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Molecular mimicry is one of the evolutionary strategies that parasites use to manipulate the host metabolism and perform an effective infection. This phenomenon has been observed in several animal and plant pathosystems. Despite the relevance of this mechanism in pathogenesis, little is known about it in fungus-plant interactions. For that reason, we performed an in silico method to select plausible mimicry candidates for the Ustilago maydis-maize interaction. Our methodology uses a tripartite sequence comparison between the parasite, the host and non-parasitic organisms’ genomes. Furthermore, we use RNA-seq information to identify gene co-expression, and we determine subcellular localization to detect potential cases of co-localization in the imitator-imitated pairs. With these approximations, we found a putative extracellular formin in U. maydis with the potential to rearrange the host cell cytoskeleton. In parallel, we detect at least two maize genes involved in the cytoskeleton rearrangement differentially expressed under U. maydis infection; thus, this find increases the expectation for the potential mimicry role of the fungal protein. The use of several sources of data led us to develop a strict and replicable in silico methodology to detect molecular mimicry in pathosystems with enough information available. Furthermore, this is the first time that a genome-wide search has been performed to detect molecular mimicry in a U. maydis-maize system. Additionally, to allow the reproducibility of this experiment and the use of this pipeline, we create a Web server called Molecular mimicry finder, available in https://bioquimio.udla.edu.ec/molecular-mimicry/

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Background:The thalamus is a key diencephalic structure involved in major depressive disorder (MDD). In particular, studies have consistently revealed abnormalities in thalamic volumes in older adults with late-onset depression (LOD). However, similar abnormalities in older adults with early-onset depression (EOD) have not been well studied.Method: Fifty-nine euthymic participants with a history of EOD and fifty-nine matched comparison participants without a lifetime history of depression underwent neuroimaging, medical and neuropsychological assessments. Thalamic volumes were compared between groups. Due to the right hemispheric (RH) dominance theory of MDD, we explored both bilateral and right hemispheric thalamic volumes. Multiple regression analyses were used to evaluate between-group and within-group effects. A correlational analysis examined associations between group and cognitive performance.Result: Relative to the comparison group, those with EOD had significantly larger bilateral and RH thalamic volumes. Those with EOD, those who were younger, and those who had fewer years of education, demonstrated larger bilateral thalamic volumes.When split by group (EOD vs comparison group), only age remained significantly different for those with EOD. For RH volumes, those with EOD and those who were younger demonstrated larger RH thalamic volumes. When split by group, the results showed that age only was significant for both groups. No significant correlations were found between cognitive performance and EOD groups. Conclusion:Older adults with a history of EOD showed significantly larger bilateral and RH thalamic volumes. Further research is needed to further elucidate the underlying mechanism of this change.