Search results for "PATHOGEN"
showing 10 items of 1657 documents
Hop stunt viroid: A polyphagous pathogenic RNA that has shed light on viroid–host interactions
2021
[Taxonomy]: Hop stunt viroid (HSVd) is the type species of the genus Hostuviroid (family Pospiviroidae). The other species of this genus is Dahlia latent viroid, which presents an identical central conserved region (CCR) but lacks other structural hallmarks present in Hop stunt viroid. HSVd replication occurs in the nucleus through an asymmetric rolling-circle model as in the other members of the family Pospiviroidae, which also includes the genera Pospiviroid, Cocadviroid, Apscaviroid, and Coleoviroid.
Ants medicate to fight disease
2015
Parasites are ubiquitous, and the ability to defend against these is of paramount importance. One way to fight diseases is self-medication, which occurs when an organism consumes biologically active compounds to clear, inhibit, or alleviate disease symptoms. Here, we show for the first time that ants selectively consume harmful substances (reactive oxygen species, ROS) upon exposure to a fungal pathogen, yet avoid these in the absence of infection. This increased intake of ROS, while harmful to healthy ants, leads to higher survival of exposed ants. The fact that ingestion of this substance carries a fitness cost in the absence of pathogens rules out compensatory diet choice as the mechanis…
Thermal Tolerance is linked with Virulence in a Fish Pathogen
2017
ABSTRACTAlthough increase in temperatures may boost the number of pathogens, a complex process involving the interaction of a susceptible host, a virulent strain, and environmental factors would influence disease virulence in unpredictable ways. Here we explored if the virulence of an environmentally growing opportunistic fish pathogen,Flavobacterium columnare, would be malleable to evolutionary changes via correlated selection on thermal tolerance. Virulence among the strains increased over years, but tolerance to higher temperatures was associated with reduced virulence. Our results suggest that observed increase in frequency of columnaris epidemics over the last decade is most likely ass…
Mechanisms of Defence to Pathogens : Biochemistry and Physiology
2014
SPE IPM; International audience; Plant defences comprise both pre-existing barriers as well as defences induced upon perception of pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) or microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs) or molecules produced from damage as a result of infection (damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs)). This chapter focuses on the induced mechanisms of defence. The inducibility of phytoalexin biosynthesis has probably been favoured in the course of evolution by biological constraints such as metabolic costs and functional side-effects associated with chemical defence. Historically, the term ‘hypersensitive’ refers to the rapid and localized cell death induced in…
Condition-dependent ecdysis and immunocompetence in the amphipod crustacean, Gammarus pulex.
2010
The exoskeleton of arthropods forms an efficient protection against pathogens, but this first line of defence is periodically weakened during ecdysis, increasing the opportunity for surrounding pathogens to invade the body cavity. Since the richness of pathogens in the environment can be spatially and temporally variable, arthropods may have a fitness advantage in moulting in a place and time of low infection risk. Consistent with this hypothesis, we found that the amphipod crustacean, Gammarus pulex , exhibits temporal adjustment of the moult cycle in response to elevated risks of infection. Interestingly, this phenomenon is variable between two populations and independent of levels of im…
Immunity and other defenses in pea aphids, Acyrthosiphon pisum
2010
Background Recent genomic analyses of arthropod defense mechanisms suggest conservation of key elements underlying responses to pathogens, parasites and stresses. At the center of pathogen-induced immune responses are signaling pathways triggered by the recognition of fungal, bacterial and viral signatures. These pathways result in the production of response molecules, such as antimicrobial peptides and lysozymes, which degrade or destroy invaders. Using the recently sequenced genome of the pea aphid (Acyrthosiphon pisum), we conducted the first extensive annotation of the immune and stress gene repertoire of a hemipterous insect, which is phylogenetically distantly related to previously ch…
Involvement of the glutamate receptor AtGLR3.3 in plant defense signaling and resistance toHyaloperonospora arabidopsidis
2013
Like their animal counterparts, plant glutamate receptor-like (GLR) homologs are intimately associated with Ca(2+) influx through plasma membrane and participate in various physiological processes. In pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMP)-/elicitor-mediated resistance, Ca(2+) fluxes are necessary for activating downstream signaling events related to plant defense. In this study, oligogalacturonides (OGs), which are endogenous elicitors derived from cell wall degradation, were used to investigate the role of Arabidopsis GLRs in defense signaling. Pharmacological investigations indicated that GLRs are partly involved in free cytosolic [Ca(2+)] ([Ca(2+)]cyt) variations, nitric oxide (N…
To Swim or Not to Swim: Potential Transmission of Balaenophilus manatorum (Copepoda: Harpacticoida) in Marine Turtles
2017
Species of Balaenophilus are the only harpacticoid copepods that exhibit a widespread, obligate association with vertebrates, i.e., B. unisetus with whales and B. manatorum with marine turtles and manatees. In the western Mediterranean, juveniles of the loggerhead sea turtle, Caretta caretta are the only available hosts for B. manatorum, which has been found occurring at high prevalence (>80%) on them. A key question is how these epibionts are transmitted from host to host. We investigated this issue based on experiments with live specimens of B. manatorum that were cultured with turtle skin. Specimens were obtained from head-started hatchlings of C. caretta from the western Mediterranean. …
Changes in carbohydrate metabolism in Plasmopara viticola-infected grapevine leaves.
2011
International audience; The oomycete Plasmopara viticola is responsible for downy mildew, a severe grapevine disease. In infected grapevine leaves, we have observed an abnormal starch accumulation at the end of the dark period, suggesting modifications in starch metabolism. Therefore, several complementary approaches, including transcriptomic analyses, measurements of enzyme activities, and sugar quantification, were performed in order to investigate and to understand the effects of P. viticola infection on leaf starch and-to a larger extent-carbohydrate metabolism. Our results indicate that starch accumulation is associated with an increase in ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (AGPase) activit…
Use of solid state fermentation to produce Beauveria bassiana for the biological control of european corn borer
1993
The production process of a new bioinsecticide against european corn borer is described. The entomopathogenic fungus, Beauveria bassiana, is cultivated by Solid State Fermentation (SSF). The culture support chosen, clay microgranules, humidified with optimal nutritive solution, is incubated in optimal conditions during 48 hours, then dried for 5 days. The bioinsecticide can be directly used after harvesting, without formulation. This process is original for several reasons : - The granulometry (500 microm) and the bulk density (0.6) of the microgranules are compatible with the mechanical standard application of pesticides on corn. - The bioinsecticide could be produced in a pilot reactor of…