Dataset on meteorological forcing mechanisms impacting marine circulation and oceanographic variables in the northern part of the Veracruz reef system.

The dataset is divided in two main groups. The first group, referred to as "Meteorological data", consists of air temperature, sea level pressure and U and V components of wind direction and intensity: The second group, referred to as "Oceanographic data", includes biovolume, sea level and water temperature measurements. The meteorological data is derived from model data obtained from the NAAR-NCEP reanalysis for North America, calculated over the area of the Veracruz reef system, Mexico. On the other hand, the oceanographic data was collected in situ using four ADCPs (Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers) anchored at a depth of 20 m at four different reefs within the Veracruz reef system. Both datasets cover a period of 10 days in November 2008, during which successive low-and high-pressure systems occurred over the southwestern Gulf of Mexico. These datasets can be used to evaluate the effect of the pressure changes on marine circulation, residual current and oceanographic variables.

Phosphorylation coexists with O-GlcNAcylation in a plant virus protein and influences viral infection.

Phosphorylation and O-GlcNAcylation are two widespread post-translational modifications (PTMs), often affecting the same eukaryotic target protein. Plum pox virus (PPV) is a member of the genus Potyvirus which infects a wide range of plant species. O-GlcNAcylation of the capsid protein (CP) of PPV has been studied extensively, and some evidence of CP phosphorylation has also been reported. Here, we use proteomics analyses to demonstrate that PPV CP is phosphorylated in vivo at the N-terminus and the beginning of the core region. In contrast with the 'yin-yang' mechanism that applies to some mammalian proteins, PPV CP phosphorylation affects residues different from those that are O-GlcNAcylated (serines Ser-25, Ser-81, Ser-101 and Ser-118). Our findings show that PPV CP can be concurrently phosphorylated and O-GlcNAcylated at nearby residues. However, an analysis using a differential proteomics strategy based on iTRAQ (isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation) showed a significant enhancement of phosphorylation at Ser-25 in virions recovered from O-GlcNAcylation-deficient plants, suggesting that crosstalk between O-GlcNAcylation and phosphorylation in PPV CP takes place. Although the preclusion of phosphorylation at the four identified phosphotarget sites only had a limited impact on viral infection, the mimicking of phosphorylation prevents PPV infection in Prunus persica and weakens infection in Nicotiana benthamiana and other herbaceous hosts, prompting the emergence of potentially compensatory second mutations. We postulate that the joint action of phosphorylation and O-GlcNAcylation in the N-proximal segment of CP allows a fine-tuning of protein stability, providing the amount of CP required in each step of viral infection.

Riqueza y distribución de equinodermos en los arrecifes del norte y sur de Veracruz, México / Richness and distribution of echinoderms from northern and southern reef systems in Veracruz, Mexico

Resumen Para obtener datos sobre la composición y distribución de los equinodermos presentes en los sistemas arrecifales del norte (Blanquilla, Medio, Lobos y Blake) y sur de Veracruz (La Perla, Zapotitlán, Palo Seco y Tripie) México, se efectuaron 539 muestreos y 770 colectas distribuidos en los diferentes hábitats de cada sistema de marzo a diciembre de 2013 mediante buceo libre y SCUBA. Para valorar las diferencias a cada escala espacial (tipo de arrecife, arrecife y hábitat) se efectuaron análisis de similitud con los índices de Jaccard y EMNM. Se registraron un total de 45 especies pertenecientes a 34 géneros y 26 familias, incluyendo cinco nuevos registros para el estado de Veracruz. El mayor número de especies corresponde a las clases: Ophiuroidea (15 especies) y Echinoidea (13 especies). Los sistemas del norte mostraron una mayor riqueza (40 especies) comparados con los del sur (27 especies). Por localidad, el arrecife Lobos (31 especies) presentó la mayor riqueza y la formación Tripie (7 especies) la menor. El EMNM dividió a los tres tipos de arrecifes, a escala de arrecifes, los marginales se alejan de los arrecifes plataforma y sumergidos. A nivel de hábitats, las zonas someras se separan de las profundas, las praderas de Thalassia y la planicie arrecifal de las pendientes y no se observaron diferencias entre hábitats en los sistema marginales, excepto en el barco hundido. La fauna de equinodermos asociados a los arrecifes de Veracruz está compuesta por 54 especies. El tipo de arrecife así como los atributos del sustrato y la profundidad son muy importantes para definir la riqueza y distribución espacial de los equinodermos.

