Florecimientos de dinoflagelados nocivos en la costa Pacífica de Costa Rica

Since 1979 has been reported harmful microalgae blooms (HAB) on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, it was identified until 2005 at least 13 taxa of dinoflagellates. In recent years these phenomena have intensified both spatially and temporarily, discolorations occur almost uninterrupted; they are distributed for months and which extend along the coast causing death fish and smelly in the water. Such massive FAN started with Pyrodinium bahamense, whose discoloration in 2000 lasted for more than one year and in which morphotypes were observed the two varieties of the species, coexisting alongside with Gymnodinium catenatum and causing serious cases of paralytic shellfish poisoning by seafood consumption (PSP). Later, from September 2003 until June 2004, Cochlodinium cf. polykrikoides produced discolorations in the entire Pacific coast followed by extensive stains of Akasiwo sanguinea and Gymnodinium instriatum. The latest event was observed in June 2005 when Alexandrium monilatum produced extensive discolorations with chains formed by more than 100 cells. The HAB of dinoflagellates are now common along the coasts of Costa Rica, possibly as a result of the current environmental conditions that favor the massive proliferation of invasive species (aggressive), which can even affect other sites in the American Pacific as the case of P. bahamense var. compressum which can be moved towards Mexico along the Central Pacific Coast through the Costa Rica Current Flow and Mexican Western Current.Desde 1979 se han reportado florecimientos de especies de microalgas nocivas (FAN) en la costa Pacífica de Costa Rica, reconociéndose hasta el 2005 al menos 13 taxa de dinoflagelados. En años recientes estos fenómenos se han intensificado tanto espacial como temporalmente, produciéndose discoloraciones casi ininterrumpidas que se extienden por toda la costa produciendo mortalidad de peces y fetidez en el agua. Tales FAN masivos se iniciaron con Pyrodinium bahamense en el 2000, quien perduró por más de un año y en el cual se observaron morfotipos correspondientes a las dos variedades de la especie, coexistiendo junto a Gymnodinium catenatum y ocasionando serios casos de Intoxicación Paralizante por Consumo de Mariscos (IPM). Posteriormente, de septiembre del 2003 hasta junio del 2004, Cochlodinium cf. polykrikoides produjo discoloraciones en toda la costa Pacífica, seguidas por manchas extensas de Akasiwo sanguinea y Gymnodinium instriatum. El evento más reciente se observó en junio del 2005 cuando Alexandrium monilatum produjo extensas discoloraciones con cadenas formadas por más de 100 células. Los FAN de dinoflagelados ahora son comunes en las costas de Costa Rica, posiblemente como resultado de las condiciones ambientales actuales que favorecen la proliferación masiva de especies invasivas (agresivas), las cuales incluso pueden afectar otros sitios del Pacífico americano como es el caso de P. bahamense var. compressum que puede desplazarse hasta México, a lo largo de la costa del Pacífico centroamericano a través de la Corriente Costera de Costa Rica y la Corriente Occidental Mexicana

Ultrastructure and histology of organogenesis induced from shoot tips of maize (Zea mays, Poaceae)

Shoot tips of maize (Zea mays L.) were cultured on Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with 2 mg/l BA +1 mg/l 2,4-D +40 mg/l, to investigate phases of ontogenetic development. The study used light microscopy as well as scanning and transmission electronic microscopy techniques. Shoot tips of maize are composed of small cells with a dense cytoplasm and a prominent nucleus. The process of organogenesis began with swelling of the shoot tip, as the first evidence of organogenic calli formation observed three weeks after culture get started. There were two morphologically different types of cells within the organogenic calli. The layer consisted of large cells with small nucleus, free-organelle cytosol, irregular plasmatic membrane, trichomelike structures, and thick cell walls. In the inner cell layer, small and isodiametric cells with a prominent nucleus, small vacuoles, endoplasmatic reticulum, Golgi, mitochondrias and chloroplasts were observed. The presence of trichomes in the more active morphogenic zones could indicate an organogenic potential. Rev. Biol. Trop. 57 (Suppl. 1): 129-139. Epub 2009 November 30.Los ápices de vástagos de maíz (Zea mays L.) fueron cultivados con el medio Murashige y Skoog, utilizando como suplemento 2 mg/l BA +1 mg/l 2,4-D +40 mg/l, con el fin de investigar el proceso organogénico durante las diferentes fases del desarrollo ontogenético. El estudio utilizó tanto microscopía de luz, como técnicas de microscopía electrónica. Los análisis histológicos revelaron que los vástagos de maíz están compuestos de pequeñas células con citoplasma denso y núcleo prominente. El proceso de organogénesis inicia con el engrosamiento del ápice del vástago, como primera evidencia de la formación organogénica del calli observada tres semanas después del inicio del cultivo. El estudio ultraestructural muestra dos tipos de células morfológicamente diferentes en el calli organogénico. La capa externa consiste de células grandes con núcleo pequeño, citosol sin organelas, membrana plamática irregular, estructuras similares a tricomas y paredes celulares delgadas. Mientras que en la capa interna se observaron células pequeñas e isodiamétricas con un núcleo prominente, vacuolas pequeñas, retículo endoplasmático, Golgi, mitocondrias y cloroplastos. Observaciones de microscopía electrónica revelan la organización externa de la organogénesis del calli del maíz. Los resultados obtenidos en el presente estudio contribuyen con la comprensión del proceso de organogénesis en los ápices de los vástagos del maíz. Este estudio mejorará nuestro conocimiento acerca de los estados anatómicos óptimos para la integración estable de genes externos. Además, provee información de las condiciones apropiadas en el cultivo in vitro para la regeneración de plantas transgénicas. Este estudio sugiere que la presencia de tricomas en las zonas morfogénicas más activas podría indicar su potencial organogénico.UCR::Vicerrectoría de Docencia::Ciencias Básicas::Facultad de Ciencias::Escuela de Biologí

