Shot hole disease on Prunus laurocerasus caused by Neofusicoccum parvum in Serbia

Between 2010-2014 symptoms of a shot hole disease were observed on cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus L.) trees and shrubs in parks and other public plantings in Belgrade, Serbia. Ten symptomatic leaves were collected from each of the diseased plants and the associated fungus isolated and identified using multi-gene phylogenetic analyses and asexual morphological characters. The pathogen was identified as Neofusicoccum parvum. The same symptoms were produced when the pathogen was inoculated on test plants. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of N. parvum causing shot hole disease on P. laurocerasus.Tree Protection Co-operative Programme (TPCP), the University of Pretoria (South Africa), the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Serbia (TR37008), European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Actions Pathway Evaluation in Pest Risk Management In Transport (PERMIT FP1002) and A global network of nurseries as early warning system against alien tree pests (Global Warning FP1401).http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1439-03292017-12-31hb2017Microbiology and Plant Patholog

New and unexpected host associations for Diplodia sapinea in the Western Balkans

Diplodia sapinea is an important pathogen of pine trees in plantations and urban areas in many parts of the world. This pathogen has recently also been isolated from diseased Cedrus atlantica, C. deodara and Picea omorika planted as ornamentals across the Western Balkans. The aim of this study was to consider the host range of D. sapinea in Serbia and Montenegro. Diplodia sapinea was identified from a broader collection of Botryosphaeriaceae from the Western Balkans region, based on the DNA sequence data for the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rDNA and the translation elongation factor 1α (TEF 1- α). The D. sapinea isolates were obtained from sixteen tree species in the genera Abies, Cedrus, Chamaecyparis, Juniperus, Picea, Pinus, Pseudotsuga and Fagus. Four species represented new hosts in the Balkans, and this is the first report of D. sapinea from F. sylvatica anywhere in the world. Pathogenicity tests were conducted on the tree hosts from which D. sapinea was isolated, as well as on P. abies, Thuja occidentalis, Prunus laurocerasus, Eucalyptus grandis and P. patula. Inoculations were made on seedlings in the field, in the greenhouse or on freshly detached branches. Inoculations on P. pungens, P. omorika, P. abies, P. menziesii, A. concolor, P. nigra and P. sylvestris resulted in death of the seedlings 5–16 weeks after inoculation. Diplodia sapinea produced lesions on J. horizontalis and P. patula seedlings and F. sylvatica cut branches. Reciprocal inoculations showed that D. sapinea is not a pine-specific pathogen, causing disease on tree species, including those from which it had not been isolated. Not surprisingly, the pathogen was most aggressive on some species of Pinaceae.The Tree Protection Co-operative Programme (TPCP), the University of Pretoria, South Africa, and the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Serbia (TR37008). The first author also wishes to acknowledge partial financial support from European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Action Pathway Evaluation and Pest Risk Management In Transport (PERMIT FP1002), ALIEN Challenge (TD1209) and A Global Network of nurseries as early warning system against alien tree pests (Global Warning FP1401).http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1439-03292018-06-30hj2017Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI)GeneticsMicrobiology and Plant Patholog

Cardiogenic Induction of Pluripotent Stem Cells Streamlined Through a Conserved SDF-1/VEGF/BMP2 Integrated Network

