Karina Balestrasse

University of Buenos Aires | UBA · Departamento de Biología Aplicada y Alimentos

Megathyrsus maximus (Gatton panic) is a tropical grass highly valued both for its use as forage and for its biofuel potential. A major constraint in establishing pastures of this cultivar is the low viability and germination of seeds and the poor initial seedling establishment. We used non-thermal plasma (NTP, partially ionised gas) as a novel tech...

En centro y norte de Argentina, una de las especies forrajeras más importantes es Megathyrsus maximus (syn. Panicum máximum) 'gatton panic' (en adelante GAT). Sin embargo, sus semillas poseen bajos valores en los parámetros de calidad. Los valores mínimos de poder germinativo y viabilidad establecidos por INASE (2021), son 15% y 25% respectivamente...

Non-thermal plasmas (NTP) are partially ionized gases that represent a promising technology for seed treatment to enhance seed health while promoting germination and vigor in a fast, cost-effective, and eco-friendly way. The seed treatment with NTP generates phenotypic variations in plants that could be related to changes in DNA methylation. This w...

Root colonization with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) improves plant tolerance against soil-borne pathogens. The purpose of the present study was to explore the efficacy of the AMF Rhizophagus intraradices (N.C. Schenck & G.S. Sm.) as a biocontrol agent against Fusarium pseudograminearum (O’Donnell and Aoki) in wheat plants grown under greenhou...

BACKGROUND The Diaporthe/Phomopsis complex (D/P) is a group of soybean seed‐borne fungi. The use of chemical fungicides, either for seed treatment or during the crop cycle, is the most adopted practice for treating fungal diseases caused by this complex. Worldwide, there is a search for alternative seed treatments that are less harmful to the envir...

El plasma no-térmico (PNT) es una tecnología novedosa que ha demostrado ser eficaz en el mejoramiento de la calidad de semillas de distintos especies, a través de la inducción de cambios estructurales y bioquímicos favorables en semillas y plantas. Gatton Panic (Megathyrsus maximus) es una especie forrajera con un poder germinativo bajo (15 - 26%)....

Gatton Panic is a mega-thermal forage grass, highly valued in Central and Northwest Argentina for its productive and adaptive characteristics. By nature, the normal germination power of its seeds ranges from 15 to 26%. There is a growing interest in the country to explore strategies to improve this parameter. Non-thermal plasma (NTP) is a novel tec...

Southern green stink bugs ( Nezara viridula L.) are one of the major pests in many soybean producing areas. They cause a decrease in yield and affect seed quality by reducing viability and vigor. Alterations have been reported in the oxidative response and in the secondary metabolites in different plant species due to insect damage. However, there...

Commercial phytases are widely used in poultry production, but little is known about their potential use as biofertilizer for agricultural crops as an alternative to reduce the use of synthetic fertilizers. Four purified phytases isolated from Aspergillus niger and Escherichia coli were characterized biochemically and in terms of their adsorption t...

Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) is one of the most important crops worldwide providing dietary protein and vegetable oil. Most of the nitrogen required by the crop is supplied through biological N2 fixation. Non-thermal plasma is a fast, economical, and environmental-friendly technology that can improve seed quality, plant growth, and crop yield...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e01495.].

Four purified phytases isolated from Aspergillus niger and Escherichia coli were characterized biochemically and in terms of their adsorption to soils belonging to the Mollisol order. Three different organic P substrates were used to measure enzyme activity in a wide range of pH (2.3 to 9) and temperatures (−10° to 70 °C): p-nitrophenyl-phosphate,...

Diaporthe/Phomopsis (D/P) is a complex of seed-borne fungi that severely affects soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill), one of the most important crops worldwide. Non-thermal plasma treatment is a fast, economic and ecological friendly technology that can destroy seed-borne fungi and improve seed quality. Soybean seeds were exposed for 1, 2 and 3 min...

Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) is a globally important crop, providing oil and protein. Diaporthe/Phomopsis complex includes seed-borne pathogens that affect this legume. Non-thermal plasma treatment is a fast, cost-effective and environmental-friendly technology. Soybean seeds were exposed to a quasi-stationary (50 Hz) dielectric barrier disch...

