Differential salt-stress response during germination and vegetative growth in in vitro selected somaclonal mutants of Cenchrus ciliaris L.

Four somaclonal mutants (S1, S4, S6 and M10) and their parental Cenchrus ciliaris L. cultivar Biloela were characterized under salinity conditions at germination and vegetative growth stages. Seeds of all somaclonal mutants had higher germination percentages than cv. Biloela seeds in the control and salt treatments. At 150 mM, germination was significantly higher in M10, S6 and S4 (72.3%, 66.3% and 61.8%, respectively) than in cv. Biloela (35.5%). Mutants grown under salinity along with cv. Biloela for 35 days had a different relative growth rate. S6 had the highest growth rate, indicating its potential tolerance to salt stress, whereas M10 was the most sensitive, with Bi, S4 and S1 being intermediate tolerant genotypes. Catalase enzyme activity (CAT) in M10 decreased in response to salt stress and was significantly associated with malondialdehide content, suggesting salt injury, whereas higher levels of CAT activity in S6 during salt stress were associated with increased salinity tolerance. The present results indicate that somaclonal variation and in vitro mutagenesis offer an effective tool for improvement of C. ciliaris because the somaclonal mutants showed differential tolerance to salt stress with respect to their parental and could be a better choice for use in a breeding program.Fil: Lopez Colomba, Eliana. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigaciones Agropecuarias. Instituto de Fisiología y Recursos Geneticos Vegetales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Tommasino, E.. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigaciones Agropecuarias. Instituto de Fisiología y Recursos Geneticos Vegetales; ArgentinaFil: Luna, Celina Mercedes. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigaciones Agropecuarias. Instituto de Fisiología y Recursos Geneticos Vegetales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Griffa, Sabrina Mariana. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigaciones Agropecuarias. Instituto de Fisiología y Recursos Geneticos Vegetales; ArgentinaFil: Carloni, Edgardo José. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigaciones Agropecuarias. Instituto de Fisiología y Recursos Geneticos Vegetales; ArgentinaFil: Ribotta, Andrea Noemí. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigaciones Agropecuarias. Instituto de Fisiología y Recursos Geneticos Vegetales; ArgentinaFil: Quiroga, M.. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigaciones Agropecuarias. Instituto de Fisiología y Recursos Geneticos Vegetales; ArgentinaFil: Grunberg, Karina Alejandra. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigaciones Agropecuarias. Instituto de Fisiología y Recursos Geneticos Vegetales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Trends of influenza B during the 2010–2016 seasons in 2 regions of north and south Italy: The impact of the vaccine mismatch on influenza immunisation strategy

Influenza A and B viruses are responsible for respiratory infections, representing globally seasonal threats to human health. The 2 viral types often co-circulate and influenza B plays an important role in the spread of infection. A 6-year retrospective surveillance study was conducted between 2010 and 2016 in 2 large administrative regions of Italy, located in the north (Liguria) and in the south (Sicily) of the country, to describe the burden and epidemiology of both B/Victoria and B/Yamagata lineages in different healthcare settings. Influenza B viruses were detected in 5 of 6 seasonal outbreaks, exceeding influenza A during the season 2012–2013. Most of influenza B infections were found in children aged ≤ 14 y and significant differences were observed in the age-groups infected by the different lineages. B/Victoria strains prevailed in younger population than B/Yamagata, but also were more frequently found in the community setting. Conversely, B/Yamagata viruses were prevalent among hospitalized cases suggesting their potential role in the development of more severe disease. The relative proportions of viral lineages varied from year to year, resulting in different lineage-level mismatch for the B component of trivalent influenza vaccine. Our findings confirmed the need for continuous virological surveillance of seasonal epidemics and bring attention to the adoption of universal influenza immunization program in the childhood. The use of tetravalent vaccine formulations may be useful to improve the prevention and control of the influenza burden in general population

Morphological evaluation of buffelgrass cultivar “Lucero INTA-PEMAN” in drought conditions

