Diversity of Endophytic and Pathogenic Fungi of Saffron (Crocus sativus) Plants from Cultivation Sites in Italy

Crocus sativus is an important crop for the production of saffron and bioactive compounds. Plant endophytic fungi are a source of secondary metabolites additional to those produced by the plant itself. We analysed the biodiversity of endophytic fungi present in corms, stems, leaves, tepals, and stigmas of C. sativus from ten Italian sites; furthermore, we isolated putative pathogenic fungi from rotten plants. We used an in vitro isolation approach followed by molecular analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS rDNA) region. We obtained 165 strains belonging to 39 OTUs, spreading over 26 genera and 29 species. Dark septate endophytes of the genus Cadophora and the species Talaromyces pinophilus dominated in corms, while Alternaria alternata, Epicoccum spp., T. pinophilus, Mucor fragilis, and Stemphylium vesicarium dominated in other tissues. The most frequently isolated pathogens were Fusarium oxysporum and Rhizopus oryzae. Endophytic communities significantly differed among tissues and life stages, whereas differences among cultivation sites were not statistically supported. Several endophytes were hypothesized to have changing trophic modes and/or to be latent pathogens in C. sativus. All strains were conserved ex-situ for future bioactivity tests and production of metabolites

Developmental and Intelligence Quotient in Autism: A Brief Report on the Possible Long-Term Relation

Developmental level and cognitive skills assessment represents a crucial aspect in the delineation of the clinical phenotype and long-term outcomes of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Nevertheless, the evaluation of cognitive development trajectory across a lifespan ranging from birth to school age appears challenging for clinicians and researchers, because of the lack of measures that coherently cover this timeframe. Thus, the main goal of this community-based study was to investigate within a sample of ASD children if the developmental quotient (DQ), evaluated through the Griffiths Mental Development Scales Extended Revised (GMDS-ER) scale, predicts the non-verbal brief intelligence quotient (IQ), measured through the Leiter-R at follow-up. The main observation of our study was a positive correlation between the level of DQ and nonverbal IQ at follow-up evaluations, highlighting that ASD children characterized by a greater developmental profile will later present higher non-verbal IQ

The Urine Metabolome of Young Autistic Children Correlates with Their Clinical Profile Severity

Autism diagnosis is moving from the identification of common inherited genetic variants to a systems biology approach. The aims of the study were to explore metabolic perturbations in autism, to investigate whether the severity of autism core symptoms may be associated with specific metabolic signatures; and to examine whether the urine metabolome discriminates severe from mild-to-moderate restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped behaviors. We enrolled 57 children aged 2–11 years; thirty-one with idiopathic autism and twenty-six neurotypical (NT), matched for age and ethnicity. The urine metabolome was investigated by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The urinary metabolome of autistic children was largely distinguishable from that of NT children; food selectivity induced further significant metabolic dierences. Severe autism spectrum disorder core deficits were marked by high levels of metabolites resulting from diet, gut dysbiosis, oxidative stress, tryptophan metabolism, mitochondrial dysfunction. The hierarchical clustering algorithm generated two metabolic clusters in autistic children: 85–90% of children with mild-to-moderate abnormal behaviors fell in cluster II. Our results open up new perspectives for the more general understanding of the correlation between the clinical phenotype of autistic children and their urine metabolome. Adipic acid, palmitic acid, and 3-(3-hydroxyphenyl)-3-hydroxypropanoic acid can be proposed as candidate biomarkers of autism severity

Clinical discussions in antithrombotic therapy management in patients with atrial fibrillation: a delphi consensus panel

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Exploring new biodiversity hotspots in Tuber aestivum natural distribution

Tuber aestivum is associated with a wide range of tree species and is the most widespread edible truffle. Its capability of colonizing many different areas along with a long reaping period, increased in the last decades scientific studies and commercial interest. A number of large- and fine-scale population genetics studies have been conducted to explore its genetic diversity and genetic structure. Recent investigations based on ITS sequence analyses revealed a strong phylogenetic pattern and a higher level of genetic diversity in Turkish and southern European populations than in northern European populations, suggesting that Turkey and southern Europe may have acted as glacial refugia for this species. Despite these findings, the southernmost distributional range of the species is not yet fully explored. With the aim of evaluating other potential diversity hotspots in this study we expand previous investigation, extending the sampling to other southernmost natural T. aestivum areas, such as Moroccan mountainous regions (Middle Atlas), Serbia and several Spanish regions. The ongoing analyses based on haplotypes alignment of the ITS region of the rDNA, reveal as preliminary result a pronounced genetic variability among Moroccan T. aestivum populations, suggesting a possible phylogeographic differentiation also in these new areas of investigation. Additional analyses are underway to better trace natural populations of T. aestivum according to their geographic origin. These aims could be critical both for truffle industry interest in selecting well-adapted inoculum for the production of mycorrhizal seedlings or traceability of truffles provenance, and for the establishment of programs devoted to biodiversity conservation

Surgical site infection after caesarean section. Space for post-discharge surveillance improvements and reliable comparisons

Surgical site infections (SSI) after caesarean section (CS) represent a substantial health system concern. Surveying SSI has been associated with a reduction in SSI incidence. We report the findings of three (2008, 2011 and 2013) regional active SSI surveillances after CS in community hospital of the Latium region determining the incidence of SSI. Each CS was surveyed for SSI occurrence by trained staff up to 30 post-operative days, and association of SSI with relevant characteristics was assessed using binomial logistic regression. A total of 3,685 CS were included in the study. A complete 30 day post-operation follow-up was achieved in over 94% of procedures. Overall 145 SSI were observed (3.9% cumulative incidence) of which 131 (90.3%) were superficial and 14 (9.7%) complex (deep or organ/space) SSI; overall 129 SSI (of which 89.9% superficial) were diagnosed post-discharge. Only higher NNIS score was significantly associated with SSI occurrence in the regression analysis. Our work provides the first regional data on CS-associated SSI incidence, highlighting the need for a post-discharge surveillance which should assure 30 days post-operation to not miss data on complex SSI, as well as being less labour intensive

