Rotavirus and reovirus stability in microorganism-free distilled and wastewaters

Survival of calf rotavirus and reovirus under controlled laboratory conditions in microorganism-free, distilled and wastewater at 8 and 26[deg]C was examined by periodic measurement of cytopathic effects (CPE) and indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA) assays. Five samples of both water-types were collected and inoculated with the two viruses. Three samples of each type of water were divided into two bottles, one per virus, for incubation at 8[deg]C. Two samples were used at 26[deg]C, one per trial. In the absence of light and shaking at 26[deg]C, 7-13 days were required for a loss of 90% infectivity for rotavirus and reovirus, while at 8[deg]C, averages were 80 days for rotavirus and 260 days for reovirus. Virus infectivity remained for more than 30 days at 26[deg]C and 400 days at 8[deg]C. Rates of decline were 10-100 times greater at 26 than at 8[deg]C, but at both temperatures, the MPN log10 rate of decline of infectivity was linear.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/25451/1/0000901.pd

The Role of bZIP Transcription Factors in Green Plant Evolution: Adaptive Features Emerging from Four Founder Genes

BACKGROUND: Transcription factors of the basic leucine zipper (bZIP) family control important processes in all eukaryotes. In plants, bZIPs are regulators of many central developmental and physiological processes including photomorphogenesis, leaf and seed formation, energy homeostasis, and abiotic and biotic stress responses. Here we performed a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of bZIP genes from algae, mosses, ferns, gymnosperms and angiosperms. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We identified 13 groups of bZIP homologues in angiosperms, three more than known before, that represent 34 Possible Groups of Orthologues (PoGOs). The 34 PoGOs may correspond to the complete set of ancestral angiosperm bZIP genes that participated in the diversification of flowering plants. Homologous genes dedicated to seed-related processes and ABA-mediated stress responses originated in the common ancestor of seed plants, and three groups of homologues emerged in the angiosperm lineage, of which one group plays a role in optimizing the use of energy. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our data suggest that the ancestor of green plants possessed four bZIP genes functionally involved in oxidative stress and unfolded protein responses that are bZIP-mediated processes in all eukaryotes, but also in light-dependent regulations. The four founder genes amplified and diverged significantly, generating traits that benefited the colonization of new environments

Targeted Next-Generation Sequencing Analysis of 1,000 Individuals with Intellectual Disability.

To identify genetic causes of intellectual disability (ID), we screened a cohort of 986 individuals with moderate to severe ID for variants in 565 known or candidate ID-associated genes using targeted next-generation sequencing. Likely pathogenic rare variants were found in ∼11% of the cases (113 variants in 107/986 individuals: ∼8% of the individuals had a likely pathogenic loss-of-function [LoF] variant, whereas ∼3% had a known pathogenic missense variant). Variants in SETD5, ATRX, CUL4B, MECP2, and ARID1B were the most common causes of ID. This study assessed the value of sequencing a cohort of probands to provide a molecular diagnosis of ID, without the availability of DNA from both parents for de novo sequence analysis. This modeling is clinically relevant as 28% of all UK families with dependent children are single parent households. In conclusion, to diagnose patients with ID in the absence of parental DNA, we recommend investigation of all LoF variants in known genes that cause ID and assessment of a limited list of proven pathogenic missense variants in these genes. This will provide 11% additional diagnostic yield beyond the 10%-15% yield from array CGH alone.Action Medical Research (SP4640); the Birth Defect Foundation (RG45448); the Cambridge National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre (RG64219); the NIHR Rare Diseases BioResource (RBAG163); Wellcome Trust award WT091310; The Cell lines and DNA bank of Rett Syndrome, X-linked mental retardation and other genetic diseases (member of the Telethon Network of Genetic Biobanks (project no. GTB12001); the Genetic Origins of Congenital Heart Disease Study (GO-CHD)- funded by British Heart Foundation (BHF)This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Wiley via http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/humu.2290

Mercer Law Review Symposium Luncheon Remarks: Conversations with Jack Sammons

While this Symposium is about Jack Sammons\u27s teaching and scholarship, I am going to exercise a speaker\u27s privilege to focus on the personal. However, I am going to do so by borrowing from Jack\u27s scholarly work because I, too, am going to talk about conversation. Not in the way that Jack and others have so provocatively used the word to characterize lawyers\u27 work. But, rather I use it in a more literal way. When I think of memories of Jack, many of them are around significant conversations. I first met Jack in 1996, when my husband Tim Floyd was invited to be a speaker at the Texas Tech Law Review banquet, where I was on the faculty. As Tim mentioned, he and Jack met each other through a shared interest in Law and Religion topics. Jack wrote an essay for a special Faith and the Law issue of the Texas Tech Law Review, which Tim coedited. Out of that relationship, Tim suggested to our law review students that Jack would be a wonderful speaker for the end of the year banquet, and indeed he was. The presentation included baseball, legal ethics, and a number of the other topics that we have been learning about today