Functional organization of the gene cluster involved in the synthesis of the pneumococcal capsule

Streptococcus pneumoniae is a major human pathogen and its capsular polysaccharide has been shown to be the main virulence factor. The molecular organization of the genes governing the formation of this capsule was not studied until the 1990s. The capsular clusters (cap) of eight of the 90 known pneumococcal types have now been studied. The cap operon, located between the dexB and aliA genes, is arranged as a central region comprising the genes coding for the specifictype polysaccharide, flanked by open reading frames that are mostly common to all of the serotypes. The biochemical functions of 24 genes required for capsular polysaccharide biosynthesis have been elucidated but the precise role of the flanking regions in capsular formation is unknown. The natural genetic transformation characteristic of pneumococci, the arrangement of the cap locus and the abundance of transposable elements at this locus favor the genetic variability of the capsule in this microorganism. These well-documented observations together with the finding that some genes located outside the cap cluster may also participate in capsule formation increase the complexity of pneumococcal infection control

The effect of workplace pension schemes on households' private savings

Artículo de revistaThe tax incentive enjoyed by workplace pension schemes could encourage participants to increase their total savings or, alternatively, crowd out savings that would have materialised in other financial vehicles in the absence of this incentive. This article uses data from the Spanish Survey of Household Finances to estimate the additional savings generated by this type of scheme. To this end, the financial position of workplace pension scheme participants is compared to that of a group of workers of similar ages, with similar educational attainment levels and occupations, but who do not participate in such schemes. Once the comparable group is constructed, it can be seen that, on average, each euro saved in workplace pension schemes increases private savings by around 66 cents. This is the ratio of the difference in average net wealth between participants and their comparable group (€13,600) to the average amount accumulated in pension schemes (€20,600). Once adjusted for the fact that contributions are taxexempt, the additional savings generated amount to around 31 cents for every euro contributed, calculated as the ratio of the €6,500 difference in tax-relief-adjusted wealth between the two groups to the average amount accumulated in workplace pension schemes

Employment risk and household formation : evidence from differences in firing costs

The rate of new household formation among young adults who live with their parents has decreased in the last twenty years, specially in Southern Europe. At the same time, exposure to the risk that a young adult loses his or her job has increased. We use differences in firing costs across contract types in the Spanish labor market to identify if there is a causal link between both developments. Our first identification strategy exploits a legally-induced sharp increase in firing costs 3 years after the starting of a fixed-term contract between 1987 and 1996. The second uses variation in regional incentives to promote high-firing cost contracts between 1997 and 2001. Both strategies fail to detect a causal impact of job insecurity on the probability of forming a new household. Tentative evidence supports the notion that lower job insecurity has an impact on the form of tenure of the first house of residence, favoring home-ownership over rentin

Peculiarities of the DNA of MM1, a temperate phage of Streptococcus pneumoniae

The abundant presence of temperate phages in the chromosomes of clinical isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae has been well documented. The genome of MM1, a temperate phage of pneumococcus, has been isolated as a DNA-protein complex. The protein is covalently bound to the DNA, was iodinated in vitro with Na125I, and has an Mr of 22,000. Electron microscopy and enzymatic analyses revealed that the MM1 genome is a linear, circularly permuted, terminally redundant collection of double-stranded DNA molecules packaged via a headful mechanism. The location of the pac site appears to be downstream of the terminase, between orf32 and orf34 of the MM1 genome. [Int Microbiol 2004; 7(2):133-137

The Versatility of Opportunistic Infections Caused by Gemella Isolates Is Supported by the Carriage of Virulence Factors From Multiple Origins

The molecular basis of the pathogenesis of the opportunistic invasive infections caused by isolates of the Gemella genus remains largely unknown. Moreover, inconsistencies in the current species assignation were detected after genome-level comparison of 16 public Gemella isolates. A literature search detected that, between the two most pathogenic species, Gemella morbillorum causes about twice the number of cases compared to Gemella haemolysans. These two species shared their mean diseases - sepsis and endocarditis - but differed in causing other syndromes. A number of well-known virulence factors were harbored by all species, such as a manganese transport/adhesin sharing 83% identity from oral endocarditis-causing streptococci. Likewise, all Gemellae carried the genes required for incorporating phosphorylcholine into their cell walls and encoded some choline-binding proteins. In contrast, other proteins were species-specific, which may justify the known epidemiological differences. G. haemolysans, but not G. morbillorum, harbor a gene cluster potentially encoding a polysaccharidic capsule. Species-specific surface determinants also included Rib and MucBP repeats, hemoglobin-binding NEAT domains, peptidases of C5a complement factor and domains that recognize extracellular matrix molecules exposed in damaged heart valves, such as collagen and fibronectin. Surface virulence determinants were associated with several taxonomically dispersed opportunistic genera of the oral microbiota, such as Granulicatella, Parvimonas, and Streptococcus, suggesting the existence of a horizontally transferrable gene reservoir in the oral environment, likely facilitated by close proximity in biofilms and ultimately linked to endocarditis. The identification of the Gemella virulence pool should be implemented in whole genome-based protocols to rationally predict the pathogenic potential in ongoing clinical infections caused by these poorly known bacterial pathogens.This research was supported by grants MPY 509/19 from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) and SAF2017-88664-R from the Spanish Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (MEICOM). The Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERES) is an initiative of the ISCIII. AM-G is the recipient of a Miguel Servet contract by the ISCIII.S

“Unidos por el sentido común”. Identidad(es) cultural(es) y participación política en el 15M: preguntas para una reflexión etnográfica

This article intends to study a list of analytical questions about intercultural relations at the heart of the indignation movements and, concretely, the 15M movement, which directs the ethnographic work. In order to contextualize these relations, a series of theoretical approaches are analyzed. In this sense the perspective approached oscillates between the psychosocial notion of identity and its incardination in the processes of recognition and construction of the identity, including the theory of the social identity in the intergroup behaviour, and the achievement of the different models of acculturation and coexistence. Together with this, it is important to bear in mind the citizenship processes and another element which seems secondary but which gains especial importance due to the international aspects of thementioned movements, that is, the concept of cosmopolitan identity.Este artículo aspira ofrecer una batería de preguntas analíticas sobre las relaciones interculturales en el seno de los movimientos de indignación (el 15M) que oriente el trabajo etnográfico. Para ello, propone una serie de enfoques teóricos que nos auxilian en la contextualización de dichas relaciones. En este sentido, el encuadre adoptado transita desde la noción psicosocial de identidad y su incardinamiento en los procesos de reconocimiento y construcción identitaria, pasando por la teoría de la identidad social de la conducta intergrupal, hasta llegar a los diferentes modelos de aculturación y convivencia, sin olvidarse de los procesos de ciudadanía, así como de un elemento aparentemente secundario pero que cobra una especial relevancia habida cuenta del carácter internacionalista de tales movimientos, asaber, el concepto de identidad cosmopolita

La construcción social del activismo en Madrid durante el ciclo 15M: subjetividades políticas y resistencia antiausteritaria

Tesis doctoral inédita leída en la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Departamento de Antropología Social y Pensamiento Filosófico Español. Fecha de lectura: 14-06-201