As I now officially pass on the baton, I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the previous Editor of this journal, Bill Nichols, who recruited me for the

job and provided essential and ongoing support as I learned the ropes. This GDC-0994 clinical trial was especially important during the early days of my term, before the shift to electronic submissions. My thanks as well for the excellent support provided by the Springer publication team, only one of whom I have met in person. It has been a great and rewarding adventure!”
“Perhaps needless to say, it is the job of a professional journal to help its readers stay abreast both of developments in the larger society as well as of updated information and internal innovations that are likely to have

an selleck kinase inhibitor impact on those served by the members of the targeted group. Certainly as marriage and family therapists (MFTs), along with other related mental health professionals, it is essential that we be well informed and able to respond to our clients in ways that are sensitive to whatever new or old challenges they may be facing. To that end, in this issue we offer articles that focus on three such challenges: the increasing number of https://www.selleckchem.com/products/pu-h71.html military marriages and families experiencing deployment; the ongoing and ever-present need to understand relational dynamics; and the growing awareness of and sensitivity to multicultural issues and the need for competence in this area. Since the terrorist attacks of 09/11/01, more and more service members have been called to active duty. As we are increasingly likely to be working with military marriages and families we are called upon to understand both their strengths and their areas of need. In an article

titled “Military Marriages: The Aftermath of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) Deployments” authors Joyce Baptist, Yvonne Amanor-Boadu, Kevin Garrett, Briana Nelson Goff, Jonathon Collum, Paulicia Gamble, Holly Gurss, Erin Sanders-Hahs, Lizette Strader, and Stephanie Wick describe acetylcholine a qualitative study revealing deployment-related challenges as well as aspects of resilience experienced by members of the military and their families. In the second article on this topic, “Military Marriages: The Aftermath of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) Deployments”, Glenn Hollingsworth provides a framework for intervention with couples who have experienced the challenges of deployment. The second topic, relationship dynamics, is of course fundamental to the practice of marriage and family therapy, and probably one that we will never fully understand in terms of its nuances and complexity. Nevertheless, explorations in this area may continue to enhance our knowledge and, hopefully, our effectiveness.

00001). None of the genotypes was common GS-9973 nmr to all three collections of strains as shown in Figure 3B. However, 87.8%, 87% and 76% of the strains had genotypes specific to SW, DM and P sources, respectively. In the MK0683 mw environmental collection, 0.8% and 11.4% of the strains had genotypes common to DM and

P sets, respectively. The genotypes recovered only in both animal sources represented 10.9% and 4.5% of the DM and P sets, respectively. Quinolone resistant isolates as defined by the C257T mutation Overall, 43.4% and 17.4% of C. coli and C. jejuni, respectively, were classified as resistant to quinolones according to the C257T mutation (i.e. the peptide shift Thr86Ile). Quinolone resistance was significantly higher in isolates of poultry origin (P < 0.001) for both C. coli (67.9%) and C. jejuni (38.7%). By comparison,

22.7% and 16.7% of the isolates (including both species) originating from the domestic mammals and surface waters, respectively, were quinolone-resistant. Discussion Sequencing of gyrA indicated that this locus was informative in several different ways for characterizing Campylobacter isolates. First, the alleles of the 496 nucleotide fragments were suitably different in sequence identity between C. selleckchem jejuni and C. coli to be assigned to one or the other of these species. The distribution of these alleles confirmed that recombination events between species occur rather infrequently and in an asymmetric gene flow [33]: one C. jejuni had a typical C. coli allele whereas 4 C. coli had a typical C. jejuni allele. Two other studies using PCR and sequencing data targeting gyrA also identified a C. jejuni segment within a C. coli isolate [34,35], supporting previous findings that gene flow is rather unidirectional from C. jejuni to C. coli [33,36]. Sequencing of gyrA revealed a similar population structure

as that obtained by MLST or rMLST (Ribosomal Multilocus Sequence Typing, [37]). In particular, the phylogenetic analysis clearly organized C. coli into 3 distinct clades as previously described by Sheppard et al. [33,36] (Figure 1). Furthermore, peptide groups 301A and 302 in our study (Table 2) contain alleles commonly Elongation factor 2 kinase found in domestic animals, and they correspond to the agricultural C. coli lineage of the evolutionary scenario proposed by Sheppard et al. [38]. In addition, peptide groups 301B and 301C (Table 2) match with the clades 2 and 3 observed by Sheppard et al. [38] including only alleles recovered from environmental isolates, i.e. from surface waters in our study. In contrast to C. jejuni, the C. coli assigned alleles are predominated by synonymous mutations. As a result, the peptide group 301C is characterized by alleles with a higher GC content (Figure 2A) generated by nucleotide changes only located in the third positions of codons. This trend was also reflected in genotypes linked to this peptide group 301C i.e.

