Geminiviral protein Rep interferes in PCNA sumoylation

Rep is a multifunctional protein essential for replication of geminivirus that interferes with the sumoylation of a key protein in the DNA replication, PCNA (Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen). It is known that Rep is capable of interacting with a plethora of plant proteins, including PCNA. Despite the biological significance remains unknown, it’s thought that this interaction should play a key role for generating new copies of the virus genome. Therefore, in order to characterize this interaction, we study which lysines are sumoylated in tomato PCNA (SlPCNA). Considering conservation, location and presence of sumoylation domain criteria, we have identified some candidate lysines and studied how its mutation affects this protein sumoylation in Escherichia coli assays. Finally, we plan to confirm and characterize the Rep interference on SlPCNA sumoylation and determine if this interference occurs in planta.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

An Economic, Energy, and Environmental Analysis of PV/Micro-CHP Hybrid Systems: A Case Study of a Tertiary Building

Our present standard of living depends strongly on energy sources, with buildings being a primary focus when it comes to reducing energy consumption due to their large contribution, especially in tertiary buildings. The goal of the present study is to evaluate the performance of two different designs of hybrid systems, composed of natural gas engines and photovoltaic panels. This will be done through simulations in TRNSYS, considering a representative office building with various schedules of operation (8, 12, and 24 h), as well as different climates in Spain. The main contributions of this paper are the evaluations of primary energy-consumption, emissions, and economic analyses for each scenario. In addition, a sensitivity analysis is carried out to observe the influence of energy prices, as well as that of the costs of the micro-CHP engines and PV modules. The results show that the scenario with the conventional system and PV modules is the most profitable one currently. However, if electricity prices are increased in the future or natural gas prices are reduced, the scenario with micro-CHP engines and PV modules will become the most profitable option. Energy service engineers, regulators, and manufacturers are the most interested in these results

Critical reflection of the argumentative axes in public health about adolescent pregnancy. Systematized review of the literature from 2000 to 2021

El estancamiento en la reducción de los indicadores de fecundidad adolescente desde el año 2000 ha ubicado el fenómeno del embarazo adolescente como tema de interés en la agenda mundial, sin embargo, las intervenciones realizadas no han mostrado efecto alguno, pues aún se desconoce las múltiples realidades detrás de la vivencia de la juventud y la sexualidad. Objetivo Analizar los ejes argumentativos propuestos desde la salud pública para problematizar el embarazo adolescente en los últimos 20 años. Metodología. Revisión sistematizada en bases de datos científicas en idioma español e inglés, de revisiones de la literatura, en el periodo comprendido entre los años 2000 y 2021. Se recuperaron 29 revisiones, que abordaban el problema del embarazo en adolescentes en temáticas de análisis:1) caracterización a partir de factores de riesgo y protectores 2) intervenciones para prevenir el embarazo en la adolescencia y por último percepciones, motivaciones y actitudes de los jóvenes frente al embarazo y la paternidad. Resultados. Esta revisión evidencia que la construcción argumental que ha problematizado el embarazo adolescente desde la salud pública y que ha motivado intervenciones comportamentales y normativizadoras, ha perpetuado estigmas acerca del cuerpo femenino, minorías e imaginarios acerca de la pobreza que alimentan las representaciones mentales adulto céntricas acerca del comportamiento, sexualidad y proyectos de vida de los jóvenes. Conclusión: La red multicausal trazada desde los determinantes sociales de la salud funge como un tamiz rígido, del cual han emergido explicaciones redundantes para el embarazo en la adolescencia, que han impedido avances en su comprensión más allá de la caracterización sociodemográfica, datos probabilísticos, costos económicos y análisis de morbimortalidad.Universidad el BosqueMagíster en Salud PúblicaMaestríaThe stagnation in the reduction of adolescent fertility indicators since 2000 has placed the phenomenon of adolescent pregnancy as a topic of interest on the world agenda, However, the interventions carried out have not shown any effect, since the multiple realities behind the experience of youth and sexuality are still unknown. Objective: To analyze the argumentative axes proposed from public health to problematize adolescent pregnancy in the last 20 years. Methodology: A systematized review in scientific databases in Spanish and English, of reviews of the literature, in the period between 2000 and 2021. 29 reviews were included, which addressed the problem of adolescent pregnancy in analysis themes:1) characterization based on risk and protective factors 2) interventions to prevent pregnancy in adolescence and finally perceptions, motivations and attitudes of young people towards pregnancy and parenthood. Results. This review shows that the argumentative construction that has problematized adolescent pregnancy from public health and that has motivated behavioral and normative interventions, has perpetuated stigmas about the female body, minorities and imaginaries about poverty that feed adult-centric mental representations about behavior, sexuality and life projects of young people. Conclusion: The multicausal network drawn from the social determinants of health serves as a rigid sieve, from which redundant explanations for adolescent pregnancy have emerged, which have prevented advances in its understanding beyond sociodemographic characterization, probabilistic data, economic costs, and morbidity and mortality analysis

