Does Living in Previously Exposed Malaria or Warm Areas is Associated with a Lower Risk of Severe COVID-19 Infection in Italy?

Incidence of Covid-19 positivity (21/2/2020-28/3/2020) in provinces of 4 Italian regions whose territory was described as previously exposed to Malaria was compared with those of other provinces of the same regions. The climate of such provinces was compared with the climate of the other provinces in some regions. Previously malarial areas show a lower risk than other provinces of the same regions: Mantua (Lombardy) RR=0.94 (CI95%0.89-0.99); Venice-Rovigo (Veneto) RR=0.61 (CI95%0.58-0.65); Ferrara-Ravenna (Emilia-Romagna) RR=0.37 (CI95%0.35-0.41); Cagliari Oristano-South Sardinia (Sardinia) RR=0.25 (0.17-0.31). The maximum temperature in March 2020 in those provinces was higher in mean 1.5° for other provinces. The lower frequency of COVID-19 in the provinces previously exposed to Malaria of four Italian regions does not reveal a causal link. The phenomenon has emerged independently in all the regions investigated. People born between the 1920s and 1950s were those most exposed to malaria years ago and today are the most exposed to the severest forms of COVID-19. A warmer climate seems to be associated with a lower risk of COVID, in line with the evidence highlighted in equatorial states where a lower lethality of the virus has emerged, however this regardless of the presence of Malaria. This may suggest that climate and not Malaria is the real risk factor, though further studies need to determine the role of the association climate / COVID

Lineamenti morfologici e cartografia dei popolamenti bentonici di Rada della Reale nell'isola dell’Asinara (Sardegna NW)= Morphological elements and cartography of benthic community in Rada della Reale, Asinara Island (Sardinia NW)

A detailed investigation of bottom types in Rada della Reale has been carried out in 1998 as part of resources study of Asinara National Park. The study area, along 23 km of coastline between Punta Barbatossa and Punta Trabucato, has a surface of 15 km2. Detailed informattin on biotic communities in the area has been recorded and transferred in a thematic map together with geomorphological features. The main benthic community is represented by the Posidonia oceanica meadow, wlth a denslty up to 700-800 shootslm2. Other seagrasses like Cymodocea nodosa and Caulerpa prolifera are also present. In the mediolittoral zone assemblages of Patella ferruginea are of main importance. Considering the great value of the area, in the future an integrated management strategy that improves conservation and enhances the value of the resources must be developed

A Survey of MicroRNA Length Variants Contributing to miRNome Complexity in Peach (Prunus Persica L.)

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short non-coding RNA molecules produced from hairpin structures and involved in gene expression regulation with major roles in plant development and stress response. Although each annotated miRNA in miRBase (www.mirbase.org) is a single defined sequence with no further details on possible variable sequence length, isomiRs – namely the population of variants of miRNAs coming from the same precursors – have been identified in several species and could represent a way of broadening the regulatory network of the cell. Next-gen-based sequencing makes it possible to comprehensively and accurately assess the entire miRNA repertoire including isomiRs. The aim of this work was to survey the complexity of the peach miRNome by carrying out Illumina high-throughput sequencing of miRNAs in three replicates of five biological samples arising from a set of different peach organs and/or phenological stages. Three hundred-ninety-two isomiRs (miRNA and miRNA*-related) corresponding to 26 putative miRNA coding loci, have been highlighted by mirDeep-P and analyzed. The presence of the same isomiRs in different biological replicates of a sample and in different tissues demonstrates that the generation of most of the detected isomiRs is not random. The degree of mature sequence heterogeneity is very different for each individual locus. Results obtained in the present work can thus contribute to a deeper view of the miRNome complexity and to better explore the mechanism of action of these tiny regulators

Comparative transcriptome analysis of the interaction between Actinidia chinensis var. chinensis and Pseudomonas syringae pv. Actinidiae in absence and presence of acibenzolar-S-methyl

Background: Since 2007, bacterial canker caused by Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae (Psa) has become a pandemic disease leading to important economic losses in every country where kiwifruit is widely cultivated. Options for controlling this disease are very limited and rely primarily on the use of bactericidal compounds, such as copper, and resistance inducers. Among the latter, the most widely studied is acibenzolar-S-methyl. To elucidate the early molecular reaction of kiwifruit plants (Actinidia chinensis var. chinensis) to Psa infection and acibenzolar-S-methyl treatment, a RNA seq analysis was performed at different phases of the infection process, from the epiphytic phase to the endophytic invasion on acibenzolar-S-methyl treated and on non-treated plants. The infection process was monitored in vivo by confocal laser scanning microscopy. Results: De novo assembly of kiwifruit transcriptome revealed a total of 39,607 transcripts, of which 3360 were differentially expressed during the infection process, primarily 3 h post inoculation. The study revealed the coordinated changes of important gene functional categories such as signaling, hormonal balance and transcriptional regulation. Among the transcription factor families, AP2/ERF, MYB, Myc, bHLH, GATA, NAC, WRKY and GRAS were found differentially expressed in response to Psa infection and acibenzolar-S-methyl treatment. Finally, in plants treated with acibenzolar-S-methyl, a number of gene functions related to plant resistance, such as PR proteins, were modulated, suggesting the set-up of a more effective defense response against the pathogen. Weighted-gene coexpression network analysis confirmed these results. Conclusions: Our work provides an in-depth description of the plant molecular reactions to Psa, it highlights the metabolic pathway related to acibenzolar-S-methyl-induced resistance and it contributes to the development of effective control strategies in open field

Cultivated Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) Suffered a Severe Cytoplasmic Bottleneck during Domestication: Implications from Chloroplast Genomes