Non-thermal plasmas are partially ionized gases, usually generated by low-current electrical discharges that can be sprayed onto biological tissues. They are a novel and promising technology that might be employed for seed treatment before sowing as they allow enhancing seed health while promoting germination and vigor in a fast, cost-effective and...

La soja (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) es un cultivo de importancia mundial que proporciona aceite y proteínas. Entre los hongos transmitidos por las semillas de soja, el complejo Diaporthe/Phomopsis (D/P) se caracteriza por la producción de enfermedades graves que conducen a grandes pérdidas económicas. Teniendo en cuenta que la siembra de semillas sa...

Diaporthe/Phomopsis (D/P) is a complex of seed-borne fungi that severely affects soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill), one of the most important crops worldwide. Non-thermal plasma treatment is a fast, economic and ecological friendly technology that can destroy seed-borne fungi and improve seed quality. Soybean seeds were exposed for 1, 2 and 3 min...

La producción de soja (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) y de sus derivados es actualmente una de las actividades más dinámicas de la economía Argentina. Dado que el buen estado de la semilla garantiza la implantación y posterior crecimiento y desarrollo del cultivo, la disponibilidad de semillas de buena calidad es uno de los factores más importantes para l...

El complejo fúngico Diaporthe/Phomopsis (D/P) constituye un grupo de hongos endémicos en las principales zonas productoras de soja del mundo y de gran importancia económica para éste cultivo. El curado de las semillas antes de la siembra, permite eliminar patógenos asociados a la misma y prevenir enfermedades en el campo. Los agroquímicos utilizado...

Statement of the Problem: Soybean (Glycine max L.) is one of the most important crops worldwide. Diaporthe/Phomopsis complex is one of the causal agents of soybean stem canker and pod and stem blight. It is well known that agrochemicals remain in the harvested products as in the fields and they disrupt the natural state of the microbiological flora...

Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) plays a protective role against oxidative stress in plants. The mechanisms regulating its expression, however, remain unclear. Here we studied the methylation state of a GC rich HO-1 promoter region and the expression of several stress-related transcription factors (TFs) in soybean plants subjected to ultraviolet-B (UV-B) ra...

Supplementary material

Objetive: Arsenic (As) and fluoride (F) are found in groundwater and soils around the world, causing different problems to crops. Because these elements compete against phosphorus (P) in soils and plants, their relationship is complex. The aim of this work was to study the oxidative stress of soybean plants subjected to different concentrations of...

Background: Southern green stink bugs (Nezara viridula) invade field-grown soybean crops, where they feed on developing seeds and inject phytotoxic saliva that causes yield reduction. Although leaf responses to herbivory are well studied, no information is available about the regulation of defenses in seeds. Results: This study demonstrated that...

Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are potential agents to control plant pathogens and their combined use with biopesticides such as phosphites may constitute a novel strategy to incorporate in disease management programs. In the present study, 11 bacterial isolates were selected on the basis of their antagonistic activity against Macropho...

Arsenic (As) and Fluoride (F) are present in many soils, affecting crops and posing risks in the food chain. We performed pot experiments on spiked soils enriched in these elements either individually or simultaneously, over a wide range of concentrations. Soybean biomass production, grain yield, As and F accumulation and distribution within the pl...

ABSTRACT The radioprotective potential of histamine on healthy tissue has been previously demonstrated. The aims of this work were to investigate the combinatorial effect of histamine or its receptor ligands and gamma radiation in vitro on the radiobiological response of two breast cancer cell lines (MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7), to explore the potential...

Objectives This study was focused on the role of indole acetic acid (IAA) in the defense against oxidative stress damage caused by drought in soybean plants and to elucidate whether heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and nitric oxide (NO) are involved in this mechanism. IAA is an auxin that participates in many plant processes including oxidative stress defen...

Nebivolol is a third generation beta blocker with endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) agonist properties. Considering the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the uncoupling of eNOS, we hypothesized that the preadministration of an antioxidant as tempol, could improve the hypotensive response of nebivolol in normotensive animals increasing...

