From March 1972 until internment itself was eventually abandoned in December 1975 successive Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland used their powers to arrest and release republican internees. ...This article demonstrates that several factors contributed to the policy of controlling the arrests and releases of internees, and that the most important was not negotiations with the Provisional IRA (PIRA) but the need to encourage the engagement of moderate nationalists in an emerging political process. The story of internment is often exclusively seen in the narrower narratives of paramilitary historiography and the later 'prison war'. This article adopts a broader contextual approach in which both moderate nationalist, and to a lesser extent, unionist concerns over arrests and releases are considered. In doing so, this work resituates the gradual ending of internment at the heart of the mainstream political discussions in Northern Ireland in the 1970s. The article also contends that this controlled use of internment as a political strategy ultimately proved to be successful for the British government in achieving their desired objectives.
Acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND) is a contagious disease for the shrimp cultivation, thus early detection of disease is an unmet need. This present study documented for the first time ...a simple lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) strip using polyclonal antibodies was created for the rapid detection both of PirA
vp
and PirB
vp
protein simultaneously. LFIA method based on the principle of sandwich format. The label is the colloidal gold. The polyclonal antibody was conjugated with the colloidal gold acting as biorecognition element and coated onto the conjugate pad. The rabbit anti-Pir
vp
, anti-PirB
vp
antibodies, and goat anti-rabbit IgG antibody were separately sprayed onto a nitrocellulose membrane to form two test lines and one control line, respectively. The appearance of red bands at the control line and the test line indicated a positive result. A single coloured band at control area indicated a negative result. The limit of detection of LFIA was found to be 125 ng, which could be visually detected by naked eye within 15 min. There was no cross-reactivity observed with VP
non-AHPND
. Furthermore, the sensitivity and specificity of LFIA were 94.0% and 98.0%, respectively. The developed test strip could be a game changer for early and in situ diagnosis of AHPND.
•Pre-exposure Galleria mellonella larvae to toxin PirA2B2 could not induce an enhanced immune protection.•The toxin PirA2B2 significantly decreased the cellular immunity of the larvae.•The degree of ...priming response in G. mellonella correlated positively to the levels of cellular immunity.
There is accumulating evidence that many invertebrates including insects can acquire enhanced immune protection against subsequently pathogens infection through immune priming. However, whether the toxin protein from pathogenic bacteria can induce such priming response remains unclear. Here we cloned, expressed and purified the toxin Photorhabdus insect-related proteins A2B2 (PirA2B2) from Photorhabdus luminescens TT01. We primed Galleria mellonella with sublethal dose of PirA2B2 and then challenged the larvae with viable P. luminescens TT01 at 48h after priming. We found no evidence for immune priming in G. mellonella larvae exposed to PirA2B2. Priming the larvae with PirA2B2 did not improve their resistance in a subsequent challenge with P. luminescens TT01. Whereas a robust priming response was observed when the larvae exposed to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) extracted from P. luminescens TT01. Because the larvae primed with LPS showed significant higher resistance against P. luminescens TT01 infection than those of the PBS and BSA controls. Furthermore, we investigated the changes of the cellular immune parameters, such as hemocyte counts, phagocytic activity and encapsulation ability of the hemocytes, after priming. We found that the toxin PirA2B2 significantly decreased the cellular immunity of the larvae, whereas the LPS significantly increased them. These results indicated that the degree of priming response in G. mellonella correlated positively to the levels of cellular immune parameters, and the underlying mechanism in regulating the immune priming of invertebrates was not homologous to that of the immunological memory of vertebrates.
