The Federal University of Lavras (Portuguese: Universidade Federal de Lavras, UFLA) is a Brazilian university with headquarters in Lavras, Minas Gerais.The university was founded as an agricultural school by Dr. Samuel Rhea Gammon in 1908. Total enrollment is over 16,000 students in undergraduate, graduate, and distance-learning programs.
Sustainable biofuel expansion requires identifying landscapes where new feedstocks can be cultivated without accelerating deforestation, a major source of greenhouse gas emissions in tropical regions. Acrocomia aculeata (macaúba), a high-oil perennial palm native to the Neotropics, is a promising feedstock for low-carbon fuels such as sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), and biodiesel. However, its large-scale potential remains uncertain because climatic suitability, land-use constraints, and future climate change have not been jointly assessed across its full geographic range. Here, we integrate species distribution modeling with land-use and ecological-constraint mapping to estimate present climatic suitability, identify suitable areas on converted land, and project shifts under future climate scenarios across the Americas. The framework combines current and projected climate, topographic and edaphic variables with pasture and protected-area masks. Under current climate conditions, excluded areas cover 82.4% of South America and 57.7% of regions north of South America. Highly suitable anthropized lands—those with optimal climate and already converted uses such as pastures—represent a smaller but relevant share (1.6% in South America and 2.9% north of South America). The Minimum Temperature of the Coldest Month is the most influential predictor, highlighting strong sensitivity to low-temperature thresholds. Future projections under SSP3-7.0 and SSP5-8.5 maintain the general suitability pattern but expand excluded areas (up to 86.8–89.4% in South America and 70.2% north of South America) and reduce highly suitable anthropized lands. By distinguishing high- and moderate-suitability zones under current and future climates, this study provides a practical framework for climate-aligned bioenergy planning.
Mentha piperita L. is a medicinal, aromatic, and flavoring species whose essential oil is rich in volatile compounds, including menthol, menthofuran, pulegone, and menthone. The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of light intensity, different wavelengths, and natural ventilation on the development and production of volatile compounds. Nodal segments were cultured in MS medium under the following photon flux densities: 20, 57, 78, 102, and 139 μmol m−2 s−1, and white, blue, and red wavelengths (50
Mentha pulegium presents a complex phytochemical profile, including phenolic and volatile compounds associated with acaricidal, insecticidal, antiviral and antimicrobial properties. The current study provides an assessment of light intensity, light quality and porous membranes (PM) effects on plantlet growth and metabolite production in vitro. Three independent experiments were conducted: (1) light intensities 26, 51, 69, 94 and 130 µmol m⁻² s⁻¹, (2) light quality consisting of blue, red, white and mixed spectra (30 Different wavelengths, light intensities and natural ventilation systems changed Mentha pulegium plantlets growth and volatile compounds.
Scale insects are a highly diverse group of phloem-feeding pest insects that cause economic losses in a wide range of cultivated crops worldwide. Among these pests, Protopulvinaria pyriformis (Cockerell, 1894), recently reported in Morocco, represents an emerging threat to citrus (Citrus spp.) and avocado (Persea americana) production, two strategically important crops in the country. Like other hemipterans, P. pyriformis maintains close associations with prokaryotic endosymbionts, particularly Wolbachia, a facultative intracellular bacterium capable of influencing host reproduction, population dynamics, and interactions with host plants. Between June 2023 and March 2025, a survey was conducted in two adjacent avocado and citrus orchards in Kénitra, northwestern Morocco, to detect the presence of Wolbachia in natural populations of scale insects and assess its potential role in their population dynamics. A total of 180 individuals were collected (150 from Citrus sinensis and 30 from P. americana var. Hass) and subjected to molecular analyses. Detection of Wolbachia was performed by PCR targeting the coxA gene. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that the Moroccan isolate belongs to the A supergroup of Wolbachia. Only P. pyriformis collected from citrus tested positive for Wolbachia, with 90
Implementing sustainable crop management to improve soil health can bolster plant and soil resistance to drought stress. This study evaluated the long-term impact of sustainable soil management on soil health in tropical coffee agroecosystems, focusing on how these practices influenced plant yield and quality, as well as soil microbiome composition and function under drought treatment. Plots were selected from a long-term experiment established in January 2016 in Lavras municipality, Minas Gerais State, Brazil, and treatments had been in place for 7 years by the end of the current study. Soil management treatments included: (i) annual coffee husk residue amendment within rows + permanent signal grass (Urochloa decumbens) cover between rows (CHUD), (ii) annual agricultural gypsum amendment within rows + permanent signal grass cover between rows (GUD), and (iii) a control consisting of coffee monoculture with bare soil. Combining coffee husk + signal grass management improved chemical, physical, and biological soil health indicators compared to bare soil management. These practices were also associated with higher coffee yield and superior beverage quality. Soil fungal and bacterial communities responded to both management and water availability, and soil functional indicators assessed by enzyme activity showed greater resistance to the drought treatment under coffee husk + signal grass management. Overall, this study indicates that combined residue amendment and soil cover may enhance long-term soil and crop responses in this tropical coffee agroecosystem, with evidence of greater resistance of soil functional indicators to the drought treatment used in the incubation assay.
