Powdery mildew resistance genes in vines: an opportunity to achieve a more sustainable viticulture

Grapevine (Vitis vinifera) is one of the main fruit crops worldwide. In 2020, the total surface area planted with vines was estimated at 7.3 million hectares. Diverse pathogens affect grapevine yield, fruit, and wine quality of which powdery mildew is the most important disease prior to harvest. Its causal agent is the biotrophic fungus Erysiphe necator, which generates a decrease in cluster weight, delays fruit ripening, and reduces photosynthetic and transpiration rates. In addition, powdery mildew induces metabolic reprogramming in its host, affecting primary metabolism. Most commercial grapevine cultivars are highly susceptible to powdery mildew; consequently, large quantities of fungicide are applied during the productive season. However, pesticides are associated with health problems, negative environmental impacts, and high costs for farmers. In paralleled, consumers are demanding more sustainable practices during food production. Therefore, new grapevine cultivars with genetic resistance to powdery mildew are needed for sustainable viticulture, while maintaining yield, fruit, and wine quality. Two main gene families confer resistance to powdery mildew in the Vitaceae, Run (Resistance to Uncinula necator) and Ren (Resistance to Erysiphe necator). This article reviews the powdery mildew resistance genes and loci and their use in grapevine breeding program

The Proteasomal Deubiquitinating Enzyme PSMD14 Regulates Macroautophagy by Controlling Golgi-to-ER Retrograde Transport

Ubiquitination regulates several biological processes, however the role of specific members of the ubiquitinome on intracellular membrane trafficking is not yet fully understood. Here, we search for ubiquitin-related genes implicated in protein membrane trafficking performing a High-Content siRNA Screening including 1187 genes of the human “ubiquitinome” using amyloid precursor protein (APP) as a reporter. We identified the deubiquitinating enzyme PSMD14, a subunit of the 19S regulatory particle of the proteasome, specific for K63-Ub chains in cells, as a novel regulator of Golgi-to-endoplasmic reticulum (ER) retrograde transport. Silencing or pharmacological inhibition of PSMD14 with Capzimin (CZM) caused a robust increase in APP levels at the Golgi apparatus and the swelling of this organelle. We showed that this phenotype is the result of rapid inhibition of Golgi-to-ER retrograde transport, a pathway implicated in the early steps of the autophagosomal formation. Indeed, we observed that inhibition of PSMD14 with CZM acts as a potent blocker of macroautophagy by a mechanism related to the retention of Atg9A and Rab1A at the Golgi apparatus. As pharmacological inhibition of the proteolytic core of the 20S proteasome did not recapitulate these effects, we concluded that PSMD14, and the K63-Ub chains, act as a crucial regulatory factor for macroautophagy by controlling Golgi-to-ER retrograde transport

CHICHARRITAS DE LA TRIBU PROCONIINI (HOMOPTERA: CICADELLIDAE) ASOCIADAS A CITRICOS EN TAMAULIPAS, MEXICO

The presence of four cicadellids species of the tribe Proconiini on citrus of Tamaulipas State are recorded

Clinical Performance of an Automated Reader in Interpreting Malaria Rapid Diagnostic Tests in Tanzania.

Parasitological confirmation of malaria is now recommended in all febrile patients by the World Health Organization (WHO) to reduce inappropriate use of anti-malarial drugs. Widespread implementation of rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) is regarded as an effective strategy to achieve this goal. However, the quality of diagnosis provided by RDTs in remote rural dispensaries and health centres is not ideal. Feasible RDT quality control programmes in these settings are challenging. Collection of information regarding diagnostic events is also very deficient in low-resource countries. A prospective cohort of consecutive patients aged more than one year from both genders, seeking routine care for febrile episodes at dispensaries located in the Bagamoyo district of Tanzania, were enrolled into the study after signing an informed consent form. Blood samples were taken for thick blood smear (TBS) microscopic examination and malaria RDT (SD Bioline Malaria Antigen Pf/PanTM (SD RDT)). RDT results were interpreted by both visual interpretation and DekiReaderTM device. Results of visual interpretation were used for case management purposes. Microscopy was considered the "gold standard test" to assess the sensitivity and specificity of the DekiReader interpretation and to compare it to visual interpretation. In total, 1,346 febrile subjects were included in the final analysis. The SD RDT, when used in conjunction with the DekiReader and upon visual interpretation, had sensitivities of 95.3% (95% CI, 90.6-97.7) and 94.7% (95% CI, 89.8--97.3) respectively, and specificities of 94.6% (95% CI, 93.5--96.1) and 95.6% (95% CI, 94.2--96.6), respectively to gold standard. There was a high percentage of overall agreement between the two methods of interpretation. The sensitivity and specificity of the DekiReader in interpretation of SD RDTs were comparable to previous reports and showed high agreement to visual interpretation (>98%). The results of the study reflect the situation in real practice and show good performance characteristics of DekiReader on interpreting malaria RDTs in the hands of local laboratory technicians. They also suggest that a system like this could provide great benefits to the health care system. Further studies to look at ease of use by community health workers, and cost benefit of the system are warranted

