De novo assembly of Vriesea carinata leaf transcriptome to identify candidate cysteine-proteases.

Vriesea carinata is an endemic bromeliad from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. It has trichome and tank system in their leaves which allows to absorb water and nutrients. It belongs to Bromeliaceae family, which includes several species highly enriched of cysteine-proteases (CysPs). These proteolytic enzymes regulate processes as senescence, cell differentiation, pathogen-linked programmed cell death and mobilization of proteins. Although, their biological importance, there are not genomic resources in V. carinata that can help to identify and understand their molecular mechanisms involved in different biological processes. Thus high-throughput transcriptome sequencing of V. carinata is necessary to generate sequences for the purpose of gene discovery and functional genomic studies. In the present study, we sequenced and assembled the V. carinata transcriptome to the identification of CysPs. A total of 43,232 contigs were assembled for the leaf tissue. BLAST analysis indicated that 23,803 contigs exhibited similarity to non-redundant Viridiplantae proteins. 28.24% of the contigs were classified into the COG database, and gene ontology categorized them into 61 functional groups. A metabolic pathway analysis with KEGG revealed 9679 contigs assigned to 31 metabolic pathways. Among 16 full-length CysPs identified, 11 were evaluated in respect to their expression patterns in the leaf apex, base and inflorescence tissues. The results showed differential expression levels of legumain, metacaspase, pyroglutamyl and papain-like CysPs depending of the leaf region. These results provide a global overview of V. carinata gene functions and expression activities of CysPs in those tissues.

[A study from Navarra. Hyperlipidemia V. What is the best definition of hyperlipemia in childhood and adolescence?]. / Estudio de Navarra (PECNA). Hiperlipemias V. Cuál es la mejor definición de hiperlipemia en la edad infanto-juvenil?

As part of an epidemiological study on cardiovascular risk factors among children and adolescents in Navarra, lipids and lipoproteins were analyzed in 5,829 children of both sexes, between 4-17 years of age, and selected at random from the school population in our community. In this article, we analyze the different definitions for lipid risk during childhood, whether based on percentile values, according to age and sex of the child, of cholesterol, LDL/cholesterol, or risk quotients (C/HDL, LDL/HDL), or even on the absolute values of all of these parameters. An appropriate definition for hyperlipemia during childhood, once we know the average variations in the levels of lipids and lipoproteins according to age and sex, as well as the variations of the lipid risk prevalence according to its definition, would be: 1. Previous screening according to cholesterol serum levels: Values higher than the 70th percentile for each group according to age and sex: or higher than 185 mg/dl for children age 4 to 12 and 170 mg/dl for children age 13 to 17. 2. To calculate the LDL/HDL quotient among those selected children included in the definition of hyperlipemia when the quotient is higher than the 85th percentile for the patients age and sex, or it is higher than 2.2.

[Study from Navarra. Hyperlipidemia II. Variations according to age and sex in the average cholesterol level, LDL-cholesterol and triglycerides in an infant-child population]. / Estudio de Navarra (PECNA). Hiperlipemias II. Variaciones de los niveles medios de colesterol total, LDL-colesterol y triglicéridos de una población infanto-juvenil según edad y sexo.

As part of an epidemiological study on cardiovascular risk factors among children and adolescents in Navarra, lipids and lipoproteins were analysed in 5,829 children. The study group was selected at random from the school population in our community and included students of both sexes between 4 and 17 years of age. In this article we describe the variations from 4 to 10 years of age in both sexes and decrease from that age on. Among males older than 14, they continue decreasing, while they become stable in females. For this reason, values during childhood are higher than during adolescence in both sexes, and within this period, males show lower levels than girls. Variations in LDL serum levels according to age and sex are similar to those recorded with cholesterol. The triglyceride serum levels increase in line with age among boys. With girls, something similar happens until they are 13. Starting from this age, there is an inversion showing lower levels than the male adolescents. In both sexes, levels during adolescence are higher than during childhood.