A method to obtain disinfected Globodera infective juveniles directly from cysts

Les systèmes d'inoculation in vitro sont des outils performants et précis pour l'étude des interactions plantes-nématodes. L'obtention de juvéniles stériles est une étape cruciale pour la plupart de ces systèmes. La majorité des protocoles publiés comprennent une désinfection des juvéniles, ce qui conduit à une mortalité élevée. Nous décrivons ici une nouvelle méthode pour désinfecter, rapidement, facilement, et à faible coût des nématodes du genre #Globodera$, en partant de kystes. La mortalité des juvéniles désinfectés est faible (entre 10 et 40% au maximum). Les juvéniles stérilisés infestent les racines de pomme de terre cultivées in vitro et s'y développent normalement. (Résumé d'auteur

Composite Phaseolus vulgaris plants with transgenic roots as research tool

Large seeded grain legumes such as the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) and cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) are very important crops with seeds that are major protein source for people in developingcountries, but their yields and improvement lag behind the economically more important cereals. For research purposes, genetic transformation is a powerful tool to obtain valuable information on gene expression and putative gene functions. In addition, through genetic transformation, candidate genes can be evaluated for their potential in agricultural biotechnology applications, such as resistance against biotic stresses. However, it remains difficult to stable genetically transform large seeded grain legumes such as Phaseolus and cowpea using Agrobacterium tumefaciens. In this paper a system is described to obtain so-called transgenic composite plants from P. vulgaris. These have a transgenic root system, obtained through Agrobacterium rhizogenes transformation of de-rooted seedlings. Their potentials for studies on important processes in the root system will be discussed

AN AZORHIZOBIUM-CAULINODANS ORS571 LOCUS INVOLVED IN LIPOPOLYSACCHARIDE PRODUCTION AND NODULE FORMATION ON SESBANIA-ROSTRATA STEMS AND ROOTS

Azorhizobium caulinodans ORS571 is able to nodulate roots and stems of the tropical legume Sesbania rostrata. An ORS571 Tn5 insertion mutant, strain ORS571-X15, had a rough colony morphology, was nonmotile, and showed clumping behavior on various media. When this pleiotropic mutant was inoculated on roots or stems of the host, no nodules developed (Nod-). Compared with the wild type, strain ORS571-X15 produced lipopolysaccharides (LPS) with an altered ladder pattern on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis gels, suggestive of a different O-antigen structure with a lower degree of polymerization. A cosmid clone, pRG20, that fully complemented all phenotypes of ORS571-X15 was isolated. With a 6-kb EcoRI subfragment of pRG20, clumping was relieved and nodulation was almost completely restored, but the strain was still nonmotile. LPS preparations from these complemented strains resembled the wild-type LPS, although minor quantitative and qualitative differences were evident. The sequence of the locus hit by the Tn5 in ORS571-X15 (the oac locus) revealed a striking homology with the rfb locus of Salmonella typhimurium, which is involved in O-antigen biosynthesis. The Tn5 insertion position was mapped to the oac3 gene, homologous to rfbA, encoding dTDP-D-glucose synthase. Biochemical assaying showed that ORS571-X15 is indeed defective in dTDP-D-glucose synthase activity, essential for the production of particular deoxyhexoses. Therefore, it was proposed that the O antigen of the mutant strain is devoid of such sugars

CHARACTERIZATION OF F107 FIMBRIAE OF ESCHERICHIA-COLI 107/86, WHICH CAUSES EDEMA DISEASE IN PIGS, AND NUCLEOTIDE-SEQUENCE OF THE F107 MAJOR FIMBRIAL SUBUNIT GENE, FEDA

F107 fimbriae were isolated and purified from edema disease strain 107/86 of Escherichia coli. Plasmid pIH120 was constructed, which contains the gene cluster that codes for adhesive F107 fimbriae. The major fimbrial subunit gene, fedA, was sequenced. An open reading frame that codes for a protein with 170 amino acids, including a 21-amino-acid signal peptide, was found. The protein without the signal sequence has a calculated molecular mass of 15,099 Da. Construction of a nonsense mutation in the open reading frame of fedA abolished both fimbrial expression and the capacity to adhere to isolated porcine intestinal villi. In a screening of 28 reference edema disease strains and isolates from clinically ill piglets, fedA was detected in 24 cases (85.7%). In 20 (83.3%) of these 24 strains, fedA was found in association with Shiga-like toxin II variant genes, coding for the toxin that is characteristic for edema disease strains of E. coli. The fimbrial subunit gene was not detected in enterotoxigenic E. coli strains. Because of the capacity of E. coli HB101(pIH120) transformants to adhere to isolated porcine intestinal villi, the high prevalence of fedA in edema disease strains, and the high correlation with the Shiga-like toxin II variant toxin-encoding genes, we suggest that F107 fimbriae are an important virulence factor in edema disease strains of E. coli

Engineering electron wavefunctions in asymmetrically confined quasi one-dimensional structures

We present results on electron transport in quasi-one dimensional quantum wires in GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures obtained using an asymmetric confinement potential. The variation of the energy levels of the spatially quantized states is followed from strong confinement through weak confinement to the onset of two dimensionality. An anticrossing of the initial ground and first excited states is found as the asymmetry of the potential is varied, giving rise to two anticrossing events, which occur on either side of symmetric confinement. We present results analyzing this behavior and showing how it can be affected by the inhomogeneity in background potential. The use of an enhanced source-drain voltage to alter the energy levels is shown to be a significant validation of the analysis by showing the formation of double rows of electrons, which correlate with the anticrossing

Lifeworld Inc. : and what to do about it

Can we detect changes in the way that the world turns up as they turn up? This paper makes such an attempt. The first part of the paper argues that a wide-ranging change is occurring in the ontological preconditions of Euro-American cultures, based in reworking what and how an event is produced. Driven by the security – entertainment complex, the aim is to mass produce phenomenological encounter: Lifeworld Inc as I call it. Swimming in a sea of data, such an aim requires the construction of just enough authenticity over and over again. In the second part of the paper, I go on to argue that this new world requires a different kind of social science, one that is experimental in its orientation—just as Lifeworld Inc is—but with a mission to provoke awareness in untoward ways in order to produce new means of association. Only thus, or so I argue, can social science add to the world we are now beginning to live in

Trends in caesarean delivery by country and wealth quintile: cross-sectional surveys in southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

OBJECTIVE: To examine temporal trends in caesarean delivery rates in southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, by country and wealth quintile. METHODS: Cross-sectional data were extracted from the results of 80 Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in 26 countries in southern Asia or sub-Saharan Africa. Caesarean delivery rates were evaluated - as percentages of the deliveries that ended in live births - for each wealth quintile in each survey. The annual rates recorded for each country were then compared to see if they had increased over time. FINDINGS: Caesarean delivery rates had risen over time in all but 6 study countries but were consistently found to be lower than 5% in 18 of the countries and 10% or less in the other eight countries. Among the poorest 20% of the population, caesarean sections accounted for less than 1% and less than 2% of deliveries in 12 and 21 of the study countries, respectively. In each of 11 countries, the caesarean delivery rate in the poorest 40% of the population remained under 1%. In Chad, Ethiopia, Guinea, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Niger and Nigeria, the rate remained under 1% in the poorest 80%. Compared with the 22 African study countries, the four study countries in southern Asia experienced a much greater rise in their caesarean delivery rates over time. However, the rates recorded among the poorest quintile in each of these countries consistently fell below 2%. CONCLUSION: Caesarean delivery rates among large sections of the population in sub-Saharan Africa are very low, probably because of poor access to such surgery