The Fungal PCR Initiative's evaluation of in-house and commercial Pneumocystis jirovecii qPCR assays: Toward a standard for a diagnostics assay.

Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) is increasingly used to detect Pneumocystis jirovecii for the diagnosis of Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP), but there are differences in the nucleic acids targeted, DNA only versus whole nucleic acid (WNA), and also the target genes for amplification. Through the Fungal PCR Initiative, a working group of the International Society for Human and Animal Mycology, a multicenter and monocenter evaluation of PCP qPCR assays was performed. For the multicenter study, 16 reference laboratories from eight different countries, performing 20 assays analyzed a panel consisting of two negative and three PCP positive samples.

Sequence analysis of isolates of Aspergillus from patients with chronic and allergic aspergillosis reveals a spectrum of cryptic species.

Aim: To establish the prevalence and antifungal susceptibilities of Aspergillus cryptic species from respiratory samples. Methods: Retrospective susceptibility data on Aspergillus species cultured between 2015 and 2017 by 'high volume culture' (HVC) versus 'conventional' culture techniques.

Results: Fifty-six (2.

A case of pulmonary cryptococcoma due to in the United Kingdom.

We report a case of infection in the UK in a 76-year-old woman on biologic therapy for intra-abdominal non-Hodgkin lymphoma. An incidental nodular lung lesion was found on a chest imaging and histology, culture and molecular mycology studies of the lobectomy specimen revealed the presence of .

Estrogenicity of essential oils is not required to relieve symptoms of urogenital atrophy in breast cancer survivors.

Background: Urogenital atrophy (UA) is a common treatment-limiting side effect of endocrine therapies. Topical estrogen is effective but systemic absorption may counter aromatase inhibitor efficacy. Numerous complementary approaches are marketed for use in UA without rigorous testing of their estrogenicity.

A novel antifungal is active against Candida albicans biofilms and inhibits mutagenic acetaldehyde production in vitro.

The ability of C. albicans to form biofilms is a major virulence factor and a challenge for management. This is evident in biofilm-associated chronic oral-oesophageal candidosis, which has been shown to be potentially carcinogenic in vivo.

A novel antifungal is active against Candida albicans biofilms and inhibits mutagenic acetaldehyde production in vitro.

The ability of C. albicans to form biofilms is a major virulence factor and a challenge for management. This is evident in biofilm-associated chronic oral-oesophageal candidosis, which has been shown to be potentially carcinogenic in vivo.

The U5 snRNA internal loop 1 is a platform for Brr2, Snu114 and Prp8 protein binding during U5 snRNP assembly.

The U5 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particle (snRNP) forms the heart of the spliceosome which is required for intron removal from pre-mRNA. The proteins Prp8, Snu114 and Brr2 all assemble with the U5 small nuclear RNA (snRNA) to produce the U5 snRNP. Successful assembly of the U5 snRNP, then incorporation of this snRNP into the U4/U6.

Alcohol and acetaldehyde in African fermented milk mursik--a possible etiologic factor for high incidence of esophageal cancer in western Kenya.

Background: Esophageal cancer is unusually frequent in Western Kenya, despite the low prevalence of classical risk factors such as heavy drinking and tobacco smoking. Among Kenyans consumption of fermented milk is an old tradition. Our hypothesis is that alcohol and acetaldehyde are produced during the fermentation process and that their carcinogenic potential contributes to the high incidence of esophageal cancer.

Analysis of synthetic lethality reveals genetic interactions between the GTPase Snu114p and snRNAs in the catalytic core of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae spliceosome.

Conformational changes of snRNAs in the spliceosome required for pre-mRNA splicing are regulated by eight ATPases and one GTPase Snu114p. The Snu114p guanine state regulates U4/U6 unwinding during spliceosome activation and U2/U6 unwinding during spliceosome disassembly through the ATPase Brr2p. We investigated 618 genetic interactions to identify an extensive genetic interaction network between SNU114 and snRNAs.

The role of Snu114p during pre-mRNA splicing.

Pre-mRNA splicing is an essential step in gene expression where intron regions are removed and coding exon sequences are joined to form an mRNA for translation. Splicing is catalysed by an RNA-protein complex called the spliceosome. A number of spliceosome proteins are required for assembly and remodelling of the spliceosome with pre-mRNA to orient the splice sites correctly and catalyse the two steps of splicing.

Analysis of pre-mRNA and pre-rRNA processing factor Snu13p structure and mutants.

Snu13p is a Saccharomyces cerevisiae protein essential for pre-messenger RNA splicing and pre-ribosomal RNA processing. Snu13p binds U4 snRNA of the spliceosome and box C/D snoRNAs of the pre-ribosomal RNA processing machinery to induce assembly of each ribonucleoprotein complex. Here, we present structural and biochemical analysis of Snu13p.