Common weeds as alternate hosts of Mexican variant of Papaya meleira virus in papaya orchards in México.

Presence of alternate hosts of plants is a great threat to the agriculture industry. Plants from several species growing in the papaya orchards affected by papaya sticky disease were examined for Papaya meleira virus (PMeV) infection causing this disease. The viral dsRNA was already detected in some plants from the family Poaceae or in watermelon.

Formation of the Alarmones Diadenosine Triphosphate and Tetraphosphate by Ubiquitin- and Ubiquitin-like-Activating Enzymes.

Diadenosine polyphosphates (ApAs) such as diadenosine tri- and tetraphosphates are formed in prokaryotic as well as eukaryotic cells. Since upon stress intracellular ApA concentrations increase, it was postulated that ApAs are alarmones triggering stress-adaptive processes. The major synthesis pathway of ApAs is assumed to be a side reaction of amino acid activation.

Reductive modification of genetically encoded 3-nitrotyrosine sites in alpha synuclein expressed in E.coli.

Tyrosine nitration is a post-translational protein modification relevant to various pathophysiological processes. Chemical nitration procedures have been used to generate and study nitrated proteins, but these methods regularly lead to modifications at other amino acid residues. A novel strategy employs a genetic code modification that allows incorporation of 3-nitrotyrosine (3-NT) during ribosomal protein synthesis to generate a recombinant protein with defined 3-NT-sites, in the absence of other post-translational modifications.

(Hemiptera: Cicadellidae)-Mediated Transmission of Papaya Meleira Virus-Mexican Variant in Mexico.

Papaya meleira virus (PMeV) causes sticky disease in in Brazil and Mexico. Despite its economic importance and the need for effective phytosanitary control, it remains unknown whether any insect is the vector of this virus. The aim of this work was to identify potential insect vectors of the PMeV-Mexican variant (PMeV-Mx) and determine whether these potential vectors are capable of transmitting the virus.

Synthesis of disaccharide nucleoside analogues as potential poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 inhibitors.

Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1) is an important target in cancer therapy. We present the synthesis of novel disaccharide nucleoside analogues that resemble the central motif of poly(ADP-ribose) and test their inhibitory effects on human PARP-1. Some compounds show inhibition of enzymatic activity in vitro and thus might be interesting for further investigations.

Sensitivity of Colletotrichum truncatum to Four Fungicides and Characterization of Thiabendazole-Resistant Isolates.

Anthracnose, caused by Colletotrichum truncatum (syn. C. capsici), has become a common disease of tropical crops, severely affecting the quantity and quality of fruit and seed and, therefore, reducing their market value.

Synthesis and stability of phosphate modified ATP analogues.

Nucleotides modified at the phosphate have numerous applications. Nevertheless, the number of attachment modes is limited and little is known about their stability. Here, we present results on the elaboration of the synthesis of five classes of ATP analogues and studies concerning their stability.

A species-specific polymerase chain reaction assay for rapid and sensitive detection of Colletotrichum capsici.

Colletotrichum capsici is an important fungal species that causes anthracnose in many genera of plants causing severe economic losses worldwide. A primer set was designed based on the sequences of the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS1 and ITS2) regions for use in a conventional PCR assay. The primer set (CcapF/CcapR) amplified a single product of 394 bp with DNA extracted from 20 Mexican isolates of C.