A new rapid and efficient system with dominant selection developed to inactivate and conditionally express genes in Candida albicans.

Candida albicans is an important human fungal pathogen but its study has been hampered for being a natural diploid that lacks a complete sexual cycle. Gene knock-out and essential gene repression are used to study gene function in C. albicans.

Viral Respiratory Tract Infections in Adult Patients Attending Outpatient and Emergency Departments, Taiwan, 2012-2013: A PCR/Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry Study.

Viral etiologies of respiratory tract infections (RTIs) have been less studied in adult than in pediatric populations. Furthermore, the ability of PCR/electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (PCR/ESI-MS) to detect enteroviruses and rhinoviruses in respiratory samples has not been well evaluated. We sought to use PCR/ESI-MS to comprehensively investigate the viral epidemiology of adult RTIs, including testing for rhinoviruses and enteroviruses.

Affinity purification of Candida albicans CaCdc4-associated proteins reveals the presence of novel proteins involved in morphogenesis.

Candida albicans CDC4 is nonessential and plays a role in suppressing filamentous growth, in contrast to its evolutionary counterparts involved in the G1-S transition of the cell cycle. Genetic epistasis analysis has indicated that proteins besides Sol1 are targets of C. albicans Cdc4.

Association of DAZL haplotypes with spermatogenic failure in infertile men.

Objective: To identify novel DAZL single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and to compare allele/genotype frequencies, linkage disequilibrium (LD) characteristics, and DAZL haplotypes between fertile and infertile men.

Design: Prospective case study.

Setting: University genetics laboratory and reproductive clinics.

A reference map and identification of porcine testis proteins using 2-DE and MS.

The development of the testis is essential for maturation of male mammals. A complete understanding of proteins expressed in the testis will provide biological information on many reproductive dysfunctions in males. The purposes of this study were to apply a proteomic approach to investigating protein composition and to establish a 2-D PAGE reference map for porcine testis proteins.

TPMD: a database and resources of microsatellite marker genotyped in Taiwanese populations.

Taiwan Polymorphic Marker Database (TPMD) (http://tpmd.nhri.org.

Successful matched-unrelated bone marrow transplantation in a patient with beta-thalassemia major.

The authors describe a 5-year-old boy with beta-thalassemia major who received bone marrow transplantation (BMT) from a human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-matched unrelated donor. The conditioning regimen consisted of 16 mg/kg busulfan and 200 mg/kg cyclophosphamide. The transplantation was complicated with grade II graft-versus-host disease, although prophylaxis with cyclosporine and short-term methotrexate was carried out.

Association study of novel human serotonin 5-HT(1B) polymorphisms with alcohol dependence in Taiwanese Han.

Background: Abnormal serotonergic pathways are implicated in numerous neuropsychiatric disorders, such as depression, anxiety, migraine, substance abuse, and alcoholism. The human serotonin receptor 1B, encoded by the HTR1B gene, is a presynaptic serotonin autoreceptor that plays a role in regulating serotonin synthesis and release. Because the linkage of antisocial alcoholism to the HTR1B gene was recently reported in two populations, it was of interest to identify genetic variants at the HTR1B locus and study their association with alcoholism in the Taiwanese Han population.