Genomic Understanding of an Infectious Brain Disease from the Desert

Rhinocladiella mackenziei accounts for the majority of fungal brain infections in the Middle East, and is restricted to the arid climate zone between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Neurotropic dissemination caused by this fungus has been reported in immunocompromised, but also immunocompetent individuals. If untreated, the infection is fatal. Outside of humans, the environmental niche of R. mackenziei is unknown, and the fungus has been only cultured from brain biopsies. In this paper, we describe the whole-genome resequencing of two R. mackenziei strains from patients in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. We assessed intraspecies variation and genetic signatures to uncover the genomic basis of the pathogenesis, and potential niche adaptations. We found that the duplicated genes (paralogs) are more susceptible to accumulating significant mutations. Comparative genomics with other filamentous ascomycetes revealed a diverse arsenal of genes likely engaged in pathogenicity, such as the degradation of aromatic compounds and iron acquisition. In addition, intracellular accumulation of trehalose and choline suggests possible adaptations to the conditions of an arid climate region. Specifically, protein family contractions were found, including short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase SDR, the cytochrome P450 (CYP) (E-class), and the G-protein b WD-40 repeat. Gene composition and metabolic potential indicate extremotolerance and hydrocarbon assimilation, suggesting a possible environmental habitat of oil-polluted desert soilinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Influência do tempo de detenção hidráulica em um sistema UASB seguido de um reator biológico com fungos para tratar efluentes de indústria de castanha de caju Influence of the time of detention hidraulic of a sistem UASB followed by a biological reactor with fungi to treat efluent of cashew nut industry

Nesta pesquisa, estudou-se a influência do tempo de detenção hidráulica (TDH) em um sistema constituído de um reator anaeróbio tipo UASB seguido de um reator biológico com fungos (RBF) para tratar efluente de uma indústria de beneficiamento de castanha de caju. O presente trabalho foi dividido em uma fase de fluxo descontínuo (batelada) e uma fase de fluxo contínuo (UASB - RBF), que constituiu-se de sete etapas ( 8h e 2h, 8h e 1h, 4h e 8h, 4h e 6h, 4h e 4h, 4h e 2h e 4h e 1h), onde foi avaliada a influência do TDH na remoção de: DQO (Demanda Química de Oxigênio), amônia, nitrato e ortofosfato. Uma combinação que apresentou melhores resultados, foi a etapa de 4h (TDH do reator UASB) e 2h (TDH do RBF), apresentando remoções de: 93,8% de DQO, 86,7% de nitrato, 38,3% de amônia e 16% de ortofosfato.<br>In this research, it was studied the effect of hydraulic retention time (HRT) in a system comprised of an Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) reactor and a Biological Reactor with Fungi (BRF) for treatment of the efluent of the industry of cashew nut improvement. The work was divided in two phases: batch reactors using shaking flasks and continuous-feed reactors (UASB-BRF). The UASB reactor was operated at HRT of 4 and 8 h, whereas the BRF was operated at HRT varying from 1 to 8 h. The performance of both reactors was evaluated based on the removal efficiency of chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonium, nitrate, and orthophosfate. The results show that the best results were achieved when the UASB was operated at HRT of 4 h and the BRF was operated at HRT of 2 h, when the system removed 93,8% of the COD, 86,7% of the nitrate, 38,3% of the ammonium and 16% of the orthophosfate