Nep1-like proteins from three kingdoms of life act as a microbe-associated molecular pattern in Arabidopsis.

Necrosis and ethylene-inducing peptide 1 (Nep1)-like proteins (NLPs) are secreted by a wide range of plant-associated microorganisms. They are best known for their cytotoxicity in dicot plants that leads to the induction of rapid tissue necrosis and plant immune responses. The biotrophic downy mildew pathogen Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis encodes 10 different noncytotoxic NLPs (HaNLPs) that do not cause necrosis. We discovered that these noncytotoxic NLPs, however, act as potent activators of the plant immune system in Arabidopsis thaliana. Ectopic expression of HaNLP3 in Arabidopsis triggered resistance to H. arabidopsidis, activated the expression of a large set of defense-related genes, and caused a reduction of plant growth that is typically associated with strongly enhanced immunity. N- and C-terminal deletions of HaNLP3, as well as amino acid substitutions, pinpointed to a small central region of the protein that is required to trigger immunity, indicating the protein acts as a microbe-associated molecular pattern (MAMP). This was confirmed in experiments with a synthetic peptide of 24 aa, derived from the central part of HaNLP3 and corresponding to a conserved region in type 1 NLPs that induces ethylene production, a well-known MAMP response. Strikingly, corresponding 24-aa peptides of fungal and bacterial type 1 NLPs were also able to trigger immunity in Arabidopsis. The widespread phylogenetic distribution of type 1 NLPs makes this protein family (to our knowledge) the first proteinaceous MAMP identified in three different kingdoms of life.

Nontoxic Nep1-like proteins of the downy mildew pathogen Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis: repression of necrosis-inducing activity by a surface-exposed region.

The genome of the downy mildew pathogen Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis encodes necrosis and ethylene-inducing peptide 1 (Nep1)-like proteins (NLP). Although NLP are widely distributed in eukaryotic and prokaryotic plant pathogens, it was surprising to find these proteins in the obligate biotrophic oomycete H. arabidopsidis. Therefore, we analyzed the H. arabidopsidis NLP (HaNLP) family and identified 12 HaNLP genes and 15 pseudogenes. Most of the 27 genes form an H. arabidopsidis-specific cluster when compared with other oomycete NLP genes, suggesting this class of effectors has recently expanded in H. arabidopsidis. HaNLP transcripts were mainly detected during early infection stages. Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transient expression and infiltration of recombinant NLP into tobacco and Arabidopsis leaves revealed that all HaNLP tested are noncytotoxic proteins. Even HaNLP3, which is most similar to necrosis-inducing NLP proteins of other oomycetes and which contains all amino acids that are critical for necrosis-inducing activity, did not induce necrosis. Chimeras constructed between HaNLP3 and the necrosis-inducing PsojNIP protein demonstrated that most of the HaNLP3 protein is functionally equivalent to PsojNIP, except for an exposed domain that prevents necrosis induction. The early expression and species-specific expansion of the HaNLP genes is suggestive of an alternative function of noncytolytic NLP proteins during biotrophic infection of plants.

Management of health sector actions in drought situations.

Water is essential for the socio-economic development of a region and also for the survival of human beings. Water scarcity has direct and indirect impacts on the environment, the economy and human health. It can change the profile of morbidity and mortality of diseases, as well as having an impact on the supply of services that are essential public to the quality of life. This study aims to contextualize the occurrence of drought in Brazil, its effects on human health, as well as actions to be developed by the health sector to reduce the risk to those living in affected areas, with an emphasis on the monitoring of the quality of drinking water. This is a descriptive, qualitative study with a documental basis. The documents that were researched were related to initiatives by the Health Surveillance Secretariat of the Ministry of Health up until 2014. It is necessary to strengthen the performance capacity of the Unified Health System (SUS) in order to develop timely responses to reduce the risk to public health.

Worldwide occurrence of integrative conjugative element encoding multidrug resistance determinants in epidemic Vibrio cholerae O1.

