Qarounispora grandiappendiculata gen. et sp. nov. (Halosphaeriaceae, Microascales) from Qaroun Lake, Egypt

An ascomycete collected from wood submerged in Qaroun Lake, El-Faiyum governorate, Egypt, is described as a new genus in the family Halosphaeriaceae. Multigene analyses based on LSU, SSU and ITS rDNA placed the new fungus as a distinct branch within the family. The new genus is characterized by its yellow to orange-brown ascomata, thin-walled, semi-persistent asci, hyaline to yellow-orange, thick-walled, distoseptate ascospores with one polar appendage that is amorphous in structure, large in size and irregular in shape.

What Makes an Ethnographer? Institutionalized Teaching and Informal Learning of Anthropology in Romania

The processes of disciplinary institutionalization emerged from practices of preserving written and oral documents, establishing local and national museums, and developing university courses. In the last 100 years, archives’ development assured the professionalization of scholars interested in disciplines unrepresented at the university level, such as ethnography and anthropology. After the 1990s, as the South-Eastern European countries could not imagine an alternative path of development, a westernization process emerged as the main strategy for catching-up with Western Europe. My paper discusses the institutionalized anthropological and ethnographic research agenda in Romania, questioning its relationships with other social sciences in the context of national development of ethnography as a distinct branch (e.g., from anthropology). Secondly, I argue that institutionalized ethnographic and anthropological practice in Romania during communism significantly lacked reflective assessments and development of a theoretical corpus.

Rapid cell-free characterization of multi-subunit CRISPR effectors and transposons

CRISPR-Cas biology and technologies have been largely shaped to-date by the characterization and use of single-effector nucleases. In contrast, multi-subunit effectors dominate natural systems, represent emerging technologies, and were recently associated with RNA-guided DNA transposition. This disconnect stems from the challenge of working with multiple protein subunits in vitro and in vivo. Here, we apply cell-free transcription-translation (TXTL) to radically accelerate the characterization of multi-subunit CRISPR effectors and transposons. Numerous DNA constructs can be combined in one TXTL reaction, yielding defined biomolecular readouts in hours. Using TXTL, we mined phylogenetically diverse I-E effectors, interrogated extensively self-targeting I-C and I-F systems, and elucidated targeting rules for I-B and I-F CRISPR transposons using only DNA-binding components. We further recapitulated DNA transposition in TXTL, which helped reveal a distinct branch of I-B CRISPR transposons. These capabilities will facilitate the study and exploitation of the broad yet underexplored diversity of CRISPR-Cas systems and transposons.

Agromyces mariniharenae sp. nov., a novel indole-acetic acid producing actinobacterium isolated from marine sand

A Gram-positive, aerobic, heterotrophic, non-endospore-forming, rod-shaped and indole-acetic acid-producing strain, designated NEAU-184T, was isolated from marine sand collected in Sanya, PR China, and its taxonomic position was investigated using a polyphasic approach. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence data indicated that strain NEAU-184T should be assigned to the genus Agromyces and formed a distinct branch with its closest neighbour, Agromyces iriomotensis NBRC 106452T (99.1 %). 2,4-Diaminobutyric acid, d-alanine, d-glutamic acid and glycine were detected in cell-wall hydrolysate and glucose, rhamnose and xylose were detected in whole-cell hydrolysate. The polar lipids were found to contain diphosphatidylglycerol, glycolipid, phosphatidylglycerol and two unidentified lipids. The major menaquinone was MK-12 and the minor menaquinones were MK-13 and MK-11. The predominant fatty acids were anteiso-C17 : 0, anteiso-C15 : 0 and iso-C16 : 0. The DNA G+C content was 71.5 mol%. Furthermore, the strain could be clearly distinguished from its closely related type strains by the combination of DNA–DNA hybridization results and some phenotypic characteristics. Meanwhile, the strain has the ability to produce indole-acetic acid (0.334mg ml−1). Therefore, strain NEAU-184T represents a novel species of the genus Agromyces , for which the name Agromyces mariniharenae sp. nov. is proposed, with strain NEAU-184T (=CGMCC 4.7505T=JCM 32546T) as the type strain.

The Matilda Effect

This chapter suggests that the most important factors that diminished Esther Lederberg’s scientific career and legacy were her gender and marriage. The fact that her famous collaborator was also her husband doubled the chances that her own scientific achievements were overshadowed. The chapter goes on to explain how the so-called Matthew and Matilda Effects altered the history of science right at birth of genetics as a distinct branch of biology. As an example of the Matilda Effect, the chapter presents Nettie Stevens whose discovery of the XY sex-determining chromosomes in 1905 and establishment of the two patterns of sex chromosomes in various beetles, flies, and bugs was credited to Edmund Wilson, a better-known scientist. In an example of the Matthew Effect, Thomas Hunt Morgan, the most famous geneticist of the early twentieth century, eventually received most of the credit for discovering sex chromosomes. Finally, the careers and legacies of three other Matildas who worked in the early days of microbial genetics—Martha Chase, Laura Garnjobst, and Daisy Dussoix—are presented.

