Disease Resistance to Multiple Fungal and Oomycete Pathogens Evaluated Using a Recombinant Inbred Line Population in Pepper.

Incorporating disease resistance into cultivars is a primary focus of modern breeding programs. Resistance to pathogens is often introgressed from landrace or wild individuals with poor fruit quality into commercial-quality cultivars. Sites of multiple disease resistance (MDR) are regions or "hot spots" of the genome with closely linked genes for resistance to different pathogens that could enable rapid incorporation of resistance. An F2-derived F6 recombinant inbred line population from a cross between 'Criollo de Morelos 334' (CMM334) and 'Early Jalapeno' was evaluated in inoculated fruit studies for susceptibility to oomycete and fungal pathogens: Phytophthora capsici, P. nicotianae, Botrytis cinerea, Fusarium oxysporum, F. solani, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Alternaria spp., Rhizopus oryzae, R. stolonifer, and Colletotrichum acutatum. All isolates evaluated were virulent on pepper. Significant differences in disease susceptibility were identified among lines for each of the pathogens evaluated. P. capsici was the most virulent pathogen, while R. oryzae and one Sclerotinia isolate were the least virulent. Quantitative trait loci associated with resistance were identified for Alternaria spp. and S. sclerotiorum. Positive correlations in disease incidence were detected between Alternaria spp. and F. oxysporum, F. solani, and C. acutatum, as well as between C. acutatum and Botrytis spp., F. oxysporum, F. solani, and P. capsici. No sites of MDR were identified for pathogens tested; however, positive correlations in disease incidence were detected among pathogens suggesting there may be genetic linkage among resistance genes in CM334 and Early Jalapeno.

The role of scapular kinematics in patients with different shoulder musculoskeletal disorders: A systematic review approach.

This study aimed to identify the role of the scapula in shoulder musculoskeletal disorders (SMDs) and provided a systematic review of available studies in the field of scapular three-dimensional kinematics. We systematically searched 5 international databases, including Scopus, EMBASE, PubMed, CINAHL, PEDro, and Cochrane Library from June to September 2015. Twenty studies met the inclusion criteria and were retrieved in full paper. The selected studies were critically appraised independently by two researchers. The patients with shoulder impingement syndrome (SIS) and shoulder instability had an increased protraction, lesser upward rotation (UR), and increased internal rotation (IR) during scapular plane elevation, whereas the patients with frozen shoulders had lesser protraction. Moreover, the patients with SIS had a greater scapular posterior tilt (PT) and external rotation during shoulder abduction. Increased scapular UR and PT with decreased scapular IR was seen in patients with stiffness of Latissimus Dorsi and fibromyalgia without any changes in the scapular IR. The results of this systematic review help the clinicians to have an insight about scapular kinematics as a predictive index for SMDs.

A Nano-indentation Identification Technique for Viscoelastic Constitutive Characteristics of Periodontal Ligaments.

INTRODUCTION: Nano-indentation has recently been employed as a powerful tool for determining the mechanical properties of biological tissues on nano and micro scales. A majority of soft biological tissues such as ligaments and tendons exhibit viscoelastic or time-dependent behaviors. The constitutive characterization of soft tissues is among very important subjects in clinical medicine and especially, biomechanics fields. Periodontal ligament plays an important role in initiating tooth movement when loads are applied to teeth with orthodontic appliances. It is also the most accessible ligament in human body as it can be directly manipulated without any surgical intervention. From a mechanical point of view, this ligament can be considered as a thin interface made by a solid phase, consisting mainly of collagen fibers, which is immersed into a so-called ground substance. However, the viscoelastic constitutive effects of biological tissues are seldom considered rigorous during Nano-indentation tests. METHODS: In the present paper, a mathematical contact approach is developed to enable determining creep compliance and relaxation modulus of distinct periodontal ligaments, using constant-rate indentation and loading time histories, respectively. An adequate curve-fitting method is presented to determine these characteristics based on the Nano-indentation of rigid Berkovich tips. Generalized Voigt-Kelvin and Wiechert models are used to model constitutive equations of periodontal ligaments, in which the relaxation and creep functions are represented by series of decaying exponential functions of time. RESULTS: Time-dependent creep compliance and relaxation function have been obtained for tissue specimens of periodontal ligaments. CONCLUSION: To improve accuracy, relaxation and creep moduli are measured from two tests separately. Stress relaxation effects appear more rapidly than creep in the periodontal ligaments.