Abstract Echinoderms are a key element in the structure and function of their ecosystems. To study composition and distribution of echinoderms from northern (Blanquilla, Medio, Lobos and Blake) and southern (La Perla, Zapotitlan, Palo Seco and Tripie) reefs of Veracruz, Mexico, 539 visual censuses and 770 collects distributed in different habitats of each reef were done from March to December 2013 using free and SCUBA diving. To evaluate spatial differences at different scales (type reef, reef and habitat), a similarity analysis was done using Jaccard index and NMDS. 45 species of 34 genera and 26 families were recorded, including five new records for Veracruz. Ophiuroidea (15 species) and Echinoidea (13 species) showed more species. Northern reefs presented more species (40 species) than southern reefs (27 species). By locality, Lobos reef presented the greatest richness (31 species) and Tripie (7 species) the poorest. NMDS at type reef separated the three type reefs, at reef scale fringing reefs were divided from platform and submerged reefs. At habitat scale, shallow zones were separated from deep areas, Thalassia beds and reef flat from slopes and there were not differences between habitats in fringing reefs except in the sunken ship. The fauna of echinoderms associated to reefs of State of Veracruz is composed by 54 species. The type of reef and the characteristics of substrate and depth are very important to define the richness and spatial distribution of echinoderms. Rev. Biol. Trop. 63 (Suppl. 2): 183-193. Epub 2015 June 01.

Diverse amino acid changes at specific positions in the N-terminal region of the coat protein allow Plum pox virus to adapt to new hosts.

Plum pox virus (PPV)-D and PPV-R are two isolates from strain D of PPV that differ in host specificity. Previous analyses of chimeras originating from PPV-R and PPV-D suggested that the N terminus of the coat protein (CP) includes host-specific pathogenicity determinants. Here, these determinants were mapped precisely by analyzing the infectivity in herbaceous and woody species of chimeras containing a fragment of the 3' region of PPV-D (including the region coding for the CP) in a PPV-R backbone. These chimeras were not infectious in Prunus persica, but systemically infected Nicotiana clevelandii and N. benthamiana when specific amino acids were modified or deleted in a short 30-amino-acid region of the N terminus of the CP. Most of these mutations did not reduce PPV fitness in Prunus spp. although others impaired systemic infection in this host. We propose a model in which the N terminus of the CP, highly relevant for virus systemic movement, is targeted by a host defense mechanism in Nicotiana spp. Mutations in this short region allow PPV to overcome the defense response in this host but can compromise the efficiency of PPV systemic movement in other hosts such as Prunus spp.

O-GlcNAc modification of the coat protein of the potyvirus Plum pox virus enhances viral infection.

O-GlcNAcylation is a dynamic protein modification which has been studied mainly in metazoans. We reported previously that an Arabidopsis thaliana O-GlcNAc transferase modifies at least two threonine residues of the Plum pox virus (PPV) capsid protein (CP). Now, six additional residues were shown to be involved in O-GlcNAc modification of PPV CP. CP O-GlcNAcylation was abolished in the PPV CP7-T/A mutant, in which seven threonines were mutated. PPV CP7-T/A infected Nicotiana clevelandii, Nicotiana benthamiana, and Prunus persica without noticeable defects. However, defects in infection of A. thaliana were readily apparent. In mixed infections of wild-type arabidopsis, the CP7-T/A mutant was outcompeted by wild-type virus. These results indicate that CP O-GlcNAcylation has a major role in the infection process. O-GlcNAc modification may have a role in virion assembly and/or stability as the CP of PPV CP7-T/A was more sensitive to protease digestion than that of the wild-type virus.

Specific and efficient cleavage of fusion proteins by recombinant plum pox virus NIa protease.

Site-specific proteases are the most popular kind of enzymes for removing the fusion tags from fused target proteins. Nuclear inclusion protein a (NIa) proteases obtained from the family Potyviridae have become promising due to their high activities and stringencies of sequences recognition. NIa proteases from tobacco etch virus (TEV) and tomato vein mottling virus (TVMV) have been shown to process recombinant proteins successfully in vitro. In this report, recombinant PPV (plum pox virus) NIa protease was employed to process fusion proteins with artificial cleavage site in vitro. Characteristics such as catalytic ability and affecting factors (salt, temperature, protease inhibitors, detergents, and denaturing reagents) were investigated. Recombinant PPV NIa protease expressed and purified from Escherichia coli demonstrated efficient and specific processing of recombinant GFP and SARS-CoV nucleocapsid protein, with site F (N V V V H Q black triangle down A) for PPV NIa protease artificially inserted between the fusion tags and the target proteins. Its catalytic capability is similar to those of TVMV and TEV NIa protease. Recombinant PPV NIa protease reached its maximal proteolytic activity at approximately 30 degrees C. Salt concentration and only one of the tested protease inhibitors had minor influences on the proteolytic activity of PPV NIa protease. Recombinant PPV NIa protease was resistant to self-lysis for at least five days.

[Variations in a 24-year period of colorectal and gastric cancer in Mexico]. / Variaciones en un periodo de 24 años del cáncer colorrectal y gástrico en México.

