Serendipitous discovery of RR Lyrae stars in the Leo V ultra-faint galaxy

During the analysis of RR Lyrae stars discovered in the High cadence Transient Survey (HiTS) taken with the Dark Energy Camera at the 4-m telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, we found a group of three very distant, fundamental mode pulsator RR Lyrae (type ab). The location of these stars agrees with them belonging to the Leo V ultra-faint satellite galaxy, for which no variable stars have been reported to date. The heliocentric distance derived for Leo V based on these stars is 173 +/- 5 kpc. The pulsational properties (amplitudes and periods) of these stars locate them within the locus of the Oosterhoff II group, similar to most other ultra-faint galaxies with known RR Lyrae stars. This serendipitous discovery shows that distant RR Lyrae stars may be used to search for unknown faint stellar systems in the outskirts of the Milky Way.Comment: Accepted in ApJ Letter

Carbon remineralization by small mesopelagic and bathypelagic Stomiiforms in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean

The organic carbon resulting from photosynthesis in the upper ocean is transferred downward through the passive sinking of organic particles, physical mixing of particulate and dissolved organic carbon as well as active flux transported by zooplanktonic and micronektonic migrants. Several meso- and bathypelagic organisms feed in shallower layers during the nighttime and respire, defecate, excrete and die at depth. Recent studies suggest that migrant micronekton transport similar amounts of carbon to migrant zooplankton. However, there is scarce information about biomass and carbon flux by non-migratory species in the mesopelagic and bathypelagic zones. The non-migratory bristlemouth fishes (Cyclothone spp.) and partial migrator (A. hemigymnus) remineralise organic carbon at depth, and knowledge about this process by this fauna is lacking despite them having been referred to as the most abundant vertebrates on Earth. Here we show the vertical distribution of biomass and respiration of non-migratory mesopelagic fishes, during day and night, using the enzymatic activity of the electron transfer system (ETS) as a proxy for respiration rates. The study is focused on five Cyclothone species (C. braueri, C. pseudopallida, C. pallida, C. livida and C. microdon) and Argyropelecus hemigymnus. The samples were taken on a transect from the oceanic upwelling off Northwest Africa (20° N, 20° W) to the south of Iceland (60° N, 20° W). Cyclothone spp. showed, by far, the largest biomass (126.90 ± 86.20 mg C·m⁻²) compared to A. hemigymnus (0.54 ± 0.44 mg C·m⁻²). The highest concentrations of Cyclothone spp. in the water column were observed between 400 and 600 m and from 1000 to 1500 m depths, both during day and night. For the different species analysed, ETS activity did not show significant differences between diurnal and nocturnal periods. The total average specific respiration of Cyclothone spp. (0.02 ± 0.01 d⁻¹) was lower than that observed for A. hemigymnus (0.05±0.02 d⁻¹). The average carbon respiration of Cyclothone spp. was 2.22 ± 0.81 mg C·m⁻²·d⁻¹, while it was much lower for A. hemigymnus (0.04 ± 0.03 mg C·m⁻²·d⁻¹). The respiration of Cyclothone spp. was lower in the bathypelagic than in the mesopelagic zone (0.84 ± 0.48 vs 1.36 ± 1.01 mg C·m⁻²·d⁻¹, respectively). These results, to our knowledge, provide the first account of remineralisation by this community in the meso and bathypelagic zones of the ocean.En prens

Supporting Diversity in Science through Social Networking

In this Community Page, we learn how a scientific community leverages social networking tools to connect a group of dispersed scientific researchers in Ciencia Puerto Rico; this effort fosters innovative research and educational collaborations and changes the way scientists interact with the public

One Health Approach: Invasive California Kingsnake (Lampropeltis californiae) as an Important Source of Antimicrobial Drug-Resistant Salmonella Clones on Gran Canaria Island

The increase in the reptile population has led to a rise in the number of zoonotic infections due to close contact with reptiles, with reptile-associated salmonellosis being particularly relevant. California kingsnake invasion not only threatens the endemic reptile population of the island of Gran Canaria (Spain) but also poses serious public health problems by spreading zoonotic pathogens and their antimicrobial resistance (AMR) to the environment. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess the occurrence, genetic diversity, and AMR among Salmonella spp. strains isolated from California kingsnakes in Gran Canaria Island (Spain). Of 73 invasive individuals captured, 20.5% carried Salmonella spp., belonging to different subspecies and serovars, with subsp. salamae as the most abundant. Pulsed-field electrophoresis showed high genetic diversity among subsp. salamae isolates, and among these, 73.3% showed resistance to at least one of the antimicrobials tested. In conclusion, the present study revealed the importance of wild invasive California kingsnakes as reservoirs of drug-resistant Salmonella spp. that could pose a direct threat to livestock and humans. Identification of drug-resistant Salmonella strains in wildlife provides valuable information on potential routes of transmission that involve risks to public and animal health.This study was supported by the project “POSTLIFE+ Lampropeltis para el control de la culebra real de California en Gran Canaria (LIFE10/NAT/ES/656)” financed by the Government of Canary Islands, Cabildo of Gran Canaria and Universidad Cardenal Herrera-CEU (IDOC 19/15, and INDI 20-21, INDI 22-34).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

