Gas exchange and water balance of a mistletoe species and its mangrove hosts

Summary The gas exchange and water relations of the hemiparasite Pthirusa maritima and two its mangrove host species, Conocarpus erectus and Coccoloba uvifera, were studied in an intertidal zone of the Venezuelan coast. Carbon uptake and transpiration, leaf osmotic and total water potential, as well as nutrient content in the xylem sap and leaves of mistletoes and hosts were followed through the dry and wet season. In addition, carbon isotope ratios of leaf tissue were measured to further evaluate water use efficiency. Under similar light and humidity conditions, mistletoes had higher transpiration rates, lower leaf water potentials, and lower water use efficiencies than their hosts. Potassium content was much higher in mistletoes than in host leaves, but mineral nutrient content in the xylem sap of mistletoes was relatively low. The resistance of the liquid pathway from the soil to the leaf surface of mistletoes was larger than the total liquid flow resistance of host plants. Differences in the daily cycles of osmotic potential of the xylem sap also indicate the existence of a high resistance pathway along the vascular connection between the parasite pathway along the vascular connection between the parasite and its host. P. maritima mistletoes adjust to the different physiological characteristics of the host species which it parasitizes, thus ensuring an adequate water and carbon balance.     

Effect of ACTH, dexamethasone, and adrenalectomy on the secretion of testosterone in the rat

The effect of ACTH (100 micrograms/animal/day, i.p.), dexamethasone (75 micrograms/animal/day, s.c.), both for three consecutive days, and adrenalectomy, with or without dexamethasone, maintained according to the group, one, two or three days, on the plasmatic testosterone and corticosterone levels, has been studied in adult male Wistar rats. ACTH and adrenalectomy produced a high decrease in testosterone levels (p less than 0.001 for the three days studied). Dexamethasone produced lower testosterone levels in the first day followed by partial recuperation between the second and the third days of its administration. Dexamethasone produced the effects mentioned for intact animals. The changes in corticosterone levels were according to an adequate response of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal system under these experimental circumstances. ACTH exerts an inhibitory effect on testosterone secretion in the rat, so that such an effect from the data obtained after adrenalectomy and simultaneous dexamethasone injections, does not seems to be mediated either by the presence of adrenals or high corticosterone levels.     

Anonymous nuclear DNA markers in the American oyster and their implications for the heterozygote deficiency phenomenon in marine bivalves

A puzzling population-genetic phenomenon widely reported in allozyme surveys of marine bivalves is the occurrence of heterozygote deficits relative to Hardy-Weinberg expectations. Possible explanations for this pattern are categorized with respect to whether the effects should be confined to protein-level assays or are genomically pervasive and expected to be registered in both protein- and DNA-level assays. Anonymous nuclear DNA markers from the American oyster were employed to reexamine the phenomenon. In assays based on the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), two DNA-level processes were encountered that can lead to artifactual genotypic scorings: (a) differential amplification of alleles at a target locus and (b) amplification from multiple paralogous loci. We describe symptoms of these complications and prescribe methods that should generally help to ameliorate them. When artifactual scorings at two anonymous DNA loci in the American oyster were corrected, Hardy-Weinberg deviations registered in preliminary population assays decreased to nonsignificant values. Implications of these findings for the heterozygote-deficit phenomenon in marine bivalves, and for the general development and use of PCR-based assays, are discussed.      

Monocarbonyl Analogs of Curcumin with Potential to Treat Colorectal Cancer

Curcumin has a plethora of biological properties, making this compound potentially effective in the treatment of several diseases, including cancer. However, curcumin clinical use is compromised by its poor pharmacokinetics, being crucial to find novel analogs with better pharmacokinetic and pharmacological properties. Here, we aimed to evaluate the stability, bioavailability and pharmacokinetic profiles of monocarbonyl analogs of curcumin. A small library of monocarbonyl analogs of curcumin 1a–q was synthesized. Lipophilicity and stability in physiological conditions were both assessed by HPLC-UV, while two different methods assessed the electrophilic character of each compound monitored by NMR and by UV-spectroscopy. The potential therapeutic effect of the analogs 1a–q was evaluated in human colon carcinoma cells and toxicity in immortalized hepatocytes. Our results showed that the curcumin analog 1e is a promising agent against colorectal cancer, with improved stability and efficacy/safety profile.     