Périgord black truffle genome uncovers evolutionary origins and mechanisms of symbiosis

LetterInternational audienceThe Périgord black truffle ($Tuber\ melanosporum$ Vittad.) and the Piedmont white truffle dominate today's truffle market. The hypogeous fruiting body of $T.\ melanosporum$ is a gastronomic delicacy produced by an ectomycorrhizal symbiont endemic to calcareous soils in southern Europe. The worldwide demand for this truffle has fuelled intense efforts at cultivation. Identification of processes that condition and trigger fruit body and symbiosis formation, ultimately leading to efficient crop production, will be facilitated by a thorough analysis of truffle genomic traits. In the ectomycorrhizal $Laccaria\ bicolor$, the expansion of gene families may have acted as a 'symbiosis toolbox'. This feature may however reflect evolution of this particular taxon and not a general trait shared by all ectomycorrhizal species. To get a better understanding of the biology and evolution of the ectomycorrhizal symbiosis, we report here the sequence of the haploid genome of $T.\ melanosporum$, which at $\sim$125 megabases is the largest and most complex fungal genome sequenced so far. This expansion results from a proliferation of transposable elements accounting for $\sim$58% of the genome. In contrast, this genome only contains $\sim$7,500 protein-coding genes with very rare multigene families. It lacks large sets of carbohydrate cleaving enzymes, but a few of them involved in degradation of plant cell walls are induced in symbiotic tissues. The latter feature and the upregulation of genes encoding for lipases and multicopper oxidases suggest that $T.\ melanosporum$ degrades its host cell walls during colonization. Symbiosis induces an increased expression of carbohydrate and amino acid transporters in both $L.\ bicolor$ and $T.\ melanosporum$, but the comparison of genomic traits in the two ectomycorrhizal fungi showed that genetic predispositions for symbiosis $-$'the symbiosis toolbox'$-$ evolved along different ways in ascomycetes and basidiomycete

Antioxidant intake among Brazilian adults - The Brazilian Osteoporosis Study (BRAZOS): a cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Antioxidant nutrient intake and the lesser formation of free radicals seem to contribute to chronic diseases. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the intake profile of the main dietary antioxidants in a representative sample of the adult Brazilian population and discuss the main consequences of a low intake of these micronutrients on overall health.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The sample comprised 2344 individuals aged 40 years or older from 150 cities and was based on a probabilistic sample from official data. The research was conducted through in-home interviews administered by a team trained for this purpose. Dietary intake information was obtained through 24-h recall. The Nutrition Data System for Research software program was used to analyze data on the intake of vitamins A, C and E, selenium and zinc, which was compared to Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs). Differences in intake according to sex, anthropometrics, socioeconomic status and region were also evaluated. The SPSS statistical package (version 13) was used for the statistical analysis. P-values < 0.05 were considered significant.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Higher proportions of low intake in relation to recommended values were found for vitamin E (99.7%), vitamin A (92.4%) and vitamin C (85.1%) in both genders. Intake variations were found between different regions, which may reflect cultural habits.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results should lead to the development of public health policies that encourage educational strategies for improving the intake of micronutrients, which are essential to overall health and prevention of non-communicable diseases.</p

Molecular phylogenetic analyses show that Amanita ovoidea and Amanita proxima are distinct species and suggest their assignment to Roanokenses section

Amanita ovoidea is generally considered edible and is morphologically similar to Amanita proxima that contains nephrotoxins. Both species were assigned to Amanita section Amidella. To study their phylogenetic relationships, we performed nrITS- and RPB2-based analyses of these and other Amanita species. Our analyses show that (i) A. ovoidea and A. proxima are distinct species; (ii) A. ovoidea has an extensively heterogeneous ITS with up to 4.4% pairwise genetic distance between individuals; (iii) in A. ovoidea, pairwise genetic distance between ITS clones from a single basidiome was as high as 3.2%, possibly because of hybridization events and subsequent failure of the rDNA repeats to homogenize; (iv) A. aminoaliphatica and A. proxima are taxonomic synonyms; and (v) A. proxima and A. ovoidea cluster with species belonging to section Roanokenses rather than with those of section Amidella sensu stricto. This study supports the development of species-specific markers for diagnosis of the toxic and the edible species here examined. © 2019, German Mycological Society and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature

Reevaluation of the Life Cycle of Tuber magnatum

Tuber spp. are ectomycorrhizal ascomycetes that produce ascocarps known as truffles. Basic aspects of Tuber biology have yet to be fully elucidated. In particular, there are conflicting hypotheses concerning the mating system and the ploidy level of the mycorrhizal and truffle hyphae. We used polymorphic microsatellites to compare the allelic configurations of asci with those from the network of the surrounding hyphae in single Tuber magnatum truffles. We then used these truffles to inoculate host plants and evaluated the microsatellite configurations of the resulting mycorrhizal root tips. These analyses provide direct evidence that T. magnatum outcrosses and that its life cycle is predominantly haploid. In addition to its scientific significance, this basic understanding of the T. magnatum life cycle may have practical importance in developing strategies to obtain and select nursery-produced mycorrhizal plants as well as in the management of artificial plantations of this and other Tuber spp