Small-spored Alternaria spp. (section Alternaria) are common pathogens on wild tomato species.

The wild relatives of modern tomato crops are native to South America. These plants occur in habitats as different as the Andes and the Atacama Desert and are, to some degree, all susceptible to fungal pathogens of the genus Alternaria. Alternaria is a large genus. On tomatoes, several species cause early blight, leaf spots and other diseases. We collected Alternaria-like infection lesions from the leaves of eight wild tomato species from Chile and Peru. Using molecular barcoding markers, we characterized the pathogens. The infection lesions were caused predominantly by small-spored species of Alternaria of the section Alternaria, like A. alternata, but also by Stemphylium spp., Alternaria spp. from the section Ulocladioides and other related species. Morphological observations and an infection assay confirmed this. Comparative genetic diversity analyses show a larger diversity in this wild system than in studies of cultivated Solanum species. As A. alternata has been reported to be an increasing problem in cultivated tomatoes, investigating the evolutionary potential of this pathogen is not only interesting to scientists studying wild plant pathosystems. It could also inform crop protection and breeding programs to be aware of potential epidemics caused by species still confined to South America.

Imaginaries of the Pandemic in Chile: A Conceptual-Empirical Discussion.

This article aims to reconstruct the social imaginaries of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Chile. We seek to understand how families interpret their experience confronting the pandemic by identifying four main aspects: (a) the COVID-19 pandemic, (b) working and learning, (c) health and (d) family life. Following Habermas' distinction between lifeworld and social systems, we consider these issues as constituting the social imaginary of lifeworld, different but related to the imaginaries of social systems. The qualitative empirical data was gathered through a sample of 38 families interviewed online between September 2020 and January 2021 in four Chilean cities: Iquique, Valparaíso, Santiago and Concepción. Other complementary sources of information are multimodal ethnography (digital diaries), press articles and state reports.

Foliar Anatomy of Three Native Species of Tillandsia L. from the Atacama Desert, Chile.

In the extreme north of Chile, the genus Tillandsia L. (Bromeliaceae) is represented by three native species, T. marconae Till & Vitek and T. landbeckii Phil., both of terrestrial atmospheric habit, and T. virescens Ruiz & Pav. of saxicolous habit. There is little information on the foliar structures that allow its establishment in arid environments. Therefore, we studied the leaf anatomy of each of these terrestrial and saxicolous atmospheric species from different altitudinal levels (1000 and 3000 m) in the Arica and Parinacota regions of the Atacama Desert. All populations are monospecific. The study considered scanning electron microscopy, optical microscopy, and the fingernail polish technique. The surface distribution of stomata and trichomes of the species is described. The studied species presented hypostomatic leaves, with anomocytic stomata and peltate trichomes on the abaxial and adaxial sides. Trichomes are formed by a central disc of four equal-sized empty cells, surrounded by a peripheral series of several concentric rings, the innermost of eight, the second of sixteen and the outermost of multiple elongated cells, one cell thick, that form the flexible asymmetric wings. The number of wing cells varies according to the species. Trichomes are evenly arranged in long lanceolate leaf blades with smooth margins.

ONT-Based Draft Genome Assembly and Annotation of Alternaria atra.

Species of Alternaria (phylum Ascomycota, family Pleosporaceae) are known as serious plant pathogens, causing major losses on a wide range of crops. Alternaria atra (previously known as Ulocladium atrum) can grow as a saprophyte on many hosts and causes Ulocladium blight on potato. It has been reported that it can also be used as a biocontrol agent against Botrytis cinerea. Here, we present a scaffold-level reference genome assembly for A. atra. The assembly contains 43 scaffolds with a total length of 39.62 Mbp, with scaffold N50 of 3,893,166 bp, L50 of 4, and the longest 10 scaffolds containing 89.9% of the assembled data. RNA-sequencing-guided gene prediction using BRAKER resulted in 12,173 protein-coding genes with their functional annotation. This first high-quality reference genome assembly and annotation for A. atra can be used as a resource for studying evolution in the highly complicated Alternaria genus and might help in understanding the mechanisms defining its role as pathogen or biocontrol agent.[Formula: see text] Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY 4.0 International license.

Effectiveness of Two Targeted Temperature Management Methods After Pediatric Postcardiac Arrest: A Multicenter International Study.

OBJECTIVES: It is currently recommended that after return of spontaneous circulation following cardiac arrest, fever should be prevented using TTM through a servo-controlled system. This technology is not yet available in many global settings, where manual physical measures without servo-control is the only option. Our aim was to compare feasibility, safety and quality assurance of servo-controlled system versus no servo-controlled system cooling, TTM protocols for cooling, maintenance and rewarming following return of spontaneous circulation after cardiac arrest in children. DESIGN: Prospective, multicenter, nonrandomized, study. SETTING: PICUs of 20 hospitals in South America, Spain, and Italy, 2012-2014. PATIENTS: Under 18 years old with a cardiac arrest longer than 2 minutes, in coma and surviving to PICU admission requiring mechanical ventilation were included. METHODS: TTM to 32-34°C was performed by prospectively designed protocol across 20 centers, with either servo-controlled system or no servo-controlled system methods, depending on servo-controlled system availability. We analyzed clinical data, cardiac arrest, temperature, mechanical ventilation duration, length of hospitalization, complications, survival, and neurologic outcomes at 6 months. PRIMARY OUTCOME: feasibility, safety and quality assurance of the cooling technique and secondary outcome: survival and Pediatric Cerebral Performance Category at 6 months. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Seventy patients were recruited, 51 of 70 TTM (72.8%) with servo-controlled system. TTM induction, maintenance, and rewarming were feasible in both groups. Servo-controlled system was more effective than no servo-controlled system in maintaining TTM (69 vs 60%; p = 0.004). Servo-controlled system had fewer temperatures above 38.1°C during the 5 days of TTM (0.1% vs 2.9%; p < 0.001). No differences in mortality, complications, length of mechanical ventilation and of stay, or neurologic sequelae were found between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: TTM protocol (for cooling, maintenance and rewarming) following return of spontaneous circulation after cardiac arrest in children was feasible and safe with both servo-controlled system and no servo-controlled system techniques. Achieving, maintaining, and rewarming within protocol targets were more effective with servo-controlled system versus no servo-controlled system techniques.

Crinipellis brasiliensis, a new species based on morphological and molecular data.

Crinipellis perniciosa infects a diversity of hosts causing severe damage to T. cacao production in many Brazilian growing regions. We compared isolates of Crinipellis from different geographic origins and hosts in Brazil by structural analysis using light (LM) and scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), as well as RFLP and sequence data based on the nuclear rDNA ITS region. Statistical analyses of morphometric data of basidia and basidiospores revealed a distinct group of isolates of Crinipellis obtained from Heteropterys acutifolia when compared to representatives from Theobroma cacao, Solanum lycocarpum and Heteropterys nervosa. A similar distinction also was observed based on sequence data of the ITS region such that combined results allowed for the segregation of a new species within the genus Crinipellis.