Brucella-Salmonella lipopolysaccharide chimeras are less permeable to hydrophobic probes and more sensitive to cationic peptides and EDTA than are their native Brucella sp. counterparts

A rough (R) Brucella abortus 45/20 mutant was more sensitive to the bactericidal activity of polymyxin B and lactoferricin B than was its smooth (S) counterpart but considerably more resistant than Salmonella montevideo. The outer membrane (OM) and isolated lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of S. montevideo showed a higher affinity for these cationic peptides than did the corresponding B. abortus OM and LPS. We took advantage of the moderate sensitivity of R B. abortus to cationic peptides to construct live R B. abortus-S-LPS chimeras to test the activities of polymyxin B, lactoferricin B, and EDTA. Homogeneous and abundant peripheral distribution of the heterologous S-LPS was observed on the surface of the chimeras, and this coating had no effect on the viability or morphology of the cells. When the heterologous LPS corresponded to the less sensitive bacterium S B. abortus S19, the chimeras were more resistant to cationic peptides; in contrast, when the S-LPS was from the more sensitive bacterium S. montevideo, the chimeras were more susceptible to the action of peptides and EDTA. A direct correlation between the amount of heterologous S-LPS on the surface of chimeric Brucella cells and peptide sensitivity was observed. Whereas the damage produced by polymyxin B in S. montevideo and B. abortus-S. montevideo S-LPS chimeras was manifested mainly as OM blebbing and inner membrane rolling, lactoferricin B caused inner membrane detachment, vacuolization, and the formation of internal electron-dense granules in these cells. Native S and R B. abortus strains were permeable to the hydrophobic probe N-phenyl-1-naphthylamine (NPN). In contrast, only reduced amounts of NPN partitioned into the OMs of the S. montevideo and B. abortus-S. montevideo S-LPS chimeras. Following peptide exposure, accelerated NPN uptake similar to that observed for S. montevideo was detected for the B. abortus-S. montevideo LPS chimeras. The partition of NPN into native or EDTA-, polymyxin B-, or lactoferricin B-treated LPS micelles of S. montevideo or B. abortus mimicked the effects observed with intact cells, and this was confirmed by using micelle hybrids of B. abortus and S. montevideo LPSs. The results showed that LPS is the main cause of B. abortus' resistance to bactericidal cationic peptides, the OM-disturbing action of divalent cationic chelants, and OM permeability to hydrophobic substances. It is proposed that these three features are related to the ability of Brucella bacteria to multiply within phagocytes

Low Energy Nuclear Structure from Ultrarelativistic Heavy-Light Ion collisions

37th Brazilian Meeting on Nuclear Physics. Sao Paulo (Brazil), 8-12 September, 2014.The search for specific signals in ultrarelativistic heavy-light ion collisions addressing intrinsic geometric features of nuclei may open a new window to low energy nuclear structure. We discuss specifically the phenomenon of alpha-clustering in C-12 when colliding with (208)pb at almost the speed of light.This research was supported by the Polish National Science Centre, grants DEC- 2011/01/D/ST2/00772 and DEC-2012/06/A/ST2/00390, Spanish DGI (grant FIS2011-24149) and Junta de Andalucía (grant FQM225)

The outer membrane of Brucella ovis shows increased permeability to hydrophobic probes and is more susceptible to cationic peptides than are the outer membranes of mutant rough Brucella abortus strains

