OBM Genetics is an international Open Access journal published quarterly online by LIDSEN Publishing Inc. It accepts papers addressing basic and medical aspects of genetics and epigenetics and also ethical, legal and social issues. Coverage includes clinical, developmental, diagnostic, evolutionary, genomic, mitochondrial, molecular, oncological, population and reproductive aspects. It publishes a variety of article types (Original Research, Review, Communication, Opinion, Comment, Conference Report, Technical Note, Book Review, etc.). There is no restriction on the length of the papers and we encourage scientists to publish their results in as much detail as possible.
Publication Speed (median values for papers published in 2023): Submission to First Decision: 5.1 weeks; Submission to Acceptance: 17.0 weeks; Acceptance to Publication: 7 days (1-2 days of FREE language polishing included)
Special Issue
Pneumocystis: A Model of Adaptive Coevolution
Submission Deadline: October 31, 2018 (Closed)
Submit Now
Guest Editors
Andrés Moya
Prof. of Genetics, Institute of Integrative Systems Biology (University of Valencia), FISABIO Foundation for Biomedical Research and CIBER in Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Spain
Website | E-Mail
Research Interests: genome evolution, symbiosis, microbiome
Enrique J.Calderón
Associate Prof. of Medicine, Instituto de Biomedicina de Sevilla, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío/Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas/Universidad de Sevilla, and Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Spain
Website | E-Mail
Research Interests: Infectious diseases, Pneumcystosis
Luis Delaye
Prof. of Bioinformatics, CINVESTAV Irapuato, México
Website | E-Mail
Research Interests: molecular evolution, phylogenetic inference
About This Topic
Pneumocystis organisms, which were first reported and named Pneumocystis carinii at the beginning of the last century, were long considered as protozoans and a single species based on morphologic features and the resistance to classical antifungal agents. The lack of a continuous in vitro system was a major obstacle to Pneumocystis research and these organisms were largely ignored until the dramatic increase in the incidence of Pneumocystis pneumonia that occurred with the emergence of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) pandemic, which made pneumocystosis a major medical and public health problem in the 1980s. However, this obvious pathogenic Pneumocystis–host interaction is only the tip of the iceberg, and recent findings suggest that the vast majority of mammal–Pneumocystis interactions led to relatively benign colonization, rather than pneumonia.
Molecular and biochemical studies have provided clear evidence for the placement of Pneumocystis with fungi, and based on genomic or phenotypic divergence, multiple Pneumocystis species have been recognized. Genetic data, in addition, suggested that speciation in the group resulted from long genetic isolation and co-evolution in parallel with mammal species.
In this special issue of OBM Genetics, we present the state-of-the art of the genetics and the coevolution of Pneumocystis in different mammalian species in a broad perspective, although with a particular emphasis on the human host. Reviews and methodological papers related with the topic are also welcome.
Planned Papers
Title: Dihydropteroate synthase (DHPS) polymorphisms in Pneumocystis jirovecii
Authors: Carmen de la Horra, Vicente Friaza, Rubén Morilla, María Mercedes Panizo, Yaxsier de Armas, Gustavo Wissmann, Enrique J. Calderón
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted through the LIDSEN Submission System. Detailed information on manuscript preparation and submission is available in the Instructions for Authors. All submitted articles will be thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process and will be processed following the Editorial Process and Quality Control policy. Upon acceptance, the article will be immediately published in a regular issue of the journal and will be listed together on the special issue website, with a label that the article belongs to the Special Issue. LIDSEN distributes articles under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) License in an open-access model. The authors own the copyright to the article, and the article can be free to access, distribute, and reuse provided that the original work is correctly cited.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). Research articles and review articles are highly invited. Authors are encouraged to send the tentative title and abstract of the planned paper to the Editorial Office (genetics@lidsen.com) for record. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Editorial Office.
Welcome your submission!
