scholarly journals Endogenous amdoparvovirus-related elements reveal insights into the biology and evolution of vertebrate parvoviruses

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judit J Pénzes ◽  
Soledad Marsile-Medun ◽  
Mavis Agbandje-McKenna ◽  
Robert James Gifford

ABSTRACTAmdoparvoviruses (familyParvoviridae:genusAmdoparvovirus) infect carnivores, and are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in farmed animals. In this study, we systematically screened animal genomes to identify PVe disclosing a high degree of similarity to amdoparvoviruses, and investigated their genomic, phylogenetic and protein structural features. We report the first examples of full-length, amdoparvovirus-derived PVe in the genome of the Transcaucasian mole vole (Ellobius lutescens). Furthermore, we identify four further PVe in mammal and reptile genomes that are intermediate between amdoparvoviruses and their sister genus (Protoparvovirus) in terms of their phylogenetic placement and genomic features. In particular, we identify a genome-length PVe in the genome of a pit viper (Protobothrops mucrosquamatus) that is more like a protoparvovirus than an amdoparvovirus in terms of its phylogenetic placement and the structural features of its capsid protein (as revealed by homology modeling), yet exhibits characteristically amdoparvovirus-like genome features including: (i) a putative middle ORF gene; (ii) a capsid gene that lacks a phospholipase A2 (PLA2) domain; (iii) a genome structure consistent with an amdoparvovirus-like mechanism of capsid gene expression. Our findings indicate that amdoparvovirus host range has extended to rodents in the past, and that parvovirus lineages possessing a mixture of proto- and amdoparvovirus-like characteristics have circulated in the past. In addition, we show that PVe in the mole vole and pit viper encode intact, expressible replicase genes that have potentially been co-opted or exapted in these host species.

Author(s):  
U. Aebi ◽  
P. Rew ◽  
T.-T. Sun

Various types of intermediate-sized (10-nm) filaments have been found and described in many different cell types during the past few years. Despite the differences in the chemical composition among the different types of filaments, they all yield common structural features: they are usually up to several microns long and have a diameter of 7 to 10 nm; there is evidence that they are made of several 2 to 3.5 nm wide protofilaments which are helically wound around each other; the secondary structure of the polypeptides constituting the filaments is rich in ∞-helix. However a detailed description of their structural organization is lacking to date.


Marine Drugs ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 330
Author(s):  
Timofey V. Malyarenko ◽  
Alla A. Kicha ◽  
Valentin A. Stonik ◽  
Natalia V. Ivanchina

Sphingolipids are complex lipids widespread in nature as structural components of biomembranes. Commonly, the sphingolipids of marine organisms differ from those of terrestrial animals and plants. The gangliosides are the most complex sphingolipids characteristic of vertebrates that have been found in only the Echinodermata (echinoderms) phylum of invertebrates. Sphingolipids of the representatives of the Asteroidea and Holothuroidea classes are the most studied among all echinoderms. In this review, we have summarized the data on sphingolipids of these two classes of marine invertebrates over the past two decades. Recently established structures, properties, and peculiarities of biogenesis of ceramides, cerebrosides, and gangliosides from starfishes and holothurians are discussed. The purpose of this review is to provide the most complete information on the chemical structures, structural features, and biological activities of sphingolipids of the Asteroidea and Holothuroidea classes.


2021 ◽  
pp. 155708512098763
Author(s):  
Emily M. Wright ◽  
Gillian M. Pinchevsky ◽  
Min Xie

We consider the broad developments that have occurred over the past decade regarding our knowledge of how neighborhood context impacts intimate partner violence (IPV). Research has broadened the concept of “context” beyond structural features such as economic disadvantage, and extended into relationships among residents, collective “action” behaviors among residents, cultural and gender norms. Additionally, scholars have considered how the built environment might foster (or regulate) IPV. We now know more about the direct, indirect, and moderating ways that communities impact IPV. We encourage additional focus on the policy implications of the research findings.


