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Introduction: Thyroid hormones can directly affect kidney function; elevated levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) are associated with proteinuria, decreased estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), and progression to end-stage renal disease. Our hypothesis is that in patients with CKD and TSH at levels considered to be in the low subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) range, lowering TSH with levothyroxine (LVX) improves the clinical parameters of renal function., Methods: This was a double-blind, randomized, pilot clinical trial in patients with proteinuric CKD (eGFR <60 ml/min per 1.73 m 2 and proteinuria >150 mg/d) performed at the Hospital Civil de Guadalajara, with the intention of lowering TSH (levels of 1.25-2.5 μIU/l) in patients with TSH (levels of 2.6-9.9 μIU/ml with FT4 in the range of 0.7-1.8 ng/dl). Patients were randomized 1:1 to receive LVX or placebo for 12 weeks. The primary objective was to evaluate absolute levels of proteinuria at the beginning compared to the end of the study and, as a secondary objective, the changes in serum creatinine (sCr), eGFR, cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and blood pressure, and to assess the tolerability and safety of LVX., Results: Between March and November 2018, a total of 163 patients were assessed for eligibility; 119 patients did not meet the inclusion criteria or were excluded, and 32 patients were randomized. The demographic and clinical characteristics of the 2 study groups were essentially not different. Subjects were 66.87 (SD 12.19) years of age, 62.5% were female, 75% were diabetes mellitus, eGFR was 23.55 (±12.91) ml/min per 1.73 m 2 , TSH was 5.37 ± 2.13 μIU/ml, proteinuria in 24-hour urine collection was 1.52 ± 1.12, and all of them were taking angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) or angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs). Proteinuria at 12 weeks in the LVX group was 0.89 SD ± 1.28 g/d, and in the placebo group it was 1.35 SD ± 0.85 g/d; when compared to placebo, LVX showed a significant decrease in proteinuria of 1.1 g/d ( P  = 0.0011). The eGFR in the LVX group showed an improvement of 4 ml/min/1.73 m 2 ( P  = 0.049); in the placebo group, there was a decrease of 1.98 ml/min per 1.73 m 2 . The sCr, cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure were not different between groups. Adverse events were reported in the LVX group in 7.14% of patients and in 11.11% of patients in the placebo group; none left the study because of adverse effects, and there were no serious adverse events., Conclusion: This single-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot clinical trial in patients with advanced proteinuric CKD who already used ACEIs or ARBs demonstrated that administering LVX to obtain a TSH range close to 2.5 μIU/ml decreased proteinuria and improved eGFR. Future research is needed to confirm our results and to determine whether our findings generalize to patient groups not explicitly enrolled in this small pilot trial., (© 2020 International Society of Nephrology. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

This contribution contains data associated to the research article entitled "Exploring the genes of yerba mate ( Ilex paraguariensis A. St.-Hil.) by NGS and de novo transcriptome assembly" (Debat et al., 2014) [1]. By means of a bioinformatic approach involving extensive NGS data analyses, we provide a resource encompassing the full transcriptome assembly of yerba mate, the first available reference for the Ilex L. genus. This dataset (Supplementary files 1 and 2) consolidates the transcriptome-wide assembled sequences of I. paraguariensis with further comprehensive annotation of the protein coding genes of yerba mate via the integration of Arabidopsis thaliana databases. The generated data is pivotal for the characterization of agronomical relevant genes in the tree crop yerba mate -a non-model species- and related taxa in Ilex . The raw sequencing data dissected here is available at DDBJ/ENA/GenBank (NCBI Resource Coordinators, 2016) [2] Sequence Read Archive (SRA) under the accession SRP043293 and the assembled sequences have been deposited at the Transcriptome Shotgun Assembly Sequence Database (TSA) under the accession GFHV00000000.

