Quantitative proteomics (2-D DIGE) reveals molecular strategies employed by Burkholderia cenocepacia to adapt to the airways of cystic fibrosis patients under antimicrobial therapy

Chronic respiratory infections caused by Burkholderia cenocepacia in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) are characterized by low responsiveness to antibiotic therapy and, in general, to a more rapid decline of lung function. To get clues into the molecular mechanisms underlying the adaptive strategies employed to deal with the stressing conditions of the CF lung including antibiotic therapy, quantitative proteomics (2-D DIGE) was used to compare the expression programs of two clonal isolates retrieved from a chronically infected CF patient. Isolate IST439 was the first bacterium recovered while the clonal variant IST4113 was obtained after 3 years of persistent infection and intravenous therapy with ceftazidime/gentamicin. This isolate exhibits higher resistance levels towards different classes of antimicrobials. Proteins of the functional categories Energy metabolism, Translation, Nucleotide synthesis, Protein folding and stabilization are more abundant in IST4113, compared with IST439, suggesting an increased protein synthesis, DNA repair and stress resistance in IST4113. The level of proteins involved in peptidoglycan, membrane lipids and lipopolysaccharide synthesis is also altered and proteins involved in iron binding and transport are more abundant in IST4113. The quantitative comparison of the two proteomes suggests a genetic adaptation leading to increased antimicrobial resistance and bacterial persistence in the CF airways.     

Effects of the neem product, RD-Repelin, on settling behaviour and transmission of zucchini yellow mosaic virus by the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris) (Homoptera: Aphididae)

The botanical product RD-Repelin® was highly repellent to pea aphids at concentrations of 1%, 4% or 10%. Repellency occurred prior to leaf contact by aphids at all three concentrations. RD-Repelin® delayed symptom expression of zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV) in 81% of plants treated with 1% concentration, although virus transmission was not prevented. The effects of RD-Repelin® on aphid settling behaviour, symptom expression and potential for pest management are discussed.     

Descriptive models for the system of the natural spread of infection of rice dwarf virus (RDV) by the green rice leafhopper,Nephotettix cincticeps Uhler (Hemiptera: Deltocephalidae)

Seasonal changes in the densities of eggs and of 1st instar nymphs of N. cincticeps, a vector of the rice dwarf virus (RDV) and those in the proportion of virus-infected rice hills were examined by regular field censuses during the period of 1964–69 at two localities in Kochi, Nangoku and Ino. The proportion of virus-infected insects in the vector population was measured by the serological test. Mean fecundity of adult females of N. cincticeps in different generations was assessed by the method proposed byHokyo andKiritani (1968) in 1966 and 1967. Using observed variables as mentioned above, two mathematical models were built up for the system of the natural spread of infection of RDV. Submodels describing generation-to-generation changes in densities of eggs, 1st instar nymphs and leafhopper adults were involved in both Models 1 and 2. In Model 1, the proportion (P) of infected insects in the vector population was assumed to be determined directly by the amount (I_v) of infected rice plants in the field. In Model 2, instead of relating P directly to I_v,P was related to the acquisition rate (W) of RDV by the insects and to the effect of RDV (αr) on fecundity and survival of infected insects. Then, W was related to I_v. The estimates of P by these models fitted well to the observed values for 1st to 3rd generations but a great deviation was noted in 4th and 5th generations. For the percentage of infected rice hills, both models gave relatively good estimates in the early planted rice, though they gave overestimated values in the late planted rice.