Molecular diversity of the antimicrobial domain of beta-defensin 3 and homologous peptides

Human β-defensin 3 has received great interest for possible pharmaceutical applications. To characterize the biology of this antimicrobial peptide, the mouse β-defensin 14 has been selected as a prototypical model. This report provides definite evidence of true orthology between these defensins and reveals molecular diversity of a mammalian specific domain responsible for their antimicrobial activity. Specifically, this analysis demonstrates that eleven amino acid residues of the antimicrobial domain have been mutated by positive selection to confer protein niche specialization. These data support the notion that natural selection acts as evolutionary force driving the proliferation and diversification of defensins and introduce a novel strategy for the design of more effective antibiotics

Análisis genómico y funcional de los efectores de las familias HopAF y HopAO del sistema de secreción tipo III de Pseudomonas savastanoi pv. savastanoi NCPPB 3335

Pseudomonas savastanoi pv. savastanoi (Psv) es el agente causal de la tuberculosis del olivo. El análisis bioinformático del borrador del genoma de Psv NCPPB 3335 permitió identificar 33 posibles efectores (T3E) del sistema de secreción tipo III (T3SS). Además, la secuenciación de los tres plásmidos de esta cepa reveló que los genes codificantes de los T3E HopAF1 y HopAO1 se localizan en los plásmidos pPsv48A y pPsv48B, respectivamente, codificándose en el cromosoma de esta cepa un homólogo de HopAF1 (HopAF1-2). Análisis posteriores revelaron que Psv NCPPB 3335 también codifica en el cromosoma un T3E (HopAO2) que contiene un dominio enzimático tirosina fosfatasa (PTP), similar al que posee HopAO1. El análisis filogenético de las familias HopAF y HopAO permitió identificar que ambas se encuentran ampliamente distribuidas dentro del complejo P. syringae. Análisis de translocación y transcripcionales validaron a los T3E HopAF1, HopAF1-2, HopAO1 y HopAO2 como nuevos T3E del secretoma del T3SS de Psv NCPPB 3335. La expresión heteróloga de estos 4 T3E tiene como consecuencia la interferencia con la respuesta de defensa primaria (PTI) de Nicotiana tabacum, lo que implica una reducción de la deposición de calosa y de la formación de especies reactivas de oxígeno (ROS). Asimismo, los T3E HopAF1-2, HopAO1 y HopAO2 también inhiben la inmunidad mediada por efectores (ETI) en este mismo hospedador. Por otro lado, y utilizando fusiones traduccionales a la proteína verde fluorescente (GFP), se localizaron los T3E HopAF1, HopAF1-2, HopAO1 y HopAO2 próximos a la membrana plasmática de las células de Nicotiana benthamiana. Además, HopAO2 también se localizó en vesículas del aparato de Golgi. La deleción del gen hopAF1 del plásmido pPsv48A en Psv NCPPB 3335 tuvo como consecuencia una ligera reducción en el tamaño de los tumores inducidos por este patógeno en plantas de olivo lignificadas, mientras que la deleción del gen hopAO1 conllevó una clara disminución de la virulencia del mismo.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Features associated to woody hosts in the bacterial pathogen of olive plants Pseudomonas savastanoi pv. savastanoi

The causal agent of olive knot disease, Pseudomonas savastanoi pv. savastanoi, belongs to the Pseudomonas syringae complex, a bacterial group causing diseases in a broad variety of both woody and herbaceous plant species. Here we summarize our results regarding a set of P. savastanoi pv. savastanoi features exclusively found in the genomes of bacteria from the P. syringae complex isolated from woody hosts. Comparative genomics and evolutionary studies allowed us to identify a 15 kb genomic island (WHOP, from woody host and Pseudomonas), carrying a set of genes involved in degradation of phenolic compounds and exclusively found in bacterial pathogens of woody hosts. Deletion of several WHOP-encoded genes in Pseudomonas savastanoi pv. savastanoi NCPPB 3335 revealed that they play a role in the virulence of the strain in woody olive plants but not in in vitro-grown (nonwoody) plants. In addition, several type III secretion system effectors belonging to the HopAF, HopAO and HopBL families were shown to be clustered across the P. syringae complex according to the woody/herbaceous nature of their host of isolation. Further functional analyses of these virulence factors are needed to facilitate the design of novel strategies directed to control bacterial pathogens of woody hosts.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Comparative Analysis of the Type III Secretion System Effector Repertoires of Pseudomonas savastanoi Pathovars Pathogenic on Woody Hosts

Comunicación de tipo pósterThe species Pseudomonas savastanoi, a member of the Pseudomonas syringae complex, includes four pathovars causing knots or excrescences in woody hosts: P. savastanoi pv. savastanoi (Psv), pv. fraxini (Psf), pv. nerii (Psn) and pv. retacarpa (Psr), comprising isolates from olive, ash, oleander and broom plants, respectively. Pathogenicity of P. savastanoi is dependent, among other factors, on the type III secretion system (T3SS) and its effector (T3E) repertoire. Furthermore, a putative role in the interaction with woody hosts has been suggested for several of these T3E. The recent availability of the genome sequences of several P. savastanoi strains isolated from different hosts has facilitated bioinformatics predictions of their T3SS genes and T3E pools, the study of their distribution in other strains of the P. syringae complex isolated from woody hosts and the functional analysis of several of these secreted proteins. As previously reported for Psv, Psn and Psf, here we show that pathogenicity of Psr ICMP16945, is also dependent on the T3SS. Psv strains NCPPB 3335, ICMP4352 and PseNe107 share a core set of at least 22 T3E, 18 of which are also encoded in Psn ICMP16943, Psf ICMP7711 and Psr ICMP16945. However, these three strains encode truncated versions of 1-2 of these 18 T3E and, Psr ICMP16945 contains three pathovarspecific T3E. Our results also show that several T3E, including HopAO1, are phylogenetically clustered across the P. syringae complex according to the woody/herbaceous nature of their host of isolation, suggesting host specialization of these effectors in this complex.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tec

Translocation and Functional Analysis of Pseudomonas savastanoi pv. savastanoi NCPPB 3335 Type III Secretion System Effectors Reveals Two Novel Effector Families of the Pseudomonas syringae Complex

Pseudomonas savastanoi pv. savastanoi NCPPB 3335 causes olive knot disease and is a model pathogen for exploring bacterial infection of woody hosts. The type III secretion system (T3SS) effector repertoire of this strain includes 31 effector candidates plus two novel candidates identified in this study which have not been reported to translocate into plant cells. In this work, we demonstrate the delivery of seven NCPPB 3335 effectors into Nicotiana tabacum leaves, including three proteins from two novel families of the P. syringae complex effector super-repertoire (HopBK and HopBL), one of which comprises two proteins (HopBL1 and HopBL2) that harbor a SUMO protease domain. When delivered by P. fluorescens heterologously expressing a P. syringae T3SS, all seven effectors were found to suppress the production of defense-associated reactive oxygen species. Moreover, six of these effectors, including the truncated versions of HopAA1 and HopAZ1 encoded by NCPPB 3335, suppressed callose deposition. The expression of HopAZ1 and HopBL1 by functionally effectorless P. syringae pv. tomato DC3000D28E inhibited the hypersensitive response in tobacco and, additionally, expression of HopBL2 by this strain significantly increased its competitiveness in N. benthamiana. DNA sequences encoding HopBL1 and HopBL2 were uniquely detected in a collection of 31 P. savastanoi pv. savastanoi strains and other P. syringae strains isolated from woody hosts, suggesting a relevant role of these two effectors in bacterial interactions with olive and other woody plants

Cuerpo y educación : variaciones en torno a un mismo tema

El presente texto es una compilación de los trabajos realizados por el Instituto para la Investigación Educativa y el Desarrollo Pedagógico, IDEP, con un grupo de investigadores que orientaron los estudios y los procesos de cualificación en el ámbito de Subjetividad, diversidad e interculturalidad, propuesto desde el Componente de Educación y Políticas Públicas del proyecto misional del IDEP. El hilo conductor en cada uno de los textos es el lugar del cuerpo, unas veces como eje central de la propuesta investigativa, y otras como elemento relevante desde su relación con distintas dimensiones que surgen en los diferentes trabajos desarrollados por los colectivos de maestros y maestras.Presentación 1. Obertura 1.1 Cuerpo y recreación. Reconfiguración subjetiva a través del uso de las prácticas lúdico-creativas 2. Primer Movimiento 2.1. Reflexiones sobre el cuerpo. Conciencia, experiencia, vivencias 2.2. El cuerpo de la memoria. Políptico de mnemotecnias 3. Segundo Movimiento 3.1. Cuerpo y Erotismo en la Escuela. Discursos y Tensiones 3.2. El Poder de la Apariencia. Construcciones Escolares del Cuerpo 4. Tercer Movimiento 4.1. Diversidad epistémica e interculturalidad crítica. Una perspectiva para los estudios sobre diversidad en la escuela 4.2. Territorio y derechos. Cartografías Corporales en la Investigación sobre Territorio en los Contextos Escolares 5. Coda 5.1. Videojuegos y conocimiento: un estado de la cuestió

RICORS2040 : The need for collaborative research in chronic kidney disease

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a silent and poorly known killer. The current concept of CKD is relatively young and uptake by the public, physicians and health authorities is not widespread. Physicians still confuse CKD with chronic kidney insufficiency or failure. For the wider public and health authorities, CKD evokes kidney replacement therapy (KRT). In Spain, the prevalence of KRT is 0.13%. Thus health authorities may consider CKD a non-issue: very few persons eventually need KRT and, for those in whom kidneys fail, the problem is 'solved' by dialysis or kidney transplantation. However, KRT is the tip of the iceberg in the burden of CKD. The main burden of CKD is accelerated ageing and premature death. The cut-off points for kidney function and kidney damage indexes that define CKD also mark an increased risk for all-cause premature death. CKD is the most prevalent risk factor for lethal coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the factor that most increases the risk of death in COVID-19, after old age. Men and women undergoing KRT still have an annual mortality that is 10- to 100-fold higher than similar-age peers, and life expectancy is shortened by ~40 years for young persons on dialysis and by 15 years for young persons with a functioning kidney graft. CKD is expected to become the fifth greatest global cause of death by 2040 and the second greatest cause of death in Spain before the end of the century, a time when one in four Spaniards will have CKD. However, by 2022, CKD will become the only top-15 global predicted cause of death that is not supported by a dedicated well-funded Centres for Biomedical Research (CIBER) network structure in Spain. Realizing the underestimation of the CKD burden of disease by health authorities, the Decade of the Kidney initiative for 2020-2030 was launched by the American Association of Kidney Patients and the European Kidney Health Alliance. Leading Spanish kidney researchers grouped in the kidney collaborative research network Red de Investigación Renal have now applied for the Redes de Investigación Cooperativa Orientadas a Resultados en Salud (RICORS) call for collaborative research in Spain with the support of the Spanish Society of Nephrology, Federación Nacional de Asociaciones para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades del Riñón and ONT: RICORS2040 aims to prevent the dire predictions for the global 2040 burden of CKD from becoming true

Clonal chromosomal mosaicism and loss of chromosome Y in elderly men increase vulnerability for SARS-CoV-2

The pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19) had an estimated overall case fatality ratio of 1.38% (pre-vaccination), being 53% higher in males and increasing exponentially with age. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, we found 133 cases (1.42%) with detectable clonal mosaicism for chromosome alterations (mCA) and 226 males (5.08%) with acquired loss of chromosome Y (LOY). Individuals with clonal mosaic events (mCA and/or LOY) showed a 54% increase in the risk of COVID-19 lethality. LOY is associated with transcriptomic biomarkers of immune dysfunction, pro-coagulation activity and cardiovascular risk. Interferon-induced genes involved in the initial immune response to SARS-CoV-2 are also down-regulated in LOY. Thus, mCA and LOY underlie at least part of the sex-biased severity and mortality of COVID-19 in aging patients. Given its potential therapeutic and prognostic relevance, evaluation of clonal mosaicism should be implemented as biomarker of COVID-19 severity in elderly people. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, individuals with clonal mosaic events (clonal mosaicism for chromosome alterations and/or loss of chromosome Y) showed an increased risk of COVID-19 lethality

La renovación de la palabra en el bicentenario de la Argentina : los colores de la mirada lingüística

El libro reúne trabajos en los que se exponen resultados de investigaciones presentadas por investigadores de Argentina, Chile, Brasil, España, Italia y Alemania en el XII Congreso de la Sociedad Argentina de Lingüística (SAL), Bicentenario: la renovación de la palabra, realizado en Mendoza, Argentina, entre el 6 y el 9 de abril de 2010. Las temáticas abordadas en los 167 capítulos muestran las grandes líneas de investigación que se desarrollan fundamentalmente en nuestro país, pero también en los otros países mencionados arriba, y señalan además las áreas que recién se inician, con poca tradición en nuestro país y que deberían fomentarse. Los trabajos aquí publicados se enmarcan dentro de las siguientes disciplinas y/o campos de investigación: Fonología, Sintaxis, Semántica y Pragmática, Lingüística Cognitiva, Análisis del Discurso, Psicolingüística, Adquisición de la Lengua, Sociolingüística y Dialectología, Didáctica de la lengua, Lingüística Aplicada, Lingüística Computacional, Historia de la Lengua y la Lingüística, Lenguas Aborígenes, Filosofía del Lenguaje, Lexicología y Terminología