University of the Amazon

Plant nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NLR) immune receptors detect pathogen effectors and activate immunity1. Coiled-coil NLRs (CNLs) form resistosomes as Ca2+-permeable channels in the plasma membrane (PM)2-4. However, the mechanism by which resistosomes activate cell death remains unclear. Here we report that the CNL SUPPRESSOR OF mkk1 mkk2 2 (SUMM2), unlike canonical CNLs that use a MADA motif to penetrate the PM5, tethers to the PM through N-myristoylation, a common feature among many CNLs. PM targeting via N-myristoylation is essential for SUMM2-induced cell death. Upon activation, SUMM2 promotes the association of the lipase-like proteins ENHANCED DISEASE SUSCEPTIBILITY 1 (EDS1) and PHYTOALEXIN DEFICIENT 4 (PAD4) with the helper NLR-ACTIVATED DISEASE RESISTANCE 1-LIKE 1 (ADR1-L1). Furthermore, active SUMM2 induces the clustering of multiple ADR1-L1 resistosomes into a ring-like assembly colocalized with the EDS1-PAD4 complex, and the EDS1-PAD4-ADR1 module is essential for SUMM2-activated cell death. Together, these findings reveal that N-myristoylation-mediated PM targeting of SUMM2 promotes the assembly of higher-order EDS1-PAD4-ADR1-L1 resistosome clusters for cell death initiation.

In the heart of the department of Caquetá, the community of Agua Bonita Dos has transformed its history of armed conflict into a process of reconciliation and peacebuilding through art. This study aimed to systematize the artistic creation experience of the Pineapple Harvest Dance, understood as a cultural and pedagogical emblem of peace. The research was conducted under a qualitative research–creation approach, using participatory observation, semi-structured interviews, and ethnographic records with community members who are signatories of the peace agreement. The findings reveal that traditional dance, in addition to preserving collective memory, fosters intergenerational dialogue, the reconstruction of the social fabric, and the strengthening of cultural identity. It was identified that art, when integrated into educational and community processes, becomes an effective tool for reconciliation and the prevention of the recurrence of conflict. Therefore, the Pineapple Dance represents a living metaphor of the social and cultural rebirth of Agua Bonita Dos, demonstrating that peace is sown and cultivated through artistic and community practices.

Mercury pollution in aquatic systems poses a critical environmental challenge due to its high mobility, toxicity, and bioaccumulation potential. In this study, the synthesis of floating alginate–bentonite (FAB) and floating alginate– β -zeolite (FAZ) composites was optimized using a central composite design, with buoyancy as the key functional parameter to facilitate material recovery and large-scale applicability. The composites were comprehensively characterized by X-ray diffraction, attenuated total reflectance–Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric and differential thermogravimetric analysis, field emission scanning electron microscope, N 2 adsorption–desorption isotherms, and pH p zc analysis (point of zero charge), and subsequently evaluated for Hg(II) adsorption. The optimized formulations, FAB 1.0 and FAZ 1.0 , exhibited buoyancies above 98% and adsorption capacities of 33 and 28 mg g −1 , respectively, under single-cycle operation. Notably, both materials showed a marked improvement in removal efficiency upon reuse, reaching 93% for FAB 1.0 and 71% for FAZ 1.0 after three adsorption–desorption cycles. Spectroscopic and thermal analyses revealed specific interactions between alginate carboxylate groups and aluminosilicate surface sites, which enhanced structural cohesion, thermal stability, and resistance to repeated regeneration. The integration of design-of-experiments with the synthesis of floating, regenerable alginate–aluminosilicate composites provides a sustainable and operationally advantageous strategy for Hg(II) removal from mining-impacted waters. The high buoyancy, reusability, and ease of recovery without energy-intensive separation steps position FAB 1.0 in particular as a competitive candidate for scalable and environmentally responsible water treatment applications.

