Exploiting Tomato Genotypes to Understand Heat Stress Tolerance.

Increased temperatures caused by climate change constitute a significant threat to agriculture and food security. The selection of improved crop varieties with greater tolerance to heat stress is crucial for the future of agriculture. To overcome this challenge, four traditional tomato varieties from the Mediterranean basin and two commercial genotypes were selected to characterize their responses at high temperatures.

Biological and Molecular Diversity of Cucumber green mottle mosaic virus in Spain.

The complete RNA genome from Cucumber green mottle mosaic virus (CGMMV) (Alm08), collected during 2009 in cucumber crops located in Spain, was found to be 6,422 nucleotides long. The nucleotide sequence shared the highest identity with isolates from Russia (GQ495274, GQ495275, FJ848666) as do nucleotide sequences of partial CP and MP genes described in Spain since 2005. All the partial genome sequences including RdRp, CP, and MP from 26 isolates collected from 2013 to 2015 in the southeast of Spain, and from seven isolates of other parts of the world, suggest that they grouped in two major clusters: one cluster (I) included 14 isolates collected between 2013 and 2014, and also reference isolates from France, the Netherlands, and Uzbekistan.

Modulation of the long terminal repeat promoter activity of small ruminant lentiviruses by steroids.

Production and excretion of small ruminant lentiviruses (SRLVs) varies with the stage of the host reproductive cycle, suggesting hormonal involvement in this variation. Stress may also affect viral expression. To determine if hormones affect SRLV transcriptional activity, the expression of green fluorescent protein (GFP) driven by the promoters in the U3-cap region of the long terminal repeats (LTRs) of different strains of SRLV was assessed in cell culture.

Tn7 distribution in Helicobacter pylori: a selective paradox.

The presence of class 1, 2 and 3 integrons in Helicobacter pylori, which in other species are usually related to antimicrobial resistance, were looked for in 40 epidemiologically-unrelated isolates. The presence of the class 2 integrase, which led to the discovery of Tn7, was found in 15 of 35 different clones identified by lspA-glmM polymorphism. MIC values for trimethoprim and streptomycin were not affected by the presence or absence of dfrA1 and aadA1 genes.