Search results for "interactions."
showing 10 items of 1865 documents
Phage-borne factors and host LexA regulate the lytic switch in phage GIL01.
2011
ABSTRACT The Bacillus thuringiensis temperate phage GIL01 does not integrate into the host chromosome but exists stably as an independent linear replicon within the cell. Similar to that of the lambdoid prophages, the lytic cycle of GIL01 is induced as part of the cellular SOS response to DNA damage. However, no CI-like maintenance repressor has been detected in the phage genome, suggesting that GIL01 uses a novel mechanism to maintain lysogeny. To gain insights into the GIL01 regulatory circuit, we isolated and characterized a set of 17 clear plaque ( cp ) mutants that are unable to lysogenize. Two phage-encoded proteins, gp1 and gp7, are required for stable lysogen formation. Analysis of …
Is the population genetic structure of complex life cycle parasites determined by the geographic range of the most motile host?
2010
Due to their particular way of life, dispersal of parasites is often mediated by their host's biology. Dispersal distance is relevant for parasites because high degree of dispersal leads to high gene flow, which counters the rate of parasite local adaptation in the host populations. Parasites with complex life cycles need to exploit sequentially more than one host species to complete their life cycle. Most trematode parasites have such complex life cycles involving invertebrate and vertebrate hosts. The spatial scales of invertebrate and vertebrate host populations are often different, which may decrease the probability that the parasite cycles locally in the intermediate host population. W…
Divergent Macroparasite Infections in Parapatric Swiss Lake-Stream Pairs of Threespine Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus)
2015
Spatial heterogeneity in diversity and intensity of parasitism is a typical feature of most hostparasite interactions, but understanding of the evolutionary implications of such variation is limited. One possible outcome of infection heterogeneities is parasite-mediated divergent selection between host populations, ecotypes or species which may facilitate the process of ecological speciation. However, very few studies have described infections in populationpairs along the speciation continuum from low to moderate or high degree of genetic differentiation that would address the possibility of parasite-mediated divergent selection in the early stages of the speciation process. Here we provide…
Horizontally transmitted parasitoid killing factor shapes insect defense to parasitoids
2021
Protection from parasitism by a virus Parasitoid wasps have developed myriad systems to overcome the defense mechanisms of their hosts as they lay their eggs in the bodies and eggs of targeted species. Gasmi et al . report how the host can fight back when infected by a virus that expresses a protein conferring resistance to the parasitoid. When members of the butterfly and moth family are targeted by wasps, a protein family has evolved that is horizontally carried by viruses—and sometimes is incorporated into the host genome—and impairs the ability of parasitoid offspring to fully develop and emerge. Characterizing the ability of this protein to protect hosts against specific parasites, the…
Dynamical Casimir-Polder force between an excited atom and a conducting wall
2016
We consider the dynamical atom-surface Casimir-Polder force in the non-equilibrium configuration of an atom near a perfectly conducting wall, initially prepared in an excited state with the field in its vacuum state. We evaluate the time-dependent Casimir-Polder force on the atom, and find that it shows an oscillatory behavior from attractive to repulsive both in time and in space. We also investigate the asymptotic behavior in time of the dynamical force and of related local field quantities, showing that the static value of the force, as obtained by a time-independent approach, is recovered for times much larger than the timescale of the atomic self-dressing, but smaller than the atomic d…
First experimental study of photon polarization in radiative B0s decays.
2017
The polarization of photons produced in radiative $B^{0}_{s}$ decays is studied for the first time. The data are recorded by the LHCb experiment in $pp$ collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3fb$^{-1}$ at center-of-mass energies of $7$ and $8$TeV. A time-dependent analysis of the $B^{0}_{s} \to \phi \gamma$ decay rate is conducted to determine the parameter ${\mathcal{A}}^\Delta$, which is related to the ratio of right- over left-handed photon polarization amplitudes in $b \to s \gamma$ transitions. A value of ${\mathcal{A}}^\Delta=-0.98^{\,+0.46\,+0.23}_{\,-0.52\,-0.20}$ is measured. This result is consistent with the Standard Model prediction within two standard deviatio…
Impact of Safety-Related Dose Reductions or Discontinuations on Sustained Virologic Response in HCV-Infected Patients: Results from the GUARD-C Cohor…
2015
Background: Despite the introduction of direct-acting antiviral agents for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, peginterferon alfa/ribavirin remains relevant in many resource-constrained settings. The non-randomized GUARD-C cohort investigated baseline predictors of safety-related dose reductions or discontinuations (sr-RD) and their impact on sustained virologic response (SVR) in patients receiving peginterferon alfa/ribavirin in routine practice. Methods: A total of 3181 HCV-mono-infected treatment-naive patients were assigned to 24 or 48 weeks of peginterferon alfa/ribavirin by their physician. Patients were categorized by time-to-first sr-RD (Week 4/12). Detailed analyses of the i…
In silico identification and experimental validation of hits active against KPC-2 β-lactamase
2018
Bacterial resistance has become a worldwide concern, particularly after the emergence of resistant strains overproducing carbapenemases. Among these, the KPC-2 carbapenemase represents a significant clinical challenge, being characterized by a broad substrate spectrum that includes aminothiazoleoxime and cephalosporins such as cefotaxime. Moreover, strains harboring KPC-type β-lactamases are often reported as resistant to available β-lactamase inhibitors (clavulanic acid, tazobactam and sulbactam). Therefore, the identification of novel non β-lactam KPC-2 inhibitors is strongly necessary to maintain treatment options. This study explored novel, non-covalent inhibitors active against KPC-2, …
CO rebinding kinetics and molecular dynamics simulations highlight dynamic regulation of internal cavities in human cytoglobin
2013
Abstract: Cytoglobin (Cygb) was recently discovered in the human genome and localized in different tissues. It was suggested to play tissue-specific protective roles, spanning from scavenging of reactive oxygen species in neurons to supplying oxygen to enzymes in fibroblasts. To shed light on the functioning of such versatile machinery, we have studied the processes supporting transport of gaseous heme ligands in Cygb. Carbon monoxide rebinding shows a complex kinetic pattern with several distinct reaction intermediates, reflecting rebinding from temporary docking sites, second order recombination, and formation (and dissociation) of a bis-histidyl heme hexacoordinated reaction intermediate…
Larval morphology, genetic divergence, and contrasting levels of host manipulation between forms of Pomphorhynchus laevis (Acanthocephala)
2004
Studies on parasite species with a wide geographic and ecological range may be confounded by still equivocal taxonomic identification. Here, we investigated genetic polymorphism and behavioural changes induced in a common intermediate host, in two different forms of Pomphorhynchus laevis based on the morphology of the larval infective stage (cystacanth). A 'smooth type' (S) and a 'wrinkled type' (W) of cystacanth were distinguished based on their surface and shape. We analysed sequence divergence at both nuclear (ribosomal gene 18S rDNA, and ribosomal internal transcribed spacers, ITS1/ITS2) and mitochondrial (cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1) genes of P. laevis cystacanths and adults at vari…