Latrocimicinae completes the phylogeny of Cimicidae: meeting old morphologic data rather than modern host phylogeny.

The family Cimicidae includes obligate hematophagous ectoparasites (bed bugs and their relatives) with high veterinary/medical importance. The evolutionary relationships of Cimicidae and their hosts have recently been reported in a phylogenetic context, but in the relevant study, one of the six subfamilies, the bat-specific Latrocimicinae, was not represented. In this study the only known species of Latrocimicinae, i.e., Latrocimex spectans, was analyzed with molecular and phylogenetic methods based on four (two nuclear and two mitochondrial) genetic markers. The completed subfamily-level phylogeny of Cimicidae showed that Latrocimicinae is most closely related to Haematosiphoninae (ectoparasites of birds and humans), with which it shares systematically important morphologic characters, but not hosts. Moreover, in the phylogenetic analyses, cimicid bugs that are known to infest phylogenetically distant bat hosts clustered together (e.g., Leptocimex and Stricticimex within Cacodminae), while cimicid subfamilies (Latrocimicinae, Primicimicinae) that are known to infest bat hosts from closely related superfamilies clustered distantly. In conclusion, adding Latrocimicinae significantly contributed to the resolution of the phylogeny of Cimicidae. The close phylogenetic relationship between Latrocimicinae and Haematosiphoninae is consistent with long-known morphologic data. At the same time, phylogenetic relationships of genera within subfamilies are inconsistent with the phylogeny of relevant hosts

Isolation of infectious Lloviu virus from Schreiber’s bats in Hungary

Some filoviruses can be transmitted to humans by zoonotic spillover events from their natural host and filovirus outbreaks have occured with increasing frequency in the last years. The filovirus Lloviu virus (LLOV), was identified in 2002 in Schreiber’s bats (Miniopterus schreibersii) in Spain and was subsequently detected in bats in Hungary. Here we isolate infectious LLOV from the blood of a live sampled Schreiber’s bat in Hungary. The isolate is subsequently sequenced and cultured in the Miniopterus sp. kidney cell line SuBK12-08. It is furthermore able to infect monkey and human cells, suggesting that LLOV might have spillover potential. A multi-year surveillance of LLOV in bats in Hungary detects LLOV RNA in both deceased and live animals as well as in coupled ectoparasites from the families Nycteribiidae and Ixodidae. This correlates with LLOV seropositivity in sampled Schreiber’s bats. Our data support the role of bats, specifically Miniopterus schreibersii as hosts for LLOV in Europe. We suggest that bat-associated parasites might play a role in the natural ecology of filoviruses in temperate climate regions compared to filoviruses in the tropics

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and nonsuicidal self-injury in a clinical sample of adolescents: the role of comorbidities and gender.

BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to investigate the possible association between attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) with special focus on the role of comorbidities and gender in a clinical sample of adolescents with both a dimensional and a categorical approach to psychopathology. METHODS: Using a structured interview, the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview Kid and a self-rated questionnaire, the Deliberate Self-Harm Inventory, the authors examined 202 inpatient adolescents (aged: 13-18 years) in the Vadaskert Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Hospital and Outpatient Clinic, Budapest, Hungary. Descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U test, chi-square test and mediator model were used. RESULTS: Fifty-two adolescents met full criteria for ADHD and a further 77 showed symptoms of ADHD at the subthreshold level. From the 52 adolescents diagnosed with ADHD, 35 (67.30%) had NSSI, of whom there were significantly more girls than boys, boys: n = 10 (28.60%), girls: n = 25 (71.40%) ((chi(2)(1) = 10.643 p < .001 varphi = .452). Multiple mediation analyses resulted in a moderated mediation model in which the relationship between symptoms of ADHD and the prevalence of current NSSI was fully mediated by the symptoms of comorbid conditions in both sex. Significant mediators were the symptoms of affective and psychotic disorders and suicidality in both sexes and the symptoms of alcohol abuse/dependence disorders in girls. CONCLUSIONS: ADHD symptoms are associated with an increased risk of NSSI in adolescents, especially in the case of girls. Our findings suggest that clinicians should routinely screen for the symptoms of ADHD and comorbidity, with a special focus on the symptoms of affective disorders and alcohol abuse/dependence psychotic symptoms to prevent NSSI

