Metagenomic and functional analysis of hindgut microbiota of a wood-feeding higher termite.

From the standpoints of both basic research and biotechnology, there is considerable interest in reaching a clearer understanding of the diversity of biological mechanisms employed during lignocellulose degradation. Globally, termites are an extremely successful group of wood-degrading organisms and are therefore important both for their roles in carbon turnover in the environment and as potential sources of biochemical catalysts for efforts aimed at converting wood into biofuels. Only recently have data supported any direct role for the symbiotic bacteria in the gut of the termite in cellulose and xylan hydrolysis. Here we use a metagenomic analysis of the bacterial community resident in the hindgut paunch of a wood-feeding 'higher' Nasutitermes species (which do not contain cellulose-fermenting protozoa) to show the presence of a large, diverse set of bacterial genes for cellulose and xylan hydrolysis. Many of these genes were expressed in vivo or had cellulase activity in vitro, and further analyses implicate spirochete and fibrobacter species in gut lignocellulose degradation. New insights into other important symbiotic functions including H2 metabolism, CO2-reductive acetogenesis and N2 fixation are also provided by this first system-wide gene analysis of a microbial community specialized towards plant lignocellulose degradation. Our results underscore how complex even a 1-microl environment can be.

Fit to the rasch model of the FEEL-KJ Spanish adaptation.

Background: In recent decades, scientific production related to Emotional Regulation (ER) has increased significantly. Deficits in ER have been linked to various mental health problems. The aim of this work is to evaluate the Spanish adaptation of the Feel-Kj scale to the RASCH model. Method: Children from 9 to 16 years old took part of this study. One hundred and eighteen children between 9 and 16 years old and one hundred and fifteen from 13 to 16. The 254 participants were attending 25 schools located in de Valencian Community in Spain. Results: Both infit and outfit MNSQ statistics provided evidence for the construct validity of the FEEL-KJ questionnaire. The infit and outfit mean values (1.01 and 1.02, respectively) were close to the perfect fit value of 1. Conclusions: From these results it can be sensed that the FEEL-KJ will be a valid and reliable instrument to apply in the Spanish speaking population, although it is necessary to make some minor adjustments in terms of translation.

Phenolic compounds as antiangiogenic CMG2 inhibitors from Costa Rican endophytic fungi.

Targeting and inhibiting CMG2 (Capillary Morphogenesis Gene protein 2) represents a new strategy for therapeutic agents for cancer and retinal diseases due to CMG2's role in blood vessel growth (angiogenesis). A high throughput FRET (Förster Resonance Energy Transfer) assay was developed for the identification of CMG2 inhibitors as anti-angiogenetic agents. Bioassay-guided separation led to the isolation and identification of two new compounds (1 and 2) from CR252M, an endophytic fungus Coccomyces proteae collected from a Costa Rican rainforest, and one known compound (3) from CR1207B (Aurapex penicillata). Secondary in vitro assays indicated anti-angiogenic activity. Compound 3 inhibited the endothelial cell migration at 52 µM, but did not show any endothelial cell antiproliferative effect at 156 µM. The structure of the two new compounds, A (1) and B (2), were elucidated on the basis of extensive spectroscopic analysis, including 1D and 2D NMR experiments.

Rasch Analysis of Authentic Evaluation of Young Children's Functioning in Classroom Routines.

This study evaluated the functioning of children in early childhood education classroom routines, using the 3M Functioning in Preschool Routines Scale. A total of 366 children aged 36 to 70 months and 22 teachers from six early childhood education centers in Spain participated in the study. The authors used the Rasch model to determine the item fit and the difficulty of the items in relation to children's ability levels in this age range. The Rasch Differential Item Functioning (DIF) analysis by child age groups showed that the item difficulty differed according to the children's age and according to their levels of competence. The results of this study supported the reliability and validity of the 3M scale for assessing children's functioning in preschool classroom routines. A few items, however, were identified as needing to be reworded and more difficult items needed to be added to increase the scale difficulty level to match the performance of children with higher ability levels. The authors introduced the new and reworded items based on the results of this study and the corresponding ICF codes per item. Moreover, the authors indicate how to use the ICF Performance Qualifiers in relation to the 3M scale response categories for developing a functioning profile for the child.

