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The group of Genomics and Molecular Biotechnology of Fungi Murcia University, whose principal investigator is Professor Rosa Ruiz Vazquez, has published a review in the journal PLoS Pathogens, one of the most prestigious in its area of ​​influence.

The review, which are making the magazine assignments leading researchers in their field, the defense mechanism deals with most eukaryotic organisms to protect against invasion by viruses and other potentially harmful nucleic acids for the same.

In recent years it has also observed that this defense mechanism is used for other purposes that relate to the regulation of the genes of the organism.

The phenomenon, says Professor Rosa Ruiz, has focused the attention of many research groups, and indeed, its discoverers, Andrew Fire and Craig Mello were awarded the Nobel Prize in 2006.

Interestingly, adds the researcher, is that, despite the undeniable benefit to any organization representing A mechanism of this type, in some species of fungi and microbial parasites (some pathogens) this defense mechanism has been lost during evolution .

Article of the professors of the University of Murcia discusses precisely this fact: the loss or retention of the defense mechanism throughout evolution, analyzing the possible benefits for some of these agencies has been to assume their loss.

The group discovered a few years ago the existence of a mechanism in a fungus, Mucor, which recently has taken some prominence with the discovery that some of the victims of the tornadoes in the United States (such as Joplin, Missouri) in 2011 died as a result of infections caused by pathogenic strains of the fungus.

The revision is also possible role in silencing mechanism Mucor and its relationship to pathogenesis.

PLoS Pathogens has an impact factor of 9.127 in 2011, placing it at No. 9 among 114 in the ranking of publications in the area of ​​Microbiology, 2nd of 34 in Parasitology and 2nd of 32 in Virology.

Source: Universidad de Murcia