Effects of cyanobacterial extracellular products and gibberellic acid on salinity tolerance in Oryza sativa L

The XI International Rotifer Symposium was held during 11–18 March, 2006 at the National Autonomous University of Mexico Campus Iztacala located at the North Mexico City (Mexico). These triennial international meetings, first organized in Austria by Late Ruttner-Kolisko in September 1976, are gradually becoming the focal point of discussion and collaboration from rotifer workers across the world. The present XI symposium was attended by 125 participants from 20 nations. During this meeting, different themes of rotifer research from morphology to molecular biology were considered. In addition, there were four invited lectures and four workshops covering different themes of the symposium. During the last 30 years, rotifer research has witnessed gradual shift from the conventional morphological taxonomy to molecular and evolutionary systematics. While the basic rotifer ecological studies continue today, applied areas such as ecotoxicology and aquaculture have taken key roles in the recent meetings. The international rotifer meetings provide ample opportunities not only for exchange of ideas and recent research, but also for material and in establishing inter-personal relationships. Over the last 30 years, the number of participants attending the rotifer meetings has increased.     

The tangled core at the heart of the bryozoan suborder Phylloporinina

Abstract: The family Phylloporinidae was introduced in the late 19th century to accommodate a small number of Palaeozoic bryozoan genera characterized by irregularly fenestrated colonies generated by anastomosis of unilaminate branches. Among the first named of these genera were Chasmatopora Eichwald, 1855 and Phylloporina Ulrich in Foerste, 1887. The two names have been variously in fashion, and there has been confusion about whether they are subjective synonyms or are distinct genera. This taxonomic confusion has been due in large part to whether the single species (Retepora angulata Hall, 1847) assigned to Phylloporina in Foerste (1887) or the species that Ulrich intended (Retepora trentonensis Nicholson, 1875) is the type species and also because of lack of sufficient information about Foerste’s material to characterize it well. We here redescribe the pertinent species, erect the new species Chasmatopora foerstei for the species that Foerste incorrectly assigned to Phylloporina angulata (Hall), and suggest that Retepora trentonensis Nicholson be retained as type species of Phylloporina based on prevailing usage, until the issue is settled by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature.     

Macromolecular composition of phloem exudate from white lupin (Lupinus albus L.)

Background  

Members of the legume genus Lupinus exude phloem 'spontaneously' from incisions made to the vasculature. This feature was exploited to document macromolecules present in exudate of white lupin (Lupinus albus [L.] cv Kiev mutant), in particular to identify proteins and RNA molecules, including microRNA (miRNA).     

Interleukin-23 is critical for full-blown expression of a non-autoimmune destructive arthritis and regulates interleukin-17A and RORγt in γδ T cells

Introduction

A protein analysis using a mass spectrometry indicated that there are serum proteins showing significant quantitative changes after the administration of infliximab. Among them, connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) seems to be related to the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate how CTGF is associated with the disease progression of RA.

Methods

Serum samples were collected from RA patients in active or inactive disease stages, and before or after treatments with infliximab. CTGF production was evaluated by ELISA, RT-PCR, indirect immunofluorescence microscopy, and immunoblotting. Osteoclastogenesis was evaluated using tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) staining, a bone resorption assay and osteoclasts specific catalytic enzymes productions.

Results

The serum concentrations of CTGF in RA were greater than in normal healthy controls and disease controls. Interestingly, those were significantly higher in active RA patients compared to inactive RA patients. Furthermore, the CTGF levels significantly were decreased by infliximab concomitant with the disease amelioration. In addition, tumour necrosis factor (TNF)α can induce the CTGF production from synovial fibroblasts even though TNFα can oppositely inhibit the production of CTGF from chondrocytes. CTGF promoted the induction of the quantitative and qualitative activities of osteoclasts in combination with M-CSF and receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL). In addition, we newly found integrin αVβ3 on the osteoclasts as a CTGF receptor.

Conclusions

These results indicate that aberrant CTGF production induced by TNFα plays a central role for the abnormal osteoclastic activation in RA patients. Restoration of aberrant CTGF production may contribute to the inhibition of articular destruction in infliximab treatment.     

