The Litoria ewingi Complex (Anura:Hylidae) in South-Eastern Australia VIII.* Hybridization between L. ewingi and L. verreauxi alpina in the Mount Baw Baw Area, South Central Victoria

1985 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 143 ◽  
Author(s):  
GF Watson ◽  
MJ Littlejohn ◽  
DF Gartside ◽  
JJ Loftus-Hills

Contacts between the geographic ranges of the widely distributed species, Litoria ewingi, and the montane-adapted taxon, L. verreauxi alpina, occur at about 1200 m on the Great Dividing Range in south central Victoria. Data for adult morphology, genetic compatibility, blood proteins (haemoglobins and transferrins), and structure of male advertisement calls, were obtained from seven populations at altitudes between 640 m and 1450 m in the region of the Mount Baw Baw Plateau. The results indicate that hybrids are present at intermediate altitudes (1140-1270 m), but that the nature of the interaction differs between overlap of parental taxa together with recombination products on the south-westem slope (the Baw Baw transect), and a hybrid swarm on the northern slope of the Mount Baw Baw plateau. Results of in vitro crosses (female L, ewingi by male L. v. alpina) indicate that there is a high level of genetic compatibility between the taxa. Estimates of the width of the hybrid zone on the Baw Baw transect vary from less than 4 km for morphology and calls, to between 10 and 24 km for blood proteins.

1978 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 175 ◽  
Author(s):  
GF Watson ◽  
MJ Littlejohn

A small area of overlap with hybridization characterizes the interaction between northern L. ewingi and L. paraewingi. Although significant levels of postmating isolation exist between the taxa, no evidence of reproductive character displacement in mating-call structure is apparent within the contact zone. No obvious environmental features appear to correlate with the position of the zone. Northern L. ewingi and L. verreauxi alpina also form a hybrid zone where their ranges meet, and the position of the zone appears to be correlated with altitude. The taxa are characterized by a high level of genetic compatibility and no mating-call differentiation is evident. However, despite hybridization with adjacent taxa, the distinctness of northern L. ewingi is maintained away from the areas of interaction, and hence it is considered specifically distinct from L. paraewingi and L. v. alpina. No natural interaction between northern L. ewingi and L. ewingi has been located. However, they are considered to be conspecific because of: their morphological resemblance; the high level of genetic compatibility between them; and, the similarity of each of their interactions with L. paraewingi and with L. v. alpina.


1981 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 705 ◽  
Author(s):  
RM Gleadow ◽  
DH Ashton

Pittosporum undulatum is invading eucalypt open forests in south-central Victoria, 200 km west of its native habitat in eastern Australia. This is due to horticultural plantings of P. unduiatum and to the suppression of wildfires: it has thin bark and is killed by fires which most eucalypts can survive. Near Melbourne, P. undulatum preferentially establishes around the butts of eucalypts and other established trees although in denser forests this clumping is not so obvious. Seedlings of other weed species such as Ilex aquifolium and Cotoneaster pannosa similarly aggregate around established shrubs and trees. Classification of quadrats by monothetic division showed P. undulatum to be the most important species in the community. The weedy nature of P. undulatum is clear from its rapid dispersal, early seed production and fast growth. The dense canopy dramatically reduces the light intensity and completely suppresses the original sclerophyllous understorey: only Gahnia radula remains. Soil beneath the canopy is fertile and the litter is high in nutrients but bioassays indicate that inhibitors may be present. The root system is variable, depending on soil texture and compaction. The invasion of forest remnants by P. undulatum and other weeds is threatening the survival of the eucalypt forests in urban areas.


Author(s):  
Anchal Trivedi ◽  
Aparna Misra ◽  
Esha Sarkar ◽  
Anil K. Balapure

Background: In recent years, great progress has been made in reducing the high level of malaria suffering worldwide. There is a great need to evaluate drug resistance reversers and consider new medicines against malaria. There are many approaches to the development of antimalarial drugs. Specific concerns must be taken in to account in these approaches, in particular there requirement for very in expensive and simple use of new therapies and the need to limit drug discovery expenses. Important ongoing efforts are the optimisation of treatment with available medications, including the use of combination therapy. The production of analogs of known agents and the identification of natural products, the use of compounds originally developed against other diseases, the assessment of overcoming drug resistance and the consideration of new therapeutic targets. Liver and spleen are the important organs which are directly associated with malarial complications. Aim: An analysis the Activity of Adenosine Triphosphatase, Aryl Hyrocarbon Hydroxylase Enzymes and Malondialdehyde in spleen Explant Culture. Objective: To determine in-Vitro Effect of Chlorquine and Picroliv on Plasmodium Berghei Induced Alterations in the Activity of Adenosine Triphosphatase, Aryl Hyrocarbon Hydroxylase Enzymes and Malondialdehyde in spleen Explant Culture. Material and method: 1-Histological preparation of spleen explants for paraplast embedding 2-Biochemicalstudies (Enzymes (Atpase, ALP&GST) and the level of protein, Malondialdehyde (MDA). Result: Splenomegalyis one of the three main diagnostic parameters of malaria infection besides fever and anaemia. Many enzymes present in the liver and spleen may also be altered or liberated under different pathological conditions. Enzymes (ATPase, ALP&GST) and the level of protein, Malondialdehyde (MDA) content was found to increase in the liver and spleen explants during malarial infection. In the liver and spleen derived from parasitized CQ treated animals, the activity of all the above enzymes (ATPase, ALP&GST) and the level of protein & MDA of liver/spleen reversed towards the normal for all the 4or3 days of incubations. Picroliv efficacy decreased with the increment of parasitaemia and at 60%parasitaemia. Conclusion: Alkalinephosphatase (ALP) was found to increase with increasing parasitaemia. After the addition of Picroliv to the medium, a decrement in the activity was observed up to day 4 of culture.A similar positive effect of Picroliv was observed on the ATPase and ALP activity of spleen explants.DNA and protein contents also increased in the parasitized liver cultured in the presence of picroliv.On the contrary, in the spleen explants DNA, protein and MDA content were found to decrease after Picroliv supplementation to the culture medium.


2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. e01948-20
Author(s):  
Dalin Rifat ◽  
Si-Yang Li ◽  
Thomas Ioerger ◽  
Keshav Shah ◽  
Jean-Philippe Lanoix ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTThe nitroimidazole prodrugs delamanid and pretomanid comprise one of only two new antimicrobial classes approved to treat tuberculosis (TB) in 50 years. Prior in vitro studies suggest a relatively low barrier to nitroimidazole resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, but clinical evidence is limited to date. We selected pretomanid-resistant M. tuberculosis mutants in two mouse models of TB using a range of pretomanid doses. The frequency of spontaneous resistance was approximately 10−5 CFU. Whole-genome sequencing of 161 resistant isolates from 47 mice revealed 99 unique mutations, of which 91% occurred in 1 of 5 genes previously associated with nitroimidazole activation and resistance, namely, fbiC (56%), fbiA (15%), ddn (12%), fgd (4%), and fbiB (4%). Nearly all mutations were unique to a single mouse and not previously identified. The remaining 9% of resistant mutants harbored mutations in Rv2983 (fbiD), a gene not previously associated with nitroimidazole resistance but recently shown to be a guanylyltransferase necessary for cofactor F420 synthesis. Most mutants exhibited high-level resistance to pretomanid and delamanid, although Rv2983 and fbiB mutants exhibited high-level pretomanid resistance but relatively small changes in delamanid susceptibility. Complementing an Rv2983 mutant with wild-type Rv2983 restored susceptibility to pretomanid and delamanid. By quantifying intracellular F420 and its precursor Fo in overexpressing and loss-of-function mutants, we provide further evidence that Rv2983 is necessary for F420 biosynthesis. Finally, Rv2983 mutants and other F420H2-deficient mutants displayed hypersusceptibility to some antibiotics and to concentrations of malachite green found in solid media used to isolate and propagate mycobacteria from clinical samples.


