Effects of the phosphate-solubilizing fungus Talaromyces flavus on the development and efficiency of the Gigaspora rosea-Triticum aestivum symbiosis

This study analyzed the interaction between thephosphate-solubilizing fungus (PSF) Talaromyces flavus andthe arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (AMF) Gigaspora roseain vitro, and whether the in vivo application of T. flavuswas able to stimulate the efficiency of the symbiosis betweenG. rosea and wheat (Triticum aestivum). In vitro, the solublechemical substances released by T. flavus promoted the development of pre-infective mycelium from germinating AMFspores, increasing the length of each branch and the numberof branches. In vivo, the inoculation of T. flavus increasedplant wet and dry weight of mycorrhizal plants, regardless ofthe P conditions. AMF root colonization was inhibited underhigh P conditions but was promoted by T. flavus inoculation.The inoculation of T. flavus also improved the symbioticefficiency of mycorrhizal plants, measured as APA, and increased the total plant phosphate content and shoot:root phosphate ratio in mycorrhizal plants. To our knowledge, this is thefirst report where exudates produced by a PSF as T. flavuspromote pre-infective development, root colonization andsymbiotic efficiency of G. rosea in wheat. Finally, the roleof T. flavus in rhizosphere interactions is discussed.Fil: Della Mónica, Ivana Florencia. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Cs.exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental. Laboratorio de Microbiología del Suelo; ArgentinaFil: Stefanoni Rubio, Pablo Jose. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Cs.exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental. Laboratorio de Microbiología del Suelo; ArgentinaFil: Cina, Romina Paola. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Cs.exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental. Laboratorio de Microbiología del Suelo; ArgentinaFil: Recchi, Marina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Cs.exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental. Laboratorio de Microbiología del Suelo; ArgentinaFil: Godeas, Alicia Margarita. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Cs.exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental. Laboratorio de Microbiología del Suelo; ArgentinaFil: Scervino, Jose Martin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentin

Molecular Detection of Minimal Residual Disease before Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation Predicts a High Incidence of Early Relapse in Adult Patients with NPM1 Positive Acute Myeloid Leukemia

We analyzed the impact of alloHSCT in a single center cohort of 89 newly diagnosed NPM1mut AML patients, consecutively treated according to the Northern Italy Leukemia Group protocol 02/06 [NCT00495287]. After two consolidation cycles, the detection of measurable residual disease (MRD) by RQ-PCR was strongly associated with an inferior three-year overall survival (OS, 45% versus 84%, p = 0.001) and disease-free survival (DFS, 44% versus 76%, p = 0.006). In MRD-negative patients, post-remissional consolidation with alloHSCT did not provide a significant additional benefit over a conventional chemotherapy in terms of overall survival [OS, 89% (95% CI 71–100%) versus 81% (95% CI 64–100%), p = 0.59] and disease-free survival [DFS, 80% (95% CI 59–100%) versus 75% (95% CI 56–99%), p = 0.87]. On the contrary, in patients with persistent MRD positivity, the three-year OS and DFS were improved in patients receiving an alloHSCT compared to those allocated to conventional chemotherapy (OS, 52% versus 31%, p = 0.45 and DFS, 50% versus 17%, p = 0.31, respectively). However, in this group of patients, the benefit of alloHSCT was still hampered by a high incidence of leukemia relapse during the first year after transplantation (43%, 95% CI 25–60%). Consolidative alloHSCT improves outcomes compared to standard chemotherapy in patients with persistent NPM1mut MRD positivity, but in these high-risk patients, the significant incidence of leukemia relapse must be tackled by post-transplant preemptive treatments

Which is the best treatment strategy before autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation in POEMS syndrome?

: Autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (aPBSCT) provides optimal outcomes in POEMS syndrome but the definition of the best treatment before aPBSCT remains to be defined, because of the disease rarity and the heterogeneity of published case series. We collected clinical and laboratory data of patients with POEMS syndrome undergoing aPBSCT from 1998 to 2020 in 10 Italian centres. The primary endpoint of the study was to evaluate the impact of prior therapies and mobilizing regimen on outcome. We divided patients in three groups: patients who did not receive any treatment before transplant (15 patients, group A: front-line), pre-treated patients with other agents (14 patients, group B) and patients treated with cyclophosphamide as mobilizing regimen (16 patients, group C). The three groups did not show differences in terms of demographic and clinical characteristics. All 45 patients underwent aPBSCT after high dose melphalan conditioning regimen, with a median follow-up of 77 months (37-169 months). The responses were not statistically different between the 3 groups (p 0.38). PFS and OS rates at 6 years were 65% (49-85) and 92% (84-100), respectively and did not differ in the 3 groups. The cumulative incidence of transplant related mortality and relapse was respectively 4% and 36%. In conclusion, in a relatively large number of patients with POEMS syndrome, undergoing an autologous transplant, pre-treatment and disease status at transplant did not appear to have an impact on major transplant outcomes

High Throughput Molecular Characterization of Normal Karyotype Acute Myeloid Leukemia in the Context of the Prospective Trial 02/06 of the Northern Italy Leukemia Group (NILG)

By way of a Next-Generation Sequencing NGS high throughput approach, we defined the mutational profile in a cohort of 221 normal karyotype acute myeloid leukemia (NK-AML) enrolled into a prospective randomized clinical trial, designed to evaluate an intensified chemotherapy program for remission induction. NPM1, DNMT3A, and FLT3-ITD were the most frequently mutated genes while DNMT3A, FLT3, IDH1, PTPN11, and RAD21 mutations were more common in the NPM1 mutated patients (p < 0.05). IDH1 R132H mutation was strictly associated with NPM1 mutation and mutually exclusive with RUNX1 and ASXL1. In the whole cohort of NK-AML, no matter the induction chemotherapy used, by multivariate analysis, the achievement of complete remission was negatively affected by the SRSF2 mutation. Alterations of FLT3 (FLT3-ITD) and U2AF1 were associated with a worse overall and disease-free survival (p < 0.05). FLT3-ITD positive patients who proceeded to alloHSCT had a survival probability similar to FLT3-ITD negative patients and the transplant outcome was no different when comparing high and low-AR-FLT3-ITD subgroups in terms of both OS and DFS. In conclusion, a comprehensive molecular profile for NK-AML allows for the identification of genetic lesions associated to different clinical outcomes and the selection of the most appropriate and effective treatment strategies, including stem cell transplantation and targeted therapies