A Benchmark of In-House Homologous Recombination Repair Deficiency Testing Solutions for High-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer Diagnosis.

Homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) has become an important prognostic and predictive biomarker for patients with high-grade serous ovarian cancer who may benefit from poly-ADP ribose polymerase inhibitors (PARPi) and platinum-based therapies. HRD testing provides relevant information to personalize patients' treatment options and has been progressively incorporated into diagnostic laboratories. Here, we assessed the performance of an in-house HRD testing system deployable in a diagnostic clinical setting, comparing results from two commercially available next-generation sequencing (NGS)-based tumor tests (SOPHiA DDM HRD Solution and AmoyDx (HRD Focus Panel)) with the reference assay from Myriad MyChoice (CDx).

Outbreak! An Online Board Game That Fosters Collaborative Learning of Viral Diseases.

Remote education has become necessary to resume teaching activities during the pandemic. Most educators were not prepared for this type of teaching or did not have access to the resources required for online classes. Taking advantage of the sudden interest in the microbial world, we developed Outbreak!, a board game that can be used to support hybrid teaching, focusing on transmission and symptoms caused by viral diseases.

Two Draft Genome Sequences of Isolates from the Rio Negro.

The draft genome sequences of two strains isolated from the Rio Negro are reported here. These bacteria carry most genetic systems associated with the production of bioactive compounds, but unlike other strains, they lack a dedicated operon for arsenic resistance.

Differential regulation of polyphosphate genes in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Phosphate homeostasis is tightly regulated in bacteria. Phosphate scarcity is overcome by inducing the expression of genes associated with the scavenging of phosphate and phosphate-containing molecules, while phosphate surplus is stored in the form of polyphosphate (polyP). Regulation of the genes involved in polyP metabolism was investigated.

phoU inactivation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa enhances accumulation of ppGpp and polyphosphate.

Inorganic polyphosphate (polyP) is a linear polymer composed of several molecules of orthophosphate (Pi) linked by energy-rich phosphoanhydride bonds. In Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Pi is taken up by the ABC transporter Pst, encoded by an operon consisting of five genes. The first four genes encode proteins involved in the transport of Pi and the last gene of the operon, phoU, codes for a protein which exact function is unknown.

relA enhances the adherence of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli.

Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) is a known causative agent of diarrhea in children. In the process of colonization of the small intestine, EPEC synthesizes two types of adhesins, the bundle-forming pilus (BFP) and intimin. The BFP pilus is an adhesin associated with the initial stages of adherence of EPEC to epithelial cells, while the outer membrane protein intimin carries out the intimate adherence that takes place at the third stage of infection.