, 2005). More specifically, a spherical, intranuclear fibrogranular organelle was characterized using ultrastructural cytochemical and immunocytochemical techniques. Regarding T. cruzi nucleolus

formation, it has been reported that this organelle is only structured in well-defined developmental stages in which T. cruzi proliferates (Elias et al., 2001), because proliferation demands vigorous cellular transcription and translation. AZD6244 datasheet To address the link between cellular proliferation, metabolic activity and ribosome biosynthesis in T. cruzi, it is important to establish such basic parameters as transcription rate and nucleolar size. The in vitro growth curve of epimastigotes represents a viable system for attaining these goals. Because rRNA transcription represents

the vast majority of transcription in T. cruzi (Elias et al., 2001), it is likely that the difference in the total transcription rate between exponentially growing and stationary cells, observed here, mainly represents distinctive rRNA-related biosynthetic activity. The transcription activity in T. cruzi cultures at stationary phase has been analysed earlier, but the published reports show an apparent incomplete or contradictory data. On the one hand, there is a report with the statement of an observed reduced transcription activity for noninfective T. cruzi forms at stationary phase, but the data is not shown (Elias et al., 2001). In contrast, in a second publication it is claimed that epimastigotes at stationary phase sustain a high transcription activity derived by RNA polymerase II (Ferreira et al., 2008), nevertheless selleck chemicals llc the contribution of RNA polymerase I is not discussed. In any case, the results presented here agree with the first statement (Elias et al., 2001). Because the transcription sustained by RNA polymerase I represents the main transcription activity in T. Adenosine cruzi, transcription of ribosomal genes (rRNA)

in this species may be coregulated with cellular proliferation status, and not only with development (Elias et al., 2001). A link between cell growth and the transcription of rRNA genes is likely evolutionarily conserved because it has been noted in other eukaryotic species, including vertebrate cells (Moss et al., 2007). In most eukaryotes, the transcription of tandem arrays of reiterated rRNA genes results in organization of the nucleolus (reviewed in Hadjiolov, 1985). The T. cruzi genome harbours around 110 copies of rRNA genes (Castro et al., 1981) clustered with spacers longer than 20 kb (Hernández & Castañeda, 1983). In the present work, our comparison of nucleoli from growing and stationary cells revealed that nucleoli area is significantly larger during exponential growth. The granular preponderance of nucleoli and cytoplasm in actively dividing cells most likely reflects the abundance of preribosomes and ribosomes under these physiological conditions.

, 2010). The pulmonary cavity of CF patients with its thick mucous deposits predisposes to a wide range of opportunistic infections. A diverse microbial ecosystem has been described Olaparib within the confined space of the lungs of CF patients, which is influenced by both the clinical status and the current antibiotic treatment regimens of the patient (Gilligan,

1991; Valenza et al., 2008). Indeed, a complex mixture of bacterial and fungal pathogens may coexist within the lungs, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Burkholderia cenocepacia, Candida albicans and A. fumigatus (Valenza et al., 2008). Within this environment, both bacteria and fungi possess the ability to form multicellular biofilm consortia, making it inherently difficult to eradicate infection. In addition, direct physical contact between organisms or indirect molecular signalling interactions may influence microbial pathogenicity, which in turn may influence the disease http://www.selleckchem.com/products/ABT-263.html outcome (Duan et al., 2003). Various studies have confirmed the presence of bacterial quorum-sensing molecules in the sputum of CF patients (Singh et al., 2000; Chambers et al., 2005). As these molecules are known to modulate

the pathogenicity of key CF-related pathogens, an investigation of the interactions between these microbial pathogens may provide novel treatment strategies. Our study reports on how direct and indirect interactions of the major prokaryotic CF pathogen P. aeruginosa, and associated molecules, with the eukaryotic pathogen A. fumigatus impact Chlormezanone on filamentous growth, leading to biofilm formation. Aspergillus fumigatus Af293 and four clinical isolates (YHCF1-4) obtained from the Royal Hospital for

