Metagenômica: busca de novos genes envolvidos com a biodegradação de hidrocarbonetos

Industrial activities, oil spills and its derivatives, as well as the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels have caused a great accumulation of hydrocarbons in the environment. The number of microorganisms on the planet is estimated at 1030 and prokaryotes the most abundant. They colonized diverse environments for thousands of years, including those considered extreme and represent an untapped source of metabolic and genetic diversity with a large biotechnological potential. It is also known that certain microorganisms have the enzymatic capacity to degrade petroleum hydrocarbons and, in many ecosystems, there is an indigenous community capable of performing this function. The metagenomic has revolutionized the microbiology allowing access uncultured microbial communities, being a powerful tool for elucidation of their ecological functions and metabolic profiles, as well as for identification of new biomolecules. Thus, this study applied metagenomic approaches not only for functional selection of genes involved in biodegradation and emulsification processes of the petroleum-derived hydrocarbons, but also to describe the taxonomic and metabolic composition of two metagenomes from aquatic microbiome. We analyzed 123.116 (365 ± 118 bp) and 127.563 sequences (352 ± 120 bp) of marine and estuarine metagenomes, respectively. Eight clones were found, four involved in the petroleum biodegradation and four were able to emulsify kerosene indicating their abilities in biosurfactants synthesis. Therefore, the metagenomic analyses performed were efficient not only in the search of bioproducts of biotechnological interest and in the analysis of the functional and taxonomic profile of the metagenomes studied as well

(Santa) Rita de Cássia na boca do povo de Santa Cruz/RN: identidades culturais em construção

The purpose of this study is to investigate the cultural identities of Santa Rita de Cassia constructed from the representations contained in the speech of Santa Cruz urban area residents, which is located in a harsh part of the State of Rio Grande do Norte. These residents make the story of the Saint full of meaning for themselves, in their daily lives, as well as to the society. This is observed in the narration of Rita de Cassia’s story which has been told in the city over the past one hundred and eighty years, the number of women's names and commercial establishments named “Santa Rita”. In 2010, with the inauguration of the Alto de Santa Rita – a space for worshiping the saint –, the amount of visitors increased in the city, due to the construction and inauguration of a colossal monument representing the image of Rita de Cassia. Then, new social, cultural, religious and political aspects became part of the local reality of the city of Santa Cruz, what made residents have something in common to talk about. According to the interdisciplinary approach of Applied Linguistics, our theoretical background is based on the socio-historical language concept, which understands language as discursive practice. Still theoretically speaking, this study establishes an interface with cultural studies, taking into account the concept of cultural identity in post-modernity society. Discourse analysis proved plural, with a multiplicity of cultural identities ranging from very obedient daughter to wife who suffered because of the husband, from very religious woman to the widow who entered the convent, on to the Saint of the miracles and healings interceding in the lives of the ones who seek for help. It was also observed in the above mentioned investigative path that these identities can be constructed and reconstructed if immersed in a different set of social practices historically determined