ELECTRON MICROSCOPE STUDY OF MYCOBACTERIUM LEPRAE AND ITS ENVIRONMENT IN A VESICULAR LEPROUS LESION.

Imaeda, Tamotsu (Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Cientificas, Caracas, Venezuela) and Jacinto Convit. Electron microscope study of Mycobacterium leprae and its environment in a vesicular leprous lesion. J. Bacteriol. 83:43-52. 1962.-Biopsied specimens of a borderline leprosy lesion were observed with the electron microscope. In this lesion, the majority of Mycobacterium leprae were laden with cytoplasmic components. The bacilli were separated from the cytoplasm of host cells by an enclosing membrane, thus differing from the environment of well-developed lepra cells in lepromatous lesions.The cell wall is composed of a moderately dense layer. A diffuse layer is discernible outside the cell wall, separated from it by a low density space. It is suggested that the cell wall is further coated by a low density layer, although the nature of the outermost diffuse layer has not yet been determined.The plasma membrane consists of a double layer, i.e., dense inner and outer layers separated by a low density space. The outer layer is closely adjacent to the cell wall. In the region where the outer layer of the plasma membrane enters the cytoplasm and is transformed into a complex membranous structure, the inner layer encloses this membranous configuration. Together they form the intracytoplasmic membrane system.In the bacterial cytoplasm, moderately dense, presumably polyphosphate bodies are apparent. As neither these bodies nor the intracytoplasmic membrane system are visible in the degenerating bacilli, it seems probable that these two components represent indicators of the state of bacillary activity.     

Tomato prosystemin promoter confers wound-inducible, vascular bundle-specific expression of the β-glucuronidase gene in transgenic tomato plants

Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. cv. Better Boy) plants were transformed with a fused gene containing a 2.2-kb promoter fragment of the tomato prosystemin gene and the coding region of the β-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene. The transgenic plants exhibited a low constitutive level of prosystemin-β-glucuronidase gene expression, assayed by histochemical staining and GUS enzyme activity, that was associated in the vascular bundles of leaf main veins, petiolules, petioles and stems. The GUS activity in the vascular bundles in each tissue was increased by wounding and by treatment of the plants with methyl jasmonate, similar to the induction of prosystemin in wild-type plants. The increase in GUS activity in the vascular bundles of leaves in response to wounding correlated with the wound-inducible increase in prosystemin mRNA. Tissue printing, using rabbit anti-serum prepared against prosystemin, confirmed that inducible prosystemin protein was localized in vascular bundles of petiolules, petioles and stems of wild-type tomato plants. The evidence indicates that the 2.2-kb promoter region of the tomato prosystemin gene contains elements conferring its correct temporal and spatial expression in the vascular bundles of transgenic tomato plants. Received: 7 January 1997 / Accepted: 2 April 1997     

New large threatened populations of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Phengaris nausithous</Emphasis> discovered in the SW of Europe

The near threatened Phengaris nausithous is distributed in two large mountainous areas in the northern part of the Iberian Peninsula, living in small dispersed populations. During July and August of 2012–2015 we systematically searched for the species in the southeastern part of the Cordillera Cantábrica. We found 38 new populations grouped into seven metapopulations. Two of the latter are the largest known, representing 34 % of the species’ occurrence range in Spain. The discovery of these new metapopulations does not improve the conservation status of P. nausithous in the SW of Europe because a land consolidation project currently underway and an established peat extraction plant could lead to the imminent extinction of the largest metapopulations. However, there is still time to reverse the present course of change. Knowledge of these recently discovered populations allows the establishment of management measures to protect them over the long term.     

Role of ships’ hull fouling and tropicalization process on European carcinofauna: new records in Galician waters (NW Spain)

Ten unusual decapod crustacean species are reported for the coasts of Galicia (NW Spain), eight of them recorded for the first time in this area. Three species: Pilumnopeus africanus, Charybdis hellerii and Pachygrapsus gracilis, are non-indigenous species. The reports of Panopeus africanus and Inachus aguiarii represent the northernmost localities of these African species, whose previous North limits were in the Southwestern European coasts. Remaining five species: Xaiva biguttata, Bathynectes longipes, Parthenopoides massena, Monodaeus couchii and Homola barbata are scarcely known species found within their distribution range. Updated data about these species are given, both from the point of view of their distribution and identification (morphological and molecular methods), as well as the potential pathways for introduction of the non-indigenous ones. According to evidence presented in the present study, biofouling still remains an important vector of species transmission and surely has been undervalued with respect to ballast water.     

What controls TOR?

The target of rapamycin (TOR) is a protein kinase with numerous functions in cell growth control. Some of these functions can be potently inhibited by rapamycin, an immunosuppressive and potential anticancer drug. TOR exists as part of two functionally distinct protein complexes. The functions of TOR complex 1 (TORC1) are effectively inhibited by rapamycin, but the mechanism for this inhibition remains elusive. The identification of TORC2 and recent reports that rapamycin can inhibit TORC2 functions, in some cases, challenge current models of TOR regulation. This review discusses the latest findings in yeast and mammals on the possible mechanisms that control TOR activity leading to its many cellular functions     

Mononuclear cell subpopulations and infiltrating lymphocytes in erythema dyschromicum perstans and vitiligo

Erythema dyschromicum perstans (EDP) and vitiligo are two cutaneous pigmentary dermatoses of unknown etiology. In the present study, the leukocyte infiltrates in the affected skin of EDP and vitiligo patients were studied using the avidin-biotin (ABC) immunoperoxidase technique and monoclonal antibodies which recognise the following mononuclear cell subgroups: T-suppressor/cytotoxic (CD8-Leu-2), T-helper (CD4 = OKT4), T-suppressor + macrophages (Leu-15), Pan T (CD3 = Leu-4), macrophages (Leu-M3) and Langerhans cells (CD1 = Leu-6), and other cellular markers such as Ia antigens and the Interleukin-2 receptor (CD25 = TAC). The immunocytochemical analysis showed a selective accumulation of CD3+, CD8+, Leu-15-, T-cytotoxic cells in the epidermis of both EDP and early lesions of vitiligo. In addition, an increase in the number of epidermal Langerhans cells (CD1+) was observed in some cases of EDP and vitiligo. The CD4/CD8 ratios in affected and uninvolved skin for both disorders were not significantly different, although values lower than unity were only observed in the infiltrates of affected skin. Ia antigen positivity was observed in the dendritic cells of the dermis and epidermis, as well as in most of the lymphoid cells within the infiltrates for both diseases. Macrophages (Leu-M3) in EDP dermal infiltrates were generally found adjacent to extracellular melanin pigment. Lymphocytes expressing TAC (CD25) surface antigens were also present in the dermal infiltrates. These morphological observations suggest a possible immune cell participation in the dyschromia of such cutaneous disorders.     

Methyl-DNA immunoprecipitation (MeDIP): hunting down the DNA methylome

One of the most challenging projects in the field of epigenetics is the generation of detailed functional maps of DNA methylation in different cell and tissue types in normal and disease-associated conditions. This information will help us not only understand the role of DNA methylation but also identify targets for therapeutic treatment. The completion of the various epigenome projects depends on the design of novel strategies to survey and generate detailed cartograms of the DNA methylome. Methyl-DNA immunoprecipitation (MeDIP) assays, in combination with hybridization on high-resolution microarrays or high-throughput sequencing (HTS) techniques, are excellent methods for identifying methylated CpG-rich sequences. We provide a critical overview of different genome-wide techniques for DNA methylation analysis and propose that MeDIP assays may constitute a key method for elucidating the hypermethylome of cancer cells.