One Health Approach : Invasive California Kingsnake (Lampropeltis californiae) as an Important Source of Antimicrobial Drug-Resistant Salmonella Clones on Gran Canaria Island

The aim of this study was to investigate the invasive species Lampropeltis californiae (California kingsnake) as a reservoir of Salmonella and its ability to spread different clones of the bacterium with zoonotic potential into the environment, as well as study its antimicrobial resistance patterns in Gran Canaria (Spain). The main results showed that a high diversity of Salmonella subsp. salamae strains circulate in Gran Canaria with a high prevalence of resistance shown for antimicrobials of public health importance, as summarised in the European Decision 2013/652/EU. The increase in the reptile population has led to a rise in the number of zoonotic infections due to close contact with reptiles, with reptile-associated salmonellosis being particularly relevant. California kingsnake invasion not only threatens the endemic reptile population of the island of Gran Canaria (Spain) but also poses serious public health problems by spreading zoonotic pathogens and their antimicrobial resistance (AMR) to the environment. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess the occurrence, genetic diversity, and AMR among Salmonella spp. strains isolated from California kingsnakes in Gran Canaria Island (Spain). Of 73 invasive individuals captured, 20.5% carried Salmonella spp., belonging to different subspecies and serovars, with subsp. salamae as the most abundant. Pulsed-field electrophoresis showed high genetic diversity among subsp. salamae isolates, and among these, 73.3% showed resistance to at least one of the antimicrobials tested. In conclusion, the present study revealed the importance of wild invasive California kingsnakes as reservoirs of drug-resistant Salmonella spp. that could pose a direct threat to livestock and humans. Identification of drug-resistant Salmonella strains in wildlife provides valuable information on potential routes of transmission that involve risks to public and animal health

The Effective Lagrangian for Bulk Fermions in Models with Extra Dimensions

We compute the dimension 6 effective Lagrangian arising from the tree level integration of an arbitrary number of bulk fermions in models with warped extra dimensions. The coefficients of the effective operators are written in terms of simple integrals of the metric and are valid for arbitrary warp factors, with or without an infrared brane, and for a general Higgs profile. All relevant tree level fermion effects in electroweak and flavor observables can be computed using this effective Lagrangian.Comment: 22 pages. V2: typos corrected, matches published versio

Identification, introgression, and validation of fruit volatile QTLs from a red-fruited wild tomato species

