Daam1a mediates asymmetric habenular morphogenesis by regulating dendritic and axonal outgrowth.

Although progress has been made in resolving the genetic pathways that specify neuronal asymmetries in the brain, little is known about genes that mediate the development of structural asymmetries between neurons on left and right. In this study, we identify daam1a as an asymmetric component of the signalling pathways leading to asymmetric morphogenesis of the habenulae in zebrafish. Daam1a is a member of the Formin family of actin-binding proteins and the extent of Daam1a expression in habenular neuron dendrites mirrors the asymmetric growth of habenular neuropil between left and right.

Vibrio parahaemolyticus strains isolated during investigation of the summer 2006 seafood related diarrhea outbreaks in two regions of Chile.

Nine hundred cases of seafood related diarrhea were reported in the region of Puerto Montt, Chile during the austral summer of 2006. This is the continuation of the large outbreaks associated with the consumption of seafood containing the Vibrio parahaemolyticus serovar O3:K6 pandemic clonal group that arose last decade in Chile. The initial outbreaks occurred during the summer of 1998 in Antofagasta (23 degrees 39'S 70 degrees 24'W).