Genetic variation within and among species of five sections of the genus Arachis L. (Leguminosae) using RAPDs

Some Arachis species are widely used as commercial plants, e.g. the groundnut A. hypogaea, an important source of good quality protein and oil, and A. pintoi and A. glabrata, that are utilized as forage species. Germplasm of most Arachis species is available in germplasm banks. However, little it is known about the genetic attributes of this germplasm, and mainly about its genetic variability, which is very important for its maintenance. In the present study RAPDs were used to assay the genetic variation within and among 48 accessions of five sections of the genus Arachis and to establish the genetic relationships among these accessions. Ten of 34 primers tested were selected for DNA amplification reactions since they yielded the largest numbers of polymorphic loci. A dendrogram was constructed based on data from the 10 primers selected. Eighty RAPD polymorphic bands were analyzed among the accessions studied. The relationships among species based on RAPDs were similar to those previously reported based on morphological, cytological and crossability data; demonstrating that RAPDs can be used to determine the genetic relationships among species of the different sections of the genus Arachis. In general, wide variation was found among accessions and low variation was found within the accessions that had two or more plants analyzed. However, higher polymorphism was found in the section Trierectoides and in one accession of A. major, indicating that generalizations should be avoided and each species should be analyzed in order to establish collection and maintenance strategies.

Efficient transformation and regeneration of diverse cultivars of peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) by particle bombardment into embryogenic callus produced from mature seeds

Peanut, one of the world's most important oilseed crops, has a narrow germplasm base and lacks sources of resistance to several major diseases. The species is considered recalcitrant to transformation, with few confirmed transgenic plants upon particle bombardment or Agrobacterium treatment. Reported transformation methods are limited by low efficiency, cultivar specificity, chimeric or infertile transformants, or availability of explants. Here we present a method to efficiently transform cultivars in both botanical types of peanut, by (1) particle bombardment into embryogenic callus derived from mature seeds, (2) escape-free (not stepwise) selection for hygromycin B resistance, (3) brief osmotic desiccation followed by sequential incubation on charcoal and cytokinin-containing media; resulting in efficient conversion of transformed somatic embryos into fertile, non-chimeric, transgenic plants. The method produces three to six independent transformants per bombardment of 10 cm(2) embryogenic callus. Potted, transgenic plant lines can be regenerated within 9 months of callus initiation, or 6 months after bombardment. Transgene copy number ranged from one to 20 with multiple integration sites. There was ca. 50% coexpression of hph and luc or uidA genes coprecipitated on separate plasmids. Reporter gene (luc) expression was confirmed in T-1 progeny from each of six tested independent transformants. Insufficient seeds were produced under containment conditions to determine segregation ratios. The practicality of the technique for efficient cotransformation with selected and unselected genes is demonstrated using major commercial peanut varieties in Australia (cv. NC-7, a virginia market type) and Indonesia (cv. Gajah, a spanish market type).

Genetic relationships among Arachis hypogaea L. (AABB) and diploid Arachis species with AA and BB genomes

The cultivated peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is an allotetraploid, with two types of genomes, classified as AA and BB, according to cytogenetic characters. Similar genomes to those of A. hypogaea are found in the wild diploid species of section Arachis, which is one of the nine Arachis sections. The wild species have resistances to pests and diseases that affect the cultivated peanut and are a potential source of genes to increase the resistance levels in peanut. The aim of this study was to analyze the genetic variability within AA and BB genome species and to evaluate how they are related to each other and to A. hypogaea, using RAPD markers. Eighty-seven polymorphic bands amplified by ten 10-mer primers were analyzed. The species were divided into two major groups, and the AA and the BB genome species were, in general, separated from each other. The results showed that high variation is available within species that have genomes similar to the AA and the BB genomes of A. hypogaea.

