BCCM/ULC: a Public Culture Collection to conserve ex situ the polar cyanobacterial diversity and taxonomic reference strains

The BCCM/ULC public collection (https://bccm.belspo.be/about-us/bccm-ulc) aims to gather a representative portion of terrestrial, freshwater and marine cyanobacterial strains from different ecosystems with a focus on the polar diversity (140/272 strains). Amongst the 243 strains, for which the 16S rRNA gene sequence was determined, 93 OTU’s (99% 16S rRNA similarity) were recognized. It includes the taxonomic references (or ‘type’) for two taxa collected in Antarctica, Plectolyngbya hodgsonii and Shackletoniella antarctica. The collection’s goal is to preserve the deposited biological material, to valorize it by performing research on it, to provide it to interested parties for fundamental and applied research, and to provide services linked to the identification of the Cyanobacteria for the scientific community. An ISO 9001 certificate was obtained for the public deposition and distribution of strains, as part of the multi-site certification for the BCCM consortium A dozen genomes are presently being sequenced. For example, for the FRIA project BI-HABITAT, four genomes were sequenced and assembled: Nostoc spp. ULC180 (coverage: 94.11 %, assembly: ~6.3 Mb), ULC008 (coverage: 98.11 %, assembly: ~6.1 Mb), and ULC046 (coverage: 85.5 %, assembly: 6.2 Mb), as well as Phormidium autumnale (Microcoleus favosus) ULC128 (coverage: 99.71 %, assembly: ~7.1 Mb). Given their origin from the harsh environments of polar biotopes, the discovery of genes related to particular adaptations as well as novel molecules may be expected. Accordingly, methanolic extracts obtained from Phormidesmis priestleyi ULC0026 (sister to ULC007 for which the genome was already published) and from Plectolyngbya hodgsonii ULC009 showed, respectively, bioactivity against the fungus Cercospora sp., an important causal agent of plant diseases, and against Candida sp., that can cause human infections (candidiasis).BCCM/ULC collection of cyanobacteria14. Life below water15. Life on lan

Three years pilot of spinal muscular atrophy newborn screening turned into official program in Southern Belgium.

Three new therapies for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) have been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency since 2016. Although these new therapies improve the quality of life of patients who are symptomatic at first treatment, administration before the onset of symptoms is significantly more effective. As a consequence, newborn screening programs have been initiated in several countries. In 2018, we launched a 3-year pilot program to screen newborns for SMA in the Belgian region of Liège. This program was rapidly expanding to all of Southern Belgium, a region of approximately 55,000 births annually. During the pilot program, 136,339 neonates were tested for deletion of exon 7 of SMN1, the most common cause of SMA. Nine SMA cases with homozygous deletion were identified through this screen. Another patient was identified after presenting with symptoms and was shown to be heterozygous for the SMN1 exon 7 deletion and a point mutation on the opposite allele. These ten patients were treated. The pilot program has now successfully transitioned into the official neonatal screening program in Southern Belgium. The lessons learned during implementation of this pilot program are reported

Are patients living far from hospital at higher risk of late adjuvant chemotherapy for colon cancer?

AimsLate adjuvant chemotherapy (aCT) administration after colectomy (>56 d) is known to be associated with impaired prognosis. We aim to identify risk factors associated with late aCT, especially the travel time between patients' home and hospital.MethodsWe performed a retrospective monocentre cohort study. Patients included had a colectomy for a stage III or high risk stage II colon cancer between 2009 and 2015 performed at a French university hospital. Risk factors for late aCT were identified using a fractional polynomial logistic regression.ResultsNinety-four patients were included. The risk of late aCT was associated with travel time length, emergent colectomy, the need for scheduled care before aCT, and length of time between colectomy and postoperative multidisciplinary meeting advising aCT.ConclusionOur study suggests that, in patients with colon cancer, factors unrelated to disease severity and complexity could be associated with a higher risk of late aCT

Mitochondrial adaptation to in vivo polyunsaturated fatty acid deficiency: increase in phosphorylation efficiency.

International audiencePolyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) deficiency affects respiratory rate both in isolated mitochondria and in hepatocytes, an effect that is normally ascribed to major changes in membrane composition causing, in turn, protonophoriclike effects. In this study, we have compared the properties of hepatocytes isolated from PUFA-deficient rats with those from control animals treated with concentrations of the protonophoric uncoupler 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP). Despite identical respiratory rate and in situ mitochondrial membrane potential (delta psi), mitochondrial and cytosolic ATP/ADP-Pi ratios were significantly higher in PUFA-deficient cells than in control cells treated with DNP. We show that PUFA-deficient cells display an increase of phosphorylation efficiency, a higher mitochondrial ATP/ADP-Pi ratio being maintained despite the lower delta psi. This is achieved by (1) decreasing mitochondrial Pi accumulation, (2) increasing ATP synthase activity, and (3) by increasing the flux control coefficient of adenine nucleotide translocation. As a consequence, oxidative phosphorylation efficiency was only slightly affected in PUFA-deficient animals as compared to protonophoric uncoupling (DNP). Thus, the energy waste induced by PUFA deficiency on the processes that generate the proton motive force (pmf) is compensated in vivo by powerful adaptive mechanisms that act on the processes that use the pmf to synthesize ATP

