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In het kader van harmonisatie van de rapportage van autoimmuundiagnostiek is er sinds enkele jaren internationale consensus over de nomenclatuur en definitie van HEp-2-patronen die met behulp van indirecte immuunfluorescentie (IIF) te onderscheiden zijn. Deze test wordt gebruikt om anticellulaire antistoffen aan te tonen die veelal gerapporteerd worden als antinucleaire antistoffen (ANA) en een belangrijke rol spelen in de diagnostiek van systemische autoimmuunziekten. In een nauwe samenwerking tussen het Belgische en Nederlandse EASI-team is de consensus beschikbaar gemaakt voor het Nederlandse taalgebied. Uitgangspunt is dat de Nederlandstalige benamingen van de verschillende HEp-2-patronen breed ingevoerd gaan worden in klinische laboratoria in Nederland en Vlaanderen. Inleiding

Supplementary table, supporting data, and supporting information. (DOCX 1229 kb)

Since 2011, a new Commission Regulation (EU/619/2011) defines that laboratories testing for genetically modified organisms (GMO) need to be able to detect also genetically modified (GM) events pending for authorisation. This, in addition to the fact that the number of GM events authorised in the European Union (EU) that need to be identified multiplies rapidly and that the detection of unauthorised GMO becomes more important, led to the development of a time and cost-effective screening approach. Moreover, the GM elements that are utilised in the transgenic inserts also become increasingly diverse. Consequently, the screening approaches have to be updated to enable full coverage and better discrimination of all these events. To respond to this need, two new qualitative SYBR®Green real-time PCR (qPCR) methods were developed and in-house validated: one method is element-specific and targets the Cry3Bb trait, and the other one is a construct-specific method detecting the gat-tpinII junction. Method acceptance parameters such as the sensitivity, specificity and repeatability were assessed as well as the robustness of the methods. Additionally, the reproducibility was evaluated by transferring the methods to a second laboratory. Both methods allow a specific, sensitive and repeatable detection of the respective targets in food and feed samples and can be easily applied in a routine laboratory. Moreover, they can be used together with previously validated SYBR®Green qPCR methods to expand the panel of screening methods. This allows an extended coverage of the GM events authorised in the EU and adds discriminative power to the screening phase.

Biotech crops are the fastest adopted crop technology in the history of modern agriculture. The commercialisation of GMO is in many countries strictly regulated laying down the need for traceability and labelling. To comply with these legislations, detection methods are needed. To date, GM events have been developed by the introduction of a transgenic insert (i.e., promoter, coding sequence, terminator) into the plant genome and real-time PCR is the detection method of choice. However, new types of genetic elements will be used to construct new GMO and new crops will be transformed. Additionally, the presence of unauthorised GMO in food and feed samples might increase in the near future. To enable enforcement laboratories to continue detecting all GM events and to obtain an idea of the possible presence of unauthorised GMO in a food and feed sample, an intensive screening will become necessary. A pragmatic, cost-effective, and time-saving approach is presented here together with an overview of the evolution of the GMO and the upcoming needs.

BACKGROUND: To check for correlation between the insecticidal properties and the specificity of lectins, a comparative study was made of the insecticidal activities of two garlic lectins with different biological activities. RESULTS:The insecticidal activity of the garlic (Allium sativum L.) leaf lectin ASAL and bulb lectin ASAII towards the tobacco aphid Myzus nicotianae Blackman was studied using bioassays with transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. Wisconsin 38). Bioassays were started with newborn nymphs of the tobacco aphid. Although during the first 7-8 days when nymphs developed to adults there were no apparent effects, part of the nymphal population was found to develop into winged (alate) forms. Later it became clear that transgenic plants expressing ASAL and ASAII had a significant effect on the reproduction capacity of the resulting adults, with a reduction of up to 40%. Different life table parameters such as prereproductive time, intrinsic rate of natural increase, generation time and doubling time were significantly affected (P

Small RAC/ROP-family G proteins regulate development and stress responses in plants. Transient overexpression and RNA interference experiments suggested that the barley (Hordeum vulgare) RAC/ROP protein RACB is involved in susceptibility to the powdery mildew fungus Blumeria graminis f. sp. hordei. We created transgenic barley plants expressing the constitutively activated RACB mutant racb-G15V under control of the maize (Zea mays) ubiquitin 1 promoter. Individuals of the T1 generation expressing racb-G15V were significantly more susceptible to B. graminis when compared to segregating individuals that did not express racb-G15V. Additionally, racb-G15V-expressing plants showed delayed shoot development from the third leaf stage on, downward rolled leaves, and stunted roots. Expression of racb-G15V decreased photosynthetic CO(2)-assimilation rates and transpiration of nonstressed leaves. In contrast, racb-G15V-expressing barley leaves, when detached from water supply, showed increased water loss and enhanced transpiration. Water loss was associated with reduced responsiveness to abscisic acid in regard to transpiration when compared to segregants not expressing racb-G15V. Hence, RACB might be a common signaling element in response to both biotic and abiotic stress.