Genetic variation within and among species of genus Arachis, section Rhizomatosae

The genus Arachis is endemic to South America and comprises 80 species, 69 of which have already been described and eleven not yet published. The genus includes the cultivated peanut ( A. hypogaea) and several forage species, the most important ones being A. glabrata and A. pintoi. Accessions of section Rhizomatosae, including three tetraploid species 2n = 4x = 40 (A. glabrata, A. pseudovillosa and A. nitida nom. nud.) and one diploid species 2n = 2x = 20 (A. burkartii), were evaluated using RAPD markers to assay genetic variability within and among species. The ten random primers used yielded a total of 113 polymorphic bands. The data were scored as the presence or absence of each band in each sample. A distance matrix and dendrogram were obtained using Link's coefficient and the neighbor-joining method. Most accessions analyzed grouped into two major clusters: the first comprised most accessions of A. glabrata and accessions of A. nitida, and the second cluster comprised accessions of A. burkartii. Arachis pseudovillosa and a few accessions of A. glabrata and A. nitida were placed between these major clusters. The diploid and tetraploid species were grouped quite separately, suggesting that the tetraploids did not originate from the diploid species analyzed.

Genetic variation between several species of sections Extranervosae, Caulorrhizae, Heteranthae, and Triseminatae (genus Arachis) estimated by DNA polymorphism

Genetic variation within and among accessions of the genus Arachis representing sections Extranervosae, Caulorrhizae, Heteranthae, and Triseminatae was evaluated using RFLP and RAPD markers. RAPD markers revealed a higher level of genetic diversity than did RFLP markers, both within and among the species evaluated. Phenograms based on various band-matching algorithms revealed three major clusters of similarity among the sections evaluated. The first group included the species from section Extranervosae, the second group consisted of sections Triseminatae, Caulorrhizae, and Heteranthae, and the third group consisted of one accession of Arachis hypogaea, which had been included as a representative of section Arachis. The phenograms obtained from the RAPD and RFLP data were similar but not identical. Arachis pietrarellii, assayed only by RAPD, showed a high degree of genetic similarity with Arachis villosulicarpa. This observation supported the hypothesis that these two species are closely related. It was also shown that accession V 7786, previously considered to be Arachis sp. aff. pietrarellii, and assayed using both RFLPs and RAPDs, was possibly a new species from section Extranervosae, but very distinct from A. pietrarellii.

Resistência de genótipos de amendoim (Arachis hypogaea L.) de hábitos de crescimento ereto e rasteiro a Anticarsia gemmatalis Hübner, 1818 (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Resistência de germoplasma silvestre de amendoim (arachis spp.) a Enneothrips flavens Moulton, 1941 (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) e Stegasta bosquella (Chambers, 1875) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae)

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Hypertrophic Adenoid Is A Major Infection Site Of Human Bocavirus 1.

Human bocavirus 1 (HBoV1) is associated with respiratory infections worldwide, mainly in children. Similar to other parvoviruses, it is believed that HBoV1 can persist for long periods of time in humans, probably through maintaining concatemers of the virus single-stranded DNA genome in the nuclei of infected cells. Recently, HBoV-1 was detected in high rates in adenoid and palatine tonsils samples from patients with chronic adenotonsillar diseases, but nothing is known about the virus replication levels in those tissues. A 3-year prospective hospital-based study was conducted to detect and quantify HBoV1 DNA and mRNAs in samples of the adenoids (AD), palatine tonsils (PT), nasopharyngeal secretions (NPS), and peripheral blood (PB) from patients undergoing tonsillectomy for tonsillar hypertrophy or recurrent tonsillitis. HBoV1 was detected in 25.3% of the AD samples, while the rates of detection in the PT, NPS, and PB samples were 7.2%, 10.5%, and 1.7%, respectively. The viral loads were higher in AD samples, and 27.3% of the patients with HBoV had mRNA detectable in this tissue. High viral loads and detectable mRNA in the AD were associated with HBoV1 detection in the other sample sites. The adenoids are an important site of HBoV1 replication and persistence in children with tonsillar hypertrophy. The adenoids contain high HBoV1 loads and are frequently positive for HBoV mRNA, and this is associated with the detection of HBoV1 in secretions.