Heme groups are responsible for carrying out a wide variety of biological functions in

prokaryotes and eukaryotes. These groups are essential for selleckchem respiration, oxygen metabolism and electron transport, as well as for prosthetic groups, hemoglobulins, hydroxylases, catalases, peroxidases and cytochromes [28]. More recently, new roles for heme groups have been described as biosensors of diatomic gases [29, 30] and modulators of protein activity [31]. Protoheme biosynthesis involves seven enzymatic steps, starting 17-AAG manufacturer from the universal precursor delta-aminolevulinic acid (ALA). Other heme groups that cells need are obtained from protoheme modifications. In the step before production of protoheme, an iron ion (Fe2+) is inserted in protoporphyrin IX, catalyzed by ferrochelatase [32]. One of the many roles played by protoheme in the cell is the constitution of cytochrome. Type c cytochromes, which contain a covalent heme c group, are widely distributed in organisms, in which they play a role in photosynthesis and electron transport from the respiratory chain. Most type c cytochromes of E. coli and S. enterica serovar Typhimurium are c552 cytochromes, which are comprised of six covalently bound heme NU7441 nmr groups and are located in the periplasmic space where they act as dissimilatory

nitrite reductase [33]. Therefore, heme groups are used in basic metabolism for energy production, in the electron transport chain in an aerobic pathway, and in the nitrite reduction complex in an anaerobic pathway. The interruption Etoposide price of heme group production thus presumably affects the electron transport chain, which hinders the use of oxygen or nitrate as final electron recipients by cells. If this hypothesis is true, it explains why the mutant 11D09, which carries the interrupted ORF XAC4040, a delta-aminolevulinic dehydratase (hemB), does not cause disease and shows total absence of symptoms. Proteomic analysis showed that proteins involved in glycolytic

and related pathways and fermentation are over-expressed in hemB mutant cells, which show exponential growth, compared to the parental strain [34], indicating that the mutant hemB produces energy only from phosphorylation at the substrate level in vitro. Thus, the observation that the mutant 11D09 is multiplied in planta (Fig. 3) is explained by the use of carbon sources for the production of anaerobic ATP, or even by the use of the hemes produced by the plant. So, considering the information available in the literature, the hemB mutant can survive in vitro and in planta by producing energy from hexoses or from intermediate compounds such as pyruvate, producing lactate, acetyl-CoA, producing ethanol, or L-arginine, producing CO2 + NH4.

Front Biosci 2002, 7:d1798–1814.CrossRefPubMed 10. Pozzi G, Masala L, Iannelli F, Manganelli R, Havarstein LS, Piccoli L, Simon D, Morrison DA: CBL-0137 competence for genetic transformation in encapsulated strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae : two allelic variants of the peptide pheromone. J Bacteriol 1996, 178:6087–6090.PubMed 11. Ramirez M,

Morrison DA, Tomasz A: Ubiquitous distribution of the competence related genes comA and comC among isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae. Microb Drug Resist 1997, 3:39–52.CrossRefPubMed 12. Whatmore AM, Barcus VA, Dowson CG: Genetic diversity of the streptococcal competence ( com ) gene locus. J Bacteriol 1999, 181:3144–3154.PubMed 13. Guiral S, Mitchell TJ, Martin B, Claverys JP: Competence-programmed predation of noncompetent cells Ubiquitin inhibitor in the human pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae : genetic requirements. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2005, 102:8710–8715.CrossRefPubMed

