Petunia Floral Defensins with Unique Prodomains as Novel Candidates for Development of Fusarium Wilt Resistance in Transgenic Banana Plants

Antimicrobial peptides are a potent group of defense active molecules that have been utilized in developing resistance against a multitude of plant pathogens. Floral defensins constitute a group of cysteine-rich peptides showing potent growth inhibition of pathogenic filamentous fungi especially Fusarium oxysporum in vitro. Full length genes coding for two Petunia floral defensins, PhDef1 and PhDef2 having unique C- terminal 31 and 27 amino acid long predicted prodomains, were overexpressed in transgenic banana plants using embryogenic cells as explants for Agrobacterium–mediated genetic transformation. High level constitutive expression of these defensins in elite banana cv. Rasthali led to significant resistance against infection of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense as shown by in vitro and ex vivo bioassay studies. Transgenic banana lines expressing either of the two defensins were clearly less chlorotic and had significantly less infestation and discoloration in the vital corm region of the plant as compared to untransformed controls. Transgenic banana plants expressing high level of full-length PhDef1 and PhDef2 were phenotypically normal and no stunting was observed. In conclusion, our results suggest that high-level constitutive expression of floral defensins having distinctive prodomains is an efficient strategy for development of fungal resistance in economically important fruit crops like banana

The Ascomycete Verticillium longisporum Is a Hybrid and a Plant Pathogen with an Expanded Host Range

Hybridization plays a central role in plant evolution, but its overall importance in fungi is unknown. New plant pathogens are thought to arise by hybridization between formerly separated fungal species. Evolution of hybrid plant pathogens from non-pathogenic ancestors in the fungal-like protist Phytophthora has been demonstrated, but in fungi, the most important group of plant pathogens, there are few well-characterized examples of hybrids. We focused our attention on the hybrid and plant pathogen Verticillium longisporum, the causal agent of the Verticillium wilt disease in crucifer crops. In order to address questions related to the evolutionary origin of V. longisporum, we used phylogenetic analyses of seven nuclear loci and a dataset of 203 isolates of V. longisporum, V. dahliae and related species. We confirmed that V. longisporum was diploid, and originated three different times, involving four different lineages and three different parental species. All hybrids shared a common parent, species A1, that hybridized respectively with species D1, V. dahliae lineage D2 and V. dahliae lineage D3, to give rise to three different lineages of V. longisporum. Species A1 and species D1 constituted as yet unknown taxa. Verticillium longisporum likely originated recently, as each V. longisporum lineage was genetically homogenous, and comprised species A1 alleles that were identical across lineages

Balancing repair and tolerance of DNA damage caused by alkylating agents

Alkylating agents constitute a major class of frontline chemotherapeutic drugs that inflict cytotoxic DNA damage as their main mode of action, in addition to collateral mutagenic damage. Numerous cellular pathways, including direct DNA damage reversal, base excision repair (BER) and mismatch repair (MMR), respond to alkylation damage to defend against alkylation-induced cell death or mutation. However, maintaining a proper balance of activity both within and between these pathways is crucial for a favourable response of an organism to alkylating agents. Furthermore, the response of an individual to alkylating agents can vary considerably from tissue to tissue and from person to person, pointing to genetic and epigenetic mechanisms that modulate alkylating agent toxicity

Myocardial inflammation, injury and infarction during on-pump coronary artery bypass graft surgery

Abstract Background Myocardial inflammation and injury occur during coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. We aimed to characterise these processes during routine CABG surgery to inform the diagnosis of type 5 myocardial infarction. Methods We assessed 87 patients with stable coronary artery disease who underwent elective CABG surgery. Myocardial inflammation, injury and infarction were assessed using plasma inflammatory biomarkers, high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I (hs-cTnI) and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) using both late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) and ultrasmall superparamagnetic particles of iron oxide (USPIO). Results Systemic humoral inflammatory biomarkers (myeloperoxidase, interleukin-6, interleukin-8 and c-reactive protein) increased in the post-operative period with C-reactive protein concentrations plateauing by 48 h (median area under the curve (AUC) 7530 [interquartile range (IQR) 6088 to 9027] mg/L/48 h). USPIO-defined cellular myocardial inflammation ranged from normal to those associated with type 1 myocardial infarction (median 80.2 [IQR 67.4 to 104.8] /s). Plasma hs-cTnI concentrations rose by ≥50-fold from baseline and exceeded 10-fold the upper limit of normal in all patients. Two distinct patterns of peak cTnI release were observed at 6 and 24 h. After CABG surgery, new LGE was seen in 20% (n = 18) of patients although clinical peri-operative type 5 myocardial infarction was diagnosed in only 9% (n = 8). LGE was associated with the delayed 24-h peak in hs-cTnI and its magnitude correlated with AUC plasma hs-cTnI concentrations (r = 0.33, p 10-fold the 99th centile upper limit of normal that is not attributable to inflammatory or ischemic injury alone. Peri-operative type 5 myocardial infarction is often unrecognised and is associated with a delayed 24-h peak in plasma hs-cTnI concentrations

ATHENA detector proposal - a totally hermetic electron nucleus apparatus proposed for IP6 at the Electron-Ion Collider

ATHENA has been designed as a general purpose detector capable of delivering the full scientific scope of the Electron-Ion Collider. Careful technology choices provide fine tracking and momentum resolution, high performance electromagnetic and hadronic calorimetry, hadron identification over a wide kinematic range, and near-complete hermeticity.This article describes the detector design and its expected performance in the most relevant physics channels. It includes an evaluation of detector technology choices, the technical challenges to realizing the detector and the R&D required to meet those challenges

Global patient outcomes after elective surgery: prospective cohort study in 27 low-, middle- and high-income countries.

BACKGROUND: As global initiatives increase patient access to surgical treatments, there remains a need to understand the adverse effects of surgery and define appropriate levels of perioperative care. METHODS: We designed a prospective international 7-day cohort study of outcomes following elective adult inpatient surgery in 27 countries. The primary outcome was in-hospital complications. Secondary outcomes were death following a complication (failure to rescue) and death in hospital. Process measures were admission to critical care immediately after surgery or to treat a complication and duration of hospital stay. A single definition of critical care was used for all countries. RESULTS: A total of 474 hospitals in 19 high-, 7 middle- and 1 low-income country were included in the primary analysis. Data included 44 814 patients with a median hospital stay of 4 (range 2-7) days. A total of 7508 patients (16.8%) developed one or more postoperative complication and 207 died (0.5%). The overall mortality among patients who developed complications was 2.8%. Mortality following complications ranged from 2.4% for pulmonary embolism to 43.9% for cardiac arrest. A total of 4360 (9.7%) patients were admitted to a critical care unit as routine immediately after surgery, of whom 2198 (50.4%) developed a complication, with 105 (2.4%) deaths. A total of 1233 patients (16.4%) were admitted to a critical care unit to treat complications, with 119 (9.7%) deaths. Despite lower baseline risk, outcomes were similar in low- and middle-income compared with high-income countries. CONCLUSIONS: Poor patient outcomes are common after inpatient surgery. Global initiatives to increase access to surgical treatments should also address the need for safe perioperative care. STUDY REGISTRATION: ISRCTN5181700