Exposure to selected pathogens in Geoffroy's cats and domestic carnivores from central Argentina

Wild carnivores share a high percentage of parasites and viruses with closely related domestic carnivores. Because of increased overlap and potential contact with domestic species, we conducted a retrospective serosurvey for 11 common carnivore pathogens in 40 Geoffroy's cats (Leopardus geoffroyi) sampled between 2000 and 2008 within or near two protected areas in central Argentina (Lihué Calel National Park, La Pampa, and Campos del Tuyú National Park, Buenos Aires), as well as five domestic cats and 11 domestic dogs from cattle ranches adjacent to Lihué Calel Park. Geoffroy's cats had detectable antibody to canine distemper virus (CDV), feline calicivirus (FCV), feline coronavirus, feline panleukopenia virus (FPV), Toxoplasma gondii, Leptospira interrogans (serovars Ictero/Icter and Ballum), and Dirofilaria immitis. None of the wild cats had antibodies to feline herpesvirus, feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), feline leukemia virus, or rabies virus. Domestic dogs had antibodies to CDV, canine adenovirus, canine herpesvirus, and canine parvovirus. Antibodies to FPV, FCV, FIV, and T. gondii were found in domestic cats.We provide the first data on exposure of free-ranging Geoffroy's cats to pathogens at two sites within the core area of the species distribution range, including the first report of antibodies to CDV in this species. We encourage continued monitoring for diseases in wild and domestic carnivores as well as preventive health care for domestic animals, particularly in park buffer zones where overlap is greatest.Fil: Uhart, Marcela María. ildlife Conservation Society; ArgentinaFil: Rago, María Virginia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Marull, Carolina A.. ildlife Conservation Society; ArgentinaFil: Ferreyra, Hebe del Valle. ildlife Conservation Society; ArgentinaFil: Pereira, Javier Adolfo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales “Bernardino Rivadavia”; Argentin

Antibacterial and antibiofilm activities of quercetin against clinical isolates of Staphyloccocus aureus and Staphylococcus saprophyticus with resistance profile

The aim of this study was to determine the antibacterial and antibiofilm properties of quercetin against clinical isolates of Staphyloccocus aureus and Staphylococcus saprophyticus with resistance profile. The antibacterial activity of quercetin was performed by the determination of the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) through the microdilution method according to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI). The percentage of inhibition of Staphylococcus spp. biofilm, after treatment with sub-inhibitory concentrations of quercetin (MIC/2 and MIC/4), was evaluated by the violet crystal assay. Quercetin showed an antimicrobial activity against clinical isolates of methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) (MIC = 250 µg/ml), methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) (MIC = 500 µg/ml), vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus (VISA) (MIC = 125 and 150 µg/ml), S. saprophyticus resistant to oxacillin (MIC = 62.5 to 125 µg/ml), vancomycin-resistant S. aureus (VRSA) and S. saprophyticus resistant to oxacillin and vancomycin (MIC = 500 to 1000 µg/ml). At MIC/2 and MIC/4 the quercetin inhibit 46.5 ± 2.7% and 39.4 ± 4.3% of the S. aureus biofilm, respectively, and 51.7 ± 5.5% and 46.9 ± 5.5% of the S. saprophyticus biofilm, respectively. According to the results of this study, it was noticed that the quercetin presented an antibacterial activity against strains of Staphylococcus spp. with resistance profile and also inhibited the bacterial biofilm production even in sub-inhibitory concentrations

Extraction and purification of violacein from Yarrowia lipolytica cells using aqueous solutions of surfactants

BACKGROUND: L-Asparaginase (ASNase) is an important biopharmaceutical for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL); however, with some restrictions due to its high manufacturing costs. Aqueous biphasic systems (ABS) have been suggested as more economical platforms for the separation/purification of proteins, but a full understanding of the mechanisms behind the ASNase partition is still a major challenge. Polymer/salt-based ABS with different driving-forces (salting-out and hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity effects) were herein applied to control the partition of commercial ASNase. RESULTS: The main results showed the ASNase partition to the salt- or polymer-rich phase depending on the ABS studied, with extraction efficiencies higher than 95%. For systems composed of inorganic salts, the ASNase partition was controlled by the polyethylene glycol (PEG) molecular weight used. Cholinium-salts-based ABS were able to promote a preferential ASNase partition to the polymer-rich phase using PEG-600 and to the salt-rich phase using a more hydrophobic polypropylene glycol (PPG)-400 polymer. It was possible to select the ABS composed of PEG-2000 + potassium phosphate buffer as the most efficient to separate the ASNase from the main contaminant proteins (purification factor = 2.4 ± 0.2), while it was able to maintain the enzyme activity for posterior application as part of a therapeutic. CONCLUSION: Polymer/salt ABS can be used to control the partition of ASNase and adjust its purification yields, demonstrating the ABS potential as more economic platform for the selective recovery of therapeutic enzymes from complex broths.publishe

