The clinical application of a new, widely applicable method known as Karyomapping to carry out a total of 55 clinical cases of preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) for single gene disorders is reported. Conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing was carried out in parallel to the new method for all cases. Clinical application of Karyomapping in this study resulted in three live births and nine clinical pregnancies out of 20 cases with a transfer. All in all, results presented in this study indicate that Karyomapping is a highly efficient, accurate and robust method for PGD of single gene disorders. Karyomapping can offer a more comprehensive assessment of the region of interest than conventional PCR analysis, allowing for more embryos to receive diagnosis (99.6% versus 96.8%), whereas its wide applicability reduces substantially the time that patients have to wait before starting their in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycle. Nonetheless, inclusion of elements of conventional PCR methodology, such as direct mutation detection, may be required in cases in which the gene of interest is in a region with reduced single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) coverage (e.g. telomeric regions), when offering PGD for consanguineous couples, or in cases where no samples from additional family members are available.

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Tea grey geometrid (Ectropis grisescens), a devastating chewing pest in tea plantations throughout China, produces Type-II pheromone components. Little is known about the genes encoding proteins involved in the perception of Type-II sex pheromone components. To investigate the olfaction genes involved in E. grisescens sex pheromones and plant volatiles perception, we sequenced female and male antennae transcriptomes of E. grisescens. After assembly and annotation, we identified 153 candidate chemoreception genes in E. grisescens, including 40 odorant-binding proteins (OBPs), 30 chemosensory proteins (CSPs), 59 odorant receptors (ORs), and 24 ionotropic receptors (IRs). The results of phylogenetic, qPCR, and mRNA abundance analyses suggested that three candidate pheromone-binding proteins (EgriOBP2, 3, and 25), two candidate general odorant-binding proteins (EgriOBP1 and 29), six pheromone receptors (EgriOR24, 25, 28, 31, 37, and 44), and EgriCSP8 may be involved in the detection of Type-II sex pheromone components. Functional investigation by heterologous expression in Xenopus oocytes revealed that EgriOR31 was robustly tuned to the E. grisescens sex pheromone component (Z,Z,Z)-3,6,9-octadecatriene and weakly to the other sex pheromone component (Z,Z)-3,9-6,7-epoxyoctadecadiene. Our results represent a systematic functional analysis of the molecular mechanism of olfaction perception in E. grisescens with an emphasis on gene encoding proteins involved in perception of Type-II sex pheromones, and provide information that will be relevant to other Lepidoptera species.

PurposeThis study aims to investigate Saccharomyces boulardii CNCM I-745 during Helicobacter pylori eradication in children.MethodsOne hundred ninety-four H. pylori positive children were randomized in two groups. Therapy (omeprazole+clarithromycin+amoxicillin or omeprazole+clarithromycin+metronidazole in case of penicillin allergy) was given to both groups during two weeks. In the treatment group (n: 102) S. boulardii was added to the triple therapy, while the control group (n: 92) only received triple therapy. The incidence, onset, duration and severity of diarrhea and compliance to the eradication treatment were compared. A 13C urea breath test was done 4 weeks after the end of eradication therapy in two groups of 21 patients aged 12 years and older to test the H. pylori eradication rate.ResultsIn the treatment group, diarrhea occurred in 12 cases (11.76%), starting after 6.25±1.24 days, lasting 3.17±1.08 days, and compliance to eradication treatment was 100%. In the control group, diarrhea occurred in 26 cases (28.26%), starting after 4.05±1.11 days, lasting 4.02±0.87 days, and in six cases eradication treatment was stopped prematurely (p<0.05). The 13C urea breath test showed successful H. pylori eradication in 71.4% of the patients in the treatment and in 61.9 % in the control group (not significant).ConclusionS. boulardii has a beneficial effect on the prevention and treatment of diarrhea during H. pylori eradication in children. Although S. boulardii did only slightly increase H. pylori eradication rate, compliance to eradication treatment was improved.

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Insects' olfactory receptor plays a central role in detecting chemosensory information from the environment. Odorant receptors (ORs) and ionotropic receptors (IRs) are two types of olfactory receptors, and they are essential for the recognition of ligands at peripheral neurons. Apriona germari (Hope) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) is one of the most serious insect pests that cause damage to economic trees and landscaping trees, resulting in massive environmental damages and economic losses. Olfactorybased management strategy has been suggested as a promising strategy to control this wood-boring beetle. However, the olfactory perception mechanism in A. germari is now almost unknown. In the present study, RNA sequencing analysis was used to determine the transcriptomes of adult A. germari antennae. Among 36,834 unigenes derived from the antennal assembly, we identified 42 AgerORs and three AgerIRs. Based on the tissue expression pattern analysis, 27 AgerORs displayed a female-biased expression. Notably, AgerOR3, 5, 13, 33, and 40 showed a significant female-biased expression and were clustered with the pheromone receptors of Megacyllene caryae in the phylogenetic tree, suggesting that these AgerORs could be potential pheromone receptors for sensing male-produced sex pheromones in A. germari. The AgerIRs expression profile demonstrated that AgerIR2 had high expression levels in male labial palps, suggesting that this receptor may function to detect female-deposited trail-sex pheromone blend of A. germari. In addition, the phylogenetic tree showed that the Orco gene of five cerambycidae species was highly conservative. These results provide a foundation for further studies on the molecular mechanisms of olfactory chemoreception in A. germari apart from suggesting novel targets for the control of this pest in the future.

H. pylori eradication increases the plasma and tissue ghrelin levels in children with H. pylori-associated functional dyspepsia.

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