Additional reports for Italian moss flora

As a result of the study of both recent collections and a review of herbarium specimens, the following taxa are reported for the first time from various Italian regions: Hedwigia stellata Hedenäs, Hedwigia ciliata var. leucophaea Bruch & Schimp., Pleurozium schreberi (Willd. ex Brid.) Mitt. and Ptychostomum compactum Hornsch. var. compactum. The last taxon is new for southern Italy, while the report of Pleurozium schreberi confirms the occurrence of this species in southern Italy after more than half a century. Moreover, Crossidium laxefilamentosum Frey & Kürschner represents the second report of this species from Italy.     

Exposure-Dependent Control of Malaria-Induced Inflammation in Children

In malaria-naïve individuals, Plasmodium falciparum infection results in high levels of parasite-infected red blood cells (iRBCs) that trigger systemic inflammation and fever. Conversely, individuals in endemic areas who are repeatedly infected are often asymptomatic and have low levels of iRBCs, even young children. We hypothesized that febrile malaria alters the immune system such that P. falciparum re-exposure results in reduced production of pro-inflammatory cytokines/chemokines and enhanced anti-parasite effector responses compared to responses induced before malaria. To test this hypothesis we used a systems biology approach to analyze PBMCs sampled from healthy children before the six-month malaria season and the same children seven days after treatment of their first febrile malaria episode of the ensuing season. PBMCs were stimulated with iRBC in vitro and various immune parameters were measured. Before the malaria season, children''s immune cells responded to iRBCs by producing pro-inflammatory mediators such as IL-1β, IL-6 and IL-8. Following malaria there was a marked shift in the response to iRBCs with the same children''s immune cells producing lower levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and higher levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-10, TGF-β). In addition, molecules involved in phagocytosis and activation of adaptive immunity were upregulated after malaria as compared to before. This shift was accompanied by an increase in P. falciparum-specific CD4⁺Foxp3⁻ T cells that co-produce IL-10, IFN-γ and TNF; however, after the subsequent six-month dry season, a period of markedly reduced malaria transmission, P. falciparum–inducible IL-10 production remained partially upregulated only in children with persistent asymptomatic infections. These findings suggest that in the face of P. falciparum re-exposure, children acquire exposure-dependent P. falciparum–specific immunoregulatory responses that dampen pathogenic inflammation while enhancing anti-parasite effector mechanisms. These data provide mechanistic insight into the observation that P. falciparum–infected children in endemic areas are often afebrile and tend to control parasite replication.     

The Influence of Compositional and Contextual Factors on Non-Receipt of Basic Vaccines among Children of 12-23-Month Old in India: A Multilevel Analysis

Background

Children unreached by vaccination are at higher risk of poor health outcomes and India accounts for nearly a quarter of unvaccinated children worldwide. The objective of this study was to investigate compositional and contextual determinants of non-receipt of childhood vaccines in India using multilevel modelling.

Methods and Findings

We studied characteristics of unvaccinated children using the District Level Health and Facility Survey 3, a nationally representative probability sample containing 65 617 children aged 12–23 months from 34 Indian states and territories. We developed four-level Bayesian binomial regression models to examine the determinants of non-vaccination. The analysis considered two outcomes: completely unvaccinated (CUV) children who had not received any of the eight vaccine doses recommended by India’s Universal Immunization Programme, and children who had not received any dose from routine immunisation services (no RI). The no RI category includes CUV children and those who received only polio doses administered via mass campaigns. Overall, 4.83% (95% CI: 4.62–5.06) of children were CUV while 12.01% (11.68–12.35) had received no RI. Individual compositional factors strongly associated with CUV were: non-receipt of tetanus immunisation for mothers during pregnancy (OR = 3.65 [95% CrI: 3.30–4.02]), poorest household wealth index (OR = 2.44 [1.81–3.22] no maternal schooling (OR = 2.43 [1.41–4.05]) and no paternal schooling (OR = 1.83 [1.30–2.48]). In rural settings, the influence of maternal illiteracy disappeared whereas the role of household wealth index was reinforced. Factors associated with no RI were similar to those for CUV, but effect sizes for individual compositional factors were generally larger. Low maternal education was the strongest risk factor associated with no RI in all models. All multilevel models found significant variability at community, district, and state levels net of compositional factors.

