Adaptation to herbivory by the Tammar wallaby includes bacterial and glycoside hydrolase profiles different from other herbivores.

Metagenomic and bioinformatic approaches were used to characterize plant biomass conversion within the foregut microbiome of Australia's "model" marsupial, the Tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii). Like the termite hindgut and bovine rumen, key enzymes and modular structures characteristic of the "free enzyme" and "cellulosome" paradigms of cellulose solubilization remain either poorly represented or elusive to capture by shotgun sequencing methods. Instead, multigene polysaccharide utilization loci-like systems coupled with genes encoding beta-1,4-endoglucanases and beta-1,4-endoxylanases--which have not been previously encountered in metagenomic datasets--were identified, as were a diverse set of glycoside hydrolases targeting noncellulosic polysaccharides. Furthermore, both rrs gene and other phylogenetic analyses confirmed that unique clades of the Lachnospiraceae, Bacteroidales, and Gammaproteobacteria are predominant in the Tammar foregut microbiome. Nucleotide composition-based sequence binning facilitated the assemblage of more than two megabase pairs of genomic sequence for one of the novel Lachnospiraceae clades (WG-2). These analyses show that WG-2 possesses numerous glycoside hydrolases targeting noncellulosic polysaccharides. These collective data demonstrate that Australian macropods not only harbor unique bacterial lineages underpinning plant biomass conversion, but their repertoire of glycoside hydrolases is distinct from those of the microbiomes of higher termites and the bovine rumen.

The genome of the obligately intracellular bacterium Ehrlichia canis reveals themes of complex membrane structure and immune evasion strategies.

Ehrlichia canis, a small obligately intracellular, tick-transmitted, gram-negative, alpha-proteobacterium, is the primary etiologic agent of globally distributed canine monocytic ehrlichiosis. Complete genome sequencing revealed that the E. canis genome consists of a single circular chromosome of 1,315,030 bp predicted to encode 925 proteins, 40 stable RNA species, 17 putative pseudogenes, and a substantial proportion of noncoding sequence (27%). Interesting genome features include a large set of proteins with transmembrane helices and/or signal sequences and a unique serine-threonine bias associated with the potential for O glycosylation that was prominent in proteins associated with pathogen-host interactions. Furthermore, two paralogous protein families associated with immune evasion were identified, one of which contains poly(G-C) tracts, suggesting that they may play a role in phase variation and facilitation of persistent infections. Genes associated with pathogen-host interactions were identified, including a small group encoding proteins (n = 12) with tandem repeats and another group encoding proteins with eukaryote-like ankyrin domains (n = 7).

[Arterial hypertension in the French Caribbean regions: gender related differences]. / Hypertension artérielle aux Antilles: différences liées au sexe.

BACKGROUND: Arterial hypertension is a frequent disease, responsible for a significant morbidity, in the French Caribbean regions. Today, epidemiological studies on this topic remain few. OBJECTIVES: To analyse the prevalence, awareness, treatment and control of arterial hypertension in the French Caribbean regions. METHODS: Analysis of the INHAPAG cohort (Incidence of Arterial Hypertension in the Working population Antillo-Guyanaise) carried out in 2001, and including 6113 active subjects recruited in Guadeloupe, Martinique and Guyana. The procedure of diagnosis of arterial hypertension comprises two visits, with a series of three measurements of the blood pressure at each visit. RESULTS: Prevalence of hypertension is estimated to be 18.9% among women and 19.5% among men. The rates of treatment are higher among women (74.8 vs 34.4%) than among men, resulting in a much better control rate (61.3% vs 38.6% among men). An analysis of factors associated with the presence of arterial hypertension shows a noxious role of low education level among women. CONCLUSION: Our study finds marked differences between women and men in the treatment and control of arterial hypertension and underline the need for improving blood pressure management of the latter.

[Four years of clinical experience with the cardio-eurhythmic action of verapamil in intravenous administration]. / Quattro anni di esperienze cliniche sull'azione cardioeuritmizzante del verapamil per somministrazione endovenosa

Personal clinical experience using Verapamil intravenously in 200 patients with a number of arrhythmia conditions is reported. The effectiveness of the drug in controlling supraventricular paroxysmal tachycardia and high ventricular frequency atrial fibrillation in particular is pointed out. Good results were also obtained in atrial flutter, in sinus tachycardia, in extrasystole conditions and, at times, in ventricular paroxysmal tachycardia. Clinical experience limits contraindications to atrioventricular block, severe shock, excessive digitalization, and the associated use of beta block substances.