Sick Children (Yorkhill Cystic Fibrosis Unit, Glasgow) were used throughout this study. Pseudomonas aeruginosa reference strains PAO1, PA14, ATCC 27835, six clinical nonclonal isolates [PA103, PA4384, PA14955, PA15861, PA16190 and PA16191 (gifted by Professor Douglas Storey, University of Calgary Foothills Hospital)] and two mutant strains [PAO1:ΔLasI (unable to synthesize N-acyl homoserine lactones (HSL)) and PAO1:ΔLasR (synthesizes HSL, but cannot respond), gifted by Professor Paul Williams, University of Nottingham] were used in this study. PAO1 mutants were maintained on Luria–Bertani (LB) broth agar plates containing 100 μg mL−1 ampicillin (Sigma-Aldrich, Gillingham, UK) and 20 μg mL−1 gentamicin (Sigma-Aldrich). All working stocks of fungal and bacterial strains were maintained at 4 °C on Sabouraud (Oxoid, Cambridge, UK) agar or LB agar slopes (Oxoid), respectively, and stored in Microbank® vials (Pro-Lab Diagnostics, Cheshire, UK) at −80 °C. For each assay, A. fumigatus was grown on Sabouraud agar and conidia standardized to 1 × 105 mL−1 in 3-(N-morpholino)propanesulphonic acid (MOPS)-buffered RPMI 1640 [pH 7.2 (Sigma-Aldrich)], as described previously by our group (Mowat et al., 2007).

Further analyses led us to conclude that feature-specific effects of selective attention are not statistically robust, and appear to be sensitive to the choice of fMRI experimental design and localizer contrast. “
“The corpus callosum is essential for neural communication between the left and right hemispheres. Although spatiotemporal coordination of bimanual movements is mediated

by the activity of the transcallosal circuit, it remains to be addressed how transcallosal neural activity is involved in the dynamic control of bimanual force execution in human. To address this issue, we investigated transcallosal inhibition (TCI) elicited by single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in association with the coordination condition of bimanual force regulation. During a visually-guided bimanual force tracking task, both thumbs were abducted either in-phase Venetoclax (symmetric condition) or 180° out-of-phase (asymmetric condition). TMS was applied to the left primary motor cortex to elicit the disturbance of ipsilateral left PD0332991 supplier force tracking due to TCI. The tracking accuracy was equivalent between the two conditions, but the synchrony of the left and right tracking trajectories was higher in the symmetric condition than in the asymmetric condition. The magnitude of force disturbance and TCI were larger during the symmetric condition than during the asymmetric

condition. Right unimanual force tracking influenced neither the force disturbance nor TCI during tonic left thumb abduction. Additionally, these TMS-induced

ipsilateral motor disturbances only appeared when the TMS intensity was strong enough to excite the transcallosal circuit, irrespective Baricitinib of whether the crossed corticospinal tract was activated. These findings support the hypotheses that interhemispheric interactions between the motor cortices play an important role in modulating bimanual force coordination tasks, and that TCI is finely tuned depending on the coordination condition of bimanual force regulation. In electrophysiological studies, interhemispheric neural interactions between motor cortices have been well investigated in association with unimanual actions (Ferbert et al., 1992; Perez & Cohen, 2008), showing that transcallosal inhibition (TCI) is modulated inversely between the left and right motor cortices. In this situation, TCI toward the motor cortex innervating the active hand decreases (Murase et al., 2004; Liuzzi et al., 2010), whereas TCI toward the contralateral motor cortex increases (Mochizuki et al., 2004; Hinder et al., 2010). That is, TCI subserves the lateralized excitation of the motor cortex to generate an isolated unimanual action (Mayston et al., 1999). However, little is known about how TCI underlies motor organization during bimanual action.

The results of brushing for children aged 8–12 years could benefit from

increasing tooth-brushing time. Children could be given an increasing responsibility from 7 to 8 year of age but parental help is motivated up to 10 years of age. “
“International Journal of Paediatric Dentistry 2013; 23: 101–109 Background.  Malnutrition has been consistently associated with caries in primary teeth, although an effect on permanent teeth has not been established because of the few longitudinal studies. Aim.  To explore the association between stunting and caries increment in permanent teeth over 3.5 years. Design.  In 2003, 121 children aged 7–9 years were randomly selected from nine underserved communities in Lima (Peru). Parents provided demographic information and a food diary for www.selleckchem.com/products/pd-0332991-palbociclib-isethionate.html their children. Clinical examinations included assessments of height, weight, oral hygiene, buy Talazoparib and dental caries. Stunting was defined using the 2000 CDC and 2007 WHO standards. In 2006, 83 children were re-examined, and the 3.5-year net DMFS increment was calculated. The association between stunting and net DMFS increment was assessed using negative binomial regression. Results.  Stunting was related to net DMFS increment after adjustment

