Medical theory, medical care, and preventive medicine
Lois N. Magner, Oliver J. Kim in A History of Medicine, 2017
The introduction of New World foods, especially potatoes and corn, had a remarkable effect on population growth. The potato became the staple food of the poor in northern Europe, the British Isles, and Ireland. Unfortunately, over-dependence on a single crop has always been one of the riskiest aspects of agricultural societies, as demonstrated by the Irish potato famine of 1845. (In 2001, scientists were able to use historic specimens to identify the specific strain of the pathogen, Phytophthora infestans, that was responsible for the devastating potato blight.) Corn, which was usually called maize, or Turkish wheat, provided much needed calories, but also made pellagra an endemic disease in many areas. Some New World plants, such as tobacco, were simultaneously credited with medicinal virtues and condemned as poisons.
An Overview of Parasite Diversity
Eric S. Loker, Bruce V. Hofkin in Parasitology, 2015
Another example of HGT involving representatives of two distantly related eukaryotic kingdoms is the transfer of multiple genes from fungi to oomycetes (Figure 2.7). Oomycetes (see stramenopiles) comprise a distinct lineage of fungus-like microorganisms that are often called water molds, even though most species infect terrestrial plants. Unlike fungi with cell walls made of chitin, the cell walls of oomycetes are made of cellulose. Like fungi, they produce filamentous structures for absorption of nutrients. HGT in this case is believed to have involved several genes, including those giving oomycetes the ability to take up soluble nutrients, a phenomenon called osmotrophy. Also transferred were genes encoding products able to resist host immune responses, considered essential for the ability of oomycetes to parasitize plants. One oomycete benefiting from HGT is Phytophthora infestans, the organism responsible for late potato blight that caused the Great Potato Famine in Ireland from 1845 to 1852. A million Irish citizens died during the famine and another million emigrated from Ireland. Late potato blight is still a formidable problem today. Several examples of HGT between parasites and their hosts have also been documented (for instance in parasitic plants). It is probable that the importance of HGT in parasite evolution will prove to be much greater than presently appreciated.
Potential of Mycochemicals in the Prevention and Control of Microbial Diseases
Mahendra Rai, Chistiane M. Feitosa in Eco-Friendly Biobased Products Used in Microbial Diseases, 2022
While useful as microorganisms, they are also the causative agents of wide range of infectious diseases of humans and domestic animals. The human race and microbial entities have been involved in the war of survival from time immemorial. Microbes have shown incredible ability to adapt, re-adapt, survive and challenge human ingenuity in the last two to three decades (Fonkwo 2008). Hence, pathogens constantly change their genetic make-up, which normally results to ineffectiveness of vaccines and other chemotherapeutic agents used in fighting pathogenic microorganisms and microorganisms responsible for the spoilage of foods. This genetic flexibility allows many infectious agents to mutate or evolve into more deadly strains against which humans have little or no resistance against (Fonkwo 2008). Diseases such as plague, tuberculosis, anthrax and gonorrhea are caused by bacteria. Protozoa cause diseases including malaria, sleeping sickness, dysentery and toxoplasmosis. Microscopic fungi cause diseases such as ringworm, candidiasis and histoplasmosis. Pathogenic viruses cause diseases such as influenza, yellow fever and AIDs. The noxious effects of microorganisms are not limited to animals alone as they are also important pathogens responsible for various diseases of crop plants. Plant and crop diseases such as maize leaf rust, wheat stem rust, powdery mildew, leaf spot, and crown gall, and so on are caused by microbial pathogens in crops and plants. The great Irish famine of the 1840s as a result of potato blight was caused by a fungal plant pathogen, Oomycete, Phytophthora infestans (Kinealy 1994).
