Disease Isolates of Streptococcus pseudopneumoniae and Non-Typeable S. pneumoniae Presumptively Identified as Atypical S. pneumoniae in Spain

We aimed to obtain insights on the nature of a collection of isolates presumptively identified as atypical Streptococcus pneumoniae recovered from invasive and non-invasive infections in Spain. One-hundred and thirty-two isolates were characterized by: optochin susceptibility in ambient and CO₂-enriched atmosphere; bile solubility; PCR-based assays targeting pneumococcal genes lytA, ply, pspA, cpsA, Spn9802, aliB-like ORF2, and a specific 16S rRNA region; multilocus sequence analysis; and antimicrobial susceptibility. By multilocus sequence analysis, 61 isolates were S. pseudopneumoniae, 34 were pneumococci, 13 were S. mitis, and 24 remained unclassified as non-pneumococci. Among S. pseudopneumoniae isolates, 51 (83.6%) were collected from respiratory tract samples; eight isolates were obtained from sterile sources. High frequency of non-susceptibility to penicillin (60.7%) and erythromycin (42.6%) was found. Only 50.8% of the S. pseudopneumoniae isolates displayed the typical optochin phenotype originally described for this species. None harbored the cpsA gene or the pneumococcal typical lytA restriction fragment length polymorphism. The Spn9802 and the specific 16S rRNA regions were detected among the majority of the S. pseudopneumoniae isolates (n = 59 and n = 49, respectively). The ply and pspA genes were rarely found. A high genetic diversity was found and 59 profiles were identified. Among the S. pneumoniae, 23 were capsulated and 11 were non-typeable. Three non-typeable isolates, associated to international non-capsulated lineages, were recovered from invasive disease sources. In conclusion, half of the atypical pneumococcal clinical isolates were, in fact, S. pseudopneumoniae and one-fourth were other streptococci. We identified S. pseudopneumoniae and non-typeable pneumococci as cause of disease in Spain including invasive disease.     

Absence of correlation between Y chromosome heterochromatin and several anthropometric measurements in a Mexican population

Summary The correlation between nine anthropometric variables and six different measurements of the Y heterochromatic regions of 146 young Mexican adults was investigated. Only the absolute heterochromatic width showed a significant correlation at the 0.02 level with the upper segment/lower segment ratio, but the biological significance of this finding is strongly questioned.     

Practical synthesis of (-)-1-amino-1-deoxy-myo-inositol from achiral precursors

A new synthesis of enantiomerically pure 1-amino-1-deoxy-myo-inositol is reported. The route described employs p-benzoquinone, an achiral compound, as the starting material to give conduritol B tetraacetate in three steps. Kinetic resolution of this compound using a palladium catalyst with a chiral ligand allows access to a conduritol B tetraester in high enantiomeric excess. This compound is transformed into tetrabenzyl conduritol B epoxide, which is regioselectively opened with azide to give the key azidocyclitol. Final transformation into (-)-1-amino-1-deoxy-myo-inositol hydrochloride is achieved in four synthetic steps. This sequence allows the synthesis of this compound in high enantiomeric purity in a semi-preparative scale.     

Using flow cytometry and cytological analyses to assess the genetic stability of somatic embryo-derived plantlets from embryogenic Musa acuminata Colla (AA) ssp. malaccensis cell suspension cultures

Flow cytometry and chromosome counts were used to analyze the genetic stability of plants regenerated via Musa acuminata Colla (AA) ssp. malaccensis embryogenic cell suspension (ECS) cultures. These cultures were initiated from immature zygotic embryos (IZE) on Murashige and Skoog medium using nine different plant growth regulator (PGR) treatments. Highest percentage of embryogenic calli (EC) formation occurred on media with 4.5 μM 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D, 97 %), and 8.2 μM of picloram (Pi, 80 %) followed by 2.2 μM 2,4-D (75 %). Embryonic development was synchronized in liquid medium by filtration, and somatic embryo development was achieved with ECS aliquots overlaid on PGR-free medium. The EC medium composition and elapsed time of both short-term (~5 months old) and long-term (~2 years old) ECS cultures influenced plant regeneration, resulting in 65–99 % embryo germination and 50 to 100 % plant conversion. The mean 2C DNA content (1.23 ± 0.002 pg) and chromosome number (2n = 2x = 22) of M. acuminata ssp. malaccensis IZEs, seedlings and sucker plantlets were similar to the reported values. No significant differences were detected among IZEs before culturing, and none were found among the IZEs and leaves of control plants and the plants regenerated from short-term ECS lines when initiated with 2,4-D or Pi vis-à-vis the accession from which they originated. However, plants regenerated from the long-term ECS-L3 culture remained diploid, had the highest DNA content (2C = 1.283 ± 0.01 pg) and were clearly separate from the other regenerated and control plants.     

