scholarly journals Screening and Analysis of Anaplasma marginale Tunisian Isolates Reveal the Diversity of lipA Phylogeographic Marker and the Conservation of OmpA Protein Vaccine Candidate

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanène Belkahia ◽  
Meriem Ben Abdallah ◽  
Rihab Andolsi ◽  
Rachid Selmi ◽  
Sayed Zamiti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
Vaccine Candidate ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Anaplasma Marginale ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Protein Vaccine ◽  
Phylogeographic Analysis ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Ompa Protein ◽  
Immunodominant Epitopes

Bovine anaplasmosis caused by Anaplasma marginale is a disease responsible for serious animal health problems and great economic losses all over the world. Thereby, the identification of A. marginale isolates from various bioclimatic areas in each country, the phylogeographic analysis of these isolates based on the most informative markers, and the evaluation of the most promising candidate antigens are crucial steps in developing effective vaccines against a wide range of A. marginale strains. In order to contribute to this challenge, a total of 791 bovine samples from various bioclimatic areas of Tunisia were tested for the occurrence of A. marginale DNA through msp4 gene fragment amplification. Phylogeographic analysis was performed by using lipA and sucB gene analyses, and the genetic relationship with previously characterized A. marginale isolates and strains was analyzed by applying similarity comparison and phylogenetic analysis. To evaluate the conservation of OmpA protein vaccine candidate, almost complete ompA nucleotide sequences were also obtained from Tunisian isolates, and various bioinformatics software were used in order to analyze the physicochemical properties and the secondary and tertiary structures of their deduced proteins and to predict their immunodominant epitopes of B and T cells. A. marginale DNA was detected in 19 bovine samples (2.4%). Risk factor analysis shows that cattle derived from subhumid bioclimatic area were more infected than those that originated from other areas. The analysis of lipA phylogeographic marker indicated a higher diversity of Tunisian A. marginale isolates compared with other available worldwide isolates and strains. Molecular, phylogenetic, and immuno-informatics analyses of the vaccine candidate OmpA protein demonstrated that this antigen and its predicted immunodominant epitopes of B and T cells appear to be highly conserved between Tunisian isolates and compared with isolates from other countries, suggesting that the minimal intraspecific modifications will not affect the potential cross-protective capacity of humoral and cell-mediated immune responses against multiple A. marginale worldwide strains.

HCA587 protein vaccine induces specific antitumor immunity mediated by CD4+ T-cells expressing granzyme B in a mouse model of melanoma

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weiming Yang ◽  
Weiheng Zhang ◽  
Xiaozhong Wang ◽  
Liming Tan ◽  
Hua Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
Cd4 T Cells ◽  
Antitumor Effect ◽  
Granzyme B ◽  
Cell Subset ◽  
Cell Mediated Immunity ◽  
Protein Vaccine ◽  
Tumor Tissues ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Ifn Γ

Background: The antigen HCA587 (also known as MAGE-C2), which is considered a cancer-testis antigen, exhibits upregulated expression in a wide range of malignant tumors with unique immunological properties, and may thus serve as a promising target for tumor immunotherapy. Objective: To explore the antitumor effect of the HCA587 protein vaccine and the response of humoral and cell-mediated immunity. Methods: The HCA587 protein vaccine was formulated with adjuvants CpG and and ISCOM. B16 melanoma cells were subcutaneously inoculated to C57BL/6 mice, followed by treatment with HCA587 protein vaccine subcutaneously. Mouse survival was monitored daily, and tumor volume was measured every 2 to 3 days. The tumor sizes, survival time and immune cells in tumor tissues were detected. And the vital immune cell subset and effector molecules were explored. Results: After treatment with HCA587 protein vaccine, the vaccination generated elicited significant immune responses, which delayed tumor growth and improved animal survival. The vaccination increased the proportion of CD4+ T cells expressing IFN-γ and granzyme B in tumor tissues. Depletion of CD4+T cells resulted in an almost complete abrogation of the antitumor effect of the vaccination, suggesting that the antitumor efficacy was mediated by CD4+ T cells. In addition, knockout of IFN-γ resulted in a decrease in granzyme B levels which were secreted by CD4+ T cells, and the antitumor effect was also significantly attenuated. Conclusion: The HCA587 protein vaccine may increase the levels of granzyme B expressed by CD4+ T cells, and this increase is dependent on IFN-γ, and the vaccine resulted in a specific tumor immune response and subsequent eradication of the tumor.

scholarly journals Optimizing genomic prediction of host resistance to koi herpesvirus disease in carp