IMA Fungus ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
João P. M. Araújo ◽  
Mitsuru G. Moriguchi ◽  
Shigeru Uchiyama ◽  
Noriko Kinjo ◽  
Yu Matsuura

AbstractThe entomopathogenic genus Ophiocordyceps includes a highly diverse group of fungal species, predominantly parasitizing insects in the orders Coleoptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera. However, other insect orders are also parasitized by these fungi, for example the Blattodea (termites and cockroaches). Despite their ubiquity in nearly all environments insects occur, blattodeans are rarely found infected by filamentous fungi and thus, their ecology and evolutionary history remain obscure. In this study, we propose a new species of Ophiocordyceps infecting the social cockroaches Salganea esakii and S. taiwanensis, based on 16 years of collections and field observations in Japan, especially in the Ryukyu Archipelago. We found a high degree of genetic similarity between specimens from different islands, infecting these two Salganea species and that this relationship is ancient, likely not originating from a recent host jump. Furthermore, we found that Ophiocordyceps lineages infecting cockroaches evolved around the same time, at least twice, one from beetles and the other from termites. We have also investigated the evolutionary relationships between Ophiocordyceps and termites and present the phylogenetic placement of O. cf. blattae. Our analyses also show that O. sinensis could have originated from an ancestor infecting termite, instead of beetle larvae as previously proposed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Alejandra Serna-Sánchez ◽  
Oscar A. Pérez-Escobar ◽  
Diego Bogarín ◽  
María Fernanda Torres-Jimenez ◽  
Astrid Catalina Alvarez-Yela ◽  
...  

AbstractRecent phylogenomic analyses based on the maternally inherited plastid organelle have enlightened evolutionary relationships between the subfamilies of Orchidaceae and most of the tribes. However, uncertainty remains within several subtribes and genera for which phylogenetic relationships have not ever been tested in a phylogenomic context. To address these knowledge-gaps, we here provide the most extensively sampled analysis of the orchid family to date, based on 78 plastid coding genes representing 264 species, 117 genera, 18 tribes and 28 subtribes. Divergence times are also provided as inferred from strict and relaxed molecular clocks and birth–death tree models. Our taxon sampling includes 51 newly sequenced plastid genomes produced by a genome skimming approach. We focus our sampling efforts on previously unplaced clades within tribes Cymbidieae and Epidendreae. Our results confirmed phylogenetic relationships in Orchidaceae as recovered in previous studies, most of which were recovered with maximum support (209 of the 262 tree branches). We provide for the first time a clear phylogenetic placement for Codonorchideae within subfamily Orchidoideae, and Podochilieae and Collabieae within subfamily Epidendroideae. We also identify relationships that have been persistently problematic across multiple studies, regardless of the different details of sampling and genomic datasets used for phylogenetic reconstructions. Our study provides an expanded, robust temporal phylogenomic framework of the Orchidaceae that paves the way for biogeographical and macroevolutionary studies.


Agriculture ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 614
Author(s):  
Ayan Orazov ◽  
Liudmila Nadtochii ◽  
Kazybay Bozymov ◽  
Mariam Muradova ◽  
Araigul Zhumayeva

This paper examines the problem of food security in the Republic of Kazakhstan over the past 10 years. Based on statistical data, an assessment was made of the prevalence of malnutrition among the population of the country, including children under 5 years of age. There has been a trend towards for an improvement in the nutrition of the population for a few indicators; however, further optimization of food security indicators is required to achieve the goals of sustainable development (SDGs) of the FAO WHO Agenda for the period up to 2050 in Kazakhstan and in its individual regions. The paper reflects data on demographic changes over the past 10 years and its self-sufficiency in basic foods for 2019. A high degree of self-sufficiency in meat products (117.6%) is revealed in the population of the Republic of Kazakhstan. However, self-sufficiency in dairy products is at an extremely low level (0.1%). Camel breeding has been successfully developing in the country over the past 10 years. However, the number of camels in the country is still at a low level. Camel milk can be considered as a great source of macronutrients, its daily consumption partially facilitates the problem of Food Security in Kazakhstan.


