Complete Genome Sequence of Hepatitis E Virus from Rabbits in the United States

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a single-strand positive-sense RNA virus in the family Hepeviridae. The disease caused by HEV, hepatitis E, is an important public health problem in developing countries of Asia and Africa and is also endemic in many industrialized countries, including the United States. HEV has been identified from several other animal species in addition to humans, including the pig, chicken, mongoose, deer, rabbit, ferret, bat, and fish. Here we report the complete genome sequence of the first strain of HEV from rabbits in the United States. Sequence and phylogenetic analyses revealed that the U.S. rabbit HEV is a distant member of the zoonotic genotype 3 HEV, thus raising a concern for potential zoonotic human infection. A unique 90-nucleotide insertion within the X domain of the ORF1 was identified in the rabbit HEV, and this insertion may play a role in the species tropism of HEV.     

Effect of pharmacological agents on the activity of the circular and longitudinal smooth muscle layers of human fallopian tube ampullar segments

The in vitro determination of the effects of some pharmacological agents on the outer diameter and axial tension of human Fallopian tube ampullar segments showed that some drugs may act on the circular and longitudinal smooth muscle layers relatively separately. PGF2 alpha elicited an excitatory response in both muscle layers while norepinephrine and isoproterenol decreased the activity. Oxytocin and indomethacin had relatively limited effects on the spontaneous motility of the ampullar segments. The calcium antagonist verapamil inhibited the spontaneous periodic activity.     

Water and ions in a high resolution structure of B-DNA.

A detailed picture of hydration and counterion location in the B-DNA duplex d(GCGAATTCG) is presented. Detailed data have been obtained by single crystal x-ray diffraction at atomic resolution (0.89 A) in the presence of Mg(2+). The latter is the highest resolution ever obtained for a B-DNA oligonucleotide. Minor groove hydration is compared with that found in the Na(+) and Ca(2+) crystal forms of the related dodecamer d(CGCGAATTCGCG). High resolution data (1.45 A) of the Ca(2+) form obtained in our laboratory are used for that purpose. The central GAATTC has a very stable hydration spine identical in all cases, independent of duplex length and crystallization conditions (counterions, space group). However, the organization of the water molecules (tertiary and quaternary layers) associated with the central spine vary in each case.     

Functional role of phenylacetic acid from metapleural gland secretions in controlling fungal pathogens in evolutionarily derived leaf-cutting ants

Fungus-farming ant colonies vary four to five orders of magnitude in size. They employ compounds from actinomycete bacteria and exocrine glands as antimicrobial agents. Atta colonies have millions of ants and are particularly relevant for understanding hygienic strategies as they have abandoned their ancestors'' prime dependence on antibiotic-based biological control in favour of using metapleural gland (MG) chemical secretions. Atta MGs are unique in synthesizing large quantities of phenylacetic acid (PAA), a known but little investigated antimicrobial agent. We show that particularly the smallest workers greatly reduce germination rates of Escovopsis and Metarhizium spores after actively applying PAA to experimental infection targets in garden fragments and transferring the spores to the ants'' infrabuccal cavities. In vitro assays further indicated that Escovopsis strains isolated from evolutionarily derived leaf-cutting ants are less sensitive to PAA than strains from phylogenetically more basal fungus-farming ants, consistent with the dynamics of an evolutionary arms race between virulence and control for Escovopsis, but not Metarhizium. Atta ants form larger colonies with more extreme caste differentiation relative to other attines, in societies characterized by an almost complete absence of reproductive conflicts. We hypothesize that these changes are associated with unique evolutionary innovations in chemical pest management that appear robust against selection pressure for resistance by specialized mycopathogens.     

BioEssays 10/2020

Frequent independent origins of environmental sex determination (ESD) are assumed within amniotes. However, the phylogenetic distribution of sex-determining modes suggests that ESD is likely very ancient and may be homologous across ESD groups. Sex chromosomes are demonstrated to be old and stable in endothermic (mammals and birds) and many ectothermic (non-avian reptiles) lineages, but they are mostly non-homologous between individual amniote lineages. The phylogenetic pattern may be explained by ancestral ESD with multiple transitions to later evolutionary stable genotypic sex determination. It is pointed out here that amniote ESD shares several key aspects with sequential hermaphroditism of fishes such as a lack of sex differences in genomes, biased population sex ratios, and potentially also molecular mechanism related to general stress responses. Here, it is speculated that ESD evolves via a heterochronic shift of the sensitive period of sex change from the adult to the embryonic stage in a hermaphroditic amniote ancestor. Also see the video abstract here https://youtu.be/q2mjtlCefu4 .     

Has the adipokine profile an influence on the catch-up growth type in small for gestational age infants?

Journal of Physiology and Biochemistry - Infants born small for gestational age (SGA) are at increased risk of perinatal morbidity, persistent short stature, and metabolic alterations in later...     

Phenotype Classification of Zebrafish Embryos by Supervised Learning

Zebrafish is increasingly used to assess biological properties of chemical substances and thus is becoming a specific tool for toxicological and pharmacological studies. The effects of chemical substances on embryo survival and development are generally evaluated manually through microscopic observation by an expert and documented by several typical photographs. Here, we present a methodology to automatically classify brightfield images of wildtype zebrafish embryos according to their defects by using an image analysis approach based on supervised machine learning. We show that, compared to manual classification, automatic classification results in 90 to 100% agreement with consensus voting of biological experts in nine out of eleven considered defects in 3 days old zebrafish larvae. Automation of the analysis and classification of zebrafish embryo pictures reduces the workload and time required for the biological expert and increases the reproducibility and objectivity of this classification.     

Plasma Biomarkers Discriminate Clinical Forms of Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis, the most common cause of neurological disability in young population after trauma, represents a significant public health burden. Current challenges associated with management of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients stem from the lack of biomarkers that might enable stratification of the different clinical forms of MS and thus prompt treatment for those patients with progressive MS, for whom there is currently no therapy available. In the present work we analyzed a set of thirty different plasma cytokines, chemokines and growth factors present in circulation of 129 MS patients with different clinical forms (relapsing remitting, secondary progressive and primary progressive MS) and 53 healthy controls, across two independent cohorts. The set of plasma analytes was quantified with Luminex xMAP technology and their predictive power regarding clinical outcome was evaluated both individually using ROC curves and in combination using logistic regression analysis. Our results from two independent cohorts of MS patients demonstrate that the divergent clinical and histology-based MS forms are associated with distinct profiles of circulating plasma protein biomarkers, with distinct signatures being composed of chemokines and growth/angiogenic factors. With this work, we propose that an evaluation of a set of 4 circulating biomarkers (HGF, Eotaxin/CCL11, EGF and MIP-1β/CCL4) in MS patients might serve as an effective tool in the diagnosis and more personalized therapeutic targeting of MS patients.