Gene Expression Patterns of Dengue Virus-Infected Children from Nicaragua Reveal a Distinct Signature of Increased Metabolism

Dengue is a widespread viral disease for which over 3 billion people are at risk. There are no drug treatments or vaccines available for this disease. It is also difficult for physicians to predict which patients are at highest risk for the severe manifestations known as dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) and dengue shock syndrome (DSS). We used genome-wide transcriptional profiling analysis to study peripheral blood responses to dengue among patients from Nicaragua. We found that patients with severe manifestations involving shock had very different transcriptional profiles from dengue patients with mild and moderate illness. We then compared our results with other microarray experiments on dengue patients available from public databases and confirmed that dengue is often associated with large changes to the metabolic processes within cells. This approach could identify prognostic markers for severe dengue as well as provide a better understanding of the pathophysiology associated with different grades of disease severity

Delineation of Diverse Macrophage Activation Programs in Response to Intracellular Parasites and Cytokines

Macrophages are a type of immune cell that engulf and digest microorganisms. Despite their role in protecting the host from infection, many pathogens have developed ways to hijack the macrophage and use the cell for their own survival and proliferation. This includes the parasites Trypanosoma cruzi and Leishmania mexicana. In order to gain further understanding of how these pathogens interact with the host macrophage, we compared macrophages that have been infected with these parasites to macrophages that have been stimulated in a number of different ways. Macrophages can be activated by a wide variety of stimuli, including common motifs found on pathogens (known as pathogen associated molecular patterns or PAMPs) and cytokines secreted by other immune cells. In this study, we have delineated the relationships between the macrophage activation programs elicited by a number of cytokines and PAMPs. Furthermore, we have placed the macrophage responses to T. cruzi and L. mexicana into the context of these activation programs, providing a better understanding of the interactions between these pathogens and macrophages

Phytozome Comparative Plant Genomics Portal

The Dept. of Energy Joint Genome Institute is a genomics user facility supporting DOE mission science in the areas of Bioenergy, Carbon Cycling, and Biogeochemistry. The Plant Program at the JGI applies genomic, analytical, computational and informatics platforms and methods to:1. Understand and accelerate the improvement (domestication) of bioenergy crops2. Characterize and moderate plant response to climate change3. Use comparative genomics to identify constrained elements and infer gene function4. Build high quality genomic resource platforms of JGI Plant Flagship genomes for functional and experimental work5. Expand functional genomic resources for Plant Flagship genome

Properties of Natural Fibers Separated from Chromolaena odorata

This paper reports the possibility of separating natural fibers from two invasive alien plants Chromolaena odorata and Mikania micrantha. These two are considered as high-risk species on the basis their invasiveness and being a menace to the natural biodiversity of Kerala, India. Water retting and alkali extraction methods were used for the separation of stem fibers. Fibers obtained showed similar properties to currently used common fibers. Based on morphometric measurements and derived values, such as slenderness ratio, flexibility ratio, and Runkel ratio, these fibers are expected to be suitable for industrial purposes