In the last decades, there has been an increase of cholera epidemics caused by multidrug resistant strains. Particularly, the integrative and conjugative element (ICE) seems to play a major role in the emergence of multidrug resistant Vibrio cholerae. This study fully characterized, by whole genome sequencing, new ICEs carried by multidrug resistant V. cholerae O1 strains from Nigeria (2010) (ICEVchNig1) and Nepal (1994) (ICEVchNep1). The gene content and gene order of these two ICEs are the same, and identical to ICEVchInd5, ICEVchBan5 and ICEVchHai1 previously identified in multidrug resistant V. cholerae O1. This ICE is characterized by dfrA1, sul2, strAB and floR antimicrobial resistance genes, and by unique gene content in HS4 and HS5 ICE regions. Screening for ICEs, in publicly available V. cholerae genomes, revealed the occurrence and widespread distribution of this ICE among V. cholerae O1. Metagenomic analysis found segments of this ICE in marine environments far from the direct influence of the cholera epidemic. Therefore, this study revealed the epidemiology of a spatio-temporal prevalent ICE in V. cholerae O1. Its occurrence and dispersion in V. cholerae O1 strains from different continents throughout more than two decades can be indicative of its role in the fitness of the current pandemic lineage.

Concordância interobservador na avaliação de lesões do tendão subescapular usando imagens de Ressonância Nuclear Magnética / Interobserver agreement in the assessment of subscapularis tendon injuries using Magnetic Nuclear Resonance imaging / Concordancia interobservadora en la evaluación de lesiones del tendón subescapular usando imágenes de Resonancia Nuclear Magnética

Introdução: As lesões do tendão musculo subescapular (TMSE) do manguito rotador passaram a ter aumento de sua incidência com as avançadas técnicas de diagnostico por imagem e artroscópicas. A Ressonância Nuclear Magnética (RM) apresenta boa sensibilidade e especificidade permitindo adequada acurácia diagnóstico. Objetivo: avaliação da concordância interobservador da RM para Lesões do TMSE comparada à artroscopia. Métodologia: 49 pacientes sintomáticos foram submetidos à RM para diagnóstico de lesão do TMSE e avaliação da Classificação de Lafosse, tendo sua concordância avaliada através da Artroscopia diagnostica. Resultados: A acurácia global foi 68% para concordância diagnóstica da Lesão do TMSE e 57,1% para concordância na classificação de Lafosse. Discussão: obteve-se concordância para o diagnóstico de Lesão ou ausência de Lesão do TMSE de 0,49 e a concordância para a Classificação de Lafosse foi de 0,30. Conclusão: o diagnóstico da lesão do TMSE através da RM é de difícil realização(AU)

Introduction: Injuries of subscapular muscle tendon (SEMT) of the rotator cuff have been increased in incidence with advanced imaging and arthroscopic techniques. Magnetic Nuclear Resonance (MRI) presents good sensitivity and specificity allowing adequate diagnostic accuracy. Objective: to evaluate the interobserver agreement of MRI for SEMT lesions compared to arthroscopy. Methods: 49 symptomatic patients underwent MRI for diagnosis of SEMT lesion and evaluation of the Lafosse Classification, and their concordance was assessed through diagnostic arthroscopy. Results: The overall accuracy was 68% for diagnostic concordance of the SEMT Lesion and 57.1% for concordance in the Lafosse classification. Discussion: concordance was obtained for the diagnosis of Lesion or absence of Lesion of the SEMT of 0.49 and the agreement for the Lafosse Classification was 0.30. Conclusion: the diagnosis of SEMT lesion through MRI is difficult to perform(AU)