S-nitrosoglutathione (gsno) Is Cytotoxic To Intracellular Amastigotes And Promotes Healing Of Topically Treated Leishmania Major Or Leishmania Braziliensis Skin Lesions-authors' Response.

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Influence Of The Major Nitrite Transporter Nirc On The Virulence Of A Swollen Head Syndrome Avian Pathogenic E. Coli (apec) Strain.

Avian Pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) strains are extra-intestinal E. coli that infect poultry and cause diseases. Nitrite is a central branch-point in bacterial nitrogen metabolism and is used as a cytotoxin by macrophages. Unlike nitric oxide (NO), nitrite cannot diffuse across bacterial membrane cells. The NirC protein acts as a specific channel to facilitate the transport of nitrite into Salmonella and E. coli cells for nitrogen metabolism and cytoplasmic detoxification. NirC is also required for the pathogenicity of Salmonella by downregulating the production of NO by the host macrophages. Based on an in vitro microarray that revealed the overexpression of the nirC gene in APEC strain SCI-07, we constructed a nirC-deficient SCI-07 strain (ΔnirC) and evaluated its virulence potential using in vivo and in vitro assays. The final cumulative mortalities caused by mutant and wild-type (WT) were similar; while the ΔnirC caused a gradual increase in the mortality rate during the seven days recorded, the WT caused mortality up to 24h post-infection (hpi). Counts of the ΔnirC cells in the spleen, lung and liver were higher than those of the WT after 48 hpi but similar at 24 hpi. Although similar number of ΔnirC and WT cells was observed in macrophages at 3 hpi, there was higher number of ΔnirC cells at 16 hpi. The cell adhesion ability of the ΔnirC strain was about half the WT level in the presence and absence of alpha-D-mannopyranoside. These results indicate that the nirC gene influences the pathogenicity of SCI-07 strain.

Syllable-timing in Brazilian Portuguese: uma crítica a Roy Major

This paper reintroduces the discussion about stress-timing in Brazilian Portuguese (BP). It begins by surveying some phonetic and phonological issues raised by the syllable- vs stress-timed dichotomy which culminated with the emergence of the p-center notion. Strict considerations of timing of V-V units and stress groups are taken into account to analyze the long term coupling of two basic oscillators (vowel and stress flow). This coupling allows a two-parameter characterization of language rhythms (coupling strength and speech rate) revealing that BP utterances present a high-degree of syllable-timing. A comparison with other languages, including European Portuguese, is also presented. The results analyzed indicate that Major's arguments for considering Portuguese (sic) as stress-timing are misleading.

Overview of the taxonomy and of the major secondary metabolites and their biological activities related to human health of the Laurencia complex (Ceramiales, Rhodophyta) from Brazil

In Brazil, the Laurencia complex is represented by twenty taxa: Laurencia s.s. with twelve species, Palisada with four species (including Chondrophycus furcatus now that the proposal of its transference to Palisada is in process), and Osmundea and Yuzurua with two species each. The majority of the Brazilian species of the Laurencia complex have been phylogenetically analyzed by 54 rbcL sequences, including five other Rhodomelacean species as outgroups. The analysis showed that the Laurencia complex is monophyletic with high posterior probability value. The complex was separated into five clades, corresponding to the genera: Chondrophycus, Laurencia, Osmundea, Palisada, and Yuzurua. A bibliographical survey of the terpenoids produced by Brazilian species showed that only six species of Laurencia and five of Palisada (including C. furcatcus) have been submitted to chemical analysis with 48 terpenoids (47 sesquiterpenes and one triterpene) isolated. No diterpenes were found. Of the total, 23 sesquiterpenes belong to the bisabolane class and eighteen to the chamigrene type, whose biochemical precursor is bisabolane, two are derived from lauranes and four are triquinols. Despite the considerable number of known terpenes and their ecological and pharmacological importance, few experimental biological studies have been performed. In this review, only bioactivities related to human health were considered.