Conclusion

Non-vaccination in India is strongly related to compositional characteristics and is geographically distinct. Tailored strategies are required to overcome current barriers to immunisation.     

Palm wine harvesting by the Bassari threatens Borassus aethiopum populations in north-western Guinea

The use of the palm tree Borassus aethiopum Mart(Coryphoideae) by the Bassari ethnic group in the Republic of Guinea wasstudied. Ethnic groups have multiple uses for B. aethiopumthroughout its distribution in tropical Africa. The Bassari use this palm mostlyas a palm wine resource. As their harvesting technique leads to the death of thepalm, the populations of this species are highly endangered in the areapopulated by the Bassari. The fast decline of an important resource has recentlygained attention at governmental level. In order to conserve the populations ofthis palm, it is essential to understand whether the Bassari use a lethaltechnique because of socio-economic reasons or due to a lack of knowledge. Thepresent study aims to answer this question. We collected the data in thenorth-western part of the Republic of Guinea in May 1996 by field observationsand by using 'Rapid Rural Appraisal' tools consisting of interactiveinterviews with palm wine harvesters, collectors, carriers and sellers. Afterconstructing a woody ladder fixed to the stem the Bassari extract the sap bycutting a hole into the palm heart and by removing a small part of the palmheart two times per day. Individual trees produce on average 10 lper day. After 35–45 days the sap production ceases and thepalm dies. A harvester kills on average 56 individuals of B.aethiopum per year. As a consequence of this lethal techniqueexploiters have to constantly move through and between palm populations. Thereis no reforestation of the degraded areas. The palm wine extraction ofB. aethiopum is the main activity of the Bassari for 7months of the year. For harvesters, collectors, carriers andsellers, palm wine extraction provides one of the most important annual incomes.The harvester pays a monthly tax of USD 5 to the forestry administration.Despite its economic importance, the Bassari palm wine harvesters rangeB. aethiopum as the sixth most important plant species in the area. The paradoxical situation of acommunity that threatens a resource that it is highly dependent on may beexplained by the following circumstances. Firstly, the exploiters seek a maximumprofit on a short term basis. Secondly, the exploiters apparently do not takeinto consideration the total value of other potential products from theBorassus. Thirdly, the Bassari do not have an importanttradition for exploiting B. aethiopum so that there is noapparent cultural alliance between the Bassari and the palm. Finally, the rulesand regulations for harvesting Borassus products favourquick profit. The extinction of the palm population studied can be expectedwithin about 25 years if no protection measure is taken.     

Self‐fertilization,long‐distance flash invasion and biogeography shape the population structure of Pseudosuccinea columella at the worldwide scale

Population genetic studies are efficient for inferring the invasion history based on a comparison of native and invasive populations, especially when conducted at species scale. An expected outcome in invasive populations is variability loss, and this is especially true in self‐fertilizing species. We here focus on the self‐fertilizing Pseudosuccinea columella, an invasive hermaphroditic freshwater snail that has greatly expanded its geographic distribution and that acts as intermediate host of Fasciola hepatica, the causative agent of human and veterinary fasciolosis. We evaluated the distribution of genetic diversity at the largest geographic scale analysed to date in this species by surveying 80 populations collected during 16 years from 14 countries, using eight nuclear microsatellites and two mitochondrial genes. As expected, populations from North America, the putative origin area, were strongly structured by selfing and history and harboured much more genetic variability than invasive populations. We found high selfing rates (when it was possible to infer it), none‐to‐low genetic variability and strong population structure in most invasive populations. Strikingly, we found a unique genotype/haplotype in populations from eight invaded regions sampled all over the world. Moreover, snail populations resistant to infection by the parasite are genetically distinct from susceptible populations. Our results are compatible with repeated introductions in South America and flash worldwide invasion by this unique genotype/haplotype. Our study illustrates the population genetic consequences of biological invasion in a highly selfing species at very large geographic scale. We discuss how such a large‐scale flash invasion may affect the spread of fasciolosis.     