for sex and age, oral hygiene, sugary snacks between meals, and caries experience in primary and permanent teeth. Consistent results were found when using either the 2000 CDC (incidence rate ratio: 1.61; 95%CI: 1.07, 2.44) or 2007 WHO standards (IRR: 1.79; 95%CI: 1.28, 2.51). Conclusion.  Stunting was a significant risk factor for caries increment in permanent teeth over a 3.5-year period, independent of other well-known risk factors for caries development. “
“International Journal of Paediatric Dentistry 2013; 23: 39–47 Background.  Caries in preschool children remains an important public health issue. Aim.  To determine (i) which teeth and tooth surfaces are most susceptible to dental caries by age 3, (ii) where do caries lesions Alectinib purchase develop during 2-year follow-up, and (iii) to

evaluate the impact of caries onset on the distribution of new caries experience. Design.  One thousand and fifty seven consecutively born children were recruited in Flanders (Belgium). Parents completed validated questionnaires on oral health-related behaviour and trained dentists examined the children at ages 3 and 5. Results.  Children with visible caries experience at age 3 were significantly more vulnerable in developing additional caries during follow-up. In this group, new caries experience developed primarily in the occlusal and distal surfaces of the mandibular first molars and the occlusal surfaces of the maxillary second and first molars, whereas in the caries-free group, the occlusal surfaces of both mandibular and maxillary second molars ranked first. Conclusions.  This paper confirms the higher vulnerability for further caries development in those children with caries experience at age 3.

, 1993; Soto et al., 1998). Here we show that when nine alternating hydrophobic/hydrophilic residues are removed from the carboxy-terminal end of PsaA, the PsaA synthesis is drastically affected even with the coexpression of the chaperone and usher protein PsaB/PsaC. Although

additional experiments are required to validate this result, this suggests that this PsaA region is essential for its biogenesis. The coexpression of PsaA with the PsaB chaperone protein allowed the detection of PsaA in the cytoplasm, periplasm and membrane GSK458 nmr fraction. The role of PsaB in the cytoplasm possibly to avoid the degradation of PsaA and the cytoplasmic interactions between PsaA/PsaB still needs to be established. In contrast, the coexpression of PsaA with only PsaC resulted in a lack of detection of PsaA, confirming that the interaction of PsaABC proteins is essential in the secretion process of PsaA. These results will help to provide new design strategies for delivery of PsaA in RASV strains using their own secretion pathway. Combined with a new more efficient SPase-I cleavage site, these strategies should aid in improving RASV for the effective delivery Y. pestis antigens. We are thankful to Dr J.D. Fetherston (University of Kentucky, Lexington) who generously provided the Y. pestis P325 strain. We

also thank Dr Clara Espitia (UNAM, Mexico) for her critical reading of the manuscript and Dr David S. Reiner (Burnham Institute for Medical Research) and Isabel Selleck GDC0449 Perez Montfort (UNAM, Mexico) for correction of the English version of this manuscript. This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health, grant AI057885. Table S1. Oligonucleotides used in this work. Please note: Wiley-Blackwell is not responsible for Phosphatidylethanolamine N-methyltransferase the content or functionality of any supporting materials supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing material) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article. “
“The effects of overexpression of the apurinic/apyrimidinic

DNA endonuclease Nfo on wet and dry heat and UV-C (254 nm) resistance of Bacillus subtilis spores with or without α/β-type small, acid-soluble spore proteins (SASP) were determined. Results revealed that overexpression of Nfo ≥50-fold in spores increased the wet heat resistance of exoA nfo B. subtilis spores (termed α−β−) that lack most α/β-type SASP, but had no effect on these spores’ UV-C resistance. Nfo overexpression also increased these spores’ dry heat resistance, and to levels slightly greater than that of wild-type spores. These results are consistent: (1) with wet and dry heat (but not UV-C) generating abasic sites in α−β− spore DNA; (2) with dry heat generating some of these lesions in spores that retain α/β-type SASP; and (3) indicate that Nfo can repair these abasic lesions following spore germination.

