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Introduction: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is characterized by a range of phenotypic expressions. Gender may be a relevant factor in mediating the disorder's heterogeneity. The aim of the present report was to explore a large multisite clinical sample of OCD patients, hypothesizing existing demographic, geographical and clinical differences between male and female patients with OCD.& nbsp;Methods: Socio-demographic and clinical variables of 491 adult OCD outpatients recruited in the International College of Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders (ICOCS) network were investigated with a retrospective analysis on a previously gathered set of data from eleven countries worldwide. Patients were assessed throughstructured clinical interviews, the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS), the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) and the Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS).& nbsp;Results: Among females, adult onset (> 18 years old) was significantly over-represented (67% vs. 33%, p < 0.005), and females showed a significantly older age at illness onset compared with males (20.85 +/- 10.76 vs. 17.71 +/- 8.96 years, p < 0.005). Females also had a significantly lower education level than males (13.09 +/- 4.02 vs. 13.98 +/- 3.85 years; p < 0.05), a significantly higher rate of being married (50.8% vs. 33.5%; p < 0.001) and a higher rate of living with a partner (47.5% vs. 37.6%; p < 0.001) than males. Nonetheless, no significant gender dif-ferences emerged in terms of the severity of OCD symptoms nor in the severity of comorbid depressive symptoms. No predictive effect of gender was found for Y-BOCS, MADRS and SDS severity.& nbsp;Discussion/Conclusions.: Our findings showed significant differences between genders in OCD. A sexually dimorphic pattern of genetic susceptibility may have a crucial role to OCD clinical heterogeneity, potentially requiring different specific therapeutic strategies. Further research is warranted to validate gender as an important determinant of the heterogeneity in OCD.

Es bien conocido que la resistencia en tomate a Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius), a Macrosiphum euphorbiae (Thomas) y a tres especies de nematodos formadores de nódulos (Meloidogyne spp.) está mediada por el gen Mi-1. Asimismo, está documentado que el ácido salicílico interviene en los mecanismos de resistencia frente a nematodos formadores de nódulos y áfidos. Recientemente se ha descrito que, en Arabidopsis, el biotipo B de B. tabaci induce defensas activadas por este ácido e inhibe las del ácido jasmónico, pero no se conoce aún la importancia de estas rutas de señalización en la resistencia del tomate a esta mosca blanca. En este trabajo se han realizado ensayos de no elección para analizar el papel de la ruta del ácido salicílico en la resistencia en tomate a los biotipos B y Q de B. tabaci mediada por el gen Mi-1. Los genotipos utilizados han sido VFN (Mi-1/Mi-1), Moneymaker (mi-1/mi-1), plantas de tomate transgénicas que expresan el gen NahG en Moneymaker y elimina el ácido salicílico endógeno por degradación a catecol, y los cruces VFN x NahG para introducir el gen NahG en el “background” de Mi-1. Los resultados obtenidos han mostrado que las plantas VFN x NahG no fueron resistentes a las moscas blancas, lo que indica que la ruta del ácido salicílico es un factor importante en la resistencia mediada por el gen Mi-1 a B. tabaci.

In a previous study, we demonstrated that tomato resistance to Bemisia tabaci Gennadius (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), regulated by the Mi-1 gene, is dependent on the plant development, with statistically significant differences between carrying- and lacking-Mi-1 plants in 8-week old tomato plants but not in younger plants. Similarly, tomato resistance to the potato aphid is developmentally regulated meanwhile the Mi-1 resistance to root-knot nematodes is expressed in tomato plants as soon as 12 hours after seed germination. Now we present new results from another study comparing Motelle (with Mi-1) and Moneymaker (without Mi-1) cultivars to clarify whether the determinant factor for the expression of Mi-1 gene in tomato resistance against B. tabaci is actually plant age or plant size. In order to obtain plants with the same age but different size, a group of plants from each cultivar were grown at 24ºC and other plants were grown at a lower temperature (19ºC). When all plants were 60-day-old, they were moved to a greenhouse to be freely infested by uniform releasing of B. tabaci (Q-biotype) adults. The numbers of adults were counted daily on every plant until the new adults emerged. In the normal size plants, higher values from the parameters analyzed were obtained in Moneymaker than were in Motelle, but the differences decreased in the small plants. This indicates that not only plant age, but also plant size is an important factor to be considered in the tomato response to B. tabaci mediated by the Mi-1 gene.

The sweetpotato whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) is an important pest of horticultural crops worldwide. This insect causes damage directly through phloem feeding or indirectly by transmission of plant viruses such as Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Diseases (TYLCDs). The tomato gene Mi-1.2 is responsible for resistance against the B and Q biotypes of B. tabaci, in addition to three species of root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) and the potato aphid (Macrosiphum euphorbiae). It is known that tomato plants carrying Mi-1.2 are resistant to root-knot nematodes early in development: seedlings inoculated at 24 hours after germination are resistant to nematode infection. In contrast, the Mi-1.2-mediated resistance against potato aphid is developmentally regulated, with fully expanded leaves becoming resistant only when plants are 4 to 5 weeks of age. We have observed Mi-1.2-regulated resistance to B. tabaci in 8-week old tomato plants but not in other experiments with younger plants. However, a definitive study lacked to investigate whether Mi-1.2-mediated resistance against B. tabaci is developmentally regulated. Two sets of assays have been carried out in the present study, with tomato plants cv. Motelle (with Mi-1.2) and Moneymaker (lacking Mi-1.2 ) under free-choice and no-choice conditions, to determine if plant age or development could have any effect on whitefly resistance. In the first set of assays, 3-, 5- and 8-week old plants were compared. In the second set of assays, two groups of 8-week old plants were compared, which had been grown under different temperatures (24 or 19ºC) to obtain different plant developments.