Creeping thistle [Cirsium arvense (L.) Scop.] and dahlia (Dahlia sp.) plants showing typical symptoms of phytoplasma infection including yellowing, stunting, inflorescence and proliferation, were sampled; the presence of phytoplasma was confirmed by standard PCR using universal primers. RFLP analysis allowed classification of the detected phytoplasma strains CirYS, CirYS1 and DahlP within the 16SrXI group, the unique restriction profile F2nR2 fragment obtained in silico by iPhyClassifier indicated that they belong to the new 16SrXI-E subgroup. Genetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene revealed that the studied strains shared less than 97.5 % similarity with all of the previously described 'Candidatus Phytoplasma' species. The closest relatives are 'Candidatus Phytoplasma cynodontis' and 'Candidatus Phytoplasma oryzae' with 96.8 % and 96.6 % similarity. All strains studied bear three specific regions in the 16S rRNA gene, discriminating them from the other phytoplasma species. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA and secA genes confirmed this specificity, as the creeping thistle and dahlia phytoplasma strains clustered in a distinguishable lineage group. The uniqueness of the genetic analysis agrees with the biological characterization of the studied phytoplasma strains, their host range, and geographical distribution. The strains only infect dicotyledonous plants in Europe, contrary to their closest relatives. Based on their unique properties, it could be concluded that the studied phytoplasma strains represent a discrete group that is proposed as a novel taxon 'Candidatus Phytoplasma cirsii', with strain CirYS as a reference strain.Phytoplasmas are plant pathogens of the class Mollicutes, colonizing the phloem sieve of their host plants as well as the salivary glands and other organs of sap-sucking insect vectors. Phytoplasmas cause diseases on a broad scale and with a range of intensities of symptoms in more than 1000 plant species (Bertaccini, 2007). These non-helical wall-less bacteria are specialized strict parasites, characterized by the small reduced genome and the lack of several genes necessary for their independent metabolism. Apart from one partial success (Contaldo et al., 2012) they are not cultivable in vitro, which is one of the reasons that phytoplasmas are assigned into the provisional Candidatus genus status. Phytoplasma taxonomy is based on analysis of the variability of the 16S rRNA gene, and currently two systems are applied. The first system discriminates the phytoplasmas according to their random fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) variability and restriction endonuclease patterns into 16Sr groups and subgroups (Lee et al., 1998; Seemüller et al., 1998;Wei et al., 2007;Zhao et al., 2009b). Based on the recommendation of the IRPCM Phytoplasma/Spiroplasma Working Team-Phytoplasma Taxonomy Group (2004), the new and more precise 'Candidatus Phytoplasma' taxonomy system, reflecting the main taxonomic rule -the 97.5 % similarity of 16S rRNA gene sequences as a species border -is actually built. At ...

BackgroundThe principal aim of this report was to study second primary malignant neoplasms (SMNs) in long-term survivors of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) with regard to the germline genetic background.Patients and methodsA total of 118 PDAC patients after a curative-intent surgery who were treated between 2006 and 2011 were analyzed. Of the 22 patients surviving for >5 years, six went on to develop SMNs. A genetic analysis of 219 hereditary cancer-predisposition and candidate genes was performed by targeted next-generation sequencing in germline DNA from 20 of these patients.ResultsOf all the radically resected PDAC patients, six patients went on to subsequently develop SMNs, which accounted for 27% of the long-term survivors. The median time to diagnosis of SMNs, which included two cases of rectal cancer, and one case each of prostate cancer, malignant melanoma, breast cancer, and urinary bladder cancer, was 52.5 months. At the time of analysis, none of these patients had died as a result of PDAC progression. We identified four carriers of germline pathogenic mutations in 20 analyzed long-term survivors. One carrier of the CHEK2 mutation was found among four analyzed patients who developed SMNs. Of the remaining 16 long-term PDAC survivors, 3 patients (19%) carried germline mutation(s) in the MLH1+ ATM, CHEK2, and RAD51D gene, respectively.ConclusionThis retrospective analysis indicates that SMNs in PDAC survivors are an important clinical problem and may be more common than has been acknowledged to be the case. In patients with good performance status, surgical therapy should be considered, as the SMNs often have a favorable prognosis.

Pancreatic carcinoma is usually diagnosed late when treatment options are limited and is considered a chemo-resistant malignancy. However, early stage, good performance status and specific patient subgroup are thought to have a more favorable prognosis. Search for novel molecular biomarkers, which could predict treatment resistance, represents a major opportunity, but also a challenge in further research. This review summarizes most aspects of individualized therapy of pancreatic cancer including promising biomarkers, BRCA-deficient pancreatic cancer and its etiology. It may be estimated that nearly a third of metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma patients could benefit from treatment other than gold standard chemotherapy. Thus, other aspects of an individualized approach concerning the main factors for the choice of the best therapy for individual pancreatic cancer patient (surgery and chemotherapy), as well as the future directions (target therapy and immunotherapy), are also addressed.