Uncoupled phytoplanktonbacterioplankton relationship by multiple drivers interacting at diferent temporal scales in a highmountain Mediterranean lake

Global-change stressors act under diferent timing, implying complexity and uncertainty in the study of interactive efects of multiple factors on planktonic communities. We manipulated three types of stressors acting in diferent time frames in an in situ experiment: ultraviolet radiation (UVR); phosphorus (P) concentration; temperature (T) in an oligotrophic Mediterranean high-mountain lake. The aim was to examine how the sensitivity of phytoplankton and bacterioplankton to UVR and their trophic relationship change under nutrient acclimation and abrupt temperature shifts. Phytoplankton and bacteria showed a common pattern of metabolic response to UVR× P addition interaction, with an increase in their production rates, although evidencing an inhibitory UVR efect on primary production (PP) but stimulatory on bacterial production (HBP). An abrupt T shift in plankton acclimated to UVR and P addition decreased the values of PP, evidencing an inhibitory UVR efect, whereas warming increased HBP and eliminated the UVR efect. The weakening of commensalistic and predatory relationship between phyto- and bacterioplankton under all experimental conditions denotes the negative efects of present and future global-change conditions on planktonic food webs towards impairing C fux within the microbial loop

La proteína Rep/AL1 de geminivirus altera la sumoilación de PCNA

Los geminivirus, llamados así por la forma icosaédrica de su cápside, son una familia de virus patógenos de plantas que causan algunas de las enfermedades con mayor impacto económico a nivel mundial. Estos pequeños virus de ADN se replican en el núcleo de las células vegetales utilizando la maquinaria celular del hospedador, además de requerir la presencia de la proteína viral Rep. Rep es la única proteína del genoma del virus imprescindible para su replicación y es capaz de interaccionar con una gran variedad de proteínas del huésped. Trabajos previos de nuestro grupo demostraron que dos de esas proteínas son PCNA (Proliferating cell nuclear antigen), esencial en el metabolismo del DNA, y SCE (SUMO Conjugating Enzime), enzima que interviene en la sumoilación, uno de los principales mecanismos de modificación postraduccional que está implicado en la respuesta de la planta a estrés abiótico, en el desarrollo, el crecimiento y la respuesta a patógenos. Además, otros resultados que hemos obtenido demuestran que la expresión en Escherichia coli de la proteína Rep del begomovirus TGMV (Tomato golden mosaic virus) reduce la sumoilación de PCNA en plantas y que dicha interferencia no depende de la interacción de la proteína viral con SCE1. Para profundizar en el conocimiento de la interacción Rep-PCNA nos hemos propuesto identificar las lisinas de PCNA que se sumoilan. Teniendo en cuenta criterios de conservación, localización y presencia de dominio de sumoilación se han identificado varias lisinas candidatas y se ha estudiado cómo su mutación afecta a la sumoilación de la proteína. También nos hemos planteado confirmar y caracterizar la interferencia de Rep sobre la sumoilación de PCNA y determinar si dicha interferencia se produce en la planta.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Histopathological evaluation of the subtotal laryngectomy specimen

AbstractBackgroundThe goal of conservative surgical treatment of laryngeal cancer is to obtain oncological control with preservation of laryngeal function. The concept of laryngeal function preservation should be understood as the preservation of the patient's ability to breathe normally with neither tracheostomy nor aspiration, and maintaining intelligible speech. This can be achieved by a balance between two fundamental aspects, proper patient selection (based on tumour extension and preoperative laryngeal function), and an adequate histopathological analysis of the surgical specimen. Supracricoid subtotal laryngectomy is the voice conservative surgical technique that offers the best possibility of control in patients with locally advanced laryngeal cancer. The proper histopathological analysis allows staging and selecting patients for adjuvant therapy, avoiding unnecessary ones as well as designing monitoring and surveillance programs based on risk factors.ObjectiveTo highlight key points in the histopathological evaluation of the surgical specimen of a subtotal laryngectomy.ConclusionThe proper communication between the surgeon and pathologist, offering complete information on preoperative clinical evaluation and the knowledge of the key points in the evaluation of the surgical specimen (sites of tumour leakage and surgical resection margins) are fundamental parameters to achieve a proper histopathological evaluation of the surgical specimen

Comentarios sobre “Puntos de equilibrio asintóticamente estables en nuevos sistemas caóticos”