Suitability of current typing procedures to identify epidemiologically linked human Giardia duodenalis isolates

BackgroundGiardia duodenalis is a leading cause of gastroenteritis worldwide. Humans are mainly infected by two different subtypes, i.e., assemblage A and B. Genotyping is hampered by allelic sequence heterozygosity (ASH) mainly in assemblage B, and by occurrence of mixed infections. Here we assessed the suitability of current genotyping protocols of G. duodenalis for epidemiological applications such as molecular tracing of transmission chains.Methodology/Principal findingsTwo G. duodenalis isolate collections, from an outpatient tropical medicine clinic and from several primary care laboratories, were characterized by assemblage-specific qPCR (TIF, CATH gene loci) and a common multi locus sequence typing (MLST; TPI, BG, GDH gene loci). Assemblage A isolates were further typed at additional loci (HCMP22547, CID1, RHP26, HCMP6372, DIS3, NEK15411).Of 175/202 (86.6%) patients the G. duodenalis assemblage could be identified: Assemblages A 25/175 (14.3%), B 115/175 (65.7%) and A+B mixed 35/175 (20.0%). By incorporating allelic sequence heterozygosity in the analysis, the three marker MLST correctly identified 6/9 (66,7%) and 4/5 (80.0%) consecutive samples from chronic assemblage B infections in the two collections, respectively, and identified a cluster of five independent patients carrying assemblage B parasites of identical MLST type. Extended MLST for assemblage A altogether identified 5/6 (83,3%) consecutive samples from chronic assemblage A infections and 15 novel genotypes. Based on the observed A+B mixed infections it is estimated that only 75% and 50% of assemblage A or B only cases represent single strain infections, respectively. We demonstrate that typing results are consistent with this prediction.Conclusions/SignificanceTyping of assemblage A and B isolates with resolution for epidemiological applications is possible but requires separate genotyping protocols. The high frequency of multiple infections and their impact on typing results are findings with immediate consequences for result interpretation in this field.     

Enrichment of homologs in insignificant BLAST hits by co-complex network alignment

Background  

Homology is a crucial concept in comparative genomics. The algorithm probably most widely used for homology detection in comparative genomics, is BLAST. Usually a stringent score cutoff is applied to distinguish putative homologs from possible false positive hits. As a consequence, some BLAST hits are discarded that are in fact homologous.     

Intracellular Persisting Staphylococcus aureus Is the Major Pathogen in Recurrent Tonsillitis

Background

The two major indications for tonsillectomy are recurrent tonsillitis (RT) and peritonsillar abscess (PTA). Unlike PTAs, which are primarily treated surgically, RT is often cured by tonsillectomy only after a series of failed drug therapy attempts. Although the bacteriological background of RT has been studied, the reason for the lack of success of conservative therapeutic approaches is not well understood.

Methods

In a prospective study, tonsil specimens from 130 RT patients and 124 PTA patients were examined for the presence of extra- and intracellular bacteria using antibiotic protection assays. Staphylococcus aureus isolates from RT patients were characterized by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), spa-typing and MSCRAMM-gene-PCR. Their ability for biofilm formation was tested and their cell invasiveness was confirmed by a flow cytometric invasion assay (FACS), fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) and immunohistochemistry.

Findings

S. aureus was the predominant species (57.7%) in RT patients, whereas Streptococcus pyogenes was most prevalent (20.2%) in PTA patients. Three different assays (FACS, FISH, antibiotic protection assay) showed that nearly all RT-associated S. aureus strains were located inside tonsillar cells. Correspondingly, the results of the MSCRAMM-gene-PCRs confirmed that 87% of these S. aureus isolates were invasive strains and not mere colonizers. Based upon PFGE analyses of genomic DNA and on spa-gene typing the vast majority of the S. aureus isolates belonged to different clonal lineages.

Conclusions

Our results demonstrate that intracellular residing S. aureus is the most common cause of RT and indicate that S. aureus uses this location to survive the effects of antibiotics and the host immune response. A German translation of the Abstract is provided as supplementary material (Abstract S1).