In combination with an optimized background regimen, enfuvirtide demonstrated a persistent immunological and virological benefit, although the majority of patients failed to achieve and maintain undetectable HIV-1 RNA levels. Initiation MAPK Inhibitor Library molecular weight of

combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) can reverse some of the immunological deficiencies associated with untreated HIV-1 infection, including failure of naïve T-cell homeostasis and skewing towards memory T cells [7–9], systemic immune activation, which is strongly predictive of disease outcome [10,11], increased expression of proinflammatory cytokines such as tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin (IL)-6 [12,13], and priming for activation-induced cell death (AICD), which is responsible for bystander T-cell depletion [14]. However, several cohort studies demonstrated that patients who started late were less likely to experience restoration of normal peripheral CD4 C59 wnt nmr T-cell levels [15–17], and patients with

low baseline CD4 cell counts (≤350 cells/μL) showed incomplete reconstitution of naïve and memory CD4 cell subsets, as recently demonstrated by Robbins et al. [18] in a substudy of the AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) 384 trial. On the basis of these observations, it has been suggested that Anidulafungin (LY303366) patients who initiate highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) late in their course of infection and who are at risk of disease may have residual inflammation, suboptimal CD4 T-cell gains, skewed immunophenotypic profiles and persistent alterations in T-cell homeostasis and functions [19]. To address this issue, we report for the first time a comprehensive 48-week immunological study in heavily

pretreated patients with low CD4 cell counts receiving enfuvirtide-based salvage therapy. Detailed assessments of immune cell subsets, their activation state and homeostasis, and cytokine and chemokine signatures were carried out to investigate the impact of salvage therapy on the mechanisms of T-cell immune reconstitution in responder patients with low CD4 T-cell counts. Patients were enrolled from 1 March 2005 to 30 December 2006 in the Infectious Disease Department, Archet Hospital (Nice, France). The study was reviewed and approved by the local Ethical Committee.

Besides its central role in regulation of virulence, the agr locus has also been connected to β-lactam resistance possibly via regulation of autolysis (Piriz et al., 1996; Fujimoto & Bayles, 1998). The agr system consists of two adjacent transcriptional units, RNAII and RNAIII, which are transcribed in opposite directions from two divergent promoters, P2 and P3, respectively. RNAII encodes the precursor and the transporter of the autoinducing peptide, as well as a membrane-bound sensor that responds to the autoinducer Target Selective Inhibitor Library solubility dmso by activating the transcriptional

regulator AgrA. AgrA, which is also encoded by RNAII, in turn activates several promoters including P2 and P3 at the agr locus (Queck et al., 2008). RNAIII is the major effector of the agr system and regulates the expression of a large number of genes by base pairing with target mRNAs. This directly affects the expression of some virulence genes; for example, reduced translation of the spa mRNA encoding the cell surface-associated Protein A (Huntzinger et

al., 2005) and induced translation of the hla mRNA encoding the α-hemolysin (Novick et al., 1993; Morfeldt et al., 1995). However, the most widespread effect of RNAIII is probably caused by its inhibition of rot translation (Geisinger et al., 2006). Rot is a repressor of many genes encoding extracellular virulence factors like proteases and hemolysins, but also functions as a positive regulator of transcription (Said-Salim et al., 2003). Our previous model of reversal of methicillin resistance in MRSA by thioridazine only included the effect of the combinatorial treatment

on mecA, blaZ, BMS-907351 clinical trial and their regulators. However, we expect that treatment with thioridazine causes profound changes in gene expression as recently demonstrated in a clinical isolate of multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Dutta et al., 2010). Based on this, we find it likely that thioridazine in combination with oxacillin affects the expression or activity of additional proteins involved in the resistance mechanism besides PBP2a. In the present study, we sought to explore the possibility that additional genes besides mecA and blaZ are involved in the mechanism by which thioridazine resensitizes MRSA to oxacillin. We analyzed the expression levels of selected genes involved in very β-lactam resistance and peptidoglycan biosynthesis in response to the combinatorial treatment. Furthermore, to assess the suitability of the treatment, we also tested the effect on selected toxicity and virulence/pathogenesis genes. MRSA ATCC strain 33591 was routinely grown at 37 °C with shaking in brain heart infusion medium (Difco) and Mueller–Hinton medium and agar (BBL) for subculture and maintenance. Minimal inhibitory concentrations for oxacillin and thioridazine are >256 and 16 mg L−1, respectively. MRSA cultures were grown to an OD600 nm of 0.