Introducción: Las lesiones del tendón musculo subescapular (TMSE) del manguito de los rotadores pasaron a tener aumento de su incidencia con las avanzadas técnicas de diagnóstico por imagen y artroscópicas. La Resonancia Magnética Nuclear (RM) presenta buena sensibilidad y especificidad permitiendo una adecuada exactitud diagnóstica. Objetivo: evaluación de la concordancia entre observadores de la imagen RM para Lesiones del TMSE comparada a la artroscopia. Métodos: 49 pacientes sintomáticos fueron sometidos a la RM para diagnóstico de lesión del TMSE y evaluación de la Clasificación de Lafosse, teniendo su concordancia evaluada a través de la Artroscopia diagnóstica. Resultados: La exactitud global fue 68% para concordancia diagnóstica de la Lesión del TMSE y el 57,1% para concordancia en la clasificación de Lafosse. Discusión: se obtuvo concordancia para el diagnóstico de Lesión o ausencia de Lesión del TMSE de 0,49 y la concordancia para la Clasificación de Lafosse fue de 0,30. Conclusión: el diagnóstico de la lesión del TMSE a través de la RM es de difícil realización(AU)

Functional analysis of Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis RXLR effectors.

The biotrophic plant pathogen Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis produces a set of putative effector proteins that contain the conserved RXLR motif. For most of these RXLR proteins the role during infection is unknown. Thirteen RXLR proteins from H. arabidopsidis strain Waco9 were analyzed for sequence similarities and tested for a role in virulence. The thirteen RXLR proteins displayed conserved N-termini and this N-terminal conservation was also found in the 134 predicted RXLR genes from the genome of H. arabidopsidis strain Emoy2. To investigate the effects of single RXLR effector proteins on plant defense responses, thirteen H. arabidopsidis Waco9 RXLR genes were expressed in Arabidopsis thaliana. Subsequently, these plants were screened for altered susceptibility to the oomycetes H. arabidopsidis and Phytophthora capsici, and the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae. Additionally, the effect of the RXLR proteins on flg22-triggered basal immune responses was assessed. Multifactorial analysis of results collated from all experiments revealed that, except for RXLR20, all RXLR effector proteins tested affected plant immunity. For RXLR9 this was confirmed using a P. syringae ΔCEL-mediated effector delivery system. Together, the results show that many H. arabidopsidis RXLR effectors have small effects on the plant immune response, suggesting that suppression of host immunity by this biotrophic pathogen is likely to be caused by the combined actions of effectors.

Identification of Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis transcript sequences expressed during infection reveals isolate-specific effectors.

Biotrophic plant pathogens secrete effector proteins that are important for infection of the host. The aim of this study was to identify effectors of the downy mildew pathogen Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis (Hpa) that are expressed during infection of its natural host Arabidopsis thaliana. Infection-related transcripts were identified from Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs) derived from leaves of the susceptible Arabidopsis Ws eds1-1 mutant inoculated with the highly virulent Hpa isolate Waco9. Assembly of 6364 ESTs yielded 3729 unigenes, of which 2164 were Hpa-derived. From the translated Hpa unigenes, 198 predicted secreted proteins were identified. Of these, 75 were found to be Hpa-specific and six isolate Waco9-specific. Among 42 putative effectors identified there were three Elicitin-like proteins, 16 Cysteine-rich proteins and 18 host-translocated RXLR effectors. Sequencing of alleles in different Hpa isolates revealed that five RXLR genes show signatures of diversifying selection. Thus, EST analysis of Hpa-infected Arabidopsis is proving to be a powerful method for identifying pathogen effector candidates expressed during infection. Delivery of the Waco9-specific protein RXLR29 in planta revealed that this effector can suppress PAMP-triggered immunity and enhance disease susceptibility. We propose that differences in host colonization can be conditioned by isolate-specific effectors.

Gestão das ações do setor saúde em situações de seca e estiagem / Management of health sector actions in drought situations

Resumo A água é essencial para o desenvolvimento socioeconômico de um território e, também, para sobrevivência do ser humano. A escassez hídrica causa impactos diretos e indiretos sobre o ambiente, a economia e a saúde humana, podendo alterar o perfil de morbidade e mortalidade das doenças, além de impactar a oferta de serviços públicos essenciais à qualidade de vida. Este estudo visa contextualizar a ocorrência de estiagem e seca no Brasil, os efeitos à saúde humana, bem como ações a serem desenvolvidas pelo setor saúde para reduzir o risco de exposição da população das áreas atingidas, com ênfase nas ações de vigilância da qualidade da água para consumo humano. Trata-se de estudo descritivo, qualitativo, com base documental. Foram pesquisados documentos elaborados com base em iniciativas da Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde do Ministério da Saúde até 2014. Considera-se necessário fortalecer a capacidade de atuação do Sistema Único de Saúde para o desenvolvimento de respostas oportunas para a redução do risco à saúde da população.

