Consideraciones taxonómicas sobre Barbus moulouyensis Pellegrin, 1924 (Actinopterygii, Cyprinidae) con la descripción de una especie nueva de Luciobarbus Heckel, 1843 de Marruecos

[EN] The taxonomy of Barbus Cuvier and Cloquet, 1816 has been reviewed in the last years and as consequence some species traditionally included in genus Barbus sensu lato have been assigned to different genera. In North Africa the species of the former genus Barbus have been included in the genera Luciobarbus Heckel, 1843, Carasobarbus Karaman, 1971 and Enteromius Cope, 1867. We studied populations of the former genus Barbus of the Moulouya river basin in Morocco through molecular, morphometric, and osteological data. Our data clearly showed that populations from Moulouya river basin described originally as Barbus moulouyensis Pellegrin, 1924 belong to the genus Carasobarbus and not to Luciobarbus. Moreover, populations of the genus Luciobarbus exist in the Moulouya river basin and could not be assigned to any previously described species. Consequently, we describe a new Luciobarbus species from the Moulouya river basin.[ES] En los últimos años ha sido revisada la taxonomia de Barbus Cuvier and Cloquet, 1816 y como consecuencia de esta revisión algunas especies incluidas tradicionalmente en el género Barbus sensu lato han sido asignadas a otros géneros. En el Norte de África las especies del antiguo género Barbus han sido adscritas a los géneros Luciobarbus Heckel, 1843, Carasobarbus Karaman, 1971 y Enteromius Cope, 1867. Nosotros estudiamos las especies del antiguo género Barbus en la cuenca del río Moulouya en Marruecos a través de datos moleculares, morfométricos y osteológicos. Nuestros datos muestran claramente que las poblaciones de la cuenca del río Moulouya descritas como Barbus moulouyensis Pellegrin, 1924 pertenecen al género Carasobarbus y no al género Luciobarbus. Sin embargo, poblaciones del género Luciobarbus existen en la cuenca del río Moulouya y no pudieron ser asignadas a ninguna de las especies previamente descritas. En consecuencia nosotros describimos una nueva especie de la cuenca del río Moulouya.Peer Reviewe

Anticuerpos a la carta combinando expresión in vitro de proteínas, tecnología de despliegue en fagos y arrays de anticuerpos

Comunicaciones a congreso

CD8α2 CD11b+ Dendritic Cells Present Exogenous Virus-like Particles to CD8+ T Cells and Subsequently Express CD8α and CD205 Molecules

Recombinant porcine parvovirus virus-like particles (PPV-VLPs) are particulate exogenous antigens that induce a strong, specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) response in the absence of adjuvant. In the present report, we demonstrate in vivo that dendritic cells (DCs) present PPV-VLPs to CD8+ T cells after intracellular processing. PPV-VLPs are captured by DCs with a high efficacy, which results in the delivery of these exogenous antigens to 50% of the whole spleen DC population. In vivo, a few hours after injection, PPV-VLPs are presented exclusively to CD8+ T cells by CD8α− DCs, whereas 15 hours later they are presented mainly by CD8α+ DCs. After PPV-VLPs processing, a fraction of CD11b+ DCs undergo phenotypic changes, i.e., the up-regulation of CD8α and CD205 and the loss of CD4 molecules on their surface. The failure to detect mRNA coding for CD8α in CD11b+ DCs suggests that CD8α expression by these cells is not due to de novo synthesis. In recombination-activating gene knockout mice (Rag−/−), CD11b+ DCs did not express CD8α and PPV-VLPs presentation by CD8α+ DCs was severely diminished. These results indicate that both CD8α− and CD8α+ DCs play an important role in the induction of CTL responses by exogenous antigens, such as VLP

Revisión taxonómica del género Luciobarbus Heckel, 1843 (Actinopterygii, Cyprinidae) del noroeste de Marruecos con la descripción de tres nuevas especies

[EN] The genus Luciobarbus in Morocco presents high diversification, in contrast to the generally impoverished freshwater fish fauna from North Africa. Within Morocco the northern area is one of the least studied territories, due to both its historical background and the limited accessibility of many regions. Previous phylogenetic studies identified Luciobarbus populations that are morphologically and genetically differentiated, to the same extent as others already recognized as separate species. The aim of this work is to describe these populations as distinct species, based on morphological, meristic, and genetic traits.[ES] En Marruecos el género Luciobarbus está altamente diversificado, en comparación con la empobrecida fauna de peces de agua dulce del norte de África. Dentro de Marruecos la región norte es una de las áreas menos estudiadas, por motivos históricos y también por la poca accesibilidad en algunas de sus regiones. Los estudios filogenéticos previos para esta área han señalado la existencia de poblaciones pertenecientes al género Luciobarbus tan diferenciadas morfológica y genéticamente como otras que ya habían sido reconocidas como diferentes especies. En este trabajo describimos estas poblaciones como diferentes taxa, en base a caracteres morfológicos, merísticos y genéticos.Peer Reviewe

