The crayfish plague fungus

Since 1978 there has been a series of outbreaks of crayfish plague fungus, Aphanomyces astaci in Spain. As a result, most populations of the native freshwater crayfish species, Austropotamobius pallipes , have been devastated by this disease. This paper describes the steady spread of the crayfish plague through populations of A. pallipes since 1978 and the present situation of the crayfish plague. Thus, the first diagnosis of this disease since 1978 and the first isolation of A. astaci from A. pallipes in Spain are also presented

in the province of Alava, Spain

This work describes the presence of the microsporidian parasite, Thelohania contejeani in some populations of Austropotamobius pallipes of the province of Alava, Spain. This paper constitutes the first report of the presence of this parasite in Spain

Pulmonary pericytes regulate lung morphogenesis

Blood vessels are essential for blood circulation but also control organ growth, homeostasis, and regeneration, which has been attributed to the release of paracrine signals by endothelial cells. Endothelial tubules are associated with specialised mesenchymal cells, termed pericytes, which help to maintain vessel wall integrity. Here we identify pericytes as regulators of epithelial and endothelial morphogenesis in postnatal lung. Mice lacking expression of the Hippo pathway components YAP and TAZ in pericytes show defective alveologenesis. Mutant pericytes are present in normal numbers but display strongly reduced expression of hepatocyte growth factor leading to impaired activation of the c-Met receptor, which is expressed by alveolar epithelial cells. YAP and TAZ are also required for expression of angiopoietin-1 by pulmonary pericytes, which also controls hepatocyte growth factor expression and thereby alveologenesis in an autocrine fashion. These findings establish that pericytes have important, organ-specific signalling properties and coordinate the behavior of epithelial and vascular cells during lung morphogenesis. © 2018 The Author(s

Arcobacter bivalviorum sp. nov. and Arcobacter venerupis sp. nov., new species isolated from shellfish.

10.1016/j.syapm.2012.01.00