Land-use change strongly affects soil microbiota, yet the role of agroecological systems in shaping soil fungal communities remains poorly understood in tropical soils. We evaluated the diversity, trophic modes, community composition, and co-occurrence networks of culturable soil fungal taxa across a land-use gradient in the Colombian Andes–Amazon transition zone. Agroecological systems—including improved pasture (IP), cacao and copoazu agroforestry systems (CaAS and CoAS), secondary forest with agroforestry enrichment (SFAE), and a moriche palm swamp ecosystem (MPSE)—were compared with dominant land-uses (degraded pasture, DP and old-growth forest, OF). Fungi were isolated using the soil dilution plate method and identified based on morphological and molecular characteristics, and soil physicochemical properties were measured to evaluate their relationships with fungal community patterns. A total of 420 isolates were assigned to 93 fungal species. Alpha-diversity metrics revealed significantly higher fungal richness in OF and MPSE, and higher Shannon diversity in agroforestry and forest-based systems, whereas DP exhibited the lowest values. Ordination analyses showed clear differences in fungal community composition, with CoAS displaying the most distinct assemblage. Agroecological and forest-based systems favored saprotrophic and symbiotrophic modes. Co-occurrence network analyses indicated that MPSE, OF, and IP supported more complex and modular fungal networks. Soil pH and total phosphorus (TP) were key drivers of fungal community composition, whereas exchangeable calcium, TP, soil organic carbon, and base saturation were associated with network attributes. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of agroecological management for soil fungal diversity and network organization in Amazonian transition landscapes.

The objective of the study was to propose curricular guidelines for environmental literacy from a sustainability perspective for the Universidad de la Amazonia distance and virtual programs. The research adopted a mixed-methods approach, with a critical, analytical, and interpretive methodological design structured into three phases: a document review, an exploration of teachers’ and students’ perspectives, and a proposal phase. The results revealed significant weaknesses in the curricular integration of environmental education in virtual and distance learning programs, which limit their effective contribution to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Likewise, the need to strengthen students’ critical thinking, territorial commitment, and transformative action was identified as a key competency for promoting educational practices oriented toward sustainability, socio-environmental responsibility, and decision-making aligned with national environmental policies and the 2030 Agenda. Based on these findings, guidelines were proposed that articulate pedagogical, didactic, and evaluative components, with recommendations for their practical application in design, implementation, and evaluation, to consolidate contextualized environmental literacy that is relevant and consistent with the socio-environmental challenges of the Amazon region.

El departamento del Caquetá, en Colombia, ha experimentado grandes transformaciones sociales, ambientales y territoriales en las últimas décadas. Estas mutaciones están influenciadas por la constante interacción entre el poder ejercido sobre el contexto, el cambio climático y el papel de la educación en escenarios de posconflicto. El presente artículo analiza fenómenos como la deforestación, la contaminación de los recursos hídricos y el cambio climático, así como su influencia en las prácticas tradicionales y en la conexión de las comunidades locales con su entorno. A partir de este ensayo reflexivo, sustentado en una revisión documental con énfasis en la cultura, el territorio y el tejido social de la historia reciente, se concluye que la territorialidad, la educación y el medio ambiente influyen de forma significativa en la vida cotidiana. En consecuencia, la educación se ratifica como un medio fundamental para la preservación de estos elementos en favor de las generaciones futuras

Water reuse and resource recovery are priority environmental goals under increasing water scarcity and climate stress. Dissolved air flotation (DAF) is widely applied in municipal, industrial, and decentralized treatment trains because fine microbubbles (MB) enhance solids removal efficiency. Accurate, low-cost characterization of MB size and rise velocity is therefore valuable for process monitoring and optimization. This study develops and validates a smartphone-based, computer-vision pipeline for laboratory-scale DAF systems. After camera calibration and lens un-distortion, each video sequence (235 frames per run) is processed through grayscale conversion, median, Gaussian, and local-Laplacian filtering, gamma correction, and Otsu thresholding, followed by morphological refinement. Circular Hough transform then identifies MB candidates, providing their diameters and centroid locations. These detections are then linked frame-to-frame using a distance-gated nearest-neighbor tracker with dynamic memory allocation to accommodate new MBs under turbulent, bubble-clustering conditions. Rise velocity is computed from interframe centroid displacement and frame interval. The system reliably tracked up to 32 microbubbles simultaneously per video. Across four operating pressure/airflow combinations, mean MB diameters ranged 95.47–216.42 µm and mean rise velocities 9.40×10³–2.76×10⁴ µm/s. The approach is low cost, computationally lightweight, and suitable for rapid MB characterization to support DAF monitoring, optimization, and research.

