Molecular characterisation of XvRG6 and XvRF17 genes isolated from the resurrection plant Xeropyta viscosa

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 59-71).A number of genes up-regulated in response to abiotic stress have been isolated from X. viscosa by various methods, one of which includes differential screening of cDNA libraries. Of these genes, a large number are undescribed, with no identity to known plant genes. Two such genes, XvRG6 and XvRF17, isolated from a X. viscosa cDNA library have been partially characterised. Southern blot analysis confirmed the presence of both XvRG6 and XvRF17 genes in the X. viscosa genome. In silico analyses predicted XvRG6 to be proline-rich protein, since it possesses many of the features common to PRP such as a signal peptide, proline repeats, a cysteine residue and possible phosphorylation sites. It also possesses a tyrosine residue present in some of the repeats, and this residue is belivied to play a role in protecting the plant against environmental stresses. The XvRF17 protein was predicted by in silico analyses to belong to the family of metallothioneins, a family of metal-binding proteins. Anaylis of the XvRG6 mRNA transcript showed that the gene was not dehydration stress inducible, but was induced by ethylene, endogenous ABA, SA and JA application. In contrast, the XvRF17 mRNA transcript was shown by RT-PCR to be induced by dehydration stress, endogenous ABA, SA and JA application but not by ethylene treatment. Interestingly, western blot analyses revealed that XvRG6 protein levels increased only during dehydration and not during any other imposed stress. This study has shown that both XvRG6 and XvRF17 and responsive to stress. Since there are no known orthologues of these genes, their respective roles in X. viscosa remains speculative

Global South scholars are missing from European and US journals. What can be done about it

Studies have shown that scholars in the global South are under represented in top international peer-reviewed social and medical sciences journals. The global South refers to African, Asian, Latin American, and Middle Eastern countries who are also members of the Group of 77. The intergovernmental organisation of mainly developing countries is used to identify countries in the South. The global North includes the Group of 8 and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. Our own analysis of gender and politics journals shows scholars in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East are missing from leading journals published in the US and Europe. We found that between 2008 and 2017 less than 3% of 947 full length articles in four gender and politics journals published in the global North were written by scholars based in the global South. Researchers based in the global North have a wider global reach and are generally judged to be at the forefront of knowledge production and dissemination. Meanwhile, South-based scholars are often not part of major debates and conversations in their field. This points to a severe imbalance in the production of new knowledge. But all countries in the South are not alike. We found that scholars at three universities in South Africa (Rhodes University, University of Cape Town, and the University of the Witwatersrand) published the most articles followed by researchers at four universities in India. Surprisingly, scholars from large countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia, and Nigeria have not published articles in these journals

Acanthamoeba polyphaga-Enhanced Growth of Mycobacterium smegmatis

Background: Mycobacterium smegmatis is a rapidly-growing mycobacterium causing rare opportunistic infections in human patients. It is present in soil and water environments where free-living amoeba also reside, but data regarding M. smegmatis-amoeba relationships have been contradictory from mycobacteria destruction to mycobacteria survival. Methodology/Principal Findings: Using optic and electron microscopy and culture-based microbial enumeration we investigated the ability of M. smegmatis mc 2 155, M. smegmatis ATCC 19420 T and M. smegmatis ATCC 27204 organisms to survive into Acanthamoeba polyphaga trophozoites and cysts. We observed that M. smegmatis mycobacteria penetrated and survived in A. polyphaga trophozoites over five-day co-culture resulting in amoeba lysis and the release of viable M. smegmatis mycobacteria without amoebal cyst formation. We further observed that amoeba-co-culture, and lysed amoeba and supernatant and pellet, significantly increased five-day growth of the three tested M. smegmatis strains, including a four-fold increase in intra-amoebal growth. Conclusions/Significance: Amoebal co-culture increases the growth of M. smegmatis resulting in amoeba killing by replicating M. smegmatis mycobacteria. This amoeba-M. smegmatis co-culture system illustrates an unusual paradigm in the mycobacteria-amoeba interactions as mycobacteria have been mainly regarded as amoeba-resistant organisms. Using these model organisms, this co-culture system could be used as a simple and rapid model to probe mycobacterial factors implicated in the intracellular growth of mycobacteria

POLICE BEHAVIOR IN POST-CONFLICT STATES: EXPLAINING VARIATION IN RESPONSES TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, INTERNAL HUMAN TRAFFICKING, AND RAPE

Security sector reform programs restructure police forces to improve how they respond to gender-based violence (GBV). However, significant weaknesses persist in how police officers enforce anti-GBV laws. One area of weakness is the attrition of cases; officers fail to refer the majority of cases to the courts but rather withdraw them at the police station. Studies of police behavior in post-conflict African states have attributed the withdrawal of cases to corruption, poor professionalism, patriarchal gender norms, and underequipped police forces. Though salient, these conditions do not adequately explain police responses to GBV crimes. Even in police stations with the most poorly trained, corrupt, underequipped, and biased officers, a small number of cases advance to court. This dissertation investigates this puzzle by studying officers’ responses to domestic violence, internal human trafficking, and rape in two Liberian counties. While officers withdraw over 50 percent of domestic violence and internal human trafficking cases, they withdraw less than five percent of rape cases every year. This study employs 150 interviews with officers of the Women and Children Protection Section (WACPS) as well as survivors of violence, bureaucrats, and staff of international organizations (IOs) and local women’s nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to explain this disparity. It finds that officers are more likely to refer rape cases to court because they perceive rape as an offense that is above the jurisdiction of the police and because the WACPS enforces a non-withdrawal policy for rape cases. This perception is a product of training provided by state and non-state actors; the stature of the crime in the penal law; and the WACPS’ policies. This study also finds that when these two conditions do not exist, officers sometimes forward cases to court based on their judgments of the victim and of the effects of the crime on the victim. It argues that the state, IOs, and NGOs have prioritized sexual violence and emphasized the prosecution of sexual offenders through legal and policy changes, institution building, and awareness-raising, to the relative neglect of other forms of GBV. This disparity has contributed to the variation in how officers respond to GBV

Constructivist Grounded Theory Approach in Understanding Couples’ Perceived Fairness of Gendered Division of Labor: Implications on Marxist Feminist Approach and Third Wave Feminist Thought

This study uses a constructivist Grounded Theory (GT) Approach guided by feminist and pro-feminism perspectives in developing a new model that analyzes the paradoxical question of why couples especially women perceive gendered division of labor as fair. Responses from agricultural partner dyads were subjected to the three-step method of the GT approach. Theoretical analysis revealed that perceived fairness of the gendered division of labor is grounded on the themes of (i) type of family upbringing, (ii) perceived physical advantage of men and perceived physical disadvantage of women, (iii) feelings of self-entitlement among men, (iv) role performance as indicator for self-worth among women, (v) sense of duty shared by the couple, (vi) open communication channels between couples, and (vii) observed family cooperation that entails delegation of household tasks to children. A new model illustrating the process of how gendered division of labor is regarded as fair between agricultural couples has been developed. Implications of this new model to Marxist Feminist Approach and Third Wave Feminism as basis for future social and policy reforms are also presented in this paper

