\n\nConclusion. – The results of our study showed that hospital water should be considered as a potential reservoir of fungi particularly Aspergillus. (C) 2010 Elsevier Masson SAS. All
rights reserved.”
“Background: Ophiostoma piceae is a wood-staining fungus that grows in the sapwood of conifer logs and lumber. We sequenced its genome and analyzed its transcriptomes under a range of growth conditions. A comparison with the genome and transcriptomes of the mountain pine beetle-associated pathogen Grosmannia clavigera highlights differences between a pathogen that colonizes and kills living pine trees and a saprophyte that colonizes wood and the inner bark of dead trees.\n\nResults: We assembled a 33 Mbp genome in 45 scaffolds, and predicted approximately 8,884 genes. The genome size and gene content were similar to those
of other ascomycetes. Despite having similar ecological BAY 80-6946 molecular weight niches, O. piceae and G. clavigera showed no large-scale synteny. We identified O. piceae genes involved in the biosynthesis of melanin, which causes wood discoloration and reduces the commercial value of wood products. We also identified genes and pathways involved in growth on simple carbon sources and in sapwood, O. piceae’s natural substrate. Like the pathogen, the saprophyte is able to tolerate EX 527 in vitro terpenes, which are a major class of pine tree defense compounds; unlike the pathogen, it cannot utilize monoterpenes as a carbon source.\n\nConclusions: This work makes available the second annotated genome of a softwood ophiostomatoid
fungus, and suggests that O. piceae’s tolerance to terpenes may be due in part to these chemicals being removed from the cells by an ABC transporter that is highly induced by terpenes. The data generated will provide the research community with resources for work on host-vector-fungus interactions for wood-inhabiting, beetle-associated saprophytes and pathogens.”
“Natural oils are advocated and used throughout the world as part of neonatal skin care, but there is an absence of evidence to support this practice. The goal of the current study was to ascertain the Selleckchem GANT61 effect of olive oil and sunflower seed oil on the biophysical properties of the skin. Nineteen adult volunteers with and without a history of atopic dermatitis were recruited into two randomized forearm-controlled mechanistic studies. The first cohort applied six drops of olive oil to one forearm twice daily for 5 weeks. The second cohort applied six drops of olive oil to one forearm and six drops of sunflower seed oil to the other twice daily for 4 weeks. The effect of the treatments was evaluated by determining stratum corneum integrity and cohesion, intercorneocyte cohesion, moisturization, skin-surface pH, and erythema. Topical application of olive oil for 4 weeks caused a significant reduction in stratum corneum integrity and induced mild erythema in volunteers with and without a history of atopic dermatitis.