts of animal excrements, which, if not properly managed, can contaminate nearby water bodies with nutrient excess. However, if animal manure is exported to distant crop fields, to be used as organic fertilizer, pollution can be mitigated. It is a sing...
Article
Full-text available
Intensive livestock production might have a negative environmental impact, by producing large amounts of animal manure, which, if not properly managed, can contaminate nearby water bodies with nutrient excess. However, if animal manure is exported to nearby crop fields, to be used as organic fertilizer, pollution can be mitigated. It is a single-ob...
Preprint
Full-text available
Soil organic carbon (SOC) plays an important role on improving soil conditions and soil functions. Increasing land use changes have induced an important decline of SOC content at global scale. Increasing SOC in agricultural soils has been proposed as a strategy to mitigate climate change. Animal manure has the characteristic of enriching SOC, when...
Article
The present study describes a pilot-scale experimental validation of a forced-convection greenhouse solar dryer, combined with a biofilter, for controlled atmospheric emissions. This setup was applied to the dewatering of sewage sludge from a biological plant treating process wastewater in a commercial Mediterranean winery. Experiments were perform...
Preprint
Full-text available
Intensive livestock production might have a negative environmental impact, by producing large amounts of animal manure, which, if not properly managed, can contaminate nearby water bodies with nutrient excess. However, if animal manure is exported to nearby crop fields, to be used as organic fertilizer, pollution can be mitigated. It is a single-ob...
Preprint
Full-text available
Intensive livestock production might have a negative environmental impact, by producing large amounts of animal excrements, which, if not properly managed, can contaminate nearby water bodies with nutrient excess. However, if animal manure is exported to distant crop fields, to be used as organic fertilizer, pollution can be mitigated. It is a sing...
Article
Full-text available
Background The pig gut microbiome harbors thousands of species of archaea, bacteria, viruses and eukaryotes such as protists and fungi. However, since the majority of published studies have been focused on prokaryotes, little is known about the diversity, host-genetic control, and contributions to host performance of the gut eukaryotic counterparts...
Preprint
The present study describes a pilot-scale experimental validation of a dynamic solar dryer, combined with a biofilter for controlled atmospheric emissions. This setup was applied to the dehydration of sewage sludge from a biological plant treating process wastewater in a commercial Mediterranean winery. Experiments were performed after the harvest,...
Preprint
Full-text available
This study aims to characterize commensal fungi and protists inhabiting the gut of healthy pigs, and explore the putative host genetic control over diversity and composition of pig gut eukaryotes. Fecal fungi and protists communities from 514 Duroc pigs of two sexes and two different ages were characterized by 18S and ITS ribosomal RNA gene sequenc...
Poster
Full-text available
Black yeasts/fungi form a functional group of poorly under-stood ascomycetes that are characterized by a strongly melanised thallus. This feature enables them to colonize a wide range of hostile environments, such as the damaged reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear plant. Many species are considered to be polyextremophilic and some of them have even be...
Article
Full-text available
The prevalence of black fungi in the order Chaetothyriales has often been underestimated due to the difficulty of their isolation. In this study, three methods which are often used to isolate black fungi are compared. Enrichment on aromatic hydrocarbon appears effective in inhibiting growth of cosmopolitan microbial species and allows appearance of...
Poster
Full-text available
The present study describes a pilot-scale experimental validation of a dynamic solar dryer, combined with a biofilter for controlled atmospheric emissions, which was applied to the dehydration of sewage sludge from a biological plant treating process wastewater in a commercial winery (Penedès designation of origin, Catalonia, Spain). Experiments we...
Preprint
Full-text available
Blockchain is an emerging digital technology allowing ubiquitous financial transactions among distributed untrusted parties, without the need of intermediaries such as banks. This article examines the impact of blockchain technology in agriculture and food supply chain, presents existing ongoing projects and initiatives, and discusses overall impli...
Preprint
The solar drying of pig slurries was tested in a pilot-scale greenhouse (10 m2 covered footprint), operated with forced ventilation under Mediterranean climatic conditions (April). Gaseous emissions were prevented through slurry acidification and by the biofiltration of the exhaust gases. Air relative humidity and temperature in and out the greenho...
Article
Full-text available
Microbial community dynamics during the anaerobic co-digestion of pig manure, pasteurized slaughterhouse waste and glycerin were studied in a lab-scale CSTR. The feed composition was optimized through progressive co-substrate additions for enhanced methane production and organic matter removal without accumulation of intermediate compounds. Microbi...
Article
Full-text available
Blockchain is an emerging digital technology allowing ubiquitous financial transactions among distributed untrusted parties, without the need of intermediaries such as banks. This article examines the impact of blockchain technology in agriculture and food supply chain, presents existing ongoing projects and initiatives, and discusses overall impli...
Article
Full-text available
In many countries, it is difficult for government agencies to know where animal farms are located. Using satellite imaging and deep learning provides a new, effective, accurate and low-cost approach for detecting these facilities.
Conference Paper
Full-text available
El present treball fa un breu repàs del context històric en que s’emmarca la revolució tecnològica actual, popularitzada com a Industria 4.0, i de les seves interrelacions amb la transformació paral·lela del sector agroalimentari, o Agricultura 4.0. Així mateix, es recullen diferents articles de revisió bibliogràfica sobre l’aplicació d’alguns conc...
