Serratia osteomyelitis and chronic granulomatous disease

Chronic Granulomatous Disease (CGD) is a primary immunodeficiency disorder characterized by recurrent purulent infections of the skin, lungs, and reticuloendothelial organs, primarily due to staphylococci, enteric bacteria, fungi, and occasionally mycobacteria. More than two thirds of all cases are X-linked and result from defects in the CYBB gene that encodes the gp91-phox subunit of NADPH oxidase. The authors present a case of a three month old child admitted with a metacarpic steomyelitis by Serratia marcescens. Studies confirmed an abnormal respiratory burst in activated neutrophils and absence of gp91-phox expression on patient and a brother (with previous Nocardia infection). Both hemizygous for a pathogenic mutation detected in exon 3 of CYBB gene (c.252 G>A, p.Ala84Ala), a variant that affects the splicing. At two years of age he is still on prophylaxis with cotrimoxazol and itraconazol, without relevant complications. CGD is rare but must be evocated in cases of uncommon or atypical infections

Structure-antifouling activity relationship and molecular targets of bio-inspired(Thio)xanthones

The development of alternative ecological and effective antifouling technologies is still challenging. Synthesis of nature-inspired compounds has been exploited, given the potential to assure commercial supplies of potential ecofriendly antifouling agents. In this direction, the antifouling activity of a series of nineteen synthetic small molecules, with chemical similarities with natural products, were exploited in this work. Six (4, 5, 7, 10, 15 and 17) of the tested xanthones showed in vivo activity toward the settlement of Mytilus galloprovincialis larvae (EC50: 3.53–28.60 µM) and low toxicity to this macrofouling species (LC50 > 500 µM and LC50/EC50: 17.42–141.64), and two of them (7 and 10) showed no general marine ecotoxicity (<10% of Artemia salina mortality) after 48 h of exposure. Regarding the mechanism of action in mussel larvae, the best performance compounds 4 and 5 might be acting by the inhibition of acetylcholinesterase activity (in vitro and in silico studies), while 7 and 10 showed specific targets (proteomic studies) directly related with the mussel adhesive structure (byssal threads), given by the alterations in the expression of Mytilus collagen proteins (PreCols) and proximal thread proteins (TMPs). A quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) model was built with predictive capacity to enable speeding the design of new potential active compounds.This research was supported by national funds through FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology within the scope of UIDB/04423/2020 and UIDP/04423/2020 and under the project PTDC/AAG-TEC/0739/2014 (reference POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016793) supported through national funds provided by FCT and ERDF - European Regional Development Fund through the COMPETE - Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade (POFC) programme and RIDTI - Reforçar a Investigação, o Desenvolvimento Tecnológico e a Inovação (project 9471) and the project NASCEM PTDC/BTA-BTA/31422/2017 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-031422) also financed by FCT, COMPETE2020 and PORTUGAL2020

Diversidade de clusters gênicos biossintéticos em Streptomyces sp. MAD39, isolado com potencial para biocontrole de patógenos de cadeias agrícolas regionais.

O presente trabalho tem como objetivo realizar a mineração genômica visando caracterizar o potencial biossintético e biotecnológico, bem como realizar a identificação filogenômica da linhagem MAD39

Periods of weed interference in cowpea crop in the semi-arid of Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Weed interference is one of the main limiting factors in the cowpea yield. In this sense, we aimed to determine the periods of weed interference in the cowpea crop in the semi-arid region of Minas Gerais. The treatments were arranged in a 2 x 10 factorial scheme, with two factors: coexistence and control of weed and ten periods: 0, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, 49, 56 and 63 days after emergence (DAE) subjected to control and coexistence. The evaluated characteristics were dry weight of weeds and the cowpea, weight of 100 grains and yield, which was fitted to the exponential model and the periods of interference of the weed community were determined. The period before interference (PBI) occurred up to 20 DAE, with weed control having to be performed up to 32 DAE. The critical period for weed control (CPWC) was from 21 to 32 days after emergence of the crop. The cowpea bean yield reduced 73.5% with the weed interactions during the whole cycle, under conditions of the semi-arid of Minas Gerais