Familial idiopathic basal ganglia calcification (FIBGC), also known as "Fahr's disease," is a neuropsychiatric disorder with motor and cognitive symptoms. It is characterized pathologically by bilateral calcification most commonly in the basal ganglia and also in other brain regions such as the thalamus and cerebellum. A recent report by Wang et al. (2012) discovered multiple families with FIBGC carrying mutations in the SLC20A2 gene, encoding the inorganic phosphate transporter PiT-2, which segregated in an autosomal dominant pattern. To understand further the role of SLC20A2 in FIBGC brain pathology, here we described the gene expression pattern across the whole brain for SLC20A2, using the Allen Institute Human Brain Atlas database. Microarray analysis provided evidence that the neuroanatomical pattern of expression for SLC20A2 is highest in the regions most commonly affected in FIBGC. Neuroanatomical regions that demonstrated high correlation or anti-correlation with SLC20A2 expression also showed a molecular network with potential to explain the limited neuroanatomical distribution of calcifications in IBGC. Lastly, these co-expression networks suggest additional further candidate genes for FIBGC.

Coffee (Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora) is one of the most traded commodities worldwide. Brazil is the largest coffee producer and, within the country, Minas Gerais state occupies the first place.However, coffee production is threatened by leaf spots mainly caused by three bacterial species: bacterial halo blight caused by Pseudomonas coronafaciens pv. garcae (Pcg; synonym Pseudomonas

Here, we present a draft genome sequence of the type strain IBSBF 435 of Erwinia psidii (Enterobacteriaceae), a phytopathogen that causes bacterial blight on guava (Psidium guava) and dieback and wilt on eucalypt (Eucalyptus spp.), both of which are important emerging diseases.

Erwinia psidii is a gram‐negative bacterium that threatens both guava and eucalypt plantations in several countries. Despite the economic importance of both crops, nothing is currently known about the molecular mechanisms underlying E. psidii pathogenicity and, consequently, how it evolved to infect Eucalyptus species besides its presumed native host Psidium guajava. In this study, we predicted putative type III secretion system effectors that may play important roles during plant–E. psidii interactions and conducted effector structure and phylogenetic analyses to gain important insights into their function and evolution. For that, the whole genomes of four E. psidii strains that exhibit differential aggressiveness towards eucalypt clones were sequenced and their effector repertoires predicted based on sequence identity with known effectors of the model phytopathogen Erwinia amylovora. Only proteins sharing significant sequence identity with the DspE and Eop1 effectors were found. Here, it is shown that these two E. psidii effectors retain all structural characteristics of their corresponding protein superfamilies, but exhibit allelic variations that are consistent with the observed aggressiveness differences between strains. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that whereas E. psidii housekeeping gene sequences are more closely related to those from Erwinia tracheiphila, the effector (either nucleotide or amino acid) sequences are more closely related to their Pantoea agglomerans counterparts, suggesting that dspE and eop1 were both acquired through horizontal gene transfer from the latter bacterial species. The results of this study provide important insights on E. psidii pathogenicity and set the stage for future effector functional studies.

Resumo -Com o objetivo de avaliar a eficiência agronômica da inoculação com Azospirillum sp.sobre a cultura do milho (Zea mays L.) foram conduzidos experimentos nas cidades de Ponta Grossa e Palmeira -PR, na safra de 2013/2014. O delineamento experimental foi em blocos ao acaso, com oito tratamentos e quatro repetições. Os tratamentos consistiram em: 1-Testemunha; 2-50% da dose de nitrogênio (N) recomendada para a cultura e inoculação das sementes com AzoTotal (150 mL 25 kg -1 de sementes); 3-Dose de N recomendada; 4-50% da dose de N recomendada; 5-Inoculação com Azzofix (100 mL 25 kg de sementes -1 ); 6-Azzofix (100 mL 25 kg de sementes -1 ) + 50% da dose de N recomendada; 7-Azzofix (150 mL 25 kg de sementes -1 ) e 8-Azzofix (150 mL 25 kg de sementes -1 ) + 50% da dose de N recomendada (semeadura). Avaliou-se a massa seca de folhas e de raízes (g), o N total na massa seca (N g kg -1 ), o N total nos grãos (% de N) e o rendimento da cultura em kg ha -1 . A inoculação das sementes de milho com Azzofix pode assegurar redução nos custos de produção com incremento no rendimento de grãos da cultura.Palavras-Chave -Azospirillum brasilense, produtividade, massa seca.Abstract -Aiming to evaluate the agronomic efficiency of Azospirillum sp. inoculation on corn (Zea mays L.) two trials were conducted, in the cities of Ponta Grossa and Palmeira -Paraná, in the harvest of 2013/2014. The experimental design was in randomized blocks with eight treatments and four replications. The treatments were: 1-Witness; 2-50% of nitrogen (N) rate recommended to corn and seeds inoculation with AzoTotal (150 mL 25 kg -1 of seeds); 3-N rate recommended; 4-50% of N rate recommended; 5-Inoculation with Azzofix (100 mL 25 kg de of seeds -1 ); 6-Inoculation with Azzofix (100 mL 25 kg seeds -1 ) + 50% of N rate recommended; 7-Inoculation with Azzofix (150 mL 25 kg seeds -1 ); 8-Inoculation with Azzofix (150 mL 25 kg seeds -1 ) + 50% of nitrogen rate recommended to corn (sowing). It was evaluated dry matter (g) of leafs and roots, content of nitrogen in dry matter (N g kg -1 ), content of nitrogen in grains (% of N) and productivity (kg ha -1 ). The inoculation of corn seeds with Azzofix can ensure reduction in production costs by the increase in grains yield.