Negative Modulation of Macroautophagy by Stabilized HERPUD1 is Counteracted by an Increased ER-Lysosomal Network With Impact in Drug-Induced Stress Cell Survival

Macroautophagy and the ubiquitin proteasome system work as an interconnected network in the maintenance of cellular homeostasis. Indeed, efficient activation of macroautophagy upon nutritional deprivation is sustained by degradation of preexisting proteins by the proteasome. However, the specific substrates that are degraded by the proteasome in order to activate macroautophagy are currently unknown. By quantitative proteomic analysis we identified several proteins downregulated in response to starvation independently of ATG5 expression. Among them, the most significant was HERPUD1, an ER membrane protein with low expression and known to be degraded by the proteasome under normal conditions. Contrary, under ER stress, levels of HERPUD1 increased rapidly due to a blockage in its proteasomal degradation. Thus, we explored whether HERPUD1 stability could work as a negative regulator of autophagy. In this work, we expressed a version of HERPUD1 with its ubiquitin-like domain (UBL) deleted, which is known to be crucial for its proteasome degradation. In comparison to HERPUD1-WT, we found the UBL-deleted version caused a negative role on basal and induced macroautophagy. Unexpectedly, we found stabilized HERPUD1 promotes ER remodeling independent of unfolded protein response activation observing an increase in stacked-tubular structures resembling previously described tubular ER rearrangements. Importantly, a phosphomimetic S59D mutation within the UBL mimics the phenotype observed with the UBL-deleted version including an increase in HERPUD1 stability and ER remodeling together with a negative role on autophagy. Moreover, we found UBL-deleted version and HERPUD1-S59D trigger an increase in cellular size, whereas HERPUD1-S59D also causes an increased in nuclear size. Interestingly, ER remodeling by the deletion of the UBL and the phosphomimetic S59D version led to an increase in the number and function of lysosomes. In addition, the UBL-deleted version and phosphomimetic S59D version established a tight ER-lysosomal network with the presence of extended patches of ER-lysosomal membrane-contact sites condition that reveals an increase of cell survival under stress conditions. Altogether, we propose stabilized HERPUD1 downregulates macroautophagy favoring instead a closed interplay between the ER and lysosomes with consequences in drug-cell stress survival

Targeted screening strategies to detect Trypanosoma cruzi infection in children

Background: Millions of people are infected with Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas disease in Latin America. Anti-trypanosomal drug therapy can cure infected individuals, but treatment efficacy is highest early in infection. Vector control campaigns disrupt transmission of T. cruzi, but without timely diagnosis, children infected prior to vector control often miss the window of opportunity for effective chemotherapy. Methods and Findings: We performed a serological survey in children 2-18 years old living in a peri-urban community of Arequipa, Peru, and linked the results to entomological, spatial and census data gathered during a vector control campaign. 23 of 433 (5.3% [95% Cl 3.4-7.9]) children were confirmed seropositive for T. cruzi infection by two methods. Spatial analysis revealed that households with infected children were very tightly clustered within looser clusters of households with parasite-infected vectors. Bayesian hierarchical mixed models, which controlled for clustering of infection, showed that a child's risk of being seropositive increased by 20% per year of age and 4% per vector captured within the child's house. Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) plots of best-fit models suggest that more than 83% of infected children could be identified while testing only 22% of eligible children. Conclusions: We found evidence of spatially-focal vector-borne T. cruzi transmission in peri-urban Arequipa. Ongoing vector control campaigns, in addition to preventing further parasite transmission, facilitate the collection of data essential to identifying children at high risk of T. cruzi infection. Targeted screening strategies could make integration of diagnosis and treatment of children into Chagas disease control programs feasible in lower-resource settings

Geographic variation in the sensitivity of recombinant antigen-based rapid tests for chronic trypanosoma cruzi infection

