Genome sequences of the ethanol-tolerant Lactobacillus vini strains LMG 23202T and JP7.8.9

We report on the genome sequences of Lactobacillus vini type strain LMG 23202(T) (DSM 20605) (isolated from fermenting grape musts in Spain) and the industrial strain L. vini JP7.8.9 (isolated from a bioethanol plant in northeast Brazil). All contigs were assembled using gsAssembler, and genes were predicted and annotated using Rapid Annotation using Subsystem Technology (RAST). The identified genome sequence of LMG 23202(T) had 2.201.333 bp, 37.6% G+C, and 1,833 genes, whereas the identified genome sequence of JP7.8.9 had 2.301.037 bp, 37.8% G+C, and 1,739 genes. The gene repertoire of the species L. vini offers promising opportunities for biotechnological applications.     

Biologic data of Macaca mulatta, Macaca fascicularis, and Saimiri sciureus used for research at the Fiocruz primate center

Physiological parameters of laboratory animals used for biomedical research is crucial for following several experimental procedures. With the intent to establish baseline biologic parameters for non-human primates held in closed colonies, hematological and morphometric data of captive monkeys were determined. Data of clinically healthy rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta), cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis), and squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus) were collected over a period of five years. Animals were separated according to sex and divided into five age groups. Hematological data were compared with those in the literature by Student's t test. Discrepancies with significance levels of 0.1, 1 or 5% were found in the hematological studies. Growth curves showed that the sexual dimorphism of rhesus monkeys appeared at an age of four years. In earlier ages, the differences between sexes could not be distinguished (p < 0.05). Sexual dimorphism in both squirrel monkeys and cynomolgus monkeys occurred at an age of about 32 months. Data presented in this paper could be useful for comparative studies using primates under similar conditions.     

Filoviruses require endosomal cysteine proteases for entry but exhibit distinct protease preferences

Filoviruses are enveloped viruses that cause sporadic outbreaks of severe hemorrhagic fever [CDC, MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep. 50:73-77, 2001; Colebunders and Borchert, J. Infect. 40:16-20, 2000; Colebunders et al., J. Infect. Dis. 196(Suppl. 2):S148-S153, 2007; Geisbert and Jahrling, Nat. Med. 10:S110-S121, 2004]. Previous studies revealed that endosomal cysteine proteases are host factors for ebolavirus Zaire (Chandran et al., Science 308:1643-1645, 2005; Schornberg et al., J. Virol. 80:4174-4178, 2006). In this report, we show that infection mediated by glycoproteins from other phylogenetically diverse filoviruses are also dependent on these proteases and provide additional evidence indicating that they cleave GP1 and expose the binding domain for the critical host factor Niemann-Pick C1. Using selective inhibitors and knockout-derived cell lines, we show that the ebolaviruses Zaire and Cote d'Ivoire are strongly dependent on cathepsin B, while the ebolaviruses Sudan and Reston and Marburg virus are not. Taking advantage of previous studies of cathepsin B inhibitor-resistant viruses (Wong et al., J. Virol. 84:163-175, 2010), we found that virus-specific differences in the requirement for cathepsin B are correlated with sequence polymorphisms at residues 47 in GP1 and 584 in GP2. We applied these findings to the analysis of additional ebolavirus isolates and correctly predicted that the newly identified ebolavirus species Bundibugyo, containing D47 and I584, is cathepsin B dependent and that ebolavirus Zaire-1995, the single known isolate of ebolavirus Zaire that lacks D47, is not. We also obtained evidence for virus-specific differences in the role of cathepsin L, including cooperation with cathepsin B. These studies strongly suggest that the use of endosomal cysteine proteases as host factors for entry is a general property of members of the family Filoviridae.     

Phylogenetic density dependence and environmental filtering predict seedling mortality in a tropical forest

Negative density dependence (NDD) and environmental filtering (EF) shape community assembly, but their relative importance is poorly understood. Recent studies have shown that seedling's mortality risk is positively related to the phylogenetic relatedness of neighbours. However, natural enemies, whose depredations often cause NDD, respond to functional traits of hosts rather than phylogenetic relatedness per se. To understand the roles of NDD and EF in community assembly, we assessed the effects on seedling mortality of functional similarity, phylogenetic relatedness and stem density of neighbouring seedlings and adults in a species-rich tropical forest. Mortality risks increased for common species when their functional traits departed substantially from the neighbourhood mean, and for all species when surrounded by close relatives. This indicates that NDD affects community assembly more broadly than does EF, and leads to the tentative conclusion that natural enemies respond to phylogenetically correlated traits. Our results affirm the prominence of NDD in structuring species-rich communities.     

Visual fields and eye morphology support color vision in a color-changing crab-spider

Vision plays a major role in many spiders, being involved in prey hunting, orientation or substrate choice, among others. In Misumena vatia, which experiences morphological color changes, vision has been reported to be involved in substrate color matching. Electrophysiological evidence reveals that at least two types of photoreceptors are present in this species, but these data are not backed up by morphological evidence. This work analyzes the functional structure of the eyes of this spider and relates it to its color-changing abilities. A broad superposition of the visual field of the different eyes was observed, even between binocular regions of principal and secondary eyes. The frontal space is simultaneously analyzed by four eyes. This superposition supports the integration of the visual information provided by the different eye types. The mobile retina of the principal eyes of this spider is organized in three layers of three different types of rhabdoms. The third and deepest layer is composed by just one large rhabdom surrounded by dark screening pigments that limit the light entry. The three pairs of secondary eyes have all a single layer of rhabdoms. Our findings provide strong support for an involvement of the visual system in color matching in this spider.     

Malnutrition enhances cardiovascular responses to chemoreflex activation in awake rats

Several studies in the literature suggest that low-protein intake is associated with increases in sympathetic efferent activity and cardiovascular disease. Among the possible mechanisms, changes in the neurotransmission of cardiovascular reflexes have been implicated. Therefore, the present study comprised the evaluation of chemoreflex responsiveness in rats subjected to a low-protein diet during the 35 days after weaning. As a result, we observed that malnourished rats presented higher levels of baseline mean arterial pressure and heart rate and exhibited a mild increase in the pressor response to chemoreflex activation. They also exhibited a massive bradycardic response to chemoreflex activation. Interestingly, bilateral ligature of the carotid body arteries further increased baseline mean arterial pressure and heart rate in malnourished animals. The data suggest severe autonomic imbalance and/or change in the central interplay between neural and cardiovascular mechanisms.     

Posture-movement changes following repetitive motion-induced shoulder muscle fatigue

Repetitive motion-induced fatigue not only alters local motion characteristics but also provokes global reorganization of movement. However, the three-dimensional (3D) characteristics of these reorganization patterns have never been documented in detail. The goal of this study was to assess the effects of repetitive reaching-induced arm fatigue on the whole-body, 3D biomechanical task characteristics. Healthy subjects (N = 14) stood and performed a continuous reaching task (RRT) between two targets placed at shoulder height to fatigue. Whole-body kinematic (Vicon^©), kinetic (AMTI^© force platforms) and electromyographic (EMG, Noraxon^©) characteristics were recorded. Maximal voluntary isometric efforts (MVIE) of the shoulder and elbow were measured pre- and post-RRT. Post-RRT shoulder elevation MVIE was reduced by 4.9 ± 8.3% and trapezius EMG amplitude recorded during the RRT increased by 46.9 ± 49.9% from the first to last minute of the RRT, indicating that arm fatigue was effectively induced. During fatigued reaching, subjects elevated their shoulder (11.7 ± 10.5 mm) and decreased their average shoulder abduction angle by 8.3 ± 4.4°. These changes were accompanied by a lateral shift of the body’s center of mass towards the non-reaching arm. These findings suggest a compensatory strategy to decrease the load on the fatigued shoulder musculature.     

HygR and PurR plasmid vectors for episomal transfection of Trypanosoma cruzi

This work describes the development and functional testing of two episomes for stable transfection of Trypanosoma cruzi. pHygD contained the 5'- and 3'- flanking regions of the gene encoding the cathepsin B-like protease of T. cruzi as functional trans-splicing and polyadenylation signals for the hygR ORF. Evidence is presented to support extrachromosomal maintenance and organization as tandem repeats in transfected parasites. pPac was derived from pHygD by replacement of the entire hygR ORF with a purR coding region. The ability to modify pHygD and the availability of the complete DNA sequence make these plasmids useful tools for the genetic manipulation of T. cruzi.     

Interaction of exogenous benzoquinone with Photosystem II in chloroplasts. The semiquinone form acts as a dichlorophenyldimethylurea-insensitive secondary acceptor

Chloroplasts were submitted to a sequence of saturating short flashes and then rapidly mixed with dichlorophenyldimethylurea (DCMU). The amount of singly reduced secondary acceptor (B^?) present was estimated from the DCMU-induced increase in fluorescence in the dark caused by the reaction: QB^?

Q^?B. By varying the time interval between the preillumination and the mixing, the time course of B^? reoxidation by externally added benzoquinone was investigated. It was found that benzoquinone oxidizes B^? in a bimolecular reaction, and does not interact directly with Q^?. When a sufficient delay after the preillumination was allowed in order to let benzoquinone reoxidize B^? before the injection of DCMU, the fluorescence increase caused by one subsequent flash fired in the presence of DCMU was followed by a fast decay phase ($\text{t}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{? 100 μ}\text{s}$). The amplitude of this phase was proportional to the amount of B^? produced by the preillumination. This fast decay was observed only after the first flash in the presence of DCMU. These results are interpreted by assuming a binding of the singly reduced benzoquinone to Photosystem II where it acts as an efficient, DCMU-insensitive, secondary (exogenous) acceptor.