In various crops, genetic bottlenecks occurring through domestication can limit crop resilience to biotic and abiotic stresses. In the present study, we investigated nucleotide diversity in tomato chloroplast genome through sequencing seven plastomes of cultivated accessions from the Campania region (Southern Italy) and two wild species among the closest (Solanum pimpinellifolium) and most distantly related (S. neorickii) species to cultivated tomatoes. Comparative analyses among the chloroplast genomes sequenced in this work and those available in GenBank allowed evaluating the variability of plastomes and defining phylogenetic relationships. A dramatic reduction in genetic diversity was detected in cultivated tomatoes, nonetheless, a few de novo mutations, which still differentiated the cultivated tomatoes from the closest wild relative S. pimpinellifolium, were detected and are potentially utilizable as diagnostic markers. Phylogenetic analyses confirmed that S. pimpinellifolium is the closest ancestor of all cultivated tomatoes. Local accessions all clustered together and were strictly related with other cultivated tomatoes (S. lycopersicum group). Noteworthy, S. lycopersicum var. cerasiforme resulted in a mixture of both cultivated and wild tomato genotypes since one of the two analyzed accessions clustered with cultivated tomato, whereas the other with S. pimpinellifolium. Overall, our results revealed a very reduced cytoplasmic variability in cultivated tomatoes and suggest the occurrence of a cytoplasmic bottleneck during their domestication

Short-term abstinence from cocaine self-administration, but not passive cocaine infusion, elevates αCaMKII autophosphorylation in the rat nucleus accumbens and medial prefrontal cortex

Increases in alpha calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase type II ( α CaMKII) activity in the nucleus accumbens shell has been proposed as a core component in the motivation to self-administer cocaine and in priming-induced drug-seeking. Since cocaine withdrawal promotes drug-seeking, we hypothesized that abstinence from cocaine self-administration should enhance α CaMKII as well. We found that short-term abstinence from contingent, but not non-contingent, cocaine i.v. self-administration (2 h/d for 14 d; 0.25 mg/0.1 ml, 6s infusion) elevates α CaMKII autophosphorylation, but not the kinase expression, in a dynamic, time- and brain region-dependent manner. Increased α CaMKII autophosphorylation in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), but not dorsolateral striatum (dlS), was found 24 h, but not immediately, after the last cocaine self-administration session. Notably, in the mPFC, but not NAc and dlS, α CaMKII autophosphorylation was still enhanced 7 d later. The persistent enhancement in the mPFC of abstinent rats may represent a previously unappreciated contribution to initial incubation of cocaine-seeking

New evidence of MIS 3 relative sea level changes from the Messina Strait, Calabria (Italy)

© The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Antonioli, F., Calcagnile, L., Ferranti, L., Mastronuzzi, G., Monaco, C., Orru, P., Quarta, G., Pepe, F., Scardino, G., Scicchitano, G., Stocchi, P., & Taviani, M. New evidence of MIS 3 relative sea level changes from the Messina Strait, Calabria (Italy). Water, 13(19), (2021): 2647, https://doi.org/10.3390/w13192647.Investigation of sea-level positions during the highly-dynamic Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3: 29–61 kyrs BP) proves difficult because: (i) in stable and subsiding areas, coeval coastal sediments are currently submerged at depths of few to several tens of meters below the present sea level; (ii) in uplifting areas, the preservation of geomorphic features and sedimentary records is limited due to the erosion occurred during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) with sea level at a depth of −130 m, followed by marine transgression that determined the development of ravinement surfaces. This study discusses previous research in the Mediterranean and elsewhere, and describes new fossiliferous marine deposits overlaying the metamorphic bedrock at Cannitello (Calabria, Italy). Radiocarbon ages of marine shells (about 43 kyrs cal BP) indicate that these deposits, presently between 28 and 30 m above sea level, formed during MIS 3.1. Elevation correction of the Cannitello outcrops (considered in an intermediate-to-far-field position with respect to the ice sheet) with the local vertical tectonic rate and Glacial Isostatic Adjustment (GIA) rate allows the proposal of a revision of the eustatic depth for this highstand. Our results are consistent with recently proposed estimates based on a novel ice sheet modelling technique.This research received no external funding

In vitro synergistic anti-prion effect of cholesterol ester modulators

Background. Our studies on the role of cholesterol in prion infection/replication showed that brains and peripheral cells of sheep susceptible to or suffering from Scrapie were characterized by an altered cholesterol homeostasis compared to animals with a scrapie-resistant genotype, and that drugs influencing cholesterol esterification were endowed with selective anti-prion activity in N2a cell lines infected with the 22L and RML prion strains. Results. In prion-infected N2a cell lines we now report increased anti-prion activity of dual-drug combinations consisting of cholesterol ester modulators associated with prion inhibitors Synergism was obtained with the cholesterol ester modulators everolimus, pioglitazone, progesterone, and verapamil associated with the anti-prion chlorpromazine, and with everolimus and pioglitazone associated with the anti-prion quinacrine. Comparative lipid analyses in prion-infected and non-infected N2a cells by colorimetric, enzymatic, and chemical means, clearly demonstrated a derangement of type and distribution of cholesterol esters, free cholesterol, and triglycerides in the infected N2a cells. Although single-drug treatments influenced lipid syntheses, only the combined-drug treatments appeared to restore a lipid profile similar to that of untreated-uninfected cells. Conclusions. We conclude that the anti-prion synergistic effect of cholesterol ester modulators with the cholesterol metabolism interfering anti-prion drugs chlorpromazine and quinacrine may arise from the ability of combined drugs to re-establish the intracellular lipid profile of untreated-uninfected cells. Overall, these data suggest that inhibition of prion replication can be readily potentiated by combinatorial drug treatments, and that steps of cholesterol/cholesterol ester metabolism may represent suitable targets