Comparative genomics of Fusarium species causing Fusarium ear rot of maize.

Fusarium ear rot (FER), caused by the fungal pathogen Fusarium verticillioides, stands as one of the most economically burdensome and pervasive diseases affecting maize worldwide. Its impact on food security is particularly pronounced due to the production of fumonisins, toxic secondary metabolites that pose serious health risks, especially for livestock. FER disease severity is complex and polygenic, with few resistance (R) genes being identified for use in breeding resistant varieties.

Winter diet of bats in working forests of the southeastern U.S. Coastal Plain.

Working forests comprise a large proportion of forested landscapes in the southeastern United States and are important to the conservation of bats, which rely on forests for roosting and foraging. While relationships between bat ecology and forest management are well studied during summer, winter bat ecology remains understudied. Hence, we aimed to identify the diet composition of overwintering bats, compare the composition of prey consumed by bat species, and determine the potential role of forest bats as pest controllers in working forest landscapes of the southeastern U.

A LAMP Assay for Rapid Detection of the Pitch Canker Pathogen .

The pine pitch canker pathogen is endemic in the southeastern United States and Central America and represents an invasive threat globally. This ecologically adaptable fungus readily infects all parts of its pine hosts, leading to widespread mortality of nursery seedlings and decline in the health and productivity of forest stands. Because trees infected by can remain asymptomatic for long periods of time, accurate and rapid tools are needed for real-time diagnostics and surveillance at ports, in nurseries, and in plantations.

[Telephone enquiries on the topic of malignant hyperthermia: Evaluation of the content and subsequent diagnostic results at the MH Center Leipzig].

Background: Malignant hyperthermia (MH) is an autosomal dominant metabolic myopathy. The in vitro contracture test (IVCT) is still considered to be the gold standard for diagnosing a disposition for MH. However, advances in genetic testing for MH disposition have supplemented or even replaced the invasive procedure of the IVCT.

Blood/Gas partition coefficients for isoflurane, sevoflurane, and desflurane in a clinically relevant patient population.

Background: The blood/gas partition coefficient of a certain volatile anesthetic is of clinical importance because it determines its velocity of uptake into and elimination from the body of a patient and thus its pharmacokinetic behavior. To date, the blood/gas partition coefficients of isoflurane, sevoflurane, and desflurane have been measured in small numbers of subjects or in particular study groups, for example, healthy volunteers, patients experiencing a common kind of disease, or mothers immediately after giving birth. The objective of this study was to determine the blood/gas partition coefficients of these volatile anesthetics at 37°C in a larger clinically relevant and adult patient population.

Pharmacokinetics and clinical toxicity of prilocaine and ropivacaine following combined drug administration in brachial plexus anesthesia.

Objective: Local anesthetics (LA) are often administered in combination for regional anesthesia in order to obtain the specific advantages (onset and duration of effect) of each drug. However, few data on the safety of such combinations are available and consequently plasma concentrations possibly associated with toxicity and interactions between the specific anesthetics are not sufficiently established. We measured pharmacokinetics and toxicity parameters of prilocaine and ropivacaine after combined use as single doses in brachial plexus blockade.

Mild clinical and histopathological features in patients who carry the frequent and causative malignant hyperthermia RyR1 mutation p.Thr2206Met.

Objective: Malignant hyperthermia (MH) is a classically unapparent pharmacogenetic disorder of the skeletal muscles triggered by inhalational anesthetics or depolarizing muscle relaxants. The disposition to MH is inherited in an autosomal-dominant manner and is primarily due to mutations in the gene for the ryanodine receptor type 1 (RyR1). The present study intended to analyze whether mild muscular symptoms (elevation of the resting CK, cramps in the calves, slight calf hypertrophy) may be associated with susceptibility to MH and/or with histopathological changes.

The Ile2453Thr mutation in the ryanodine receptor gene 1 is associated with facilitated calcium release from sarcoplasmic reticulum by 4-chloro-m-cresol in human myotubes.

Central core disease (CCD) is a congenital disorder of skeletal muscle that is characterised histologically by typical central cores in type 1 skeletal muscle fibres. This disease is associated with malignant hyperthermia susceptibility and has been linked to the gene of skeletal muscle ryanodine receptor RYR1. In this study, we present a family with the spontaneous occurrence of the RYR1 Ile2453Thr mutation.

Mutation screening in the ryanodine receptor 1 gene (RYR1) in patients susceptible to malignant hyperthermia who show definite IVCT results: identification of three novel mutations.

Background: The ryanodine receptor of the skeletal muscle (RYR1) seems to be of outstanding importance in the pathogenesis of malignant hyperthermia (MH). It has been shown that point mutations in the RYR1 gene are strongly associated with the MH phenotype. A correctly determined phenotype is the basic prerequisite for adequate genetic MH screening.

[Diagnosis of disposition for malignant hyperthermia--an updated review based on 1,001 studies].

The in vitro contracture test (IVCT) based on European Malignant Hyperpyrexia Group criteria including the linked quality guarantee is carried out in 6 centres in Germany. Due to the genetic heterogeneity of malignant hyperthermia. This test remains the existing standard, despite intensive search for less invasive diagnostic methods.

[The prognostic relevance of preoperative pulmonary function tests].

At Leipzig University, preoperative pulmonary function testing has been performed for about 3 years in order to detect and classify patients at high pulmonary risk. During the postoperative period, the risk of developing pulmonary complications is particularly high due to factors influencing respiratory mechanics such as the supine position, pain, residual effects of narcotic drugs, etc. It has often been emphasised that an underlying ventilatory disturbance such as obstructive lung disease or smoking may enhance the postoperative pulmonary risk, although the extent of the influence of preoperative pulmonary diseases on the postoperative complication rate is still controversial.

[A new emphasis on the diagnosis of malignant hyperthermia using the in vitro contracture test?].

In accordance with the protocol of the European Malignant Hyperpyrexia Group, an account is given of the experience regarding establishment of the "in vitro contracture test" for diagnosis and exclusion of malignant hyperpyrexia disposition at the University Clinic of Leipzig. Since its commencement in 1986 these diagnostic possibilities are being increasingly utilized, and--basing on 76 MH manifestations and suspected cases--324 persons have been examined until now. Besides the representation of the methodical features (e.