Evidence for circulation of Rift Valley fever virus in wildlife and domestic animals in a forest environment in Gabon, Central Africa

Rift Valley fever (RVF) is a mosquito-borne viral zoonosis caused by the Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) that can infect domestic and wild animals. Although the RVFV transmission cycle has been well documented across Africa in savanna ecosystems, little is known about its transmission in tropical rainforest settings, particularly in Central Africa. We therefore conducted a survey in northeastern Gabon to assess RVFV circulation among wild and domestic animals. Among 163 wildlife samples tested using RVFV-specific RT-qPCR, four ruminants belonging to subfamily Cephalophinae were detected positive. The phylogenetic analysis revealed that the four RVFV sequences clustered together with a virus isolated in Namibia within the well-structured Egyptian clade. A cross-sectional survey conducted on sheep, goats and dogs living in villages within the same area determined the IgG RVFV-specific antibody prevalence using cELISA. Out of the 306 small ruminants tested (214 goats, 92 sheep), an overall antibody prevalence of 15.4% (95% CI [11.5-19.9]) was observed with a higher rate in goats than in sheep (20.1% versus 3.3%). RVFV-specific antibodies were detected in a single dog out of the 26 tested. Neither age, sex of domestic animals nor season was found to be significant risk factors of RVFV occurrence. Our findings highlight sylvatic circulation of RVFV for the first time in Gabon. These results stress the need to develop adequate surveillance plan measures to better control the public health threat of RVFV.

Evidence of transmission and circulation of Deltacron XD recombinant SARS-CoV-2 in Northwest France

In February 2022, samples collected in northwest France showed discordant molecular results. After virological and epidemiological investigations, 17 cases of Deltacron XD recombinant severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 were confirmed by sequencing or suspected due to epidemiological links, showing evidence of an extended transmission event and circulation of this form, with low clinical severity.

Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in two cats during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in France

Although there are several reports in the literature of SARS-CoV-2 infection in cats, few SARS-CoV-2 sequences from infected cats have been published. In this study, SARS-CoV-2 infection was evaluated in two cats by clinical observation, molecular biology (qPCR and NGS), and serology (microsphere immunoassay and seroneutralization). Following the observation of symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection in two cats, infection status was confirmed by RT-qPCR and, in one cat, serological analysis for antibodies against N-protein and S-protein, as well as neutralizing antibodies. Comparative analysis of five SARS-CoV-2 sequence fragments obtained from one of the cats showed that this infection was not with one of the three recently emerged variants of SARS-CoV-2. This study provides additional information on the clinical, molecular, and serological aspects of SARS-CoV-2 infection in cats.

Interrogating Phylogenetic Discordance Resolves Deep Splits in the Rapid Radiation of Old World Fruit Bats (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae)

The family Pteropodidae (Old World fruit bats) comprises $>$200 species distributed across the Old World tropics and subtropics. Most pteropodids feed on fruit, suggesting an early origin of frugivory, although several lineages have shifted to nectar-based diets. Pteropodids are of exceptional conservation concern with $>$50% of species considered threatened, yet the systematics of this group has long been debated, with uncertainty surrounding early splits attributed to an ancient rapid diversification. Resolving the relationships among the main pteropodid lineages is essential if we are to fully understand their evolutionary distinctiveness, and the extent to which these bats have transitioned to nectar-feeding. Here we generated orthologous sequences for $>$1400 nuclear protein-coding genes (2.8 million base pairs) across 114 species from 43 genera of Old World fruit bats (57% and 96% of extant species- and genus-level diversity, respectively), and combined phylogenomic inference with filtering by information content to resolve systematic relationships among the major lineages. Concatenation and coalescent-based methods recovered three distinct backbone topologies that were not able to be reconciled by filtering via phylogenetic information content. Concordance analysis and gene genealogy interrogation show that one topology is consistently the best supported, and that observed phylogenetic conflicts arise from both gene tree error and deep incomplete lineage sorting. In addition to resolving long-standing inconsistencies in the reported relationships among major lineages, we show that Old World fruit bats have likely undergone at least seven independent dietary transitions from frugivory to nectarivory. Finally, we use this phylogeny to identify and describe one new genus. [Chiroptera; coalescence; concordance; incomplete lineage sorting; nectar feeder; species tree; target enrichment.].