Effect of brain serotonin on the arterial pressure and plasma renin in normal and hypertensive rats]

The effects of changes in brain serotonin content after injections of p-chlorophenylalanine (p-CPA), L-5-hydroxytryptophan (L-5HTP) and 5-6-dihydroxytryptamine (5-6DHT) on the mean arterial pressure (MAP), plasma renin activity (PRA) and peripheral levels of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) have been studied in normal and hypertensive (2K:1C model) male Wistar rats. The p-CPA (250 mg/kg) and L-5HTP (200 mg/kg) were injected i.p., while 5-6 DHT (15 micrograms/animal in 10 mu/animal vehicle) was injected into lateral brain ventricles. The effects were studied 24 h after the p-CPA injection, 2 h after L-5HTP and 10 or 20 days after 5-6DHT administration. The fall in brain serotonin produced by p-CPA and 5-6DHT did not modify the MAP values in the normal and hypertensive rat model, whereas the increase induced after L-5HTP injection only caused a slight decrease in arterial pressure in normotensive animals. The ARP experimented remarkable rises in the normal and hypertensive rats, these values increasing after L-5HTP and falling after p-CPA and 5-6 DHT injections. Similar changes are detected in the normal group after administration of these substances related to serotoninergic brain activity. The ANP levels rose after renal artery constriction, and they are not affected by the above mentioned substances. Only p-CPA and 5-6DHT reduced a low decrease in the ANP levels 10 days after their administration.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Molecular Epidemiology of Human Oral Chagas Disease Outbreaks in Colombia

Background

Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas disease, displays significant genetic variability revealed by six Discrete Typing Units (TcI-TcVI). In this pathology, oral transmission represents an emerging epidemiological scenario where different outbreaks associated to food/beverages consumption have been reported in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador and Venezuela. In Colombia, six human oral outbreaks have been reported corroborating the importance of this transmission route. Molecular epidemiology of oral outbreaks is barely known observing the incrimination of TcI, TcII, TcIV and TcV genotypes.

Methodology and Principal Findings

High-throughput molecular characterization was conducted performing MLMT (Multilocus Microsatellite Typing) and mtMLST (mitochondrial Multilocus Sequence Typing) strategies on 50 clones from ten isolates. Results allowed observing the occurrence of TcI, TcIV and mixed infection of distinct TcI genotypes. Thus, a majority of specific mitochondrial haplotypes and allelic multilocus genotypes associated to the sylvatic cycle of transmission were detected in the dataset with the foreseen presence of mitochondrial haplotypes and allelic multilocus genotypes associated to the domestic cycle of transmission.

Conclusions

These findings suggest the incrimination of sylvatic genotypes in the oral outbreaks occurred in Colombia. We observed patterns of super-infection and/or co-infection with a tailored association with the severe forms of myocarditis in the acute phase of the disease. The transmission dynamics of this infection route based on molecular epidemiology evidence was unraveled and the clinical and biological implications are discussed.     

Economic evaluation of water loss saving due to the biological control of water hyacinth at New Year’s Dam,Eastern Cape province,South Africa

Water hyacinth Eichhornia crassipes is considered the most damaging aquatic weed in the world. However, few studies have quantified the impact of this weed economically and ecologically, and even fewer studies have quantified the benefits of its control. This paper focuses on water loss saving as the benefit derived from biological control of this plant between 1990 and 2013 at New Year’s Dam, Alicedale, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Estimates of water loss due to evapotranspiration from water hyacinth vary significantly; therefore, the study used three different rates, high, medium and low. A conservative raw agriculture value of R 0.26 per m³ was used to calculate the benefits derived by the water saved. The present benefit and cost values were determined using 10% and 5% discount rates. The benefit/cost ratio at the low evapotranspiration rate was less than one, implying that biological control was not economically viable but, at the higher evapotranspiration rates, the return justified the costs of biological control. However, at the marginal value product of water, the inclusion of the costs of damage to infrastructure, or the adverse effects of water hyacinth on biodiversity, would justify the use of biological control, even at the low transpiration rate.     

