Riqueza de ep�fitas vasculares en tres sitios de Jalisco, M�xico

La composici�n de la flora ep�fita de Jalisco se conoce solo de manera parcial, por lo cual, en este trabajo se presenta un inventario preliminar de tres sitios: San Sebasti�n del Oeste y dos �reas naturales protegidas, Sierra de Quila y bosque La Primavera. La informaci�n se obtuvo mediante la recolecta e identificaci�n de ejemplares bot�nicos y la revisi�n de literatura; se calcul� la similitud en la composici�n de ep�fitas entre las distintas �reas con el �ndice de Sorensen. Se registraron 11 familias, 49 g�neros y 95 especies, la familia con mayor riqueza fue Orchidaceae, con 51 especies, seguida por Bromeliaceae (19) y Polypodiaceae (11), los g�neros mejor representados fueron Tillandsia (14 especies) y Encyclia, Oncidium, Prostechea, Pleopeltis, Polypodium y Thelypteris (con cuatro cada uno). La localidad m�s diversa fue Sebasti�n del Oeste (34 g�neros y 62 especies), en la Sierra de Quila hubo 16 g�neros con 35 especies y por �ltimo, el bosque La Primavera cuenta con siete g�neros y 11 especies; las dos �ltimas localidades presentaron la similitud m�s alta. Seis de los taxa observados se incluyen en la Norma Oficial Mexicana, NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010 en alguna categor�a de riesgo, lo cual implica que su protecci�n es fundamental

Survey of potential toxic exposure in patients with systemic sclerosinin rescle registry. A preliminary study

Background Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a systemic autoimmune disease with extremely heterogeneous clinical features and unknown etiology, although numerous studies suggest a relationship with environmental and occupational factors. So far there is little information on whether toxic substances can play a relevant role in its phenotypic expression (1). Objectives To analyze in a cohort of patients with SSc the proportion of patients exposed to toxic and their correlation with epidemiologic, clinical and serological data. Methods A survey was conducted aimed at the knowledge of the working life of patients from six centers belonging to the Spanish Scleroderma Registry (RESCLE), categorizing them in six groups: no potential exposure to toxic substances, potential exposure to silica, to hydrocarbons, to organic solvents, to mixed toxics (silica and/or hydrocarbons and/or organic solvents) and to another toxics. In all patients 87 epidemiological, clinical and analytical variables included in the registry were analyzed, carrying out a comparative study between groups. Results 225 SSc patients were selected. Of these, 81 patients (36%) had worked in professions with potential risk of toxic exposure, 64 women out of the 227 included (28%) and 17 men out of the 28 included (60%). The toxic agent most frequently involved was silica in 29 patients (35.8%), followed by hydrocarbons in 21 (25.9%), mixture of toxic substances in 21 other patients (25.9%), organic solvents in 4 patients (4.9%) and other toxic in 6 cases (7.4%). Toxic exposure was associated with a lower risk of being female (OR 0.15, p <0.001), having been exposed to tobacco (OR 0.4, p 0.037) and digital ulcers (OR 0.43, p 0.016) and with a greater likelihood of hepatic involvement (OR 3.63, p 0.021), musculoskeletal involvement (OR 2.13, p 0.017) and the slow capillary pattern of Maricq (OR 1.8, p 0.063). Analyzing the exposure groups separately, patients exposed to silica had a lower probability of Raynaud?s phenomenon (OR 0.25, p 0.005) and a higher probability of diagnosis at older ages (OR: 1.04, p 0.005), presence of Topoisomerase I antibody (OR 3.71, p 0.023) and slow capillary pattern of Maricq (OR 4.15, p 0.008). Patients exposed to hydrocarbons had an increased risk of liver involvement (OR 5.34, p 0.029). Conclusion In our cohort of 225 patients with SSc, 60% of male patients and 28% of women worked in a profession with a potential risk of toxic exposure. In this preliminary study, important differences were observed in the probability of a different phenotypic expression of the SSc according to the history of occupational exposure to toxins. Studies with a larger number of patients are needed to establish these associations in a solid way

A prominent role for the CBF cold response pathway in configuring the low-temperature metabolome of Arabidopsis

The Arabidopsis CBF cold response pathway has a central role in cold acclimation, the process whereby plants increase in freezing tolerance in response to low nonfreezing temperatures. Here we examined the changes that occur in the Arabidopsis metabolome in response to low temperature and assessed the role of the CBF cold response pathway in bringing about these modifications. Of 434 metabolites monitored by GC-time-of-flight MS, 325 (75%) were found to increase in Arabidopsis Wassilewskija-2 (Ws-2) plants in response to low temperature. Of these 325 metabolites, 256 (79%) also increased in nonacclimated Ws-2 plants in response to overexpression of C-repeat/dehydration responsive element-binding factor (CBF)3. Extensive cold-induced changes also occurred in the metabolome of Arabidopsis Cape Verde Islands-1 (Cvi-1) plants, which were found to be less freezing tolerant than Ws-2 plants. However, low-temperature-induced expression of CBF1, CBF2, CBF3, and CBF-targeted genes was much lower in Cvi-1 than in Ws-2 plants, and the low-temperature metabolome of Cvi-1 plants was depleted in metabolites affected by CBF3 overexpression. Taken together, the results indicate that the metabolome of Arabidopsis is extensively reconfigured in response to low temperature, and that the CBF cold response pathway has a prominent role in this process