The protective action of salicylic acid (SA) pre-treatment on soybean plants before cadmium (Cd) addition was tested. Oxidative stress parameters, such as TBARS formation, glutathione and chlorophyll content, were altered by Cd, instead no differences were observed in plants only pre-treated with SA. Antioxidant enzymes were affected by Cd treatmen...

Assessment of biological control of Cercospora sojina, causal agent of frogeye leaf spot (FLS) of soya bean, using three indigenous bacterial strains, BNM297 (Pseudomonas fluorescens), BNM340 and BNM122 (Bacillus amyloliquefaciens). From cultures of each bacterial strain, cell suspensions and cell-free supernatants were obtained and assayed to dete...

The present study was undertaken to test the influence of exogenously applied jasmonic acid (JA) upon the oxidative stress exerted by Cd in soybean plants. It was found that depending on its concentration, JA can improve plant antioxidant responses against Cd. Pretreatment with 20 μM JA effectively ameliorated Cd-induced oxidative stress as indicat...

Heme oxygenase (HO) is an enzyme that is involved in numerous secondary actions. One of its products, CO, seems to have an important but unclear role in blood pressure regulation. CO exhibits a vasodilator action through the activation of soluble guanylate cyclase and the subsequent production of cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP). The aim of th...

We have previously demonstrated that the induction of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) (EC 1.14.99.3) plays a protective role against oxidative stress in leaves and nodules of soybean plants subjected to cadmium, UV-B radiation, and salt stress. Here, we investigated HO-1, localization and their relationship with oxidative stress in different growth stages...

In this study, the possibility of enhancing cold stress tolerance of soybean plants (Glycine max L.) by exogenous application of 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) was investigated. ALA was added to the Hoagland solution at various concentrations ranging from 0 to 40 μM for 12 h. After ALA treatment, the plants were subjected to cold stress at 4°C for 48...

Heme oxygenase (HO) has antioxidant properties and is up-regulated by reactive oxygen species (ROS) in ultraviolet-B-irradiated soybean plants. This study shows that nitric oxide (NO) protects against oxidative damage and that nitric oxide synthase (NOS)-like activity is also required for HO-1 induction under UV-B radiation. Pre-treatments with sod...

To study glutamine synthetase (GS) activity and glutamate uptake in the hippocampus and frontal cortex (FC) from rats with prehepatic portal vein hypertension. Male Wistar rats were divided into sham-operated group and a portal hypertension (PH) group with a regulated stricture of the portal vein. Animals were sacrificed by decapitation 14 d after...

This study was performed to provide insight into the regulatory role of angiotensin II and arterial pressure on the activity of antioxidant enzymes and oxidative stress generation in the hypertensive kidney from an experimental animal model of renovascular hypertension. Aortic coarcted and sham-operated rats received vehicle, losartan or minoxidil...

Plants are frequently subjected to different kinds of stress, such as salinity and, like other organisms, they have evolved strategies for preventing and repairing cellular damage caused by salt stress. Glycine max L. plants were subjected to different NaCl concentrations (0–200 mM) for 10 days. Treatments with 100 and 200 mM NaCl induced ion leaka...

Aim: The present study was performed on prehepatic portal hypertensive rats, a model of low-grade hepatic encephalopathy, designed to evaluate whether oxidative stress was a possible pathway implicated in hippocampal damage and if so, the effect of an anti-oxidant to prevent it. Methods: Prehepatic portal hypertension was induced by a regulated por...

The behaviour of enzymes involved in nitrogen metabolism, as well as oxidative stress generation and heme oxygenase gene and protein expression and activity, were analysed in soybean (Glycine max L.) nodules exposed to 50, 100 and 200 mM NaCl concentrations. A significant increase in lipid peroxidation was found with 100 and 200 mM salt treatments....

Heme oxygenase (HO, EC 1.14.99.3) catalyses the oxidative conversion of heme to biliverdin IX alpha (BV) with the concomitant released of carbon monoxide and iron. Recently, plant HOs have been involved in the defence mechanism against oxidative stress. The goal of this study was to evaluate the time-course of HO-1 and catalase (CAT, EC 1.11.1.6) g...

