Repeated horizontal acquisition of lagriamide-producing symbionts in Lagriinae beetles.

Microbial symbionts associate with multicellular organisms on a continuum from facultative associations to mutual codependency. In the oldest intracellular symbioses there is exclusive vertical symbiont transmission, and co-diversification of symbiotic partners over millions of years. Such symbionts often undergo genome reduction due to low effective population sizes, frequent population bottlenecks, and reduced purifying selection.

Hard ticks (Ixodida: Ixodidae) in the Colombian Caribbean harbor the Jingmen tick virus: an emerging arbovirus of public health concern.

Background: Ticks are obligate hematophagous ectoparasites involved in transmitting viruses of public health importance. The objective of this work was to identify the Jingmen tick virus in hard ticks from the Colombian Caribbean, an arbovirus of importance for public health.

Methods: Ticks were collected in rural areas of Córdoba and Cesar, Colombia.

Deciphering genetic factors contributing to enhanced resistance against Cercospora leaf blight in soybean ( L.) using GWAS analysis.

Cercospora leaf blight (CLB), caused by , , and , is a significant soybean [ (L.) Merr.] disease in regions with hot and humid conditions causing yield loss in the United States and Canada.

Critical route for development of medical student leadership competencies in 35 Pan American Health Organization member states: A scoping review and thematic analysis.

The Pan American Health Organization has been committed to training physicians in leadership competencies since 2008. However, four reviews on teaching leadership using competency-based education in undergraduate medical education (UME) identified only two of 35 MS: Canada and the USA. Previous reviews did not use a systemic approach or qualitative methodology to explore factors influencing leadership education.

[Oncology: what's new in 2023].

The oncology field continues its remarkable evolution over the years, with promising advances leading to innovative and individualized treatments. The development of new molecules, the identification of new therapeutic targets and the search for new sequences or combinations promise to revolutionize cancer treatments and contribute to improving survival rates, patients' quality of life and to open new perspective in oncology research. In this article, the newest data released in 2023 are reviewed.

The Hyphosphere of Leaf-Cutting Ant Cultivars Is Enriched with Helper Bacteria.

Bacteria can live in a variety of interkingdom communities playing key ecological roles. The microbiome of leaf-cutting attine ant colonies are a remarkable example of such communities, as they support ants' metabolic processes and the maintenance of ant-fungus gardens. Studies on this topic have explored the bacterial community of the whole fungus garden, without discerning bacterial groups associated with the nutrient storage structures (gongylidia) of ant fungal cultivars.

Clinical validation of the isothermal RT-LAMP test for rapid diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2.

Unlabelled: Introducción. Desde el primer reporte en la provincia de Wuhan (China) en el año 2019, el SARS-CoV-2 se ha diseminado por todo el mundo, provocando un enorme impacto en la salud pública. Para su diagnóstico, la Organización Mundial de la Salud ha incentivado el desarrollo de pruebas rápidas, de simple ejecución, sensibles y específicas, que complementan la RT-qPCR como prueba de referencia.

How It All Begins: Bacterial Factors Mediating the Colonization of Invertebrate Hosts by Beneficial Symbionts.

Beneficial associations with bacteria are widespread across animals, spanning a range of symbiont localizations, transmission routes, and functions. While some of these associations have evolved into obligate relationships with permanent symbiont localization within the host, the majority require colonization of every host generation from the environment or via maternal provisions. Across the broad diversity of host species and tissue types that beneficial bacteria can colonize, there are some highly specialized strategies for establishment yet also some common patterns in the molecular basis of colonization.

Morphological adaptation for ectosymbiont maintenance and transmission during metamorphosis in beetles.

The diversity and success of holometabolous insects is partly driven by metamorphosis, which allows for the exploitation of different niches and decouples growth and tissue differentiation from reproduction. Despite its benefits, metamorphosis comes with the cost of temporal vulnerability during pupation and challenges associated with tissue reorganizations. These rearrangements can also affect the presence, abundance, and localization of beneficial microbes in the host.

Bacterial ectosymbionts in cuticular organs chemically protect a beetle during molting stages.

In invertebrates, the cuticle is the first and major protective barrier against predators and pathogen infections. While immune responses and behavioral defenses are also known to be important for insect protection, the potential of cuticle-associated microbial symbionts to aid in preventing pathogen entry during molting and throughout larval development remains unexplored. Here, we show that bacterial symbionts of the beetle Lagria villosa inhabit unusual dorsal invaginations of the insect cuticle, which remain open to the outer surface and persist throughout larval development.

Nanozyme-Based Lateral Flow Immunoassay (LFIA) for Extracellular Vesicle Detection.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are biological nanoparticles of great interest as novel sources of biomarkers and as drug delivery systems for personalized therapies. The research in the field and clinical applications require rapid quantification. In this study, we have developed a novel lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) system based on FeO nanozymes for extracellular vesicle (EV) detection.

Engaging Scientific Diasporas in STEAM Education: The Case of Science Clubs Colombia.