14. Claverys JP, Martin B, Havarstein LS: Competence-induced fratricide in streptococci. Mol Microbiol 2007, 64:1423–1433.CrossRefPubMed 15. Claverys JP, Havarstein LS: Cannibalism and fratricide: mechanisms and raisons d’être. Nat Rev Microbiol 2007, 5:219–229.CrossRefPubMed 16. Gilmore MS, Haas W: The selective advantage of microbial fratricide. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2005, 102:8401–8402.CrossRefPubMed 17. Havarstein LS, Martin B, Johnsborg O, Granadel C, Claverys JP: New insights into the pneumococcal fratricide: relationship to clumping and identification of a novel immunity factor. Mol Microbiol 2006, 59:1297–1307.CrossRefPubMed 18. Gray BM, Converse GM 3rd, Dillon HC Jr: Epidemiologic studies of Streptococcus pneumoniae in infants: SB-715992 purchase acquisition, carriage, and infection during the first 24 months of life. J Infect Dis 1980, 142:923–933.PubMed 19. Brugger SD, Hathaway LJ, Tobramycin Muhlemann K: Detection of Streptococcus pneumoniae strain cocolonization in the nasopharynx. J Clin Microbiol 2009, 47:1750–1756.CrossRefPubMed 20. Havarstein LS, Hakenbeck R, Gaustad P: Natural competence in the genus Streptococcus : evidence

that streptococci can change pherotype by interspecies recombinational exchanges. J Bacteriol 1997, 179:6589–6594.PubMed 21. Tortosa P, Dubnau D: Competence for transformation: a matter of taste. Curr Opin Microbiol 1999, 2:588–592.CrossRefPubMed 22. Claverys JP, Prudhomme M, Martin B: Induction of competence regulons as a general response to stress in Gram-positive bacteria. Annu Rev Microbiol 2006, 60:451–475.CrossRefPubMed 23. Park IH, Pritchard DG, Cartee R, Brandao A, Brandileone MC, Nahm MH: Discovery of a new capsular serotype (6C) within serogroup 6 of Streptococcus pneumoniae. J Clin Microbiol 2007, 45:1225–1233.CrossRefPubMed 24. Hausdorff WP, Feikin DR, Klugman KP: Epidemiological differences among pneumococcal serotypes. Lancet Infect Dis 2005, 5:83–93.PubMed 25. Aguiar SI, Serrano I, Pinto FR, Melo-Cristino J, Ramirez M: The presence of the pilus locus is a clonal property among pneumococcal invasive isolates.

Curr Opin Cell Biol 2011. Sep 29 [Epub ahead of print] Competing interests The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Authors’ contributions YH: guarantor of integrity of the entire study, study concepts, study design, definition of intellectual content, literature research, experimental studies, data acquisition, data analysis, statistical analysis, manuscript preparation, manuscript editing, manuscript review, JH: guarantor of integrity of the entire study, study concepts, study design, definition of intellectual content, literature research, manuscript editing,

manuscript review, JZ: experimental studies, data acquisition, JL: experimental studies, data acquisition, TW: data analysis, ZZ: statistical analysis, YC: manuscript preparation. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.”
“Background Normal thyrocytes are used for investigations of hormone synthesis, regulation of proliferation and Quizartinib clinical trial differentiation and as controls in drug GW786034 mw screening. Primary cells and cell lines of canine, porcine, bovine, ovine and rat origin are used selleck kinase inhibitor to address different questions. Rat cell lines, especially the FRTL5 line, are used for proliferation studies [1], whereas porcine and bovine cells are used most commonly for differentiation and gene expression studies. Similar to ovine thyrocytes, cells from these species show a poor response to TSH and, therefore, are not suited

for studies of proliferation [2]. Due to their limited availability, very few groups use canine thyrocytes for their studies. Despite conserved physiology, marked differences between these species

have already been reported [3, 4]. Stimulation with TSH and insulin triggers DNA synthesis in dog thyrocytes and rat cell lines by very different mechanisms. Interspecies differences in the regulation of protease Plasmin activities are of particular importance because several lysosomal and membrane-associated proteases promote tumor development and progression. The lysosomal enzymes cathepsin B and cathepsin L are over-expressed in thyroid cancer as in most other cancers [5, 6]. Similar to other cancers, the participation of metalloproteinases, especially metalloproteinases (MMP) MMP-2, also termed type IV collagenase, in thyroid cancer progression has also been confirmed [7–9]. Additionally, the urokinase-type plasminogen activator is involved in the progression of thyroid cancer by remodelling the extracellular matrix [5, 10]. Increases in transmembrane proteases such as aminopeptidase N (APN) and dipeptidylpeptidase IV (DPP IV) are more specific to thyroid carcinoma [11, 12]. DPP IV activity is increased in some cancer types (e.g. thyroid cancer, prostate cancer, [13, 14] and decreased or lost in others (e.g. melanoma, [15, 16]). DPP IV regulates contact inhibition, cell cycle, morphological differentiation, tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases, anchorage-dependent growth and E-cadherin of epithelial cancers [17].

