Search results for "cc"
showing 10 items of 30638 documents
Plant teratologies as a result of phytoplasma infections
2017
The direct correlation between teratological cases and phytoplasma infections was ascertained in spontaneous and cultivated plant species. Plants, belonging to 31 species and 12 families, showing symptoms of growth abnormalities were collected and analysed. Attempted detection of Rhodococcus fascians by isolation, PCR indexing and 16S rRNA sequencing from fasciated tissues allowed to exclude its presence. Nested PCR by universal primers and 16S rRNA sequence analyses indicated the presence of phytoplasmas, belonging to six groups, in the 44% of symptomatic samples. Among the infected species, Austrocylindropuntia exaltata, Opuntia subulata, Euphorbia characias, Euphorbia dendroides, Euphorb…
Isolation of acetic, propionic and butyric acid-forming bacteria from biogas plants.
2015
In this study, acetic, propionic and butyric acid-forming bacteria were isolated from thermophilic and mesophilic biogas plants (BGP) located in Germany. The fermenters were fed with maize silage and cattle or swine manure. Furthermore, pressurized laboratory fermenters digesting maize silage were sampled. Enrichment cultures for the isolation of acid-forming bacteria were grown in minimal medium supplemented with one of the following carbon sources: Na(+)-dl-lactate, succinate, ethanol, glycerol, glucose or a mixture of amino acids. These substrates could be converted by the isolates to acetic, propionic or butyric acid. In total, 49 isolates were obtained, which belonged to the phyla Firm…
Local adaptation of plant viruses: lessons from experimental evolution.
2016
[EN] For multihost pathogens, adaptation to multiple hosts has important implications for both applied and basic research. At the applied level, it is one of the main factors determining the probability and severity of emerging disease outbreaks. At the basic level, it is thought to be a key mechanism for the maintenance of genetic diversity both in host and pathogen species. In recent years, a number of evolution experiments have assessed the fate of plant virus populations replicating within and adapting to one single or to multiple hosts species. A first group of these experiments tackled the existence of trade-offs in fitness and virulence for viruses evolving either within a single hos…
Experimental contact zones reveal causes and targets of sexual selection in hybridizing lizards
2016
Divergence in sexually selected traits in allopatry should affect the degree and direction of hybridization. However, few studies have established the causes and targets of sexual selection during secondary contact. Common wall lizards (Podarcis muralis) from north-central Italy have highly exaggerated male sexual traits compared to populations in Western Europe. Using experimental populations, we show that this creates asymmetries in male dominance, spatial habitat use and reproductive success upon secondary contact. Hybridization occurred almost exclusively between males of the Italian lineage and females of the Western European lineage. We provide evidence to suggest stronger ongoing sel…
Acceptor Specificity of Amylosucrase from Deinococcus radiopugnans and Its Application for Synthesis of Rutin Derivatives
2016
The transglycosylation activity of amylosucrase (ASase) has received significant attention owing to its use of an inexpensive donor, sucrose, and broad acceptor specificity, including glycone and aglycone compounds. The transglycosylation reaction of recombinant ASase from Deinococcus radiopugnans (DRpAS) was investigated using various phenolic compounds, and quercetin-3-O-rutinoside (rutin) was found to be the most suitable acceptor molecule used by DRpAS. Two amino acid residues in DRpAS variants (DRpAS Q299K and DRpAS Q299R), assumed to be involved in acceptor binding, were constructed by site-directed mutagenesis. Intriguingly, DRpAS Q299K and DRpAS Q299R produced 10-fold and 4-fold hig…
The good, the bad and the ugly: Emys trinacris, Placobdella costata and Haemogregarina stepanowi in Sicily (Testudines, Annelida and Apicomplexa)
2016
Endemic Sicilian pond turtles Emys trinacris Fritz, Fattizzo, Guicking, Tripepi, Pennisi, Lenk, Joger et Wink were examined for the presence of haemogregarine parasites. The presence of haemogregarines, occurring mainly in the microgametocyte stage (13.2 ± 0.12 μm in length and 6.4 ± 0.52 μm in width), was observed in approximately 9% of the sampled E. trinacris. Based on the observed morphology and on the sequencing of nuclear 18S rDNA, we identified the parasite as Haemogregarina stepanowi Danilewsky, 1885. Morphometric study of uninfected and infected red blood cells has shown that H. stepanowi induces different changes in erythrocyte shape depending on the infective stage. The different…
Long-Term Prophylactic Antibiotic Treatment: Effects on Survival, Immunocompetence and Reproduction Success of Parasemia plantaginis (Lepidoptera: Er…
2016
Hundreds of insect species are nowadays reared under laboratory conditions. Rearing of insects always implicates the risk of diseases, among which microbial infections are the most frequent and difficult problems. Although there are effective prophylactic treatments, the side effects of applied antibiotics are not well understood. We examined the effect of prophylactic antibiotic treatment on the overwintering success of wood tiger moth (Parasemia plantaginis) larvae, and the postdiapause effect on their life-history traits. Four weeks before hibernation larvae were treated with a widely used antibiotic (fumagillin). We monitored moths' survival and life-history traits during the following …
Coping with the climate: cuticular hydrocarbon acclimation of ants under constant and fluctuating conditions
2018
International audience; Terrestrial arthropods achieve waterproofing by a layer of cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs). At the same time, CHCs also serve as communication signals. To maintain waterproofing under different climate conditions, insects adjust the chemical composition of their CHC layer, but this may affect the communication via CHCs. The detailed acclimatory changes of CHCs and how these influence their physical properties are still unknown. Here, we studied acclimation in two closely related ant species with distinct CHC profiles, Myrmica rubra and Myrmica ruginodis, in response to constant or fluctuating temperature and humidity regimes. We measured how acclimation affected CHC co…
Rooting and acclimatization of micropropagatedHypericum perforatumL. native to Sicily
2017
Hypericum perforatum L. is traditionally used as a medicinal plant because of its different bioactive compounds with documented antidepressant and antiinflammatory activities. Plantlets’ mass production with high content of these secondary metabolites has been enhanced through in vitro culture but the process has often been stopped at the multiplication phase. A study was conducted in order to set up an efficient in vitro rooting and acclimatization protocol of a H. perforatum Sicilian genotype well-adapted to south Mediterranean conditions. Aseptic nodal segments were cultured onto a Murashige and Skoog (MS) basal medium supplemented with 4.44 µM 6-benzyladenine for multiplication. Microsh…
The chaperone-like protein Cdc48 regulates ubiquitin-proteasome system in plants.
2021
The degradation of misfolded proteins is mainly mediated by the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS). UPS can be assisted by the protein Cdc48 but the relationship between UPS and Cdc48 in plants has been poorly investigated. Here, we analyzed the regulation of UPS by Cdc48 in tobacco thanks to two independent cell lines overexpressing Cdc48 constitutively and plant leaves overexpressing Cdc48 transiently. In the cell lines, the accumulation of ubiquitinated proteins was affected both quantitatively and qualitatively and the amount of proteasomal subunits was modified, while proteolytic activities were unchanged. Similarly, the over-expression of Cdc48 in planta impacted the accumulation of ub…