Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Published: May 2020
AI Article Synopsis
Article Abstract
We conducted the genome sequencing and analysis of the first confirmed COVID-19 infections in Brazil. Rapid sequencing coupled with phylogenetic analyses in the context of travel history corroborate multiple independent importations from Italy and local spread during the initial stage of COVID-19 transmission in Brazil.
Aberration of mitochondrial function is a shared feature of many human pathologies, characterised by changes in metabolic flux, cellular energetics, morphology, composition, and dynamics of the mitochondrial network. While some of these changes serve as compensatory mechanisms to maintain cellular homeostasis, their chronic activation can permanently affect cellular metabolism and signalling, ultimately impairing cell function. Here, we use a Drosophila melanogaster model expressing a proofreading-deficient mtDNA polymerase (POLγ) in a genetic screen to find genes that mitigate the harmful accumulation of mtDNA mutations.
Background & Aims: Sleep disorders (SDs) are common in chronic liver diseases (CLDs). Some SDs arise from impaired internal clock and are hence circadian rhythm SDs (CRSDs). Bile acids (BAs), whose levels are increased in many CLDs, reciprocally interact with circadian rhythm.
The import of nuclear-encoded preproteins into chloroplasts is crucial for normal plant function and is facilitated by specific receptors known as Toc GTPases.
Researchers identified seven Toc GTPase genes in tomatoes, categorized into two subclasses, which are involved in tissue expression and hormonal responses.
Silencing the SIToc34-1 gene led to lighter green tomato fruits and reduced chlorophyll, suggesting its vital role in early chloroplast development and gene expression related to photosynthesis.
In the last 6 years, Italy accounted for 36 % of the total autochthonous European West Nile virus (WNV) cases reported to ECDC. Since 2001, the country put in place a multi-species national surveillance plan. The plan was enhanced in 2020 by adopting a fully integrated "One Health" approach, including human, wild bird, equine, and mosquito surveillance for the early detection of WNV.
Section of Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark; MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
The importation and subsequent establishment of novel pathogenic strains in a population is subject to a large degree of uncertainty due to the stochastic nature of the disease dynamics. Mathematical models need to take this stochasticity in the early phase of an outbreak into account in order to adequately capture the uncertainty in disease forecasts. We propose a general branching process model of disease spread that includes host-level heterogeneity, and that can be straightforwardly tailored to capture the salient aspects of a particular disease outbreak.
