The Wolbachia Genome of Brugia malayi: Endosymbiont Evolution within a Human Pathogenic Nematode

Complete genome DNA sequence and analysis is presented for Wolbachia, the obligate alpha-proteobacterial endosymbiont required for fertility and survival of the human filarial parasitic nematode Brugia malayi. Although, quantitatively, the genome is even more degraded than those of closely related Rickettsia species, Wolbachia has retained more intact metabolic pathways. The ability to provide riboflavin, flavin adenine dinucleotide, heme, and nucleotides is likely to be Wolbachia's principal contribution to the mutualistic relationship, whereas the host nematode likely supplies amino acids required for Wolbachia growth. Genome comparison of the Wolbachia endosymbiont of B. malayi (wBm) with the Wolbachia endosymbiont of Drosophila melanogaster (wMel) shows that they share similar metabolic trends, although their genomes show a high degree of genome shuffling. In contrast to wMel, wBm contains no prophage and has a reduced level of repeated DNA. Both Wolbachia have lost a considerable number of membrane biogenesis genes that apparently make them unable to synthesize lipid A, the usual component of proteobacterial membranes. However, differences in their peptidoglycan structures may reflect the mutualistic lifestyle of wBm in contrast to the parasitic lifestyle of wMel. The smaller genome size of wBm, relative to wMel, may reflect the loss of genes required for infecting host cells and avoiding host defense systems. Analysis of this first sequenced endosymbiont genome from a filarial nematode provides insight into endosymbiont evolution and additionally provides new potential targets for elimination of cutaneous and lymphatic human filarial disease

Correlates of Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder in a Sample of HIV-Positive, Methamphetamine-using Men Who have Sex with Men

Substance use has been identified as a risk factor for elevated levels of obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). This study examined methamphetamine use and sexual risk behaviors as correlates of OCD in a sample of 245 HIV-positive men having sex with men (MSM) in San Diego, CA. In a logistic regression analysis, OCD was associated with greater frequency of methamphetamine use, more depressive symptoms, seeking out risky venues and risky sexual partners when “high” on methamphetamine, and reporting fewer sex acts in the past 2 months. These data suggest the need for increased awareness and understanding of the role that OCD may play in the drug use behaviors and risky sexual practices of methamphetamine users

A Functional oriT in the Ptw Plasmid of Burkholderia cenocepacia Can Be Recognized by the R388 Relaxase TrwC

Burkholderia cenocepacia is both a plant pathogen and the cause of serious opportunistic infections, particularly in cystic fibrosis patients. B. cenocepacia K56-2 harbors a native plasmid named Ptw for its involvement in the Plant Tissue Watersoaking phenotype. Ptw has also been reported to be important for survival in human cells. Interestingly, the presence of PtwC, a homolog of the conjugative relaxase TrwC of plasmid R388, suggests a possible function for Ptw in conjugative DNA transfer. The ptw region includes Type IV Secretion System genes related to those of the F plasmid. However, genes in the adjacent region shared stronger homology with the R388 genes involved in conjugative DNA metabolism. This region included the putative relaxase ptwC, a putative coupling protein and accessory nicking protein, and a DNA segment with high number of inverted repeats and elevated AT content, suggesting a possible oriT. Although we were unable to detect conjugative transfer of the Ptw resident plasmid, we detected conjugal mobilization of a co-resident plasmid containing the ptw region homologous to R388, demonstrating the cloned ptw region contains an oriT. A similar plasmid lacking ptwC could not be mobilized, suggesting that the putative relaxase PtwC must act in cis on its oriT. Remarkably, we also detected mobilization of a plasmid containing the Ptw oriT by the R388 relaxase TrwC, yet we could not detect PtwC-mediated mobilization of an R388 oriT-containing plasmid. Our data unambiguously show that the Ptw plasmid harbors DNA transfer functions, and suggests the Ptw plasmid may play a dual role in horizontal DNA transfer and eukaryotic infection

The political economy of international accounting standards

On 1 January 2005, all stock exchange listed companies in the European Union (EU) began using International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) written by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). This article argues that the IASB's introduction of fair value accounting reflects and reinforces changed relations of production in which the financial sector increasingly dominates the productive sector, nationally institutionalized economic systems are undermined, and new forms of economic appropriation are validated. As a private body, the IASB has been able to rapidly introduce the fair value paradigm with little public debate outside specialized financial circles. In contrast to more functionalist views, this article argues that accounting standards are inherently political. Accounting numbers provide some of the key economic anchors around which social relations are structured. Accounting techniques cannot be reduced to questions of efficiency since they set out to quantify and compare things which, by their very nature, are neither quantifiable nor directly comparable. © 2006 Taylor & Francis

Achievements and new knowledge unraveled by metagenomic approaches

Metagenomics has paved the way for cultivation-independent assessment and exploitation of microbial communities present in complex ecosystems. In recent years, significant progress has been made in this research area. A major breakthrough was the improvement and development of high-throughput next-generation sequencing technologies. The application of these technologies resulted in the generation of large datasets derived from various environments such as soil and ocean water. The analyses of these datasets opened a window into the enormous phylogenetic and metabolic diversity of microbial communities living in a variety of ecosystems. In this way, structure, functions, and interactions of microbial communities were elucidated. Metagenomics has proven to be a powerful tool for the recovery of novel biomolecules. In most cases, functional metagenomics comprising construction and screening of complex metagenomic DNA libraries has been applied to isolate new enzymes and drugs of industrial importance. For this purpose, several novel and improved screening strategies that allow efficient screening of large collections of clones harboring metagenomes have been introduced

The LHCb upgrade I

The LHCb upgrade represents a major change of the experiment. The detectors have been almost completely renewed to allow running at an instantaneous luminosity five times larger than that of the previous running periods. Readout of all detectors into an all-software trigger is central to the new design, facilitating the reconstruction of events at the maximum LHC interaction rate, and their selection in real time. The experiment's tracking system has been completely upgraded with a new pixel vertex detector, a silicon tracker upstream of the dipole magnet and three scintillating fibre tracking stations downstream of the magnet. The whole photon detection system of the RICH detectors has been renewed and the readout electronics of the calorimeter and muon systems have been fully overhauled. The first stage of the all-software trigger is implemented on a GPU farm. The output of the trigger provides a combination of totally reconstructed physics objects, such as tracks and vertices, ready for final analysis, and of entire events which need further offline reprocessing. This scheme required a complete revision of the computing model and rewriting of the experiment's software