Simultaneous analysis of lysine, Nepsilon-carboxymethyllysine and lysinoalanine from proteins

Protein quality was assayed by simultaneous measurement of lysine (Lys), carboxymethyllysine (CML) and lysinoalanine (LAL). GC-FID analysis of N-tert-butyl dimethylsilyl (tBDMSi) derivatives of these amino acids was undertaken. tBDMSi derivates were separated on a CP-SIL 5CB commercially fused silica capillary column (25 m x 0.25 mm i.d., 0.25 microm film thickness) employing a thermal gradient programmed from 200 to 300 degrees C. The identity of tBDMSi derivatives of Lys, CML and LAL was established by GC-MS while FID detection was employed for quantification. Analytical parameters such as linearity (lysine 350-4200 microM, LAL 3-81 microM, CML 16-172 microM), precision (1-13% variation coefficients), accuracy (85-108% average recovery) and limits of detection (lysine 0.4 mg/100 g protein, LAL 5.0 mg/100 g protein, CML 3.4 mg/100 g protein) and quantification (lysine 1.4 mg/100g protein, LAL 15.2 mg/100 g protein, CML 11.2 mg/100 g protein) were determined for validation of the analytical approach. Model systems and real foods have been studied. Kinetic of CML formation from different food proteins (BSA, soy protein, casein and gluten) was performed employing model systems. Carboxymethylation rate depended on the source of protein. Maillard reaction progressed to advanced stages damaging the protein quality of stored infant foods, soy drinks, boiled eggs and dry powdered crepes. CML values ranged from 62 to 440 mg/100 g protein were measured. LAL was also formed during boiling eggs (21-68 mg/100g protein) indicating additional damage by crosslinking reaction. In agreement, lysine content was affected by both food processing and storage.     

Paternal effects on functional gender account for cryptic dioecy in a perennial plant

Natural selection operates on the mating strategies of hermaphrodites through their functional gender, i.e. their relative success as male versus female parents. Because functional gender will tend to be strongly influenced by sex allocation, it is often estimated in plants by counting seeds and pollen grains. However, a plant's functional gender must also depend on the fate of the seeds and pollen grains it produces. We provide clear evidence of a paternal effect on the functional gender of a plant that is independent of the resources invested in pollen. In the Mediterranean tree Fraxinus ornus, males coexist with hermaphrodites that disperse viable pollen and that sire seeds; the population would thus appear to be functionally androdioecious. However, we found that seedlings sired by hermaphrodites grew significantly less well than those sired by males, suggesting that hermaphrodites may be functionally less male than they seem. The observed 1 : 1 sex ratios in F. ornus, which have hitherto been difficult to explain in the light of the seed-siring ability of hermaphrodites, support our interpretation that this species is cryptically dioecious. Our results underscore the importance of considering progeny quality when estimating gender, and caution against inferring androdioecy on the basis of a siring ability of hermaphrodites alone.     

Population genetic analysis of Colombian Trypanosoma cruzi isolates revealed by enzyme electrophoretic profiles

Although Colombia presents an enormous biological diversity, few studies have been conducted on the population genetics of Trypanosoma cruzi. This study was carried out with 23 Colombian stocks of this protozoa analyzed for 13 isoenzymatic loci. The Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, the genetic diversity and heterogeneity, the genetic relationships and the possible spatial structure of these 23 Colombian stocks of T. cruzi were estimated. The majority of results obtained are in agreement with a clonal population structure. Nevertheless, two aspects expected in a clonal structure were not discovered in the Colombian T. cruzi stocks. There was an absence of given zymodemes over-represented from a geographical point of view and the presumed temporal stabilizing selective phenomena was not observed either in the Colombian stocks sampled several times through the years of the study. Some hypotheses are discussed in order to explain the results found.