In searching for new cultivars that are better adapted to edapho-climatic constraints existing in northwestern Argentina, mainly drought and salinity stress, a hybrid of buffelgrass (Cenchrus ciliaris L.) named Lucero INTA PEMAN was obtained by controlled crosses at the Instituto de Fitopatología y Fisiología Vegetal, INTA. The objective was to morphologically evaluate and compare Cenchrus ciliaris cv Lucero with Texas-4464, Biloela and Molopo cultivars in Dean Funes (North of the Province of Córdoba, Argentina) under drought field conditions using a randomized complete block design with three replications in two crop cycles (2006/2007 and 2007/2008) considering one-year plant and re-growth as ontogenic stages of the plant, respectively. Thirteen morphological characters were analyzed by ANOVA and DGC testing (p <0.05). Although most of the thirteen morphological characters evaluated showed decreased re-growth over one-year plants, Lucero was least affected by low water availability, showed highest values for seed production components in both ontogenic stages and was superior to Texas-4464 in biomass production characters and to Biloela and Molopo cultivars in most of them. Lucero showed a promising and considerable forage value for drought-affected regions, such as northwestern Argentina

In vitro antileishmanial activity of trans-stilbene and terphenyl compounds

Leishmaniasis are globally widespread parasitic diseases which often leads to death if left untreated. Currently available drugs present different drawbacks, so there is an urgent need to develop new, safe and cost-effective drugs against leishmaniasis. In this study we tested a small library of trans-stilbene and terphenyl derivatives against promastigote, amastigotes and intramacrophage amastigote forms of Leishmania infantum. Two compounds of the series, the trans-stilbene 3 and the terphenyl 11, presented the best activity and safety profiles. Terphenyl 11 showed a leshmanicidal activity higher than pentostam and the ability to induce apoptosis selectively in Leishmania infantum while saving macrophages and primary epithelial cells. Our data indicate that terphenyl compounds, as well as stilbenes, are endowed with leishmanicidal activity, showing potential for further studies in the context of leishmanial therapy

Cardiac remodeling according to the nocturnal fall of blood pressure in hypertensive subjects: The whole assessment of cardiac abnormalities in non-dipper subjects with arterial hypertension (wacanda) study

Objective: Several epidemiological studies suggest that the preservation of the physiological circadian rhythm of blood pressure or its disruption affects the extent of the organ damage developed by the patient. If we classify the circadian rhythm of blood pressure into four nocturnal profiles, significant differences emerge in terms of organ damage burden and prognosis: reverse dippers have the worst prognosis while dippers and mild dippers fall into an intermediate risk range. The risk profile of extreme dippers is still debated, and the available data are very conflicting and inconclusive. Starting from this gap of knowledge, we aimed to evaluate, retrospectively, in a cohort of hypertensive subjects, the degree of cardiac involvement in relation to the different nocturnal blood pressure profiles. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 900 patients with essential hypertension, of whom 510 met our study criteria. We graded the 510 patients in relation to the percentage of reduction in mean systolic blood pressure (SBP) at night-time compared with day-time, considering this as a continuous variable, and then compared the extreme quintiles with each other and with the middle quintile (considered as reference). Results: Patients with less (or no) reduction in nocturnal SBP (reverse dipper) showed a higher level of organ damage and comorbidities. With regard to echocardiographic indexes, patients with maximum nocturnal pressure reduction (extreme dipper) showed a lower level of remodeling and/or impairment of E/e’ ratio, Right Atrium Area, Basal Right Ventricular Diameter, Inferior Vena Cava Average Diameter, and Tricuspidal Anular Plane Systolic Excursion compared also with hypertensive patients with a physiological nocturnal pressure reduction, even after correction for the main confounders. Conclusions: These data suggest that extreme dippers may constitute the subgroup of hypertensive patients with the lowest 24-h pressure load and, therefore, less cardiac remodeling

Hemochromatosis Mimicked Gaucher Disease: Role of Hyperferritinemia in Evaluation of a Clinical Case

Gaucher disease is a disorder of lysosomes caused by a functional defect of the glucocere-brosidase enzyme. The disease is mainly due to mutations in the GBA1 gene, which determines the gradual storage of glucosylceramide substrate in the patient’s macrophages. In this paper, we describe the case of a 38-year-old man who clinically presented with hyperferritinemia, thrombocytopenia, leukopenia, anemia and mild splenomegaly; a diagnosis of hemochromatosis was made 10 years earlier. Re-evaluation of the clinical case led to a suspicion of Gaucher disease, which was confirmed by enzymatic analysis, which was found to be below the normal range, and genetic evaluation, which identified compound heterozygosity N370S/RecNciI. We know that patients suffering from Gaucher disease can also have high ferritin levels. Even if the mechanism underlying the changes in iron metabolism is not yet elucidated, the chronic mild inflammatory state present in these patients probably causes the storage of ferritin in macrophages, resulting in hyperferritinemia. Therefore, in the presence of few typical signs and symptoms of the disease should raise an alarm bell in the clinicians, inducing clinical suspicion of Gaucher disease. Misdiagnosis and diagnostic delay in metabolic diseases could cause irreversible organ damage and delay the start of specific therapy for these patients

TTAS a new stilbene derivative that induces apoptosis in Leishmania infantum.

Leishmania parasites are able to undergo apoptosis (programmed cell death), similarly to mammalian cells. Recently it was demonstrated in vitro the anti-leishmanial effect of some natural and synthetic stilbenoids including resveratrol and piceatannol. In this study we evaluated the Leishmanicidal activity of a pool of stilbene derivatives which had previously shown high apoptotic efficacy against neoplastic cells. All the compounds tested were capable to decrease the parasite viability in a dose-dependent manner. Trans-stilbenes proved to be markedly more effective than cis-isomers. This was different from that observed in tumor cells in which cis-stilbenes were more potent cytotoxic agents. Trans-3,4',5-trimethoxy-3'-amino-stilbene (TTAS) was the most active stilbene showing in Leishmania infantum a LD(50) value of 2.6 μg/mL. In contrast TTAS showed a low toxicity when tested on normal hemopoietic cells. This compound induced apoptosis in parasites by disrupting the mitochondrial membrane potential. Moreover it shows the ability to block Leishmania parasites in G(2)-M phase of cell cycle in agreement with the data obtained by affinity chromatography that identify tubulin as the putative target of TTAS. In conclusion, our results indicate that some stilbene derivatives are highly effective as anti-leishmanial agents and TTAS represents a pro-apoptotic agent in Leishmania parasites that merit further in vivo investigation

Identification of IMDC intermediate-risk subgroups in patients with metastatic clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC).

e16577Background: Majority of patients (pts) with ccRCC at first line (1L) treatment are classified in the IR subgroup according to International Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Database Consortium..

Implicancias del estrés hídrico en la calidad forrajera de Cenchrus ciliaris L.

Las colecciones de germoplasma representan un punto de partida importante para el mantenimiento y multiplicación de fuentes genéticas y la evaluación de la potencialidad de especies para diferentes destinos productivos. El estudio de especies forrajeras promisorias para la alimentación animal se basa en aspectos agronómicos, productivos y de calidad1. La calidad de una pastura está asociada con la anatomía foliar y sus tejidos constituyentes, el contenido de pared celular (determinante de la rigidez), las condiciones ambientales y el estado fenológico2. El objetivo de nuestro trabajo fue evaluar el efecto de estrés hídrico en estadío de plántula y su relación con calidad forrajera en los genotipos RN51 (de comportamiento tolerante) y RN1 (susceptible) de Cenchrus ciliaris L. Se midieron parámetros fisiológicos, anatómicos, morfo-agronómicos y moleculares. El ensayo consistió de los tratamientos: Control (80% capacidad de campo (CC)) y sequía (20%CC, 21 días). Al final de cada tratamiento, se midieron contenido relativo de agua, eficiencia cuántica máxima (Fv/Fm) del PSII, evapotranspiración, altura, peso fresco y peso seco. El genotipo susceptible mostrólos mayores valores de daño (evaluado como proporción entre la condición de estrés y la media del control, para cada tratamiento y genotipo) para las variables fisiológicas y morfo-agronómicas. En las variables anatómicas (medidas en lámina), el genotipo tolerante mostró aumento en el área del esclerénquima, mayor grosor de la epidermis adaxial y menor relación parénquima:esclerénquima que el genotipo susceptible y además exhibió la formación de células buliformes al ser expuesto a estrés hídrico. Asimismo, dicho genotipo incrementó la expresión de genes relacionados con la biosíntesis de la lignina en condiciones de sequía. Este estudio es el primer antecedente en Cenchrus ciliaris que evidencia la asociación negativa entre el proceso de lignificación, determinante de la calidad forrajera y tolerancia al estrés hídrico