The General Transcriptional Repressor Tup1 Is Required for Dimorphism and Virulence in a Fungal Plant Pathogen

A critical step in the life cycle of many fungal pathogens is the transition between yeast-like growth and the formation of filamentous structures, a process known as dimorphism. This morphological shift, typically triggered by multiple environmental signals, is tightly controlled by complex genetic pathways to ensure successful pathogenic development. In animal pathogenic fungi, one of the best known regulators of dimorphism is the general transcriptional repressor, Tup1. However, the role of Tup1 in fungal dimorphism is completely unknown in plant pathogens. Here we show that Tup1 plays a key role in orchestrating the yeast to hypha transition in the maize pathogen Ustilago maydis. Deletion of the tup1 gene causes a drastic reduction in the mating and filamentation capacity of the fungus, in turn leading to a reduced virulence phenotype. In U. maydis, these processes are controlled by the a and b mating-type loci, whose expression depends on the Prf1 transcription factor. Interestingly, Δtup1 strains show a critical reduction in the expression of prf1 and that of Prf1 target genes at both loci. Moreover, we observed that Tup1 appears to regulate Prf1 activity by controlling the expression of the prf1 transcriptional activators, rop1 and hap2. Additionally, we describe a putative novel prf1 repressor, named Pac2, which seems to be an important target of Tup1 in the control of dimorphism and virulence. Furthermore, we show that Tup1 is required for full pathogenic development since tup1 deletion mutants are unable to complete the sexual cycle. Our findings establish Tup1 as a key factor coordinating dimorphism in the phytopathogen U. maydis and support a conserved role for Tup1 in the control of hypha-specific genes among animal and plant fungal pathogens

Developing a scoring method for evaluating dietary methodology in reviews of epidemiologic studies

We examined the quality of dietary assessment used by studies of prostate cancer and dietary fat in an attempt to explain the heterogeneity of their relative risk (RR) estimates. We reviewed the dietary assessment of 39 studies published in English that reported RRs for the association between prostate cancer and dietary fat intake derived from food frequency questionnaires (FFQs). We scored studies based on several objective measures of quality dietary assessment. Studies received no points for characteristics with unclear information. Studies scored 2 points for interviewer-completed FFQs, along with 2 points for quantitative assessments. They were scored 4 points for FFQs with more than 150 items, with an additional point for pretesting and 2 points for validated FFQs. Studies were given 1 point for describing each of the following characteristics: specifying the nutrient database used to convert foods to grams of fat, specifying quality control, attempting to measure dietary intake prior to diagnosis (recalled dietary period), and reporting the time needed to complete the FFQ. We then ranked studies based on their overall score: "high" for a score of 7 or greater out of 15 and "low" for lower scores. Two of the 39 studies that used quantitative methods other than a FFQ were excluded. Of the remaining 37 studies reviewed that used FFQs, only 16 were judged to have a high quality assessment of dietary fat. This review highlights the inconsistency of FFQ used in epidemiologic studies of dietary fat. Such variations in dietary measurement may be reflected in the variation in the magnitude of RRs reported for prostate cancer and dietary fat. The problems identified here include insufficient reporting of the details of dietary assessment, in addition to use of questionnaires with only a few food items to estimate a subject's dietary fat intake. It is imperative that journals include experts in the field of nutrition as reviewers of epidemiologic papers describing diet

Height, adiposity and body fat distribution and breast density in young women

Introduction: Breast density is one of the strongest risk factors for breast cancer, but determinants of breast density in young women remain largely unknown.Methods: Associations of height, adiposity and body fat distribution with percentage dense breas

Relationship between a plant-based dietary portfolio and risk of cardiovascular disease : findings from the women’s health initiative prospective cohort study

202202 bcvcVersion of RecordOthersThe Women's Health Initiative (WHI) was funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through contracts HHSN268201600018C, HHSN268201600002C, HHSN268201600003C, HHSN268201600004C, and R01DK125403 (SL). Glenn was supported by the Nora Martin Fellowship in Nutritional Sciences, the Banting & Best Diabetes Centre Tamarack Graduate Award in Diabetes Research, the Peterborough K.M. Hunter Charitable Foundation Graduate Award and an Ontario Graduate Scholarship. Sievenpiper was funded by a Diabetes Canada Clinician Scientist Award. Lo was supported by Start‐up Fund for RAPs under the Strategic Hiring Scheme (Grant number: BD8H). Funders had no role in the study design, the collection, analysis and interpretation of data, the writing of the report, and the decision to submit the article for publication.Publishe

Variability in sleep disturbance, physical activity and quality of life by level of depressive symptoms in women with Type 2 diabetes

AIMS:To examine (1) the prevalence of depressive symptoms in women with Type 2 diabetes, (2) the associations between depressive symptoms and the following dependent variables: sleep disturbance; physical activity; physical health-related; and global quality of life, and (3) the potential moderating effects of antidepressants and optimism on the relationship between depressive symptoms and dependent variables. METHODS:Participants in the Women's Health Initiative who had Type 2 diabetes and data on depressive symptoms (N=8895) were included in the analyses. In multivariable linear regression models controlling for sociodemographic, medical and psychosocial covariates, we examined the main effect of depressive symptoms, as well as the interactions between depressive symptoms and antidepressant use, and between depressive symptoms and optimism, on sleep disturbance, physical activity, physical health-related quality of life; and global quality of life. RESULTS:In all, 16% of women with Type 2 diabetes reported elevated depressive symptoms. In multivariable analyses, women with depressive symptoms had greater sleep disturbance (P<0.0001) and lower global quality of life (P<.0001). We found evidence of significant statistical interaction in the models for quality-of-life outcomes: the increased risk of poor physical health-related quality of life associated with antidepressant use was stronger in women without vs with depressive symptoms, and the association between greater optimism and higher global quality of life was stronger in women with vs without depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS:To improve health behaviours and quality of life in women with Type 2 diabetes, sociodemographic and medical characteristics may identify at-risk populations, while psychosocial factors including depression and optimism may be important targets for non-pharmacological intervention

Variability in sleep disturbance, physical activity and quality of life by level of depressive symptoms in women with Type 2 diabetes.

AIMS:To examine (1) the prevalence of depressive symptoms in women with Type 2 diabetes, (2) the associations between depressive symptoms and the following dependent variables: sleep disturbance; physical activity; physical health-related; and global quality of life, and (3) the potential moderating effects of antidepressants and optimism on the relationship between depressive symptoms and dependent variables. METHODS:Participants in the Women's Health Initiative who had Type 2 diabetes and data on depressive symptoms (N=8895) were included in the analyses. In multivariable linear regression models controlling for sociodemographic, medical and psychosocial covariates, we examined the main effect of depressive symptoms, as well as the interactions between depressive symptoms and antidepressant use, and between depressive symptoms and optimism, on sleep disturbance, physical activity, physical health-related quality of life; and global quality of life. RESULTS:In all, 16% of women with Type 2 diabetes reported elevated depressive symptoms. In multivariable analyses, women with depressive symptoms had greater sleep disturbance (P<0.0001) and lower global quality of life (P<.0001). We found evidence of significant statistical interaction in the models for quality-of-life outcomes: the increased risk of poor physical health-related quality of life associated with antidepressant use was stronger in women without vs with depressive symptoms, and the association between greater optimism and higher global quality of life was stronger in women with vs without depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS:To improve health behaviours and quality of life in women with Type 2 diabetes, sociodemographic and medical characteristics may identify at-risk populations, while psychosocial factors including depression and optimism may be important targets for non-pharmacological intervention