The complete genome sequence of Chromobacterium violaceum reveals remarkable and exploitable bacterial adaptability

Chromobacterium violaceum is one of millions of species of free-living microorganisms that populate the soil and water in the extant areas of tropical biodiversity around the world. Its complete genome sequence reveals (i) extensive alternative pathways for energy generation, (ii) ≈500 ORFs for transport-related proteins, (iii) complex and extensive systems for stress adaptation and motility, and (iv) wide-spread utilization of quorum sensing for control of inducible systems, all of which underpin the versatility and adaptability of the organism. The genome also contains extensive but incomplete arrays of ORFs coding for proteins associated with mammalian pathogenicity, possibly involved in the occasional but often fatal cases of human C. violaceum infection. There is, in addition, a series of previously unknown but important enzymes and secondary metabolites including paraquat-inducible proteins, drug and heavy-metal-resistance proteins, multiple chitinases, and proteins for the detoxification of xenobiotics that may have biotechnological applications

Políticas sociales en América Latina y el Caribe : escenarios contemporáneos, inversiones y necesidades

Este Proyecto buscó responder a las demandas sociales y económicas de la región latinoamericana y el Caribe a través de dos ejes de análisis. El primero, llamado Relaciones Internacionales con China se dedicó a monitorear el estado de las relaciones entre América Latina y China; mientras que el segundo, titulado Políticas Sociales en la región, tuvo como objetivo elaborar un estado del arte sobre las políticas sociales en América Latina que permita dar una visión cualitativa y cuantitativa de las respuestas formuladas por los Estados Latinoamericanos a los beneficiarios de las políticas sociales, a través de la identificación, comparación y evaluación de las principales buenas prácticas así como los alcances y limitaciones en las políticas sociales implementadas en la región

Characterisation of microbial attack on archaeological bone

As part of an EU funded project to investigate the factors influencing bone preservation in the archaeological record, more than 250 bones from 41 archaeological sites in five countries spanning four climatic regions were studied for diagenetic alteration. Sites were selected to cover a range of environmental conditions and archaeological contexts. Microscopic and physical (mercury intrusion porosimetry) analyses of these bones revealed that the majority (68%) had suffered microbial attack. Furthermore, significant differences were found between animal and human bone in both the state of preservation and the type of microbial attack present. These differences in preservation might result from differences in early taphonomy of the bones. © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved