BackgroundBovine papillomavirus (BPV) belongs to the Papillomaviridae family and infects epithelial cells of bovines and closely related animals, causing hyperproliferative lesions known as warts or papillomas, which may regress or progress to form benign or malignant tumors. The virus enters the host cell and interacts with it by altering the regulation of genes that are responsible for controlling the cell cycle, thus triggering lesion formation. It is not yet known which host genes are regulated by viral infection. Therefore, the objective of this study was to make use of next-generation RNA sequencing methods to identify differentially expressed genes associated with BPV infection, which might elucidate possible marker genes that could be used to control the disease.ResultsTranscriptome analysis revealed that 1343 genes were differentially regulated (FDR < 0.05). A comparison of gene expression in infected and noninfected cows indicated that 655 genes were significantly upregulated, and 688 genes were significantly downregulated. Most differentially expressed genes were associated with BPV infection pathways, which supports the hypothesis that viral infection was the mechanism associated with this regulation.ConclusionsThis is the first study that focused on a large-scale evaluation of gene expression associated with BPV infection, which is important to identify possible metabolic pathways regulated by host genes for lesion development. In addition, novel targets could be identified in order to find ligands that interact with BPV, with the aim of interrupting the infection cycle.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12864-018-5361-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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In the frame of an ongoing lichen inventory of Atlantic Rainforest remnants in Northeast Brazil, five new species of Graphidaceae were discovered in a small forest fragment, Mata do Cipó, in Sergipe state, the smallest state of Brazil and among those with the highest deforestation rate in the country. An additional new species had already been collected in Panama before and was now also found in the Mata do Cipó and is described here as well. In total, 40 species of Graphidaceae are reported for this remnant, including a large number of taxa indicative of well-preserved rainforest. The new species are: Fissurina atlantica T.A. Pereira, M. Cáceres & Lücking, sp. nov., Graphis subaltamirensis Passos, M. Cáceres & Lücking, sp. nov., Ocellularia cipoensis L.A. Santos, M. Cáceres & Lücking, sp. nov., O. sosma T.A. Pereira, M. Cáceres & Lücking, sp. nov., O. submordenii Lücking, sp. nov. (also known from Panama), and Pseudochapsa aptrootiana M. Cáceres, T.A. Pereira & Lücking, sp. nov. The findings are discussed in the context of the strong fragmentation of the Atlantic Rainforest, with individual remnants apparently serving as refugia for residual populations of rare species of lichen fungi that were more widely distributed in the past, but currently seem to occur only in isolated fragments.

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-Lichens are an important element of the biodiversity of tropical regions, found in a variety of substrates. The Brazilian semiarid biodiversity is highly threatened due to land conversion for agricultural and cattle ranch. Until recently, only a few species had been reported from Ceará, the only State in Brazil covered almost entirely by Caatinga vegetation. The present work was carried out in Quixadá and Quixerá, in Ceará State, an area characterized by the presence of rock outcrops and inselbergs. As a result, 82 lichen species are here reported, from which 52 species are new records for Ceará, and 14 are reported for the fi rst time to Brazil. The great majority of species was saxicolous. This is the fi rst lichen inventory in this semiarid region of the state, and also the fi rst study to report a large number of saxicolous crustose microlichens in northeatern Brazil.Key words: Caatinga, diversity, lichenized fungi, northeast, Quixadá RESUMO -Novos registros para o Brasil e Hemifério Sul de liquens corticícolas e saxícolas da região semiárida no estado do Ceará. Os liquens são um elemento importante da biodiversidade das regiões tropicais, encontrados em uma variedade de substratos. A biodiversidade do semi-árido brasileiro é altamente ameaçada devido à conversão de terras para a agropecuária. Até recentemente, apenas algumas espécies tinham sido registradas para o Ceará, o único Estado no Brasil quase que inteiramente coberto pela vegetação da Caatinga. O presente trabalho foi realizado em Quixadá e Quixeré, em uma área caracterizada pela presença de afl oramentos rochosos e inselbergs. Como resultado, 82 espécies de liquens são aqui registradas, das quais 52 espécies são novos registros para o Ceará, e 14 são citados pela primeira vez para o Brasil. A grande maioria das espécies encontrada é saxícola. Este é o primeiro inventário liquênico nesta região semiárida do Estado, e também o primeiro estudo a relatar um grande número de microliquens saxícolas crostosos no Nordeste do Brasil.

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Chagas disease represents one of the major health issue in Latin America. Epidemiological control is focused on disease vectors, so studies on the ecology of triatomine vectors constitute a central strategy. Recently, research at large spatial scale has been produced, and authors commonly rely on the assumption that geographical regions presenting good environmental conditions for most vector species are also those with high risk of infection. In the present work, we provide an explicit evaluation for this assumption. Employing species distribution models and epidemiological data for Chagas disease in Brazilian territory, our results show that species richness is a poor predictor for the observed pattern of Chagas disease occurrence. Species composition proved to be a better predictor. We stress that research on macroecology of infectious diseases should go beyond the analysis of biodiversity patterns and consider human infections as a central part of the focal ecological systems.

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