Abstract Water is essential for the socio-economic development of a region and also for the survival of human beings. Water scarcity has direct and indirect impacts on the environment, the economy and human health. It can change the profile of morbidity and mortality of diseases, as well as having an impact on the supply of services that are essential public to the quality of life. This study aims to contextualize the occurrence of drought in Brazil, its effects on human health, as well as actions to be developed by the health sector to reduce the risk to those living in affected areas, with an emphasis on the monitoring of the quality of drinking water. This is a descriptive, qualitative study with a documental basis. The documents that were researched were related to initiatives by the Health Surveillance Secretariat of the Ministry of Health up until 2014. It is necessary to strengthen the performance capacity of the Unified Health System (SUS) in order to develop timely responses to reduce the risk to public health.

Surveillance of the drinking water quality din the Legal Amazon: analysis of vulnerable areas / Vigilância da qualidade da água para consumo humano na Amazônia Legal: Análise de áreas vulneráveis

Abstract Low quality drinking water has been directly correlated to the occurrence of waterborne illnesses in northern Brazil. To minimize health risks related to the water supply, the Ministry of Health has proposed the implementation of the National Program for the Surveillance of Drinking Water Quality (VIGIAGUA) in Brazilian municipalities. Focusing on the Legal Amazon region, the present study demonstrates a historical account of the percentage of municipalities included in the VIGIAGUA program in place, which in 2013 reached 45.1% of the region municipalities. This study also identifies vulnerable areas in terms of the water quality in the states of Amapá, Amazonas and Maranhão. With this analysis of the current status of the drinking water supply, this study intends to support and direct the strategic efforts of environmental health monitoring in the region.

Resumo A baixa qualidade da água para consumo humano está diretamente relacionada à ocorrência de doenças de transmissão hídrica. Para minimizar riscos à saúde e vulnerabilidades relacionadas ao abastecimento de água, o Ministério da Saúde propõe a implantação do Programa Nacional de Vigilância da Qualidade da Água para Consumo Humano (Vigiagua) aos municípios brasileiros. Focando na região da Amazônia Legal, o presente estudo demonstra uma série histórica do percentual de municípios com o programa Vigiagua implantado, atingindo em 2013 a marca de 45,1% dos municípios dessa região. O estudo ainda identifica áreas muito vulneráveis nos estados do Amapá, Amazonas e Maranhão para a questão da qualidade da água. Com esta análise da situação do abastecimento de água para consumo humano pretende-se subsidiar e direcionar as ações estratégicas da vigilância em saúde ambiental na região.

Signatures of adaptation to obligate biotrophy in the Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis genome.

Many oomycete and fungal plant pathogens are obligate biotrophs, which extract nutrients only from living plant tissue and cannot grow apart from their hosts. Although these pathogens cause substantial crop losses, little is known about the molecular basis or evolution of obligate biotrophy. Here, we report the genome sequence of the oomycete Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis (Hpa), an obligate biotroph and natural pathogen of Arabidopsis thaliana. In comparison with genomes of related, hemibiotrophic Phytophthora species, the Hpa genome exhibits dramatic reductions in genes encoding (i) RXLR effectors and other secreted pathogenicity proteins, (ii) enzymes for assimilation of inorganic nitrogen and sulfur, and (iii) proteins associated with zoospore formation and motility. These attributes comprise a genomic signature of evolution toward obligate biotrophy.

