Vacuolar control of subcellular cation distribution is a key parameter in the adaptation of Debaryomyces hansenii to high salt concentrations.

Debaryomyces hansenii is a halotolerant and Na+-includer yeast that can be isolated from different food and low-water activity products. It has also been defined as a marine-occurring yeast but key aspects for this salt tolerant behavior are far from being understood. Here, we searched for clues helping to elucidate the basis of this ability. Our results on growth, Rb+ transport, total K+ and Na+ content and vacuolar fragmentation are compatible with a yeast species adapted to cope with salt stress. On the other hand, we confirmed the existence of D. hansenii strategies that are generally observed in sensitive organisms, such as the production of glycerol as a compatible solute and the efficient vacuolar sequestration of Na+. We propose a striking role of D. hansenii vacuoles in the maintenance of constant cytosolic K+ values, even in the presence of extracellular Na+ concentration values more than two orders of magnitude higher than extracellular K+. Finally, the ability to deal with cytosolic Na+ levels significantly higher than those found in S. cerevisiae, shows the existence of important and specific salt tolerance mechanisms and determinants in D. hansenii.

[The stigma in the social representation of leprosy]. / El estigma en la representación social de la lepra.

Social representation of leprosy in active patients under medical control is made up elements that come from the medical discourse and also from the discourse that about this disease circulates in society. This syncretism is expressed in each context a specific way on the components of the representation notion, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors - making of it a complex reality. On account of beliefs importance, whose depth and roots are linked to the thousand of years this disease has been known and to the seclusion practices in force till recent times, it would be comprehensible the predominance of elements related to common sense or popular knowledge. Nevertheless, as the representation is a collective construction, its fundamental features would be defined according to the specific characteristics of the group. To this respect, the main finding of this research referred to: first, the limited knowledge around this disease and the existence of beliefs and inadequated attitudes for controlling programs of active patients registered in the Maracaibo Service of Sanitary Dermatology located in Venezuela (Servicio de Dermatologia Sanitaria de Maracaibo (SDSMJ, Venezuela); second, a predominance of a congnitive dimension of representation, notions and beliefs relate to the role of fortune and fate, sexual promiscuity or heritage in the contagion; third, a patient's tendency to reproduce a disqualified stereotype and hide the disease due to an exaggerated rejection fear.