269 research outputs found
Functional analysis of theFusarium culmorumgenome: gene silencing, transposon tagging and gene knock-out by homologous recombination
No full textF. culmorumis an important cereal pathogen having a widespread distribution and able to produce mycotoxins dangerous to humans and animals. The genome ofF. culmorumis being sequenced but for many genes the function is yet unknown. A high-throughput strategy for gene identification and for functional genomics analysis is needed. In this project we evaluated the efficiency of 3 complementary approaches to explore theF. culmorumgenome. A silencing approach was adopted to downregulatingTRI6gene which regulates the expression of multiple biosynthetic genes. This demonstrated that the type B trichothecenes play an important role as virulence factors in the crown and foot rot (CFR) disease of durum wheat caused byF. culmorum. Hence, this biosynthetic pathway can be regarded as a suitable molecular target for the development of new CFR control tools. The deletion ofFcstuA, a member of APSES protein inF. culmorum, enabled to understand its role in CFR pathogenicity, in the biosynthesis of pectolytic enzymes such as polygalacturonase and in the main metabolic or morphological processes regulating the biological cycle of thefungus. Random mutagenesis performed by themimp1/impaladouble-component system allowed a complete vision ofF. culmorumgenome suggesting a valuable exploratory role of this tool. Our results demonstrate that the 3 approaches are useful tools to improve the knowledge onF. culmorumgenome and offer new insights for future studies
Multidrug resistant and Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolated from raw sheep’s milk
No full textMultidrug resistant (MDR) and Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) contamination in milk and dairy products can origin from animals, farm environment, from human in contact with animals or food handlers. Therefore, milk and dairy products could represent a potential source of antibiotic resistant S. aureus strains that could reach human through the food chain. Most of the reports on the occurrence and characterization of MDR S. aureus and MRSA refer to dairy cows, while little information is cu ently available on st ains isolated f om s eep’s milk. T e aim of t e p esent study was to evaluate the presence of MDR S. aureus and MRSA harboring mecA and mecC genes in aw s eep’s milk. enotypic esistance to antibiotics and t e p esence of t e genetic determinants were also investigated. Bulk tank milk samples and milking machines filters were collected from 17 Sardinian dairy sheep farms. In addition, 3 filters from one cheese-making plant collecting milk from the investigated farms were sampled. The detection of Coagulase Positive Staphylococci was performed according to ISO 6888-
1:1999 and the potential presence of MRSA assessed using ChromID MRSA Smart agar plates. Isolates were submitted to PCR for species identification. Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) for Ampicillin (AM), Cephalothin (CEF), Cefoxitin (FOX), Erythromycin (E), Oxacillin (OX), Penicillin (P), Tetracycline (TE) and Vancomycin (VA) was determined using broth microdilution method (CLSI M07,M100, 2015). The detection of the genes mecA, mecC, blaZ, ermA-B-C, vanA, tetK-M-S-W encoding antibiotic resistance was performed as previously described (Spanu et al., 2014). In this study, 118
S. aureus strains were collected, 65 strains from 17 positive milk filters, 38 from 7 bulk tank milk samples and 15 from cheese-making plant filters. Twelve strains (10.2%) were resistant at least to one of the β-lactam antibiotics tested and 6 isolates showed multiple resistance against AM, FOX, OX and/or P. Among these, 3 strains were identified as MRSA with MIC values of 16-32 μg/mL for OX and 64 μg/mL for FOX. Interestingly, 2 out of 3 MRSA were also resistant to E (8 μg/mL), despite only 1 strain carried blaZ, mecA, mecC and ermB-C genes. All the isolates were susceptible to CEF and VA and did not carry the correspondent resistant genes. On the other hand, although resistance to TE was not found, 15 and 7 S. aureus strains carried tetM and tetK genes, respectively. The results of the present study suggest the emergence of MDR S. aureus also in small ruminants dairy chain which pose a potential public health hazard for the spreading of MRSA strains
Genus level DNA sequence data for three genes (matK, rbcL, trnH-psbA) for the paper: A comprehensive, genus-level time-calibrated phylogeny of the tree flora of Mediterranean Europe and an assessment of its vulnerability
No full textThis data file contains the consensus DNA sequences in fasta format, of 64 tree genera found in Mediterranean Europe, following the checklist of Médail et al. (2019).
The data are used in a manuscript submitted for publication to Botany Letters and currently under revision. The manuscript is entitled: "A comprehensive, genus-level time-calibrated phylogeny of the tree flora of Mediterranean Europe and an assessment of its vulnerability". Its authors are: Marwan Cheikh Albassatneh, Marcial Escudero, Loic Ponge*, Anne-Christine Monnet, Juan Arroyo, Toni Nikolic, Gianluigi Bacchetta, Francesca Bagnoli, Panayotis Dimopoulos, Agathe Leriche, Frédéric Médail, Anne Roig, Ilaria Spanu, Giovanni Giuseppe Vendramin, Arndt Hampe, Bruno Fady.</p
Illuminazione nell’architettura antica: ipotesi ricostruttive delle modalità di comunicazione visuale in alcuni contesti di edilizia religiosa tra V e VI secolo d.C.