Biology and biocontrol potential ofAmpelomycesmycoparasites, natural antagonists of powdery mildew fungi

Historically, pycnidial fungi belonging to the genus Ampelomyces were among the first mycoparasites to be studied in detail and were also the first fungi used as biocontrol agents of plant parasitic fungi. The interactions between host plants, powdery mildew fungi and Ampelomyces mycoparasites are one of the most evident cases of tritrophic relationships in nature although their study has received little attention in fungal and plant ecology so far. Ampelomyces mycoparasites have now become one of the most advanced in terms of commercial development of a fungal biocontrol agent, although there is still a need for more development work to produce a product with reliability approaching that of conventional chemical treatments. This review summarizes the taxonomy, genetic diversity, life cycle, mode of action, natural occurrence, host range, biocontrol potential, mass production and commercialization of these mycoparasites and compares the biocontrol ability of Ampelomyces with that of other fungal antagonists of powdery mildews

Genetic diversity of Ampelomyces mycoparasites isolated from different powdery mildew fungi in China inferred from analyses of rDNA ITS sequences

Pycnidial fungi belonging to the genus Ampelomyces are common intracellular mycoparasites of the Erysiphaceae worldwide. As a part of a project which aimed to isolate and test potential biocontrol agents of powdery mildew infections of economically important crops in China, a total of 23 Ampelomyces isolates were obtained from many different species of the Erysiphaceae in five provinces of China. In addition, four new Ampelomyces isolates were obtained in Europe for this study. Mycoparasitic tests showed that all the 27 new isolates produced intracellular pycnidia in the conidiophores of Podosphaera xanthii and/or Golovinomyces orontii when these powdery mildew species were inoculated with conidial suspensions of the isolates. This confirmed that the new isolates can be identified as Ampelomyces mycoparasites and they were not confused with other pycnidial mycoparasites of powdery mildew fungi. The ITS sequence of the nuclear rRNA gene of the 27 new isolates were analyzed together with 20 sequences of other Ampelomyces isolates determined in earlier studies. The ITS sequences of some isolates obtained in China were identical with those of some European and/or North American isolates which indicates a global distribution of these mycoparasites. At the same time, 16 Chinese isolates formed a distinct group, which was only distantly related to the already known groups of the European and the North American Ampelomyces isolates. Ampelomyces mycoparasites with similar or identical ITS sequences were found in different powdery mildew hosts in China. Also, mycoparasites with different ITS sequences were isolated from the same powdery mildew species during this study. Thus, no correlation was found between the ITS sequences of the mycoparasites and the host fungi and host plants where they came from

Novel Mutations in the Tyrosine Hydroxylase Gene in the First Czech Patient with Tyrosine Hydroxylase Deficiency

Tyrosine hydroxylase deficiency manifests mainly in early childhood and includes two clinical phenotypes: an infantile progressive hypokinetic-rigid syndrome with dystonia (type A) and a neonatal complex encephalopathy (type B). The biochemical diagnostics is exclusively based on the quantitative determination of the neurotransmitters or their metabolites in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The implementation of neurotransmitter analysis in clinical praxis is necessary for early diagnosis and adequate treatment. Neurotransmitter metabolites in CSF were analyzed in 82 children (at the age 1 month to 17 years) with clinical suspicion for neurometabolic disorders using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with electrochemical detection. The CSF level of homovanillic acid (HVA) was markedly decreased in three children (64, 79 and 94 nmol/l) in comparison to age related controls (lower limit 218–450 nmol/l). Neurological findings including severe psychomotor retardation, quadruspasticity and microcephaly accompanied with marked dystonia, excessive sweating in the first patient was compatible with the diagnosis of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) deficiency (type B) and subsequent molecular analysis revealed two novel heterozygous mutations c.636A>C and c.1124G>C in the TH gene. The treatment with L-DOPA/carbidopa resulted in the improvement of dystonia. Magnetic resonance imaging studies in two other patients with microcephaly revealed postischaemic brain damage, therefore secondary HVA deficit was considered in these children. Diagnostic work-up in patients with neurometabolic disorders should include analysis of neurotransmitter metabolites in CSF