2021 ◽  
pp. 205789112110192
Author(s):  
Peng Lin

Engaging in disaster relief and, more recently, post-disaster reconstruction in developing countries with critical geoeconomic and geopolitical interests has become an increasingly regular and institutionalized component of China’s evolving humanitarian diplomacy over the past decade. Drawn upon novel evidence from China’s growing disaster-related humanitarian assistance to Nepal and unprecedented engagement in Nepal’s long-term post-earthquake rebuild since 2015, this article explores the dynamics behind China’s transforming humanitarian diplomacy. The findings of this article suggest that: 1) geopolitical and geoeconomic interests, represented by the Belt-and-Road Initiative, serve as a critical driver for the development of China’s bilateral partnership with other countries in the disaster sector; 2) long-term cooperation with underdeveloped countries like Nepal provides China, both government and non-state actors (NSAs), with an effective channel to engage with the international humanitarian community and to internalize humanitarian norms; 3) although humanitarian missions remain contingent and instrumental in China’s international relations, they are laying the foundations for a specialized humanitarian policy area with more relevant normative assets, more professional actors, and more sophisticated institutions; 4) NSAs, represented by private foundations and civil NGOs, have played active roles in the state-dominant cooperation in disaster management. This article also suggests that intensified geopolitical confrontations, such as military clashes between India and China along their disputed borders over the past year, would lead to a high degree of politicization of humanitarian missions and partnerships counter-conducive to humanitarian goals.


1961 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 755-764 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. B. Whitehead ◽  
J. A. F. Baker

Early in 1959, observations on the farm Tayside, in the East London district of South Africa, suggested that populations of the ‘two-host’ red tick, Rhipicephalns evertsi Neum., were more difficult to control with toxaphene preparations than they had been in the past. Resistance to toxaphene was suspected, and both field and laboratory experiments were carried out to investigate this possibility. Field trials indicated an increase in tolerance by Tayside populations of the tick to toxaphene, γ BHC and dieldrin, but showed no increased tolerance to sodium arsenite or DDT. Similar results were obtained in laboratory experiments where Tayside adults were compared with those of other populations of the tick known to be sensitive to insecticides. Laboratory experiments with larvae indicated a high degree of resistance to toxaphene and γ BHC in the Tayside population, but no increased tolerance to sodium arsenite, Delnav, Sevin or DDT could be detected. This pattern of cross-resistance is similar to that occurring in resistant populations of Boophilus dccoloratus(Koch).


Author(s):  
Delvin L. Krause

Stairways, steps, curbs and landings all relate to the pedestrian changing his respective elevation. The usual expectation is that this maneuver will occur as a result of a step up or down. When the physical environment deviates from the expected and/or standard dimensions a fall can occur, This monograph concerns itself with what exposures are generated when landing areas for stairs, steps and curbs and NOT STANDARD or as expected. Investigation of falls during the past thirty years indicates that the landing zone is an important element to consider in an accident investigation. Stairs, steps, curbs and ramps are all elements of our everyday lives. People manage to negotiate them with a high degree of success. They also manage to fall up them, down them and over them with an impressive rate of success as well. Stairs, steps, curbs and ramps sometimes exist in various combination with each other. This situation often results in an unsafe or accident producing condition.


1998 ◽  
Vol 79 (3) ◽  
pp. 204-210
Author(s):  
Yu. A. Chelyshev ◽  
K. I. Sitekulov

Over the past 25 years, laser radiation has found wide application in various fields of medicine, including neurology, mainly as a means of pain relief [17]. A high degree of specificity of the photobiological action is determined by its unique properties: monochromaticity, selective focus and coherence.


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