Chapter
There is high interest in applying anaerobic digestion to organic wastes for the recovery of biogas as a renewable energy source. In the case of protein-rich residues, the performance of anaerobic digesters might be affected by the accumulation of ammonia and volatile fatty acids. High concentrations of these compounds impact negatively on the acti...
Technical Report
Full-text available
Blockchain is an emerging digital technology allowing ubiquitous financial transactions among distributed untrusted parties, without the need of intermediaries such as banks. This article examines the impact of blockchain technology in agriculture and food supply chain, presents existing ongoing projects and initiatives, and discusses overall impli...
Article
The effect of ammonia on methanogenic biomass from a full-scale agricultural digester treating nitrogen-rich materials was characterized in batch activity assays subjected to increasing concentrations of total ammonia N. Acetotrophic and methanogenic profiles displayed prolonged lag phases and reduced specific activity rates at 6.0 gN-TAN L−1, thou...
Article
Cultures of melanized fungi representative of the black yeast orders Capnodiales (Cladosporium cladosporioides and Neohortaea acidophila) and Chaetothyriales (Cladophialophora psammophila) were confined with indoor air from the laboratory during 48 h. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the headspace were analyzed by thermal desorption gas chrom...
Preprint
Full-text available
Monitoring of disasters is crucial for mitigating their effects on the environment and human population, and can be facilitated by the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), equipped with camera sensors that produce aerial photos of the areas of interest. A modern technique for recognition of events based on aerial photos is deep learning. In this...
Preprint
Full-text available
Deep learning constitutes a recent, modern technique for image processing and data analysis, with promising results and large potential. As deep learning has been successfully applied in various domains, it has recently entered also the domain of agriculture. In this paper, we perform a survey of 40 research efforts that employ deep learning techni...
Article
Full-text available
Deep learning (DL) constitutes a modern technique for image processing, with large potential. Having been successfully applied in various areas, it has recently also entered the domain of agriculture. In the current paper, a survey was conducted of research efforts that employ convolutional neural networks (CNN), which constitute a specific class o...
Article
Full-text available
Paddy rice fields are one of the most important sources of anthropogenic methane. Improving the accuracy in the CH4 budget is fundamental to identify strategies to mitigate climate change. Such improvement requires a mechanistic understanding of the complex interactions between environmental and agronomic factors determining CH4 emissions, and also...
Data
Monthly emission rates of C-CH4 (average, mg m-2 h-1, ± SE) in each monitored commercial rice field (P1 –P15) in the growing season, from May to September (Top), and in the fallow season, from October to December (Bellow). (TIF)
Data
Kellogg’s-LIFE agreement for sampling rice fields. (PDF)
Data
2015_CH4 Ebre Delta Raw data. (XLSX)
Presentation
Full-text available
Introduction The accumulation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in indoor environments is a major contributor of the so-called sick building syndrome. The common solution of enhancing ventilation is not possible for totally confined environments like in space missions. To this day, a satisfactory technology for the removal of indoor VOCs has yet...
Article
Full-text available
Background Tetrapods do not express hydrolases for cellulose and hemicellulose assimilation, and hence, the independent acquisition of herbivory required the establishment of new endosymbiotic relationships between tetrapods and microbes. Green turtles (Chelonia mydas) are one of the three groups of marine tetrapods with an herbivorous diet and whi...
Article
Full-text available
Deep learning constitutes a recent, modern technique for image processing and data analysis, with promising results and large potential. As deep learning has been successfully applied in various domains, it has recently entered also the domain of agriculture. In this paper, we perform a survey of 40 research efforts that employ deep learning techni...
Poster
Full-text available
Tetrapods do not express hydrolases for cellulose and hemicellulose assimilation and, hence, they require the establishment of endosymbiotic relationships between with microbes. Green turtles (Chelonia mydas) are one of the three groups of marine tetrapods and shift to an herbivorous diet after several years consuming pelagic animals. We characteri...
Chapter
Full-text available
Collaborative economy (CE), defined as a peer-to-peer sharing of information, goods and services, has seen a large rise recently due to the global financial crisis and the advances of information and communication technologies (ICT) and infrastructures worldwide. This is one of the first surveys that examines this rise from a technical perspective,...
Article
Full-text available
Rhinocladiella mackenziei accounts for the majority of fungal brain infections in the Middle East, and is restricted to the arid climate zone between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Neurotropic dissemination caused by this fungus has been reported in immunocompromised, but also immunocompetent individuals. If untreated, the infection is fatal. Outside o...
Chapter
Full-text available
Intensive farming has been linked to significant degradation of land, water and air. A common body of knowledge is needed, to allow an effective monitoring of cropping systems, fertilization and water demands, and impacts of climate change, with a focus on sustainability and protection of the physical environment. In this paper, we describe AgriBig...
Article
Full-text available
Intensive livestock farming has been linked to excessive pollution and contamination of land, water and air. A common body of knowledge is required in order to understand and assess this impact of agriculture, and take proper countermeasures with a focus on the sustainability and the protection of the physical environment, affecting agricultural pr...
Chapter
The present chapter reviews and discusses recent advances in the ecophysiology, phylogeny, and biotechnological applications of fungi with respect to their ability to degrade hydrocarbons. There is a very wide fungal biodiversity with diverse enzymatic mechanisms that transform different hydrocarbon chemical structures, from short chain aliphatics...