BACKGROUND Reports on long-term (≥10 years) effects of cancer vaccines are missing. Therefore, in 2002, we initiated a phase I/II trial in cutaneous melanoma patients to further explore the immunogenicity of our DC vaccine and to establish its long-term toxicity and clinical benefit after a planned 10-year followup. METHODS Monocyte-derived DCs matured by TNFα, IL-1β, IL-6, and PGE2 and then ...

We used molecular phylogenetic and morphological data to reexamine the taxonomic status of Portulaca okinawensis (≡ P. pilosa subsp. okinawensis) endemic to the central Ryukyu islands, southwestern Japan. Our molecular analyses showed that P. okinawensis is monophyletic, sister to the clade of P. psammotropha and P. tuberosa and it is not closely related to P. pilosa subsp. pilosa. Two subclade...

In 2006 and 2007, multiple deployments of current meters and optical sensors on landers and moorings were made in the first detailed in situ study of the particle supply to the coral community in the Mingulay Reef complex in the Sea of Hebrides at 140-m water depth. Two distinct and predictable supply mechanisms were resolved. One mechanism consisted of the rapid downwelling of surface water ca...

Previous DNA relatedness and enzyme electrophoretic mobility studies indicated heterogeneity among strains of Legionella pneumophila serogroups 1, 4, 5, and Lansing 3 (a new, as yet unnumbered serogroup). In this study 60 L. pneumophila strains were studied by DNA hybridization (hydroxyapatite method) to assess their genomic relatedness. These strains were also studied biochemically and serolog...

background: the contamination of ecosystem with petroleum and its derivatives is con­sidered as one of the most crucial environmental threat in iran. application of micro­organisms has been demonstrated as an appropriate and more practical alternative to clean-up petroleum hydrocarbons in the contaminated environments. objectives: the objectives of this study were isolating rhizosphere-inhabiti...

Cases of parallel ecological divergence in closely related taxa offer an invaluable material to study the processes of ecological speciation. Applying a combination of population genetic and metagenomic tools on a high-coverage RAD sequencing dataset, we test for parallel evolution across six population pairs of Heliosperma pusillum and H. veselskyi (Caryophyllaceae), two plant species found in...

The genes coding for yellow pigment production in Erwinia herbicola Eho10 (ATCC 39368) were cloned and localized to a 12.4-kilobase (kb) chromosomal fragment. A 2.3-kb AvaI deletion in the cloned fragment resulted in the production of a pink-yellow pigment, a possible precursor of the yellow pigment. Production of yellow pigment in both E. herbicola Eho10 and pigmented Escherichia coli clones w...

P. atlantica subsp. Kurdica, with the local name of Baneh, is a wild medicinal plant which grows in Kurdistan, Iran. The identification of resistance gene analogs holds great promise for the development of resistant cultivars. A PCR approach with degenerate primers designed according to conserved NBS-LRR (nucleotide binding site-leucine rich repeat) regions of known disease-resistance (R) genes...

Nurseries producing apple and rose rootstock plants, apple orchards as well as rose production often experience replanting problems after several cultivations at the same site when a chemical soil disinfectant is not applied. The etiology of apple and rose replanting problems is most likely caused by soil-borne pathogen complex, defined as "replant disease (RD)". Symptoms typical of RD are redu...

Plant-parasitic nematodes are one of the most important pests affecting the growth of vineyards due to the destruction of new roots. Several species are associated with this problem, the most important being the ectoparasite Xiphinema index and the endoparasite Meloidogyne ethiopica. The search for new pest and disease control methods based on bioantagonist microorganisms is an important aspect...