Desulfohalophilus alkaliarsenatis gen. nov., sp. nov., an extremely halophilic sulfate- and arsenate-respiring bacterium from Searles Lake, California

A haloalkaliphilic sulfate-respiring bacterium, strain SLSR-1, was isolated from a lactate-fed stable enrichment culture originally obtained from the extreme environment of Searles Lake, California. The isolate proved capable of growth via sulfate-reduction over a broad range of salinities (125–330 g/L), although growth was slowest at salt-saturation. Strain SLSR-1 was also capable of growth via dissimilatory arsenate-reduction and displayed an even broader range of salinity tolerance (50–330 g/L) when grown under these conditions. Strain SLSR-1 could also grow via dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonia. Growth experiments in the presence of high borate concentrations indicated a greater sensitivity of sulfate-reduction than arsenate-respiration to this naturally abundant anion in Searles Lake. Strain SLSR-1 contained genes involved in both sulfate-reduction (dsrAB) and arsenate respiration (arrA). Amplicons of 16S rRNA gene sequences obtained from DNA extracted from Searles Lake sediment revealed the presence of close relatives of strain SLSR-1 as part of the flora of this ecosystem despite the fact that sulfate-reduction activity could not be detected in situ. We conclude that strain SLSR-1 can only achieve growth via arsenate-reduction under the current chemical conditions prevalent at Searles Lake. Strain SLSR-1 is a deltaproteobacterium in the family Desulfohalobiacea of anaerobic, haloalkaliphilic bacteria, for which we propose the name Desulfohalophilus alkaliarsenatis gen. nov., sp. nov

Parent, Teacher, and Student Perspectives on How Corrective Lenses Improve Child Wellbeing and School Function

OBJECTIVES: Up to 20% of school-age children have a vision problem identifiable by screening, over 80% of which can be corrected with glasses. While vision problems are associated with poor school performance, few studies describe whether and how corrective lenses affect academic achievement and health. Further, there are virtually no studies exploring how children with correctable visual deficits, their parents, and teachers perceive the connection between vision care and school function. METHODS: We conducted a qualitative evaluation of Vision to Learn (VTL), a school-based program providing free corrective lenses to low-income students in Los Angeles. Nine focus groups with students, parents, and teachers from three schools served by VTL explored the relationships between poor vision, receipt of corrective lenses, and school performance and health. RESULTS: Twenty parents, 25 teachers, and 21 students from three elementary schools participated. Participants described how uncorrected visual deficits reduced students’ focus, perseverance, and class participation, affecting academic functioning and psychosocial stress; how receiving corrective lenses improved classroom attention, task persistence, and willingness to practice academic skills; and how serving students in school rather than in clinics increased both access to and use of corrective lenses. CONCLUSIONS FOR PRACTICE: Corrective lenses may positively impact families, teachers, and students coping with visual deficits by improving school function and psychosocial wellbeing. Practices that increase ownership and use of glasses, such as serving students in school, may significantly improve both child health and academic performance

Élie Metchnikoff (1845–1916): celebrating 100 years of cellular immunology and beyond

International audienceThe year 2016 marks 100 years since the death of Élie Metchnikoff (1845-1916), the Russian zoologist who pioneered the study of cellular immunology and who is widely credited with the discovery of phagocytosis, for which he was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1908. However, his long scientific career spanned many disciplines and has had far-reaching effects on modern immunology beyond the study of phagocytosis. In this Viewpoint article, five leading immunologists from the fields of phagocytosis, macrophage biology, leukocyte migration, the microbiota and intravital imaging tell Nature Reviews Immunology how Metchnikoff's work has influenced past, present and future research in their respective fields

Anti-virulence Strategies to Target Bacterial Infections.

Resistance of important bacterial pathogens to common antimicrobial therapies and the emergence of multidrug-resistant bacteria are increasing at an alarming rate and constitute one of our greatest challenges in the combat of bacterial infection and accompanied diseases. The current shortage of effective drugs, lack of successful prevention measures and only a few new antibiotics in the clinical pipeline demand the development of novel treatment options and alternative antimicrobial therapies. Our increasing understanding of bacterial virulence strategies and the induced molecular pathways of the infectious disease provides novel opportunities to target and interfere with crucial pathogenicity factors or virulence-associated traits of the bacteria while bypassing the evolutionary pressure on the bacterium to develop resistance. In the past decade, numerous new bacterial targets for anti-virulence therapies have been identified, and structure-based tailoring of intervention strategies and screening assays for small-molecule inhibitors of such pathways were successfully established. In this chapter, we will take a closer look at the bacterial virulence-related factors and processes that present promising targets for anti-virulence therapies, recently discovered inhibitory substances and their promises and discuss the challenges, and problems that have to be faced