Matthiola incana is a popular winter-flowering plant, and white is considered a valuable flower color for marketed cultivars. In this study, we aimed to identify the genes responsible for white ...flower coloration in six commercial cultivars of M. incana used as cut and potted flowers. The expression levels of chalcone synthase, flavanone 3-hydroxylase, flavonoid 3'-hydroxylase, dihydroflavonol 4-reductase, anthocyanidin synthase (ANS), and anthocyanidin 3-O-glucosyltransferase in the petals of ‘Kiss me White’ and ‘Pygmy White’ were 0%–48% lower than those in the purple flower ‘Vintage Lavender’, whereas the expression level of basic helix-loop-helix 2 (bHLH2) was two-fold higher. Significantly reduced expression levels of ANS were also detected in four other white flower cultivars: ‘Vintage White’, ‘Iron White’, ‘White Wonder No. 2’, and ‘Quartet White’. All investigated white flower cultivars had a single nucleotide deletion in the first exon of ANS, which we designated as ans-1. This generates a frameshift mutation and a nonsense codon. In addition to ans-1, ‘Kiss me White’ and ‘Pygmy White’ have a 481-bp insertion within bHLH2. This insertion has features of hAT-type transposable elements and was designated as dTmi1. All white flower cultivars contain the ans-1 mutation, whereas ‘Kiss me White’ and ‘Pygmy White’ are double mutants containing both bhlh2dTmi1 and ans-1. ‘Kiss me Yellow’, which accumulates carotenoids, but not anthocyanins, in its petals possesses the bhlh2dTmi1 allele, but not the ans-1 allele. Therefore, either bhlh2dTmi1 alone or ans-1 alone can lead to a deficiency in anthocyanin production in commercial cultivars of M. incana. We also developed co-dominant DNA markers that can distinguish between wild-type and mutant alleles of both bHLH2 and ANS. In combination with other previously developed markers that can distinguish between single- and double-flowered individuals, these markers will be useful for nursery plant management and breeding of commercial M. incana.
In an attempt to control the proliferation of the pathogenic bacterium Vibrio parahaemolyticus in gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata), the immunostimulant effect of lysate and ToxA from this bacterium ...was evaluated. Fish were intraperitoneally injected twice (first injection, day 1 of the experiment; second injection, day 7) and sampled after one week (on days 8 and 15). Afterwards, all fish specimens were experimentally infected with V. parahaemolyticus and mortality was recovered for 1 week. Fish injected with lysate, ToxA and phosphate buffer saline (control) showed 100%, 50% and 0% survival, respectively, when challenged with the pathogen. Skin mucus immune parameters and immune-related gene expression in skin and spleen were also evaluated. The results showed that mucus immune parameters were enhanced in the lysate and ToxA groups compared with the values obtained for fish from the control group. Expression of IL-1β, TNF-α, C3 and IgM genes was significantly up-regulated in the lysate and ToxA groups, principally after infection with the bacterium. Interestingly, TLR5 gene expression increased in fish immunized with lysate. The most prominent histological characteristic in gut from infected fish was the presence of a great number of intraepithelial leucocytes as well as inflammation of the submucosa, while severe hydropic degeneration and hemosiderosis were detected in liver from infected fish. Injection of lysate or ToxA had a protective effect against the deleterious consequences of subsequent infection with V. parahaemolyticus in gut and liver. The findings underline the potential of lysate and ToxA as potent preventive antigens against this kind of vibriosis.
•The immunostimulant effects of lysate and ToxA from Vibrio parahaemolyticus have been evaluated.•Fish immunized with lysate and ToxA had 100% and 50% of survival, respectively, when challenged with the pathogen.•Immune parameters in skin mucus were enhanced by intraperitoneal immunization.•Injection of lysate or ToxA to fish has a protective effect on the deleterious effects caused by V. parahaemolyticus.•Lysate and ToxA could be considered as potent preventive antigens to vibriosis for gilthead seabream.