Arabidopsis SENESCENCE-ASSOCIATED GENE101 stabilizes and signals within an ENHANCED DISEASE SUSCEPTIBILITY1 complex in plant innate immunity.

Plant innate immunity against invasive biotrophic pathogens depends on the intracellular defense regulator ENHANCED DISEASE SUSCEPTIBILITY1 (EDS1). We show here that Arabidopsis thaliana EDS1 interacts in vivo with another protein, SENESCENCE-ASSOCIATED GENE101 (SAG101), discovered through a proteomic approach to identify new EDS1 pathway components. Together with PHYTOALEXIN-DEFICIENT4 (PAD4), a known EDS1 interactor, SAG101 contributes intrinsic and indispensable signaling activity to EDS1-dependent resistance. The combined activities of SAG101 and PAD4 are necessary for programmed cell death triggered by the Toll-Interleukin-1 Receptor type of nucleotide binding/leucine-rich repeat immune receptor in response to avirulent pathogen isolates and in restricting the growth of normally virulent pathogens. We further demonstrate by a combination of cell fractionation, coimmunoprecipitation, and fluorescence resonance energy transfer experiments the existence of an EDS1-SAG101 complex inside the nucleus that is molecularly and spatially distinct from EDS1-PAD4 associations in the nucleus and cytoplasm. By contrast, EDS1 homomeric interactions were detected in the cytoplasm but not inside the nucleus. These data, combined with evidence for coregulation between individual EDS1 complexes, suggest that dynamic interactions of EDS1 and its signaling partners in multiple cell compartments are important for plant defense signal relay.

Distinct functional interactions of human Skn-1 isoforms with Ese-1 during keratinocyte terminal differentiation.

Among the three major POU proteins expressed in human skin, Oct-1, Tst-1/Oct-6, and Skn-1/Oct-11, only the latter induced SPRR2A, a marker of keratinocyte terminal differentiation. In this study, we have identified three Skn-1 isoforms, which encode proteins with various N termini, generated by alternative promoter usage. These isotypes showed distinct expression patterns in various skin samples, internal squamous epithelia, and cultured human keratinocytes. Skn-1a and Skn-1d1 bound the SPRR2A octamer site with comparable affinity and functioned as transcriptional activators. Skn-1d2 did not affect SPRR2A expression. Skn-1a, the largest protein, functionally cooperated with Ese-1/Elf-3, an epithelial-specific transcription factor, previously implicated in SPRR2A induction. This cooperativity, which depended on an N-terminal pointed-like domain in Skn-1a, was not found for Skn-1d1. Actually, Skn-1d1 counteracted the cooperativity between Skn-1a and Ese-1. Apparently, the human Skn-1 locus encodes multifunctional protein isotypes, subjected to biochemical cross-talk, which are likely to play a major role in the fine-tuning of keratinocyte terminal differentiation.

A Vigilância da Qualidade da Água para Consumo Humano (Vigiagua) e os Objetivos do Desenvolvimento do Milênio (ODM) / Surveillance of Water Quality for Human Consumption (Vigiagua) and the Millennium Development Goals

O Programa Nacional de Vigilância da Qualidade da Água para Consumo Humano (Vigiagua) visa desenvolver ações de vigilância que garantam à população acesso à água em quantidade suficiente e qualidade compatível com o padrão de potabilidade. O Vigiagua possui como base legal a Portaria nº 518/2004, que determina o padrão de potabilidade e estabelece os procedimentos e responsabilidades relativos ao controle e à vigilância da qualidade da água para consumo humano. Segundo o Sistema de Informação de Vigilância da Qualidade da Água para Consumo Humano (Sisagua), no Brasil há 21% dos sistemas de abastecimento sem tratamento da água, que abastecem cerca de 15 milhões de pessoas. A atuação do setor saúde, por meio do Vigiagua, estabelece articulação entre políticas e programas de governo, objetivando a melhoria na qualidade de vida da população e contribuindo com o atendimento dos Objetivos do Desenvolvimento do Milênio: ?reduzir pela metade, até 2015, a proporção da população sem acesso permanente e sustentável a água potável segura e ao esgotamento sanitário? e ?reduzir a mortalidade na infância?, pois as crianças são as principais vítimas de doenças de veiculação hídrica nos locais onde há precariedade do saneamento.

