Selection for abdominal bristle number in Drosophila subobscura, a highly polymorphic species for gene arrangements

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Synergistic effect of xylanases produced in co-culture of bacillus sp. Ar03 and paenibacillus sp. Ar247

In nature, the plant biomass is degraded by a process that requires the cooperative action of multiple microorganisms capable of producing a variety of enzymes to attack the complex structure of lignocelluloses. This work assessed the production and the enzymatic activity over the main hemicellulolytic fraction of plant biomass, xylan, in monoculture and co-culture systems of bacteria isolated from regional niches associated with sugar cane bagasse. The enzyme activity was estimated by measuring reducing sugars released using the dinitrosalicylic acid method. All cultivation assays were performed at 200 rpm and 30 °C in a diluted peptone broth supplemented with 1% CMC (w/v). The viability and the growth of both isolates were estimated by the number of colony forming units, fact that was possible since both isolates exhibited different colony morphology. The specific xylanolytic activity of the co-culture of Bacillus sp. AR03 and Paenibacillus sp. AR247 was of 7.03 ± 0.46 IU/mg and 8.36 ± 0.49 IU/mg at 48 h and 96 h of cultivation, respectively. In contrast, each isolate assayed simultaneously under identical conditions, produced significantly lower xylanase activities, even when both isolates grew similarly in both, individual and co-cultures, reaching approximately 1011 CFU/ml in all cases. These values were of 4.18 ± 0.24 IU/mg and 4.55 ± 0.29 IU/mg of xylanolytic activity at 48 h and 96 h, respectively, for Bacillus sp. AR03, while Paenibacillus sp. AR247 reached values of 0.59 ± 0.09 IU/mg and 0.40 ± 0.03 IU/mg at the same periods of cultivation. When mixtures (1:1) of the cell-free supernatant of individual cultures were assayed, it was observed that the enzymatic activity reached a maximum of 4.16 ± 0.39 IU/mg after 48 h of cultivation. This value was close to that obtained by the sum of the enzymatic activity of individual cultures, which was 4.77 IU/mg, for the same cultivation time. The obtained results were consistent with the observation of a synergistic effect on the degradation of xylan in the co-culture evaluated, with an estimated degree of synergism of 1.69 at 96 h. This synergy, which has been described for enzyme mixtures on industrial substrates, was observed here during the co-cultivation of Bacillus sp. AR03 and Paenibacillus sp. AR247. This system displayed a higher xylanolytic activity with respect to the individual cultivation of each isolate and a different zymographic pattern along the cultivation period. The obtained results of the xylanolytic activity for individual strains and the co-culture might indicate that the observed effect could not depend on an only addition of enzyme activities so that we may suggest the existence of a synergistic cooperation during the growth in the co-cultivation of the microorganism evaluated.Fil: Hero, Johan Sebastian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiológicos; ArgentinaFil: Pisa, José Horacio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiológicos; ArgentinaFil: Perotti, Nora Ines. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiológicos; ArgentinaFil: Romero, Cintia Mariana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiológicos; ArgentinaFil: Martinez, Maria Alejandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiológicos; ArgentinaXI Congreso Argentino de Microbiología GeneralCórdobaArgentinaAsociación Civil de Microbiología Genera

Novel xylan degrading enzymes from polysaccharide utilizing loci of Prevotella copri DSM18205

Prevotella copri is a bacterium that can be found in the human gastrointestinal tract (GIT). The role of P. copri in the GIT is unclear, and elevated numbers of the microbe have been reported both in dietary fiber-induced improvement in glucose metabolism but also in conjunction with certain inflammatory conditions. These findings raised our interest in investigating the possibility of P. copri to grow on xylan, and identify the enzyme systems playing a role in digestion of xylan-based dietary fibers. Two xylan degrading polysaccharide utilizing loci (PUL10 and 15) were found in the genome, with three and eight glycoside hydrolase (GH) -encoding genes, respectively. Three of them were successfully produced in Escherichia coli: One extracellular enzyme from GH43 (subfamily 12, in PUL10, 60 kDa) and two enzymes from PUL15, one extracellular GH10 (41 kDa), and one intracellular GH43 (subfamily 137 kDa). Based on our results, we propose that in PUL15, GH10 (1) is an extracellular endo-1,4-β-xylanase, that hydrolazes mainly glucuronosylated xylan polymers to xylooligosaccharides (XOS); while, GH43_1 in the same PUL, is an intracellular β-xylosidase, catalyzing complete hydrolysis of the XOS to xylose. In PUL10, the characterized GH43_12 is an arabinofuranosidase, with a role in degradation of arabinoxylan, catalyzing removal of arabinose-residues on xylan.Fil: Linares Pastén, Javier A. Lund University. Biotechnology Department; SueciaFil: Hero, Johan Sebastian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiológicos; ArgentinaFil: Pisa, José Horacio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiológicos; ArgentinaFil: Teixeira, Cristina. Lund University. Biotechnology Department; SueciaFil: Nyman, Margareta. Department Food Technology, Engineering And Nutrition; SueciaFil: Adlercreutz, Patrick. Lund University. Biotechnology Department; SueciaFil: Martinez, Maria Alejandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiológicos; ArgentinaFil: Nordberg Karlsson, Eva. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Tecnología; Argentin

