Facemask analyses for the non-invasive detection of chronic and acute P. aeruginosa lung infections using nanoparticle-based immunoassays.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) is a pathogen that persistently colonizes the respiratory tract of patients with chronic lung diseases. The risk of acquiring a chronic P. aeruginosa infection can be minimized by rapidly detecting the pathogen in the patient's airways and promptly administrating adequate antibiotics. However, the rapid detection of P. aeruginosa in the lungs involves the analysis of sputum, which is a highly complex matrix that is not always available. Here, we propose an alternative diagnosis based on analyzing breath aerosols. In this approach, nanoparticle immunosensors identify bacteria adhered to the polypropylene layer of a surgical facemask that was previously worn by the patient. A polypropylene processing protocol was optimized to ensure the efficient capture and analysis of the target pathogen. The proposed analytical platform has a theoretical limit of detection of 105 CFU mL-1 in aerosolized mock samples, and a dynamic range between 105 and 108 CFU mL-1. When tested with facemasks worn by patients, the biosensors were able to detect chronic and acute P. aeruginosa lung infections, and to differentiate them from respiratory infections caused by other pathogens. The results shown here pave the way to diagnose Pseudomonas infections at the bedside, as well as to identify the progress from chronic to acute infection.

Detection of high heteroplasmy in complete loggerhead and hawksbill sea turtles mitochondrial genomes using RNAseq.

Sea turtle populations around the world face rapid decline due to the effect of anthropogenic and environmental factors. Among the affected populations are those of hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) and loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta), which is why a greater effort is currently being made in their monitoring and tracing. The intragenic degree of heteroplasmic mutations, commonly associated with diseases of variable symptoms, has not been analyzed in these species. In this study, heteroplasmy in the complete mitogenome (mtDNA) of three loggerhead turtles and one hawksbill turtle was identified from data obtained by RNAseq. Individuals Cc3, Ei1, Cc1 and Cc2 presented 0.3, 1.7, 1.8 and 7.1% of heteroplasmic mutations in all their mtDNA, respectively. The protein-coding genes that presented the highest percentage of heteroplasmy were ND4 and ND5 in individual Cc2 with 16 and 38.6%, respectively. Of the tRNA genes, only tRNATyr was heteroplasmic in the four individuals with 5.63% (Cc1), 25.35% (Ei1 and Cc2) and 49.3% (Cc3). In this study, we identified the critical sites of heteroplasmy in each individual and the genetic variability of their mitogenomes. The data obtained represents the baseline for future projects that evaluate the population status of these species.

Data on heteroplasmic mutations in mitochondrial genomes of loggerhead and hawksbill sea turtles: First approach.

The populations of loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) sea turtles are suffering an exponential decline due to anthropic and environmental actions that threaten their survival. In these turtle populations, the degree of heteroplasmic mutations commonly related with pathologies, has not been studied. In this data report, the specifications of each heteroplasmic site (region, mutation, length) and the percentage of heteroplasmy of each gene for four mitochondrial genomes of turtles (loggerhead: Cc1, Cc2, Cc3 and hawksbill: Ei1) are presented. The highest value of heteroplasmy in tRNA was of 83.33% for the Cc2 turtle (tRNASer gene), in protein coding genes was 38.62% for Cc2 (ND5), and in rRNA genes of 0.74% for Ei1 turtle (rRNA-16S). The variability data obtained will be useful for further conservation projects, evolution studies and population health of these species. This is the first study of heteroplasmy in complete mitogenomes of loggerhead and hawksbill turtles.

Complete mitochondrial genome of the three Colombian Caribbean loggerhead sea turtles, using next-generation sequencing.

The loggerhead turtle, Caretta caretta (Linnaeus, 1758), is an endangered sea turtle in Colombian Caribbean beach. In the present study was sequenced the complete mitochondrial DNA of three loggerhead turtles using Illumina next-generation sequencing (NGS). The average nucleotide frequency was A: 35% T: 26%, C: 27% and G: 12%. This genome provides knowledge to the study of genetic variations and evolution of mitochondrial genomes of C. caretta. The sequences were deposited at the GenBank database under the accession number MF554690.1, MF579504.1 and MF579505.1.