Overview of transcriptome changes and phenomic profile of sanitized artichoke vis-à-vis non-sanitized plants.

Plant tissue in vitro culture is increasingly used in agriculture to improve crop production, nutritional quality, and commercial value. In plant virology, the technique is used as sanitation protocol to produce virus-free plants. Sanitized (S) artichokes show increased vigour compared to their non-sanitized (NS) counterparts, because viral infections lead to a decline of growth and development. To investigate mechanisms that control the complex traits related to morphology, growth, and yield in S artichokes compared to NS plants, RNAseq analysis and phenotyping by imaging were used. The role of peroxidases (POD) was also investigated to understand their involvement in sanitized plant development. Results showed that virus infection affected regulation of cell cycle, gene expression and signal transduction modulating cellular response to stimulus/stress. Moreover, primary metabolism and photosynthesis were also influenced, contributing to explain the main morphological differences observed between S and NS artichokes. Sanitized artichokes are also characterized by higher POD activity, probably associated with increased plant growth, rather than strengthening of cell walls. Overall, results show that the differences in development of S artichokes may be derived from the in vitro culture stressor, as well as through pathogen elimination, which, in turn, improve qualitative and quantitative artichoke production.

Complete Nucleotide Sequence of Artichoke latent virus Shows it to be a Member of the Genus Macluravirus in the Family Potyviridae.

Complete genomic sequences of Artichoke latent virus (ArLV) have been obtained by classical or high-throughput sequencing for an ArLV isolate from Italy (ITBr05) and for two isolates from France (FR37 and FR50). The genome is 8,278 to 8,291 nucleotides long and has a genomic organization comparable with that of Chinese yam necrotic mosaic virus (CYNMV), the only macluravirus fully sequenced to date. The cleavage sites of the viral polyprotein have been tentatively identified by comparison with CYNMV, confirming that macluraviruses are characterized by the absence of a P1 protein, a shorter and N-terminally truncated coat protein (CP). Sequence comparisons firmly place ArLV within the genus Macluravirus, and confirm previous results suggesting that Ranunculus latent virus (RALV), a previously described Macluravirus sp., is very closely related to ArLV. Serological relationships and comparisons of the CP gene and of the partial RaLV sequence available all indicate that RaLV should not be considered as a distinct species but as a strain of ArLV. The results obtained also suggest that the spectrum of currently used ArLV-specific molecular hybridization or polymerase chain reaction detection assays should be improved to cover all isolates and strains in the ArLV species.

Clinico-pathological characterization of hepatitis C virus-related B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphomas without symptomatic cryoglobulinemia.

BACKGROUND: Epidemiological evidence has suggested an association between hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and B-cell lymphoproliferation. We studied the prevalence of HCV infection in a series of de novo B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (B-NHL) cases and correlated virological findings with clinico-histological features. PATIENTS AND METHODS: One hundred fifty-seven patients with de novo B-NHL were included in the study. Their serum was examined by ELISA and RIBA for the presence of anti-HCV antibodies, and either the peripheral blood mononuclear cells or the pathology tissues of all of the patients were examined by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction for the presence of HCV RNA sequences. RESULTS: HCV infection occurred in 22.3% of B-NHL patients and was documented before the diagnosis in about half of the positive cases. Of interest, HCV infection was more frequently found in follicular center, marginal zone and diffuse large-cell lymphoma types, but was not associated with symptomatic cryoglobulinemia. The median survival time was 48 months in HCV-positive and 52 months in HCV-negative B-NHL patients. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings strengthen the pathogenetic link between HCV and B-NHL and show that HCV infection may be associated with the malignant proliferation of defined B-cell subsets other than the immunoglobulin Mk B-cell subset involved in the pathogenesis of mixed cryoglobulinemia type II and associated lymphoplasmacytoid lymphoma type. HCV-related liver disease did not affect the survival of our B-NHL patients.