2009 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hassan Safi ◽  
Robert D. Fleischmann ◽  
Scott N. Peterson ◽  
Marcus B. Jones ◽  
Behnam Jarrahi ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Mutations within codon 306 of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis embB gene modestly increase ethambutol (EMB) MICs. To identify other causes of EMB resistance and to identify causes of high-level resistance, we generated EMB-resistant M. tuberculosis isolates in vitro and performed allelic exchange studies of embB codon 406 (embB406) and embB497 mutations. In vitro selection produced mutations already identified clinically in embB306, embB397, embB497, embB1024, and embC13, which result in EMB MICs of 8 or 14 μg/ml, 5 μg/ml, 12 μg/ml, 3 μg/ml, and 4 μg/ml, respectively, and mutations at embB320, embB324, and embB445, which have not been identified in clinical M. tuberculosis isolates and which result in EMB MICs of 8 μg/ml, 8 μg/ml, and 2 to 8 μg/ml, respectively. To definitively identify the effect of the common clinical embB497 and embB406 mutations on EMB susceptibility, we created a series of isogenic mutants, exchanging the wild-type embB497 CAG codon in EMB-susceptible M. tuberculosis strain 210 for the embB497 CGG codon and the wild-type embB406 GGC codon for either the embB406 GCC, embB406 TGC, embB406 TCC, or embB406 GAC codon. These new mutants showed 6-fold and 3- to 3.5-fold increases in the EMB MICs, respectively. In contrast to the embB306 mutants, the isogenic embB497 and embB406 mutants did not have preferential growth in the presence of isoniazid or rifampin (rifampicin) at their MICs. These results demonstrate that individual embCAB mutations confer low to moderate increases in EMB MICs. Discrepancies between the EMB MICs of laboratory mutants and clinical M. tuberculosis strains with identical mutations suggest that clinical EMB resistance is multigenic and that high-level EMB resistance requires mutations in currently unknown loci.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Liu ◽  
Jipeng Li ◽  
Ke Wang ◽  
Haiming Liu ◽  
Jianyong Sun ◽  
...  

AbstractFork-head box protein M1 (FoxM1) is a transcriptional factor which plays critical roles in cancer development and progression. However, the general regulatory mechanism of FoxM1 is still limited. STMN1 is a microtubule-binding protein which can inhibit the assembly of microtubule dimer or promote depolymerization of microtubules. It was reported as a major responsive factor of paclitaxel resistance for clinical chemotherapy of tumor patients. But the function of abnormally high level of STMN1 and its regulation mechanism in cancer cells remain unclear. In this study, we used public database and tissue microarrays to analyze the expression pattern of FoxM1 and STMN1 and found a strong positive correlation between FoxM1 and STMN1 in multiple types of cancer. Lentivirus-mediated FoxM1/STMN1-knockdown cell lines were established to study the function of FoxM1/STMN1 by performing cell viability assay, plate clone formation assay, soft agar assay in vitro and xenograft mouse model in vivo. Our results showed that FoxM1 promotes cell proliferation by upregulating STMN1. Further ChIP assay showed that FoxM1 upregulates STMN1 in a transcriptional level. Prognostic analysis showed that a high level of FoxM1 and STMN1 is related to poor prognosis in solid tumors. Moreover, a high co-expression of FoxM1 and STMN1 has a more significant correlation with poor prognosis. Our findings suggest that a general FoxM1-STMN1 axis contributes to cell proliferation and tumorigenesis in hepatocellular carcinoma, gastric cancer and colorectal cancer. The combination of FoxM1 and STMN1 can be a more precise biomarker for prognostic prediction.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. 603
Author(s):  
Vanesa Pérez-Laguna ◽  
Isabel García-Luque ◽  
Sofía Ballesta ◽  
Antonio Rezusta ◽  
Yolanda Gilaberte