BCCM/ULC: a source of cyanobacterial diversity for taxonomic, genomic and applied research

The BCCM/ULC public collection (https://bccm.belspo.be/about-us/bccm-ulc) aims to gather a representative portion of terrestrial, freshwater and marine cyanobacterial strains from different ecosystems with a focus on the polar diversity. The collection’s goals are to preserve the deposited biological material, to provide it to interested parties for fundamental and applied research, to valorize it by performing research, and to provide services linked to the identification of the Cyanobacteria for the scientific community. An ISO 9001 certification was obtained for the public deposit and distribution of strains, as part of the multi-site certification for the BCCM consortium. Several strains are the reference (or ‘type’) for newly described taxa. They include Plectolyngbya hodgsonii ULC009, Shackletoniella antarctica ULC037, Timaviella circinata ULC401, Parakomarekiella sesnandensis ULC0591, Petrachloros mirabilis ULC683, Johannesbaptistia floridana ULC591, Brasilonema fioreae ULC548, B. santannae ULC544, Leptochromothrix valpauliae ULC597, Vermifilum ionodolium ULC454, Neolyngbya biscaynensis ULC530, and Affixifilum floridanum ULC525. Beyond to the taxonomic purposes, whole genomes of ULC strains have been sequenced. For example, for the FRIA project BI-HABITAT, genomes were sequenced and have been assembled, covering Antarctic cyanobacterial strains of different morphotypes: Nostoc spp. ULC180 (coverage: 94.11 %, assembly: ~6.3 Mb), ULC008 (coverage: 98.11 %, assembly: ~6.1 Mb), and ULC046 (coverage: 85.5 %, assembly: 6.2 Mb), as well as Phormidium autumnale (Microcoleus favosus) ULC128 (coverage: 99.71 %, assembly: ~7.1 Mb). Given their origin from harsh environments (polar conditions), the discovery of genes related to particular adaptations as well as novel molecules may be expected. Accordingly, methanolic extracts obtained from Phormidesmis priestleyi ULC0026 (sister to ULC007 for which the genome was already published), isolated from an Antarctic lake, showed bioactivity against the fungus Cercospora sp., an important causal agent of plant diseases. Supported by Belgian Science Policy Office and FNRSBCCM/ULC collection of cyanobacteria15. Life on lan

Multidetector CT in patients with esophageal stent as a palliative treatment for stenosing esophageal cancer: a feasibility study.

International audienceOBJECTIVE: The self-expanding metallic stent (SEMS) is widely used in the palliative treatment of stenosing esophageal cancer. Multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) allows volumetric investigation including virtual endoscopy. The aim of this study was to determine the feasibility of MDCT follow-up of esophageal SEMS and to describe the imaging patterns encountered as well as correlating them with fibroscopic evaluation. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Thirteen consecutive patients (10 M, mean age 64 years) with esophageal SEMS as a palliative treatment underwent MDCT for recurrent dysphagia (n =7), chest pain and fever (n = 1) or follow-up without symptoms (n = 5). Patency and esophageal wall patterns were studied and compared with diagnosis by fibroscopy. RESULTS: No metallic artefact related to the SEMS was observed. At the SEMS level, MDCT revealed a tissular lump (n = 1), a thin recurrent layer of tissue (n = 1), extrinsic compression (n = 1), fluid stasis (n =7) and intussusception of the gastric wall into the SEMS (n =4). The esophageal wall was analyzed by MDCT (peripheral thickening around the stent (n = 8), tumor overgrowth under or above the SEMS level (n = 8)) and showed tracheal compression (n = 3). At the level of the SEMS, fibroscopy showed tumor recurrence (n = 2), a thin recurrent layer of tissue (n = 1), a distorted SEMS (n = 1) and a tumor overgrowth under or above the SEMS level (n = 6). In comparison with fibroscopy, MDCT satisfactorily diagnosed the SEMS patency in 92% of cases and the esophageal wall in 73%. CONCLUSIONS: Morphology, patency of the SEMS and analysis of the esophageal wall can be performed by MDCT with a good degree of accuracy as compared to fibroscopy. In such patients in palliative care, a non-invasive investigation is worth promoting as a first-line procedure

Ex-situ conservation and exploration of polar cyanobacteria in the BCCM/ULC Collection

The BCCM/ULC public collection funded by the Belgian Science Policy Office since 2011 aims to gather a representative portion of the polar cyanobacterial diversity with different ecological origins (limnetic microbial mats, soil crusts, cryoconites, endoliths, etc.). It makes it available for researchers to study the taxonomy, evolution, adaptations to harsh environmental conditions, and genomic make-up. It presently includes 174 cyanobacterial strains, with more than half being of polar origin (catalogue: http://bccm.belspo.be/catalogues/ulc-catalogue-search).BCCM/ULC culture collection of cyanobacteri