The permeability of the outer membrane (OM) to hydrophobic probes and its susceptibility to bactericidal cationic peptides were investigated for natural rough Brucella ovis and for mutant rough Brucella abortus strains. The OM of B. ovis displayed an abrupt and faster kinetic profile than rough B. abortus during the uptake of the hydrophobic probe N-phenyl-naphthylamine. B. ovis was more sensitive than rough B. abortus to the action of cationic peptides. Bactenecins 5 and 7 induced morphological alterations on the OMs of both rough Brucella strains. B. ovis lipopolysaccharide (LPS) captured considerably more polymyxin B than LPSs from both rough and smooth B. abortus strains. Polymyxin B, poly-L-lysine, and poly-L-ornithine produced a thick coating on the surfaces of both strains, which was more evident in B. ovis than in rough B. abortus. The distinct functional properties of the OMs of these two rough strains correlate with some structural differences of their OMs and with their different biological behaviors in animals and culture cells

The Lipopolysaccharide Core of Brucella abortus Acts as a Shield Against Innate Immunity Recognition

Innate immunity recognizes bacterial molecules bearing pathogen-associated molecular patterns to launch inflammatory responses leading to the activation of adaptive immunity. However, the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of the gram-negative bacterium Brucella lacks a marked pathogen-associated molecular pattern, and it has been postulated that this delays the development of immunity, creating a gap that is critical for the bacterium to reach the intracellular replicative niche. We found that a B. abortus mutant in the wadC gene displayed a disrupted LPS core while keeping both the LPS O-polysaccharide and lipid A. In mice, the wadC mutant induced proinflammatory responses and was attenuated. In addition, it was sensitive to killing by non-immune serum and bactericidal peptides and did not multiply in dendritic cells being targeted to lysosomal compartments. In contrast to wild type B. abortus, the wadC mutant induced dendritic cell maturation and secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines. All these properties were reproduced by the wadC mutant purified LPS in a TLR4-dependent manner. Moreover, the core-mutated LPS displayed an increased binding to MD-2, the TLR4 co-receptor leading to subsequent increase in intracellular signaling. Here we show that Brucella escapes recognition in early stages of infection by expressing a shield against recognition by innate immunity in its LPS core and identify a novel virulence mechanism in intracellular pathogenic gram-negative bacteria. These results also encourage for an improvement in the generation of novel bacterial vaccines

Coulomb dissociation of N 20,21

Neutron-rich light nuclei and their reactions play an important role in the creation of chemical elements. Here, data from a Coulomb dissociation experiment on N20,21 are reported. Relativistic N20,21 ions impinged on a lead target and the Coulomb dissociation cross section was determined in a kinematically complete experiment. Using the detailed balance theorem, the N19(n,γ)N20 and N20(n,γ)N21 excitation functions and thermonuclear reaction rates have been determined. The N19(n,γ)N20 rate is up to a factor of 5 higher at

Measurement of the top quark forward-backward production asymmetry and the anomalous chromoelectric and chromomagnetic moments in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV

Abstract The parton-level top quark (t) forward-backward asymmetry and the anomalous chromoelectric (d̂ t) and chromomagnetic (μ̂ t) moments have been measured using LHC pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected in the CMS detector in a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb−1. The linearized variable AFB(1) is used to approximate the asymmetry. Candidate t t ¯ events decaying to a muon or electron and jets in final states with low and high Lorentz boosts are selected and reconstructed using a fit of the kinematic distributions of the decay products to those expected for t t ¯ final states. The values found for the parameters are AFB(1)=0.048−0.087+0.095(stat)−0.029+0.020(syst),μ̂t=−0.024−0.009+0.013(stat)−0.011+0.016(syst), and a limit is placed on the magnitude of | d̂ t| < 0.03 at 95% confidence level. [Figure not available: see fulltext.

Measurement of t(t)over-bar normalised multi-differential cross sections in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV, and simultaneous determination of the strong coupling strength, top quark pole mass, and parton distribution functions

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An embedding technique to determine ττ backgrounds in proton-proton collision data

An embedding technique is presented to estimate standard model tau tau backgrounds from data with minimal simulation input. In the data, the muons are removed from reconstructed mu mu events and replaced with simulated tau leptons with the same kinematic properties. In this way, a set of hybrid events is obtained that does not rely on simulation except for the decay of the tau leptons. The challenges in describing the underlying event or the production of associated jets in the simulation are avoided. The technique described in this paper was developed for CMS. Its validation and the inherent uncertainties are also discussed. The demonstration of the performance of the technique is based on a sample of proton-proton collisions collected by CMS in 2017 at root s = 13 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 41.5 fb(-1).Peer reviewe