The Life Cycle of Lestes viridis (Odonata: Lestidae) in Two Seasonal Streams of the Sierra Morena Mountains (Southern Spain)

The life cycle of the zygopteran odonate Lestes viridis in two seasonal streams in the Sierra Morena Mountains is inferred from size-frequency analyses of handnet samples of larvae and records of presence and reproductive activity of adults during three consecutive years. The egg stage (duration 5–6 months) overwinters, larval development is brief (6–8 weeks) and adults undergo a protracted, prereproductive, summer diapause (up to 3 months) before mating and ovipositing in late September, about one week after the first appreciable fall of rain, but before surface water reappears in the streams after having been absent for about four months during the hot, dry summer. Comparison between this life cycle and those of more northerly populations reveals a latitude-correlated cline in phenology resembling that found in some other northern hemisphere odonates that, like L. viridis, maintain an obligatorily univoltine life cycle at different latitudes.     

Production of endothelial progenitor cells obtained from human Wharton's jelly using different culture conditions

Endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) participate in revascularization and angiogenesis. EPC can be cultured in vitro from mononuclear cells of peripheral blood, umbilical cord blood or bone marrow; they also can be transdifferentiated from mesenchymal stem cells (MSC). We isolated EPCs from Wharton's jelly (WJ) using two methods. The first method was by obtaining MSC from WJ and characterizing them by flow cytometry and their adipogenic and osteogenic differentiation, then applying endothelial growth differentiating media. The second method was by direct culture of cells derived from WJ into endothelial differentiating media. EPCs were characterized by morphology, Dil-LDL uptake/UEA-1 immunostaining and testing the expression of endothelial markers by flow cytometry and RT-PCR. We found that MSC derived from WJ differentiated into endothelial-like cells using simple culture conditions with endothelium induction agents in the medium.     

Analysis of superfamily specific profile-profile recognition accuracy

Background  

Annotation of sequences that share little similarity to sequences of known function remains a major obstacle in genome annotation. Some of the best methods of detecting remote relationships between protein sequences are based on matching sequence profiles. We analyse the superfamily specific performance of sequence profile-profile matching. Our benchmark consists of a set of 16 protein superfamilies that are highly diverse at the sequence level. We relate the performance to the number of sequences in the profiles, the profile diversity and the extent of structural conservation in the superfamily.     

Diagnostic criteria for diabetes revisited: making use of combined criteria

Background  

Existing cut-offs for fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and post-load glucose (2hPG) criteria are not equivalent in the diagnosis of diabetes and glucose intolerance. Adjusting cut-offs of single measurements have not helped so we undertook this project to see if they could be complementary.     

SIVcpz from a naturally infected Cameroonian chimpanzee: biological and genetic comparison with HIV-1 N

Thus far, simian immunodeficiency virus from chimpanzees (SIVcpz) genomes have been characterized as Pan troglodytes troglodytes and show a strong relation with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 N in their env genes. We fully characterized another SIVcpz from P. t. troglodytes. This chimpanzee (Cam5) was, as was also the host of SIVcpz-cam3, wild born in Cameroon, a region where all three groups of HIV-1 (M, N and O) co-occur. In contrast to other SIVcpz, SIVcpz-cam5 was isolated immediately after the rescue of the animal. Our data demonstrate that SIVcpz-cam5, like SIVcpz-cam3, grows easily on human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and uses CCR5 as a co-receptor similar to HIV-1 N YBF30. Phylogenetic analysis based on the entire env gene shows that SIVcpz-cam5 falls into the same unique subcluster as HIV-1 N YBF30, SIVcpz-cam3 and SIVcpz-US. A phylogenetic relationship was also found with the vif gene of HIV-1 N. This study provides proof that HIV-1 N related viruses circulate in wild P. t. troglodytes.     

env sequences of simian immunodeficiency viruses from chimpanzees in Cameroon are strongly related to those of human immunodeficiency virus group N from the same geographic area

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) group N from Cameroon is phylogenetically close, in env, to the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) cpz-gab from Gabon and SIVcpz-US of unknown geographic origin. We screened 29 wild-born Cameroonian chimpanzees and found that three (Cam3, Cam4, and Cam5) were positive for HIV-1 by Western blotting. Mitochondrial DNA sequence analysis demonstrated that Cam3 and Cam5 belonged to Pan troglodytes troglodytes and that Cam4 belonged to P. t. vellerosus. Genetic analyses of the viruses together with serological data demonstrated that at least one of the two P. t. troglodytes chimpanzees (Cam5) was infected in the wild, and revealed a horizontal transmission between Cam3 and Cam4. These data confirm that P. t. troglodytes is a natural host for HIV-1-related viruses. Furthermore, they show that SIVcpz can be transmitted in captivity, from one chimpanzee subspecies to another. All three SIVcpz-cam viruses clustered with HIV-1 N in env. The full Cam3 SIVcpz genome sequence showed a very close phylogenetic relationship with SIVcpz-US, a virus identified in a P. t. troglodytes chimpanzee captured nearly 40 years earlier. Like SIVcpz-US, SIVcpz-cam3 was closely related to HIV-1 N in env, but not in pol, supporting the hypothesis that HIV-1 N results from a recombination event. SIVcpz from chimpanzees born in the wild in Cameroon are thus strongly related in env to HIV-1 N from Cameroon, demonstrating the geographic coincidence of these human and simian viruses and providing a further strong argument in favor of the origin of HIV-1 being in chimpanzees.     

Isolation and characterization of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus subtype H5N1 from donkeys

Background  

The highly pathogenic H5N1 is a major avian pathogen that crosses species barriers and seriously affects humans as well as some mammals. It mutates in an intensified manner and is considered a potential candidate for the possible next pandemic with all the catastrophic consequences.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">TRAF1/C5</Emphasis>polymorphism is not associated with increased mortality in rheumatoid arthritis: two large longitudinal studies

Introduction  

Recently an association between a genetic variation in TRAF1/C5 and mortality from sepsis or cancer was found in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The most prevalent cause of death, cardiovascular disease, may have been missed in that study, since patients were enrolled at an advanced disease stage. Therefore, we used an inception cohort of RA patients to investigate the association between TRAF1/C5 and cardiovascular mortality, and replicate the findings on all-cause mortality. As TRAF1/C5 associated mortality may not be restricted to RA, we also studied a large cohort of non-RA patients.     

The accuracy of several multiple sequence alignment programs for proteins

Background  

There have been many algorithms and software programs implemented for the inference of multiple sequence alignments of protein and DNA sequences. The "true" alignment is usually unknown due to the incomplete knowledge of the evolutionary history of the sequences, making it difficult to gauge the relative accuracy of the programs.     

On single and multiple models of protein families for the detection of remote sequence relationships

Background  

The detection of relationships between a protein sequence of unknown function and a sequence whose function has been characterised enables the transfer of functional annotation. However in many cases these relationships can not be identified easily from direct comparison of the two sequences. Methods which compare sequence profiles have been shown to improve the detection of these remote sequence relationships. However, the best method for building a profile of a known set of sequences has not been established. Here we examine how the type of profile built affects its performance, both in detecting remote homologs and in the resulting alignment accuracy. In particular, we consider whether it is better to model a protein superfamily using a single structure-based alignment that is representative of all known cases of the superfamily, or to use multiple sequence-based profiles each representing an individual member of the superfamily.