This study reports the first set of microsatellite markers for the weasel (Mustela nivalis). We chose to isolate loci with tetranucleotide repeat motifs because they can be scored less ambiguously than the more commonly
used dinucleotide loci. All 11 loci showed considerable variation within a population sample of 28 individuals from Portugal,
with number of alleles ranging from four to nine per locus and observed and expected heterozygosities ranging from 0.21 to
0.86 and from 0.40 to 0.84, respectively. No linkage disequilibrium was detected between pairs of loci, and only one locus
(Mn 1.30) deviated from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium expectations in the analyzed population sample. Among the 11 loci, Mn 1.30
was the only one for which all known males were homozygous. Analysis of an additional population sample of 23 individuals
(14 males and 9 females) from Denmark revealed that all males, but only four females, were homozygous for Mn 1.30, supporting
the idea that the locus is X-linked. These novel polymorphic microsatellite markers should be useful in studies of population
genetics and molecular ecology of the weasel. 相似文献
The aim of this work is to discuss the mechanisms involved in amino acidsolubilization in cationic reversed micelles. A simple mechanism was assumedin which the amino acid solubilization is mediated by an ion-exchangeprocess between the amino acid and the surfactant counter ion neglecting theeffect of the reversed micellar structure. Based on this mechanism a simplemodel to predict equilibrium was developed and applied to the solubilizationof amino acids with different structures. It was found that solubilizationof hydrophilic and slightly hydrophobic amino acids can be described by anion-exchange mechanism and the amino acid equilibrium concentration can bedetermined for different experimental conditions using this model. However,solubilization of hydrophobic amino acids can not be described by a simpleion-exchange model. In this case hydrophobic contributions play an importantrole in amino acid solubilization and must be considered in the overallsolubilization process. This hydrophobic contribution was evaluated bydetermination of an interfacial partition coefficient. The overall aminoacid extraction was determined using distribution coefficients of all theamino acid forms and considering their dependence on ionic strength. 相似文献
Histoplasmosis occurs in 5–10% of HIV-infected patients in endemic areas and evolves to severe and disseminated infection with mortality rates over 50% in some regions. This report presents epidemiological, clinical and outcome data from HIV-infected patients with histoplasmosis confirmed by culture and/or at necropsy who were admitted to a Brazilian teaching hospital. Data from 65 patients were obtained from their respective medical and necropsy records. From 2005 to 2018, 36 HIV-infected patients were diagnosed with histoplasmosis confirmed by culture. At admission, most of these patients presented disseminated fungal infection, whereas 15 (41.7%) were simultaneously diagnosed with both HIV infection and histoplasmosis. Fever, weight loss, hepatosplenomegaly, respiratory and digestive symptoms were present in 86.2%, 50%, 44.4% and 41.7% of the patients, respectively. At admission, 24 patients had low CD4 T-cell count and high viral load values. Among the 30 patients who received antifungals, 16 (53.3%) were cured, 13 (43.3%) died, and one was lost to follow-up. Six patients died prior to therapy. From 1990 to 2018, 63 necropsies of patients with Histoplasma capsulatum infection were performed. Of these patients, 29 (46.0%) were HIV-infected individuals, including 21 (72.4%) who presented disseminated histoplasmosis and 21 (72.4%) who were diagnosed with histoplasmosis at necropsy. The epidemiological, clinical and outcome profiles presented herein are similar to those described elsewhere and reinforce the difficulties that are still present in limited-resource settings where advanced immunodeficiency, combined with severe fungal infection and late patient admissions, is related to poor outcomes.
In vitro cell-based models that better mimic the human heart tissue are of utmost importance for drug development and cardiotoxicity testing but also as tools to understand mechanisms related with heart disease at cellular and molecular level. Besides, the implementation of analytical tools that allow the depiction and comprehensive understanding of the molecular mechanisms of the crosstalk between the different cell types is also relevant. In this work, we implemented a human cardiac tissue-like in vitro model, derived from human-induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC), and evaluated the relevance of the cell–cell communication between the two of the most representative cell populations of the human heart: cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CM) and endothelial cells (hiPSC-EC). We observed that heterotypic cell communication promotes: (a) structural maturation of hiPSC-CM and (b) deposition of several extracellular matrix components (such as collagens and fibronectin). Overall, the toolbox of analytical techniques used in our study not only enabled us to validate previous reports from the literature on the importance of the presence of hiPSC-EC on hiPSC-CM maturation, but also bring new insights on the molecular mechanisms involved in the communication between these two cell types when cocultured in vitro. 相似文献
Pine wilt disease, caused by the nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, is responsible for devastation of pine forests worldwide. Until now, there are no effective ways of dealing with this serious threat. The use of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase (encoded by the acdS gene)-producing plant growth-promoting bacteria has been shown to be a useful strategy to reduce the damage due to biotic and abiotic stresses. Pinus pinaster seedlings inoculated with the ACC deaminase-producing bacterium Pseudomonas putida strain UW4 showed an increased root and shoot development and reduction of B. xylophilus induced symptoms. In contrast, a P. putida UW4 acdS mutant was unable to promote pine seedling growth or to decrease B. xylophilus induced symptoms. This is the first report on the use of ACC deaminase-producing bacteria as a potential biological control agent for a tree disease, thus suggesting that the inoculation of pine seedlings grown in a tree nursery might constitute a novel strategy to obtain B. xylophilus resistant pine trees. 相似文献
Microbial secretion is integral for regulating cell homeostasis as well as releasing virulence factors during infection. The genes encoding phosphatidylserine synthase (CHO1) and phosphatidylserine decarboxylase (PSD1 and PSD2) are Candida albicans genes involved in phospholipid biosynthesis, and mutations in these genes affect mitochondrial function, cell wall thickness, and virulence in mice. We tested the roles of these genes in several agar-based secretion assays and observed that the cho1Δ/Δ and psd1Δ/Δ psd2Δ/Δ strains manifested less protease and phospholipase activity. Since extracellular vesicles (EVs) are surrounded by a lipid membrane, we investigated the effects of these mutations on EV structure, composition, and biological activity. The cho1Δ/Δ mutant releases EVs comparable in size to wild-type EVs, but EVs from the psd1Δ/Δ psd2Δ/Δ strain are much larger than those from the wild type, including a population of >100-nm EVs not observed in the EVs from the wild type. Proteomic analysis revealed that EVs from both mutants had a significantly different protein cargo than that of EVs from the wild type. EVs were tested for their ability to activate NF-κB in bone marrow-derived macrophage cells. While wild-type and psd1Δ/Δ psd2Δ/Δ mutant-derived EVs activated NF-κB, the cho1Δ/Δ mutant-derived EV did not. These studies indicate that the presence and absence of these C. albicans genes have qualitative and quantitative effects on EV size, composition, and immunostimulatory phenotypes that highlight a complex interplay between lipid metabolism and vesicle production. 相似文献