Effects of Age and Gender in Emotion Regulation of Children and Adolescents.

Emotional regulation, understood as the skills and strategies needed to influence and/or modify the emotional experiences, has a very remarkable implication within numerous emotional and behavioral disorders in childhood and adolescence. In recent years there has been a significant increase in research on emotional regulation, however, the results are still divergent in terms of differences in emotional regulation in relation to age and gender. This study aimed to assess emotional regulation in adolescents in relation to their age and gender. Two hundred and fifty-four adolescents from eight schools in the Valencian Community and aged between 9 and 16 years participated in the study. The adolescents completed the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire and the FEEL-KJ questionnaire. We analyzed the differences in emotional regulation strategies and a latent emotional regulation variable in two age groups (9-12 years and 13-16 years) and by gender. The results suggested that children and pre-adolescents in the 9-12 year group obtained lower scores in the emotional regulation strategies than the 13-16 year group. Girls reported higher scores on the use of emotional regulation strategies when experiencing sadness, anxiety and anger than boys, and on the overall average of regulation according to these specific emotions. Age, but not gender, had a major effect on scores for the latent variable of emotion regulation. An interaction effect between age and gender was identified in the latent emotion regulation scores. Girls tended to have higher scores than boys when they were younger and lower scores than boys when they were older. These results could be relevant for designing prevention and intervention programs for adolescents and at different ages.

Molecular data indicate that Rhytidhysteron rufulum (ascomycetes, Patellariales) in Costa Rica consists of four distinct lineages corroborated by morphological and chemical characters.

Rhytidhysteron rufulum is a poorly known, common, pantropical species, capable of utilizing different substrata and occupying diverse habitats, and is the only species of its genus in Costa Rica. We have employed molecular, morphological, and chemical data to assess the variability and differentiation of R. rufulum in Costa Rica, including sites from the Pacific and Atlantic coast. Phylogenetic analyses of nuclear ITS rDNA sequences revealed the presence of four distinct lineages in the R. rufulum complex. Re-examination of the morphology and anatomy showed differences between these lineages in ascomatal, ascal, and ascospore size that have previously been regarded as intraspecific variations. In addition, there was a correlation between molecular phylogenies and chemical components as determined by hplc and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Two lineages (clades I and II) produced the palmarumycins MK-3018, CJ-12372, and CR(1), whereas clade III produced dehydrocurvularin, and clade IV unidentified compounds. Our results based on a polyphasic approach contradict previous taxonomic interpretations of one morphologically variable species.

Uncovering the cultivable microbial diversity of costa rican beetles and its ability to break down plant cell wall components.

Coleopterans are the most diverse insect order described to date. These organisms have acquired an array of survival mechanisms through their evolution, including highly efficient digestive systems. Therefore, the coleopteran intestinal microbiota constitutes an important source of novel plant cell wall-degrading enzymes with potential biotechnological applications. We isolated and described the cultivable fungi, actinomycetes and aerobic eubacteria associated with the gut of larvae and adults from six different beetle families colonizing decomposing logs in protected Costa Rican ecosystems. We obtained 611 isolates and performed phylogenetic analyses using the ITS region (fungi) and 16S rDNA (bacteria). The majority of fungal isolates belonged to the order Hypocreales (26% of 169 total), while the majority of actinomycetes belonged to the genus Streptomyces (86% of 241 total). Finally, we isolated 201 bacteria spanning 19 different families belonging into four phyla: Firmicutes, α, ß and γ-proteobacteria. Subsequently, we focused on microbes isolated from Passalid beetles to test their ability to degrade plant cell wall polymers. Highest scores in these assays were achieved by a fungal isolate (Anthostomella sp.), two Streptomyces and one Bacillus bacterial isolates. Our study demonstrates that Costa Rican beetles harbor several types of cultivable microbes, some of which may be involved in symbiotic relationships that enable the insect to digest complex polymers such as lignocellulose.