scholarly journals Advances in Fungal Peptide Vaccines

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leandro B. R. Da Silva ◽  
Carlos P. Taborda ◽  
Joshua D. Nosanchuk
Keyword(s):  
Fungal Pathogens ◽  
Fungal Infections ◽  
Pathogenic Fungi ◽  
Effective Vaccine ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Mortality And Morbidity ◽  
Bioinformatic Tools ◽  
The Past ◽  
New Methodologies

Vaccination is one of the greatest public health achievements in the past century, protecting and improving the quality of life of the population worldwide. However, a safe and effective vaccine for therapeutic or prophylactic treatment of fungal infections is not yet available. The lack of a vaccine for fungi is a problem of increasing importance as the incidence of diverse species, including Paracoccidioides, Aspergillus, Candida, Sporothrix, and Coccidioides, has increased in recent decades and new drug-resistant pathogenic fungi are emerging. In fact, our antifungal armamentarium too frequently fails to effectively control or cure mycoses, leading to high rates of mortality and morbidity. With this in mind, many groups are working towards identifying effective and safe vaccines for fungal pathogens, with a particular focus of generating vaccines that will work in individuals with compromised immunity who bear the major burden of infections from these microbes. In this review, we detail advances in the development of vaccines for pathogenic fungi, and highlight new methodologies using immunoproteomic techniques and bioinformatic tools that have led to new vaccine formulations, like peptide-based vaccines.

Resolving Fusarium: Current Status of the Genus

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 323-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brett A. Summerell
Keyword(s):  
Pathogenic Fungi ◽  
Disease Diagnosis ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Plant Pathogenic Fungi ◽  
Human Pathogen ◽  
Climatic Zones ◽  
Genus Fusarium ◽  
The Past ◽  
Fungal Genus

The fungal genus Fusarium is one of the most important groups of plant-pathogenic fungi and affects a huge diversity of crops in all climatic zones across the globe. In addition, it is also a human pathogen and produces several extremely important mycotoxins in food products that have deleterious effects on livestock and humans. These fungi have been plagued over the past century by different perspectives of what constitutes the genus Fusarium and how many species occur within the genus. Currently, there are conflicting views on the generic boundaries and what defines a species that impact disease diagnosis, management, and biosecurity legislation. An approach to defining and identifying Fusarium that places the needs of the community of users (especially, in this case, phytopathologists) to the forefront is presented in this review.

scholarly journals Late Holocene temperature variability in Tasmania inferred from borehole temperature data

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 559-572 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asadusjjaman Suman ◽  
Fiona Dyer ◽  
Duanne White
Keyword(s):  
East Coast ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Borehole Data ◽  
Depth Profiles ◽  
The Past ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Borehole Temperature ◽  
Temperature Depth

Abstract. Thirty-six borehole temperature–depth profiles were analysed to reconstruct the ground surface temperature history (GSTH) of eastern Tasmania for the past 5 centuries. We used the singular value decomposition method to invert borehole temperatures to produce temperature histories. The quality of borehole data was classified as high or low based on model misfit. The quality of the borehole data was not dependent on topography or land use. Analysis reveals that three to five high-quality borehole temperature–depth profiles were adequate to reconstruct robust paleotemperature records from any area. Average GSTH reconstructed from Tasmanian boreholes shows temperature increases about 1.2 ± 0.2 °C during the past 5 centuries. Reconstructed temperatures were consistent with meteorological records and other proxy records from Tasmania during their period of overlap. Temperature changes were greatest around the north-east coast and decreased towards the centre of Tasmania. The extension of the East Australian Current (EAC) further south and its strengthening around the north-east coast of Tasmania over the past century was considered a prime driver of warmer temperatures observed in north-east Tasmania.

Urban renewal and citizenship: the quality of life in British cities, 1890-1990

Urban History ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Meller
Keyword(s):  
Urban Renewal ◽  
Physical Environment ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Technical Expertise ◽  
Cultural Changes ◽  
Social Responses ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Social ◽  
The City

This paper juxtaposes two key themes: the concept of citizenship and ideas on urban renewal over the past century. The aim is to explore the interaction of cultural changes and the physical environment of cities. The concept of citizenship represents a cultural response to social change which itself has changed dramatically over the past century. Urban renewal has taken many forms. Yet behind all the growing technical expertise in dealing with the physical environment, there are specific social responses to the city which legitimize action. By looking at citizenship and urban renewal together, it is possible to establish a perspective on how the urban environment has been manipulated over the past century, often in ways which have barely interfaced with the social demands of many sections of the community.

scholarly journals The Mechanisms of Mating in Pathogenic Fungi—A Plastic Trait

Genes ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 831
Author(s):  
Jane Usher
Keyword(s):  
Fungal Pathogens ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Fungal Infections ◽  
Pathogenic Fungi ◽  
Yeast Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽  
Closely Related Species ◽  
Sexual And Asexual Reproduction ◽  
Target Dna ◽  
High Degree ◽  
The Impact

