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The phytopathogenic fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum forms dormant structures (termed sclerotia) that germinate myceliogenically under certain environmental conditions. During myceliogenic germination, sclerotia produce hyphae, which can infect leaves or stems of host plants directly from the ground; this is termed basal infection. This study determined which abiotic conditions were most important for promoting myceliogenic germination of sclerotia in vitro. A high sclerotium hydration level and low incubation temperature (15°C) improved mycelial growth in the presence of a nutrient source. Sclerotia incubated without a nutrient source on moist sand, vigorously myceliogenically germinated most frequently (63%) when they had been previously imbibed and then conditioned at 20°C. By far the most consistent amount of vigorous myceliogenic germination (>75%) was produced when sclerotia were heat-dried before being submerged in water. The hyphae of these sclerotia were shown to infect and proliferate on leaves of intact Brassica napus plants. This research provides a better understanding of the abiotic conditions that are likely to increase the risk of basal infection by S. sclerotiorum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of this study is to assess the correlation of the average antero-posterior, transverse and longitudinal diameters of the fetal renal pelvis to neonatal outcome. Methods: This retrospective study evaluates the neonatal outcome of all fetuses with suspected pyelectasis on ultrasonographic examination between May 1997 and March 2006. During this time, 764 fetuses with pyelectasis and 1285 renal units were scanned. We defined fetal pyelectasis as mild if the ARP was ≥5-<10 mm, moderate if ARP ≥10-<15 mm and severe if ARP ≥15 mm. A total of 612 fetuses met the inclusion criteria. The Corteville criteria in the third trimester (antero-posterior diameter ≥7 mm) and an antero-posterior diameter (AP) of ≥10 mm were compared with the ARP and likelihood ratio's calculated. Ultrasonographic evaluation took place in the third trimester if fetal pyelectasis was diagnosed as an isolated finding in the second trimester. This last ultrasonographic examination was used for final analysis and as a guideline for postnatal follow-up. Neonatal outcome was assessed by reviewing medical records, ultrasonographic, renographic and voiding cysto-urethrographic results. Results: Of all the fetuses diagnosed with renal pelvis dilatation in the third trimester of pregnancy, 73 (11.9%) infants needed postnatal surgery. The majority of the postnatal surgery was performed in the group of fetuses with severe hydronephrosis (8.2%). This resulted in a LR of 5.81 and a post-test probability of 61.3%. In total, 78.8% of the fetuses with hydronephrosis had spontaneous resolution across all grades of severity on the first postnatal ultrasonogaphic investigation or during their follow-up. In 9.3% of the cases, uropathies were diagnosed, but no surgical intervention had taken place during the follow-up period. Using the Corteville criteria as gold standard for the third trimester (AP ≥7 mm), 11 (1.8%) patients would not have been diagnosed with uropathies. And in the case of AP ≥10 mm, 5.1% of the cases would have been missed. Conclusion: An ARP of ≥5 mm in the second and/or third trimester of pregnancy enables a better detection of patients with uropathies and indication for surgery as compared with AP ≥10 mm, but renders almost similar results compared with the Cortville criteria (AP ≥7 mm) in the third trimester. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world’s oldest and largest Medicago truncatula collection is housed at the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI). We used six simple sequence repeat (SSR) loci to analyse the genetic diversity and relationships between randomly selected individuals from 192 accessions in the core collection. M. truncatula is composed of three subspecies (ssp.): ssp. truncatula, ssp. longeaculeata, and ssp. tricycla. Analysis at the level of six SSR loci supports the concept of ssp. tricycla, all the samples of which showed unique alleles at two loci. Contingency Chi-squared tests were significant between ssp. tricycla and ssp. truncatula at four loci, suggesting a barrier to gene flow between these subspecies. In accessions defined as ssp. longeaculeata, no unique allelic distribution or diagnostic sizes were observed, suggesting this apparent ssp. is a morphological variant of ssp. truncatula. The data also suggest M. truncatula that exhibits unusually wide genotype dispersal throughout its native Mediterranean region, possibly due to animal and trade-related movements. Our results showed the collection to be highly diverse, exhibiting an average of 25 SSR alleles per locus, with over 90% of individuals showing discrete genotypes. The rich diversity of the SARDI collection provides an invaluable resource for studying natural allelic variation of M. truncatula. To efficiently exploit the variation in the SARDI collection, we have defined a subset of accessions ( n=61) that maximises the diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the article "Prevalence of Atopic Diseases in Patients With Sarcoidosis" by E. Hajdarbegovic, L. Kamphuis, J. van Laar and colleagues is presented.

Background: Nitric oxide (NO) production catalyzed by iNOS (inducible NO synthase) is thought to take place mainly in macrophages after activation by inflammatory mediators. NO is subsequently oxidized to nitrite and nitrate, which are excreted in urine. The concentration of inflammatory mediators in small bowel biopsy specimens from patients with coeliac disease is increased. The latter could induce increased NO production by stimulation of intestinal macrophage iNOS, resulting in high levels of urinary NO oxidation products, nitrite and nitrate (NOx). Aim: In the present study we evaluated the urinary NOx/creatinine ratios in children with active coeliac disease (n= 22), coeliac disease patients on a gluten-free diet (n= 9), healthy (n= 11) and sick control children (n= 18). Methods: The Griess reagent method was used for measuring urinary NOx. Results: Median NOx/creatinine ratios of active coeliac disease patients, coeliac disease patients on a gluten-free diet, healthy and sick control patients were 1.21, 0.19, 0.10 and 0.13 mmol/mmol, respectively. All active coeliac disease patients showed increased NOx/creatinine ratios. Urinary NOx/creatinine ratios of the active coeliac disease patients were significantly higher than those of healthy controls (p< 0.0001), sick controls (p< 0.0001) and coeliac disease patients on a gluten-free diet (p< 0.0001). Conclusion: The urinary NOx/creatinine ratio is increased in patients with active coeliac disease and reverts to normal on a gluten-free diet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]