Heterologous Reconstitution of the Intact Geodin Gene Cluster in Aspergillus nidulans through a Simple and Versatile PCR Based Approach

Fungal natural products are a rich resource for bioactive molecules. To fully exploit this potential it is necessary to link genes to metabolites. Genetic information for numerous putative biosynthetic pathways has become available in recent years through genome sequencing. However, the lack of solid methodology for genetic manipulation of most species severely hampers pathway characterization. Here we present a simple PCR based approach for heterologous reconstitution of intact gene clusters. Specifically, the putative gene cluster responsible for geodin production from Aspergillus terreus was transferred in a two step procedure to an expression platform in A. nidulans. The individual cluster fragments were generated by PCR and assembled via efficient USER fusion prior to transformation and integration via re-iterative gene targeting. A total of 13 open reading frames contained in 25 kb of DNA were successfully transferred between the two species enabling geodin synthesis in A. nidulans. Subsequently, functions of three genes in the cluster were validated by genetic and chemical analyses. Specifically, ATEG_08451 (gedC) encodes a polyketide synthase, ATEG_08453 (gedR) encodes a transcription factor responsible for activation of the geodin gene cluster and ATEG_08460 (gedL) encodes a halogenase that catalyzes conversion of sulochrin to dihydrogeodin. We expect that our approach for transferring intact biosynthetic pathways to a fungus with a well developed genetic toolbox will be instrumental in characterizing the many exciting pathways for secondary metabolite production that are currently being uncovered by the fungal genome sequencing projects

Italian guidelines for primary headaches: 2012 revised version

The first edition of the Italian diagnostic and therapeutic guidelines for primary headaches in adults was published in J Headache Pain 2(Suppl. 1):105–190 (2001). Ten years later, the guideline committee of the Italian Society for the Study of Headaches (SISC) decided it was time to update therapeutic guidelines. A literature search was carried out on Medline database, and all articles on primary headache treatments in English, German, French and Italian published from February 2001 to December 2011 were taken into account. Only randomized controlled trials (RCT) and meta-analyses were analysed for each drug. If RCT were lacking, open studies and case series were also examined. According to the previous edition, four levels of recommendation were defined on the basis of levels of evidence, scientific strength of evidence and clinical effectiveness. Recommendations for symptomatic and prophylactic treatment of migraine and cluster headache were therefore revised with respect to previous 2001 guidelines and a section was dedicated to non-pharmacological treatment. This article reports a summary of the revised version published in extenso in an Italian version

Evaluation of appendicitis risk prediction models in adults with suspected appendicitis

Background Appendicitis is the most common general surgical emergency worldwide, but its diagnosis remains challenging. The aim of this study was to determine whether existing risk prediction models can reliably identify patients presenting to hospital in the UK with acute right iliac fossa (RIF) pain who are at low risk of appendicitis. Methods A systematic search was completed to identify all existing appendicitis risk prediction models. Models were validated using UK data from an international prospective cohort study that captured consecutive patients aged 16–45 years presenting to hospital with acute RIF in March to June 2017. The main outcome was best achievable model specificity (proportion of patients who did not have appendicitis correctly classified as low risk) whilst maintaining a failure rate below 5 per cent (proportion of patients identified as low risk who actually had appendicitis). Results Some 5345 patients across 154 UK hospitals were identified, of which two‐thirds (3613 of 5345, 67·6 per cent) were women. Women were more than twice as likely to undergo surgery with removal of a histologically normal appendix (272 of 964, 28·2 per cent) than men (120 of 993, 12·1 per cent) (relative risk 2·33, 95 per cent c.i. 1·92 to 2·84; P < 0·001). Of 15 validated risk prediction models, the Adult Appendicitis Score performed best (cut‐off score 8 or less, specificity 63·1 per cent, failure rate 3·7 per cent). The Appendicitis Inflammatory Response Score performed best for men (cut‐off score 2 or less, specificity 24·7 per cent, failure rate 2·4 per cent). Conclusion Women in the UK had a disproportionate risk of admission without surgical intervention and had high rates of normal appendicectomy. Risk prediction models to support shared decision‐making by identifying adults in the UK at low risk of appendicitis were identified

The 2dF-SDSS LRG and QSO Survey: QSO clustering and the L-z degeneracy

We combine the QSO samples from the 2dF QSO Redshift Survey (2QZ) and the 2dF-SDSS LRG and QSO Survey (2SLAQ) in order to investigate the clustering of z~1.4 QSOs and measure the correlation function. The clustering signal in z-space, projected along the sky direction, is similar to that previously obtained from 2QZ alone. By fitting the z-space correlation function and lifting the degeneracy between beta and Omega_m_0 by using linear theory predictions, we obtain beta(z=1.4) = 0.60+-0.12 and Omega_m_0=0.25+-0.08, implying a value for the QSO bias, b(z=1.4)=1.5+-0.2. We further find that QSO clustering does not depend strongly on luminosity at fixed redshift. This result is inconsistent with the expectation of simple `high peaks' biasing models where more luminous, rare QSOs are assumed to inhabit higher mass haloes. The data are more consistent with models which predict that QSOs of different luminosities reside in haloes of similar mass. We find that halo mass does not evolve strongly with redshift nor depend on QSO luminosity. We finally investigate how black hole mass correlates with luminosity and redshift and ascertain the relation between Eddington efficiency and black hole mass. Our results suggest that QSOs of different luminosities may contain black holes of similar mass