Development, characterization and use of genomic SSR markers for assessment of genetic diversity in some Saudi date palm ( Phoenix dactylifera L.) cultivars

Background: The present study was undertaken towards the development of SSR markers and assessing genetic relationships among 32 date palm ( Phoenix dactylifera L.) representing common cultivars grown in different geographical regions in Saudi Arabia. Results: Ninety-three novel simple sequence repeat markers were developed and screened for their ability to detect polymorphism in date palm. Around 71% of genomic SSRs were dinucleotide, 25% tri, 3% tetra and 1% penta nucleotide motives. Twenty-two primers generated a total of 91 alleles with a mean of 4.14 alleles per locus and 100% polymorphism percentage. A 0.595 average polymorphic information content and 0.662 primer discrimination power values were recorded. The expected and observed heterozygosities were 0.676 and 0.763 respectively. Pair-wise similarity values ranged from 0.06 to 0.89 and the overall cultivars averaged 0.41. The UPGMA cluster analysis recovered by principal coordinate analysis illustrated that cultivars tend to group according to their class of maturity, region of cultivation, and fruit color. Analysis of molecular variations (AMOVA) revealed that genetic variation among and within cultivars were 27% and 73%, respectively according to geographical distribution of cultivars. Conclusions: The developed microsatellite markers are additional values to date palm characterization tools that can be used by researchers in population genetics, cultivar identification as well as genetic resource exploration and management. The tested cultivars exhibited a significant amount of genetic diversity and could be suitable for successful breeding program. Genomic sequences generated from this study are available at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), Sequence Read Archive (Accession numbers. LIBGSS_039019).

Saccharomyces Boulardii in Helicobacter Pylori Eradication in Children: A Randomized Trial From Iran

Background: Helicobacter Pylori infects around 50% of the human population and is asymptomatic in 70% of the cases. H.pylori eradication in childhood will not only result in peptic symptoms relief, but will also prevent late-term complications such as cancer. Today, probiotics are being increasingly studied in the treatment of gastrointestinal infections as an alternative or complement to antibiotics. Objectives: In this study we aimed to assess the effect of S. boulardii supplementation on H.pylori eradication among children in our region. Patients and Methods: In this randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial 28 asymptomatic primary school children with a positive H.pylori stool antigen (HpSA) exam were randomly allocated into the study group, receiving Saccharomyces Boulardii and the control group receiving placebo capsules matched by shape and size, for one month. The children were followed up weekly and were reinvestigated four to eight weeks after accomplished treatment by HpSA testing. The significance level was set at P < 0.05. Results: 24 children completed the study. The mean HpSA reduced from 0.40 ± 0.32 to 0.21 ± 0.27 in the study group, indicating a significant difference (P = 0.005). However, such difference was not observed in the control group (P = 0.89). Moreover, the HpSA titer showed a 0.019 ± 0.19 decrease in the study group whereas the same value was 0.0048 ± 0.12 for the controls, again stating a significant difference (P = 0.01). Conclusions: Saccharomyces boulardii has a positive effect on reducing the colonization of H.pylori in the human gastrointestinal system but is not capable of its eradication when used as single therapy.

A cross sectional study of leptospirosis and fetal death in Yucatan, Mexico

Introduction: Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease affecting mainly to low income human population. Acute leptospiral infection during pregnancy has been associated with spontaneous abortion and fetal death during the first trimester and the abortion may occur as consequence of systemic failure. Objective: To estimate the frequency of Leptospira interrogans infection in women with spontaneous abortion in the state of Yucatan, Mexico. Methods: A cross sectional study on women with spontaneous abortion was conducted. Serum samples were tested for Leptospirosis by the microaglutination test, to estimate the frequency of the infecting serovar. The indirect ELISA IgM was used to detect recent infection by L. interrogans. DNA was extracted from paraffin-embedded tissue of placenta for PCR detection of L. interrogans. Results: Overall frequency of infection with L. interrogans in the 81 women with abortion was 13.6%. Five of the 12 serovars evaluated were found and included. Two of the 11 women with abortion and positive to microaglutination test were also positive to the ELISA IgM test. None samples were positive for PCR Leptospira diagnosis. Conclusion: two women could be associated with spontaneous abortion due to leptospirosis, because they showed antibodies against L. interrogans in the microaglutination test and ELISA IgM assays. Differences between regions were found with respect to the prevalences of lesptospirosis.