One-year timeline kinetics of cytokine-mediated cellular immunity in dogs vaccinated against visceral leishmaniasis

BACKGROUND: The main control strategy for visceral leishmaniasis in Brazil has been based on the elimination of seropositive dogs, although this is not widely accepted. In this context, the use of a long-lasting protective vaccine against canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL) has been highly expected. The aim of this work was to determine the timeline kinetics of the cytokine microenvironment derived from circulating leukocytes as supportive immunological biomarkers triggered by Leishmune® vaccine. Cross-sectional kinetic analysis of cellular immunity cytokines was carried out at three times (1, 6 and 12 months) after primovaccination with Leishmune®. In vitro short-term whole blood cultures were stimulated with Leishmania infantum soluble antigen (SLAg). The secreted cytokine signatures and their major sources were determined. RESULTS: At six months after vaccination, Leishmune® induced an increase in IL-8, IFN-γ, IL-17a and TNF-α levels and a decrease in IL-10. Cytokine signature analysis revealed a shift in the microenvironment towards a pro-inflammatory profile mediated by IL-8 and IFN-γ. Both, CD4(+) (↑TNF-α(+) and ↑IFN-γ (+)) and CD8(+) (↑IL-17a and ↓IL-4) T-cells contributed to the acquired immune responses observed after stimulation with SLAg. CONCLUSIONS: The changes observed in the cytokine profile suggested that Leishmune® was able to induce an effective response at six months after primovaccination. After one year, it returned to baseline suggesting the need of additional boosting

Photocatalytic ozonation of urban wastewater and surface water using immobilized TiO2 with LEDs: Micropollutants, antibiotic resistance genes and estrogenic activity

Photocatalytic ozonation was employed for the first time in continuous mode with TiO2-coated glass Raschig rings and light emitting diodes (LEDs) to treat urban wastewater as well as surface water collected from the supply area of a drinking water treatment plant (DWTP). Different levels of contamination and types of contaminants were considered in this work, including chemical priority substances (PSs) and contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), as well as potential human opportunistic antibiotic resistant bacteria and their genes (ARB&ARG). Photocatalytic ozonation was more effective than single ozonation (or even than TiO2 catalytic ozonation) in the degradation of typical reaction by-products (such as oxalic acid), and more effective than photocatalysis to remove the parent micropollutants determined in urban wastewater. In fact, only fluoxetine, clarithromycin, erythromycin and 17-alpha-ethinylestradiol (EE2) were detected after photocatalytic ozonation, by using solid-phase extraction (SPE) pre-concentration and LC-MS/MS analysis. In surface water, this treatment allowed the removal of all determined micropollutants to levels below the limit of detection (0.01-0.20 ng L(-1)). The efficiency of this process was then assessed based on the capacity to remove different groups of cultivable microorganisms and housekeeping (16S rRNA) and antibiotic resistance or related genes (intI1, blaTEM, qnrS, sul1). Photocatalytic ozonation was observed to efficiently remove microorganisms and ARGs. Although after storage total heterotrophic and ARB (to ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, meropenem), fungi, and the genes 16S rRNA and intI1, increased to values close to the pre-treatment levels, the ARGs (blaTEM, qnrS and sul1) were reduced to levels below/close to the quantification limit even after 3-days storage of treated surface water or wastewater. Yeast estrogen screen (YES), thiazolyl blue tetrazolium reduction (MTT) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assays were also performed before and after photocatalytic ozonation to evaluate the potential estrogenic activity, the cellular metabolic activity and the cell viability. Compounds with estrogenic effects and significant differences concerning cell viability were not observed in any case. A slight cytotoxicity was only detected for Caco-2 and hCMEC/D3 cell lines after treatment of the urban wastewater, but not for L929 fibroblasts.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Ajuste de los algoritmos OC2 y OC3 de MODIS para la obtención de la concentración de clorofila-a en lagos oligotróficos con Landsat-8: validación en el lago Titicaca

Utilizando una base de datos espectral simulada, con el modelo de transferencia radiativa HydroLi- ght, se realizó un ajuste para Landsat-8 de los al- goritmos OC2 y OC3, comúnmente utilizados por MODIS. La validación de los coeficientes propues- tos se hizo mediante una serie temporal del 2013 de imágenes Landsat-8 y el producto de [Chl-a] de MODIS del lago Titicaca, el cual, por sus carac- terísticas limnológicas y de tamaño, es adecuado para la validación de los algoritmos OC2 y OC3 propuestos. También se hizo una comparación con los coeficientes determinados con la base de datos del NOMAD, obteniendo un ajuste bastante pobre. Por último, se hizo una comparación del algoritmo OC2, utilizando la banda a 483 nm, aplicándolo a las diferentes imágenes de Landsat (5, 7 y 8), don- de se destaca la mejora que proporciona la mayor resolución radiométrica (12 bits) de Landsat-8 a los mapas de [Chl-a] obtenidos.

Evolutionary history of the little fire ant Wasmannia auropunctata before global invasion: Inferring dispersal patterns, niche requirements and past and present distribution within its native range

The evolutionary history of invasive species within their native range may involve key processes that allow them to colonize new habitats. Therefore, phylogeographic studies of invasive species within their native ranges are useful to understand invasion biology in an evolutionary context. Here we integrated classical and Bayesian phylogeographic methods using mitochondrial and nuclear DNA markers with a palaeodistribution modelling approach, to infer the phylogeographic history of the invasive ant Wasmannia auropunctata across its native distribution in South America. We discuss our results in the context of the recent establishment of this mostly tropical species in the Mediterranean region. Our Bayesian phylogeographic analysis suggests that the common ancestor of the two main clades of W. auropunctata occurred in central Brazil during the Pliocene. Clade A would have differentiated northward and clade B southward, followed by a secondary contact beginning about 380 000 years ago in central South America. There were differences in the most suitable habitats among clades when considering three distinct climatic periods, suggesting that genetic differentiation was accompanied by changes in niche requirements, clade A being a tropical lineage and clade B a subtropical and temperate lineage. Only clade B reached more southern latitudes, with a colder climate than that of northern South America. This is concordant with the adaptation of this originally tropical ant species to temperate climates prior to its successful establishment in the Mediterranean region. This study highlights the usefulness of exploring the evolutionary history of invasive species within their native ranges to better understand biological invasions. © 2016 European Society for Evolutionary Biology

Excreted thiocyanate detects live reef fishes illegally collected using cyanide: a non-invasive and non-destructive testing approach

Cyanide fishing is a method employed to capture marine fish alive on coral reefs. They are shipped to markets for human consumption in Southeast Asia, as well as to supply the marine aquarium trade worldwide. Although several techniques can be used to detect cyanide in reef fish, there is still no testing method that can be used to survey the whole supply chain. Most methods for cyanide detection are time-consuming and require the sacrifice of the sampled fish. Thiocyanate anion (SCN(-)) is a metabolite produced by the main metabolic pathway for cyanide anion (CN(-)) detoxification. Our study employed an optical fiber (OF) methodology (analytical time 3.16 µg L(-1)) of SCN(-) in seawater. Given that marine fish exposed to cyanide excrete SCN(-) in the urine, elevated levels of SCN(-) present in the seawater holding live reef fish indicate that the surveyed specimens were likely exposed to cyanide. In our study, captive-bred clownfish (Amphiprion clarkii) pulse exposed for 60 s to either 12.5 or 25 mg L(-1) of CN(-) excreted up to 6.96±0.03 and 9.84±0.03 µg L(-1) of SCN(-), respectively, during the 28 days following exposure. No detectable levels of SCN(-) were recorded in the water holding control organisms not exposed to CN(-), or in synthetic seawater lacking fish. While further research is necessary, our methodology can allow a rapid detection of SCN(-) in the holding water and can be used as a screening tool to indicate if live reef fish were collected with cyanide.publishe