Epidemic diffusion of OXA-23-producing Acinetobacter baumannii isolates in Italy: results of the first cross-sectional countrywide survey.

Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAb) is emerging worldwide as a public health problem in various settings. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of CRAb isolates in Italy and to characterize their resistance mechanisms and genetic relatedness. A countrywide cross-sectional survey was carried out at 25 centers in mid-2011.

Molecular characterization and evolution of a gene family encoding male-specific reproductive proteins in the African malaria vector Anopheles gambiae.

Background: During copulation, the major Afro-tropical malaria vector Anopheles gambiae s.s. transfers male accessory gland (MAG) proteins to females as a solid mass (i.

Molecular evolution of a gene cluster of serine proteases expressed in the Anopheles gambiae female reproductive tract.

Background: Genes involved in post-mating processes of multiple mating organisms are known to evolve rapidly due to coevolution driven by sexual conflict among male-female interacting proteins. In the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae - a monandrous species in which sexual conflict is expected to be absent or minimal - recent data strongly suggest that proteolytic enzymes specifically expressed in the female lower reproductive tissues are involved in the processing of male products transferred to females during mating. In order to better understand the role of selective forces underlying the evolution of proteins involved in post-mating responses, we analysed a cluster of genes encoding for three serine proteases that are down-regulated after mating, two of which specifically expressed in the atrium and one in the spermatheca of A.