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Abstract: The fauna of aphids appearing on cucurbits, including oilseed pumpkin have been poorly investigated in Serbia. Yellow water traps were used to determine the diversity of aphid species visiting cucurbits in Serbia and to monitor their flight activity. During the years 2009 to 2011, a total of 1,447 specimens were collected and a total of 57 different aphid taxa were identified. In 2009, the highest total number of aphids were caught (755), followed by 203 and 489 aphids in 2010 and 2011, respectively. The most abundant species were Aphis fabae (15%), Myizus persicae (13.4%) and Acyrthosiphon pisum (11.7%), followed by Anoecia corni (6.4%)and Aphis gossypii(5.6%). All of them, except A. corni,are reported as efficient vectors of cucurbit viruses. These five species represent 52.1% of all aphid species collected within this study. Out of 57 taxa found in oilseed pumpkin crops, 17 are known as vectors of ZYMV, 18 of WMV and 15 of CMV. Generally, 25 out of a total of 57 taxa are known as vectors of at least one of three viruses present in Serbia. From total of 1,447 specimens collected during three years of investigation, 917 (63.4%) are vectors of at least one of three viruses. Individual oilseed pumpkin plants were frequently colonized by A. gossypiiduring all three years of investigation. Results of this study showed that Serbian oilseed pumpkin growing localities are grouped among medium to reach in aphidofauna, according to total Shannon-Weaver index values which varied from 1.8 to 2.8. The highest value of Shannon-Weaver (2.8) was recorded in the Bački Petrovac I locality in 2009, while the lowest Shannon-Weaver (1.8) was recorded in Kisač locality in 2010. The maximum values of Shanon-Weaver diversity index in almost all crops were recorded in the second week of investigation or in early stages of oilseed pumpkin growth when plants had 5-6 true leaves or were in flowering stage, when potential virus infection could lead to significant yield losses.
Published in DiRROS: 24.07.2024; Views: 287; Downloads: 142
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Abstract: Isopod hindgut consists of two anatomical and functional parts, the anterior chamber, and the papillate region. This study provides a detailed ultrastructural comparison of epithelial cells in the anterior chamber and the papillate region with focus on cuticle ultrastructure, apical and basal plasma membrane labyrinths, and cell junctions. Na+/K+-ATPase activity in the hindgut epithelial cells was demonstrated by cytochemical localisation. The main difference in cuticle ultrastructure is in the thickness of epicuticle which is almost as thick as the procuticle in the papillate region and only about one sixth of the thickness of procuticle in the anterior chamber. The apical plasma membrane in both hindgut regions forms an apical plasma membrane labyrinth of cytoplasmic strands and extracellular spaces. In the papillate region the membranous infoldings are deeper and the extracellular spaces are wider. The basal plasma membrane is extensively infolded and associated with numerous mitochondria in the papillate region, while it forms relatively scarce basal infoldings in the anterior chamber. The junctional complex in both hindgut regions consists of adherens and septate junctions. Septate junctions are more extensive in the papillate region. Na+/K+-ATPase was located mostly in the apical plasma membranes in both hindgut regions. The ultrastructural features of hindgut cuticle are discussed in comparison to exoskeletal cuticle and to cuticles of other arthropod transporting epithelia from the perspective of their mechanical properties and permeability. The morphology of apical and basal plasma membranes and localisation of Na+/K+-ATPase are compared with other arthropod-transporting epithelia according to different functions of the anterior chamber and the papillate region.
