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A Continental-Wide Perspective: The Genepool of Nuclear Encoded Ribosomal DNA and Single-Copy Gene Sequences in North American Boechera (Brassicaceae)

74 of the currently accepted 111 taxa of the North American genus Boechera (Brassicaceae) were subject to pyhlogenetic reconstruction and network analysis. The dataset comprised 911 accessions for which ITS sequences were analyzed. Phylogenetic analyses yielded largely unresolved trees. Together with the network analysis confirming this result this can be interpreted as an indication for multiple, independent, and rapid diversification events. Network analyses were superimposed with datasets describing i) geographical distribution, ii) taxonomy, iii) reproductive mode, and iv) distribution history based on phylogeographic evidence. Our results provide first direct evidence for enormous reticulate evolution in the entire genus and give further insights into the evolutionary history of this complex genus on a continental scale. In addition two novel single-copy gene markers, orthologues of the Arabidopsis thaliana genes At2g25920 and At3g18900, were analyzed for subsets of taxa and confirmed the findings obtained through the ITS data

Development and Disease: How Susceptibility to an Emerging Pathogen Changes through Anuran Development

Ranaviruses have caused die-offs of amphibians across the globe. In North America, these pathogens cause more amphibian mortality events than any other pathogen. Field observations suggest that ranavirus epizootics in amphibian communities are common during metamorphosis, presumably due to changes in immune function. However, few controlled studies have compared the relative susceptibility of amphibians to ranaviruses across life stages. Our objectives were to measure differences in mortality and infection prevalence following exposure to ranavirus at four developmental stages and determine whether the differences were consistent among seven anuran species. Based on previous studies, we hypothesized that susceptibility to ranavirus would be greatest at metamorphosis. Our results did not support this hypothesis, as four of the species were most susceptible to ranavirus during the larval or hatchling stages. The embryo stage had the lowest susceptibility among species probably due to the protective membranous layers of the egg. Our results indicate that generalizations should be made cautiously about patterns of susceptibility to ranaviruses among amphibian developmental stages and species. Further, if early developmental stages of amphibians are susceptible to ranaviruses, the impact of ranavirus epizootic events may be greater than realized due to the greater difficulty of detecting morbid hatchlings and larvae compared to metamorphs

A First Search for coincident Gravitational Waves and High Energy Neutrinos using LIGO, Virgo and ANTARES data from 2007

We present the results of the first search for gravitational wave bursts associated with high energy neutrinos. Together, these messengers could reveal new, hidden sources that are not observed by conventional photon astronomy, particularly at high energy. Our search uses neutrinos detected by the underwater neutrino telescope ANTARES in its 5 line configuration during the period January - September 2007, which coincided with the fifth and first science runs of LIGO and Virgo, respectively. The LIGO-Virgo data were analysed for candidate gravitational-wave signals coincident in time and direction with the neutrino events. No significant coincident events were observed. We place limits on the density of joint high energy neutrino - gravitational wave emission events in the local universe, and compare them with densities of merger and core-collapse events.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figures, science summary page at http://www.ligo.org/science/Publication-S5LV_ANTARES/index.php. Public access area to figures, tables at https://dcc.ligo.org/cgi-bin/DocDB/ShowDocument?docid=p120000

A comparative study of salt tolerance parameters in 11 wild relatives of Arabidopsis thaliana

Salinity is an abiotic stress that limits both yield and the expansion of agricultural crops to new areas. In the last 20 years our basic understanding of the mechanisms underlying plant tolerance and adaptation to saline environments has greatly improved owing to active development of advanced tools in molecular, genomics, and bioinformatics analyses. However, the full potential of investigative power has not been fully exploited, because the use of halophytes as model systems in plant salt tolerance research is largely neglected. The recent introduction of halophytic Arabidopsis-Relative Model Species (ARMS) has begun to compare and relate several unique genetic resources to the well-developed Arabidopsis model. In a search for candidates to begin to understand, through genetic analyses, the biological bases of salt tolerance, 11 wild relatives of Arabidopsis thaliana were compared: Barbarea verna, Capsella bursa-pastoris, Hirschfeldia incana, Lepidium densiflorum, Malcolmia triloba, Lepidium virginicum, Descurainia pinnata, Sisymbrium officinale, Thellungiella parvula, Thellungiella salsuginea (previously T. halophila), and Thlaspi arvense. Among these species, highly salt-tolerant (L. densiflorum and L. virginicum) and moderately salt-tolerant (M. triloba and H. incana) species were identified. Only T. parvula revealed a true halophytic habitus, comparable to the better studied Thellungiella salsuginea. Major differences in growth, water transport properties, and ion accumulation are observed and discussed to describe the distinctive traits and physiological responses that can now be studied genetically in salt stress research

Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 Infection Facilitates Invasion of Staphylococcus aureus into the Nasal Mucosa and Nasal Polyp Tissue

Background: Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) plays an important role in the pathogenesis of severe chronic airway disease, such as nasal polyps. However the mechanisms underlying the initiation of damage and/or invasion of the nasal mucosa by S. aureus are not clearly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the interaction between S. aureus and herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV1) in the invasion of the nasal mucosa and nasal polyp tissue. Methodology/Principal Findings: Inferior turbinate and nasal polyp samples were cultured and infected with either HSV1 alone, S. aureus alone or a combination of both. Both in turbinate mucosa and nasal polyp tissue, HSV1, with or without S. aureus incubation, led to focal infection of outer epithelial cells within 48 h, and loss or damage of the epithelium and invasion of HSV1 into the lamina propria within 72 h. After pre-infection with HSV1 for 24 h or 48 h, S. aureus was able to pass the basement membrane and invade the mucosa. Epithelial damage scores were significantly higher for HSV1 and S. aureus co-infected explants compared with control explants or S. aureus only-infected explants, and significantly correlated with HSV1-invasion scores. The epithelial damage scores of nasal polyp tissues were significantly higher than those of inferior turbinate tissues upon HSV1 infection. Consequently, invasion scores of HSV1 of nasal polyp tissues were significantly higher than those of inferior turbinate mucosa in the HSV1 and co-infection groups, and invasion scores of S. aureus of nasal polyp tissues were significantly higher than those of inferior turbinate tissues in the co-infection group. Conclusions/Significance: HSV1 may lead to a significant damage of the nasal epithelium and consequently may facilitate invasion of S. aureus into the nasal mucosa. Nasal polyp tissue is more susceptible to the invasion of HSV1 and epithelial damage by HSV1 compared with inferior turbinate mucosa

Preterm Delivery Disrupts the Developmental Program of the Cerebellum

A rapid growth in human cerebellar development occurs in the third trimester, which is impeded by preterm delivery. The goal of this study was to characterize the impact of preterm delivery on the developmental program of the human cerebellum. Still born infants, which meant that all development up to that age had taken place in-utero, were age paired with preterm delivery infants, who had survived in an ex-utero environment, which meant that their development had also taken place outside the uterus. The two groups were assessed on quantitative measures that included molecular markers of granule neuron, purkinje neuron and bergmann glia differentiation, as well as the expression of the sonic hedgehog signaling pathway, that is important for cerebellar growth. We report that premature birth and development in an ex-utero environment leads to a significant decrease in the thickness and an increase in the packing density of the cells within the external granular layer and the inner granular layer well, as a reduction in the density of bergmann glial fibres. In addition, this also leads to a reduced expression of sonic hedgehog in the purkinje layer. We conclude that the developmental program of the cerebellum is specifically modified by events that follow preterm delivery

Somatic mutations in solid tumors: a spectrum at the service of diagnostic armamentarium or an indecipherable puzzle? The morphological eyes looking for BRAF and somatic molecular detections on cyto-histological samples

This review article deals with the analysis and the detection of the morphological features associated with somatic mutations, mostly BRAF(V600E) mutation, on both cytological and histological samples of carcinomas. Few authors demonstrated that some architectural and specific cellular findings (i.e. polygonal eosinophilic cells defined as "plump cells" and sickle-shaped nuclei) are able to predict BRAF (V600E) mutation in both cytological and histological samples of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) as well as in other carcinomas. In the current review article we evaluated the first comprehensive analysis of the morphological prediction of BRAFV600E and other somatic mutations in different malignant lesions with the description of the possible mechanisms beneath these morphologic features. The detection of predictive morphological features, mostly on FNAC, may add helpful information to the stratification of the malignant risk and personalized management of cancers. Additionally, the knowledge of the molecular mechanism of different oncogenic drivers can lead to the organ-specific triaging selection of cases and can provide significant insight for targeted therapies in different malignant lesions.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio