Expression and antiviral activity of a β-defensin-like peptide identified in the rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) EST sequences

The in silico identification of a β-defensin-like peptide sequence (omBD-1) in the rainbow trout (Oncorhynchuss mykiss) database of salmonid EST is reported here. We have studied the transcript expression of this β-defensin-like sequence in different organs and expressed the recombinant peptide in a fish cell line. Finally, we have demonstrated the in vitro antiviral activity of the recombinant trout β-defensin-like peptide against viral haemorrhagic septicaemia rhabdovirus (VHSV), one of the most devastating viruses for worldwide aquaculture. Thus, the resistance to VHSV infection of EPC cells transfected with pMCV 1.4-omBD-1 has been shown. Since EPC cells transfected with omBD-1 produced acid and heat stable antiviral activity and up regulation of Mx, a type I IFN-mediated mechanism of antiviral action is suggested. To our knowledge, this is the first report showing biological activity of a β-defensin-like peptide from any fish

The immunogenicity of viral haemorragic septicaemia rhabdovirus (VHSV) DNA vaccines can depend on plasmid regulatory sequences

A plasmid DNA encoding the viral hemorrhagic septicaemia virus (VHSV)-G glycoprotein under the control of 5′ upstream sequences (enhancer/promoter sequence plus both non-coding 1st exon and 1st intron sequences) from carp β-actin gene (pAE6-GVHSV) was compared to the vaccine plasmid usually described the gene expression is regulated by the human cytomegalovirus (CMV) immediate-early promoter (pMCV1.4-GVHSV). We observed that these two plasmids produced a markedly different profile in the level and time of expression of the encoded-antigen, and this may have a direct effect upon the intensity and suitability of the in vivo immune response. Thus, fish genetic immunisation assays were carried out to study the immune response of both plasmids. A significantly enhanced specific-antibody response against the viral glycoprotein was found in the fish immunised with pAE6-GVHSV. However, the protective efficacy against VHSV challenge conferred by both plasmids was similar. Later analysis of the transcription profile of a set of representative immune-related genes in the DNA immunized fish suggested that depending on the plasmid-related regulatory sequences controlling its expression, the plasmid might activate distinct patterns of the immune system. All together, the results from this study mainly point out that the selection of a determinate encoded-antigen/vector combination for genetic immunisation is of extraordinary importance in designing optimised DNA vaccines that, when required for inducing protective immune response, could elicit responses biased to antigen-specific antibodies or cytotoxic T cells generation

Aharonov-Bohm spectral features and coherence lengths in carbon nanotubes

The electronic properties of carbon nanotubes are investigated in the presence of disorder and a magnetic field parallel or perpendicular to the nanotube axis. In the parallel field geometry, the $\phi_{0}(=hc/e)$-periodic metal-insulator transition (MIT) induced in metallic or semiconducting nanotubes is shown to be related to a chirality-dependent shifting of the energy of the van Hove singularities (VHSs). The effect of disorder on this magnetic field-related mechanism is considered with a discussion of mean free paths, localization lengths and magnetic dephasing rate in the context of recent experiments.Comment: 22 pages, 6 Postscript figures. submitted to Phys. Rev.

Identification of excited states in 117Cs: Systematics of the ν(h11/2)2 alignment

Excited states have been identified in the very neutron-deficient 11755Cs62 nucleus. High-spin spectroscopy has been performed using the Gammasphere array, and the assignment of gamma-ray transitions to 117Cs has been made in a separate experiment in which gamma rays were detected in coincidence with x rays and with recoiling evaporation residues. A previously observed sequence of five gamma rays has been extended by 11 transitions, to high spin, and has been identified as the yrast π(h11/2)[550]1/2- band of 117Cs. Two additional bands have been observed and are tentatively assigned to be based on protons in the [404]9/2+ and [422]3/2+ orbitals. Alignments of pairs of h11/2 neutrons and protons are observed in all of the bands. The alignments are compared to cranked Woods-Saxon calculations, and are discussed with respect to the effects of a neutron-proton interaction. Of particular interest are the features of the ν(h11/2)2 alignment in the π[550]1/2- band and of the π(h11/2)2 alignment in the [422]3/2+ band. The frequencies of these alignments can be qualitatively explained only if a neutron-proton interaction is taken into account

SUPLEMENTO DEL XV CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE ACTIVIDAD FÍSICA Y DEPORTE. 17,18 y 19 DE OCTUBRE DEL 2018. ENSENADA, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MÉXICO

Compendio, en formato artículo, de los mejores trabajos presentados en el XV CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE ACTIVIDAD FÍSICA Y DEPORTE celebrado los días  17,18 y 19 de octubre del 2018 en la Universidad Autónoma de Baja California en la ciudad de Ensenada, Baja California, México:La nutrición en la actividad física y deportiva: alimentos funcionales con nanotecnología, aplicaciones potenciales. González González, K.Y.; Huerta Plaza, B.A.; Amaya Parra, G. (118-130)Perfil antropométrico, físico y hábitos alimentarios en escolares indígenas de Tijuana México. Avendaño Cano, D.L.; Gómez Miranda, L.M.; Aburto Corona, J.A. (131-142)Relación entre el clima de aprendizaje en Educación Física y la percepción de los estudiantes en las competencias del profesorado. Baños, R; Ortiz-Camacho, M.M.; Baena-Extremera, A.; Granero-Gallegos, A.; Machado-Parra, J.P.; Rentería, I.; Acosta, I.; Ramírez, L. (143-153)Valoración de capacidades físicas, composición corporal y consumo de vitaminas en una competencia de Crossfit. Cervantes-Hernández, N.; Hernández Nájera, N.; Carrasco Legleu, C.E.; Candia Lujan, R.; Enríquez Del Castillo, L.A. (154-164)Relación de la actividad física, características antropométricas y VO2máx en jóvenes universitarios: características por género. Enríquez-del Castillo, L.A.; Cervantes-Hernández, N.; Carrasco-Legleu, C.E.; Candia Luján, R. (165-174)Entrenamiento vibratorio de cuerpo completo y sus efectos sobre la composición corporal en jóvenes universitarios. Flores-Chico, B.; Bañuelos-Teres, L.E.; Buendía Lozada, E.R.P. (175-183)Actualización curricular, plan 2016 de la Licenciatura en Cultura Física de la BUAP. Flores-Chico, B.; Flores-Flores, A.; López de La Rosa, LE.; Aguilar-Enríquez, R.I.; Caballero Gómez, JM; Villanueva-Huerta, JA. (184-192)Evaluación psicológica y de la musculatura isquiosural de basquetbolistas universitarias en distintas etapas deportivas. Moranchel-Charros, R.; Martínez-Velázquez, E.S. (193-203)Efecto del ejercicio físico sobre la fuerza, resistencia y riesgo de caída en mujeres adultas. Ortiz Ortiz, M; Espinoza Gutiérrez, R; Gómez Miranda, LM.; Guzmán Gutiérrez, EC.; Calleja Núñez, JJ. (204-212)Desigualdad vs igualdad numérica y su efecto en la técnica de jugadores de fútbol infantil. Vega-Orozco, SI; Gavotto Nogales, OI; Bernal Reyes, F; Horta Gim, MA; Sarabia Sainz, HM. (213-224

Energy dissipation in drought-avoiding and drought-tolerant tree species at midday during the Mediterranean summer