Xinong Saanen (SN, n=323) and Guanzhong (GZ, n=197) goat breeds were used to detect single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the coding regions with their intron–exon boundaries of prolactin ...receptor (PRLR) gene by DNA sequencing, primer-introduced restriction analysis-polymerase chain reaction (PIRA-PCR) and PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Four novel SNPs (g.40452T>C, g.40471G>A, g.61677G>A and g.61865G>A) were identified. The g.61677G>A and g.61865G>A SNPs caused amino acid variations p.Ser485Asn and p.Val548Met, respectively. Both g.40452T>C and g.40471G>A loci were closely linked in SN and GZ goat breeds (r2>0.33). In addition, there was also a close linkage between g.61677G>A and g.61865G>A loci in both goat breeds. Statistical results indicated that the g.40452T>C, g.61677G>A and g.61865G>A SNPs were significantly associated with milk production traits in SN and GZ breeds. Further analysis revealed that combinative genotype C1 (TTAAGGGG) was better than the others for milk yield in SN and GZ goat breeds. These results are consistent with the regulatory function of PRLR in mammary gland development, milk secretion, and expression of milk protein genes, and extend the spectrum of genetic variation of the caprine PRLR gene, which might contribute to goat genetic resources and breeding.
•Four novel SNPs were identified in goat PRLR gene.•Three SNPs were associated with litter size (P<0.05).•Combinative genotype C1 (TTAAGGGG) was better than the others for milk yield.•The results contribute to goat genetic breeding.
Photorhabdus akhurstii
is an insect–parasitic bacterium that symbiotically associates with the nematode,
Heterorhabditis indica
. The bacterium possesses several pathogenicity islands that aids in ...conferring toxicity to different insects. Herein, we constructed the plasmid clones of coding sequences of four toxin genes (
pirA
,
tcaA
,
tccA
and
tccC
; each was isolated from four
P. akhurstii
strains IARI-SGMG3, IARI-SGGJ2, IARI-SGHR2 and IARI-SGMS1) in
Escherichia coli
and subsequently, their biological activity were investigated against the fourth-instar larvae of the model insect,
Galleria mellonella
via intra-hemocoel injection. Bioinformatics analyses indicated inter-strain amino acid sequence difference at several positions of the candidate toxins. In corroboration, differential insecticidal activity of the identical toxin protein (PirA, TcaA, TccA and TccC conferred 15–59, 27–100, 25–100 and 33–98% insect mortality, respectively, across the strains) derived from the different bacterial strains was observed, suggesting that the diverse gene pool in Indian strains of
P. akhurstii
leads to strain-specific virulence in this bacterium. These toxin candidates appear to be an attractive option to deploy them in biopesticide development for managing the insect pests globally.
Hydrocephalus in Friesian horses is an autosomal recessive hereditary disease that can result in an abortion, a stillbirth, or euthanization of a newborn foal. Here, the hydrocephalus-associated ...c.1423C > T mutation in B3GALNT2 gene was detected with PCR-RFLP and PCR-PIRA methods for horse genotyping. A preliminary genotyping survey was performed on 83 randomly selected Friesian stallion horses to determine the current allele frequency in Mexico. The frequency of the mutant T allele was 9.6%.
•Was developed a simple genotype analysis method for associated mutation with hydrocephalus in Friesian horses.•A preliminary genotyping survey was performed on 83 randomly selected Friesian stallion horses to determine the current allele frequency in Mexico.•The frequency of the mutant T allele was 9.6%.
The article analyses the political communication strategy adopted by Sinn Féin in order to legitimize the Provisional Irish Republican Army's (PIRA) terrorist campaign during their transition from ...violence into mainstream politics. Their endeavours to portray a triumphant republican movement in spite of the huge gap between strategic aims and achievements are examined. The political and social rehabilitation of violent Republicanism, and how their leaders have evolved from pariahs to celebrities, is also assessed. The role of the media and political elites, as well as the political discourse of the PIRA and Sinn Féin, is analysed in order to examine how the republican movement has tried to rewrite its past in an attempt to gain political and social legitimacy. Consequently, the myths reproduced by republicans to disguise their failures as historical compromises, reproducing a more benign interpretation of history which distorts the causes and consequences of terrorism, are critically assessed. The article will focus on the struggle for the legitimacy of the terrorist campaign and the propaganda system which, in the words of Garret FitzGerald (Irish Prime Minister between 1981 and 1987), has managed to turn the republican movement into the "peace party" despite murdering thousands of human beings.
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