The Teleost Thymus in Health and Disease: New Insights from Transcriptomic and Histopathological Analyses of Turbot, Scophthalmus maximus

The thymus is a primary lymphoid organ that plays a pivotal role in the adaptive immune system. The immunobiology of the thymus in fish is considered to be similar to that of mammals, but it is actually poorly characterized in several cultured teleost species. In particular, while investigations in human and veterinary medicine have highlighted that the thymus can be affected by different pathological conditions, little is known about its response during disease in fish. To better understand the role of the thymus under physiological and pathological conditions, we conducted a study in turbot (Scophthalmus maximus), a commercially valuable flatfish species, combining transcriptomic and histopathological analyses. The myxozoan parasite Enteromyxum scophthalmi, which represents a major challenge to turbot production, was used as a model of infection. The thymus tissues of healthy fish showed overrepresented functions related to its immunological role in T-cell development and maturation. Large differences were observed between the transcriptomes of control and severely infected fish. Evidence of inflammatory response, apoptosis modulation, and declined thymic function associated with loss of cellularity was revealed by both genomic and morphopathological analyses. This study presents the first description of the turbot thymus transcriptome and provides novel insights into the role of this organ in teleosts’ immune responsesThis research was funded by THE SPANISH MINISTRY OF ECONOMY, INDUSTRY AND COMPETITIVENESS AND THE EUROPEAN REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUND (ERDF) through the projects AGL2015–67039–C3–1–R and AGL2015–67039–C3–3–R. DR is supported by BBSRC INSTITUTE STRATEGIC PROGRAM GRANTS to the Roslin Institute (BB/P013732/1, BB/P013740/1, BB/P013759/1)S

Characterization of minimal lesions related to the presence of visna/maedi virus in the mammary gland and milk of dairy sheep

[EN] Background: In order to characterize the complete range of lesions, especially minimal, affecting mammary gland and viral antigen distribution and target cells using immunohistochemistry in naturally Visna/maedi (VM) 84 infected sheep were studied, forty-four from flocks with clinical cases (A) and 35 randomly sampled from two abattoirs (B) together with five negative controls (C). An immunocytochemistry technique was developed and further milk samples (n = 39) were used to study viral excretion, carrier cells and the role of milk and colostrum in the transmission of the disease. Results: All sheep from group C and three sheep from group B were negative to VM in tissue sections by histopathology, immunohistochemistry and PCR, and also in serum using ELISA. Several degrees of CD3 + lymphocytic interstitial mastitis were observed in groups A and B: minimal (+) n = 26 sheep; moderate (++), n = 32 and severe (+++), n = 12. No differences in lesion distribution were observed between groups A and B. Viral presence was confirmed by immunohistochemistry using two different antibodies and/or PCR in every tissue with lesions while serology was negative in six sheep with lesions. Two milk samples taken from milk tanks from two flocks from group A and fourteen milk samples from 29 infected sheep from group B were positive to VM (most of them from animals with moderate and severe lesions). Positivity was only found in macrophages, even in focal and minimal lesions, while no positivity was observed in epithelial or any other cells in either tissue and milk samples. Conclusions: This new observation of the minimal lesions described in this work increased the prevalence of VM lesions in mammary gland up to 90.9% and VM should be considered as a differential diagnosis when minimal interstitial lesions are detected. A high prevalence of VM was observed in intensive milk-producing sheep, ELISA serology did not detect as positivity all infected animals, while histology, IHC or PCR showed higher sensitivity. The cytological technique developed was very useful in milk-cell studies using hematoxylin and eosin and immunocytochemistry. Viral detection in milk samples (16/39) confirms a potential but limited role of milk/colostrum in viral transmissionSIThis work was supported by LE361A12–1 project of Castilla y León Government and FPU13/01081 grant of the Spanish Government. LE361A12– 1 project financed the materials necessary for collection, analysis and interpretation of data. FPU13/01081 grant financed the pre-doctoral contract of the main performer of experiments and manuscript writer E

La investigación universitaria sobre educación : dilemas y prácticas

Se presentan los resultados de investigaciones realizadas en un contexto institucional: la Facultad de Educación Elemental y Especial (FEEYE), de la Universidad Nacional de Cuyo durante el bienio 2011-2013 y son resultado de los proyectos subsidiados por la Secretaría de Ciencia, Técnica y Posgrado de la misma Universidad a partir del programa de incentivo a docentes investigadores o subsidiados por la unidad académica

Blood Transcriptomics of Turbot Scophthalmus maximus:A Tool for Health Monitoring and Disease Studies

Blood transcriptomics is emerging as a relevant tool to monitor the status of the immune system and assist in diagnosis, prognosis, treatment and pathogenesis studies of diseases. In fish pathology, the potential of transcriptome profiling of blood is still poorly explored. Here, RNA sequencing was applied to analyze the blood transcriptional profile of turbot (Scophthalmus maximus), the most important farmed flatfish. The study was conducted in healthy specimens and specimens parasitized by the myxozoan Enteromyxum scophthalmi, which causes one of the most devastating diseases in turbot aquaculture. The blood of healthy turbot showed a transcriptomic profile mainly related to erythrocyte gas transportation function, but also to antigen processing and presentation. In moderately infected turbot, the blood reflected a broad inhibition of the immune response. Particularly, down-regulation of the B cell receptor signaling pathway was shared with heavily parasitized fish, which showed larger transcriptomic changes, including the activation of the inflammatory response. Turbot response to enteromyxosis proved to be delayed, dysregulated and ineffective in stopping the infection. The study evinces that blood transcriptomics can contribute to a better understanding of the teleost immune system and serve as a reliable tool to investigate the physiopathological status of fish

Mejoramiento genético asistido para características reproductivas de animales domésticos : Marker assisted selection for reproductive traits in domestic animal

En los sistemas de producción animal, las características de reproducción influyen significativamente en su eficiencia y rentabilidad. La reproducción como herramienta de cambio genético necesariamente requiere de estrategias que identifiquen la variabilidad genética de los caracteres de interés; sin embargo, debido a su naturaleza compleja todos los caracteres reproductivos requieren del entendimiento de su arquitectura genética, condición que por su baja heredabilidad resulta complejo por métodos convencionales. La biotecnología genómica en la actualidad propone el mejoramiento genético sustantivo por medio del uso e implementación de marcadores genéticos, sobre todo del tipo SNP. En los últimos años se ha investigado intensivamente, en ganado ovino y bovino, la variabilidad genética de caracteres reproductivos utilizando la búsqueda de variantes alélicas en genes candidatos que expliquen esta variabilidad y puedan ser empleados durante la selección. Actualmente en algunos casos su uso es una realidad (p.e. fecundidad, tamaño de camada en razas ovinas). Para otras características aún es requerida mayor investigación y validación de sus efectos putativos. En perspectiva, el futuro avizora mejores y más intensos logros con la disminución de los costos de tipificación y el mayor entendimiento en la interacción de los genes en caracteres complejos

Targeting inflammasome by the inhibition of caspase-1 activity using capped mesoporous silica nanoparticles

[EN] Acute inflammation is a protective response of the body to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens or damaged cells. However, dysregulated inflammation can cause secondary damage and could thus contribute to the pathophysiology of many diseases. Inflammasomes, the macromolecular complexes responsible for caspase-1 activation, have emerged as key regulators of immune and inflammatory responses. Therefore, modulation of inflammasome activity has become an important therapeutic approach. Here we describe the design of a smart nanodevice that takes advantage of the passive targeting of nanoparticles to macrophages and enhances the therapeutic effect of caspase-1 inhibitor VX-765 in vivo. The functional hybrid systems consisted of MCM-41-based nanoparticles loaded with anti-inflammatory drug VX-765 (S2-P) and capped with poly-L-lysine, which acts as a molecular gate. S2-P activity has been evaluated in cellular and in vivo models of inflammation. The results indicated the potential advantage of using nanodevices to treat inflammatory diseases. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.The authors wish to express their gratitude to the Spanish government (Projects MAT2015-64139-C4-1-R and SAF2014-52614-R (MINECO/FEDER)) and the Generalitat Valencia (Projects PROMETEOII/2014/061 and PROMETEOII/2014/047) for support. A.G-F. is grateful to the Spanish government for an FPU grant.García-Fernández, A.; García-Laínez, G.; Ferrandiz Manglano, ML.; Aznar, E.; Sancenón Galarza, F.; Alcaraz, MJ.; Murguía, JR.... (2017). Targeting inflammasome by the inhibition of caspase-1 activity using capped mesoporous silica nanoparticles. Journal of Controlled Release. 248:60-70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jconrel.2017.01.002S607024