8 páginas, 6 figuras . En la sección "Acknowledgments" se incluye la siguiente mención "The authors are grateful to I. Barrera, M. Gil, A. Lobillo, J. Navarro, M.E. Orejas, A. Pintado, B. Rábago, E. Seriñá and E. Zuazua for their hard work at the field site and for their helpful comments."Photosynthetic performance was monitored during two consecutive summers in four co-occurring evergreen Mediterranean tree species growing on a south-facing rocky slope. In response to midday water stress, the drought-avoiding species Pinus halepensis Mill. exhibited marked stomatal closure (gs) but no changes in stem water potential (Ψs), whereas the drought-tolerant species Quercus coccifera L., Q. ilex ssp. ballota (Desf.) Samp. and Juniperus phoenicea L. displayed declines in midday gs and Ψs. The higher resistance to CO2 influx in needles of P. halepensis compared with the other species did not result in either a proportional increase in non-radiative dissipation of excess energy or photo-inactivation of photosystem II (PSII). No significant differences were found among species either in the de-epoxidation state of the xanthophyll cycle (DPS) or in the pool of its components on a total chlorophyll basis (VAZ). Despite contrasting midday assimilation rates, the three drought-tolerant species all exhibited a pronounced drop in photochemical efficiency at midday that was characterized by a decrease in the excitation capture efficiency of the open PSII centers. Although photoinhibition was not fully reversed before dawn, it apparently did not result in cumulative photo-damage. Thus, the drought-avoiding and drought-tolerant species employed different mechanisms for coping with excess light during the midday depression in photosynthesis that involved contrasting midday photochemical efficiencies of PSII and different degrees of dynamic photoinhibition as a photo-protective mechanism. These behaviors may be related to the different mechanisms employed by drought-avoiding and drought-tolerant species to withstand water deficit.This research was supported by a research grant from CICYT (CLI95-1902).Peer reviewe

The Arabidopsis bHLH transcription factors MYC3 and MYC4 are targets of JAZ repressors and act additively with MYC2 in the activation of jasmonate responses.

Jasmonates (JAs) trigger an important transcriptional reprogramming of plant cells to modulate both basal development and stress responses. In spite of the importance of transcriptional regulation, only one transcription factor (TF), the Arabidopsis thaliana basic helix-loop-helix MYC2, has been described so far as a direct target of JAZ repressors. By means of yeast two-hybrid screening and tandem affinity purification strategies, we identified two previously unknown targets of JAZ repressors, the TFs MYC3 and MYC4, phylogenetically closely related to MYC2. We show that MYC3 and MYC4 interact in vitro and in vivo with JAZ repressors and also form homo- and heterodimers with MYC2 and among themselves. They both are nuclear proteins that bind DNA with sequence specificity similar to that of MYC2. Loss-of-function mutations in any of these two TFs impair full responsiveness to JA and enhance the JA insensitivity of myc2 mutants. Moreover, the triple mutant myc2 myc3 myc4 is as impaired as coi1-1 in the activation of several, but not all, JA-mediated responses such as the defense against bacterial pathogens and insect herbivory. Our results show that MYC3 and MYC4 are activators of JA-regulated programs that act additively with MYC2 to regulate specifically different subsets of the JA-dependent transcriptional response

In vitro analysis of the factors contributing to the antiviral state induced by a plasmid encoding the viral haemorrhagic septicaemia virus glycoprotein G in transfected trout cells

We have found out that transfection of the RTG-2 cell line with the viral haemorrhagic septicaemia virus (VHSV) glycoprotein G (GVHSV)-coding plasmid induces an anti-VHSV state, similar to that induced by poly I:C. Taking the advantage of the constitutive expression of toll-like receptor 9 gene (tlr9) in RTG-2 cells, we have investigated whether this antiviral state was induced by the cytosine-phosphodiester-guanine (CpG) motifs present in the plasmid DNA, by the endogenous expression of GVHSV protein or by both elements. For that, we have analysed the expression profile of the rainbow trout tlr9 and several genes related to TLR9-mediated immune response in the absence or presence of a lysosomotropic drug that specifically blocks TLR9–CpG DNA interaction. The results suggested that the high levels of cell protection conferred by a plasmid encoding GVHSV gene are due to GVHSV rather than to the CpG motifs within plasmid DNA. Therefore, plasmid DNA might not play a key role in the immune response elicited by DNA vaccines or perhaps other receptors instead TLR9 could be implicated in CpG motifs recognition and signalling. In addition, since RTG-2 cells express tlr9 gene, this cell line could be a good tool for screening TLR9 agonists, such as the immunomodulatory oligonucleotides (IMOs), as fish DNA vaccine adjuvants