The Origin of Malarial Parasites in Orangutans

Background Recent findings of Plasmodium in African apes have changed our perspectives on the evolution of malarial parasites in hominids. However, phylogenetic analyses of primate malarias are still missing information from Southeast Asian apes. In this study, we report molecular data for a malaria parasite lineage found in orangutans. Methodology/Principal Findings We screened twenty-four blood samples from Pongo pygmaeus (Kalimantan, Indonesia) for Plasmodium parasites by PCR. For all the malaria positive orangutan samples, parasite mitochondrial genomes (mtDNA) and two antigens: merozoite surface protein 1 42 kDa (MSP-142) and circumsporozoite protein gene (CSP) were amplified, cloned, and sequenced. Fifteen orangutans tested positive and yielded 5 distinct mitochondrial haplotypes not previously found. The haplotypes detected exhibited low genetic divergence among them, indicating that they belong to one species. We report phylogenetic analyses using mitochondrial genomes, MSP-142 and CSP. We found that the orangutan malaria parasite lineage was part of a monophyletic group that includes all the known non-human primate malaria parasites found in Southeast Asia; specifically, it shares a recent common ancestor with P. inui (a macaque parasite) and P. hylobati (a gibbon parasite) suggesting that this lineage originated as a result of a host switch. The genetic diversity of MSP-142 in orangutans seems to be under negative selection. This result is similar to previous findings in non-human primate malarias closely related to P. vivax. As has been previously observed in the other Plasmodium species found in non-human primates, the CSP shows high polymorphism in the number of repeats. However, it has clearly distinctive motifs from those previously found in other malarial parasites. Conclusion The evidence available from Asian apes indicates that these parasites originated independently from those found in Africa, likely as the result of host switches from other non-human primates

Photoplethysmography for the Assessment of Haemorheology

Haemorheology has been long identified as an early biomarker of a wide range of diseases, especially cardiovascular diseases. This study investigates for the first time the suitability of Photoplethysmography (PPG) as a non-invasive diagnostic method for haemorheological changes. The sensitivity of both PPG components (AC and DC) to changes in haemorheology were rigorously investigated in an in vitro experimental setup that mimics the human circulation. A custom-made reflectance PPG sensor, a pressure transducer and an ultrasonic Doppler flowmeter were used to map changes in flow dynamics and optical responses in an arterial model. The study investigated the effect of shear rates by varying fluid pumping frequencies using 4 set-points and the effect of clot formation using a chemical trigger. Both PPGAC amplitudes and PPGDC levels showed significant (p < 0.001) changes during the increase in shear rates and an immediate change after thromboplastin activation. The findings highlight that PPG has the potential to be used as a simple non-invasive method for the detection of blood characteristics, including disaggregation, radial migration and cross-linking fibrin formations. Such capability will enable the assessment of the effects of clotting-activators and anticoagulants (including non-pharmacological methods) and might aid in the early non-invasive assessment of cardiovascular pathologies

Microemulsions as a Novel Toolfor Enhancing the Bioremediation of Xenobiotics

Bioremediation is an advantageous and sustainable technology to remediate contaminated environments since it is cost-effective and environmentally safe.However, some pollutants such as most organochlorine pesticides and hydrocarbons are poorly soluble in water and thus tend to adhere tightly to soil particles. Therefore, the degradation of hydrophobic compounds is usually slow and frequently unsatisfactory due to the difficulties related to their transfer from soil particles to the aqueous phase, where these compounds are more available for degradative microorganisms. In this relation, a fundamental issue for the bioremediation processes is to overcome the limited accessibility of these hydrophobic pollutants for the microorganisms. As an alternative to synthetic surfactants, which are usually introduced into bioremediation processes with the aim of enhancing the bioavailability of hydrophobic pollutants, microemulsions have attained increasing significance both in basic research and environmental applications. Microemulsions consist of a combination of surfactants, co-surfactants, and oil phase and have demonstrated to be promising candidates due to its much higher solubilization capacity.Fil: Sáez, Juliana María. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiológicos; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo; ArgentinaFil: Casillas García, Verena. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiológicos; ArgentinaFil: Polti, Marta Alejandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiológicos; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo; ArgentinaFil: Benimeli, Claudia Susana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiológicos; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Catamarca; Argentin