An oleuropein β-glucosidase from olive fruit is involved in determining the phenolic composition of virgin olive oil

Phenolic composition of virgin olive oil is determined by the enzymatic and/or chemical reactions that take place during olive fruit processing. Of these enzymes, β-glucosidase activity plays a relevant role in the transformation of the phenolic glycosides present in the olive fruit, generating different secoiridoid derivatives. The main goal of the present study was to characterize olive fruit β-glucosidase genes and enzymes responsible for the phenolic composition of virgin olive oil. To achieve that, we have isolated an olive β-glucosidase gene from cultivar Picual (OepGLU), expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves and purified its corresponding recombinant enzyme. Western blot analysis showed that recombinant OepGLU protein is detected by an antibody raised against the purified native olive mesocarp β-glucosidase enzyme, and exhibits a deduced molecular mass of 65.0 kDa. The recombinant OepGLU enzyme showed activity on the major olive phenolic glycosides, with the highest levels with respect to oleuropein, followed by ligstroside and demethyloleuropein. In addition, expression analysis showed that olive GLU transcript level in olive fruit is spatially and temporally regulated in a cultivar-dependent manner. Furthermore, temperature, light and water regime regulate olive GLU gene expression in olive fruit mesocarp. All these data are consistent with the involvement of OepGLU enzyme in the formation of the major phenolic compounds present in virgin olive oil

Propuesta de microzonificación y usos de suelo en el distrito “El Algarrobal”, Las Heras, Mendoza

Las acciones que se realizan a través de gestiones territoriales, con normativas o decisiones políticas sobre espacios geográficos, sumado a la falta de control de parte del Estado, pueden provocar sobreexplotaciones que producen daños irreversibles y un desmejoramiento de la calidad de vida de la población del lugar. En algunos casos las consecuencias se advierten a largo plazo, pero en el distrito El Algarrobal la degradación es muy evidente, en un relativamente corto período espaciotemporal. Este marcado daño ambiental y territorial que se puede observar a simple vista, es lo que indujo a definirla como área de estudio, a fin de poder aportar propuestas de mejoras, para el desarrollo de las actividades del distrito, desde el sector cientí- fico, a los administradores del dominio público. Para elaborar propuestas se debe contar con estudios previos, imágenes de la zona y fundamentalmente con el conocimiento empírico obtenido por visitas y reconocimientos de los sectores del área del estudio

Informe final: Priorizando inversiones en agricultura sostenible adaptada al clima en Guatemala

El siguiente informe abordará los resultados del primer y segundo taller de Priorización de Inversiones en Agricultura Sostenible Adaptada al Clima realizados los días 7 de Agosto de 2014 y 18 de Junio de 2015 respectivamente, en Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala. A través de las secciones se presentarán cada una de las actividades desarrolladas durante los eventos, y al mismo tiempo se hará un breve análisis de los principales resultados obtenidos junto con unas conclusiones finales. La información aquí presentada, será el insumo necesario para completar el ciclo de priorización de prácticas ASAC dentro del Marco de Priorización e iniciar una etapa de construcción del entorno favorable para la adopción y escalamiento de portafolios de prácticas de Agricultura Sostenible Adaptada al Clima (ASAC) con la colaboración articulada entre el MAGA y los diferentes actores involucrados e identificados durante el proceso