Project description:Many members of suborder Heteroptra harbor heritable symbiotic bacteria. Here we characterize the gut symbiotic bacterium in Graphosoma lineatum (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) by using molecular phylogeny, real-time PCR analysis as well as light and electron microscopy observations. The microscopy observations revealed the presence of a large number of rod-shaped bacterial cells in the crypts. A very high prevalence (98 to 100%) of the symbiont infection was found in the insect populations that strongly supports an intimate association between these two organisms. Real-time PCR analysis also showed that the Gammaproteobacteria dominated the crypts. The sequences of 16sr RNA and groEL genes of symbiont showed high levels of similarity (93 to 95%) to Pantoea agglomeranse and Erwinia herbicola Gammaproteobacteria. Phylogenetic analyses placed G. lineatum symbiont in a well-defined branch, divergent from other stink bug bacterial symbionts. Co-evolutionary analysis showed lack of host-symbiont phylogenetic congruence. Surface sterilization of eggs resulted in increased pre-adult stage in the offspring (aposymbionts) in comparison to the normal. Also, fecundity, longevity, and adult stage were significantly decreased in the aposymbionts. Therefore, it seems that the symbiont might play a vital function in the host biology, in which host optimal development depends on the symbiont.
Project description:We report a case of human cutaneous myiasis by Hypoderma lineatum, contracted by a farmer who never traveled outside Italy. Identification at species level has been performed by both morphological examination and sequencing of cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene. This is the first description of human hypodermosis by H. lineatum contracted in Europe.
Project description:Saccharomonospora azurea Runmao et al. 1987 is a member of the genus Saccharomonospora, which is in the family Pseudonocardiaceae and thus far poorly characterized genomically. Members of the genus Saccharomonospora are of interest because they originate from diverse habitats, such as leaf litter, manure, compost, the surface of peat, and moist and over-heated grain, and may play a role in the primary degradation of plant material by attacking hemicellulose. Next to S. viridis, S. azurea is only the second member in the genus Saccharomonospora for which a completely sequenced type strain genome will be published. Here we describe the features of this organism, together with the complete genome sequence with project status 'Improved high quality draft', and the annotation. The 4,763,832 bp long chromosome with its 4,472 protein-coding and 58 RNA genes was sequenced as part of the DOE funded Community Sequencing Program (CSP) 2010 at the Joint Genome Institute (JGI).
Project description:In the present study, the detection of a pantropic canine coronavirus (CCoV) strain in a dog with lethal diarrhoea is reported. RT-PCR and real-time RT-PCR assays were used for the detection, characterization and quantitation of CCoV. Sequence and phylogenetic analysis of the CCoV NA/09 revealed a high degree of sequence identity with the pantropic strain CB/05, indicating the presence of CB/05-like pantropic strains in Greece. The absence of the 38-nucleotide deletion in ORF3b, which is characteristic of CB/05, indicates the need to identify new genetic markers for pantropic variants of CCoV, probably in the spike-protein gene region.