Blanca R. Lopez

Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste | CIBNOR · Group of Environmental Microbiology

The microalga Chlorella sorokiniana and the microalgae growth-promoting bacteria (MGPB) Azospirillum brasilense have a mutualistic interaction that can begin within the first hours of co-incubation; however, the metabolites participating in this initial interaction are not yet identified. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) was used in the present stu...

Studies on the microalgal–bacterial interactions have highlighted the potential role of bacteria in optimizing microalgal biorefineries for the integrated production of metabolites and biomass, biodiesel, and wastewater treatment. Although the bacterial mechanisms responsible for the positive effects on microalgal growth and metabolism have been de...

Hace unas décadas, el uso de fertilizantes de síntesis química se vio como una gran solución para la intensificación de la producción agrícola, pero hoy, debido a sus efectos negativos sobre el medio ambiente y la salud humana, además de sus elevados costos de elaboración, es apremiante la necesidad de encontrar alternativas para la fertilización d...

Drylands are arid and semi-arid areas whose main feature is their low level of precipitation. They cover nearly half of Earth’s land surface and are distributed worldwide, constituting the planet’s largest biome. Dryland soils have low fertility, are greatly affected by climate variability, and are vulnerable to wind and water erosion. The phosphor...

This study assessed the early effects of riboflavin and lumichrome produced by the bacterium Azospirillum brasilense on mitigating the stress of salinity on the growth and metabolic status of Chlorella sorokiniana. C. sorokiniana was grown in a synthetic growth medium (SGM) at three salt levels (0%, 1.5%, and 3% NaCl) and under four treatments: (1)...

Bioweathering in arid lands is a complex set of processes comprising a wide variety of organisms, all contributing to soil formation. Weathering starts with outcrop fragmentation by physical forces, later thermal stress and salts produce propagation of cracks that allow colonization by lithobiontic communities. Growth and development of primary col...

The effect of three different nutritional conditions during the initial 12 h of interaction between the microalgae Chlorella sorokiniana UTEX 2714 and the plant growth–promoting bacterium Azospirillum brasilense Cd on formation of synthetic mutualism was assessed by changes in population growth, production of signal molecules tryptophan and indole-...

Resource Islands (RIs), a natural re-vegetation phenomenon in arid lands, consist of a single nurse tree or few large shrubs and numerous understory nurslings. We analyzed 18 individual mesquite RIs for plant diversity and richness, area, trunk diameter (reflecting age), soil characteristics, physiological functionality of microbial populations, an...

Soil degradation is an ecological disturbance, usually human-caused, that negatively affects the vegetation and climate of an ecosystem, particularly arid and semi-arid environments. These degraded soils can be restored by using native perennial plants inoculated with specific microorganisms. We studied the changes in root growth and the rhizospher...

Background and aims Restoration of degraded desert soil with three species of legume trees and the giant cardon cactus was evaluated 11 years after planting in the southern Sonora Desert. Methods The trees in six independent field experiments were grown individually or in combination of a legume tree and cardon cactus and were originally treated w...

Isolation of nucleic acids from Chlorella is difficult, given the chemically complex nature of their cell walls and variable production of metabolites. Immobilization of microalgae in polymers adds additional difficulty. Here, we modified, amended, and standardized methods for isolation of nucleic acids and compared the yield of DNA and RNA from fr...

Premise of research. Biotic interactions have long been considered to be of less importance in structuring desert systems than other ecosystem types, but biotic interactions often play a critical role in meeting the challenges posed by the extreme conditions of desert environments. The Sonoran Desert, in particular, is home to several textbook exam...

Biotic interactions are vital to ecosystem functioning. Interactions among individuals lie at the core of population and community dynamics, and therefore play a central role in the existence and persistence of species. Plants form the food base of most terrestrial ecosystems and are therefore not surprisingly involved in a substantial portion of b...

Molecular analyses employing sequencing of the complete ribosomal RNA cistron (18S rDNA, ITS1, 5.8S rDNA, ITS2, and 28S rDNA) and transcriptome analysis of the RuBisCO gene (rbcL) were done on Chlorella vulgaris UTEX 2714. The constructed phylogenetic trees showed that C. vulgaris UTEX 2714 is Chlorella sorokiniana. Growth analysis and production o...

The main goal of this study was to expand our knowledge of what happens to the soil bacterial community in an eroded desert soil when improvement of soil fertility is derived from the application of debris of tertiary wastewater treatment containing immobilized microalgae Chlorella sorokiniana and the plant growth-promoting bacterium (PGPB) Azospir...

Mammillaria fraileana is a major pioneer, small cactus that harbors endophytic bacteria that have plant growth-promoting traits, including rock-weathering capacity. Our working hypothesis was that this functional group of endophytic bacteria assists in establishing pioneer plants on rocks. When these endophytic bacteria were inoculated on seedlings...

Restoration of highly eroded desert land was attempted in the southern Sonoran Desert that had lost its natural capacity for self-revegetation. In six field experiments, the fields were planted with three native leguminous trees: mesquite amargo Prosopis articulata, and yellow and blue palo verde Parkinsonia microphylla and Parkinsonia florida. Res...

The small cactus Mammillaria fraileana is a pioneer rock-colonizing plant harboring endophytic bacteria with the potential for nitrogen fixation and rock weathering (phosphate solubilization and rock degradation). In seeds, only a combination of culture-independent methods, such as fluorescence in situ hybridization, scanning electron microscopy, a...

Establishment, colonization, and permanence of plants affect biogenic and physical processes leading to development of soil. Rockiness, temperature, and humidity are accepted explanations to the influence and the presence of rock-dwelling plants, but the relationship between mineral and chemical composition of rocks with plant abundance is unknown...

Ubicada en la región meridional de Baja California Sur, la barra arenosa El Mogote exhibe en una superficie de un poco más de 15.5 km2 una vegetación con rasgos singulares debido a la confluencia de la franja costera arenosa con elementos florísticos de la región árido-tropical de la Región del Cabo y del Desierto Sonorense. Se analiza la vegetació...