Effect of Pasteurization on Survival of Certain Psychrophilic Bacteria

The effect of pasteurization on survival in milk of four strains of psychrophilic pseudomonads and of one strain of Alcaligenes was determined. Cell numbers were very low immediately after pasteurization, but increased after storage. The survival of psychrophilic bacteria in pasteurized milk appeared to depend on the initial number of organisms, and detection depended partly on the length of time of storage at 3 to 5 C.     

Correcting for Purifying Selection: An Improved Human Mitochondrial Molecular Clock

There is currently no calibration available for the whole human mtDNA genome, incorporating both coding and control regions. Furthermore, as several authors have pointed out recently, linear molecular clocks that incorporate selectable characters are in any case problematic. We here confirm a modest effect of purifying selection on the mtDNA coding region and propose an improved molecular clock for dating human mtDNA, based on a worldwide phylogeny of > 2000 complete mtDNA genomes and calibrating against recent evidence for the divergence time of humans and chimpanzees. We focus on a time-dependent mutation rate based on the entire mtDNA genome and supported by a neutral clock based on synonymous mutations alone. We show that the corrected rate is further corroborated by archaeological dating for the settlement of the Canary Islands and Remote Oceania and also, given certain phylogeographic assumptions, by the timing of the first modern human settlement of Europe and resettlement after the Last Glacial Maximum. The corrected rate yields an age of modern human expansion in the Americas at ∼15 kya that—unlike the uncorrected clock—matches the archaeological evidence, but continues to indicate an out-of-Africa dispersal at around 55–70 kya, 5–20 ky before any clear archaeological record, suggesting the need for archaeological research efforts focusing on this time window. We also present improved rates for the mtDNA control region, and the first comprehensive estimates of positional mutation rates for human mtDNA, which are essential for defining mutation models in phylogenetic analyses.     

Charting the ancestry of African Americans

The Atlantic slave trade promoted by West European empires (15th-19th centuries) forcibly moved at least 11 million people from Africa, including about one-third from west-central Africa, to European and American destinations. The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genome has retained an imprint of this process, but previous analyses lacked west-central African data. Here, we make use of an African database of 4,860 mtDNAs, which include 948 mtDNA sequences from west-central Africa and a further 154 from the southwest, and compare these for the first time with a publicly available database of 1,148 African Americans from the United States that contains 1,053 mtDNAs of sub-Saharan ancestry. We show that >55% of the U.S. lineages have a West African ancestry, with <41% coming from west-central or southwestern Africa. These results are remarkably similar to the most up-to-date analyses of the historical record.     

Advantages of larval control for African malaria vectors: Low mobility and behavioural responsiveness of immature mosquito stages allow high effective coverage

Background  

Based on sensitivity analysis of the MacDonald-Ross model, it has long been argued that the best way to reduce malaria transmission is to target adult female mosquitoes with insecticides that can reduce the longevity and human-feeding frequency of vectors. However, these analyses have ignored a fundamental biological difference between mosquito adults and the immature stages that precede them: adults are highly mobile flying insects that can readily detect and avoid many intervention measures whereas mosquito eggs, larvae and pupae are confined within relatively small aquatic habitats and cannot readily escape control measures.     

The African diaspora: mitochondrial DNA and the Atlantic slave trade

Between the 15th and 19th centuries ad, the Atlantic slave trade resulted in the forced movement of approximately 13 million people from Africa, mainly to the Americas. Only approximately 11 million survived the passage, and many more died in the early years of captivity. We have studied 481 mitochondrial DNAs (mtDNAs) of recent African ancestry in the Americas and in Eurasia, in an attempt to trace them back to particular regions of Africa. Our results show that mtDNAs in America and Eurasia can, in many cases, be traced to broad geographical regions within Africa, largely in accordance with historical evidence, and raise the possibility that a greater resolution may be possible in the future. However, they also indicate that, at least for the moment, considerable caution is warranted when assessing claims to be able to trace the ancestry of particular lineages to a particular locality within modern-day Africa.     

Comparative performance of the Mbita trap, CDC light trap and the human landing catch in the sampling of Anopheles arabiensis, An. funestus and culicine species in a rice irrigation in western Kenya

Background

IL-1β and IL-1RA levels are higher in the serum of cerebral malaria patients than in patients with mild malaria. Recently, the level of IL1B expression was reported to be influenced by a polymorphism in the promoter of IL1, IL1B -31C>T.

Methods

To examine whether polymorphisms in IL1B and IL1RA influence the susceptibility to cerebral malaria, IL1B -31C>T, IL1B 3953C>T, and IL1RA variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR) were analysed in 312 Thai patients with malaria (109 cerebral malaria and 203 mild malaria patients).

Results

In this population, IL1B -31C>T and IL1RA VNTRwere detected, while IL1B 3953C>T (i.e., IL1B 3953T) was not observed in the polymorphism screening for 32 patients. Further analyses for IL1B -31C>T and IL1RA VNTR in 110 cerebral malaria and 206 mild malaria patients showed no significant association of these polymorphisms with cerebral malaria.

Conclusion

The present results suggest that IL1B -31C>T and IL1RA VNTR polymorphisms do not play a crucial role in susceptibility or resistance to cerebral malaria.