Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2019-07-03"
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- Introduction to hCOMET special issue, ‘Comet assay in vitro’Publication . Dusinska, Maria; Costa, Solange; Collins, AndrewThis special issue is produced as a valuable outcome of the COST Action hCOMET. A major aim of this project is to encourage the adoption of standard procedures for the comet assay, in order to improve reliability. Comet assay procedures tend to vary from one laboratory to another, and so comparing results between laboratories can be problematic. Much work has been done to establish how different parameters, such as agarose concentration, lysis time, or electrophoresis voltage gradient can affect results, and an aspiration of hCOMET is to devise standard procedures. In addition to papers on practical issues relating to the use of the comet assay, there are several descriptions of novel model cell systems. Finally, there are accounts of various applications of the assay to in vitro genotoxicity testing (mainly on human cell lines), as well as investigations of antigenotoxicity. (...)
- Exploring the aquatic resistomePublication . Rosado, Tânia; Manageiro, Vera; Balata, Duarte; Menezes, Carina; Ferreira, Eugénia; Paulo, Octávio; Caniça, Manuela; Dias, ElsaAntibiotic resistance is one of the major problems in public health today since the failure of antibiotherapy has dramatic clinical implications such as the increase of mobility/mortality and of health costs. Antibiotic resistance is a dynamic process since antibiotic-resistant microorganisms, and the corresponding genetic material, flows and disseminates among several settings simultaneously: humans, animals and natural habitats. Water environments are recognized as important pools of antibiotic pollution and antibiotic resistance genes, but the water resistome (collection of all genes responsible for antibiotic resistance in water environments) is far from being characterized. It is well known that antibiotic pollution affects the structure/functioning/diversity of aquatic ecosystems, namely the cyanobacteria community. However, the role of cyanobacteria in the context of antibiotic resistance was never characterized. In this presentation, the aims, the team, the methodologies and the preliminary results of the national project EXPLORAR – Exploring the Aquatic Resistome (PTDC/BIA-BMA/31451/2017), founded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, PT) will be discussed. In this project, we are investigating the contribution of indigenous freshwater organisms (cyanobacteria and bacteria) to water resistome. We expect to identify and characterize ecological niches associated with antibiotic resistance in freshwater environments. This may contribute to define a monitoring strategy to map the antibiotic resistance profiles of national freshwater resources. We expect to contribute to the definition of preventive measures against the dissemination of antibiotic resistance in the environment.
- Impacts of a changing earth on microbial dynamics and human health risks in the continuum between beach water and sandPublication . Weiskerger, Chelsea J.; Brandão, João; Ahmed, Warish; Aslan, Asli; Avolio, Lindsay; Badgley, Brian D.; Boehm, Alexandria B.; Edge, Thomas A.; Fleisher, Jay M.; Heaney, Christopher D.; Jordao, Luisa; Kinzelman, Julie L.; Klaus, James S.; Kleinheinz, Gregory T.; Meriläinen, Päivi; Nshimyimana, Jean Pierre; Phanikumar, Mantha S.; Piggot, Alan M.; Pitkänen, Tarja; Robinson, Clare; Sadowsky, Michael J.; Staley, Christopher; Staley, Zachery R.; Symonds, Erin M.; Vogel, Laura J.; Yamahara, Kevan M.; Whitman, Richard L.; Solo-Gabriele, Helena M.; Harwood, Valerie J.Although infectious disease risk from recreational exposure to waterborne pathogens has been an active area of research for decades, beach sand is a relatively unexplored habitat for the persistence of pathogens and fecal indicator bacteria (FIB). Beach sand, biofilms, and water all present unique advantages and challenges to pathogen introduction, growth, and persistence. These dynamics are further complicated by continuous exchange between sand and water habitats. Models of FIB and pathogen fate and transport at beaches can help predict the risk of infectious disease from beach use, but knowledge gaps with respect to decay and growth rates of pathogens in beach habitats impede robust modeling. Climatic variability adds further complexity to predictive modeling because extreme weather events, warming water, and sea level change may increase human exposure to waterborne pathogens and alter relationships between FIB and pathogens. In addition, population growth and urbanization will exacerbate contamination events and increase the potential for human exposure. The cumulative effects of anthropogenic changes will alter microbial population dynamics in beach habitats and the assumptions and relationships used in quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) and process-based models. Here, we review our current understanding of microbial populations and transport dynamics across the sand-water continuum at beaches, how these dynamics can be modeled, and how global change factors (e.g., climate and land use) should be integrated into more accurate beachscape-based models.