Contaminantes químicos em águas destinadas ao consumo humano no Brasil / Drinking water chemical contaminants in Brazil

A contaminação química da água destinada ao consumo humano foi, até recentemente, negligenciada no Brasil. No entanto, grande quantidade e diversidade de substâncias nocivas são continuamente lançadas no ambiente, sem que se conheça de forma satisfatória o perigo que representam à saúde. No sentido de preencher essas lacunas, o presente trabalho teve como objetivo diagnosticar a condição das águas distribuídas à população a partir dos sistemas de abastecimento de água (SAAs), por meio do levantamento de informações disponibilizadas no Sistema de Informações sobre Qualidade da Água para Consumo Humano (SISAGUA). Detectou-se mercúrio por responsáveis pelo abastecimento em níveis acima do permitido em SAAs de diversos Estados, ao contrário do que ocorreu com outros compostos inorgânicos e com a maioria dos orgânicos. Por outro lado, os Trihalometanos (THMs) foram verificados em desacordo com o padrão estabelecido pela Norma de Potabilidade (Portaria MS nº518/2004). Agrotóxicos também apareceram acima dos valores máximos permitidos. Traçou-se um panorama preliminar da condição das águas para consumo humano, pois, no geral, o número de amostras avaliadas foi reduzido, há deficiências no monitoramento das águas e no próprio sistema de informações que precisam ser aprimorados. Mesmo diante deste quadro, as informações registradas no SISAGUA funcionaram como instrumento útil para priorizar poluentes e regiões potencialmente mais afetadas, podendo nortear a tomada de decisão quanto a ações efetivas para a melhoria da qualidade da água para consumo humano.

Cadastramento das formas de abastecimento de água [unidade 03]

Mostra o fluxo de procedimentos para a identificação e cadastramento das formas de abastecimento de água para consumo humano, além do entendimento da diferenciação das diversas terminologias utilizadas para o cadastramento e também a principal finalidade do cadastramento. Unidade 3 do Curso de capacitação a distância em vigilância da qualidade da água para consumo humano.

Monitoramento da qualidade da água para consumo humano [unidade 04]

Mostra a importância do monitoramento da qualidade da água para consumo humano, as diferenças entre o controle, a vigilância e o fluxo de informações, os planos de amostragem e também as práticas de coleta de água, armazenamento e transporte das amostras. Unidade 4 do Curso de Capacitação a Distância em Vigilância da Qualidade da Água para Consumo Humano.

Fundamentos conceituais e legais [unidade 01]

Aborda os princípios e diretrizes do SUS e sua relação com a Vigilância em Saúde, a importância da relação água e saúde, os aspectos conceituais, legais e técnicos da vigilância, qual o campo e a forma de atuação da Vigilância e quais as competências do setor saúde e prestadores de serviços relacionados à qualidade da água para consumo humano. Unidade 1 do Curso de Capacitação a Distância em Vigilância da Qualidade da Água para Consumo Humano.

Fundamentos Técnicos [unidade 02]

Mostra os conceitos envolvidos no abastecimento de água para consumo humano que são fundamentais para o aprimoramento do exercício das atividades relacionadas com a Vigilância da Qualidade da Água para consumo humano. Unidade 2 do Curso de Capacitação a Distância em Vigilância da Qualidade da Água para Consumo Humano.

Dados e sistemas de informação aplicados à vigilância da qualidade da água para consumo humano [unidade 05]

A Unidade 5 do Curso de Capacitação a Distância em Vigilância da Qualidade da Água para Consumo Humano trata das fontes de informação disponíveis relacionadas à ação da vigilância da qualidade da água para consumo humano, bem como identifica as ferramentas e os procedimentos para análise e avaliação de dados referentes ao tema.