Grapevine species (Vitis sp.) are prone to several diseases, fungi being the major pathogens compromising its cultivation and economic profit around the world. Knowledge of the complexity of mechanisms responsible for resistance to fungus infection of cultivars, such as Regent, is necessary for strategies to be defined which will improve resistance in highly susceptible crop species. Transcript and metabolic profiles of the Vitis vinifera cultivars Regent and Trincadeira (resistant and susceptible to fungi, respectively) were analysed by cDNA microarray, quantitative real-time PCR, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The integration of datasets obtained through transcriptome and metabolome analysis revealed differences in transcripts and metabolites between both cultivars. These differences are probably associated with the innate resistance of Regent towards the mildews. Several transcripts related to stress and defence, namely a subtilisin-like protease, phenylalanine ammonia lyase, S-adenosylmethionine synthase, WD-repeat protein like, and J2P, were up-regulated in Regent suggesting an intrinsic resistance capability of this cultivar. A metabolic profile revealed an accumulation of compounds such as inositol and caffeic acid, which are known to confer resistance to fungi. The differences in transcripts and metabolites detected are discussed in terms of the metabolic pathways and their possible role in plant defence against pathogen attack, as well as their potential interest to discriminate among resistant and susceptible grapevine cultivars.

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This paper examines the predictability of COVID-19 worldwide lethality considering 43 countries. Based on the values inherent to Permutation entropy ( ) and Fisher information measure ( ), we apply the Shannon-Fisher causality plane (SFCP), which allows us to quantify the disorder an evaluate randomness present in the time series of daily death cases related to COVID-19 in each country. We also use Hs and Fs to rank the COVID-19 lethality in these countries based on the complexity hierarchy. Our results suggest that the most proactive countries implemented measures such as facemasks, social distancing, quarantine, massive population testing, and hygienic (sanitary) orientations to limit the impacts of COVID-19, which implied lower entropy (higher predictability) to the COVID-19 lethality. In contrast, the most reactive countries implementing these measures depicted higher entropy (lower predictability) to the COVID-19 lethality. Given this, our findings shed light that these preventive measures are efficient to combat the COVID-19 lethality.

Four genetic polymorphisms located at the promoter (C-257T) and coding regions of CFH gene (exon 2 G257A, exon 14 A2089G and exon 19 G2881T) were investigated in 121 dengue patients (DENV-3) in order to assess the relationship between allele/haplotypes variants and clinical outcomes. A statistical value was found between the CFH-257T allele (TT/TC genotypes) and reduced susceptibility to severe dengue (SD). Statistical associations indicate that individuals bearing a T allele presented significantly higher protein levels in plasma. The –257T variant is located within a NF-κB binding site, suggesting that this variant might have effect on the ability of the CFH gene to respond to signals via the NF-κB pathway. The G257A allelic variant showed significant protection against severe dengue. When CFH haplotypes effect was considered, the ancestral CG/CG promoter-exon 2 SNP genotype showed significant risk to SD either in a general comparison (ancestral × all variant genotypes), as well as in individual genotypes comparison (ancestral × each variant genotype), where the most prevalent effect was observed in the CG/CG × CA/TG comparison. These findings support the involvement of –257T, 257A allele variants and haplotypes on severe dengue phenotype protection, related with high basal CFH expression.

Hepatotoxicity is frequently reported as an adverse reaction during the treatment of tuberculosis. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of hepatotoxicity and to identify predictive factors for developing hepatotoxicity after people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) start treatment for tuberculosis. This was a prospective cohort study with PLWHA who were monitored during the first 60 days of tuberculosis treatment in Pernambuco, Brazil. Hepatotoxicity was considered increased levels of aminotransferase, namely those that rose to three times higher than the level before initiating tuberculosis treatment, these levels being associated with symptoms of hepatitis. We conducted a multivariate logistic regression analysis and the magnitude of the associations was expressed by the odds ratio with a confidence interval of 95%. Hepatotoxicity was observed in 53 (30.6%) of the 173 patients who started tuberculosis treatment. The final multivariate logistic regression model demonstrated that the use of fluconazole, malnutrition and the subject being classified as a phenotypically slow acetylator increased the risk of hepatotoxicity significantly. The incidence of hepatotoxicity during treatment for tuberculosis in PLWHA was high. Those classified as phenotypically slow acetylators and as malnourished should be targeted for specific care to reduce the risk of hepatotoxicity during treatment for tuberculosis. The use of fluconazole should be avoided during tuberculosis treatment in PLWHA.

In this paper, we presented an overview diagnosis consider the time series of daily deaths by COVID-19 in the Brazilian States using Bandt & Pompe method (BPM) to estimate the Information Theory quantifiers, more specifically the Permutation entropy (H s ) and the Fisher information measure (F s ). Based on the Information Theory quantifiers, we build up the Shannon-Fisher causality plane (SFCP) to promote insights into the COVID-19 temporal evolution inherent in the phenomenology associated with the number of daily deaths well as their respective locations along the SFCP. Moreover, we apply H s and F s to elaborate on the rank of the Brazilian States’ real situation, considering the number of daily death due to COVID-19 based on the complexity hierarchy. The Brazilian States that are located in the middle region of the two-dimensional plane (H s x F s ), such as Amapá (AP), Roraima (RO), Acre (AC), and Tocantins (TO) are characterized by a less entropic and low disorder, which implies in high predictability of the COVID-19 lethality. While, the Brazilian States that are located in the lower-right region, such as Ceará (CE), Bahia (BA), Pernambuco (PE), and Rio de Janeiro (RJ), are characterized by high entropy and high disorder, which leads to low predictability of the COVID-19 lethality. Given this, our results provide empirical evidence that the permutation entropy is a powerful approach to predicting infectious diseases. Dynamic monitoring of permutation entropy can help policymakers to take more or less restrictive measures to combat COVID-19.

Transcriptional changes in Pisolithus tinctorius leading to ectomycorrhizal formation in P. tinctorius- Castanea sativa were investigated using a 12-h fungal interaction in vitro system. Using a 3107-cDNA clone microarray, 34 unique expressed sequence tags (ESTs) were found to be differentially expressed. These ESTs represent 14 known genes, 5 upregulated and 9 downregulated, and 20 orphan sequences. Some transcripts of upregulated genes (with unknown function) were previously identified in other mycorrhizal Pisolithus spp. associations. ESTs for S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine hydrolase and several orphan sequences were identified in our system. The identified transcript of downregulated genes involved hydrophobins, 5S, 18S, and 28S ribosomal RNA genes, large subunits of ribosomal RNA (mitochondrial gene), and two types of heat shock proteins. This study demonstrates the high complexity of molecular events involved in the preinfection steps and suggests the utilization of different fungal gene repertories before ectomycorrhizal formation. These data constitute a first contribution for the molecular understanding of early signaling events between P. tinctorius and C. sativa roots during ectomycorrhizal formation.