Birth of a Photosynthetic Chassis: A MoClo Toolkit Enabling Synthetic Biology in the Microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

Microalgae are regarded as promising organisms to develop innovative concepts based on their photosynthetic capacity that offers more sustainable production than heterotrophic hosts. However, to realize their potential as green cell factories, a major challenge is to make microalgae easier to engineer. A promising approach for rapid and predictable genetic manipulation is to use standardized synthetic biology tools and workflows.

Autophagy is activated and involved in cell death with participation of cathepsins during stress-induced microspore embryogenesis in barley.

Microspores are reprogrammed towards embryogenesis by stress. Many microspores die after this stress, limiting the efficiency of microspore embryogenesis. Autophagy is a degradation pathway that plays critical roles in stress response and cell death.

Novel adenovirus detected in captive bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) suffering from self-limiting gastroenteritis.

Background: Adenoviruses are common pathogens in vertebrates, including humans. In marine mammals, adenovirus has been associated with fatal hepatitis in sea lions. However, only in rare cases have adenoviruses been detected in cetaceans, where no clear correlation was found between presence of the virus and disease status.

First molecular detection and characterization of herpesvirus and poxvirus in a Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens).

Background: Herpesvirus and poxvirus can infect a wide range of species: herpesvirus genetic material has been detected and amplified in five species of the superfamily Pinnipedia; poxvirus genetic material, in eight species of Pinnipedia. To date, however, genetic material of these viruses has not been detected in walrus (Odobenus rosmarus), another marine mammal of the Pinnipedia clade, even though anti-herpesvirus antibodies have been detected in these animals.

Case Presentation: In February 2013, a 9-year-old healthy captive female Pacific walrus died unexpectedly at L'Oceanografic (Valencia, Spain).

Conditional Depletion of the Chlamydomonas Chloroplast ClpP Protease Activates Nuclear Genes Involved in Autophagy and Plastid Protein Quality Control.

Plastid protein homeostasis is critical during chloroplast biogenesis and responses to changes in environmental conditions. Proteases and molecular chaperones involved in plastid protein quality control are encoded by the nucleus except for the catalytic subunit of ClpP, an evolutionarily conserved serine protease. Unlike its Escherichia coli ortholog, this chloroplast protease is essential for cell viability.

Two cases of pseudohermaphroditism in loggerhead sea turtles Caretta caretta.

Two juvenile (curved carapace lengths: 28 and 30 cm) loggerhead sea turtles Caretta caretta with precocious male external characteristics were admitted to the ARCA del Mar rescue area at the Oceanogràfic Aquarium in Valencia, Spain, in 2009 and 2010. Routine internal laparoscopic examination and subsequent histopathology confirmed the presence of apparently healthy internal female gonads in both animals. Extensive tissue biopsy and hormone induction assays were consistent with female sex.

Unusual striped dolphin mass mortality episode related to cetacean morbillivirus in the Spanish Mediterranean sea.

Background: In the last 20 years, Cetacean Morbillivirus (CeMV) has been responsible for many die-offs in marine mammals worldwide, as clearly exemplified by the two dolphin morbillivirus (DMV) epizootics of 1990-1992 and 2006-2008, which affected Mediterranean striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba). Between March and April 2011, the number of strandings on the Valencian Community coast (E Spain) increased.

Case Presentation: Necropsy and sample collection were performed in all stranded animals, with good state of conservation.

Simultaneous diagnosis of Cetacean morbillivirus infection in dolphins stranded in the Spanish Mediterranean sea in 2011 using a novel Universal Probe Library (UPL) RT-PCR assay.

A highly sensitive and specific real-time (rt) RT-PCR assay has been developed for rapid, simultaneous detection of three strains of cetacean morbillivirus (CeMV). In this assay, two PCR primers and a hydrolysis probe from a commercially available Universal Probe Library (UPL) are used to amplify a highly conserved region within the fusion protein gene. RT-PCR is carried out on the same sample using two primer sets in parallel: one set detects the more virulent strains, dolphin morbillivirus (DMV) and porpoise morbillivirus (PMV), and the other set detects the least virulent and least common strain, pilot whale morbillivirus (PWMV).

Evidence for a role of VIPP1 in the structural organization of the photosynthetic apparatus in Chlamydomonas.

The vesicle-inducing protein in plastids (VIPP1) was suggested to play a role in thylakoid membrane formation via membrane vesicles. As this functional assignment is under debate, we investigated the function of VIPP1 in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Using immunofluorescence, we localized VIPP1 to distinct spots within the chloroplast.

First case of erysipelas in a free-ranging bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) stranded in the Mediterranean Sea.

An adult female bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) stranded alive and subsequently died several minutes later on the Mediterranean coast of Spain on 14 July 2010. Clinical examination revealed foam through the blowhole and rales upon lung auscultation. On venipuncture, the blood was abnormally dense and dark.

Review of 793 facial fractures treated from 2001 to 2008 in a coruña university hospital: types and etiology.

The purpose of this article is to analyze the incidence, demographic distribution, type, and etiology of all facial fractures treated by the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in A Coruña University Hospital (Spain) from 2001 to 2008. A descriptive and analytic retrospective study evaluated 643 patients treated for facial fracture (excluding nasal and dento-alveolar) by the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in A Coruña University Hospital from January 2001 to December 2008. Five parameters were studied: year of the injury, gender, age, fracture type, and etiology.