Introduction to the Festschrift dedicated to Professor Eva Barreno

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Remark on the theory of lifting surfaces

First, the Weissinger method, as it applies to a rectangular wing,is discussed. By building on this framework it is shown how to treat the lift problem for any thin wing of arbitrary plan form

Identifying algal symbionts in lichen symbioses

Lichens are a ubiquitous terrestrial symbiosis of fungi with photoautotrophic microorganisms. The identification of the hosted photoautotrophs is notoriously difficult. Molecular data to clarify evolutionary relationships on the involved algal and cyanobacterial lineages are accumulating, but the assignment to species is challenging for various reasons. One of the challenges is the limited knowledge on the alpha diversity of photoautotrophs. New lineages are being discovered with increasing amounts of sequencing. Identification tools could incorporate these aspects, by routinely updating the assignment process. We propose the establishment of a classification tool using algal sequence data from public databases

Introduction: moving beyond chemotherapy

Epithelial ovarian cancer and related cancers arising in extrauterine Mullerian epithelium are generally chemosensitive—particularly to the platinum drugs, cisplatin and carboplatin, that form the backbone of first-line treatments upon diagnosis even at early stages. Doublets of platinums with paclitaxel have represented the standard-of-care since the late 1990s, with further notable advances taking place by intraperitoneal administration (in Gynecologic Oncology Group studies) after optimal surgical cytoreduction is achieved, and by divided doses of paclitaxel (in a Japanese GOG study). Adding another agent to improve on these results has otherwise proven to be quite challenging. Nevertheless, continued forays into introducing ‘targeted therapies’ are beginning to bear fruit, and form part of this Translational Cancer Research ( TCR ) supplement. The purpose of this supplement is to provide a summary of the advances in tumor biology and a glimpse into where targeted therapeutics are moving, and their successes to date

Phylogenetic placement of the lichenicolous, anamorphic genus Lichenodiplis and its connection to Muellerella-like teleomorphs

Lichenicolous fungi are a specialized group of taxa which inhabit lichens and develop diverse degrees of specificity and parasitic behaviour towards their hosts. They are recognized only by their phenotypic symptoms and sexual or asexual spore-producing structures on the lichen thalli. Only recently, molecular data and culture dependent approaches have helped in uncovering the species diversity and in verifying the phylogenetic position and anamorpheteleomorph relationships of some taxa. Here, we studied the phylogenetic placement of representative taxa of two lichenicolous genera, the coelomycete Lichenodiplis and the ascomycete Muellerella. We obtained molecular data for three nuclear and mitochondrial loci (28S, 18S, and 16S), both from fresh collected specimens and culture isolates. Our multilocus phylogeny places Lichenodiplis and Muellerella samples in one monophyletic, fully supported clade, sister to Epibryon (Epibryaceae) in Chaetothyriales (Eurotiomycetes). Morphological analyses of axenically cultured fungi show the formation of conidiomata and conidiospores in both Lichenodiplis and Muellerella isolates. We suggest that the species Lichenodiplis lecanorae and Muellerella atricola represent, respectively, the anamorphic and teleomorphic stages of the same fungus and discuss their relationships with the other fungal families in Chaetothyriomycetidae

Integrating targeted drugs with taxanes and platinums: opportunities and challenges

In ovarian cancer, multiple attempts to adjust the standard taxane/platinum doublet by adding cytotoxic therapy or varying scheduling, dosage, and delivery have been met with limited success. Alternative methods to improve the grim prognosis of ovarian cancer, including molecular therapies, are currently under investigation. Efforts have been made to study tyrosine kinase inhibitors (including imatinib and pazopanib), Src kinase inhibitors and histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) in combination with taxanes/platinums in order to improve efficacy. Unfortunately, while many pre-clinical and early phase clinical trials argue that the utilization of these molecular targets may enhance survival, only modest benefit has been seen in larger clinical trials. Other agents that have been evaluated include proteasome inhibitors, folate receptor antagonists, MEK inhibitors and opiate antagonists. In this review, we discuss the mechanisms of these targeted therapies and highlight the current and ongoing clinical trials that utilize these targeted agents in combination with taxanes and platinums in advanced ovarian cancer

Lichen and lichenicolous fungal communities tested as suitable systems for the application of cross-taxon analysis

Lichens are outstanding examples of fungal symbioses, forming long-lived structures, the lichen thalli in which a multiplicity of other microorganisms are hosted. Among these, microfungi seem to establish diverse trophic relationships with their lichen hosts. The most specialised of these fungi are the parasitic lichenicolous fungi. of which the diversity has hardly been explained as a proxy for the diversity of lichen species. Here, we used an exemplar dataset of a well-studied alpine lichen community composed of 63 lichen and 41 lichenicolous fungal species and tested it to verify the strength of the co-occurrences of the two species groups with predictive co-correspondence analyses. The results showed that the distribution of lichen abundances affect the abundance and variation of lichenicolous fungi and support our hypothesis to use lichens as surrogate for lichenicolous fungi in the surrogacy analysis

Life on top: cryptoendolithic ascomycetes and microalgae isolated from over 6000 m altitude

Rocks are among the oldest terrestrial niches hosting a multiplicity of life forms, of which diversity has been only partially uncovered. Endolithic metacommunities comprise all major groups of microorganisms, such as chemo-organotrophic, chemo-lithotrophic and phototrophic, represented by bacteria, microalgae and microfungi. Their diversity is often difficult to describe and may remain underestimated. Furthermore, knowledge about the diversity of microorganisms colonizing rocks in peculiar niches is even poorer due to the difficulty to retrieve environmental specimens. Here, we report the phylogenetic and phenotypic characterization of a few endolithic fungi and algae isolated from rock fragments collected at high elevation, i.e., on the top of two mountains over 6000 m altitude, Muztagh Ata (China) and Cerro Mercendario (Argentina). The identity of the strains was confirmed by sequencing the nuclear ITS and LSU, the plastidial rbcL loci and by morphological analysis. Three fungal strains belonging to the class Dothideomycetes and one algal strain belonging to the genus Trebouxia were isolated from Muztagh Ata, while six fungal strains belonging to the order Chaetothyriales and four algal strains belonging to the genus Myrmecia were isolated from Cerro Mercedario. The detected species diversity is discussed in an evolutionary and ecological context