BACKGROUND: Pluripotent stem cells produce tissue-specific lineages through programmed acquisition of sequential gene expression patterns that function as a blueprint for organ formation. As embryonic stem cells respond concomitantly to diverse signaling pathways during differentiation, extraction of a pro-cardiogenic network would offer a roadmap to streamline cardiac progenitor output. METHODS AND RESULTS: To resolve gene ontology priorities within precursor transcriptomes, cardiogenic subpopulations were here generated according to either growth factor guidance or stage-specific biomarker sorting. Innate expression profiles were independently delineated through unbiased systems biology mapping, and cross-referenced to filter transcriptional noise unmasking a conserved progenitor motif (55 up- and 233 down-regulated genes). The streamlined pool of 288 genes organized into a core biological network that prioritized the "Cardiovascular Development" function. Recursive in silico deconvolution of the cardiogenic neighborhood and associated canonical signaling pathways identified a combination of integrated axes, CXCR4/SDF-1, Flk-1/VEGF and BMP2r/BMP2, predicted to synchronize cardiac specification. In vitro targeting of the resolved triad in embryoid bodies accelerated expression of Nkx2.5, Mef2C and cardiac-MHC, enhanced beating activity, and augmented cardiogenic yield. CONCLUSIONS: Transcriptome-wide dissection of a conserved progenitor profile thus revealed functional highways that coordinate cardiogenic maturation from a pluripotent ground state. Validating the bioinformatics algorithm established a strategy to rationally modulate cell fate, and optimize stem cell-derived cardiogenesis

Metals and kidney markers in adult offspring of endemic nephropathy patients and controls: a two-year follow-up study

Abstract Background The etiology of Balkan Endemic Nephropathy, (BEN), a tubulointerstitial kidney disease, is unknown. Although this disease is endemic in rural areas of Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, and Serbia, similar manifestations are reported to occur in other regions, for instance Tunisia and Sri Lanka. A number of explanations have been stated including lignites, aristolochic acid, ochratoxin A, metals, and metalloids. Etiologic claims are often based on one or a few studies without sound scientific evidence. In this systematic study, we tested whether exposures to metals (cadmium and lead) and metalloids (arsenic and selenium) are related to Balkan Endemic Nephropathy. Methods In 2003/04 we recruited 102 adults whose parents had BEN and who resided in one of three communities (Vratza, Bistretz, or Beli Izvor, Bulgaria). A control group comprised of 99 adults having non-BEN hospitalized parents was enrolled in the study during the same time. We conducted face-to-face interviews, ultrasound kidney measurements, and determined kidney function in two consecutive investigations (2003/04 and 2004/05). Metals and metalloids were measured in urine and blood samples. To assess the agreement between these consecutive measurements, we calculated intraclass correlation coefficients. Repeated measurement data were analyzed using mixed models. Results We found that cadmium and arsenic were associated with neither kidney size nor function. Lead had a significant but negligible effect on creatinine clearance. Selenium showed a weak but significant negative association with two of the four kidney parameters, namely creatinine clearance and β2-microglobulin. It was positively related to kidney length. These associations were not restricted to the offspring of BEN patients. Adding credence to these findings are reports showing comparable kidney effects in animals exposed to selenium. Conclusion The findings of this 2-year follow-up study indicate that metals and metalloids do not play a role in the etiology of Balkan Endemic Nephropathy. Against the assumption in the literature, selenium was not protective but a risk factor. Since comparable associations were observed in animals, future studies are needed to explore whether selenium may have adverse renal effects in humans.</p

Current challenges facing the assessment of the allergenic capacity of food allergens in animal models

Food allergy is a major health problem of increasing concern. The insufficiency of protein sources for human nutrition in a world with a growing population is also a significant problem. The introduction of new protein sources into the diet, such as newly developed innovative foods or foods produced using new technologies and production processes, insects, algae, duckweed, or agricultural products from third countries, creates the opportunity for development of new food allergies, and this in turn has driven the need to develop test methods capable of characterizing the allergenic potential of novel food proteins. There is no doubt that robust and reliable animal models for the identification and characterization of food allergens would be valuable tools for safety assessment. However, although various animal models have been proposed for this purpose, to date, none have been formally validated as predictive and none are currently suitable to test the allergenic potential of new foods. Here, the design of various animal models are reviewed, including among others considerations of species and strain, diet, route of administration, dose and formulation of the test protein, relevant controls and endpoints measured

Analysis of Epitopes on Dengue Virus Envelope Protein Recognized by Monoclonal Antibodies and Polyclonal Human Sera by a High Throughput Assay

Dengue virus is the leading cause of arboviral diseases worldwide. The envelope protein is the major target of neutralizing antibodies and vaccine development. While previous studies have reported several epitopes on envelope protein, the possibility of interdomain epitopes and the relationship of epitopes to neutralizing potency remain unexplored. We developed a high throughput dot blot assay by using 67 alanine mutants of surface-exposed envelope residues as a systematic approach to identify epitopes recognized by mouse monoclonal antibodies and polyclonal human sera. Our results suggested the presence of interdomain epitopes more frequent than previously appreciated. Compared with monoclonal antibodies generated by traditional protocol, the potent neutralizing monoclonal antibodies generated by a new protocol showed several unique features of their epitopes. Moreover, the predominant epitopes of antibodies against envelope protein in polyclonal sera can be identified by this assay. These findings have implications for future development of epitope-specific diagnostics and epitope-based dengue vaccine, and add to our understanding of humoral immune responses to dengue virus at the epitope level

Evaluation of GPS-Based Transit Signal Priority for Mixed-Traffic Bus Rapid Transit

GPS-based transit signal priority (TSP) is a new type of transit preferential tool being considered in many North American cities. With GPS detection and advanced communications, GPS-based TSP provides flexible and conditional signal priority to transit vehicles. This is a relatively new system with limited field implementations and evaluations. The research in this study used microscopic simulation, to create a set of TSP scenarios for a 3-mi bus corridor and evaluated the influences of GPS-based TSP on transit and traffic operations. The simulation network was the 3300 South corridor, including side streets, in Salt Lake County, Utah. A proposal was evaluated to upgrade the Utah Transit Authority Bus Route 33 operating along the corridor into a bus rapid transit (BRT) line running in mixed traffic. Eight simulation scenarios were created to cover (a) current field conditions, (b) regular bus with traditional TSP implementation, (c) regular bus with GPS-based TSP, (d) BRT implementation with no TSP, (e) BRT with traditional TSP implementation, (f) BRT with GPS-based TSP, (g) BRT with conditional TSP, and (h) BRT with multiconditional TSP implementation. The evaluation included transit and nontransit operations, and the impacts on side-street traffic. The results show that GPS-based TSP performed as effectively as did traditional TSP. Conditional and multi-conditional TSP strategies showed benefits in providing the transit system considerable delay reduction (13% and 3%, respectively) and travel time savings (7% and 3%, respectively) while having the smallest impacts on side-street traffic (3% and 1% increase in delay, respectively) compared with other TSP strategies

Street Connectivity Versus Street Widening: Impact of Enhanced Street Connectivity on Traffic Operations in Transit-Supportive Environments

Highly connected street networks increase accessibility for multimodal transport, but their effects on the efficiency of still-dominant vehicular traffic is rarely addressed. As interest increases in transforming typical suburban developments from car-oriented to multimodal environments, the effects of redesigned street networks in the period before the expected mode shift need to be clarified. This paper addresses the effects of enhanced connectivity on traffic operations and uses part of the West Valley City, Utah, network as the potential transit-oriented development (TOD). Because the predicted traffic demand for 2040 requires modifications to this network, the question is whether enhanced connectivity as a TOD-supportive approach can accommodate that demand and replace the traditional street widening solution. Twelve scenarios were modeled and evaluated: the existing state, five scenarios with different levels of street connectivity, five street-widening scenarios, and a scenario with reduced speed areas based on traffic-calming practices. Macro- and microsimulation models were used iteratively to build, calibrate, and evaluate the modeled scenarios. The results at the intersection, corridor, and network levels showed that enhanced street connectivity represented a competitive alternative to the traditional capacity expansion approaches that usually involve street widening. As connectivity increased, the network designs with enhanced connectivity accommodated more traffic than the designs with street widening and therefore opened new routes and provided a better dispersion of intrazonal traffic. New scenarios that encompass changes in mode split are proposed for future research efforts