Tonic Shock Induces Detachment of Giardia lamblia

The single-celled organism Giardia lamblia colonizes the small intestine of a wide variety of hosts, including humans. Giardiasis infections can cause severe gastrointestinal symptoms and pose a major health concern in the developing world. Giardia are known to attach robustly to a variety of surfaces, but the conditions that influence this attachment are not known. In this study, we examined the behavior of attached Giardia parasites exposed to rapid changes in solution properties, like those Giardia might encounter in the intestine. After systematically varying media concentration and composition, we found that only one solution property caused rapid detachment of Giardia cells: tonicity, which is a measure of the total concentration of solutes in the solution that are unable to pass through a semi-permeable membrane (here, the cell membrane of Giardia). We found similar results for Giardia initially attached to monolayers of intestinal cells. Giardia cells remaining attached after a change in tonicity are able to adapt to the change, highlighting the general ability of this organism to weather normal changes in the intestinal environment. We propose that Giardia's susceptibility to large changes in tonicity could be explored as a possible new route for treatment of giardiasis

Hygromechanical properties of grenadilla wood (Dalbergia melanoxylon)

International audienceGrenadilla wood (Dalbergia melanoxylon Guill. & Perr.) is a hardwood species found in Tanzania, Mozambique, and other countries in the tropical part of Africa, especially in the Eastern-Central region. Thanks to its high density and good hygro-scopic stability, it is used in the making of various musical instruments and fine furniture. Due to the scarcity of published data on this wood species, more studies on its properties are needed to improve its processing and use, and even to search for sustainable alternative materials as its trade is increasingly limited by new regulations. This work is focused on the hygromechanical properties, which hold an important role in the applications of this wood: diffusion coefficients and adsorption-desorp-tion curve (both measured at T = 20 • C), swelling-shrinkage coefficients and full orthotropic elastic constants using an ultrasonic method. Results show that grenadilla wood possesses small water diffusion coefficients (from 1.54 ± 0.49 × 10 −7 cm 2 ∕s in T direction to 4.58 ± 0.84 × 10 −7 cm 2 ∕s in L direction), which is probably related to its high density (1250.0 ± 26.2 kg∕m 2); unique equilibrium moisture content (sorp-tion) curve with a lower fiber saturation point (0.173 ± 0.003); smaller swelling-shrinkage coefficients (0.20 ± 0.03 and 0.32 ± 0.05 in T and R directions, respectively); and elastic constants lower in the longitudinal direction (15.56 ± 1.79 GPa) and higher in the transverse ones (5.10 ± 0.46 GPa and 4.05 ± 0.35 GPa in R and T directions, respectively) than what could be expected with a standard model based on the density only. Several explanations were described here, from the effects of a high extractive content to the possibility of a high microfibril and/or fiber angle