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christos Palaiokostas ◽  
Tomas Vesely ◽  
Martin Kocour ◽  
Martin Prchal ◽  
Dagmar Pokorova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genomic Selection ◽  
Genomic Prediction ◽  
Prediction Accuracy ◽  
Genetic Relationships ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Koi Herpesvirus ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Close Relatives

AbstractGenomic selection (GS) is increasingly applied in breeding programmes of major aquaculture species, enabling improved prediction accuracy and genetic gain compared to pedigree-based approaches. Koi Herpesvirus disease (KHVD) is notifiable by the World Organisation for Animal Health and the European Union, causing major economic losses to carp production. Genomic selection has potential to breed carp with improved resistance to KHVD, thereby contributing to disease control. In the current study, Restriction-site Associated DNA sequencing (RAD-seq) was applied on a population of 1,425 common carp juveniles which had been challenged with Koi herpes virus, followed by sampling of survivors and mortalities. Genomic selection (GS) was tested on a wide range of scenarios by varying both SNP densities and the genetic relationships between training and validation sets. The accuracy of correctly identifying KHVD resistant animals using genomic selection was between 8 and 18 % higher than pedigree best linear unbiased predictor (pBLUP) depending on the tested scenario. Furthermore, minor decreases in prediction accuracy were observed with decreased SNP density. However, the genetic relationship between the training and validation sets was a key factor in the efficacy of genomic prediction of KHVD resistance in carp, with substantially lower prediction accuracy when the relationships between the training and validation sets did not contain close relatives.

scholarly journals Effect of Micotoxins Treatment on Oxidative Stress, Memory and Anxious Behavior in Zebrafish (Danio rerio)

2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
pp. 776-780
Author(s):  
Elena Todirascu Ciornea ◽  
Gabriela Dumitru ◽  
Dragomir Coprean ◽  
Tigran Lucian Mandalian ◽  
Razvan Stefan Boiangiu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Danio Rerio ◽  
Developmental Toxicity ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Food Contamination ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Agricultural Crops ◽  
Fish Food ◽  
Stress Memory ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Anxious Behavior

Natural contaminants, especially mycotoxins, pose a challenge since they are found in a wide range of agricultural crops and differ significantly in chemical structure and symptomatology in humans and signs of disease in animals following exposure to these chemical agents. Mycotoxins are toxic metabolites produced by a diverse group of fungi that contaminate agricultural crops prior to harvest or during storage post-harvest and different species including humans, poultry, swine and fish. Food contamination by mycotoxins is a risk to human and animal health being responsible for significant economic losses and can exhibit a broad range of effects including carcinogenicity, neurotoxicity and developmental toxicity. In the present paper was tested the influence of patulin (PAT, 70 mg/L) and kojic acid (KA, 100, 204 and 284 mg/L) on the activity of antioxidant enzymes (CAT and GPX), MDA (lipid peroxidation marker) but also on memory and anxious behavior in the Danio rerio experimental model.

scholarly journals Mycotoxin Profile and Phylogeny of Pathogenic Alternaria Species Isolated from Symptomatic Tomato Plants in Lebanon

Toxins ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 513
Author(s):  
Wassim Habib ◽  
Mario Masiello ◽  
Romy El Ghorayeb ◽  
Elvis Gerges ◽  
Antonia Susca ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fungal Pathogens ◽  
Reference Strain ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Pathogenicity Test ◽  
Tenuazonic Acid ◽  
Tomato Plants ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Alternaria Species

The tomato is one of the most consumed agri-food products in Lebanon. Several fungal pathogens, including Alternaria species, can infect tomato plants during the whole growing cycle. Alternaria infections cause severe production and economic losses in field and during storage. In addition, Alternaria species represent a serious toxicological risk since they are able to produce a wide range of mycotoxins, associated with different toxic activities on human and animal health. Several Alternaria species were detected on tomatoes, among which the most important are A. solani, A. alternata, and A. arborescens. A set of 49 Alternaria strains isolated from leaves and stems of diseased tomato plants were characterised by using a polyphasic approach. All strains were included in the recently defined phylogenetic Alternaria section and grouped in three well-separated sub-clades, namely A. alternata (24 out of 49), A. arborescens (12 out of 49), and A. mali morpho-species (12 out of 49). One strain showed high genetic similarity with an A.limoniasperae reference strain. Chemical analyses showed that most of the Alternaria strains, cultured on rice, were able to produce alternariol (AOH), alternariol methyl ether (AME), altenuene (ALT) and tenuazonic acid (TA), with values up to 5634, 16,006, 5156, and 4507 mg kg−1, respectively. In addition, 66% of the strains were able to co-produce simultaneously the four mycotoxins investigated. The pathogenicity test carried out on 10 Alternaria strains, representative of phylogenetic sub-clades, revealed that they were all pathogenic on tomato fruits. No significant difference among strains was observed, although A. alternata and A. arborescens strains were slightly more aggressive than A. mali morpho-species strains. This paper reports new insights on mycotoxin profiles, genetic variability, and pathogenicity of Alternaria species on tomatoes.