New Perkinsea Parasitoids of Dinoflagellates Distantly Related to Parviluciferaceae Members

Perkinsea is a phylogenetic group of protists that includes parasites of distantly related hosts. However, its diversity is still mainly composed of environmental sequences, mostly obtained from freshwater environments. Efforts to isolate and culture parasitoids of dinoflagellates have led to the description of several phylogenetically closely related species constituting the Parviluciferaceae family. In this study, two new parasitoid species infecting dinoflagellates during recurrent coastal blooms are reported. Using the ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene phylogenies, we show that both cluster within Perkinsea, one of them at the base of Parviluciferaceae and the other in a distinct branch unrelated to other described species. The establishment of host-parasite lab cultures of the latter allowed its morphological characterization, resulting in the formal description of Maranthos nigrum gen. nov., sp. nov. The life-cycle development of the two parasitoids is generally the same as that of other members of the Parviluciferaceae family but they differ in the features of the trophont and sporont stages, including the arrangement of zoospores during the mature sporangium stage and the lack of specialized structures that release the zoospores into the environment. Laboratory cross-infection experiments showed that the parasitoid host range is restricted to dinoflagellates, although it extends across several different genera. The maximum prevalence reached in the tested host populations was lower than in other Parviluciferaceae members. The findings from this study suggest that Perkinsea representatives infecting dinoflagellates are more widespread than previously thought.

A New Enterobacter cloacae Bacteriophage EC151 Encodes the Deazaguanine DNA Modification Pathway and Represents a New Genus within the Siphoviridae Family

A novel Enterobacter cloacae phage, EC151, was isolated and characterized. Electron microscopy revealed that EC151 has a siphovirus-like virion morphology. The EC151 nucleotide sequence shows limited similarity to other phage genomes deposited in the NCBI GenBank database. The size of the EC151 genome is 60,753 bp and contains 58 putative genes. Thirty-nine of them encode proteins of predicted function, 18 are defined as hypothetical proteins, and one ORF identifies as the tRNA-Ser-GCT-encoding gene. Six ORFs were predicted to be members of the deazaguanine DNA modification pathway, including the preQ0 transporter. Comparative proteomic phylogenetic analysis revealed that phage EC151 represents a distinct branch within a group of sequences containing clades formed by members of the Seuratvirus, Nonagvirus, and Vidquintavirus genera. In addition, the EC151 genome showed gene synteny typical of the Seuratvirus, Nonagvirus, and Nipunavirus phages. The average genetic distances of EC151/Seuratvirus, EC151/Nonagvirus, and EC151/Vidquintavirus are approximately equal to those between the Seuratvirus, Nonagvirus, and Vidquintavirus genera (~0.7 substitutions per site). Therefore, EC151 may represent a novel genus within the Siphoviridae family. The origin of the deazaguanine DNA modification pathway in the EC151 genome can be traced to Escherichia phages from the Seuratvirus genus.

Three common symbiotic ABC-B transporters in Medicago truncatula are regulated by a NIN-independent branch of the symbiosis signalling pathway.

Several ATP-Binding Cassette (ABC) transporters involved in the arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis and nodulation have been identified. We describe three previously-unreported ABC subfamily-B transporters, named ABCB for Mycorrhization and Nodulation (AMN1, AMN2, and AMN3), that are expressed early during infection by rhizobia and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. These ABCB transporters are strongly expressed in symbiotically infected tissues, including in root hair cells with rhizobial infection threads and arbusculated cells. During nodulation, the expression of these genes is highly induced by rhizobia and purified Nod factors, and was dependent on DMI3, but is not dependent on other known major regulators of infection such as NIN, NSP1, or NSP2. During mycorrhization their expression is dependent on DMI3 and RAM1, but not on NSP1 and NSP2. Therefore, they may be commonly regulated through a distinct branch of the common symbiotic pathway. Mutants with exonic Tnt1-transposon insertions were isolated for all three genes. None of the single or double mutants showed any differences in colonization by either rhizobia or mycorrhizal fungi, but the triple amn1 amn2 amn3 mutant showed an increase in nodule number. Further studies are needed to identify potential substrates of these transporters and understand their roles in these beneficial symbioses.

A Novel Lytic Phage SZW_AS01 of Human Gut Bacteria Alistipes Shahii

Alisitipes phage SZW_AS01, a novel lytic phage that specifically infects Alistipes shahii, was isolated from wastewater samples in Shenzhen, China. The phage's genome consists of 45,392 bp, with a GC content of 47%. The genome encodes 56 putative open reading frames (ORFs) and 1 tRNA gene. Direct terminal repeats with a length of 55 bp are present at both ends of the genome. Phylogenetic analysis of the amino acid sequences of terminase large subunit shows that phage SZW_AS01 forms a distinct branch from the Siphoviridae family phages, but is far from the Podoviridae and Myoviridae family phages. Transmission electron microscopy confirmed that SZW_AS01 belongs to the Siphoviridae family. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a lytic phage infecting bacteria in the Alistipes genus.

The Austrian school of Madrid

This paper focuses on the current situation and the historical development of Austrian Economics in Madrid. We will analyse the formation of this School as the result of the thesis defended by Joaquín Reig Albiol in the late fifties and the current economic debate surrounding the fractional reserve and other complex issues. In this half-century tour, we will explore three different generations of Austrian economists in Spain, whilst demonstrating that a distinct branch of the Austrian School is today live and well in Madrid. Eventually, we will discover how the Spanish Austrian economists have applied praxeology to contemporary political and economic problems and conclude that a vigorous and growing economic school of thought exists in Madrid.