Total RNA from biofilms was isolated using the RiboPure yeast kit (Ambion, Inc.), according to the manufacturer’s instructions. RNA concentrations and purity were determined by measuring the absorbance at 260 nm and 280 nm (ND-1000 spectrophotometer, NanoDrop Technologies). Equal amounts of RNA (3 μg in 20 μl reactions) were reverse transcribed with oligo(dT) primers using Superscript Anlotinib reverse transcriptase II (Invitrogen). Primers were based on the published sequence of the EFB1 gene of C. albicans. Primer sequences used were as follows: Forward:

5′- CAT TGA TGG TAC TAC TGC CAC -3′; Reverse: 5′- TTT ACC GGC TGG CAA GTC TT -3′. The forward primer spanned the sole exon-exon boundary of EFB1, thus excluding amplification of genomic C. albicans DNA. The uniqueness of the primers for C. albicans EFB1 was determined Selleckchem DihydrotestosteroneDHT using the BLAST database http://​www.​tigr.​org. To generate standard curves for quantitative analyses a pEFB plasmid was prepared as follows. A 136-bp C. albicans EFB exon fragment, containing the target sequence, was amplified with the above mentioned primers. PCR was ��-Nicotinamide price performed in a DNA thermal cycler with 1 cycle of 5 min at 95°C; 40 cycles of 1 min at 95°C, 30 s at 62°C, 30 s at 72°C; and a final extension at 72°C for 5 min. This fragment was ligated into the pCR 2.1 plasmid vector (3.931 kb) and transformed into One Shot cells (Top10F’) using a TA

cloning kit (Invitrogen). Plasmids were digested with xhoI to generate a linear template and purified with the PureYield™ Plasmid Miniprep System (Promega). Plasmid concentrations were determined spectrophotometrically and copy numbers calculated based on linear plasmid mass. Serial plasmid dilutions (500 pg, 50 pg, 5 pg, 500 fg, 50 fg, 5 fg, 1 fg of DNA/μl) were then used to generate standard curves for detection and quantification of EFB1 mRNA by the iCycler iQ RT-PCR assay. Real-time PCR was performed with an iCycler iQ

real-time PCR detection system (Bio-Rad). All PCR reaction mixtures contained the following: 10 μl 2 × iQ™ SYBR® Green Supermix (BioRad, Hercules, CA), 1 μl of first-strand cDNA reaction mixture or linear plasmid DNA, 0.1 μM of primers Smoothened and H2O to bring the final volume to 20 μl. The program for amplification had an incubation step at 50°C for 2 min, and 95°C incubation for 5 min, followed by 40 cycles of 95°C for 10 s and 62°C for 30 s. Reactions to estimate transcript copy number were run in duplicate from two biologic RNA replicates. Data were analyzed using the iCycle iQ system software (BioRad). Testing of planktonic cells Candida cells were grown overnight in YPD broth as described above. Cultures were adjusted to a cellular density equivalent to 1.0 × 106 cells/ml and subjected to caspofungin (CAS, Merck Research Laboratories, Rahway, N.J.) or fluconazole (FLU, Pfizer Inc.

To determine the contribution of QseA, change in ler expression was monitored in qseA deletion Selleckchem PF-2341066 (VS145) and complemented (VS151) strains. Isolimonic acid (100 μg/ml) treated

cultures demonstrated a <2 fold change in ler expression in qseA deletion mutant. In comparison, isolimonic acid repressed the ler by 7.4 fold in complemented strain VS151 (Figure 7A). To further confirm the role of QseA, qseA was overexpressed by introducing the plasmid pVS150, harboring qseA, into reporter strain TEVS232 and expression of chromosomal fusion LEE1:LacZ (β-galactosidase activity) was measured. Overexpression of qseA from a multicopy plasmid negated the inhibitory activity of isolimonic acid (Figure 7B). Furthermore, the possibility of transcriptional CX-4945 cost regulation of qseA by isolimonic acid was determined by assessing the qseA expression. A < 2 fold change in the transcript levels of qseA indicated that isolimonic acid do not regulate the expression of qseA (Figure 7C). Altogether, the isolimonic acid appears to repress ler expression and possibly LEE by modulating QseA activity. Figure 7 Isolimonic acid requires QseA to repress ler. (A) Expression of ler in ΔqseA mutant and ΔqseA