Taxonomía de las especies reófilas del género Luciobarbus Heckel, 1842 (Actinopterygii, Cyprinidae) de Marruecos con la descripción de dos nuevas especies

[EN] The genus Luciobarbus Heckel, 1843 is characterized by medium to large fish species occurring in large rivers and downstream zones with slow-moving waters. Remarkably also rheophilic Luciobarbus occur in Morocco, which are of small size and exhibit distinct morphological traits as well as different habitat requirements. These rheophilic species have traditionally been assigned to Luciobarbus nasus (Günther, 1874) and L. magniatlantis (Pellegrin, 1919), although some authors consider L. magniatlantis as a junior synonym of L. nasus. This lack of consensus on the taxonomy of rheophilic barbs is constrained by limited population studies that do not encompass their entire distribution range. Using molecular, morphometric, and osteological data we studied populations of rheophilic barbs of three drainage basins in which they are currently present: Tensift, Moulouya and Oum er Rbia. Our results clearly identified the rheophilic barbs of each basin as different species. The species Luciobarbus magniatlantis is a well-recognized species endemic to Tensift Basin. In contrast, the investigated populations from the Moulouya and Oum er Rbia basins could not be assigned to any previously described species. Consequently, we describe two new Luciobarbus species in the Moulouya and Oum er Rbia basins.[ES] El género Luciobarbus Heckel, 1843 se caracteriza por presentar especies de medio y gran tamaño que viven en las zonas bajas de grandes ríos con aguas lentas. Singularmente, en Marruecos también existen especies reófilas del género Luciobarbus de pequeño tamaño y que presentan diferentes caracteres morfológicos y distintos requerimientos de hábitat. Estas especies reófilas han sido tradicionalmente asignadas a Luciobarbus nasus (Günther, 1874) y L. magniatlantis (Pellegrin, 1919) aunque algunos autores consideran a L. magniatlantis como un sinónimo de L. nasus. Esta falta de consenso en la taxonomía de los barbos reófilos está limitada por los escasos estudios poblacionales realizados que no abarcan la totalidad del área de distribución de estos barbos. Nosotros, usando datos moleculares, morfométricos y osteológicos, estudiamos las poblaciones de los barbos reófilos de tres cuencas hidrográficas, en las cuales están actualmente presentes: Tensift, Moulouya y Oum er Rbia. Nuestros resultados claramente identifican a los barbos reófilos de cada una de estas cuencas como diferentes especies. La especie L. magniatlantis es una especie bien definida y endémica de la cuenca del Tensift. En contraste, las poblaciones analizadas de las cuencas del Moulouya y Oum er Rbia no pudieron ser asignadas a ninguna especie previamente descrita. Consecuentemente, nosotros describimos dos nuevas especies de Luciobarbus en las cuencas del Moulouya y del Oum er Rbia.Peer Reviewe

Development of carbon fiber acrylonitrile styrene acrylate composite for large format additive manufacturing

The increasing interest of Large Format Additive Manufacturing (LFAM) technologies in various industrial sectors mainly lies on the attainable production of pieces reaching several cubic meters. These new technologies require the development of optimized materials with two-folded capabilities, able to satisfy functional in-service requirements but also showing a proper printability. Acrylonitrile Styrene Acrylate (ASA) is among the most interesting thermoplastic materials to be implemented in a LFAM device due to its excellent wettability and mechanical properties. This research focuses on the development and characterization of ASA and carbon fiber (CF) ASA composites suitable for LFAM. The rheological, thermal and mechanical properties of neat ASA and ASA containing 20 wt% CF are addressed. The results evidence the higher performance of the CF loaded composite compared to the raw ASA polymer (i.e., the 20 wt% CF composite shows a 350% increase in flexural Young's Modulus and a 500% increment in thermal conductivity compared with neat ASA). Additionally, both materials were successfully printed along perpendicular directions (X and Z), showing the maximum tensile strain for the composite printed along the X orientation as was expected. The results of the flexural tests are comparable or slightly higher than those of injected parts. Finally, the fracture surface was analysed, identifying different types of porosity

Antibodies on demand: a fast method for the production of human scFvs with minimal amounts of antigen

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Antibodies constitute a powerful tool to study protein function, protein localization and protein-protein interactions, as well as for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. High-throughput antibody development requires faster methodologies with lower antigen consumption.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here, we describe a novel methodology to select human monoclonal recombinant antibodies by combining <it>in vitro </it>protein expression, phage display antibody libraries and antibody microarrays. The application of this combination of methodologies permitted us to generate human single-chain variable fragments (scFvs) against two proteins: green fluorescent protein (GFP) and thioredoxin (Trx) in a short time, using as low as 5 μg of purified protein. These scFvs showed specific reactivity against their respective targets and worked well by ELISA and western blot. The scFvs were able to recognise as low as 31 ng of protein of their respective targets by western blot.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This work describes a novel and miniaturized methodology to obtain human monoclonal recombinant antibodies against any target in a shorter time than other methodologies using only 5 μg of protein. The protocol could be easily adapted to a high-throughput procedure for antibody production.</p