The aim of this study was to provide new insights into the role of angiotensin II and arterial pressure in the regulation of antioxidant enzyme activities in a renovascular model of cardiac hypertrophy. For this purpose, aortic coarcted rats were treated with losartan or minoxidil for 7 days. Angiotensin II induced cardiac hypertrophy and oxidative...

We have previously demonstrated that the induction of haem oxygenase-1 (EC 1.14.99.3) plays a protective role for soybean plants against cadmium and UV-B stress. Here, we have investigated the possible signal transduction pathways involved in haem oxygenase-1 induction in leaves of soybean plants subjected to salt stress. Treatment with 100 mM NaCl...

Cadmium toxicity has been extensively studied in plants, however its biochemical mechanism of action has not yet been well established. To fulfil this objective, four-weeks-old soybean nodulated plants were treated with 200 muM Cd(2+) for 48 h. delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALA-D, E.C. 4.2.1.24) activity and protein expression, as well as...

Heme oxygenase (HO, EC 1.14.99.3) catalyzes the oxidative conversion of heme to biliverdin IXalpha with the concomitant release of carbon monoxide and iron. Recently, HO has been involved in the protection against oxidative stress in plants. The fact that nitric oxide (NO), an endogenous signaling molecule in animals and plants mediates responses t...

Cadmium causes oxidative damage and hence affects nitrogen assimilation. In the present work we tested the relationship between the inactivation of the enzymes involved in nitrogen assimilation pathway (glutamine synthetase (GS)/glutamate synthase (GOGAT)) and the protein oxidation in nodules of soybean (Glycine max L.) plants under Cd2+ stress. Th...

Nitrogen fixation and assimilation in nodules and roots were studied in soybean (Glycine max L.) exposed to different levels of aluminium (Al) stress (0, 50, 200 and 500μM). Al at 500μM induced oxidative stress, which became evident from an increase in lipid peroxidation accompanied by a concomitant decline in antioxidant enzyme activities and legh...

We have previously demonstrated that the induction of heme oxygenase-1 (EC 1.14.99.3) plays a protective role for soybean plants against oxidative stress. Here, we have investigated for the first time the possible signal transduction pathways involved in heme oxygenase-1 induction in leaves of soybean plants. Treatment with 200μM Cd during 48h incr...

The effect of moderate (50 M) and high (200 M) doses of Cd were studied in relation to polyamine (Pas) metabolism, proline level and the glutamine synthetase/glutamate synthase system (GS/GOGAT) activity in nodules and roots of soybean plants during 6 days of treatment. The lower Cd concentration increased putrescine (Put) in both nodules and roots...

We have previously demonstrated that the inducible form of heme oxygenase plays a critical role in protecting against oxidative stress in mammals. To gain further insight into the functions of this enzyme in plants, we have tested its activity and expression in soybean nodules subjected to cadmium (Cd) stress. Four-weeks-old soybean nodulated plant...

We have previously demonstrated that the induction of heme oxygenase-1 (EC 1.14.99.3) plays a protective role for mammalian cells against oxidative stress. Here, we investigated for the first time the possible role of heme oxygenase-1 as an antioxidant defense in leaves of soybean plants. Treatment with 200 microM Cd during 48 h caused a 70% increa...

The relationship between cadmium-induced oxidative stress and nodule senescence in soybean was investigated at two different concentrations of cadmium ions (50 and 200M), in solution culture. High cadmium concentration (200M) resulted in oxidative stress, which was indicated by an increase in thiobarbituric acid reactive substances content and a de...

The nitrogen metabolism of soybean (Glycine max L.) nodules and roots was studied in plants subjected to two different concentrations (50 and 200 μM) of CdCl2. Nitrogenase activity was decreased in nodules treated with 200 μM Cd2+. In 50 μM Cd2+-treated plants, NH4+ content showed similar values to controls in nodules, but increased by 55% in roots...

The antioxidant defence system of soybean (Glycine maxL.) nodules and roots was studied in plants subjected to three different concentrations (50, 100 and µ200 M ) of CdCl 2 . Cadmium (Cd)-induced oxidative stress was determined by lipid peroxidation, which remained unaltered in nodules and roots treated with 50 µM Cd(II). No changes were observed...