Host-parasite local adaptation after experimental coevolution of Caenorhabditis elegans and its microparasite Bacillus thuringiensis

Coevolving hosts and parasites can adapt to their local antagonist. In studies on natural populations, the observation of local adaptation patterns is thus often taken as indirect evidence for coevolution. Based on this approach, coevolution was previously inferred from an overall pattern of either parasite or host local adaptation. Many studies, however, failed to detect such a pattern. One explanation is that the studied system was not subject to coevolution. Alternatively, coevolution occurred, but remained undetected because it took different routes in different populations. In some populations, it is the host that is locally adapted, whereas in others it is the parasite, leading to the absence of an overall local adaptation pattern. Here, we test for overall as well as population-specific patterns of local adaptation using experimentally coevolved populations of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and its bacterial microparasite Bacillus thuringiensis. Furthermore, we assessed the importance of random interaction effects using control populations that evolved in the absence of the respective antagonist. Our results demonstrate that experimental coevolution produces distinct local adaptation patterns in different replicate populations, including host, parasite or absence of local adaptation. Our study thus provides experimental evidence of the predictions of the geographical mosaic theory of coevolution, i.e. that the interaction between parasite and host varies across populations.     

Collaborative study for the calibration of a replacement International Standard for Tetanus Toxoid Adsorbed

We present the results of a collaborative study for the establishment of a replacement International Standard (IS) for Tetanus Toxoid Adsorbed. Two candidate preparations were included in the study, one of which was established as the 4th IS for Tetanus Toxoid Adsorbed at the WHO Expert Committee on Biological Standardization meeting in October 2010. This preparation was found to have a unitage of 490 IU/ampoule, based on calibration in guinea pig challenge assays. Results from mouse challenge assays suggest that the relative performance of two candidate preparations may differ significantly between guinea pigs and mice. The authors note that the number of laboratories that performed guinea pig challenge assays, which are used to calibrate and assign IU, is much lower than in previous collaborative studies and this may have implications for calibration of replacement standards in the future. The issue of assigning separate units to the IS for guinea pig and mouse assays is discussed. The study also assessed performance of the replacement standard in serological assays which are used as alternative procedures to challenge assays for tetanus potency testing. Results suggest that the replacement standard is suitable for use as the reference vaccine in serological assays.     

Uncovering cryptic species diversity of a termite community in a West African savanna

To uncover the termite species diversity of a natural African savanna ecosystem, we combined morphological analyses and sequencing of three gene fragments (cytochrome oxidase I, cytochrome oxidase II and 28SrDNA, total length about 2450 bp) to infer putative species from phylogenetic trees. We identified 18 putative species clusters with high support values and which we retrieved consistently. Samples from two genera (Ancistrotermes and Microcerotermes) were excluded from the mitochondrial phylogenetic analyses as they might represent nuclear mitochondrial sequences (NUMTs). In total, our data suggest a species richness of at least 20 species, all but one belonging to the Termitidae (higher termites), and among them the fungus-growing Macrotermitinae were most prevalent with at least nine putative species. Within the fungus-growers the most species-rich genus was Microtermes and its four putative species were all cryptic species. Their abundance in the samples suggests that they play an important ecological role which is completely unstudied also due to the lack of reliable identification means. Our study shows that morphological traits are unreliable means of species identification for several termite taxa. Yet reliable and consistent identification is necessary for studying the functional role of termites in ecosystem and global processes.     

Requirement for asparagine in the aquaporin NPA sequence signature motifs for cation exclusion