This is the first report identifying carotenoids produced by the fungus and characterizing carotenoid biosynthesis genes in the fungus. GzCarRA exhibits high sequence similarity to CarRA of F. fujikuroi (Linnemannstöns et al., 2002) and Al-2 of N. crassa (Arrach et al., 2002). These genes encode a bifunctional enzyme with both phytoene synthase and carotene cyclase activity. Our study showed that ΔgzcarRA does not produce phytoene, suggesting that GzCarRA is required for phytoene synthesis, and the high sequence similarity between GzCarRA and CarRA suggests

that GzCarRA also has cartotene cyclase activity. GzCarB is highly similar to the CarB gene of F. fujikuroi (Linnemannstöns et al., 2002), and Al-1 of N. crassa (Schmidhauser et al., 1990). Al-1 synthesizes 3,4-didehydrolycopene by introducing double bonds to the phytoene substrate via phytofluene, ɛ-carotene, neurosporene, and lycopene. The major products Selleckchem BIBF-1120 of this enzyme are 3,4-didehydrolycopene and lycopene. see more γ-Carotene is not the substrate of Al-1, suggesting that torulene is synthesized from 3,4-didehydrolycopene (Hausmann & Sandmann, 2000). In our study, ΔgzcarB accumulated phytoene, indicating that GzCarB also plays a role in the dehydrogenation of

phytoene. Therefore, we deduced that GzCarB is a phytoene dehydrogenase that catalyzes the formation of 3,4-didehydrolycopene and lycopene (Fig. 4). GzCarX and GzCarO show high similarity to carotenoid cleavage oxygenase CarX (Thewes et al., 2005) and opsin-like protein CarO (Prado et al., 2004), respectively, from F. fujikuroi. CarX expressed in Escherichia coli synthesizes retinal from β-carotene, γ-carotene, β-apo-8′-carotenal, and torulene, indicating that the function of CarX is in retinal biosynthesis (Prado-Cabrero et al., 2007b). Opsins are a class of retinal-binding proteins with seven transmembrane helical domains. In this study,

G. zeae did not produce retinal and neither ΔgzcarX nor ΔgzcarO affected neurosporaxanthin and torulene production, suggesting that both genes are not functional in the fungus. GzCarT is highly similar to CarT in F. fujikuroi. CarT functions as a torulene oxygenase, given its catalysis of the conversion of torulene into β-apo-4′-carotenal in vitro and the accumulation of torulene by the CarT null mutant of F. fujikuroi (Prado-Cabrero et Immune system al., 2007a). As expected, ΔgzcarT also accumulated torulene and produced no neurosporaxanthin, suggesting that GzCarT is a torulene oxygenase. Based on our results, we propose the following neurosporaxanthin biosynthetic pathway in G. zeae (Fig. 4). Torulene is first synthesized by GzCarRA and GzCarB. The colorless carotenoid phytoene is synthesized from two molecules of GGPP by GzCarRA. GzCarRA is a bifunctional enzyme that contains two domains: one catalyzing phytoene synthesis and the other catalyzing the formation of β-ionone rings.

3 to 0 s) were higher than the dlPFC values (Fig. 7A and B), as was the case in the delayed match-to-sample task. see more The choice probability of LIP and dlPFC fluctuated somewhat in NoGo trials (Fig. 7B); however, no period had a value significantly different from 0.5 (t-test, P > 0.05 for all comparisons). Statistical significance was reached between areas during the fixation period in the Go condition (Fig. 7A and C; t-test, t29 = −2.07, P < 0.05). During the cue presentation period, choice probabilities of dlPFC neurons increased in both Go

and NoGo trials. The difference between dlPFC and LIP during the cue presentation (0–0.3 s) in NoGo trials was significant (Fig. 7C; t-test, t29 = 2.32, P < 0.05). The results indicate that when the

