Controlling pests in dry-cured ham: A review.

Dry-cured hams can become infested with ham mites, red-legged beetles, cheese skippers, and larder beetles during the aging process. Though other methods may be used for beetles and cheese skippers, methyl bromide is the only available fumigant that is effective at controlling ham mites in dry-cured ham plants in the United States. However, methyl bromide will be phased out of all industries by approximately 2015. This paper will review and explore potential alternatives that have been investigated to determine their feasibility for replacing methyl bromide to control pest infestations in dry-cured ham plants in the United States. Potential alternatives include: 1) fumigants such as phosphine and sulfuryl fluoride; 2) physical control approaches through cold treatment, modified atmosphere, inert dusts, etc.; 3) pesticides and bioactive compounds; 4) food-grade processing aids. The most promising potential alternatives to date include the use of propylene glycol on the ham surface, the exploration of alternative fumigants, and implementation of an integrated pest management plan.

Immunopathogenesis of Myocarditis: The Interplay Between Cardiac Fibroblast Cells, Dendritic Cells, Macrophages and CD4+ T Cells.

The myocardium responds to aetiologically different pathological injuries through a common multistep process involving highly co-ordinated interactions between cardiac and immune cells. Cardiac fibroblast cells which constitute the prevalent cell type in the heart to have their functional effects that express contractile proteins and exhibit increased migratory, proliferative and secretory properties. During the pathogenesis of myocarditis, cardiac fibroblast, dendritic cells, macrophages, CD4(+) T cells and other immune cells are known to play variable roles. It is becoming increasingly clear that cardiac fibroblasts are not passive players in immune responses, and several evidences show this through the release of soluble signals and/or direct interactions with these immune cells. Typically, fibroblasts are involved in synthesizing factors such as cytokines, chemokines, prostanoids, matrix components and matrix-degrading enzymes to influence dendritic cells, CD4(+) T cells and macrophage functions and vice versa in the pathogenesis of myocarditis. Again, evidence proves a crosstalk between cardiac fibroblasts and immune cells recruited into the myocardium during myocarditis in the microenvironments. This piece reviews the properties and roles of cardiac fibroblast cells, dendritic cells, macrophages and CD4(+) T cells in the pathogenesis of myocarditis, and how these cells interplay on each other in the microenvironment.

Factors influencing successful Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation of wheat.

The development of a robust Agrobacterium-mediated transformation protocol for a recalcitrant species like bread wheat requires the identification and optimisation of the factors affecting T-DNA delivery and plant regeneration. We have used immature embryos from range of wheat varieties and the Agrobacterium strain AGL1 harbouring the pGreen-based plasmid pAL156, which contains a T-DNA incorporating the bar gene and a modified uidA (beta-glucuronidase) gene, to investigate and optimise major T-DNA delivery and tissue culture variables. Factors that produced significant differences in T-DNA delivery and regeneration included embryo size, duration of pre-culture, inoculation and co-cultivation, and the presence of acetosyringone and Silwet-L77 in the media. We fully describe a protocol that allowed efficient T-DNA delivery and gave rise to 44 morphologically normal, and fully fertile, stable transgenic plants in two wheat varieties. The transformation frequency ranged from 0.3% to 3.3%. Marker-gene expression and molecular analysis demonstrated that transgenes were integrated into the wheat genome and subsequently transmitted into progeny at Mendelian ratios.

Factors influencing Agrobacterium-mediated transient expression of uidA in wheat inflorescence tissue.

A critical step in the development of Agrobacterium tumifaciens-mediated transformation is the establishment of optimal conditions for T-DNA delivery into tissue from which whole plants can be regenerated. The efficient transformation of inflorescence tissue from 'Baldus', a commercial wheat variety, using the Agrobacterium strain AGLI harbouring the binary vector pAL156 is reported here. The effects of various factors on delivery and the transient expression of the uidA gene were studied including the duration of preculture, vacuum infiltration, the effect of sonication treatments, and Agrobacterium cell density. Optimal T-DNA delivery (as measured by uidA activity) was obtained from inflorescence tissues precultured for 21 d and sonicated. Increasing Agrobacterium cell density, the duration of inoculation/co-cultivation, and vacuum pressure, up to a threshold, increased uidA expression. The investigation of factors that influence T-DNA delivery is an important first step in the utilization of Agrobacterium in the transformation of immature wheat inflorescence tissue.