Travelers With Cutaneous Leishmaniasis Cured Without Systemic Therapy

Guidelines recommend wound care and/or local therapy as first-line treatment for cutaneous leishmaniasis. An analysis of a referral treatment program in 135 travelers showed that this approach was feasible in 62% of patients, with positive outcome in 83% of evaluable patient

Fighting Sharka in Peach: Current Limitations and Future Perspectives.

Sharka, caused by Plum Pox Virus (PPV), is by far the most important infectious disease of peach [P. persica (L.) Batsch] and other Prunus species. The progressive spread of the virus in many important growing areas throughout Europe poses serious issues to the economic sustainability of stone fruit crops, peach in particular. The adoption of internationally agreed-upon rules for diagnostic tests, strain-specific monitoring schemes and spatial–temporal modeling of virus spread, are all essential for a more effective sharka containment. The EU regulations on nursery activity should be modified based on the zone delimitation of PPV presence, limiting open-field production of propagation materials only to virus-free areas. Increasing the efficiency of preventive measures should be augmented by the short-term development of resistant cultivars. Putative sources of resistance/tolerance have been recently identified in peach germplasm, although the majority of novel resistant sources to PPV-M have been found in almond. However, the complexity of introgression from relatedspecies imposes the search for alternative strategies. The use of genetic engineering, particularly RNA interference (RNAi)-based approaches, appears as one of the most promising perspectives to introduce a durable resistance to PPV in peach germplasm, notwithstanding the well-known difficulties of in vitro plant regeneration in this species. In this regard, rootstock transformation to induce RNAi-mediated systemic resistance would avoid the transformation of numerous commercial cultivars, and may alleviate consumer resistance to the use of GM plants

Occurrence of potyviruses on yam (Dioscorea spp.) in Colombia and first molecular characterization of Yam mild mosaic virus

BGPI - Equipe 6International audienceA survey to determine the prevalence of potyviruses on yams, Dioscorea alata and D. cayenensis-rotundata, was undertaken in Colombia. Two hundred fifty leaf samples showing mottling symptoms were collected on the Atlantic coast and analyzed by antigen-coated plate enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with universal potyvirus monoclonal antibodies (Agdia, Elkhart, IN). Potyviruses were detected in 70% (165/235) of the D. alata and in 66% (10/15) of the D. cayenensis-rotundata samples. The presence of Yam mild mosaic virus (YMMV) was indicated in some of these samples by immunocapture reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction performed as previously reported (1). A 600-bp fragment that included the core and C-terminal region of the coat protein gene (CP) and the 3' untranslated region (3'UTR) was amplified from a D. alata isolate using universal potyvirus primers (1), cloned, and sequenced (EMBL Acc. AJ311725). Comparison with the two previously published YMMV sequences revealed 96.1 and 97.4% identity for the deduced amino acid sequence in the CP region, 74.1 and 83.2% nucleotide identity in the 3'UTR for Papua New Guinea (AB022424 [2]) and Martinique (AJ250336) isolates, respectively. YMMV is known to be widespread on D. alata in Africa and the South Pacific and has been recently identified in the Caribbean (1). To our knowledge, this is the first report of its occurrence in Colombia. A study of its incidence and genetic diversity in South America has been undertaken

Is ammonification rate in marine sediment related to plankton composition and abundance? A time-series study in Villefranche Bay (NW Mediterranean)

International audienceObservations were made near Cap Ferrat (Station B, about 80 m in water depth) France, in the water column and in the sediment, in order to evaluate to what extent variations in the ammonia and nitrate concentrations of the sediments are related to plankton population abundance and composition. Nitrate, nitrite, ammonia and chlorophyll a were measured several times during 1987 to 1989, at two depths (1 and 40 m). Copepods and salps in the upper 75 m of the water column were counted several times a week from 1987 to 1990. Ammonia and nitrate concentrations and ammonification rate were determined in the underlying sediments. During Spring 1987, phytoplankton biomass showed a maximum at the end of March; copepod populations increased regularly till the end of April, and salps increased from this time to the end of May. These populations were not so well developed during Spring 1988 and 1989. During the blooms, salp were mainly represented by Thalia democratica. The biomass of phytoplankton and zooplankton was low in summer. The sequence suggests that the copepod decline was related to reduced food levels after the phytoplankton decline. Salp population growth was not at the expense of phytoplankton and it can be assumed that the salp fed on other material. In 1987 and 1988, maximum organic nitrogen concentration in the bottom sediment and maximum ammonification rate directly followed the salp spring bloom. In 1987, the highest ammonification rate measured in the surficial sediment (0-2 cm) reached 0.05 mu M cm(3) day(-1) (in June). In 1990, the rate exceeded 0.1 mu M cm(-3) day(-1) during an important salp bloom. Therefore, it seems that the sinking of salp fecal pellets plays an important part in the transfer of organic matter to the bottom, and microbial activity in the surficial sediment leads to mineralization of a great part of the organic nitrogen quickly after its deposition. (C) 1996 Academic Press Limite

Current options of Plum pox virus risk management in EU

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