firing rate of LIP neurons during the fixation period was higher, monkeys were more likely to report detecting the salient stimulus, either correctly or falsely. On the other hand, when the firing rate of dlPFC neurons to the stimulus in the receptive field was higher during the cue presentation, monkeys were more likely to falsely detect the stimulus as the salient stimulus. We repeated this analysis on trials in which the salient stimulus appeared out of the receptive field and distractors appeared in the neuron’s preferred location (Fig. 8). A total of 17 neurons from dlPFC and 14 neurons from LIP were used. The pattern of responses during the Go trials (Fig. 8A) was reminiscent of the effect we observed in the delayed match-to-sample task (Fig. 4C), with choice probabilities dipping below 0.5 for both areas, though no difference between areas reached statistical significance in this buy NVP-BKM120 sample. To ensure again that the effect of neuronal responses to behavior was not associated with selectivity for color, we repeated our analysis on the sample of neurons without significant (two-way anova, P < 0.05) color selectivity Progesterone (Fig. 9A–C). Analysis of this sample (dlPFC, n = 15; LIP, n = 12) produced very similar results as those shown in Figs 6 and 7. For the Go trials with the target in the receptive field, there

was a significant difference between areas during the fixation period (Fig. 9A; t-test, t25 = −2.13, P < 0.05). No significant difference between areas was observed in the Go trials with the distractor in the receptive field (Fig. 9B) or in the Nogo trials (Fig. 9C). The influence of neuronal firing on behavioral outcomes is not limited to choice probability; cortical firing rate is also known to determine the speed of responses (Hanes & Schall, 1996). The reaction-time version of our task provided information of how fast the monkey released the lever in response to detecting a salient stimulus. We were therefore able to compare the relationship between firing rate in dlPFC and PPC, and behavioral reaction time. Neuronal activity and behavioral reaction time (lever releasing time) were recorded while the monkey was performing the standard reaction-time task (Fig. 1C).

0–2.5). Photographs were taken after 6 days of growth at room temperature. Seeds were obtained from the suppliers listed by Pueppke & Broughton (1999). Seeds of Leucaena leucocephala and Vigna unguiculata were surface-sterilized, planted, and inoculated as described previously (Broughton & Dilworth, 1971; Lewin et al., 1990). Plants were harvested 6 weeks after inoculation. At harvest, the aerial portion of the plant was collected and weighted. The total number of active (pink) nodules and their fresh weight were determined. Stationary-phase bacterial cultures in TY were washed twice with 25 mM

phosphate buffer (pH 7.5) and equilibrated to an optical density of 0.7. Adhesion tests were performed on roots of 6-day-old L. leucocephala and V. unguiculata plants using an established procedure (Albareda et al., 2006). Results were expressed Epigenetics inhibitor as colony-forming units (CFU)

per mg of root tissue. Bacterial strains carrying the promoter-pPROBE constructs were grown on TY agar plates supplemented with the appropriate antibiotics. Using sterile toothpicks, fresh colonies were transferred to sterile 8-tube strips containing 100 μL of GYM supplemented with 100 mM of NaCl. Cells were homogenized by repeatedly drawing through a fine pipette, and for each transcriptional assay, equal quantities of bacteria were used to inoculate 1 mL of GYM supplemented with 0, 25, or 100 mM NaCl in 96-deep well plates. The plates were incubated at 27 °C with shaking at 200 r.p.m. Optical density

(595 nm) and fluorescence (excitation filter at 485 nm and emission filter Proteasome inhibitor at 535 nm) from 100 uL of cultures were recorded 48 h post-inoculation using a Plate CHAMELEON Multilabel Detection Platform (Hidex Oy, Turku, Finland). A minimum of three transcriptional assays were performed for each bacterial strain carrying the constructs. Optical density and fluorescence values were first corrected with the values obtained from the media alone. Corrected fluorescence values were then normalized to the average optical density. Leucaena CYTH4 leucocephala and V. unguiculata seeds were surface-sterilized, germinated, and planted as described previously. Two-day-old seedlings were inoculated with NGR 234 derivatives containing pALQ27 or pHC60. Plants were harvested at different times post-inoculation and their roots screened with an epifluorescence microscope Leica DMIRE2 [Leica Microsystems (Schweiz) AG, Heerbrugg, Switzerland] using GFP filter cubes (excitation BP 470/40 nm; emission BP 525/50 nm). Images were recorded with a Leica DC300F digital camera. The nucleotide sequence from S. meliloti 1021 of the ndvB gene was used to search the genome of NGR234 (Schmeisser et al., 2009). A putative ndvB homolog was identified (NGR_c32910). The predicted cyclic glucan synthase protein of NGR234 shares 98% and 90% identity with NdvB proteins of S. fredii and S. meliloti 1021, respectively.