H3K4me1 marks DNA regions hypomethylated during aging in human stem and differentiated cells

In differentiated cells, aging is associated with hypermethylation of DNA regions enriched in repressive histone post-translational modifications. However, the chromatin marks associated with changes in DNA methylation in adult stem cells during lifetime are still largely unknown. Here, DNA methylation profiling of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) obtained from individuals aged 2 to 92 yr identified 18,735 hypermethylated and 45,407 hypomethylated CpG sites associated with aging. As in differentiated cells, hypermethylated sequences were enriched in chromatin repressive marks. Most importantly, hypomethylated CpG sites were strongly enriched in the active chromatin mark H3K4me1 in stem and differentiated cells, suggesting this is a cell type-independent chromatin signature of DNA hypomethylation during aging. Analysis of scedasticity showed that interindividual variability of DNA methylation increased during aging in MSCs and differentiated cells, providing a new avenue for the identification of DNA methylation changes over time. DNA methylation profiling of genetically identical individuals showed that both the tendency of DNA methylation changes and scedasticity depended on nongenetic as well as genetic factors. Our results indicate that the dynamics of DNA methylation during aging depend on a complex mixture of factors that include the DNA sequence, cell type, and chromatin context involved and that, depending on the locus, the changes can be modulated by genetic and/or external factors

Efficacy of Budesonide Orodispersible Tablets as Induction Therapy for Eosinophilic Esophagitis in a Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Swallowed topical-acting corticosteroids are recommended as first-line therapy for eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE). Asthma medications not optimized for esophageal delivery are sometimes effective, although given off-label. We performed a randomized, placebo-controlled trial to assess the effectiveness and tolerability of a budesonide orodispersible tablet (BOT), which allows the drug to be delivered to the esophagus in adults with active EoE. METHODS: We performed a double-blind, parallel study of 88 adults with active EoE in Europe. Patients were randomly assigned to groups that received BOT (1 mg twice daily; n = 59) or placebo (n = 29) for 6 weeks. The primary end point was complete remission, based on clinical and histologic factors, including dysphagia and odynophagia severity ≤2 on a scale of 0-10 on each of the 7 days before the end of the double-blind phase and a peak eosinophil count <5 eosinophils/high power field. Patients who did not achieve complete remission at the end of the 6-week double-blind phase were offered 6 weeks of open-label treatment with BOT (1 mg twice daily). RESULTS: At 6 weeks, 58% of patients given BOT were in complete remission compared with no patients given placebo (P < .0001). The secondary end point of histologic remission was achieved by 93% of patients given BOT vs no patients given placebo (P < .0001). After 12 weeks, 85% of patients had achieved remission. Six-week and 12-week BOT administration were safe and well tolerated; 5% of patients who received BOT developed symptomatic, mild candida, which was easily treated with an oral antifungal agent. CONCLUSIONS: In a randomized trial of adults with active EoE, we found that budesonide oral tablets were significantly more effective than placebo in inducing clinical and histologic remission. Eudra-CT number 2014-001485-99; ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT02434029

Regulatory sites for splicing in human basal ganglia are enriched for disease-relevant information

Genome-wide association studies have generated an increasing number of common genetic variants associated with neurological and psychiatric disease risk. An improved understanding of the genetic control of gene expression in human brain is vital considering this is the likely modus operandum for many causal variants. However, human brain sampling complexities limit the explanatory power of brain-related expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) and allele-specific expression (ASE) signals. We address this, using paired genomic and transcriptomic data from putamen and substantia nigra from 117 human brains, interrogating regulation at different RNA processing stages and uncovering novel transcripts. We identify disease-relevant regulatory loci, find that splicing eQTLs are enriched for regulatory information of neuron-specific genes, that ASEs provide cell-specific regulatory information with evidence for cellular specificity, and that incomplete annotation of the brain transcriptome limits interpretation of risk loci for neuropsychiatric disease. This resource of regulatory data is accessible through our web server, http://braineacv2.inf.um.es/

Plasma lipid profiles discriminate bacterial from viral infection in febrile children

Fever is the most common reason that children present to Emergency Departments. Clinical signs and symptoms suggestive of bacterial infection are often non-specific, and there is no definitive test for the accurate diagnosis of infection. The 'omics' approaches to identifying biomarkers from the host-response to bacterial infection are promising. In this study, lipidomic analysis was carried out with plasma samples obtained from febrile children with confirmed bacterial infection (n = 20) and confirmed viral infection (n = 20). We show for the first time that bacterial and viral infection produces distinct profile in the host lipidome. Some species of glycerophosphoinositol, sphingomyelin, lysophosphatidylcholine and cholesterol sulfate were higher in the confirmed virus infected group, while some species of fatty acids, glycerophosphocholine, glycerophosphoserine, lactosylceramide and bilirubin were lower in the confirmed virus infected group when compared with confirmed bacterial infected group. A combination of three lipids achieved an area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of 0.911 (95% CI 0.81 to 0.98). This pilot study demonstrates the potential of metabolic biomarkers to assist clinicians in distinguishing bacterial from viral infection in febrile children, to facilitate effective clinical management and to the limit inappropriate use of antibiotics

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection