Nucleic acid amplification techniques for the detection of Schistosoma mansoni infection in humans and the intermediate snail host: a structured review and meta-analysis of diagnostic accuracy

As part of our studies on antiprotozoal activity of approved herbal medicinal products, we previously found that a commercial tincture from Salvia officinalis L. (common Sage, Lamiaceae) possesses high activity against Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense (Tbr), causative agent of East African Human Trypanosomiasis. We have now investigated in detail the antitrypanosomal constituents of this preparation. A variety of fractions were tested for antitrypanosomal activity and analyzed by UHPLC/+ESI QqTOF MS. The resulting data were used to generate a partial least squares (PLS) regression model that highlighted eight particular constituents that were likely to account for the major part of the bioactivity. These compounds were then purified and identified and their activity against the pathogen tested. All identified compounds (one flavonoid and eight diterpenes) displayed significant activity against Tbr, in some cases higher than that of the total tincture. From the overall results, it can be concluded that the antitrypanosomal activity of S. officinalis L. is, for the major part, caused by abietane-type diterpenes of the rosmanol/rosmaquinone group

A trans-kingdom T6SS effector induces the fragmentation of the mitochondrial network and activates innate immune receptor NLRX1 to promote infection

Bacteria can inhibit the growth of other bacteria by injecting effectors using a type VI secretion system (T6SS). T6SS effectors can also be injected into eukaryotic cells to facilitate bacterial survival, often by targeting the cytoskeleton. Here, we show that the trans-kingdom antimicrobial T6SS effector VgrG4 from Klebsiella pneumoniae triggers the fragmentation of the mitochondrial network. VgrG4 colocalizes with the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) protein mitofusin 2. VgrG4 induces the transfer of Ca2+ from the ER to the mitochondria, activating Drp1 (a regulator of mitochondrial fission) thus leading to mitochondrial network fragmentation. Ca2+ elevation also induces the activation of the innate immunity receptor NLRX1 to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS). NLRX1-induced ROS limits NF-κB activation by modulating the degradation of the NF-κB inhibitor IκBα. The degradation of IκBα is triggered by the ubiquitin ligase SCFβ-TrCP, which requires the modification of the cullin-1 subunit by NEDD8. VgrG4 abrogates the NEDDylation of cullin-1 by inactivation of Ubc12, the NEDD8-conjugating enzyme. Our work provides an example of T6SS manipulation of eukaryotic cells via alteration of the mitochondria

An ensemble of projections of wheat adaptation to climate change in europe analyzed with impact response surfaces

IRS2 TEAM:Alfredo Rodríguez(1), Ignacio J. Lorite(3), Fulu Tao(4), Nina Pirttioja(5), Stefan Fronzek(5), Taru Palosuo(4), Timothy R. Carter(5), Marco Bindi(2), Jukka G Höhn(4), Kurt Christian Kersebaum(6), Miroslav Trnka(7,8),Holger Hoffmann(9), Piotr Baranowski(10), Samuel Buis(11), Davide Cammarano(12), Yi Chen(13,4), Paola Deligios(14), Petr Hlavinka(7,8), Frantisek Jurecka(7,8), Jaromir Krzyszczak(10), Marcos Lana(6), Julien Minet(15), Manuel Montesino(16), Claas Nendel(6), John Porter(16), Jaime Recio(1), Françoise Ruget(11), Alberto Sanz(1), Zacharias Steinmetz(17,18), Pierre Stratonovitch(19), Iwan Supit(20), Domenico Ventrella(21), Allard de Wit(20) and Reimund P. Rötter(4).An ensemble of projections of wheat adaptation to climate change in europe analyzed with impact response surfaces . International Crop Modelling Symposiu

Global protected area expansion is compromised by projected land-use and parochialism

Peer reviewe

The impact of natural resource use on bird and reptile communities within multiple-use protected areas: evidence from sub-arid southern Madagascar

Multiple-use protected areas, in which sustainable levels of extractive livelihood activities are permitted, play an increasingly important role in the global protected area estate, and are expected to rise in prevalence. However, we know little about their effectiveness at conserving biodiversity. We surveyed bird and reptile communities in three areas across a forest disturbance gradient resulting from charcoal production and shifting cultivation within a multiple-use protected area in Madagascar’s sub-arid spiny forest. We scored individual species using a Conservation Value Index (CVI; a simple metric based on rarity, threat and distinctiveness), and estimated the total conservation value of each treatment by calculating the sum of frequency-weighted CVI scores across all present species. Bird and reptile community responses to forest disturbance were idiosyncratic. Bird richness was greatest in the moderate-disturbance treatment, but the low-disturbance treatment had the superior conservation value due to higher frequencies of locally-endemic species. Reptile richness was the same in low- and moderate-disturbance treatments, but the conservation value of the latter was greater. The high-disturbance areas had lowest richness and conservation value for both groups. For birds, increasing disturbance levels were accompanied by community turnover from high-value to low-value species, a pattern highlighted by CVI that is masked by assessing species richness alone. Although some endemic species appear to be resilient to degradation, multiple-use protected areas in Madagascar may lose biodiversity since most endemic species are forest-dependent. Stricter protected area models may be more appropriate in areas where much of the high-value biodiversity is sensitive to habitat degradation

Salvia Species as Sources of Natural Products with Antiprotozoal Activity

Natural products from plants have been used since ancestral times to treat a wide variety of diseases worldwide. Plants of the genus Salvia (Sage) have been reported to be used for the prevention and treatment of various diseases and ailments. In particular, some Salvia species have been used in traditional medicine to treat diseases caused by protozoan parasites of the genera Trypanosoma, Leishmania and Plasmodium and scientific studies have demonstrated the activity of various isolated constituents from these plants against these pathogens. The current review attempts to give a critical overview of published information about the antiprotozoal activity of species of the genus Salvia and their chemical constituents. It is meant to give a unified overview of these results in order to avoid repetitions caused, e.g., by limited access to some primary reports, and to stimulate further research to possibly facilitate the development of new molecular leads against protozoal neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) based on Salvia constituents

Effect of time and storage methods on the detection of Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus in Diaphorina citri by qPCR

The assessment of bacterialiferous Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) frequency is important for (i) studies of bacteria acquisition and inoculation by ACP, (ii) disease detection in disease free areas but with ACP presence, (iii) efficiency evaluation of inoculum reduction strategies, (iv) evaluation of frequency of Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (Las)-positive ACP and the abundance of inoculum sources or putative new HLB infections relationships. Depending on the conditions and time of storage of collected psyllids, Las DNA in ACP could degrade and Las-false negative results might occur. Thus, this study was conducted to evaluate the detection of Las in ACP adults submitted to different storage methods and time of storage by real-time PCR (qPCR). Two 2x3x7 factorial experiments were conducted. Factors were ‘Ethanol’ (with or without 70% ethanol), ‘Temperature’ (-20°C, 4°C and 26°C) and ‘Time’ (0, 3, 7, 14, 21, 28 and 35 days). For each treatment, 20 samples with 3 ACP adults from nymphs reared on Las infected trees were tested for Las presence by qPCR. No significant differences in percentages of psyllids samples positive for Las were observed among the storage methods up to 35 days, except a slight trend of decline in Las detection in samples storage without ethanol at 26°C after 14 days of storage