Gerardo Armando Aguado-Santacruz

• PhD
• Project Manager at Instituto Tecnológico de Roque

The efficiency and consistency of biologicals in the field remain a drawback of current conventional products. The development of systemic biological products has opened a new avenue for microbiological and agricultural research. In this study, we evaluated over a two-year period (2022 and 2023) the functioning of two systemic products, a biofertil...

The utilization of a novel (systemic) biofertilizer containing Pseudomonas fluorescens, Azospirillum brasilense, and Bacillus subtilis and possessing the technology to facilitate the entry of bacteria through the stomata, was evaluated at three localities in Mexico (Potrero Nuevo, Veracruz; Ameca, Jalisco; and Champotón, Campeche) in two sugarcane...

The efficacy of entomopathogenic fungi in the field depends on the influence of various environmental factors, including temperature and level of exposure to UV light. It is hypothesized that temperature and level of UV light exposure of Metarhizium anisopliae (Hypocreales, Clavicipiceae) may affect its efficiency in controlling the sweetpotato wee...

Plant growth promoting bacteria are natural inhabitants of the soil and the interior of plant tissues and are capable of promoting the growth and productivity of crops. When these bacteria can be isolated and multiplied in the laboratory, they have a high potential to be commercialized and used to improve the yield and health of crops. In this stud...

Las tendencias actuales de practicar la agricultura apuntan hacia el uso de microorganismos para incidir en la sanidad, producción y calidad de las cosechas; estudios previos en agave han logrado el aislamiento de diferentes microorganismos, pero la identificación de bacterias endófitas es un área que se ha abordado poco a pesar de su importancia e...

Abstract: Background Maize is one of the most important crops worldwide and has been a target of nuclear-based transformation biotechnology to improve it and satisfy the food demand of the ever-growing global population. However, the maize plastid transformation has not been accomplished due to the recalcitrant condition of the crop. Results In thi...

La manipulación genética del genoma de cloroplasto esta a la vanguardia en investigación biotecnológica. El pasto B. gracilis es un modelo para el estudio de estrés hídrico y oxidativo, capacidades relacionadas al cloroplasto. Es necesario tener un método que facilite la obtención de ADN de buena calidad, particularmente cuando se refiere al ADN de...

Bouteloua gracilis (blue grama grass) is one of the most drought and grazing tolerant plants in the short-grass ecosystem. To obtain information on their photosystem activities, we measured the fast (< 1 s) chlorophyll a fluorescence transient (the OJIP curve) from their leaves, and isolated cells grown photoautotrophically in suspension in a cultu...

p>The response to in vitro tissue culture of five commercial annual ryegrass cultivars, namely ‘Magnun’, ‘Bargala’, ‘Tetragold’, ‘Hercules’ and ‘Maximus’, was evaluated. Morphogenic callus induction and plant regeneration capacity were assessed in shoot apices cultured on six media formulations that included Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented...

Herbivores alter plant biodiversity (species richness) in many of the world’s ecosystems, but the magnitude and the direction of herbivore effects on biodiversity vary widely within and among ecosystems. One current theory predicts that herbivores enhance plant biodiversity at high productivity but have the opposite effect at low productivity. Yet,...

The response to in vitrotissue culture of five commercial annual ryegrass cultivars, namely ‘Magnun’, ‘Bargala’, ‘Tetragold’, ‘Hercules’ and ‘Maximus’, was evaluated. Morphogenic callus induction and plant regeneration capacity were assessed in shoot apices cultured on sixmedia formulations that included Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with...

Sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) is a crop destined for the production of refined sugar, alcohol, and biofuels, among others.Inorganic fertilization, although necessary, represents a practice of high economic and environmental cost. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and plant growth promoting bacteria used as biofertilizers have the capacity to reduce or...

Con el propósito de conocer la respuesta de la soya var. ‘Vernal’a la efectividad de inoculantes microbianos, se realizaron estudios en condiciones de invernadero, campo, así como de validación. En invernadero se compararon ocho microorganismos en suelo estéril, donde se obtuvo mayor diámetro de tallo, biomasa radical y número de vainas con la inoc...

Background: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNA molecules that regulate signal transduction, development, metabolism, and stress responses in plants through post-transcriptional degradation and/or translational repression of target mRNAs. Several studies have addressed the role of miRNAs in model plant species, but miRNA expression and func...

Bouteloua gracilis es un pasto nativo del norte de México, que es utilizado como fuente de forraje para el ganado por su alto contenido nutritivo; tiene elevada tolerancia al estrés osmótico que le permite vivir en climas secos; sin embargo, los mecanismos moleculares que le confieren esta tolerancia aún no se han reportado. Existe una clase de RNA...

In this work, we present an ultrastructural and physiological description of a novel chlorophyll-deficient, yellow cell line of the grass Bouteloua gracilis that develops etioplast-like plastids in presence of light (YELP). These mutant cells were compared to the parental, wild-type, highly chlo-rophyllous cells from which they were isolated. Growt...

Bouteloua gracilis is a grass native to Mexico, it is used as forage source for livestock because of its high nutritional value. It has high tolerance to osmotic stress and therefore can live in arid zones; however, regulation mechanisms in gene expression that confer these characteristics have not been reported. There is a class of small RNAs (sRN...

In order to know the response of soybean var. 'Vernal' to the effectiveness of microbial inoculants, studies were conducted in the greenhouse, field and validation. Greenhouse eight microorganisms in sterile soil, where increased stem diameter, root biomass and pod number was obtained with the independent or combined inoculation rhizobacteria Brady...

In order to know the response of soybean var. ‘Vernal’ to the effectiveness of microbial inoculants, studies were conducted in the greenhouse, field and validation. Greenhouse eight microorganisms in sterile soil, where increased stem diameter, root biomass and pod number was obtained with the independent or combined inoculation rhizobacteria Brady...

Two dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) remains as the principal technology for resolving complex protein mixtures, prior to mass spectrometry characterization. Protein extraction and solubilization are the most important steps for revealing a proteome by 2-DE. For any kind of tissue, urea/thiourea-based protein solubilization buffers in combination...

Because of their photoautotrophic nature and ability to grow independently as isolated cells, photoautotrophic plant cell cultures have contributed, since their discovery, with important information about photosynthesis and the production of specific secondary metabolites. The reduction of oil deposits and the search for new energy sources to face...

Because of their photoautotrophic nature and ability to grow independently as isolated cells, photoautotrophic plant cell cultures have contributed, since their discovery, with important information about photosynthesis and the production of specific secondary metabolites. The reduction of oil deposits and the search for new energy sources to face...

Biofertilizers are agrobiotechnological products composed by microorganisms that are added to the agricultural crops to stimulate growth and production. Although they are sometimes considered as substitutes of the synthetic fertilizers, they indeed have been shown to act complementarily to chemical and organic fertilizers to improve plant performan...

The agrobiological effectiveness of maize inoculation with microbial strains, from arid and semiarid regions of Northern Mexico ('3025W'), cultivated under irrigation conditions, was evaluated. We studied the impact of six experimental strains of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi [3 (Glomus mosseae), 20 (Gigaspora albida), 32 (G. mosseae), 35 (G. mossea...

Se evaluó el efecto de un régimen simulado de lluvia sobre el crecimiento y establecimiento de plántulas de los pastos navajita azul (Bouteloua gracilis) y boer (Eragrostis curvula var. conferta) bajo condiciones de invernadero. Un grupo de plántulas se mantuvo bajo condiciones de humedad adecuada mediante riegos a capacidad de campo, mientras que...

The effect of a simulated-rain regime was evaluated on the development and seedling establishment of blue grama Bouteloua gracilis, and boer lovegrass (Eragrostis curvula var. conferta) under greenhouse conditions. A group of seedlings was maintained under waterings to field capacity while another group of seedlings was maintained under a simulated...

Las condiciones ecológicas bajo las cuales se practica la agricultura en nuestro país imponen un reto para los agricultores, particularmente para aquellos que desarrollan su actividad en zonas con baja disponibilidad de agua o que presentan otro tipo de limitaciones como una alta incidencia de enfermedades en el suelo o la presencia de concentracio...

El hierro (Fe) es un elemento esencial para prácticamente todos los seres vivos en los que es necesario para importantes funciones celulares como síntesis de ADN, respiración y destoxificación de radicales libres. En la naturaleza se encuentra fundamentalmente en la forma Fe3+ formando parte de sales e hidróxidos de muy baja solubilidad, formas quí...

Iron is an essential element for practically all living organisms, which require it for important cellular functions such as DNA synthesis, respiration and detoxification of free radicals. In nature, it is essentially present in the form of Fe3+ as part of salts and hydroxides of low solubility, which are chemical compounds impossible to be used by...

An ideal food or biofuel crop should to be able to can adapt to several environments, tolerate extreme temperatures and diseases, use efficiently the unpredictable water available in marginal environments and have an adequate nutritional value and/or potential as biofuel. Although it is difficult to find a crop possessing all these characteristics,...

The response to in vitro tissue culture of five important Mexican malting barley cultivars namely ‘Armida’, ‘Esmeralda’, ‘Adabella’, ‘Esperanza’ and ‘Alina’, was evaluated. Callus induction and plant regeneration were evaluated in shoot apices and immature barley embryos harvested eight, 12, 16, 20 and 24 days after pollination. These explants were...

We studied the genomic structure of Bouteloua gracilis chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) and compared it with the sequenced ribosomal RNA spacer region from other cereals. This will allow us to understand chloroplast topology and the recombination ability of cpDNA. The development of potential tools for biotechnology applied to cereals can be focused through...

N-fertilization dynamics and agronomic practices on a Vertisol in central Mexico were evaluated under irrigated conditions: (1) wheat-maize rotation with conventional tillage (CT) and burning of residues (W-M/CT/B, regional control); (2) wheat-beans rotation with CT and incorporation of residues into the soil (W-P/CT/I); (3) wheat-maize rotation wi...

The application of modern biotechnology for improvement of chili pepper productivity requires an efficient in vitro plant regeneration protocol. In this study, a reliable protocol was developed for the in vitro regeneration of four types of chili, Capsicum annuum var. annuum (Jalapeño and Serrano), C. annuum var. glabriusculum/aviculare (Piquin), a...

Past research has shown that changes in grazing-resistance traits may be associated with genetic changes in plant populations. Little is known about spatial genetic relationships within plant populations (spatial genetic structure) and any grazing effects on these relationships. Here we present observations of the fine-scale spatial genetic structu...

Until recently, information about the effects of transforming plants with the rolA gene of Agrobacterium rhizogenes has been restricted mainly to dicots in which a severely wrinkled phenotype, reduced internode distances, and abnormal reproductive development were commonly observed. In this work, we analyzed the effects associated with the expressi...

Proline (Pro) is one of the most accumulated osmolytes in salinity and water deficit conditions in plants. In the present study, we measured the Pro content, the activity and the expression level of delta 1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase (P5CS: gamma-glutamyl kinase, EC 2.7.2.11 and glutamate-5-semialdehyde dehydrogenase, EC 1.2.1.41), a key re...

The aim of this study was to characterize the transcriptional expression patterns of a new lea gene isolated in a previous work from C. annuum cv. caballero seeds when osmoprimed with PEG and GA<SUB>3</SUB>. Capsicum annuum is one of the main horticultural crops in Mexico and routinely their seeds have problems when germinating. To correct this...

Loss of vigor during seed storage causes a reduction in germinability and seedling establishment. Several strategies have been developed to improve this phenomenon and one of these is osmopriming, which consists of pre-imbibing seeds in a solution containing an inert osmotic agent such as Polyethylene Glycol (PEG). PEG reduces water availability an...

Breeding efforts to obtain more nutritious maize materials aimed at alleviating dietary deficiencies in developing countries have resulted in an improved maize germplasm known as quality protein maize (QPM). Quality protein maize has higher contents of tryptophan, lysine, and leucine than common maize, but suffers from some major agronomic drawback...

En El Bajio, Mexico, la roya lineal amarilla (Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici Eriks.) es el problema principal de las siembras comerciales de trigo harinero (Triticum aestivum L.) en el ciclo otono invierno. El presente estudio se efectuo para evaluar el efecto de la roya lineal amarilla sobre la fenologia de la planta de trigo harinero, el ren...

We have developed a new chlorophyllic cell line ('TADH-XO') from the highly water stress tolerant grass Bouteloua gracilis (blue grama). When grown under normal (non-stress) conditions, this new cell line accumulates higher levels of chlorophyll (up to 368.1 microg total chlorophyll g(-1) FW) than a previously obtained cell line ('TIANSJ98'). Both...

Natural selection in plant populations is reflected in morphological, physiological and growth characteristics. Identification of these traits in native grass populations allows detecting germplasm with characteristics such as stress tolerance and high yield. In this study, morphological differences, biomass allocation and growth traits of two Bout...

Los mecanismos de adaptación de las plantas a los factores ambientales se manifiestan en sus rasgos morfológicos, fisiológicos y de crecimiento. La identificación de estos rasgos en especies de gramíneas nativas permite identificar germoplasma con características particulares de tolerancia a estrés o de alto rendimiento. En este estudio se examinar...

Due to the economic and ecological relevance of N losses, this experiment was conducted to evaluate the potential emissions of N2 and N 2O. In different tillage systems, the interaction between N sources (ammonium nitrate; NA; ammonium sulfate, AS; urea, U; control, C) and crop rotation was studied. The closed box method and acetylene inhibition te...

Key words: AMOVA, Bouteloua gracilis, Genetic variability, Population genetics, RAPD Bouteloua gracilis _blue grama grass_ native populations have been shown to be highly variable, however the genetic basis of this variability has not been well established. Determining the extent of genetic variability within and among plant populations have impor...

Los avances biotecnológicos alcanzados en cultivos agrícolas y plantas modelo están siendo actualmente extendidos a prácticamente todas las gramíneas, sean éstas cereales, zacates forrajeros, pastos de césped, plantas ornamentales o especies con importancia en el sector industrial o farmacéutico. Se vislumbra una revolución sin precedente en las po...

For the first time, the production of transgenic plants of the forage grass blue grama, Bouteloua gracilis [H.B.K.] Lag. ex Steud., is reported. Transgenic plants containing a gus Colon, two colons nptll fusion driven by a double CaMV35S promoter were obtained by microprojectile bombardment of the highly chlorophyllous embryogenic cell line 'TIANSJ...

We have delineated the spatio-temporal plant assemblages prevailing under contrasting environmental conditions at the southernmost part of the North American Graminetum in central Mxico and discuss the relative importance of these factors in determining plant community structure and composition. 353 line-transect samples were collected during 11 ye...

As a first step towards applying biotechnology to blue grama, Bouteloua gracilis (H. B. K.) Lag. ex Steud., we have developed a regenerable tissue culture system for this grass. Shoot apices were isolated from 3-d-old seedlings and cultured in 15 different growth regulator formulations combining 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), Picloram (4-a...

 A finely dispersed, homogeneous and highly chlorophyllous cell suspension (TIANSJ98 cell line) was obtained from shoot apices of Bouteloua gracilis (H.B.K.) Lag. ex Steud. cultured on MPC medium containing MS salts supplemented with 2,4-D (1 mg/l), BAP (2 mg/l) and adenine (40 mg/l). When the TIANSJ98 cell line was grown in this medium with shakin...

Compositional patterns of vegetation and their relationship to temporal and spatial environmental variation, with emphasis on climatic factors, were investigated in plant communities located in the southernmost portion of the North American Graminetum in central Mexico. Data from 353 samples, obtained in four ecologically contrasting plant communit...

Con base en una técnica multivariable de ordenación directa, Análisis Canónico Parcial de Correspondencia, se investigó en pastizales del noreste de Jalisco la relación de la variabilidad temporal en sus patrones de composición florística con los elementos climáticos, toda vez ajustados los efectos atribuibles a suelo y manejo. La ordenación mostró...

Biotechnological advances achieved in basic crops and model plants are currently being applied to practically all grasses, being them cereals, forages, turfs, ornamentals or species having industrial or pharmaceutical importance. An unprecedented revolution in possibilities for manipulating graminaceous species through current and coming technologi...

Due to the economic and ecological relevance of N losses, this experiment was conducted to evaluate the potential emissions of N2 and N2O. In different tillage systems, the interaction between N sources (ammonium nitrate; NA; ammonium sulfate, AS; urea, U; control, C) and crop rotation was studied. The closed box method and acetylene inhibition tec...

Abstract On a world basis, water availability is considered the main constraint for crop production. Concerns about water accessibility have always accompanied crop production in dry areas, which are on the other hand the most extensive areas for agriculture on the earth. As a consequence, men had to develop agricultural strategies to cope with wat...