In the commented paper ten nonlinear chaotic systems are presented. Authors state that these systems do not exhibit Shilnikov chaos. Unfortunately, this assertion is not correctly proved because they use an erroneous theorem from the literature.En el trabajo comentado, los autores presentan diez sistemas autónomos no lineales caóticos, de los que afirman que no tienen caos en el sentido de Shilnikov. Desgraciadamente, esta afirmación carece de fundamento pues utilizan un teorema erróneo de la literatura.Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (Spain), Plan Nacional I+D+I co-financed / FEDER MTM2014-56272-C2Consejería de Economía, Innovación, Ciencia y Empleo de la Junta de Andalucía (Spain) FQM-276, TIC-0130Consejería de Economía, Innovación, Ciencia y Empleo de la Junta de Andalucía (Spain) P12-FQM-165

Interactive effects of vertical mixing, nutrients and ultraviolet radiation: in situ photosynthetic responses of phytoplankton from high mountain lakes in Southern Europe

Global change, together with human activities, has resulted in increasing amounts of organic material (including nutrients) that water bodies receive. This input further attenuates the penetration of solar radiation, leading to the view that opaque lakes are more "protected" from solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) than clear ones. Vertical mixing, however, complicates this view as cells are exposed to fluctuating radiation regimes, for which the effects have, in general, been neglected. Furthermore, the combined impacts of mixing, together with those of UVR and nutrient inputs are virtually unknown. In this study, we carried out complex in situ experiments in three high mountain lakes of Spain (Lake Enol in the National Park Picos de Europa, Asturias, and lakes Las Yeguas and La Caldera in the National Park Sierra Nevada, Granada), used as model ecosystems to evaluate the joint impact of these climate change variables. The main goal of this study was to address the question of how short-term pulses of nutrient inputs, together with vertical mixing and increased UVR fluxes modify the photosynthetic responses of phytoplankton. The experimentation consisted in all possible combinations of the following treatments: (a) solar radiation: UVR + PAR (280–700 nm) versus PAR (photosynthetically active radiation) alone (400–700 nm); (b) nutrient addition (phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N)): ambient versus addition (P to reach to a final concentration of 30 μg P L−1, and N to reach N:P molar ratio of 31); and (c) mixing: mixed (one rotation from surface to 3 m depth (speed of 1 m 4 min−1, total of 10 cycles)) versus static. Our findings suggest that under ambient nutrient conditions there is a synergistic effect between vertical mixing and UVR, increasing phytoplankton photosynthetic inhibition and excretion of organic carbon (EOC) from opaque lakes as compared to algae that received constant mean irradiance within the epilimnion. The opposite occurs in clear lakes where antagonistic effects were determined, with mixing partially counteracting the negative effects of UVR. Nutrient input, mimicking atmospheric pulses from Saharan dust, reversed this effect and clear lakes became more inhibited during mixing, while opaque lakes benefited from the fluctuating irradiance regime. These climate change related scenarios of nutrient input and increased mixing, would not only affect photosynthesis and production in lakes, but might also further influence the microbial loop and trophic interactions via enhanced EOC under fluctuating UVR exposure.This work was supported by Ministerio Español de Medio Ambiente, Rural y Marino (PN2009/067) and Ciencia e Innovación (GLC2008-01127/BOS and CGL2011-23681), Junta de Andalucía (Excelencia CVI-02598), Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (PICT 2007-1651) and Fundación Playa Unión; GH and CD were supported by the Spanish Government – Formación de Profesorado Universitario Grant

Gene Duplications in the Genomes of Staphylococci and Enterococci

Gene duplications are a feature of bacterial genomes. In the present work we analyze the extent of gene duplications in the genomes of three microorganisms that belong to the Firmicutes phylum and that are etiologic agents of several nosocomial infections: Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecium, and Enterococcus faecalis. In all three groups, there is an irregular distribution of duplications in the genomes of the strains analyzed. Whereas in some of the strains duplications are scarce, hundreds of duplications are present in others. In all three species, mobile DNA accounts for a large percentage of the duplicated genes: phage DNA in S. aureus, and plasmid DNA in the enterococci. Duplicates also include core genes. In all three species, a reduced group of genes is duplicated in all strains analyzed. Duplication of the deoC and rpmG genes is a hallmark of S. aureus genomes. Duplication of the gene encoding the PTS IIB subunit is detected in all enterococci genomes. In E. faecalis it is remarkable that the genomes of some strains encode duplicates of the prgB and prgU genes. They belong to the prgABCU cluster, which responds to the presence of the peptide pheromone cCF10 by expressing the surface adhesins PrgA, PrgB, and PrgC