The porcine biomodel in translational medical research: From biomodel to human lung transplantation.

Introduction: Human and porcine anatomy are comparable. In consequence, the porcine biomodel has the potential to be implemented in the training of surgical professionals in areas such as solid organ transplantation. Objectives: We described the procedures and findings obtained in the experiments of translational respiratory medicine with the porcine biomodel, within an experimentation animal laboratory, and we present a comparative review between human and porcine lung.

The Small GTPase MoSec4 Is Involved in Vegetative Development and Pathogenicity by Regulating the Extracellular Protein Secretion in .

The Rab GTPase proteins play important roles in the membrane trafficking, and consequently protein secretion and development of eukaryotic organisms. However, little is known about the function of Rab GTPases in . To further explore the function of Rab GTPases, we deleted the ortholog of the yeast Sec4p protein in , namely .

Characterization and regulation of expression of an antifungal peptide from hemolymph of an insect, Manduca sexta.

Insects secrete antimicrobial peptides as part of the innate immune response. Most antimicrobial peptides from insects have antibacterial but not antifungal activity. We have characterized an antifungal peptide, diapausin-1 from hemolymph of a lepidopteran insect, Manduca sexta (tobacco hornworm).

pFPL Vectors for High-Throughput Protein Localization in Fungi: Detecting Cytoplasmic Accumulation of Putative Effector Proteins.

As part of a large-scale project whose goal was to identify candidate effector proteins in Magnaporthe oryzae, we developed a suite of vectors that facilitate high-throughput protein localization experiments in fungi. These vectors utilize Gateway recombinational cloning to place a gene's promoter and coding sequences upstream and in frame with enhanced cyan fluorescent protein, green fluorescent protein (GFP), monomeric red fluorescence protein (mRFP), and yellow fluorescent protein or a nucleus-targeted mCHERRY variant. The respective Gateway cassettes were incorporated into Agrobacterium-based plasmids to allow efficient fungal transformation using hygromycin or geneticin resistance selection.

Filamentous plant pathogen effectors in action.

Live-cell imaging assisted by fluorescent markers has been fundamental to understanding the focused secretory 'warfare' that occurs between plants and biotrophic pathogens that feed on living plant cells. Pathogens succeed through the spatiotemporal deployment of a remarkably diverse range of effector proteins to control plant defences and cellular processes. Some effectors can be secreted by appressoria even before host penetration, many enter living plant cells where they target diverse subcellular compartments and others move into neighbouring cells to prepare them before invasion.

Two distinct secretion systems facilitate tissue invasion by the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae.

To cause plant diseases, pathogenic micro-organisms secrete effector proteins into host tissue to suppress immunity and support pathogen growth. Bacterial pathogens have evolved several distinct secretion systems to target effector proteins, but whether fungi, which cause the major diseases of most crop species, also require different secretory mechanisms is not known. Here we report that the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae possesses two distinct secretion systems to target effectors during plant infection.

Gene-based SSR markers for common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) derived from root and leaf tissue ESTs: an integration of the BMc series.

Background: Sequencing of cDNA libraries for the development of expressed sequence tags (ESTs) as well as for the discovery of simple sequence repeats (SSRs) has been a common method of developing microsatellites or SSR-based markers. In this research, our objective was to further sequence and develop common bean microsatellites from leaf and root cDNA libraries derived from the Andean gene pool accession G19833 and the Mesoamerican gene pool accession DOR364, mapping parents of a commonly used reference map. The root libraries were made from high and low phosphorus treated plants.

Translocation of Magnaporthe oryzae effectors into rice cells and their subsequent cell-to-cell movement.

Knowledge remains limited about how fungal pathogens that colonize living plant cells translocate effector proteins inside host cells to regulate cellular processes and neutralize defense responses. To cause the globally important rice blast disease, specialized invasive hyphae (IH) invade successive living rice (Oryza sativa) cells while enclosed in host-derived extrainvasive hyphal membrane. Using live-cell imaging, we identified a highly localized structure, the biotrophic interfacial complex (BIC), which accumulates fluorescently labeled effectors secreted by IH.

Development of microsatellite markers for common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) based on screening of non-enriched, small-insert genomic libraries.

Microsatellite markers are useful genetic tools for a wide array of genomic analyses although their development is time-consuming and requires the identification of simple sequence repeats (SSRs) from genomic sequences. Screening of non-enriched, small-insert libraries is an effective method of SSR isolation that can give an unbiased picture of motif frequency. Here we adapt high-throughput protocols for the screening of plasmid-based libraries using robotic colony picking and filter preparation.

Development and diversity of Andean-derived, gene-based microsatellites for common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.).

Background: Gene-based (genic) microsatellites are a useful tool for plant genetics and simple sequence repeat loci can often be found in coding regions of the genome. While EST sequencing can be used to discover genic microsatellites, direct screening of cDNA libraries for repeat motifs can save on overall sequencing costs. The objective of this research was to screen a large cDNA library from and Andean common bean genotype for six di-nucleotide and tri-nucleotide repeat motifs through a filter hybridization approach and to develop microsatellite markers from positive clones.

Interaction transcriptome analysis identifies Magnaporthe oryzae BAS1-4 as Biotrophy-associated secreted proteins in rice blast disease.

Biotrophic invasive hyphae (IH) of the blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae secrete effectors to alter host defenses and cellular processes as they successively invade living rice (Oryza sativa) cells. However, few blast effectors have been identified. Indeed, understanding fungal and rice genes contributing to biotrophic invasion has been difficult because so few plant cells have encountered IH at the earliest infection stages.

Characterization of AT-rich microsatellites in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.).

Polymorphism of microsatellite markers is often associated with the simple sequence repeat motif targeted. AT-rich microsatellites tend to be highly variable and this appears to be notable, especially in legume genomes. To analyze the value of AT-rich microsatellites for common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.