Chagas disease affects 8-11 million people throughout the Americas. Early detection is crucial for timely treatment and to prevent non-vectorial transmission. Recombinant antigen-based rapid tests had high sensitivity and specificity in laboratory evaluations, but no Peruvian specimens were included in previous studies. We evaluated Stat-Pak and Trypanosoma Detect rapid tests in specimens from Bolivia and Peru. Specimens positive by three conventional assays were confirmed positives; specimens negative by two or more assays were confirmed negatives. In Bolivian specimens, Stat-Pak and Trypanosoma Detect tests were 87.5% and 90.7% sensitive, respectively; both showed 100% specificity. Sensitivity in Peruvian specimens was much lower: 26.6-33.0% (Stat-Pak) and 54.3-55.2% (Trypanosoma Detect); both had specificities > 98%. Even in Bolivian specimens, these sensitivities are inadequate for stand-alone screening. The low sensitivity in Peru may be related to parasite strain differences. Chagas disease rapid tests should be field tested in each geographic site before widespread implementation for screening. Copyrigh

Interaction of enamel matrix proteins with human periodontal ligament cells

Dorothy Hodgkin Postgraduate Award for research studies (jointly funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, UK, and by Institut Straumann) and the Research Discretionary Funds of the Periodontology Unit, UCL Eastman Dental Institute. Financial support was also provided by the NIHR Comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre and by the WCU Program of the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (No. R31-10069)

Oestradiol-17β plasma concentrations after intramuscular injection of oestradiol benzoate or oestradiol cypionate in llamas (Lama glama)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Llamas (<it>Lama glama</it>) are induced ovulators and the process of ovulation depends on dominant follicular size. In addition, a close relationship between behavioural estrus and ovulation is not registered in llamas. Therefore, the exogenous control of follicular development with hormones aims to predict the optimal time to mate. Oestradiol-17β (E₂) and its esters are currently used in domestic species, including camelids, in synchronization treatments. But, in llamas, there is no reports regarding the appropriate dosages to be used and most protocols have been designed by extrapolation from those recommended for other ruminants. The aim of the present study was to characterize plasma E₂concentrations in intact female llamas following a single intramuscular (i.m.) injection of two oestradiol esters: oestradiol benzoate (EB) and oestradiol cypionate (ECP).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Twelve non pregnant and non lactating sexually mature llamas were i.m. injected on day 0 with 2.5 mg of EB (EB group, n = 6) or ECP (ECP group, n = 6). Blood samples were collected immediately before injection, at 1, 6, 12, 24 h after treatment and then daily until day 14 post injection. Changes in hormone concentrations with time were analyzed in each group by analysis of variance (ANOVA) using a repeated measures (within-SS) design. Plasma E₂concentrations and area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) values were compared between groups by ANOVA. In all cases a Least-Significant Difference test (LSD) was used to determine differences between means. Hormonal and AUC data are expressed as mean ± S.E.M.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Peak plasma E₂concentrations were achieved earlier and were higher in EB group than in ECP group. Thereafter, E₂returned to physiological concentrations earlier in EB group (day 5) than in ECP group (day 9). Although plasma E₂profiles differed over time among groups there were no differences between them on AUC values.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The i.m. injection of a single dose of both oestradiol esters resulted in plasma E₂concentrations exceeding physiological values for a variable period. Moreover, the plasma E₂profiles observed depended on the derivative of oestradiol administered. This basic information becomes relevant at defining treatment protocols including oestrogens in llamas.</p

Land conflict in peri-urban areas: Exploring the effects of land reform on informal settlement in Mexico

Peri-urban areas are often subject to intensive construction, through both formal and informal processes. As land transitions from rural to urban status, different land tenure and administration systems may come into conflict, leading to disputes, contestation and, in some cases, violence. However, little is known about the precise causes of peri-urban land conflict. In Mexico, peri-urban growth has historically proceeded peacefully, owing to the control exerted by a corporatist system of government, and the political use of land tenure regularisation. However, the effects of land reforms on transactions at the peri-urban fringe, in the context of wider processes of liberalisation, may be increasing vulnerability to conflict over land. This paper explores these issues through a case study of an irregular settlement on the peri-urban fringe of the provincial Mexican city of Xalapa, where contestations over informally developed land have escalated into violent encounters between groups of settlers and the state. The findings show that vulnerability to conflict in peri-urban areas can be attributed to the interaction of macro-level processes with local-level factors, including diverse claims, overlapping legal and governance frameworks and, critically, local power relations