Experimental Gastric Carcinogenesis in Cebus apella Nonhuman Primates

The evolution of gastric carcinogenesis remains largely unknown. We established two gastric carcinogenesis models in New-World nonhuman primates. In the first model, ACP03 gastric cancer cell line was inoculated in 18 animals. In the second model, we treated 6 animals with N-methyl-nitrosourea (MNU). Animals with gastric cancer were also treated with Canova immunomodulator. Clinical, hematologic, and biochemical, including C-reactive protein, folic acid, and homocysteine, analyses were performed in this study. MYC expression and copy number was also evaluated. We observed that all animals inoculated with ACP03 developed gastric cancer on the 9th day though on the 14th day presented total tumor remission. In the second model, all animals developed pre-neoplastic lesions and five died of drug intoxication before the development of cancer. The last surviving MNU-treated animal developed intestinal-type gastric adenocarcinoma observed by endoscopy on the 940th day. The level of C-reactive protein level and homocysteine concentration increased while the level of folic acid decreased with the presence of tumors in ACP03-inoculated animals and MNU treatment. ACP03 inoculation also led to anemia and leukocytosis. The hematologic and biochemical results corroborate those observed in patients with gastric cancer, supporting that our in vivo models are potentially useful to study this neoplasia. In cell line inoculated animals, we detected MYC immunoreactivity, mRNA overexpression, and amplification, as previously observed in vitro. In MNU-treated animals, mRNA expression and MYC copy number increased during the sequential steps of intestinal-type gastric carcinogenesis and immunoreactivity was only observed in intestinal metaplasia and gastric cancer. Thus, MYC deregulation supports the gastric carcinogenesis process. Canova immunomodulator restored several hematologic measurements and therefore, can be applied during/after chemotherapy to increase the tolerability and duration of anticancer treatments

Black root rot: a long known but little understood disease

Table S1. Hosts reported to be susceptible to black root rot infection.Table S2. Variation in host susceptibility to black root rot infection by the fungus formally known as Thielaviopsis basicola.Black root rot caused by the pathogen Thielaviopsis basicola has been known since the mid 1800s. The disease is important on many agricultural and ornamental plant species and has been found in at least 31 countries. Since its description, the pathogen has had a complex taxonomic history that has resulted in a confused literature. A recent revision of the Ceratocystidaceae following the advent of DNA sequencing technology has made it possible to resolve this confusion. Importantly, it has also shown that there are two pathogens in the Ceratocystidaceae that cause black root rot. They reside in the newly established genus Berkeleyomyces and are now known as B. basicola and B. rouxiae. This review considers the taxonomic history of the black root rot pathogens, and their global distribution. Prospects relating to the serious diseases that they cause and the likely impact that the era of genomics will have on our understanding of the pathogens are also highlighted.The University of Pretoria, the members of Tree Protection Co‐operative Programme (TPCP), the DST‐NRF Centre of Excellence in Tree Health Biotechnology (CTHB) and the National Research Foundation.https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/136530592020-06-01hj2019BiochemistryForestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI)GeneticsMicrobiology and Plant Patholog