The present review covers combination approaches of antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) plus antibiotics or antifungals to attack bacteria and fungi in vitro (both planktonic and biofilm forms) focused on those microorganisms that cause infections in skin and soft tissues. The combination can prevent failure in the fight against these microorganisms: antimicrobial drugs can increase the susceptibility of microorganisms to aPDT and prevent the possibility of regrowth of those that were not inactivated during the irradiation; meanwhile, aPDT is effective regardless of the resistance pattern of the strain and their use does not contribute to the selection of antimicrobial resistance. Additive or synergistic antimicrobial effects in vitro are evaluated and the best combinations are presented. The use of combined treatment of aPDT with antimicrobials could help overcome the difficulty of fighting high level of resistance microorganisms and, as it is a multi-target approach, it could make the selection of resistant microorganisms more difficult.


Oncogene ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jhih-Kai Pan ◽  
Cheng-Han Lin ◽  
Yao-Lung Kuo ◽  
Luo-Ping Ger ◽  
Hui-Chuan Cheng ◽  
...  

AbstractBrian metastasis, which is diagnosed in 30% of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients with metastasis, causes poor survival outcomes. Growing evidence has characterized miRNAs involving in breast cancer brain metastasis; however, currently, there is a lack of prognostic plasma-based indicator for brain metastasis. In this study, high level of miR-211 can act as brain metastatic prognostic marker in vivo. High miR-211 drives early and specific brain colonization through enhancing trans-blood–brain barrier (BBB) migration, BBB adherence, and stemness properties of tumor cells and causes poor survival in vivo. SOX11 and NGN2 are the downstream targets of miR-211 and negatively regulate miR-211-mediated TNBC brain metastasis in vitro and in vivo. Most importantly, high miR-211 is correlated with poor survival and brain metastasis in TNBC patients. Our findings suggest that miR-211 may be used as an indicator for TNBC brain metastasis.


Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 132
Author(s):  
Nilufar Z. Mamadalieva ◽  
Davlat Kh. Akramov ◽  
Ludger A. Wessjohann ◽  
Hidayat Hussain ◽  
Chunlin Long ◽  
...  

The genus Lagochilus (Lamiaceae) is native to Central, South-Central, and Eastern Asia. It comprises 44 species, which have been commonly used as herbal medicines for the treatments of various ailments for thousands of years, especially in Asian countries. This review aims to summarize the chemical constituents and pharmacological activities of species from the genus Lagochilus to unveil opportunities for future research. In addition, we provide some information about their traditional uses, botany, and diversity. More than 150 secondary metabolites have been reported from Lagochilus, including diterpenes, flavonoids, phenolic compounds, triterpenoids, iridoid glycosides, lignans, steroids, alkaloids, polysaccharides, volatile, non-volatile and aromatic compounds, lipids, carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins, and other secondary metabolites. In vitro and in vivo pharmacological studies on the crude extracts, fractions, and isolated compounds from Lagochilus species showed hemostatic, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, cytotoxic, enzyme inhibitory, antispasmodic, hypotensive, sedative, psychoactive, and other activities.


Cells ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 132
Author(s):  
Johanna Simon ◽  
Gabor Kuhn ◽  
Michael Fichter ◽  
Stephan Gehring ◽  
Katharina Landfester ◽  
...  

Understanding the behavior of nanoparticles upon contact with a physiological environment is of urgent need in order to improve their properties for a successful therapeutic application. Most commonly, the interaction of nanoparticles with plasma proteins are studied under in vitro conditions. However, this has been shown to not reflect the complex situation after in vivo administration. Therefore, here we focused on the investigation of magnetic nanoparticles with blood proteins under in vivo conditions. Importantly, we observed a radically different proteome in vivo in comparison to the in vitro situation underlining the significance of in vivo protein corona studies. Next to this, we found that the in vivo corona profile does not significantly change over time. To mimic the in vivo situation, we established an approach, which we termed “ex vivo” as it uses whole blood freshly prepared from an animal. Overall, we present a comprehensive analysis focusing on the interaction between nanoparticles and blood proteins under in vivo conditions and how to mimic this situation with our ex vivo approach. This knowledge is needed to characterize the true biological identity of nanoparticles.


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