Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis is the causative bacterial agent of the zoonotic disease known as caseous lymphadenitis, and it presents several mechanisms of response to host defenses, including the presence of virulence factors (VFs). The genomes of these bacteria have several polymorphic markers known as microsatellites, or simple sequence repeats (SSRs), that can be used to characterize the genome, to study possible polymorphisms existing among strains, and to verify the effects of such polymorphic markers in coding regions and regions associated with VFs. In this study, several SSRs were identified within coding regions throughout the 54 genomes of this species, revealing possible polymorphisms associated with coding regions that could be used as strain-specific or serotype-specific identifiers of C. pseudotuberculosis. The similarities associated with SSRs amongst the different serum variants of C. pseudotuberculosis, biovars equi and ovis, were also evaluated, and it was possible to identify SSRs located in coding regions responsible for a VF enrolled in pathogenesis known to mediate bacterial adherence (SpaH-type pili virulence factor). Phylogenetic analyses revealed that strains sharing SSR patterns, including the possible polymorphisms identified in the same position of gene-coding regions, were displayed by strains with a common ancestor, corroborating with the Genome Tree Report of the NCBI. Statistical analysis showed that the microsatellite

Despite the importance of understanding the ecology of freshwater viruses, there are not many studies on the subject compared to marine viruses. The microbiological interactions in these environments are still poorly known, especially between bacteriophages and their host bacteria and between cyanophages and cyanobacteria. Lake Bologna, Belém, capital of the Brazilian State of Pará, is a water source that supplies the city and its metropolitan region. However, it remains unexplored regarding the contents of its virome and viral diversity composition. Therefore, this work aims to explore the taxonomic diversity of DNA viruses in this lake, especially bacteriophages and cyanophages, since they can act as transducers of resistance genes and reporters of water quality for human consumption. We used metagenomic sequencing data generated by previous studies. We analyzed it at the taxonomic level using the tools Kraken2, Bracken, and Pavian; later, the data was assembled using Genome Detective, which performs the assembly of viruses. The results observed here suggest the existence of a widely diverse viral community and established microbial phage-regulated dynamics in Lake Bolonha. This work is the first ever to describe the virome of Lake Bolonha using a metagenomic approach based on high-throughput sequencing, as it contributes to the understanding of water-related public health concerns regarding the spreading of antibiotic resistance genes and population control of native bacteria and cyanobacteria.

Background: Despite the importance of understanding the ecology of freshwater viruses, there are not many studies on the issue when compared to marine viruses. The microbiological interactions that occur in these environments are still poorly known, especially between bacteriophages and their host bacteria, as well as between cyanophages and cyanobacteria. Lake Bologna, from Belém, capital of the Brazilian State of Pará, is a source of water that supplies the city and its metropolitan region, yet it remains unexplored regarding the contents of its virome and viral diversity composition. Therefore, this work's main aim is to clarify in terms of taxonomic diversity the species of DNA viruses that are present in this lake, especially bacteriophages and cyanophages, since they can act both as transducers of resistance genes and reporters of water quality for human consumption. Results: For this work, we used the metagenomic sequencing data generated by Alves et al. (2020), and we analyzed it at the taxonomic level using the tools Kraken2, Bracken, and Pavian; later, the data was assembled using Genome Detective, which performs assembly of viruses. The results observed in this work suggest the existence of a widely diverse viral community and an established microbial phage regulated dynamics in the Lake Bolonha. Conclusions: This work is the first-ever to describe the virome of Lake Bolonha using a metagenomic approach based on high-throughput sequencing, as it contributes to the understanding of water-related public health concerns regarding the spreading of antibiotic resistance genes and population control of native bacteria and cyanobacteria.

Objetivo: Realizar uma revisão sobre o COVID-19 e um possível tratamento com Bloqueadores dos Receptores de Angiotensina II (BRA’s) em pacientes que desenvolveram a síndrome respiratória aguda severa. Métodos: Estudo de revisão da literatura nas bases PubMed, Medline, Scielo, Elsevier e Google acadêmico, de 2000 a 2020 a partir dos descritores: “coronavírus”, “tratamento”, “anti-hipertensivo” e “síndrome respiratória aguda severa”. Resultados: A partir da busca literária da patologia, epidemiologia e biologia molecular da COVID-19 e farmacologia dos BRA’s, 49 trabalhos foram lidos completamente e, ao final, um total de 31 artigos foi selecionado para contemplar o estudo, sendo estes classificados de acordo com o tema, autor/ano e tipo de estudo, sendo 71% (22) publicado em 2020 e 3,2% (1) aos demais anos. Dentre os temas abordados, 25,8% (8) abordam a “COVID-19/Sars-CoV-2 e os aspectos clínicos e moleculares”, seguido de “Cytokine Storm e a resposta imune” (16,1%). Considerações finais: Essa revisão bibliográfica agrega informações que indicam os benefícios do uso de BRAs no tratamento da Síndrome Respiratória Aguda Severa causada pelo COVID-19, portanto, vão a consenso as diretrizes no sentido a não suspensão dos BRAs no curso de infecção pela COVID-19. Contudo, comprovação da eficácia do fármaco requer experimentos laboratoriais mais específicos.