Two highly conserved NPA motifs are a hallmark of the aquaporin (AQP) family. The NPA triplets form N-terminal helix capping structures with the Asn side chains located in the centre of the water or solute-conducting channel, and are considered to play an important role in AQP selectivity. Although another AQP selectivity filter site, the aromatic/Arg (ar/R) constriction, has been well characterized by mutational analysis, experimental data concerning the NPA region--in particular, the Asn position--is missing. Here, we report on the cloning and mutational analysis of a novel aquaglyceroporin carrying one SPA motif instead of the NPA motif from Burkholderia cenocepacia, an epidemic pathogen of cystic fibrosis patients. Of 1357 AQP sequences deposited in RefSeq, we identified only 15 with an Asn exchange. Using direct and phenotypic permeability assays, we found that Asn and Ser are freely interchangeable at both NPA sites without affecting protein expression or water, glycerol and methylamine permeability. However, other mutations in the NPA region led to reduced permeability (S186C and S186D), to nonfunctional channels (N64D), or even to lack of protein expression (S186A and S186T). Using electrophysiology, we found that an analogous mammalian AQP1 N76S mutant excluded protons and potassium ions, but leaked sodium ions, providing an argument for the overwhelming prevalence of Asn over other amino acids. We conclude that, at the first position in the NPA motifs, only Asn provides efficient helix cap stabilization and cation exclusion, whereas other small residues compromise structural stability or cation exclusion but not necessarily water and solute permeability.     

Measuring and analyzing tissue specificity of human genes and protein complexes

Proteins and their interactions are essential for the survival of each human cell. Knowledge of their tissue occurrence is important for understanding biological processes. Therefore, we analyzed microarray and high-throughput RNA-sequencing data to identify tissue-specific and universally expressed genes. Gene expression data were used to investigate the presence of proteins, protein interactions and protein complexes in different tissues. Our comparison shows that the detection of tissue-specific genes and proteins strongly depends on the applied measurement technique. We found that microarrays are less sensitive for low expressed genes than high-throughput sequencing. Functional analyses based on microarray data are thus biased towards high expressed genes. This also means that previous biological findings based on microarrays might have to be re-examined using high-throughput sequencing results.     

Transient myeloproliferative disorder in a newborn with down syndrome treated with rasburicase for the risk of development of tumor lysis syndrome: A case report

Introduction

Transient myeloproliferative disorder is a hematologic abnormality characterized by an uncontrolled proliferation of myeloblasts in peripheral blood and bone marrow that primarily affects newborns and babies with Down syndrome. Tumor lysis syndrome is rarely associated with transient myeloproliferative disorder.

Case presentation

Transient myeloproliferative disorder was diagnosed in a seven-day-old baby girl with Down syndrome, who was referred to our department due to hyperleukocytosis. Our patient developed tumor lysis syndrome, successfully treated with rasburicase, as a complication of transient myeloproliferative disorder resulting from rapid degradation of myeloid blasts after initiation of effective chemotherapy.

Conclusions

Tumor lysis syndrome is rarely reported as a complication of transient myeloproliferative disorder. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of a newborn with Down syndrome and transient myeloproliferative disorder treated with rasburicase for developing tumor lysis syndrome.

     

URETHRAL STENOSIS IN YOUNG GIRLS—A Cause of Recurrent Infection of the Urinary Tract

Recurrent urinary tract infection in young girls may result from unsuspected urethral stenosis.The diagnosis should be considered in the presence of symptoms suggesting obstruction of the lower urinary tract—symptoms such as infrequent voiding and straining on urination, particularly in intervals between bouts of acute febrile illness accompanied by pyuria or bacilluria. If radiopaque medium is retained in the bladder in unusual quantity following voiding at the close of excretory urography, it is suggestive but not pathognomonic of urethral stenosis. The diagnosis is established by instrumental calibration of the urethra under general anesthesia.Treatment consists in removing the cause by urethral dilatation and administering antibiotics and chemotherapeutic agents to overcome the infection.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Wolbachia</Emphasis> endosymbiont infection in two Indian butterflies and female-biased sex ratio in the Red Pierrot, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Talicada nyseus</Emphasis>

The maternally inherited obligate bacteria Wolbachia is known to infect various lepidopteran insects. However, so far only a few butterfly species harbouring this bacterium have been thoroughly studied. The current study aims to identify the infection status of these bacteria in some of the commonly found butterfly species in India. A total of nine butterfly species belonging to four different families were screened using PCR with Wolbachia-specific wsp and ftsZ primers. The presence of the Wolbachia super group ‘B’ in the butterflies Red Pierrot, Talicada nyseus (Guerin) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) and Blue Mormon, Papilio polymnestor Cramer (Papilionidae), is documented for the first time in India. The study also gives an account on the lifetime fecundity and female-biased sex ratio in T. nyseus, suggesting a putative role for Wolbachia in the observed female-biased sex ratio distortion.