Objetivo: Este artículo analizó el impacto de 26 emprendimientos de turismo de naturaleza en el departamento de Caquetá, Amazonia colombiana, con el propósito de evaluar su contribución a la conservación ambiental y al bienestar comunitario. Metodología: Se utilizaron técnicas de análisis de conglomerados (K-Means) y análisis de componentes principales (ACP) para identificar y clasificar los perfiles de los emprendimientos según su enfoque en sostenibilidad, regeneración ecológica y bienestar personal. Resultados principales: Se identificaron cuatro perfiles diferenciados de emprendimientos. Mientras que la mayoría prioriza la conservación ambiental y el fortalecimiento comunitario, algunos modelos destacan por integrar saberes ancestrales y prácticas regenerativas con alto potencial transformador. Conclusiones: Los hallazgos destacan la necesidad de diseñar estrategias específicas de apoyo y políticas públicas que maximicen los beneficios del turismo sostenible. Este estudio ofrece un modelo replicable en otros contextos biodiversos y contribuye al avance del conocimiento sobre turismo regenerativo alineado con los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS).

O estudo tem como objetivo identificar e categorizar os principais comentários dos seguidores do instagram de um hotel-fazenda. O apoio teórico é em gestão de marketing digital e rede social. Para a consecução do objetivo, fez-se uso de estudo de caso com uma abordagem quanti-quali, apoiada das técnicas de correlação e de análise de conteúdo, respectivamente. Parte-se de uma hipótese inicial de que o número de curtidas não tem relação com a marcação de amigos. Os resultados quantitativos rejeitam a hipótese nula, e apontam que existe uma correlação positiva moderada (r = 0,583) entre o número de curtidas e a marcação de amigos. Nos resultados qualitativos, os comentários dos seguidores do instagram, possibilitam que a gestão de marketing digital possa gerenciar ou criar nichos de clientes específicos, como é o caso de quem tem muita interação digital, e geraram três categorias que foram classificadas em ordem de potencialidade em: sentimentos de boas lembranças ou experiências (42,45%); sentimentos expressos na forma de emojis – olho de coração e coração (37,96%); e por fim, questionamentos sobre o hotel (19,25%). A pesquisa contribui para entender a importância de conhecer a percepção dos seguidores nos comentários do instagram, além de servir como aprendizado para a prática do marketing digital e gestão das redes sociais.

Nutrition and feeding are one of the pillars of the cattle production system, and forage must be the main food source, due to its composition and cost. This research evaluated the nutritional quality and floral composition of pastures in the municipalities of San Vicente del Caguán, Puerto Rico, and El Doncello, located in the northern part of the department of Caquetá. The floristic composition was carried out using the Botanal method and nutritional analysis from the near infrared reflectance spectroscopy technique (Near Infrared Spectroscopy - NIRS). In relation to the floristic composition, it was shown that the predominant grasses are of the genus Urochloa (x̅= 81.3%), being mainly the humidicola and decumbens species, followed by the absence of vegetative material (bald) (x̅= 12.6%), weeds (x̅= 4.3%), and finally, legumes (x̅= 1.6%), these being Calopogonium spp and Desmodium spp. Regarding nutritional quality, in the municipality of El Doncello, moderate levels of protein were evident (x̅= 6.7%), followed by San Vicente del Caguán (x̅= 6.5%) and Puerto Rico (x̅= 6.2%), however, with dry matter (DM), it was presented at a good level in San Vicente del Caguán (x̅= 96.6%), followed by Puerto Rico (x̅= 93.1%), otherwise, in El Doncello (x̅= 34.5%). It is concluded that the NIRS method is a reliable technique, showing efficiency when correlating nutritional parameters, facilitating decision-making in livestock. On the other hand, environmental and management factors significantly influence forage composition, disposition and quality, highlighting the need for sustainable strategies to improve productivity and competitiveness.