OBJECTIVE: Gastric cancer (CG) and colorectal cancer (CCR) are the two most common neoplasms of the digestive system in the world. We performed a study to determine incidence and relation between CG and CCR in five hospitals in Mexico City. METHODS: Patients with admitted diagnosis of CG and CCR at Hospital General de Mexico, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, Hospital Español de México, Centro Médico Nacional "20 de Noviembre" from the Instituto de Salud y Seguridad Social para Trabajadores del Estado, and Hospital Central Militar from January 1978 to December 2001 were studied. RESULTS: A total of 7,136 patients were studied. (CG 3,830, CCR 3,306). At Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición "Salvador Zubirán" CG was the most common digestive neoplasm; from 1999, ratio was inverted to < 1. At Hospital General de México, from the beginning and until 1984, ratio was > 2, and later had an average of 1.31. For Hospital Español, ratio always was < 1 without changes. At Centro Médico Nacional "20 de Noviembre", initially CCR was more frequent, then CG, and finally CCR. At Hospital Central Militar ratio was constant, > CG. At the beginning, was global behavior > CG, ratio seemed to invert, but since 1998 CG/CCR ratio was < 1 and continued that way. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we found that changes of CG/CCR ratio in a period of 24 years showed elevation of CCR incidence at five Mexican hospitals.

Caso de úlcera aislada de yeyuno y revisión de la literatura / A case of solitary yeyunal ulcer and review of the literature

Presentamos el caso de una paciente con antecedentes de artris reumatoide y uso crónico de antiinflamatorios no esteroideos que presentó una úlcera aislada de yeyuno con estenosis perilesional. Clínicamente se manifestó con obstrucción intestinal intermitente y el diagnóstico se realizó durante la laparotomía exploradora. Se revisa la literatura y se enfatiza la importancia del diagnóstico, especialmente el radiológico

Otimización de la prueba de urea marcada para detectar H. pylori en pacientes con dispepsia / Optimization of the 14-C urea breath test for the detection of H. pylori in dyspeptic patients

El Helicobacter pylori se ha asociado a gastritis, úlcera péptica, cáncer gástrico y otros padecimientos gastrointestinales. La prueba de aliento con urea marcada con C (PAU) se ha propuesto como un método sencillo y no invasivo para su detección, y ha sido implementada recientemente en nuestro medio. Buscando optimizar nuestros recursos, realizamo un análisis de sensibilidad para determinar el muestreo y tiempo mínimo necesario para completar la prueba y objetivar su interpretación. Con este fin, estudiamos 104 pacientes con dispepsia, en quienes se practicaron estudio endoscópico con toma de biopsia y PAU. La PAU consistió en la toma de una muestra de aliento basal, administración de 10 µCi de urea marcada, y toma de muetras subsecuentes a los 5, 15, 30 y 60 minutos. Tomando los hallazgos histológicos como estándar ideal, se construyeron curvas de sensibilidad y especificidad a valores críticos variables (curvas ROC). Las tres estrategias que se analizaron fueron la excreción de CO2 por muestras, la excreción máxima y la acumulada. El Hp se encontró en 74 (71 por ciento) de los pacientes y su presencia coincidió con excreciones significativamente más altas que en los negativos (p < 0.0001). Las tres estrategias consideradas fueron comparables en términos de utilidad diagnóstica, siendo la excreción de CO2 a los 15 minutos la más eficiente. Considerando una excreción de ò 1.7 por ciento como diagnóstica de Hp, la utilidad de esta última se tradujo en una sensibilidad y especificidad ò 83 por ciento, valores predictivos positivos de 93 por ciento y negativo de 68 por ciento, y una exactitud global de 84 por ciento. Concluímos que la ejecución de la PAU puede reducirse a la toma de una muestra a los 15 minutos e interpretarse objetivamente como positiva si la excresión es ò 1.7 por ciento

Octavo informe del grupo de estudios sobre cáncer del aparato digestivo / The eight inform from the gastrointestinal cancer group

De acuerdo con este estudio de 8 años, podemos apreciar que la frecuencia del carcinoma colo-rectal ha aumentado y en el INNSZ ocupó el primer lugar. En el Hospital General de la SS ocupa un segundo lugar después del carcinoma gástrico y en el Español continua en primer lugar. El carcinoma gástrico continua siendo el primer cáncer en los Hospitales Generales de la SS y 20 de Noviembre del ISSSTE, en cambio en el hospital Juárez de la SS el primer lugar en frecuencia es ocupado por el carcinoma de vesícula y vías biliares en segundo lugar el gástrico y en tercer el de colon. En términos generales no encontramos una explicación para el aumento de cáncer colo-rectal en las instituciones estudiadas. En relación a la dieta, se observó que en los pacientes con carcinoma gástrico la misma era baja en proteínas y en grasas así como en vitaminas A y C, y normal o alta en residuo; mientras que en los pacientes con carcinoma colo-rectal era alta en grasas y en proteínas, baja en residuos y normal en vitaminas. En el Hospital Juárez se encontró que el grupo sanguíneo O era alto en proporción significativa entre los pacientes con carcinoma de vesícula y vías biliares, en comparación con el INNSZ que tuvo una proporción intermedia y el Español que la tuvo baja. En estudios previos realizados por Lisker en el INNSZ se demostró que en los grupos sanguíneos el O predominaba entre los indígenas es un 80 a 90%. Se considera que la raza, el sexo, la edad y los factores dietéticos tienen influencia en la mayor f