SUMMARYA total of 203 characters has been determined for 68 strains of Aeromonas belonging to the Aeromonas hydrophi1a-A. punctata group. The results have been subjected to computer analysis using the coefficient of Jaccard-Sneath and the strains clustered by the method of aggregation according to the variance.The 68 strains can be divided into two well-segregated classes on the basis of 59 variable characters, of which seven are of diagnostic value. The two classes are considered as two separate species. The first one (42 strains) is assigned to the type species of the genus, A. hydrophila, and it appears that the species name, A.punctata, is an illegitimate synonym for A. hydrophila. The second (26 strains) constitutes a new species for which the name A. sobria sp.nov. is proposed. The type strain of this new species has been deposited under the reference ~1~7 4 3 3 (our strain 208). I N T R O D U C T I O NThe genus Aeromonas was proposed by Kluyver & van Niel ( I 936) to accommodate rodshaped bacteria possessing the general properties of the enteric group, but motile by means of polar flagella. This genus is now included in the family of Vibrionaceae(VCron, 1966). In Bergey's Manual of Determinative Bacteriology ( I 974) the original definition has been amended to include the following salient properties : Gram-negative straight rods ; polar flagellated (generally monotrichous) or immotile ; facultative anaerobes, fermenting carbohydrates with formation of acid or acid and gas; oxidase positive; reducing nitrates to nitrites; insensitive to the vibriostatic compound 2,4-diamino-6,7-diisopropylpteridine (Ol129); guanine-cytosine content of the DNA, 57 to 63 mol %.Of the three species now recognized (Bergey's Manual of Determinative Bacteriology, I 9 7 4 , the fish pathogen Aeromonas salmonicida is easily distinguishable by the following characters : nonmotile; auxotrophy; no growth at 37 "C; producing a brown diffusible pigment on nutrient agar; indole not formed. Smith (1963) has even suggested removing this species from the genus Aeromonas, proposing the alternative name Necromonas salmonicida. The 'A. hydrophila-A. punctata' group is more complex; Schubert (1967a, by 1968) proposed a total of five sub-species, three assigned to A. hydrophila and two to A. punctata. Our attempts to classify newly-isolated strains of the hydrophila-punctata complex in terms of the specific and sub-specific criteria proposed by Schubert have indicated that this scheme is unsatisfactory. The present study attempts to clarify and simplify the classification of aeromonads not assignable to the species A. salmonicida.

Clostridium orbiscindens sp. nov. is an obligate anaerobe that is capable of cleaving the C-3-C-4 bond of the natural anticarcinogen quercetin. The metabolic products, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid and presumably phlorglucinol, are not known to possess anticarcinogen properties. This organism was isolated from human feces. On sheep blood agar plates C. orbiscindens forms minute, irregular, convex, gray or white, shiny, smooth, nonhemolytic colonies. It is beta-hemolytic on rabbit blood agar. The motile peritrichous rods are gram variable. Subpolar spores are common. Cultures are resistant to 80°C for 10 min. Capsules are absent. This asaccharolytic organism does not metabolize esculin, urea, meat, gelatin, casein, or nitrate. The G+C content is 56 to 57 mol% . DNA hybridization experiments did not reveal relatedness to phenotypically similar

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Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is the most frequent hereditary systemic autoinflammatory syndrome. FMF is usually caused by biallelic mutations in the MEFV gene, encoding Pyrin. Conclusive genetic evidence lacks for about 30% of patients diagnosed with clinical FMF. Pyrin is an inflammasome sensor maintained inactive by two kinases (PKN1/2). The consequences of MEFV mutations on inflammasome activation are still poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that PKC superfamily inhibitors trigger inflammasome activation in monocytes from FMF patients while they trigger a delayed apoptosis in monocytes from healthy donors. The expression of the pathogenic p.M694V MEFV allele is necessary and sufficient for PKC inhibitors (or mutations precluding Pyrin phosphorylation) to trigger caspase‐1‐ and gasdermin D‐mediated pyroptosis. In line with colchicine efficacy in patients, colchicine fully blocks this response in FMF patients’ monocytes. These results indicate that Pyrin inflammasome activation is solely controlled by Pyrin (de)phosphorylation in FMF patients while a second control mechanism restricts its activation in healthy donors/non‐FMF patients. This study paves the way toward a functional characterization of MEFV variants and a functional test to diagnose FMF.

During embryonic development, tangentially migrating precerebellar neurons emit a leading process and then translocate their nuclei inside it(nucleokinesis). Netrin 1 (also known as netrin-1) acts as a chemoattractant factor for neurophilic migration of precerebellar neurons (PCN) both in vivo and in vitro. In the present work, we analyzed Rho GTPases that could direct axon outgrowth and/or nuclear migration. We show that the expression pattern of Rho GTPases in developing PCN is consistent with their involvement in the migration of PCN from the rhombic lips. We report that pharmacological inhibition of Rho enhances axon outgrowth of PCN and prevents nuclei migration toward a netrin 1 source, whereas inhibition of Rac and Cdc42 sub-families impair neurite outgrowth of PCN without affecting migration. We show, through pharmacological inhibition, that Rho signaling directs neurophilic migration through Rock activation. Altogether, our results indicate that Rho/Rock acts on signaling pathways favoring nuclear translocation during tangential migration of PCN. Thus, axon extension and nuclear migration of PCN in response to netrin 1 are not strictly dependent processes because: (1)distinct small GTPases are involved; (2) axon extension can occur when migration is blocked; and (3) migration can occur when axon outgrowth is impaired.