Efeito de doses de agromineral como fonte de potássio sobre atributos químicos e biológicos do solo na cultura do pessegueiro (cv. chimarrita).

O objetivo do presente trabalho foi avaliar o carbono orgânico total (COT) e o nitrogênio total (NT) do solo, o carbono da biomassa microbiana (CBM) e a relação carbono da biomassa microbiana/carbono orgânico total (CBM/COT) em um Argissolo Bruno-Acinzentado com aplicação de diferentes doses de agromineral na cultura do pessegueiro

CXCL1: A new diagnostic biomarker for human tuberculosis discovered using Diversity Outbred mice.

More humans have died of tuberculosis (TB) than any other infectious disease and millions still die each year. Experts advocate for blood-based, serum protein biomarkers to help diagnose TB, which afflicts millions of people in high-burden countries. However, the protein biomarker pipeline is small. Here, we used the Diversity Outbred (DO) mouse population to address this gap, identifying five protein biomarker candidates. One protein biomarker, serum CXCL1, met the World Health Organization\u27s Targeted Product Profile for a triage test to diagnose active TB from latent M.tb infection (LTBI), non-TB lung disease, and normal sera in HIV-negative, adults from South Africa and Vietnam. To find the biomarker candidates, we quantified seven immune cytokines and four inflammatory proteins corresponding to highly expressed genes unique to progressor DO mice. Next, we applied statistical and machine learning methods to the data, i.e., 11 proteins in lungs from 453 infected and 29 non-infected mice. After searching all combinations of five algorithms and 239 protein subsets, validating, and testing the findings on independent data, two combinations accurately diagnosed progressor DO mice: Logistic Regression using MMP8; and Gradient Tree Boosting using a panel of 4: CXCL1, CXCL2, TNF, IL-10. Of those five protein biomarker candidates, two (MMP8 and CXCL1) were crucial for classifying DO mice; were above the limit of detection in most human serum samples; and had not been widely assessed for diagnostic performance in humans before. In patient sera, CXCL1 exceeded the triage diagnostic test criteria (\u3e90% sensitivity; \u3e70% specificity), while MMP8 did not. Using Area Under the Curve analyses, CXCL1 averaged 94.5% sensitivity and 88.8% specificity for active pulmonary TB (ATB) vs LTBI; 90.9% sensitivity and 71.4% specificity for ATB vs non-TB; and 100.0% sensitivity and 98.4% specificity for ATB vs normal sera. Our findings overall show that the DO mouse population can discover diagnostic-quality, serum protein biomarkers of human TB

P5A-Type ATPase Cta4p Is Essential for Ca2+ Transport in the Endoplasmic Reticulum of Schizosaccharomyces pombe

This study establishes the role of P5A-type Cta4 ATPase in Ca2+ sequestration in the endoplasmic reticulum by detecting an ATP-dependent, vanadate-sensitive and FCCP insensitive 45Ca2+-transport in fission yeast membranes isolated by cellular fractionation. Specifically, the Ca2+-ATPase transport activity was decreased in ER membranes isolated from cells lacking a cta4+ gene. Furthermore, a disruption of cta4+ resulted in 6-fold increase of intracellular Ca2+ levels, sensitivity towards accumulation of misfolded proteins in ER and ER stress, stimulation of the calcineurin phosphatase activity and vacuolar Ca2+ pumping. These data provide compelling biochemical evidence for a P5A-type Cta4 ATPase as an essential component of Ca2+ transport system and signaling network which regulate, in conjunction with calcineurin, the ER functionality in fission yeast

Earthworms Use Odor Cues to Locate and Feed on Microorganisms in Soil

Earthworms are key components of temperate soil ecosystems but key aspects of their ecology remain unexamined. Here we elucidate the role of olfactory cues in earthworm attraction to food sources and document specific chemical cues that attract Eisenia fetida to the soil fungi Geotrichum candidum. Fungi and other microorganisms are major sources of volatile emissions in soil ecosystems as well as primary food sources for earthworms, suggesting the likelihood that earthworms might profitably use olfactory cues to guide foraging behavior. Moreover, previous studies have documented earthworm movement toward microbial food sources. But, the specific olfactory cues responsible for earthworm attraction have not previously been identified. Using olfactometer assays combined with chemical analyses (GC-MS), we documented the attraction of E. fetida individuals to filtrate derived from G. candidum colonies and to two individual compounds tested in isolation: ethyl pentanoate and ethyl hexanoate. Attraction at a distance was observed when barriers prevented the worms from reaching the target stimuli, confirming the role of volatile cues. These findings enhance our understanding of the mechanisms underlying key trophic interactions in soil ecosystems and have potential implications for the extraction and collection of earthworms in vermiculture and other applied activities

Independent and simultaneous translocation of two substrates by a nucleotide sugar transporter

Nucleotide sugar transporters play an essential role in protein and lipid glycosylation, and mutations can result in developmental phenotypes. We have characterized a transporter of UDP-N-acetylglucosamine and UDP-N-acetylgalactosamine encoded by the Caenorhabditis elegans gene C03H5.2. Surprisingly, translocation of these substrates occurs in an independent and simultaneous manner that is neither a competitive nor a symport transport. Incubations of Golgi apparatus vesicles of Saccharomyces cerevisiae expressing C03H5.2 protein with these nucleotide sugars labeled with (3)H and (14)C in their sugars showed that both substrates enter the lumen to the same extent, whether or not they are incubated alone or in the presence of a 10-fold excess of the other nucleotide sugar. Vesicles containing a deletion mutant of the C03H5.2 protein transport UDP-N-acetylglucosamine at rates comparable with that of wild-type transporter, whereas transport of UDP-N-acetylgalactosamine was decreased by 85–90%, resulting in an asymmetrical loss of substrate transport

Agregação e proteção física da matéria orgânica em planossolo háplico sob diferentes sistemas de manejo.

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Urine-based antigen detection assay for diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis using monoclonal antibodies specific for six protein biomarkers of Leishmania infantum / Leishmania donovani.

The development of an accurate protein-based antigen detection assay for diagnosis of active visceral leishmaniasis (VL) would represent a major clinical advance. VL is a serious and fatal disease caused by the parasites Leishmania infantum and Leishmania donovani. The gold standard confirmatory diagnostic test for VL is the demonstration of parasites or their DNA from aspirates from spleen, lymph node, and bone marrow or from blood buffy coats. Here we describe the production and use of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) for the development of a sensitive and specific antigen detection capture ELISA for VL diagnosis. This test simultaneously detects six leishmania protein biomarkers that we have previously described (Li-isd1, Li-txn1, Li-ntf2, Ld-mao1, Ld-ppi1 and Ld-mad1). The initial clinical validation of this new mAb-based multiplexed capture ELISA showed a sensitivity of ≥93%. The test was negative with 35 urine samples from healthy control subjects as well as with 30 patients with confirmed non-VL tropical diseases (cutaneous leishmaniasis, n = 6; Chagas disease, n = 6; schistosomiasis, n = 6; and tuberculosis, n = 12). These results strongly support the possible utility of this mAb-based multiplexed capture ELISA as a promising diagnostic test for active VL as well as for monitoring the treatment efficacy of this disease. The test is ready for upscaling and validation for clinical use