The impact of fungi on human and plant health is an ever-increasing issue. Recent studies have estimated that human fungal infections result in an excess of one million deaths per year and plant fungal infections resulting in the loss of crop yields worth approximately 200 million per annum. Sexual reproduction in these economically important fungi has evolved in response to the environmental stresses encountered by the pathogens as a method to target DNA damage. Meiosis is integral to this process, through increasing diversity through recombination. Mating and meiosis have been extensively studied in the model yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, highlighting that these mechanisms have diverged even between apparently closely related species. To further examine this, this review will inspect these mechanisms in emerging important fungal pathogens, such as Candida, Aspergillus, and Cryptococcus. It shows that both sexual and asexual reproduction in these fungi demonstrate a high degree of plasticity.

scholarly journals Fungal Pathogens Affecting the Production and Quality of Medical Cannabis in Israel

Plants ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 882
Author(s):  
Shachar Jerushalmi ◽  
Marcel Maymon ◽  
Aviv Dombrovsky ◽  
Stanley Freeman
Keyword(s):  
Fungal Pathogens ◽  
Plant Pathogens ◽  
Pathogenic Fungi ◽  
Plant Diseases ◽  
Soilborne Pathogens ◽  
Medical Cannabis ◽  
Plant Parts ◽  
Commercial Cultivation

The use of and research on medical cannabis (MC) is becoming more common, yet there are still many challenges regarding plant diseases of this crop. For example, there is a lack of formal and professional knowledge regarding fungi that infect MC plants, and practical and effective methods for managing the casual agents of disease are limited. The purpose of this study was to identify foliar, stem, and soilborne pathogens affecting MC under commercial cultivation in Israel. The predominant major foliage pathogens were identified as Alternaria alternata and Botrytis cinerea, while the common stem and soilborne pathogens were identified as Fusarium oxysporum and F. solani. Other important fungi that were isolated from foliage were those producing various mycotoxins that can directly harm patients, such as Aspergillus spp. and Penicillium spp. The sampling and characterization of potential pathogenic fungi were conducted from infected MC plant parts that exhibited various disease symptoms. Koch postulates were conducted by inoculating healthy MC tissues and intact plants with fungi isolated from infected commercially cultivated symptomatic plants. In this study, we report on the major and most common plant pathogens of MC found in Israel, and determine the seasonal outbreak of each fungus.

scholarly journals Neutrophil and Eosinophil DNA Extracellular Trap Formation: Lessons From Pathogenic Fungi

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliana da Costa Silva ◽  
Glaucia de Azevedo Thompson-Souza ◽  
Marina Valente Barroso ◽  
Josiane Sabbadini Neves ◽  
Rodrigo Tinoco Figueiredo
Keyword(s):  
Fungal Pathogens ◽  
Fungal Infections ◽  
Pathogenic Fungi ◽  
Allergic Diseases ◽  
Extracellular Vesicle ◽  
Fungal Colonization ◽  
Polymorphonuclear Cells ◽  
Effector Cells ◽  
Inflammatory Stimuli ◽  
Extracellular Trap

Fungal infections represent a worldwide health problem. Fungal pathogens are responsible for a variety of conditions, including superficial diseases, allergic pathologies and potentially lethal invasive infections. Neutrophils and eosinophils have been implicated as effector cells in several pathologies. Neutrophils are major effector cells involved in the control of fungal infections and exhibit a plethora of antifungal mechanisms, such as phagocytosis, reactive oxygen species production, degranulation, extracellular vesicle formation, and DNA extracellular trap (ET) release. Eosinophils are polymorphonuclear cells classically implicated as effector cells in the pathogenesis of allergic diseases and helminthic infections, although their roles as immunomodulatory players in both innate and adaptive immunity are currently recognized. Eosinophils are also endowed with antifungal activities and are abundantly found in allergic conditions associated with fungal colonization and sensitization. Neutrophils and eosinophils have been demonstrated to release their nuclear and mitochondrial DNA in response to many pathogens and pro-inflammatory stimuli. ETs have been implicated in the killing and control of many pathogens, as well as in promoting inflammation and tissue damage. The formation of ETs by neutrophils and eosinophils has been described in response to pathogenic fungi. Here, we provide an overview of the mechanisms involved in the release of neutrophil and eosinophil ETs in response to fungal pathogens. General implications for understanding the formation of ETs and the roles of ETs in fungal infections are discussed.

scholarly journals Marine-Derived Compounds and Prospects for Their Antifungal Application

Molecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (24) ◽  
pp. 5856
Author(s):  
Joana Cardoso ◽  
Darlan Gonçalves Nakayama ◽  
Emília Sousa ◽  
Eugénia Pinto
Keyword(s):  
Biofilm Formation ◽  
Antifungal Agents ◽  
Fungal Infections ◽  
Pathogenic Fungi ◽  
Mechanisms Of Action ◽  
Antifungal Compounds ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Marine Products ◽  
New Strategies

The introduction of antifungals in clinical practice has an enormous impact on the provision of medical care, increasing the expectancy and quality of life mainly of immunocompromised patients. However, the emergence of pathogenic fungi that are resistant and multi-resistant to the existing antifungal therapy has culminated in fungal infections that are almost impossible to treat. Therefore, there is an urgent need to discover new strategies. The marine environment has proven to be a promising rich resource for the discovery and development of new antifungal compounds. Thus, this review summarizes more than one hundred marine natural products, or their derivatives, which are categorized according to their sources—sponges, bacteria, fungi, and sea cucumbers—as potential candidates as antifungal agents. In addition, this review focus on recent developments using marine antifungal compounds as new and effective approaches for the treatment of infections caused by resistant and multi-resistant pathogenic fungi and/or biofilm formation; other perspectives on antifungal marine products highlight new mechanisms of action, the combination of antifungal and non-antifungal agents, and the use of nanoparticles and anti-virulence therapy.