No full textTema di questa ricerca è lo studio delle modalità di illuminazione artificiale e naturale dello spazio sacro in alcuni contesti di architettura religiosa di V e VI secolo. I contesti architettonici prescelti per questo studio sono la Basilica dell'Acheiropoietos di Salonicco e la Basilica dei Santi Sergio e Bacco, di Costantinopoli, dei quali sono stati realizzati dei modelli tridimensionali con il supporto della grafica computerizzata. Oltre allo studio dei due edifici e delle loro fasi edilizie (nonché delle loro compagini architettoniche e degli apparati di arredo liturgico), si è inteso cercare di ricostruire gli schemi di illuminazione artificiale al loro interno. A tal fine è stato condotto un lavoro preliminare di studio ad ampio raggio su questa classe di manufatti provenienti da scavi di edifici di culto di età tardo antica e protobizantina, con una particolare attenzione a quei siti che hanno restituito informazioni puntuali sul posizionamento dei lumi. Oltre a ciò sono stati considerati anche manufatti fuori contesto, contenuti in collezioni museali o private, nonchè le rappresentazioni iconografiche di questi oggetti nelle fonti documentali (anche più tarde). Un particolare approfondimento è stato dedicato alle fonti scritte che trattano, anche in maniera incidentale, di questi manufatti, soprattutto in relazione ad uno dei due casi scelti, ossia la Basilica dei Santi Sergio e Bacco. Sono stati quindi proposti schemi di distribuzione dei lumi fissi e, in parte, anche mobili per ricostruire l'assetto luminoso delle basiliche durante le celebrazioni liturgiche diurne festive. La seconda parte dello studio, invece, è consistita nel realizzare delle simulazioni virtuali, ottenute con l'ausilio della computer grafica, dell'illuminazione naturale di questi edifici in antico. Grazie ad un particolare applicativo, infatti, è stato possibile impostare la fonte luminosa naturale (sun) nel mondo virtuale calcolandone la posizione in un dato momento/giorno/anno georiferendo i modelli tridimensionali
Water use and crop coefficients in sprinkler irrigated rice
No full textField experiments were carried out during the years 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2006 to analyze water-soil-atmosphere interactions
in sprinkler irrigated rice. The research was carried out in Sardinia (39° 59' N; 8° 40' E, at altitude 15 m).
The cultivars used in the experiments, respectively in 2002 and in 2004-2005-2006, were Irat 212 and Eurosis. In
each year cultivars were subjected to the same crop management. Irrigation was applied since the emergence with
the sprinkler method, taking into account the loss of water from 'Class A' pan evaporation. Soil water content was
monitored at 0.10 m intervals until l.00-m depth using a 'Diviner 2000' (Sentek). In 2002 seven irrigation scheduling
treatments were compared. In 2004, 2005, 2006 irrigation treatments provided for optimal soil water conditions
during the growing season.In 2002 the results highlighted: 1) 0-0.20 m depth was the most important layer for crop water uptake and the best
correlated layer with rice rough yield; 2) the positive relationship between yield and water supply was significant
until 6500 m3ha-1of water applied. Further seasonal irrigation volumes did not increase significantly yield.In 2004, 2005 and 2006 the analysis of the soil water balance at different crop phenological stages allowed to estimate
crop coefficients (Kc) using the Penman-Monteith equation and the 'Class A' pan evaporation (Kcev).Kc varied over the three-year period on average from 0.90 to l.07 and 0.97, respectively for the emergence-end of
tillering, end of tillering-heading and heading-maturing periods, while crop coefficients as a ratio between maximum
crop evapotranspiration (ETc) and Epan, Kcev ranged from 0.78 to 0.92 and 0.81 for the same time perio
Preoperative identification of residual tumor and axillary lymph node metastases following neoadjuvant therapy: a breast scintigraphy with breast-specific γ-camera (BSGC) and SPECT/CT study
No full textFcStuA from <i>Fusarium culmorum</i> controls wheat foot and root rot in a toxin dispensable manner
No full textFusarium culmorum is one of the most harmful pathogens of durum wheat and is the causal agent of foot and root rot (FRR) disease. F. culmorum produces the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) that is involved in the pathogenic process. The role of the gene FcStuA, a StuA ortholog protein with an APSES domain sharing 98.5% homology to the FgStuA protein (FGSG10129), was determined by functional characterisation of deletion mutants obtained from two F. culmorum wild-type strains, FcUk99 (a highly pathogenic DON producer) and Fc233B (unable to produce toxin and with a mild pathogenic behavior). The ΔFcStuA mutants originating from both strains showed common phenotypic characters including stunted vegetative growth, loss of hydrophobicity of the mycelium, altered pigmentation, decreased activity of polygalacturonic enzymes and catalases, altered and reduced conidiation, delayed conidial germination patterns and complete loss of pathogenicity towards wheat stem base/root tissue. Glycolytic process efficiency [measured as growth on glucose as sole carbon (C) source] was strongly impaired and growth was partially restored on glutamic acid. Growth on pectin-like sources ranked in between glucose and glutamic acid with the following order (the lowest to the highest growth): beechwood xylan, sugarbeet arabinan, polygalacturonic acid, citrus pectin, apple pectin, potato azogalactan. DON production in the mutants originating from FcUK99 strain was significantly decreased (-95%) in vitro. Moreover, both sets of mutants were unable to colonise non-cereal plant tissues, i.e. apple and tomato fruits and potato tubers. No differences between mutants, ectopic and wild-type strains were observed concerning the level of resistance towards four fungicides belonging to three classes, the demethylase inhibitors epoxiconazole and tebuconzole, the succinate dehydrogenase inhibitor isopyrazam and the cytochrome bc1 inhibitor trifloxystrobin. StuA, given its multiple functions in cell regulation and pathogenicity control, is proposed as a potential target for novel disease management strategies
Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and Lewy Bodies Dementia (LBD) differential diagnosis: A 123Ioflupane SPECT study
No full textDefinizione del cut-off epidemiologico per la valutazione dell’antibiotico resistenza di Staphylococcus aureus nella produzione del latte di pecora
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