RESUMEN
We demonstrate a blood analysis routine by observing red blood cells through light and digital holographic microscopy in a microfluidic channel. With this setup a determination of red blood cell (RBC) concentration, the mean corpuscular volume (MCV), and corpuscular hemoglobin concentration mean (CHCM) is feasible. Cell count variations in between measurements differed by 2.47% with a deviation of -0.26×106 µL to the reference value obtained from the Siemens ADVIA 2120i. Measured MCV values varied by 2.25% and CHCM values by 3.78% compared to the reference ADVIA measurement. Our results suggest that the combination of optical analysis with microfluidics handling provides a promising new approach to red blood cell counts.
RESUMEN
As fundamentally different as phytopathogenic microbes and herbivorous insects are, they enjoy plant-based diets. Hence, they encounter similar challenges to acquire nutrients. Both microbes and beetles possess polygalacturonases (PGs) that hydrolyze the plant cell wall polysaccharide pectin. Countering these threats, plant proteins inhibit PGs of microbes, thereby lowering their infection rate. Whether PG-inhibiting proteins (PGIPs) play a role in defense against herbivorous beetles is unknown. To investigate the significance of PGIPs in insect-plant interactions, feeding assays with the leaf beetle Phaedon cochleariae on Arabidopsis thaliana pgip mutants were performed. Fitness was increased when larvae were fed on mutant plants compared to wild-type plants. Moreover, PG activity was higher, although PG genes were downregulated in larvae fed on PGIP-deficient plants, strongly suggesting that PGIPs impair PG activity. As low PG activity resulted in delayed larval growth, our data provide the first in vivo correlative evidence that PGIPs act as defense against insects.