scholarly journals Identification of immunodominant epitopes of Schistosoma mansoni vaccine candidate antigens using human T cells

2004 ◽  
Vol 99 (suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 63-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
CT Fonseca ◽  
E Cunha-Neto ◽  
J Kalil ◽  
AR de Jesus ◽  
R Correa-Oliveira ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
Schistosoma Mansoni ◽  
Vaccine Candidate ◽  
Human T Cells ◽  
Immunodominant Epitopes

scholarly journals Toxin Production in Soybean (Glycine max L.) Plants with Charcoal Rot Disease and by Macrophomina phaseolina, the Fungus that Causes the Disease

Toxins ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 645 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamed K. Abbas ◽  
Nacer Bellaloui ◽  
Cesare Accinelli ◽  
James R. Smith ◽  
W. Thomas Shier
Keyword(s):  
Culture Media ◽  
Leaf Disc ◽  
Toxin Production ◽  
Macrophomina Phaseolina ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Limit Of Quantification ◽  
Charcoal Rot ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Soybean Plants ◽  
Rot Disease

Charcoal rot disease, caused by the fungus Macrophomina phaseolina, results in major economic losses in soybean production in southern USA. M. phaseolina has been proposed to use the toxin (-)-botryodiplodin in its root infection mechanism to create a necrotic zone in root tissue through which fungal hyphae can readily enter the plant. The majority (51.4%) of M. phaseolina isolates from plants with charcoal rot disease produced a wide range of (-)-botryodiplodin concentrations in a culture medium (0.14–6.11 µg/mL), 37.8% produced traces below the limit of quantification (0.01 µg/mL), and 10.8% produced no detectable (-)-botryodiplodin. Some culture media with traces or no (-)-botryodiplodin were nevertheless strongly phytotoxic in soybean leaf disc cultures, consistent with the production of another unidentified toxin(s). Widely ranging (-)-botryodiplodin levels (traces to 3.14 µg/g) were also observed in the roots, but not in the aerial parts, of soybean plants naturally infected with charcoal rot disease. This is the first report of (-)-botryodiplodin in plant tissues naturally infected with charcoal rot disease. No phaseolinone was detected in M. phaseolina culture media or naturally infected soybean tissues. These results are consistent with (-)-botryodiplodin playing a role in the pathology of some, but not all, M. phaseolina isolates from soybeans with charcoal rot disease in southern USA.

scholarly journals Integration of early disease-resistance phenotyping, histological characterization, and transcriptome sequencing reveals insights into downy mildew resistance in impatiens

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ze Peng ◽  
Yanhong He ◽  
Saroj Parajuli ◽  
Qian You ◽  
Weining Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Disease Resistance ◽  
Downy Mildew ◽  
Transcriptome Sequencing ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Potential Candidate ◽  
Early Disease ◽  
True Leaf ◽  
Cotyledon Stage ◽  
Wide Range

AbstractDowny mildew (DM), caused by obligate parasitic oomycetes, is a destructive disease for a wide range of crops worldwide. Recent outbreaks of impatiens downy mildew (IDM) in many countries have caused huge economic losses. A system to reveal plant–pathogen interactions in the early stage of infection and quickly assess resistance/susceptibility of plants to DM is desired. In this study, we established an early and rapid system to achieve these goals using impatiens as a model. Thirty-two cultivars of Impatiens walleriana and I. hawkeri were evaluated for their responses to IDM at cotyledon, first/second pair of true leaf, and mature plant stages. All I. walleriana cultivars were highly susceptible to IDM. While all I. hawkeri cultivars were resistant to IDM starting at the first true leaf stage, many (14/16) were susceptible to IDM at the cotyledon stage. Two cultivars showed resistance even at the cotyledon stage. Histological characterization showed that the resistance mechanism of the I. hawkeri cultivars resembles that in grapevine and type II resistance in sunflower. By integrating full-length transcriptome sequencing (Iso-Seq) and RNA-Seq, we constructed the first reference transcriptome for Impatiens comprised of 48,758 sequences with an N50 length of 2060 bp. Comparative transcriptome and qRT-PCR analyses revealed strong candidate genes for IDM resistance, including three resistance genes orthologous to the sunflower gene RGC203, a potential candidate associated with DM resistance. Our approach of integrating early disease-resistance phenotyping, histological characterization, and transcriptome analysis lay a solid foundation to improve DM resistance in impatiens and may provide a model for other crops.

