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Thyroid hormones are fundamental for the expression of genes involved in the development of the CNS and their deficiency is associated with a wide spectrum of neurological diseases including mental retardation, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorders. We examined in rat whether developmental and early postnatal hypothyroidism affects the distribution of vesicular glutamate transporter-1 (VGluT1; glutamatergic) and vesicular inhibitory amino acid transporter (VGAT; GABAergic) immunoreactive (ir) boutons in the hippocampus and somatosensory cortex, and the behavior of the pups. Hypothyroidism was induced by adding 0.02% methimazole (MMI) and 1% KClO4 to the drinking water starting at embryonic day 10 (E10; developmental hypothyroidism) and E21 (early postnatal hypothyroidism) until day of sacrifice at postnatal day 50. Behavior was studied using the acoustic prepulse inhibition (somatosensory attention) and the elevated plus-maze (anxiety-like assessment) tests. The distribution, density and size of VGluT1-ir and VGAT-ir boutons in the hippocampus and somatosensory cortex was abnormal in MMI pups and these changes correlate with behavioral changes, as prepulse inhibition of the startle response amplitude was reduced, and the percentage of time spent in open arms increased. In conclusion, both developmental and early postnatal hypothyroidism significantly decreases the ratio of GABAergic to glutamatergic boutons in dentate gyrus leading to an abnormal flow of information to the hippocampus and infragranular layers of the somatosensory cortex, and alter behavior in rats. Our data show cytoarchitectonic alterations in the basic excitatory hippocampal loop, and in local inhibitory circuits of the somatosensory cortex and hippocampus that might contribute to the delayed neurocognitive outcome observed in thyroid hormone deficient children born in iodine deficient areas, or suffering from congenital hypothyroidism.

Results confirm the antimicrobial potential of the plant extracts, but additional research is needed until the agents responsible for the activities have been determined in order to use them as natural constituents of multiple-barrier food preservation systems.

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Rumple is a serious peel collapse of Primofiori lemons in the southeast of Spain with an unresolved aetiology. Symptoms typically occur on fruits at ripening under wet conditions as dark sunken lesions producing premature fruit drop and damaged fruits unacceptable for fresh commercialization. A total of 16 Colletotrichum spp. isolates established from rumple-affected lemons collected during the autumn of 2007 from two different orchards were characterized by molecular and phenotypic assays and compared with reference isolates. Species-specific PCR reactions using β-tubulin 2 nucleotide sequences showed Colletotrichum gloeosporioides to predominate (81.5%) with limited occurrence of C. acutatum (18.75%). Among the C. gloeosporioides isolates, five (38.5%) showed benomyl resistance and eight (61.5%) were highly sensitive to the fungicide. The limited occurrence of C. acutatum could be related to factors such as the presence of both species on the same fruit, unfavourable meteorological conditions and low disease incidence. This work reveals an association of C. gloeosporioides and C. acutatum isolates with rumple disease of lemons and expands the range of C. acutatum on citrus.