This study was focused on lichenicolous fungi from the Antarctic region whose diversity is not yet well known. The sampling was carried out in the maritime Antarctica, South Shetland Islands, ...Livingston Island, during a trip in 2018. In total, more than one hundred species of lichenicolous fungi were collected, of which a selection has been studied here. The remaining species will be studied in future papers. As a result of our morphological and molecular studies (based on ITS rDNA, LSU rDNA, and mtSSU), three new species are proposed:
Arthonia olechiana
on
Steinera olechiana
,
Sphaeropezia neuropogonis
on
Usnea
, and
Sphinctrina sessilis
on
Pertusaria excludens
. Moreover, the new combinations
Bryostigma excentricum
on
Lepraria
and
Raesaenenia usneae
on
Usnea
are also proposed.
The class Eurotiomycetes (Ascomycota, Pezizomycotina) comprises important fungi used for medical, agricultural, industrial and scientific purposes. Eurotiomycetes is a morphologically and ...ecologically diverse monophyletic group. Within the Eurotiomycetes, different ascoma morphologies are found including cleistothecia and perithecia but also apothecia or stromatic forms. Mazaediate representatives (with a distinct structure in which loose masses of ascospores accumulate to be passively disseminated) have evolved independently several times. Here we describe a new mazaediate species belonging to the Eurotiomycetes. The multigene phylogeny produced (7 gene regions: nuLSU, nuSSU, 5.8S nuITS, mtSSU,
RPB1
,
RPB2
and
MCM7
) placed the new species in a lineage sister to Eurotiomycetidae. Based on the evolutionary relationships and morphology, a new subclass, a new order, family and genus are described to place the new species:
Cryptocalicium blascoi
. This calicioid species occurs on the inner side of loose bark strips of
Cupressaceae
(
Cupressus
,
Juniperus
). Morphologically,
C. blascoi
is characterized by having minute apothecioid stalked ascomata producing mazaedia, clavate bitunicate asci with hemiamyloid reaction, presence of hamathecium and an apothecial external surface with dark violet granules that becomes turquoise green in KOH. The ancestral state reconstruction analyses support a common ancestor with open ascomata for all deep nodes in Eurotiomycetes and the evolution of closed ascomata (cleistothecioid in Eurotiomycetidae and perithecioid in Chaetothyriomycetidae) from apothecioid ancestors. The appropriateness of the description of a new subclass for this fungus is also discussed.
NK degranulation plays an important role in the cytotoxic activity of innate immunity in the clearance of intracellular infections and is an important factor in the outcome of the disease. This work ...has studied NK degranulation and innate immunological profiles and functionalities in COVID-19 patients and its association with the severity of the disease. A prospective observational study with 99 COVID-19 patients was conducted. Patients were grouped according to hospital requirements and severity. Innate immune cell subpopulations and functionalities were analyzed. The profile and functionality of innate immune cells differ between healthy controls and severe patients; CD56dim NK cells increased and MAIT cells and NK degranulation rates decreased in the COVID-19 subjects. Higher degranulation rates were observed in the non-severe patients and in the healthy controls compared to the severe patients. Benign forms of the disease had a higher granzymeA/granzymeB ratio than complex forms. In a multivariate analysis, the degranulation capacity resulted in a protective factor against severe forms of the disease (OR: 0.86), whereas the permanent expression of NKG2D in NKT cells was an independent risk factor (OR: 3.81; AUC: 0.84). In conclusion, a prompt and efficient degranulation functionality in the early stages of infection could be used as a tool to identify patients who will have a better evolution.
We have found 117 taxa of lichenicolous fungi in the studied area. In this paper, we describe five taxa:
on
,
on
,
on
,
on
and
ssp.
on
. Furthermore, the next records are interesting chorologically ...from the Iberian Peninsula:
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
, and
.
Summary
Intestinal grafts carry large donor lymphoid load that is replaced by recipient cells. The dynamics of this process may influence the tolerance, rejection or graft‐versus‐host disease. We ...analysed distribution and turnover of T and B (Lin+) lymphocytes, natural killer (NK) and helper innate lymphoid cells (hILC) in intestinal epithelium (IEp) and lamina propia (LP) from a long‐term cohort of eight intestinal recipients and from a single patient monitored deeply during the first 8 months post‐transplant (posTx). Long‐term intestinal grafts showed significantly higher %hILC than native bowels in IEp and LP until 10 years posTx and recovery to normal levels was observed afterwards. We also observed an imbalance between hILC subsets in IEp increase of type 1 (ILC1) and decrease in type 3 (ILC3) innate lymphoid cells that persisted along posTx time even when %hILC was similar to native bowels. Regarding hILC origin, we still detected the presence of donor cells at 13 years posTx. However, this chimerism was significantly lower than in Lin+ and NK populations. According to these findings, observation from the patient monitored in early posTx period showed that recipient hILC repopulate earlier and faster than Lin+ cells, with increase in ILC1 related to rejection and infection episodes.
This paper analyses the lichen flora of Navarino Island (Tierra del Fuego, Cape Horn Region, Chile), identifying species shared with the South Shetland Islands (Antarctic Peninsula). In this common ...flora, species are grouped by their biogeographic origin (Antarctic-subantarctic endemic, austral, bipolar, and cosmopolitan), their habitat on Navarino Island (coastal, forest, and alpine), their morphotype (crustaceous, foliaceous, fruticulose, and cladonioid), and the substrate from which they were collected (epiphytic, terricolous and humicolous, and saxicolous). A total of 124 species have been recognised as common on both sides of the Drake Passage, predominantly bipolar, crustaceous, and saxicolous species, and with an alpine distribution on Navarino Island. The most interesting fact is that more than 30% of the flora is shared between the southern tip of South America and the western Antarctic Peninsula, which is an indication of the existence of a meridian flow of propagules capable of crossing the Antarctic polar front.
Background: COVID-19 clinical features include a hypercoagulable state that resembles the antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), a disease characterized by thrombosis and presence of antiphospholipid ...antibodies (aPL). The relationship between aPL-presence and the appearance of thrombi as well as the transience or permanence of aPL in COVID-19 patients is not sufficiently clear. Methods: A group of 360 COVID-19 patients were followed-up for 6 months. Classic aPL, anti-B2GPI IgA, anti-phosphatidylserine/prothrombin IgG/M and anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies were determined at acute phase and >12 weeks later. The reference group included 143 healthy volunteers of the same age-range distribution. Results: aPL prevalence was similar in COVID-19 patients and the reference population. aPL presence in both determinations was significantly associated with thrombosis (OR: 2.33 and 3.71), strong agreement being found for classic aPL and anti-B2GPI IgA (Weighted kappa: 0.85–0.91). Thrombosis-associated aPL occurred a median of 17 days after hospital admission (IQR: 6–28) vs. 4 days for the rest (IQR: 3–7). Although anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies levels increased during convalescence, aPL hardly changed. Conclusions: Most COVID-19 patients would carry these aPL before the infection. At least two mechanisms could be behind thrombosis, early immune-dysregulation-mediated thrombosis after infection and belated-aPL-mediated thrombosis, with SARS-CoV-2 behaving as a second hit.
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