scholarly journals Sero-epidemiological survey of bluetongue disease in one-humped camel (Camelus dromedarius) in Kassala State, Eastern Sudan

2021 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Molhima M. Elmahi ◽  
Mohammed O. Hussien ◽  
Abdel Rahim E. Karrar ◽  
Amira M. Elhassan ◽  
Abdel Rahim M. El Hussein
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Potential Risk ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Water Source ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay ◽  
Serum Samples ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Potential Risk Factors ◽  
Eastern Sudan

Abstract Background Bluetongue (BT) is a vector-borne viral disease of ruminant and camelid species which is transmitted by Culicoides spp. The causative agent of BT is bluetongue virus (BTV) that belongs to genus Orbivirus of the family Reoviridae. The clinical disease is seen mainly in sheep but mostly sub-clinical infections of BT are seen in cattle, goats and camelids. The clinical reaction of camels to infection is usually not apparent. The disease is notifiable to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), causing great economic losses due to decreased trade and high mortality and morbidity rates associated with bluetongue outbreaks. The objective of this study was to investigate the seroprevalence of BTV in camels in Kassala State, Eastern Sudan and to identify the potential risk factors associated with the infection. A cross sectional study using a structured questionnaire survey was conducted during 2015–2016. A total of 210 serum samples were collected randomly from camels from 8 localities of Kassala State. The serum samples were screened for the presence of BTV specific immunoglobulin (IgG) antibodies using a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA). Results Seropositivity to BTV IgG was detected in 165 of 210 camels’ sera accounting for a prevalence of 78.6%. Potential risk factors to BTV infection were associated with sex (OR = 0.061, p-value = 0.001) and seasonal river as water source for drinking (OR = 32.257, p-value = 0.0108). Conclusions Sex and seasonal river as water source for drinking were considered as potential risk factors for seropositivity to BTV in camels. The high prevalence of BTV in camels in Kassala State, Eastern Sudan, necessitates further epidemiological studies of BTV infection in camels and other ruminant species to better be able to control BT disease in this region.

scholarly journals Long-Term Immunity to Trypanosoma cruzi in the Absence of Immunodominanttrans-Sialidase-Specific CD8+T Cells

2016 ◽  
Vol 84 (9) ◽  
pp. 2627-2638 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles S. Rosenberg ◽  
Weibo Zhang ◽  
Juan M. Bustamante ◽  
Rick L. Tarleton
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
T Cell ◽  
Transgenic Mice ◽  
Trypanosoma Cruzi ◽  
T Cell Responses ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cell Responses ◽  
Pathogen Control ◽  
Immunodominant Epitopes

Trypanosoma cruziinfection drives the expansion of remarkably focused CD8+T cell responses targeting epitopes encoded by varianttrans-sialidase (TS) genes. Infection of C57BL/6 mice withT. cruziresults in up to 40% of all CD8+T cells committed to recognition of the dominant TSKB20 and subdominant TSKB18 TS epitopes. However, despite this enormous response, these mice fail to clearT. cruziinfection and subsequently develop chronic disease. One possible reason for the failure to cureT. cruziinfection is that immunodomination by these TS-specific T cells may interfere with alternative CD8+T cell responses more capable of complete parasite elimination. To address this possibility, we created transgenic mice that are centrally tolerant to these immunodominant epitopes. Mice expressing TSKB20, TSKB18, or both epitopes controlledT. cruziinfection and developed effector CD8+T cells that maintained an activated phenotype. Memory CD8+T cells from drug-cured TSKB-transgenic mice rapidly responded to secondaryT. cruziinfection. In the absence of the response to TSKB20 and TSKB18, immunodominance did not shift to other known subdominant epitopes despite the capacity of these mice to expand epitope-specific T cells specific for the model antigen ovalbumin expressed by engineered parasites. Thus, CD8+T cell responses tightly and robustly focused on a few epitopes within variant TS antigens appear to neither contribute to, nor detract from, the ability to controlT. cruziinfection. These data also indicate that the relative position of an epitope within a CD8+immunodominance hierarchy does not predict its importance in pathogen control.

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