mutant supplemented with p qseA. The expression was monitored 30 min after addition of preconditioned media and 100 μg/ml isolimonic acid. (B) AI-3 induced β-galactosidase activity in TEVS232 supplemented with qseA (AV46). Asterisk denotes significant (p<0.05) difference from solvent control (DMSO). (C) Expression of qseA in presence of 100 μg/ml isolimonic acid. Fold change values were calculated over EHEC grown in presence of DMSO. The data represents mean ±SD of triplicate experiment. Discussion EHEC

is an important gastrointestinal Progesterone pathogen, prolific biofilm former and demonstrates resistance to various antimicrobials in biofilm mode of growth [51]. For successful colonization of gastrointestinal tract and initiation of infection, adhesion of EHEC to intestinal epithelium is an essential early event [47, 48]. Additionally, several E. coli pathovars were ARS-1620 cell line reported to produce and live in biofilms inside the human body [19]. In order to counteract these maladies, an antivirulence molecule with anti-adhesion and/or anti-biofilm properties may be highly desirable. Research in our laboratory has identified several molecules with differing anti-virulence effects [23, 28, 36, 37, 52, 53]. The current work examined the potential of five citrus limonoids- isolimonic acid, ichangin, isoobacunoic acid, IOAG and DNAG, to inhibit EHEC biofilm and TTSS. All the tested limonoids seem to interfere with the EHEC biofilm formation in a dose dependent fashion (Figure 2). Isolimonic acid was the most potent inhibitor of the EHEC biofilm and adhesion to Caco-2 cells.

OS is a supervisor of the whole work, the results of which are presented in

this article. MB supervised the experiments performed by IH. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.”
“Background Noble metal nanoparticles are under intense scientific and applied attention because of their unique optical properties [1]. Incident light which is in resonance with the collective electronic oscillations near the surface of metal nanoparticles causes the so-called localized surface plasmon resonance. It results in strong concentration of light energy and electric field in the subwavelength nanoscale region near the particle. The strong local field causes an increase in the efficiency of light absorption, scattering, and fluorescence [2]. Metal-enhanced fluorescence MCC950 price as a branch of nano-optics was formed on the one hand from the needs of fluorescent sensing of minute amounts of matter [2, 3] and on the other hand from fundamental interest to the control of light energy on the nanoscale and inducing of coherent plasmons with low damping [4]. Effective coupling of plasmons with fluorescent light is actual also for the fluorescent Selleck HDAC inhibitor glasses [5, 6] and active optical waveguides [7]. Trivalent rare earth (RE) ions, which are popular due to their efficient narrow-band photostable fluorescence, are of special interest as subjects for plasmonic

enhancement. It is because C188-9 in vivo their absorption cross sections as well as radiative decay rate are both very low compared to other emitters, such as dye molecules. There are a few studies suggesting local plasmonic enhancement of RE fluorescence Urocanase induced by noble metal nanodopant in sol-gel-derived optical materials, such as silica glasses and active fibers in the visible

[5, 6] and infrared [7] spectral ranges. Yet, the preparation of such samples requires specific methods for dispersion of metal particles in the host media, avoiding their aggregation and oxidation, especially for the silver nanoparticles [6, 8]. As far as we know, detected local enhancement of fluorescence intensity in the RE-doped sol-gel materials does not exceed two to three times [5–7]. Plasmonic resonance in small metal particles (approximately 5 to 20 nm) mainly causes a waste of the incident light energy as heat and do not contribute significantly to fluorescence enhancement. In contrast, plasmonic resonance in bigger nanoparticles (>50 nm) results in a stronger light scattering, which could support fluorescence more essentially in the resonance spectral range [3]. However, the synthesis of such bigger nanoparticles with uniform size is not an easy task. Hereby, we propose to utilize silica-gold core-shell nanoparticles described earlier by Pham et al. [9] for the enhancement of RE3+ fluorescence.