Keywords: cell junctions, digestive system, extracellular matrix, ion transporting epithelium, plasma membrane labyrinth
Published in DiRROS: 24.07.2024; Views: 270; Downloads: 192
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Abstract: Infections with pathogenic Escherichia colican lead to different animal- and human-associated diseases. E. coliinfections are common in intensive poultry farming, and important economic losses can be expected during infections with avian pathogenic E. coli(APEC) strains followed by colibacillosis. Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assays were developed for rapid detection of 3 APEC-associated virulence genes: sitA, traT, and ompT. All 3 LAMP assays are shown to be specific, repeatable, and reproducible. High sensitivities of the assays are shown, where as few as 1,000 bacterial cells/mL can be detected in different matrices. On-site applicability of this LAMP method is demonstrated through testing of different sample types, from animal swabs and tissues, and from environmental samples collected from 6 commercial poultry farms. All 3 virulence genes were detected at high rates (above 85%) in samples from layer and broiler chickens with clinical signs and, interestingly, high prevalence of those genes was detected also in samples collected from clinically healthy broiler flock (above 75%) while lower prevalence was observed in remaining 3 clinically healthy chicken flocks (less than 75%). Importantly, these virulence genes were detected in almost all of the air samples from 11 randomly selected poultry houses, indicating air as an important route of E. colispread. Three LAMP assays that target APEC-associated virulence genes are shown to be sensitive and robust and are therefore applicable for rapid on-site testing of various sample types, from animal swabs to air. This on-site LAMP testing protocol offers rapid diagnostics, with results obtained in <35 min, and it can be applied to other important microorganisms to allow the required prompt measures to be taken.
Keywords: APEC virulence genes, isothermal amplification LAMP, on-site detection, colibacillosis
Published in DiRROS: 24.07.2024; Views: 288; Downloads: 124
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Abstract: Background Glioblastoma is a highly aggressive central nervous system neoplasm characterized by extensive infiltration of malignant cells into brain parenchyma, thus preventing complete tumor eradication. Cysteine cathepsins B, S, L and K are involved in cancer progression and are overexpressed in glioblastoma. We report here for the first time that cathepsin X mRNA and protein are also abundantly present in malignant glioma. Materials and methods Gene expression of cathepsins K and X was analyzed using publically-available tran-scriptomic datasets and correlated with glioma grade and glioblastoma subtype. Kaplan-Maier survival analysis was performed to evaluate the predictive value of cathepsin K and X mRNA expression. Cathepsin protein expression was localized and semi-quantified in tumor tissues by immunohistochemistry. Results Highest gene expression of cathepsins K and X was found in glioblastoma, in particular in the mesenchymal subtype. Overall, high mRNA expression of cathepsin X, but not that of cathepsin K, correlated with poor patients’ survival. Cathepsin K and X proteins were abundantly and heterogeneously expressed in glioblastoma tissue. Immuno-labeling of cathepsins K and X was observed in areas of CD133-positive glioblastoma stem cells, localized around arterioles in their niches that also expressed SDF-1α and CD68. mRNA levels of both cathepsins K and X correlated with mRNA levels of markers of glioblastoma stem cells and their niches. Conclusions The presence of both cathepsins in glioblastoma stem cell niche regions indicates their possible role in regulation of glioblastoma stem cell homing in their niches. The clinical relevance of this data needs to be elaborated in further prospective studies.
Keywords: cathepsins, glioblastoma, immunohistochemistry, patient survival, cancer stem cell niches
Published in DiRROS: 24.07.2024; Views: 353; Downloads: 239
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Abstract: Background Progress in high-throughput molecular methods accompanied by more complex experimental designs demands novel data visualisation solutions. To specifically answer the question which parts of the specifical biological system are responding in particular perturbation, integrative approach in which experimental data are superimposed on a prior knowledge network is shown to be advantageous. Results We have developed DiNAR, Differential Network Analysis in R, a user-friendly application with dynamic visualisation that integrates multiple condition high-throughput data and extensive biological prior knowledge. Implemented differential network approach and embedded network analysis allow users to analyse condition-specific responses in the context of topology of interest (e.g. immune signalling network) and extract knowledge concerning patterns of signalling dynamics (i.e. rewiring in network structure between two or more biological conditions). We validated the usability of software on the Arabidopsis thaliana and Solanum tuberosum datasets, but it is set to handle any biological instances. Conclusions DiNAR facilitates detection of network-rewiring events, gene prioritisation for future experimental design and allows capturing dynamics of complex biological system. The fully cross-platform Shiny App is hosted and freely available at https://nib-si.shinyapps.io/DiNAR. The most recent version of the source code is available at https://github.com/NIB-SI/DiNAR/ with a DOI 10.5281/zenodo.1230523 of the archived version in Zenodo.
Keywords: biological networks, clustering, gene expression, time series, dynamic network analysis, dynamic data visualisation, web application, multi-conditional datasets, background knowledge
Published in DiRROS: 24.07.2024; Views: 322; Downloads: 214
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