Bionomics of Opius bellus (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), an endoparasitoid of Anastrepha fraterculus (Diptera: Tephritidae) in fruit-growing areas of Northwestern Argentina

Opius bellus is a neotropical larval-prepupal parasitoid known to attack the pestiferous fruit fly, Anastrepha fraterculus. Due to interest in the use of native parasitoids in forthcoming fruit fly biocontrol programmes in Argentina, O. bellus was colonised for the first time using laboratory-reared A. fraterculus larvae. A series of experiments were conducted to (1) best achieve an efficient parasitoid rearing by determining optimal larval host age, host:parasitoid ratio and host exposure time and (2) assess their potential as biological control agents by determining reproductive parameters. The most productive exposure regimen was: 7–9 d-old (early and middle third-instars) A. fraterculus larvae for 4 h at a 4:1 host:parasitoid ratio; this array of factors was sufficient to achieve the highest average adult emergence (48%) and an offspring sex ratio at equitable proportion. Increasing both host:parasitoid ratio further than 4:1 and the host exposure time beyond 4 h did not significantly enhance parasitoid female offspring yield. Females produced eggs for 29.5 ± 1.4 days. At 32 days of age, 50% of the females were still alive. The majority of the progeny were produced by females between 20 and 24 d-old. At 26°C, gross fecundity rate, net reproductive rate, intrinsic rate of increase and mean generation time were 20.7 ± 4.2 offspring/female, 9.6 ± 2.5 females/newborn females, 0.06 ± 0.01 females/female/day and 8.4 ± 0.2 days, respectively. The long lifespan and reproductive parameters suggest that this parasitoid species has suitable attributes for mass-rearing.     

Chromatin specialization in bivalve molluscs: a leap forward for the evaluation of Okadaic Acid genotoxicity in the marine environment

Marine biotoxins synthesized by Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) represent one of the most important sources of contamination in marine environments as well as a serious threat to fisheries and aquaculture-based industries in coastal areas. Among these biotoxins Okadaic Acid (OA) is of critical interest as it represents the most predominant Diarrhetic Shellfish Poisoning biotoxin in the European coasts. Furthermore, OA is a potent tumor promoter with aneugenic and clastogenic effects on the hereditary material, most notably DNA breaks and alterations in DNA repair mechanisms. Therefore, a great effort has been devoted to the biomonitoring of OA in the marine environment during the last two decades, mainly based on physicochemical and physiological parameters using mussels as sentinel organisms. However, the molecular genotoxic effects of this biotoxin make chromatin structure a good candidate for an alternative strategy for toxicity assessment with faster and more sensitive evaluation. To date, the development of chromatin-based studies to this purpose has been hampered by the complete lack of information on chromatin of invertebrate marine organisms, especially in bivalve molluscs. Our preliminary results have revealed the presence of histone variants involved in DNA repair and chromatin specialization in mussels and clams. In this work we use this information to put forward a proposal focused on the development of chromatin-based tests for OA genotoxicity in the marine environment. The implementation of such tests in natural populations has the potential to provide an important leap in the biomonitoring of this biotoxin. The outcome of such monitoring may have critical implications for the evaluation of DNA damage in these marine organisms. They will provide as well important tools for the optimization of their harvesting and for the elaboration of additional tests designed to evaluate the safety of their consumption and potential implications for consumer's health.     

Invasive aspergillosis with extrapulmonary involvement: pathogenesis, clinical characteristics and prognosis

BackgroundThe incidence of invasive aspergillosis has increased worldwide. Information regarding the clinical characteristics of patients with extrapulmonary involvement is scarce.ObjectiveWe aimed to describe the pathogenesis, characteristics and outcomes of patients with invasive aspergillosis and extrapulmonary disease.MethodsA retrospective study conducted in a university hospital in Barcelona, Spain (1995-2011).ResultsA total of 12 cases of invasive aspergillosis and extrapulmonary involvement were found. The most common clinical manifestations were invasive sinusitis, early postoperative prosthetic valve endocarditis, fungaemia, postoperative meningitis, multiple brain abscesses and lumbar spondylitis with epidural abscess. Sinusitis occurred frequently in patients without immunosuppression and had invasive brain involvement in one case. Endocarditis was associated with multiple septic metastases. Concomitant lung involvement was documented in 5 cases. The strains isolated were Aspergillus fumigatus (5), Aspergillus flavus (3), and Aspergillus niger (2). The species of Aspergillus was not established for 3 isolates. All patients were treated with antifungals and surgery was performed in 8 cases. Outcome was related with the source of infection; all patients with invasive sinusitis survived, while the remaining patients had a high mortality rate (88%).ConclusionsInvasive aspergillosis with extrapulmonary involvement is rare. The most common presentation is invasive sinusitis, which has a lower mortality. Other clinical forms with extrapulmonary involvement were associated with severe immunosuppression or previous surgery, and had a poor outcome.