Development and characterization of 10 microsatellite markers in the Cape horseshoe bat, Rhinolophus capensis (Chiroptera, Rhinolophidae) and cross-amplification in southern African Rhinolophus species

Background

The Cape horseshoe bat, Rhinolophus capensis, is endemic to the Cape region of South Africa. Coalescent analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequence data suggests extensive historical gene flow between populations despite strong geographic variation of their echolocation call phenotype. Nevertheless the fine-scale genetic structure and evolutionary ecology of R. capensis remains poorly understood. Here we describe the development of 10 novel polymorphic microsatellite loci to investigate of the dispersal ecology of R. capensis and to facilitate taxonomic studies of Rhinolophus species in southern Africa.

Findings

We report 10 microsatellite primer pairs that consistently amplify scorable and polymorphic loci across 12 African rhinolophid species. Initial analysis of two populations of R. capensis from South Africa revealed moderate to high levels of allelic variation with 4–14 alleles per locus and observed heterozygosities of 0.450–0.900. No evidence of linkage disequilibrium was observed and eight of the loci showed no departure from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. Cross-species utility of these markers revealed consistently amplifiable polymorphic loci in eleven additional rhinolophid species.

Conclusions

The cross-amplification success of the microsatellites developed here provides a cost-effective set of population genetic marker for the study of rhinolophid evolutionary ecology and conservation in southern Africa.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13104-015-1465-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Ostheosynthesis plates, screws, xenogenic graft and resorbable barriers for preimplant and peri-implant surgery

AIM

The guided bone regeneration (GBR) procedure allows the regeneration of bone in implant surgery. A variety of GBR procedures to provide the bony-support for implant placement have been described and a variety of devices to perform this procedures have been used. The authors have carried out a retrospective study on the use of ostheosynthesis plates, screws, xenogenic bone grafting material and resorbable barriers for implant and preimplant surgery.

METHODS

Fourteen partially edentulous patients were treated by a single surgeon in a private dental clinic in Italy. Patients age ranged between 28 and 52 years old. Every patients was treated with GBR technique performed with the use of ostheosynthesis plate and screws, xenogenic bone grafting material and resorbable barriers in staged or simultaneous implant placement.

RESULTS

Twenty-one implants were placed and no-one failed, all planned prostheses were delivered. In all the cases a complete bone regeneration was obtained.

CONCLUSION

The outcomes of the study allow to state that the GBR technique performed with ostheosynthesis plates, screws, xenogenic graft and resorbable barriers is a safe alternative to the others well established GBR procedure.

The Arabidopsis TT2 gene encodes an R2R3 MYB domain protein that acts as a key determinant for proanthocyanidin accumulation in developing seed

In Arabidopsis, proanthocyanidins specifically accumulate in the endothelium during early seed development. At least three TRANSPARENT TESTA (TT) genes, TT2, TT8, and TTG1, are necessary for the normal expression of several flavonoid structural genes in immature seed, such as DIHYDROFLAVONOL-4-REDUCTASE and BANYULS (BAN). TT8 and TTG1 were characterized recently and found to code for a basic helix-loop-helix domain transcription factor and a WD-repeat-containing protein, respectively. Here the molecular cloning of the TT2 gene was achieved by T-DNA tagging. TT2 encoded an R2R3 MYB domain protein with high similarity to the rice OsMYB3 protein and the maize COLORLESS1 factor. A TT2-green fluorescent protein fusion protein was located mostly in the nucleus, in agreement with the regulatory function of the native TT2 protein. TT2 expression was restricted to the seed during early embryogenesis, consistent with BAN expression and the proanthocyanidin deposition profile. Finally, in gain-of-function experiments, TT2 was able to induce ectopic expression of BAN in young seedlings and roots in the presence of a functional TT8 protein. Therefore, our results strongly suggest that stringent spatial and temporal BAN expression, and thus proanthocyanidin accumulation, are determined at least partially by TT2.

The Arabidopsis TT2 gene encodes an R2R3 MYB domain protein that acts as a key determinant for proanthocyanidin accumulation in developing seed

In Arabidopsis, proanthocyanidins specifically accumulate in the endothelium during early seed development. At least three TRANSPARENT TESTA (TT) genes, TT2, TT8, and TTG1, are necessary for the normal expression of several flavonoid structural genes in immature seed, such as DIHYDROFLAVONOL-4-REDUCTASE and BANYULS (BAN). TT8 and TTG1 were characterized recently and found to code for a basic helix-loop-helix domain transcription factor and a WD-repeat-containing protein, respectively. Here the molecular cloning of the TT2 gene was achieved by T-DNA tagging. TT2 encoded an R2R3 MYB domain protein with high similarity to the rice OsMYB3 protein and the maize COLORLESS1 factor. A TT2-green fluorescent protein fusion protein was located mostly in the nucleus, in agreement with the regulatory function of the native TT2 protein. TT2 expression was restricted to the seed during early embryogenesis, consistent with BAN expression and the proanthocyanidin deposition profile. Finally, in gain-of-function experiments, TT2 was able to induce ectopic expression of BAN in young seedlings and roots in the presence of a functional TT8 protein. Therefore, our results strongly suggest that stringent spatial and temporal BAN expression, and thus proanthocyanidin accumulation, are determined at least partially by TT2.

