Chlamydia trachomatis, is a kind of obligate intracellular pathogen. The removal of C. trachomatis relies primarily on specific cellular immunity. It is currently considered that CD4+ Th1 cytokine responses are the major protective immunity against C. trachomatis infection and reinfection rather than CD8+ T cells. The non-specific immunity (innate immunity) also plays an important role in the infection process. To survive inside the cells, the first process that C. trachomatis faces is the innate immune response. As the \"sentry\" of the body, mast cells attempt to engulf and remove C. trachomatis. Dendritic cells present antigen of C. trachomatis to the \"commanders\" (T cells) through MHC-I and MHC-II. IFN-γ produced by activated T cells and natural killer cells (NK) further activates macrophages. They form the body\'s \"combat troops\" and produce immunity against C. trachomatis in the tissues and blood. In addition, the role of eosinophils, basophils, innate lymphoid cells (ILCs), natural killer T (NKT) cells, γδT cells and B-1 cells should not be underestimated in the infection of C. trachomatis. The protective role of innate immunity is insufficient, and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) caused by C. trachomatis infections tend to be insidious and recalcitrant. As a consequence, C. trachomatis has developed a unique evasion mechanism that triggers inflammatory immunopathology and acts as a bridge to protective to pathological adaptive immunity. This review focuses on the recent advances in how C. trachomatis evades various innate immune cells, which contributes to vaccine development and our understanding of the pathophysiologic consequences of C. trachomatis infection.

An experimental ecology method was used to study the acute toxicity of nonylphenol (NP) and the effects of NP on growth, reproduction, and population growth in Moina mongolica. The effects were studied in a parent generation exposed to NP and three generations of offspring (F1, F2, and F3) not exposed to NP. The acute 24- and 48-h median lethal concentrations (LC50) of M. mongolica were 0.066 and 0.046 mg L-1, respectively, indicating that NP is very toxic to M. mongolica. In chronic exposure experiments using parent M. mongolica, NP clearly inhibited the lifespan, reproductive volume, total molting time, end-body length, and population growth parameters. In the recovery generations in a clean environment, three generations still suffered from toxic effects, with toxic amplification in generation F1. Generations F2 and F3 clearly followed a recovery trend in the groups in which the parents were exposed to 0.001-0.007 mg L-1 NP but recovered slowly in the groups in which the parents were exposed to 0.009 and 0.011 mg L-1 NP. The results indicated that NP has overt reproductive toxic and transgenerational effects on M. mongolica. Further studies of the damage caused to the aquatic environment by hormone-like chemicals such as NP should therefore be performed.

As obligate intracellular bacterial pathogens, members of the Chlamydia genera are the pivotal triggers for a wide range of infections, which can lead to blinding trachoma, pelvic inflammation, and respiratory diseases. Because of their restricted parasitism inside eukaryotic cells, the pathogens have to develop multiple strategies for adaptation with the hostile intracellular environment-intrinsically present in all host cells-to survive. The strategies that are brought into play at different stages of chlamydial development mainly involve interfering with diverse innate immune responses, such as innate immune recognition, inflammation, apoptosis, autophagy, as well as the manipulation of innate immune cells to serve as potential niches for chlamydial replication. This review will focus on the innate immune responses against chlamydial infection, highlighting the underlying molecular mechanisms used by the Chlamydia spp. to counteract host innate immune defenses. Insights into these subtle pathogenic mechanisms not only provide a rationale for the augmentation of immune responses against chlamydial infection but also open avenues for further investigation of the molecular mechanisms driving the survival of these clinically important pathogens in host innate immunity.

Daphniopsis tibetana Sars lives in elevation, usually with strong solar UV radiation. We speculate that UV may have an effect on the ecology and evolutionary biology of this species. However, the regulatory effect and mechanism of UV on D. tibetana have not been studied previously. Here, our results showed that UVB could act as a positive factor in the relative body lengths, reproductive parameters, and population growth parameters of D. tibetana when UVB radiation is 20-170 mJ cm-2, compared with the control group. Strikingly, these parameters were highest at 120 mJ cm-2. To explore the mechanism underlying the UVB irradiation effects, we conducted a transcriptome analysis using the Trinity platform. The results indicated that differentially regulated genes were mostly enriched in lipid transport and lipid localization by Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis of 146 differentially expressed genes (83 upregulated and 63 downregulated). This is the first study of UVB radiation of D. tibetana to reveal genes that may have crucial roles in survival, growth, and reproduction and could be candidates for future functional studies. Additionally, the study could supply a substantial resource for investigating and elucidating lipids that could play important roles in a physiological context.

UNASSIGNED: The marine sponge Crambe crambe was chosen as an experimental model of sustainable shallow-water mariculture in the Sardinian Sea (Western Mediterranean) to provide biomass with high potential in applied research.
UNASSIGNED: Explants were cultured in four long-term experiments (19 and 31 months at ca. 2.5 m depth), to determine the suitability of new culture techniques by testing substrata and seeding time (season), and monitoring survival and growth. Explants were excised and grown in an experimental plant close to the wild donor sponge population. Percentage growth rate (GR%) was measured in terms of surface cover area, and explant survival was monitored in situ by means of a digital photo camera.
UNASSIGNED: Explant survival was high throughout the trial, ranging from 78.57% to 92.85% on travertine tiles and from 50% to 71.42% on oyster shells. A few instances of sponge regression were observed. Explant cover area correlated positively with season on two substrata, i.e., tiles and shells. The surface cover area and GR% of explants were measured in the starting phase and monitored up to the end of the trial. High GR% values were observed both on tiles (>21%) and on oyster shells (>15%).
UNASSIGNED: The data on the behaviour and life-style of cultured fragments, together with an increase >2,400% in cover area, demonstrate that in situ aquaculture is a viable and sustainable method for the shallow-water biomass supply of Crambe crambe.