Publication
Open Access
Original Research
Abstract
Background: Phylogenetic analyses shows that Pneumocystis species have coevolved with their mammalian hosts for millions of years. As a result, infection by Pneumocystis is species specific (i.e. a given Pneumocystis species can infect only a single species of host). This specificity suggests the existence of a Red-Queen dynamic between Pneumo [...]
|
Abstract
Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) is still the most frequent AIDS-defining disease in developed countries and also concerns patients with other immunodeficiencies not associated with HIV. Experimental studies on rodent models carried out in the early eighties have showed that Pneumocystis sp. can be transmitted by the airborne route. Unfortunatel [...]
|
Abstract
At the end of the 20th century, the notion of a unique species in the genus Pneumocystis (i.e. Pneumocystis carinii) was challenged and our understanding of the natural history of pneumocystosis was drastically changed. It is now accepted that the Pneumocystis genus comprises multiple stenoxenic biological entities that are widely distributed [...]
|
Open Access
Research Article
Abstract
Background: Pneumocystis jirovecii colonization in patients is associated with a low organism burden, which supports the need to use highly sensitive molecular techniques, such as nested-PCR to determine the presence of the organism. However, few studies have considered the effect of nucleic acid extraction methods on the detection of P. jirov [...]
|
Abstract
Pneumocystis jirovecii is an atypical fungus transmitted via interhuman airborn contact. This fungus is exclusively associated with humans and almost each individual has encountered it at least once before reaching the age of two. Pneumocystis jirovecii can be responsible for spontaneously resolutive symptoms in infants and for severe pneumoc [...]
|
Abstract
Pneumocystis causes life-threatening pneumonia in immunocompromised populations. More recently it has been implicated as a co-factor in a number of chronic lung diseases including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), severe asthma, and cystic fibrosis. In this review, we will examine the current literature regarding Pneumocystis and [...]
|
Abstract
Experiences with Pneumocystis carinii and Pneumocystis jirovecii over the past one-half century are recounted. Circumstances threatening the lives of children with fatal Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) in 1969 led to discovery of the anti-P. carinii activity of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole in the laboratory. This was followed by clinical trials [...]
|
Abstract
Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PcP) remains a major cause of respiratory illness among immunocompromised patients. PcP is difficult to diagnose, in particular in non-HIV-infected patients due to the lack of specific clinical data associated. Since P. jirovecii could not be cultivated for many years, microscopic visualization of cystic [...]
|
Abstract
Background: Over the past decade, there has been rising interest in the interaction of Pneumocystis with the environment. This interest has arisen in part from the demonstration that environmental factors have important effects on the viability and transmission of microbes, including Pneumocystis. Environmental factors include climatological [...]
|
Luis Delaye
Vidhi is a Clinical yoga therapist; mentor for yoga therapy training in Krishnamacharya tradition. She holds a MSc in Public health from Kings College London.
Mirela Olympia Fagarasan Palmer
Luigi Fontana, MD, PhD.jpg)
Zhong-Ting (Justin) is a PhD student from Nanyang Technological University (Singapore). He holds BSc in Applied Chemistry and MSc in Environmental Engineering. He was a R&D researcher of NanoMaterials Technology Pte Ltd in Singapore (2006-2012). His current research interests are functional nanomaterials synthesis & design, and their application into environmental/chemical engineering. He has published near 60 SCI papers in Applied Catalysis B, Chemical Engineering Journal and so on with H-Index 23. He also serviced as reviewers over 40 Journals such as Appl. Catal. B, Water Research, Chem. Eng. J, ACS Applied Materials & Interface, etc. He was honored such as “The Bsic Research Achievment 1st Award of CIESC”, “The ZJUT Fund Breeding Distinguished Young Scholars” etc.
Rolf Teschke studied Medicine in Munich and Marburg, where he finished his MD thesis before starting a residency at the Department of Pathology, University of Marburg. Subsequently and with a fellowship of the Deutsche Forschungsgmeinschaft, he worked at the Bronx VA Hospital/Mount Sinai Hospital in New York during 1972–1975 together with Professor Charles S. Lieber and successfully isolated MEOS and expanded its characterization. Back in Germany, he was at the Heinrich-Heine University in Düsseldorf with a focus on alcoholic liver disease, biochemical drug studies, and clinical intoxications by halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbons, where he became a Professor of Medicine. In 1987, he was offered a chief position and appointed as Director of the Medical Department II, City Hospital Hanau, Teaching Hospital of the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt/Main. His clinical and research interests are on liver injury by drugs and herbs including causality assessment by RUCAM in close association with Dr. Gaby Danan in Paris. A perfect cooperation exists also with Professor Tran Dang Xuan of the University of Hiroshima, Japan. Finally, he is the author of more than 275 publications including books and book chapters, and he is editor in chief of scientific journals and member of editorial boards.