Highlights of the mini-symposium on extracellular vesicles in inter-organismal communication, held in Munich, Germany, August 2018
Published in Journal of Extracellular Vesicles, 2019
E. Bielska, P.R.J. Birch, A.H. Buck, C. Abreu-Goodger, R.W. Innes, H. Jin, M.W. Pfaffl, S. Robatzek, N. Regev-Rudzki, C. Tisserant, S. Wang, A. Weiberg
Filamentous plant pathogens include the fungi, described above, and oomycetes, which are related to diatoms and brown algae. Oomycetes, such as the infamous late blight pathogen Phytophthora infestans [37], cause a wide range of devastating diseases of economic and environmental importance [38]. P. infestans secretes a range of virulence determinants called effectors that can act either outside (apoplastic) or within (cytoplasmic) the plant cell, several of which have been shown to suppress host immunity [39]. Amongst the cytoplasmic effectors are the RXLR class, so-called for the conserved amino acid motif Arg-any amino acid-Leu-Arg, which is required for these effectors to be translocated into plant cells [40]. Recently, delivery of two RXLR effectors has been visualized from finger-like infection structures called haustoria, which form intimate associations with plant cells, to their sites of action in host nuclei [41,42]. The precise means by which RXLR effectors are secreted from Phytophthora species is poorly understood [41].
Design, synthesis and antifungal activity of threoninamide carbamate derivatives via pharmacophore model
Published in Journal of Enzyme Inhibition and Medicinal Chemistry, 2020
Xiu-Jiang Du, Xing-Jie Peng, Rui-Qi Zhao, Wei-Guang Zhao, Wei-Li Dong, Xing-Hai Liu
Oomycete fungi can cause several destructive diseases in crops, vegetables and fruits, such as Phytophthora infestans, Peronospora hyoscyami, Phytophthora capsici and Pseudoperonospora cubensis1. The cell walls of the Oomycetes are different from other fungi, which contain cellulose, not chitin. So cellulose synthase represents a potential target for discovering new Oomycete inhibitors2, which can inhibit different stages in the life cycle of Oomycetes including mycelial growth, sporangium production, zoospore release and cystospore germination. Since dimethomorph3 was discovered by Shell company, seven carboxylic acid amide (CAA) fungicides4,5 including flumorph6, pyrimorph7, benthiavalicarb8, benthiavalicarb-isopropyl9, iprovalicarb10, valiphenal11, and mandipropamid12 were developed, which were divided as three different sub-classes by FRAC (www.frac.info) due to their common cross resistance pattern for the vast majority of Oomycetes. Since the dimethomorph was discovered as first CAA fungicide in 1988, only seven CAA fungicides are marketed until now.
Concepts and strategies of soybean seed proteomics using the shotgun proteomics approach
Published in Expert Review of Proteomics, 2019
Cheol Woo Min, Ravi Gupta, Ganesh Kumar Agrawal, Randeep Rakwal, Sun Tae Kim
Along with the detection and identification of LAPs, other challenges in soybean seed proteomics include the standardization of quantification and identification methodologies, dissemination of public databases, and cost concerns [1]. Although proteomic approaches have improved considerably during recent years, relatively few studies, particularly shotgun proteomics studies, have applied such approaches to the proteomes of soybean seeds. Currently, many publicly available programs, such as MaxQuant [65,66], Perseus [68], and Skyline [67], have been developed, thereby facilitating high-throughput and cost-effective proteome analysis. Therefore, a transition to shotgun proteomic, data-independent acquisition (DIA), and targeted proteomic approaches could facilitate the discovery of novel information about soybean seed physiology. Targeted proteomic approaches, such as selected reaction monitoring and multiple reaction monitoring, are highly sensitive and cost-effective, and the combination of targeted proteomics and triple quadrupole MS has been reported to successfully quantify hundreds, and even thousands, of selected MS2 fragment ions [75]. These techniques represent highly accurate approaches for the quantification of preselected peptides in complex biological samples. In particular, high-throughput targeted proteomics methods, especially selected reaction monitoring, allow the measurement and monitoring of a single fixed mass for the identification of biomarker candidates. For example, Chawade et al. [76] investigated protein biomarkers related to Phytophthora infestans resistance in potato (Solanum tuberosum) leaves, using targeted proteomics (selected reaction monitoring), and identified 104 marker peptides, eight of which were predicted to provide resistance against P. infestans [76].
Related Knowledge Centers
- Famine
- Flagellate
- Spore
- Genotype
- Potato
- Oospore
- Host
- Chemotaxis
- Bacterial Soft Rot
- Mating Type