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Litchi (Litchi chinensis) pepper spot disease results in black spotting symptoms on litchi fruits. This disease was first observed on litchi cultivar Guiwei, in Guangzhou, China, in 2009, and then found widespread in other litchi‐growing regions of China. Colletotrichum isolates were consistently recovered from typical black spot lesions of diseased fruits with frequency ranging from 83% to 100%. Three representative Colletotrichum isolates from Maoming, Guangzhou and Shenzhen were selected for identification and pathogenicity testing in the field. Based on morphology and phylogenetic analysis using the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer region (ITS), glyceraldehyde‐3‐phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), calmodulin (CAL), actin (ACT), β‐tubulin (TUB2) and glutamine synthetase (GS) gene sequences, the three isolates were identified as C. siamense. In the pathogenicity experiments, typical symptoms appeared on the inoculated litchi fruits, including black spots and green patches around these black spots. These symptoms were consistent with the symptoms originally observed in the field. Colletotrichum siamense was successfully reisolated from the typical black spot lesions of the inoculated litchi fruits. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report on characterization of C. siamense as the causal agent of litchi pepper spot disease in mainland China by successful inoculation on fruits under field conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Faecal microbiota transplantation ( FMT) has become routine in managing recurrent C. difficile infection ( CDI) refractory to antibiotics. Aim To compare clinical response and improvements in colonic microbiota diversity in subjects with recurrent CDI using different donor product. Methods Seventy-two subjects with ≥3 bouts of CDI were randomised in a double-blind study to receive fresh, frozen or lyophilised FMT product via colonoscopy from 50 g of stool per treatment from eight healthy donors. Recipients provided stools pre- and 7, 14 and 30 days post- FMT for C. difficile toxin and, in a subset, microbiome composition by 16S rRNA gene profiling. Results Overall resolution of CDI was 87% during 2 months of follow-up after FMT. Stool samples before FMT had significantly decreased bacterial diversity with a high proportion of Proteobacteria compared to donors. Cure rates were highest for the group receiving fresh product seen in 25/25 (100%), lowest for the lyophilised product 16/23 (78%; P = 0.022 vs. fresh and 0.255 vs. frozen) and intermediate for frozen product 20/24 ( P = 0.233 vs. fresh). Microbial diversity was reconstituted by day 7 in the subjects receiving fresh or frozen product. Improvement in diversity was seen by day 7 in those randomised to lyophilised material with reconstitution by 30 days. Conclusions Comparative efficacy in faecal microbiota transplantation was observed in subjects receiving fresh or frozen faecal product from the same donors. The lyophilised product had a slightly lowered efficacy compared with fresh product, but it resembled other treatments in microbial restoration 1 month after faecal microbiota transplantation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Distinguishing label-free malignant cells from healthy ones by their laser scattering spectra is still a tough challenge in label-free cells detection methods. During cells malignant transferring, some tiny structural differences occurs. The nucleus, as the most important internal structure, has very close relationships with cell's healthy state. In this paper, cells with similar size but different tiny nucleus differences are set as the research objects. A novel cell's laser scattering processing algorithm, even interval incident angle (EIIA) algorithm, is developed which is effective in distinguish label-free cells with tiny nucleus' size difference. The laser scattering spectra of human acute leukaemia Jurkat cell models with different nuclei are processed by EIIA to test its sensitivity and reliability. The results prove that cell's original tightly compacted laser scattering spectra have been well separated by EIIA. A consistent rule for cell's nucleus becoming larger can be obviously observed in EIIA processed laser scattering results, which is promising to be an effective standard for identifying malignant larger nucleus cells from healthy ones; therefore, a valid pathway for identify label-free cells simply and directly by their laser scattering spectra can be implemented by EIIA. Also, it may supply an important clinic diagnosis tool to detect malignant cells in early cancerous stage without any dying and marking procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]