SCIENCE: 27. 9. 2013

SCIENCE: Diurnal Immunology

"Like most organ systems in the body, several components of the immune system appear to be regulated in a diurnal manner. However, the cell populations affected, the underlying molecular mechanisms controlling these processes, and the functional consequences of such regulation are poorly understood. Now, Nguyen et al.(1483, published online 22 August; see the Perspective by Druzd and Scheiermann) have found that trafficking of monocytes to sites of inflammation is regulated in a diurnal manner in mice. Mice harboring a myeloid cell-specific deletion in the clock protein, BMAL1, showed reduced fitness in response to both acute and chronic inflammation."

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/341/6153/1429.4.short

SCIENCE: Sourcing Antibiotic Resistance

"It is widely assumed that antibiotic resistance in farm animals contributes in a major way to antibiotic resistance in humans. Mather et al. (1514, published online 12 September; see the Perspective by Woolhouse and Ward) analyzed hundreds of genome sequences from Salmonella isolates collected from both livestock and patients in Scotland between 1990 and 2004. The relative contributions of animal-derived and human-derived sources of infection were quantified and the phylogenetic diversity of resistance profiles was matched with bacterial phylogenies. The results suggest that most human infections are caught from other humans rather than from livestock and that humans harbor a greater diversity of antibiotic resistance."