On an Empty Stomach

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Scott-Smith
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Quality Of Care ◽  
Medical Condition ◽  
Empty Stomach ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Food Technology ◽  
Human Needs ◽  
The Past ◽  
Gains And Losses

This book examines the practical techniques humanitarians have used to manage and measure starvation, from Victorian “scientific” soup kitchens to space-age, high-protein foods. Tracing the evolution of these techniques since the start of the nineteenth century, the book argues that humanitarianism is not a simple story of progress and improvement, but rather is profoundly shaped by sociopolitical conditions. Aid is often presented as an apolitical and technical project, but the way humanitarians conceive and tackle human needs has always been deeply influenced by culture, politics, and society. These influences extend down to the most detailed mechanisms for measuring malnutrition and providing sustenance. As the book shows, over the past century, the humanitarian approach to hunger has redefined food as nutrients and hunger as a medical condition. Aid has become more individualized, medicalized, and rationalized, shaped by modernism in bureaucracy, commerce, and food technology. The book focuses on the gains and losses that result, examining the complex compromises that arise between efficiency of distribution and quality of care. It concludes that humanitarian groups have developed an approach to the empty stomach that is dependent on compact, commercially produced devices and is often paternalistic and culturally insensitive.

scholarly journals Host Defence to Pulmonary Mycosis

1999 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher H Mody ◽  
Peter W Warren
Keyword(s):  
Host Defense ◽  
Defense Mechanisms ◽  
Fungal Pathogens ◽  
Fungal Infections ◽  
Data Extraction ◽  
Pathogenic Fungi ◽  
Fungal Disease ◽  
Medline Search ◽  
Pulmonary Mycosis ◽  
Immune Defects

OBJECTIVE: To provide a basic understanding of the mechanisms of host defense to pathogenic fungi. This will help physicians understand why some patients are predisposed to fungal infections and update basic scientists on how microbial immunology applies to fungal disease.DATA SOURCES: English articles from 1966 to present were identified from a MEDLINE search.STUDY SELECTION: Articles were identified by a MEDLINE search of ‘exp lung/’ or ‘exp lung diseases/’ and ‘exp fungi/’. The titles and abstracts were screened to identify articles that contained salient information pertaining to host defense of respiratory mycoses.DATA EXTRACTION: Information was summarized from the articles pertaining to host defense of pulmonary mycosis that had been identified by the MEDLINE search.DATA SYNTHESIS: Fungi represent a unique and highly diverse group of pathogenic organisms that have become an increasingly prevalent cause of life-threatening illness. A worldwide increase in persons with immunodeficiency has been a major contributing factor to the increase in fungal disease. As a result, clinicians are faced with an expanding array of fungal infections that pose diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. The respiratory tract is the route of acquisition for many important fungal infections; thus, understanding the host defense in the lung is an essential component of understanding host defense to fungal disease. With this understanding, fungi may be divided on the basis of the predilection of certain mycosis for specific immune defects.CONCLUSIONS: By separating fungi based on the host immune defects that predispose to disease, in conjunction with traditional divisions based on the geographic distribution of fungi, clinicians are able to focus their diagnostic efforts and to identify fungal pathogens better. In addition, an understanding of the normal host defense mechanisms that serve to control fungal infections is essential to the development of novel antifungal therapies.

scholarly journals Biosensors for Fungal Detection

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamdi Nsairat ◽  
Areej M. Jaber ◽  
Mazen Al-Sulaibi
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Diagnosis ◽  
Diagnostic Tests ◽  
Fungal Pathogens ◽  
Pathogen Detection ◽  
Drug Sensitivity ◽  
Fungal Infections ◽  
Pathogenic Fungi ◽  
Chain Reactions ◽  
Polymerase Chain Reactions ◽  
Polymerase Chain

Due to the serious threat of invasive fungal infections, there is an emergent need for improved a sensitive and more accurate diagnostic tests for detection of systemic pathogenic fungi and plant health. Traditional fungal diagnosis can only be achieved at later growing phases. The complex and difficult immunodiagnostic is also widely employed. Enzyme-based immunoassays which lead to cross-interaction with different fungi still also obeyed. A polymerase chain reactions (PCRs)- based molecular diagnosis are does not enable precise identification of fungal pathogens, or the ability to test isolates for drug sensitivity. In the future, biosensing technologies and nanotechnological tools, will improve diagnosis of pathogenic fungi through a specific and sensitive pathogen detection. This report systematically reviews the most prominent biosensor trends for fungi detection.

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