Currently, there is limited insight on the role that scientific diasporas can play in STEAM education in Latin America. Here, we present the Science Clubs Colombia (Clubes de Ciencia Colombia-SCC) program, a pioneering STEAM capacity-building initiative led by volunteer scientists to engage youth and children from underserved communities in science. The program brings together researchers based in Colombia and abroad to lead intensive project-based learning workshops for young students in urban and rural areas.

Cell-mediated immunity and expression of MHC class I and class II molecules in dogs naturally infected by canine transmissible venereal tumor: Is there complete spontaneous regression outside the experimental CTVT?

The canine transmissible venereal tumor (CTVT) is a transplantable cancer with the ability evade the immune system, despite strict immune surveillance of the host; in this context, the relationship between inflammatory infiltrate and CTVT prognosis is not entirely understood. Natural canine transmissible venereal tumors of 22 dogs were evaluated for tumor/host interaction through clinical and epidemiological data, cyto-histopathological and cytogenetic findings and, mainly, cell-mediated immune response. We performed analysis on dogs with naturally acquired disease to provide information from the study of CTVT biology in its natural course, as the clinical evolution of the natural tumor in the host is not yet as well known as in the laboratory.

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Colombian labour market: Disentangling the effect of sector-specific mobility restrictions.

We assess the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and particularly the sector-specific mobility restrictions on the Colombian labour market. We exploit the sectoral and temporal variation of the restriction policies to identify their effect. Mobility restrictions significantly reduced employment, accounting for approximately a quarter of the total job loss between February and April of 2020.

Transmission of Bacterial Symbionts With and Without Genome Erosion Between a Beetle Host and the Plant Environment.

Many phytophagous insects harbor symbiotic bacteria that can be transmitted vertically from parents to offspring, or acquired horizontally from unrelated hosts or the environment. In the latter case, plants are a potential route for symbiont transfer and can thus foster a tripartite interaction between microbe, insect, and plant. Here, we focus on two bacterial symbionts of the darkling beetle that belong to the genus ; the culturable strain Lv-StA and the reduced-genome strain Lv-StB.

Management of tubal ectopic pregnancy with methotrexate in the setting of symptomatic Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): A case report.

Background: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) represents a complex therapeutic challenge. As the pandemic progresses, patients are presenting with ectopic pregnancies (EPs) and symptomatic COVID-19.

Objective: We present the management of a patient with multiple medical comorbidities and tubal EP in the setting of severe symptomatic COVID-19 infection where all management options were precluded.

The First Chemically-Synthesised, Highly Immunogenic Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Peptides in DNA Genotyped Monkeys for Human Use.

Thirty-five peptides selected from functionally-relevant SARS-CoV-2 spike (S), membrane (M), and envelope (E) proteins were suitably modified for immunising MHC class II (MHCII) DNA-genotyped monkeys and matched with HLA-DRβ1* molecules for use in humans. This was aimed at producing the first minimal subunit-based, chemically-synthesised, immunogenic molecules (COLSARSPROT) covering several HLA alleles. They were predicted to cover 48.

Transposon-insertion Sequencing as a Tool to Elucidate Bacterial Colonization Factors in a Burkholderia gladioli Symbiont of Lagria villosa Beetles.

Inferring the function of genes by manipulating their activity is an essential tool for understanding the genetic underpinnings of most biological processes. Advances in molecular microbiology have seen the emergence of diverse mutagenesis techniques for the manipulation of genes. Among them, transposon-insertion sequencing (Tn-seq) is a valuable tool to simultaneously assess the functionality of many candidate genes in an untargeted way.

Factors Associated With SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Bogotá, Colombia: Results From a Large Epidemiological Surveillance Study.

Background: Epidemiologic surveillance of COVID-19 is essential to collect and analyse data to improve public health decision making during the pandemic. There are few initiatives led by public-private alliances in Colombia and Latin America. The CoVIDA project contributed with RT-PCR tests for SARS-CoV-2 in mild or asymptomatic populations in Bogotá.

Leadership Competencies for Knowledge Translation in Public Health: A consensus study.

Background: In 2010, 240 billion US dollars was invested worldwide to conduct research for health; unfortunately, 200 billion was misused in the production and reporting of the evidence researched. Universities could facilitate students to acquire leadership competencies to move well-conducted research findings into practical use; this could be an essential move to reduce the misuse of investment.

Methods: A literature review was done based on the Equator Network and Cochrane guidelines, followed by three Delphi rounds to select competencies.

Cytoplasmic incompatibility between Old and New World populations of a tramp ant.

Reproductive manipulation by endosymbiotic Wolbachia can cause unequal inheritance, allowing the manipulator to spread and potentially impacting evolutionary dynamics in infected hosts. Tramp and invasive species are excellent models to study the dynamics of host-Wolbachia associations because introduced populations often diverge in their microbiomes after colonizing new habitats, resulting in infection polymorphisms between native and introduced populations. Ants are the most abundant group of insects on earth, and numerous ant species are classified as highly invasive.