[EN] Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are major determinants of fruit flavor, a primary objective in tomato breeding. A recombinant inbred line (RIL) population consisting of 169 lines derived from a cross between Solanum lycopersicum and a red-fruited wild tomato species Solanum pimpinellifolium accession (SP) was characterized for VOCs in three different seasons. Correlation and hierarchical cluster analyses were performed on the 52 VOCs identified, providing a tool for the putative assignation of individual compounds to metabolic pathways. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis, based on a genetic linkage map comprising 297 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), revealed 102 QTLs (75% not described previously) corresponding to 39 different VOCs. The SP alleles exerted a positive effect on most of the underlying apocarotenoid volatile QTLs-regarded as desirable for liking tomato-indicating that alleles inherited from SP are a valuable resource for flavor breeding. An introgression line (IL) population developed from the same parental genotypes provided 12 ILs carrying a single SP introgression and covering 85 VOC QTLs, which were characterized at three locations. The results showed that almost half of the QTLs previously identified in the RILs maintained their effect in an IL form, reinforcing the value of these QTLs for flavor/aroma breeding in cultivated tomato.We thank Erika Moro for valuable help in volatile analysis of the ILs. WB was supported by a fellowship granted by the Universidad de Costa Rica and CSIC-Spain by way of a collaboration agreement between CSIC/UCR. Volatile profiling was performed in the Metabolomic facilities of the IBMCP, CSIC (Spain). This work was supported in part by the Spanish MINECO Project AGL2015-65246-R co-financed by EU FEDER, MINECO Project AGL2011-26957, and the Bilateral agreements of Scientific and Technological Cooperation between the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the Italian National Research Council (CNR). Funding for this project was provided through TRADITOM. TRADITOM has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 634561. Networking activities were supported by COST action Fruit Quality FA 1106.Rambla Nebot, JL.; Medina, A.; Fernández Del Carmen, MA.; Barrantes, W.; Grandillo, S.; Cammareri, M.; López Casado, G.... (2016). Identification, introgression, and validation of fruit volatile QTLs from a red-fruited wild tomato species. Journal of Experimental Botany. 68(3):429-442. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erw455S429442683Alba, J. M., Montserrat, M., & Fernández-Muñoz, R. (2008). 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Genetic challenges of flavor improvement in tomato. Trends in Genetics, 29(4), 257-262. doi:10.1016/j.tig.2012.12.003Kochevenko, A., Araújo, W. L., Maloney, G. S., Tieman, D. M., Do, P. T., Taylor, M. G., … Fernie, A. R. (2012). Catabolism of Branched Chain Amino Acids Supports Respiration but Not Volatile Synthesis in Tomato Fruits. Molecular Plant, 5(2), 366-375. doi:10.1093/mp/ssr108Louveau, T., Leitao, C., Green, S., Hamiaux, C., van der Rest, B., Dechy-Cabaret, O., … Chervin, C. (2010). Predicting the substrate specificity of a glycosyltransferase implicated in the production of phenolic volatiles in tomato fruit. FEBS Journal, 278(2), 390-400. doi:10.1111/j.1742-4658.2010.07962.xMageroy, M. H., Tieman, D. M., Floystad, A., Taylor, M. G., & Klee, H. J. (2011). A Solanum lycopersicum catechol-O-methyltransferase involved in synthesis of the flavor molecule guaiacol. The Plant Journal, 69(6), 1043-1051. doi:10.1111/j.1365-313x.2011.04854.xMathieu, S., Cin, V. D., Fei, Z., Li, H., Bliss, P., Taylor, M. G., … Tieman, D. M. (2008). Flavour compounds in tomato fruits: identification of loci and potential pathways affecting volatile composition. Journal of Experimental Botany, 60(1), 325-337. doi:10.1093/jxb/ern294Matsui, K., Ishii, M., Sasaki, M., Rabinowitch, H. D., & Ben-Oliel, G. (2007). Identification of an Allele Attributable to Formation of Cucumber-like Flavor in Wild Tomato Species (Solanum pennellii) That Was Inactivated during Domestication. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 55(10), 4080-4086. doi:10.1021/jf063756bMATSUI, K., MIYAHARA, C., WILKINSON, J., HIATT, B., KNAUF, V., & KAJIWARA, T. (2000). Fatty Acid Hydroperoxide Lyase in Tomato Fruits: Cloning and Properties of a Recombinant Enzyme Expressed inEscherichia coli. Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry, 64(6), 1189-1196. doi:10.1271/bbb.64.1189Monforte, A. J., & Tanksley, S. D. (2000). Development of a set of near isogenic and backcross recombinant inbred lines containing most of the Lycopersicon hirsutum genome in a L. esculentum genetic background: A tool for gene mapping and gene discovery. Genome, 43(5), 803-813. doi:10.1139/gen-43-5-803Orzaez, D., Medina, A., Torre, S., Fernández-Moreno, J. P., Rambla, J. L., Fernández-del-Carmen, A., … Granell, A. (2009). A Visual Reporter System for Virus-Induced Gene Silencing in Tomato Fruit Based on Anthocyanin Accumulation. Plant Physiology, 150(3), 1122-1134. doi:10.1104/pp.109.139006Rambla, J. L., Alfaro, C., Medina, A., Zarzo, M., Primo, J., & Granell, A. (2015). Tomato fruit volatile profiles are highly dependent on sample processing and capturing methods. Metabolomics, 11(6), 1708-1720. doi:10.1007/s11306-015-0824-5Rambla, J. L., Tikunov, Y. M., Monforte, A. J., Bovy, A. G., & Granell, A. (2013). The expanded tomato fruit volatile landscape. 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B., Taylor, M. G., Schmelz, E., Huffaker, A., … Klee, H. J. (2014). A 13-lipoxygenase, TomloxC, is essential for synthesis of C5 flavour volatiles in tomato. Journal of Experimental Botany, 65(2), 419-428. doi:10.1093/jxb/ert382Sim, S.-C., Durstewitz, G., Plieske, J., Wieseke, R., Ganal, M. W., Van Deynze, A., … Francis, D. M. (2012). Development of a Large SNP Genotyping Array and Generation of High-Density Genetic Maps in Tomato. PLoS ONE, 7(7), e40563. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0040563Simkin, A. J., Schwartz, S. H., Auldridge, M., Taylor, M. G., & Klee, H. J. (2004). The tomato carotenoid cleavage dioxygenase 1 genes contribute to the formation of the flavor volatiles β-ionone, pseudoionone, and geranylacetone. The Plant Journal, 40(6), 882-892. doi:10.1111/j.1365-313x.2004.02263.xSkouroumounis GK Massywestropp RA Sefton MA Williams PJ . 1993. beta-Damascenone formation in juices and wines. In: Schreier P Winterhalter P , eds. Progress in flavour precursor studies: analysis, generation, biotechnology. Proceedings of the International Conference, Würzburg, Germany, September 30–October 2, 1992, 275–278.Speirs, J., Lee, E., Holt, K., Yong-Duk, K., Steele Scott, N., Loveys, B., & Schuch, W. (1998). Genetic Manipulation of Alcohol Dehydrogenase Levels in Ripening Tomato Fruit Affects the Balance of Some Flavor Aldehydes and Alcohols. Plant Physiology, 117(3), 1047-1058. doi:10.1104/pp.117.3.1047Tadmor, Y., Fridman, E., Gur, A., Larkov, O., Lastochkin, E., Ravid, U., … Lewinsohn, E. (2002). Identification ofmalodorous, a Wild Species Allele Affecting Tomato Aroma That Was Selected against during Domestication. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 50(7), 2005-2009. doi:10.1021/jf011237xTieman, D., Bliss, P., McIntyre, L. M., Blandon-Ubeda, A., Bies, D., Odabasi, A. Z., … Klee, H. J. (2012). The Chemical Interactions Underlying Tomato Flavor Preferences. Current Biology, 22(11), 1035-1039. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2012.04.016Tieman, D., Taylor, M., Schauer, N., Fernie, A. R., Hanson, A. D., & Klee, H. J. (2006). Tomato aromatic amino acid decarboxylases participate in synthesis of the flavor volatiles 2-phenylethanol and 2-phenylacetaldehyde. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 103(21), 8287-8292. doi:10.1073/pnas.0602469103Tieman, D., Zeigler, M., Schmelz, E., Taylor, M. G., Rushing, S., Jones, J. B., & Klee, H. J. (2010). Functional analysis of a tomato salicylic acid methyl transferase and its role in synthesis of the flavor volatile methyl salicylate. The Plant Journal, 62(1), 113-123. doi:10.1111/j.1365-313x.2010.04128.xTieman, D. M., Loucas, H. M., Kim, J. Y., Clark, D. G., & Klee, H. J. (2007). Tomato phenylacetaldehyde reductases catalyze the last step in the synthesis of the aroma volatile 2-phenylethanol. Phytochemistry, 68(21), 2660-2669. doi:10.1016/j.phytochem.2007.06.005Tieman, D. M., Zeigler, M., Schmelz, E. A., Taylor, M. G., Bliss, P., Kirst, M., & Klee, H. J. (2006). Identification of loci affecting flavour volatile emissions in tomato fruits. Journal of Experimental Botany, 57(4), 887-896. doi:10.1093/jxb/erj074Tikunov, Y., Lommen, A., de Vos, C. H. R., Verhoeven, H. A., Bino, R. J., Hall, R. D., & Bovy, A. G. (2005). A Novel Approach for Nontargeted Data Analysis for Metabolomics. Large-Scale Profiling of Tomato Fruit Volatiles. Plant Physiology, 139(3), 1125-1137. doi:10.1104/pp.105.068130Tikunov, Y. M., Molthoff, J., de Vos, R. C. H., Beekwilder, J., van Houwelingen, A., van der Hooft, J. J. J., … Bovy, A. G. (2013). NON-SMOKY GLYCOSYLTRANSFERASE1 Prevents the Release of Smoky Aroma from Tomato Fruit. The Plant Cell, 25(8), 3067-3078. doi:10.1105/tpc.113.114231Van Ooijen JW . 2006. JoinMap® 4. Software for the calculation of genetic linkage maps in experimental populations. Wageningen, The Netherlands: Kyazma BV.Vogel, J. T., Tieman, D. M., Sims, C. A., Odabasi, A. Z., Clark, D. G., & Klee, H. J. (2010). Carotenoid content impacts flavor acceptability in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 90(13), 2233-2240. doi:10.1002/jsfa.4076Voorrips, R. E. (2002). MapChart: Software for the Graphical Presentation of Linkage Maps and QTLs. Journal of Heredity, 93(1), 77-78. doi:10.1093/jhered/93.1.77Zanor, M. I., Rambla, J.-L., Chaïb, J., Steppa, A., Medina, A., Granell, A., … Causse, M. (2009). Metabolic characterization of loci affecting sensory attributes in tomato allows an assessment of the influence of the levels of primary metabolites and volatile organic contents. Journal of Experimental Botany, 60(7), 2139-2154. doi:10.1093/jxb/erp086Zorrilla-Fontanesi, Y., Rambla, J.-L., Cabeza, A., Medina, J. J., Sánchez-Sevilla, J. F., Valpuesta, V., … Amaya, I. (2012). Genetic Analysis of Strawberry Fruit Aroma and Identification of O-Methyltransferase FaOMT as the Locus Controlling Natural Variation in Mesifurane Content. Plant Physiology, 159(2), 851-870. doi:10.1104/pp.111.18831

