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Aim: To determine whether healthcare workers (HCW) hospitalized in Spain due to COVID-19 have a worse prognosis than non-healthcare workers (NHCW). Methods: Observational cohort study based on the SEMI-COVID-19 Registry, a nationwide registry that collects sociodemographic, clinical, laboratory, and treatment data on patients hospitalised with COVID-19 in Spain. Patients aged 20–65 years were selected. A multivariate logistic regression model was performed to identify factors associated with mortality. Results: As of 22 May 2020, 4393 patients were included, of whom 419 (9.5%) were HCW. Median (interquartile range) age of HCW was 52 (15) years and 62.4% were women. Prevalence of comorbidities and severe radiological findings upon admission were less frequent in HCW. There were no difference in need of respiratory support and admission to intensive care unit, but occurrence of sepsis and in-hospital mortality was lower in HCW (1.7% vs. 3.9%; p = 0.024 and 0.7% vs. 4.8%; p<0.001 respectively). Age, male sex and comorbidity, were independently associated with higher in-hospital mortality and healthcare working with lower mortality (OR 0.211, 95%CI 0.067–0.667, p = 0.008). 30-days survival was higher in HCW (0.968 vs. 0.851 p<0.001). Conclusions: Hospitalized COVID-19 HCW had fewer comorbidities and a better prognosis than NHCW. Our results suggest that professional exposure to COVID-19 in HCW does not carry more clinical severity nor mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wheat bran (WB) from Triticum aestivum has many beneficial effects on human health. To the best of our knowledge, very little has been published about its ability to prevent pathogenic bacterial adhesion in the intestine. Here, a WB extract was fractionated using different strategies, and the obtained fractions were tested in different in vitro methodologies to evaluate their interference in the attachment of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) K88 to intestinal porcine epithelial cells (IPEC-J2) with the aim of identifying the putative anti-adhesive molecules. It was found that a proteinaceous compound in the >300-kDa fraction mediates the recognition of ETEC K88 to IPEC-J2. Further fractionation of the >300-kDa sample by size-exclusion chromatography showed several proteins below 90 kDa, suggesting that the target protein belongs to a high-molecular-weight (MW) multi-component protein complex. The identification of some relevant excised bands was performed by mass spectrometry (MS) and mostly revealed the presence of various protease inhibitors (PIs) of low MW: Serpin-Z2B, Class II chitinase, endogenous alpha-amylase/subtilisin inhibitor and alpha-amylase/trypsin inhibitor CM3. Furthermore, an incubation of the WB extract with ETEC K88 allowed for the identification of a 7S storage protein globulin of wheat, Globulin 3 of 66 kDa, which may be one of the most firmly attached WB proteins to ETEC K88 cells. Further studies should be performed to gain an understanding of the molecular recognition of the blocking process that takes place. All gathered information can eventually pave the way for the development of novel anti-adhesion therapeutic agents to prevent bacterial pathogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most important breeding goals in ornamental crops are plant appearance and flower characteristics where selection is visually performed on direct offspring of crossings. We developed an image analysis toolbox for the acquisition of flower and petal images from cultivated carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus L.) that was validated by a detailed analysis of flower and petal size and shape in 78 commercial cultivars of D. caryophyllus, including 55 standard, 22 spray and 1 pot carnation cultivars. Correlation analyses allowed us to reduce the number of parameters accounting for the observed variation in flower and petal morphology. Convexity was used as a descriptor for the level of serration in flowers and petals. We used a landmark-based approach that allowed us to identify eight main principal components (PCs) accounting for most of the variance observed in petal shape. The effect and the strength of these PCs in standard and spray carnation cultivars are consistent with shared underlying mechanisms involved in the morphological diversification of petals in both subpopulations. Our results also indicate that neighbor-joining trees built with morphological data might infer certain phylogenetic relationships among carnation cultivars. Based on estimated broad-sense heritability values for some flower and petal features, different genetic determinants shall modulate the responses of flower and petal morphology to environmental cues in this species. We believe our image analysis toolbox could allow capturing flower variation in other species of high ornamental value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chronic respiratory infection by Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a major cause of mortality in cystic fibrosis (CF). We investigated the interplay between three key microbiological aspects of these infections: the occurrence of transmissible and persistent strains, the emergence of variants with enhanced mutation rates (mutators) and the evolution of antibiotic resistance. For this purpose, 10 sequential isolates, covering up to an 8-year period, from each of 10 CF patients were studied. As anticipated, resistance significantly accumulated overtime, and occurred more frequently among mutator variants detected in 6 of the patients. Nevertheless, highest resistance was documented for the nonmutator CF epidemic strain LES-1 (ST-146) detected for the first time in Spain. A correlation between resistance profiles and resistance mechanisms evaluated [efflux pump (mexB, mexD, mexF, and mexY) and ampC overexpression and OprD production] was not always obvious and hypersusceptibility to certain antibiotics (such as aztreonam or meropenem) was frequently observed. The analysis of whole genome macrorestriction fragments through Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE) revealed that a single genotype (clone FQSE-A) produced persistent infections in 4 of the patients. Multilocus Sequence typing (MLST) identified clone FQSE-A as the CF epidemic clone ST-274, but striking discrepancies between PFGE and MLST profiles were evidenced. While PFGE macrorestriction patterns remained stable, a new sequence type (ST-1089) was detected in two of the patients, differing from ST-274 by only two point mutations in two of the genes, each leading to a nonpreviously described allele. Moreover, detailed genetic analyses revealed that the new ST-1089 is a mutS deficient mutator lineage that evolved from the epidemic strain ST-274, acquired specific resistance mechanisms, and underwent further interpatient spread. Thus, presented results provide the first evidence of interpatient dissemination of mutator lineages and denote their potential for unexpected short-term sequence type evolution, illustrating the complexity of P. aeruginosa population biology in CF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The selective trafficking of proteins and RNAs through the nuclear envelope regulates nuclear-cytoplasmic segregation of macromolecules and is mediated by nucleopore complexes (NPCs), which consist of about 400 nucleoporins (Nups) of about 30 types. Extensive studies of nucleoporin function in yeast and vertebrates showed that Nups function in nucleocytoplasmic trafficking and other processes. However, limited studies of plant Nups have identified only a few mutations, which cause pleiotropic phenotypes including reduced growth and early flowering. Here, we describe loss-of-function alleles of Arabidopsis TRANSCURVATA1 (TCU1); these mutations cause increased hypocotyl and petiole length, reticulate and asymmetrically epinastic leaf laminae of reduced size, and early flowering. TCU1 is transcribed in all of the organs and tissues examined, and encodes the putative ortholog of yeast and vertebrate Nup58, a nucleoporin of the Nup62 subcomplex. Nup58 forms the central channel of the NPC and acts directly in translocation of proteins through the nuclear envelope in yeast and vertebrates. Yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) assays identified physical interactions between TCU1/NUP58 and 34 proteins, including nucleoporins, SCF (Skp1/Cul1/F-box) ubiquitin ligase complex components and other nucleoplasm proteins. Genetic interactions were also found between TCU1 and genes encoding nucleoporins, soluble nuclear transport receptors and components of the ubiquitin-proteasome and auxin signaling pathways. These genetic and physical interactions indicate that TCU1/NUP58 is a member of the Nup62 subcomplex of the Arabidopsis NPC. Our findings also suggest regulatory roles for TCU1/NUP58 beyond its function in nucleocytoplasmic trafficking, a hypothesis that is supported by the Y2H and genetic interactions that we observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]