The Arabidopsis TT2 gene encodes an R2R3 MYB domain protein that acts as a key determinant for proanthocyanidin accumulation in developing seed

In Arabidopsis, proanthocyanidins specifically accumulate in the endothelium during early seed development. At least three TRANSPARENT TESTA (TT) genes, TT2, TT8, and TTG1, are necessary for the normal expression of several flavonoid structural genes in immature seed, such as DIHYDROFLAVONOL-4-REDUCTASE and BANYULS (BAN). TT8 and TTG1 were characterized recently and found to code for a basic helix-loop-helix domain transcription factor and a WD-repeat-containing protein, respectively. Here the molecular cloning of the TT2 gene was achieved by T-DNA tagging. TT2 encoded an R2R3 MYB domain protein with high similarity to the rice OsMYB3 protein and the maize COLORLESS1 factor. A TT2-green fluorescent protein fusion protein was located mostly in the nucleus, in agreement with the regulatory function of the native TT2 protein. TT2 expression was restricted to the seed during early embryogenesis, consistent with BAN expression and the proanthocyanidin deposition profile. Finally, in gain-of-function experiments, TT2 was able to induce ectopic expression of BAN in young seedlings and roots in the presence of a functional TT8 protein. Therefore, our results strongly suggest that stringent spatial and temporal BAN expression, and thus proanthocyanidin accumulation, are determined at least partially by TT2.

The TT8 gene encodes a basic helix-loop-helix domain protein required for expression of DFR and BAN genes in Arabidopsis siliques

The TRANSPARENT TESTA8 (TT8) locus is involved in the regulation of flavonoid biosynthesis in Arabidopsis. The tt8-3 allele was isolated from a T-DNA-mutagenized Arabidopsis collection and found to be tagged by an integrative molecule, thus permitting the cloning and sequencing of the TT8 gene. TT8 identity was confirmed by complementation of tt8-3 and sequence analysis of an additional allele. The TT8 gene encodes a protein that displays a basic helix-loop-helix at its C terminus and represents an Arabidopsis ortholog of the maize R transcription factors. The TT8 transcript is present in developing siliques and in young seedlings. The TT8 protein is required for normal expression of two flavonoid late biosynthetic genes, namely, DIHYDROFLAVONOL 4-REDUCTASE (DFR) and BANYULS (BAN), in Arabidopsis siliques. Interestingly, TRANSPARENT TESTA GLABRA1 (TTG1) and TT2 genes also control the expression of DFR and BAN genes. Our results suggest that the TT8, TTG1, and TT2 proteins may interact to control flavonoid metabolism in the Arabidopsis seed coat.

The TT8 gene encodes a basic helix-loop-helix domain protein required for expression of DFR and BAN genes in Arabidopsis siliques

The TRANSPARENT TESTA8 (TT8) locus is involved in the regulation of flavonoid biosynthesis in Arabidopsis. The tt8-3 allele was isolated from a T-DNA-mutagenized Arabidopsis collection and found to be tagged by an integrative molecule, thus permitting the cloning and sequencing of the TT8 gene. TT8 identity was confirmed by complementation of tt8-3 and sequence analysis of an additional allele. The TT8 gene encodes a protein that displays a basic helix-loop-helix at its C terminus and represents an Arabidopsis ortholog of the maize R transcription factors. The TT8 transcript is present in developing siliques and in young seedlings. The TT8 protein is required for normal expression of two flavonoid late biosynthetic genes, namely, DIHYDROFLAVONOL 4-REDUCTASE (DFR) and BANYULS (BAN), in Arabidopsis siliques. Interestingly, TRANSPARENT TESTA GLABRA1 (TTG1) and TT2 genes also control the expression of DFR and BAN genes. Our results suggest that the TT8, TTG1, and TT2 proteins may interact to control flavonoid metabolism in the Arabidopsis seed coat.

[Esophageal stenosis caused by benign mucous pemphigoid]

The Authors report a case of benign mucous pemphigoid. The review of the literature has confirmed the rarity of this disease. After having discussed acquired diagnostic data, the Authors show reasons to justify the endoscopic surgical treatment. Furthermore, they underline the importance of associated medical therapy as well as follow-ups which patients must periodically undergo.