This contribution contains data related to the research article entitled "The 18S-25S ribosomal RNA unit of yerba mate ( Ilex paraguariensis A. St.-Hil.)" (Aguilera et al., 2016) [1]. Through a bioinformatic approach involving NGS data, we provide information of the transcribed 45S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) sequence of yerba mate, the first reference for the Ilex L. genus. This dataset (Supplementary file 1) comprises information regarding the assembly and annotation of this rRNA unit. The generated data is applicable for comparative analysis and evolutionary studies among Ilex and related taxa. The raw sequencing data used here is available at DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank (NCBI Resource Coordinators, 2016) [2] Sequence Read Archive (SRA) under the accession SRP043293 and the consensus 45S ribosomal RNA sequence has been deposited there under the accession GFHV00000000.

We present here the physical mapping of the 5S rDNA locus in six wild and five cultivated taxa of Capsicum by means of a genus-specific FISH probe. In all taxa, a single 5S locus per haploid genome that persistently mapped onto the short arm of a unique metacentric chromosome pair at intercalar position, was found. 5S FISH signals of almost the same size and brightness intensity were observed in all the analyzed taxa. This is the first cytological characterization of the 5S in wild taxa of Capsicum by using a genus-derived probe, and the most exhaustive and comprehensive in the chili peppers up to now. The information provided here will aid the cytomolecular characterization of pepper germplasm to evaluate variability and can be instrumental to integrate physical, genetic and genomic maps already generated in the genus.

Yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis A. St.-Hil.) is an important subtropical tree crop cultivated on 326,000 ha in Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay, with a total yield production of more than 1,000,000 t. Yerba mate presents a strong limitation regarding sequence information. The NCBI GenBank lacks an EST database of yerba mate and depicts only 80 DNA sequences, mostly uncharacterized. In this scenario, in order to elucidate the yerba mate gene landscape by means of NGS, we explored and discovered a vast collection of I. paraguariensis transcripts. Total RNA from I. paraguariensis was sequenced by Illumina HiSeq-2000 obtaining 72,031,388 pair-end 100 bp sequences. High quality reads were de novo assembled into 44,907 transcripts encompassing 40 million bases with an estimated coverage of 180X. Multiple sequence analysis allowed us to predict that yerba mate contains ∼ 32,355 genes and 12,551 gene variants or isoforms. We identified and categorized members of more than 100 metabolic pathways. Overall, we have identified ∼ 1,000 putative transcription factors, genes involved in heat and oxidative stress, pathogen response, as well as disease resistance and hormone response. We have also identified, based in sequence homology searches, novel transcripts related to osmotic, drought, salinity and cold stress, senescence and early flowering. We have also pinpointed several members of the gene silencing pathway, and characterized the silencing effector Argonaute1. We predicted a diverse supply of putative microRNA precursors involved in developmental processes. We present here the first draft of the transcribed genomes of the yerba mate chloroplast and mitochondrion. The putative sequence and predicted structure of the caffeine synthase of yerba mate is presented. Moreover, we provide a collection of over 10,800 SSR accessible to the scientific community interested in yerba mate genetic improvement. This contribution broadly expands the limited knowledge of yerba mate genes, and is presented as the first genomic resource of this important crop.

We present the first report of a virus infecting the subtropical tree crop yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis St. Hil.). Total RNA purification, followed by next-generation sequencing, transcripts assembly and annotation, resulted in the identification of a new endornavirus species infecting yerba mate. The complete sequence of the linear dsRNA viral genome is 13,954-nt long, contains a single 13,743 nt ORF, and presents a 149 nt 5'UTR and a 61 nt 3'UTR. The predicted ORF encodes a 4,581 aa polypeptide with a UDP-glucose glycosyl-transferase, a capsular polysaccharide synthesis protein, and a RNA-dependent RNA polymerase domain. The name yerba mate endornavirus is proposed for the identified virus. Due to the intriguing peculiarities of this virus family, and the complete lack of the yerba mate virus literature, we consider that the information reported here will be helpful in leading to a new and needed attention to this important topic and crop.