Neuromodulation approaches for the treatment of major depression: challenges and recommendations from a working group meeting

The use of neuromodulation as a treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD) has recently attracted renewed interest due to development of other non-pharmacological therapies besides electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), deep brain stimulation (DBS), and vagus nerve stimulation (VNS). METHOD: We convened a working group of researchers to discuss the updates and key challenges of neuromodulation use for the treatment of MDD. RESULTS: The state-of-art of neuromodulation techniques was reviewed and discussed in four sections: [1] epidemiology and pathophysiology of MDD; [2] a comprehensive overview of the neuromodulation techniques; [3] using neuromodulation techniques in MDD associated with non-psychiatric conditions; [4] the main challenges of neuromodulation research and alternatives to overcome them. DISCUSSION: ECT is the first-line treatment for severe depression. TMS and tDCS are strategies with a relative benign profile of side effects; however, while TMS effects are comparable to antidepressant drugs for treating MDD; further research is needed to establish the role of tDCS. DBS and VNS are invasive strategies with a possible role in treatment-resistant depression. In summary, MDD is a chronic and incapacitating condition with a high prevalence; therefore clinicians should consider all the treatment options including invasive and non-invasive neuromodulation approaches.

Plasmodium vivax circumsporozoite genotypes: a limited variation or new subspecies with major biological consequences?

Background: Plasmodium vivax circumsporozoite variants have been identified in several geographical areas. The real implication of the genetic variation in this region of the P. vivax genome has been questioned for a long time. Although previous studies have observed significant association between VK210 and the Duffy blood group, we present here that evidences of this variation are limited to the CSP central portion. Methods: The phylogenetic analyses were accomplished starting from the amplification of conserved domains of 18 SSU RNAr and Cyt B. The antibodies responses against the CSP peptides, MSP-1, AMA-1 and DBP were detected by ELISA, in plasma samples of individuals infected with two P. vivax CS genotypes: VK210 and P. vivax-like. Results: These analyses of the two markers demonstrate high similarity among the P. vivax CS genotypes and surprisingly showed diversity equal to zero between VK210 and P. vivax-like, positioning these CS genotypes in the same clade. A high frequency IgG antibody against the N- and C-terminal regions of the P. vivax CSP was found as compared to the immune response to the R- and V-repetitive regions (p = 0.0005, Fisher's Exact test). This difference was more pronounced when the P. vivax-like variant was present in the infection (p = 0.003, Fisher's Exact test). A high frequency of antibody response against MSP-1 and AMA-1 peptides was observed for all P. vivax CS genotypes in comparison to the same frequency for DBP. Conclusions: This results target that the differences among the P. vivax CS variants are restrict to the central repeated region of the protein, mostly nucleotide variation with important serological consequences.

Cross-national epidemiology of DSM-IV major depressive episode

Background: Major depression is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide, yet epidemiologic data are not available for many countries, particularly low- to middle-income countries. In this paper, we present data on the prevalence, impairment and demographic correlates of depression from 18 high and low-to middle-income countries in the World Mental Health Survey Initiative. Methods: Major depressive episodes (MDE) as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DMS-IV) were evaluated in face-to-face interviews using the World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). Data from 18 countries were analyzed in this report (n = 89,037). All countries surveyed representative, population-based samples of adults. Results: The average lifetime and 12-month prevalence estimates of DSM-IV MDE were 14.6% and 5.5% in the ten high-income and 11.1% and 5.9% in the eight low- to middle-income countries. The average age of onset ascertained retrospectively was 25.7 in the high-income and 24.0 in low- to middle-income countries. Functional impairment was associated with recency of MDE. The female: male ratio was about 2: 1. In high-income countries, younger age was associated with higher 12-month prevalence; by contrast, in several low-to middle-income countries, older age was associated with greater likelihood of MDE. The strongest demographic correlate in high-income countries was being separated from a partner, and in low- to middle-income countries, was being divorced or widowed. Conclusions: MDE is a significant public-health concern across all regions of the world and is strongly linked to social conditions. Future research is needed to investigate the combination of demographic risk factors that are most strongly associated with MDE in the specific countries included in the WMH.