QTL mapping of fruit rot resistance to the plant pathogen Phytophthora capsici in a recombinant inbred line Capsicum annuum population.

Phytophthora capsici is an important pepper (Capsicum annuum) pathogen causing fruit and root rot, and foliar blight in field and greenhouse production. Previously, an F6 recombinant inbred line population was evaluated for fruit rot susceptibility. Continuous variation among lines and partial and isolate-specific resistance were found. In this study, Phytophthora fruit rot resistance was mapped in the same F6 population between Criollo del Morelos 334 (CM334), a landrace from Mexico, and 'Early Jalapeno' using a high-density genetic map. Isolate-specific resistance was mapped independently in 63 of the lines evaluated and the two parents. Heritability of the resistance for each isolate at 3 and 5 days postinoculation (dpi) was high (h(2) = 0.63 to 0.68 and 0.74 to 0.83, respectively). Significant additive and epistatic quantitative trait loci (QTL) were identified for resistance to isolates OP97 and 13709 (3 and 5 dpi) and 12889 (3 dpi only). Mapping of fruit traits showed potential linkage with few disease resistance QTL. The partial fruit rot resistance from CM334 suggests that this may not be an ideal source for fruit rot resistance in pepper.

Khorasan Disease: Prevalence of HTLV-I Associated Myelopathy/Tropical Spastic Paraparesis (HAM/TSP) In West Azarbaijan from 2004 to 2007.

BACKGROUND: Because of the low prevalence of Human T Lymphotropic Virus type I (HTLV-I) in comparison with Khorasan Province, considering HTLV-I as an etiology of spastic paraparesia, it may be neglected in evaluation of spastic paraparesis in the other regions of Iran. Some reports of spastic paraparetic patients due to HTLV-I infection in West Azarbaijan, caused us to reconsider the importance of HTLV-I epidemiology in the other areas of the country. METHODS: All spastic paraparetic patients who referred to Motahari and Imam Khomeini educational hospitals of Urmia from September 2004 to September 2007 were assessed for HTLV-I infection antibodies. RESULTS: In our 3 years study, 11 cases were diagnosed as Human T Lymphotropic Virus type I Associated Myelopathy/Tropical Spastic Paraparesis (HAM/TSP, 2 males and 9 females).The mean age of patients at the time of diagnosis was 45.8 years. Dorsal and cervical MRI of all patients was normal. Serum Enzyme-Linked Immuno-Sorbent Assay (ELISA) and Western blot (WB) for anti HTLV-I antibody in all patients was positive. Four patients underwent for lumbar puncture in which were normal in respect of cells and biochemistry, but positive for anti-HLTLV-I antibodies. CONCLUSION: HAM/TSP detection in West Azarbaijan in spite of its long distance from Khorasan Province shows the importance of anti-HTLV-I Ab assay in the blood and CSF of every spastic paraparetic patient all over the country.

Antigenic variations of human influenza virus in Shiraz, Iran.

PURPOSE: Influenza virus is a major cause of human respiratory infections and responsible for pandemics and regional outbreaks around the world. This investigation aims to determine the prevalent influenza genotypes during 2005-2007 outbreaks in Shiraz, the capital city of Fars province, southern Iran and compare the results obtained with those of previous study. MATERIALS AND METHOD: Of the 300 pharyngeal swabs collected from influenza patients, 26 were found to be positive by culture and hemagglutination (HA) assays. Typing and subtyping of the isolates carried out by using multiplex RT-PCR and phylogenetic analysis performed on isolated HA genes using neighbour-joining method. RESULT: Out of 26 positive isolates 12 and 14 were H1N1 and H3N2 respectively. The phylogenetic and amino acid sequence analyses of our H1N1 isolates showed 99-100% genetic resemblance to A/NewCaledonia/20/99 (H1N1) vaccine strain. Most of the Iranian H3N2 isolates varied form A/California/7/2004 vaccine strain in 20 amino acids of which positions 189,226 and 227 were located in antigenic sites of HA1 molecule. These substitutions were not observed in any of the H3N2 subtypes from the same region reported previously. CONCLUSION: The H3N2 subtype strains prevalent during the 2005/7 influenza outbreak in southern Iran demonstrated a drastic antigenic variation and differed from A/California/7/2004 vaccine strain. The H1N1 subtypes showed a notable resemblance to A/NewCaledonia/20/99 vaccine strain and therefore were predicted to be capable of conferring sufficient immunity against H1N1 subtypes.