The aim in sustainability science of fostering a coherent interdisciplinary system of research planning and practice has given less room for research rooted in the social sciences and humanities that calls the basic assumptions of modern society

into question. It can, therefore, be argued that global sustainability challenges cannot be understood or solved solely in the natural, medical or engineering sciences; equal efforts must be devoted to examining the challenges from other ontologies and epistemologies. In this article, and unlike most emerging initiatives in the field, we suggest an approach that tangibly incorporates social science dimensions into sustainability science research. We proceed from Robert Cox’s (1981) conceptual distinction selleck products CHIR-99021 in vivo between problem-solving and critical research and aim at finding new ways of integrating knowledge across the natural and social divides, as well as between critical and problem-solving research. The knowledge integration will be accomplished by developing

a generic research platform with flexible methods that can be used for studying any combination of major sustainability challenges, such as: climate change; biodiversity loss; depletion of marine fish stocks; land degradation; land use changes; water scarcity; and global ill-health owing to neglected tropical diseases and the major epidemics of malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS (Hotez et al. 2007). Throughout the article, we discuss themes, frames and concepts that can help to structure sustainability science. Methane monooxygenase To exemplify

specifically how research can be organised using the approach, a brief example from the Lund University Centre of Excellence for Integration of Social and Natural Dimensions of Sustainability (LUCID) is Dinaciclib datasheet provided in “A LUCID example”. Old social problems and new sustainability challenges There is ample social research on structural transformation, institutional shifts and systemic transition. Economists, geographers, historians and sociologists have depicted, documented and discussed how societies struggle over centuries to overcome long-standing social problems like hunger, disease, poverty and violation of human rights. Narratives on social change and the persistence of old problems are, thus, abundant. Recently, science has identified new or escalating geo-bio-physical phenomena and processes with deep social impacts; these include biodiversity loss, land use change, water scarcity and climate change. There is a fundamental difference in the dynamics between old social problems and such new sustainability challenges. Extant problems like hunger, disease and poverty have been experienced and dealt with in isolation by people as well as collectively by society over millennia.

citri GII3. The signs on the right indicate the ability (+) and inability (−) to replicate in a given species. ND: not determined. A: plasmid integration in the Mmc chromosome. B: spiralin expression in Mcc was detected by immunoblot. Electrotransformation of S. citri was carried out as previously described [43] with 1–5 μg of DNA. Polyethylene glycol-mediated transformation of mycoplasmas was performed as described previously [44] with 5–10 μg of plasmid and transformants were selected by plating on medium containing 5–15 μg.ml−1 of tetracycline. Results and

discussion Detection and initial characterization of plasmids from ruminant mycoplasmas A total of 194 ruminant Milciclib manufacturer mycoplasma strains were selected from our collection on the basis that there was no apparent epidemiological link AZD1480 manufacturer between them. Their distribution amongst taxa is summarized in Table 2. No plasmid was detected in species belonging to the Hominis phylogenetic group, i.e. in the M. bovis and M. agalactiae species. In contrast, several plasmids were detected in strains belonging to the M. mycoides cluster or to closely related species of the Spiroplasma phylogenetic group (Table 2). Indeed, 37 out of the 112 strains screened (33%) were found to carry plasmids.

Although plasmids have already been described for strains belonging to the Mmc, M. yeatsii and M. leachii species, this is the first report of plasmids in M. cottewii and Mcc. While nearly all strains carried a single plasmid, the M. yeatsii (GIH) type strain contained www.selleckchem.com/products/NVP-AUY922.html two plasmids. Except for the larger plasmid of M. yeatsii GIH TS (3.4 kbp),

all other plasmids had apparent sizes of 1.0 to 2.0 kbp. Also, no correlation between Meloxicam the presence of plasmid and the history of the strains such as the year and/or place of isolation, and the host species (bovine versus caprine), could be established (Additional file 2: Table S2). Table 2 Detection of plasmids from ruminant mycoplasmas Phylogenetic group Taxon nb of screened strains a strains with plasmidb Hominis M. agalactiae 40 0   M. bovis 42 0   Subtotal 82 0 Spiroplasma M. mycoides subsp. capri 43 12   M. capricolum subsp. capricolum 41 15   M. leachii 10 1   M. yeatsii 16 7   M. cottewii 2 2   Subtotal 112 37   Total 194 37 (a) including the species type strain. (b) as visualized on agarose gel after total DNA extraction by phenol/chloroform. Twenty one plasmids, at least one per taxon, were randomly chosen and fully sequenced. Plasmid sizes ranged from 1,041 bp to 1,865 bp. To assess the diversity and genetic variability of mycoplasma plasmids, the 21 sequences were compared to each other and to those of the five mycoplasma plasmids available in GenBank: pADB201, pKMK1, and pMmc95010 from Mmc, pBG7AU from M. leachii, and pMyBK1 from M. yeatsii (Table 1). The overall nucleotide identity was calculated after a global alignment for each plasmid-pair.