Phospholipases Dα and δ are involved in local and systemic wound responses of cotton (G. hirsutum)

Phospholipases D (PLDs) catabolize structural phospholipids to produce phosphatidic acid (PtdOH), a lipid playing central role in signalling pathways in animal, yeast and plant cells. In animal cells two PLD genes have been studied while in model plant Arabidopsis twelve genes exist, classified in six classes (α-ζ). This underlines the role of these enzymes in plant responses to environmental stresses. However, information concerning the PLD involvement in the widely cultivated and economically important cotton plant responses is very limited. The aim of this report was to study the activity of conventional cotton PLD and its participation in plant responses to mechanical wounding, which resembles both biotic and abiotic stresses. PLDα activity was identified and further characterized by transphosphatidylation reaction. Upon wounding, cotton leaf responses consist of an acute in vitro increase of PLDα activity in both wounded and systemic tissue. However, determination of the in vivo PtdOH levels under the same wounding conditions revealed a rapid PtdOH formation only in wounded leaves and a late response of a PtdOH increase in both tissues. Εxpression analysis of PLDα and PLDδ isoforms showed mRNA accumulation of both isoforms in the wounded tissue, but only PLDδ exerts a high and sustainable expression in systemic leaves, indicating that this isoform is mainly responsible for the systemic wound-induced PtdOH production. Therefore, our data suggest that PLDα and PLDδ isoforms are involved in different steps in cotton wound signalling.     

Pulmonary Madurella mycetomatis mycetoma secondary to knee eumycetoma,Senegal

Mycetoma is a neglected tropical disease which is endemic in Senegal. Although this subcutaneous mycosis is most commonly found on the foot, extrapodal localisations have also been found, including on the leg, knee, thigh, hand, and arm. To our knowledge, no case of blood-spread eumycetoma has been reported in Senegal. Here, we report a case of pulmonary mycetoma secondary to a Madurella mycetomatis knee eumycetoma. The patient was a 41-year-old farmer living in Louga, Senegal, where the Sudano-Sahelian climate is characterised by a short and unstable rainy season and a steppe vegetation. He suffered a trauma to the right more than 20 years previously and had received treatment for more than 10 years with traditional medicine. He consulted at Le Dantec University Hospital in Dakar for treatment of a right knee mycetoma which had been diagnosed more than 10 years ago. He had experienced a chronic cough for more than a year; tuberculosis documentation was negative. Grains collected from the knee and the sputum isolated M. mycetomatis, confirmed by the rRNA gene ITS regions nucleotide sequence analysis. An amputation above the knee was performed, and antibacterial and antifungal therapy was started with amoxicillin-clavulanic acid and terbinafine. The patient died within a month of his discharge from hospital.     

Evolving origin-of-transfer sequences on staphylococcal conjugative and mobilizable plasmids—who’s mimicking whom?

In Staphylococcus aureus, most multiresistance plasmids lack conjugation or mobilization genes for horizontal transfer. However, most are mobilizable due to carriage of origin-of-transfer (oriT) sequences mimicking those of conjugative plasmids related to pWBG749. pWBG749-family plasmids have diverged to carry five distinct oriT subtypes and non-conjugative plasmids have been identified that contain mimics of each. The relaxasome accessory factor SmpO, encoded by each conjugative plasmid, determines specificity for its cognate oriT. Here we characterized the binding of SmpO proteins to each oriT. SmpO proteins predominantly formed tetramers in solution and bound 5′-GNNNNC-3′ sites within each oriT. Four of the five SmpO proteins specifically bound their cognate oriT. An F7K substitution in pWBG749 SmpO switched oriT-binding specificity in vitro. In vivo, the F7K substitution reduced but did not abolish self-transfer of pWBG749. Notably, the substitution broadened the oriT subtypes that were mobilized. Thus, this substitution represents a potential evolutionary intermediate with promiscuous DNA-binding specificity that could facilitate a switch between oriT specificities. Phylogenetic analysis suggests pWBG749-family plasmids have switched oriT specificity more than once during evolution. We hypothesize the convergent evolution of oriT specificity in distinct branches of the pWBG749-family phylogeny reflects indirect selection pressure to mobilize plasmids carrying non-cognate oriT-mimics.