Heavy-light decay topologies as a new strategy to discover a heavy gluon

We study the collider phenomenology of the lightest Kaluza-Klein excitation of the gluon, G*, in theories with a warped extra dimension. We do so by means of a two-site effective lagrangian which includes only the lowest-lying spin-1 and spin-1/2 resonances. We point out the importance of the decays of G* to one SM plus one heavy fermion, that were overlooked in the previous literature. It turns out that, when kinematically allowed, such heavy-light decays are powerful channels for discovering the G*. In particular, we present a parton-level Montecarlo analysis of the final state Wtb that follows from the decay of G* to one SM top or bottom quark plus its heavy partner. We find that at \sqrt{s} = 7 TeV and with 10 fb^{-1} of integrated luminosity, the LHC can discover a KK gluon with mass in the range M_{G*} = (1.8 - 2.2) TeV if its coupling to a pair of light quarks is g_{G*qqbar} = (0.2-0.5) g_3. The same process is also competitive for the discovery of the top and bottom partners as well. We find, for example, that the LHC at \sqrt{s} = 7 TeV can discover a 1 TeV KK bottom quark with an integrated luminosity of (5.3 - 0.61) fb^{-1} for g_{G*qqbar} = (0.2-0.5) g_3.Comment: 36 pages, 13 figures. v2: a few typos corrected, comments added, version published in JHE

Matrix metalloproteinase-9, -10, and tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinases-1 blood levels as biomarkers of severity and mortality in sepsis

INTRODUCTION: Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) play a role in infectious diseases through extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation, which favors the migration of immune cells from the bloodstream to sites of inflammation. Although higher levels of MMP-9 and tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinases-1 (TIMP-1) have been found in small series of patients with sepsis, MMP-10 levels have not been studied in this setting. The objective of this study was to determine the predictive value of MMP-9, MMP-10, and TIMP-1 on clinical severity and mortality in a large series of patients with severe sepsis. METHODS: This was a multicenter, observational, and prospective study carried out in six Spanish Intensive Care Units. We included 192 (125 surviving and 67 nonsurviving) patients with severe sepsis and 50 age- and sex-matched healthy controls in the study. Serum levels of MMP-9, MMP-10, TIMP-1, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, and interleukin (IL)-10 were measured in patients with severe sepsis at the time of diagnosis and in healthy controls. RESULTS: Sepsis patients had higher levels of MMP-10 and TIMP-1, higher MMP-10/TIMP-1 ratios, and lower MMP-9/TIMP-1 ratios than did healthy controls (P < 0.001). An association was found between MMP-9, MMP-10, TIMP-1, and MMP-9/TIMP-1 ratios and parameters of sepsis severity, assessed by the SOFA score, the APACHE-II score, lactic acid, platelet count, and markers of coagulopathy. Nonsurviving sepsis patients had lower levels of MMP-9 (P = 0.037), higher levels of TIMP-1 (P < 0.001), lower MMP-9/TIMP-1 ratio (P = 0.003), higher levels of IL-10 (P < 0.001), and lower TNF-alpha/IL-10 ratio than did surviving patients. An association was found between MMP-9, MMP-10, and TIMP-1 levels, and TNF-alpha and IL-10 levels. The risk of death in sepsis patients with TIMP-1 values greater than 531 ng/ml was 80% higher than that in patients with lower values (RR = 1.80; 95% CI = 1.13 to 2.87;P = 0.01; sensitivity = 0.73; specificity = 0.45). CONCLUSIONS: The novel findings of our study on patients with severe sepsis (to our knowledge, the largest series reporting data about MMP levels in sepsis) are that reduced MMP-9/TIMP-1 ratios and increased MMP-10 levels may be of great pathophysiologic significance in terms of severity and mortality, and that TIMP-1 levels may represent a biomarker to predict the clinical outcome of patients with sepsis