Mycobacterium tuberculosis Complex Mycobacteria as Amoeba-Resistant Organisms

International audienceBackground: Most environmental non-tuberculous mycobacteria have been demonstrated to invade amoebal trophozoites and cysts, but such relationships are largely unknown for members of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. An environmental source has been proposed for the animal Mycobacterium bovis and the human Mycobacterium canettii.Methodology/Principal Findings: Using optic and electron microscopy and co-culture methods, we observed that 89±0.6% of M. canettii, 12.4±0.3% of M. tuberculosis, 11.7±2% of M. bovis and 11.2±0.5% of Mycobacterium avium control organisms were phagocytized by Acanthamoeba polyphaga, a ratio significantly higher for M. canettii (P = 0.03), correlating with the significantly larger size of M. canetti organisms (P = 0.035). The percentage of intraamoebal mycobacteria surviving into cytoplasmic vacuoles was 32±2% for M. canettii, 26±1% for M. tuberculosis, 28±2% for M. bovis and 36±2% for M. avium (P = 0.57). M. tuberculosis, M. bovis and M. avium mycobacteria were further entrapped within the double wall of <1% amoebal cysts, but no M. canettii organisms were observed in amoebal cysts. The number of intracystic mycobacteria was significantly (P = 10−6) higher for M. avium than for the M. tuberculosis complex, and sub-culturing intracystic mycobacteria yielded significantly more (P = 0.02) M. avium organisms (34×104 CFU/mL) than M. tuberculosis (42×101 CFU/mL) and M. bovis (35×101 CFU/mL) in the presence of a washing fluid free of mycobacteria. Mycobacteria survived in the cysts for up to 18 days and cysts protected M. tuberculosis organisms against mycobactericidal 5 mg/mL streptomycin and 2.5% glutaraldehyde.Conclusions/Significance: These data indicate that M. tuberculosis complex organisms are amoeba-resistant organisms, as previously demonstrated for non-tuberculous, environmental mycobacteria. Intercystic survival of tuberculous mycobacteria, except for M. canettii, protect them against biocides and could play a role in their life cycle

Transcatheter placement of a low-profile biodegradable pulmonary valve made of small intestinal submucosa: A long-term study in a swine model

ObjectiveWe sought to investigate a placement of a percutaneous low-profile prosthetic valve constructed of small intestinal submucosa in the pulmonary position in a swine model.MethodsTwelve female farm pigs were stented at the native pulmonary valve to induce pulmonary insufficiency. Once right ventricular dilation occurred, the small intestinal submucosa valve was implanted. The pigs were followed up with transthoracic echocardiographic Doppler scanning. One animal died of heart failure before valve replacement. Animals were euthanized at 1 day, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months after valve implantation.ResultsThe small intestinal submucosa pulmonary valve showed effective reversal of pulmonary regurgitation. There were no misplacements during deployment. There were no embolizations. One-year echocardiographic follow-up showed minimal regurgitation and no stenosis for a valve/vessel ratio of 0.78 or greater. Histologic examination demonstrated intensive remodeling of the small intestinal submucosal valve. Within 1 month, the surface was covered by endothelium, and fibroblasts invaded the interior. Over the following months, the small intestinal submucosal valve remodeled without apparent graft rejection.ConclusionThe small intestinal submucosa valve has the potential for graft longevity without the need for anticoagulation or immunosuppression. Histologic remodeling of the valve tissue provides a replacement capable of resembling a native valve that can be placed percutaneously with low-profile delivery systems

Genomics, Lifestyles and Future Prospects of Wood-Decay and Litter-Decomposing Basidiomycota

Saprobic (saprotrophic and saprophytic) wood-decay fungi are in majority species belonging to the fungal phylum Basidiomycota, whereas saprobic plant litter-decomposing fungi are species of both the Basidiomycota and the second Dikarya phylum Ascomycota. Wood-colonizing white rot and brown rot fungi are principally polypore, gilled pleurotoid, or corticioid Basidiomycota species of the class Agaricomycetes, which also includes forest and grassland soil-inhabiting and litter-decomposing mushroom species. In this chapter, examples of lignocellulose degradation patterns are presented in the current view of genome sequencing and comparative genomics of fungal wood-decay enzymes. Specific attention is given to the model white rot fungus, lignin-degrading species Phanerochaete chrysosporium and its wood decay-related gene expression (transcriptomics) on lignocellulose substrates. Types of fungal decay patterns on wood and plant lignocellulose are discussed in the view of fungal lifestyle strategies. Potentiality of the plant biomass-decomposing Basidiomycota species, their secreted enzymes and respective lignocellulose-attacking genes is evaluated in regard to development of biotechnological and industrial applications.Peer reviewe