Three new species of the genus Peptostreptococcus isolated from humans: Peptostreptococcus vaginalis sp. nov., Peptostreptococcus lacrimalis sp. nov., and Peptostreptococcus lactolyticus sp. nov.

We describe three new species of the genus Peptostreptococcus which were isolated from human specimens and were tentatively identified as Peptostreptococcus prevotii. These three organisms were not homologous with previously described type strains of the genus Peptostreptococcus. A total of 12 strains that were identified biochemically as P. prevotii were divided into five independent DNA similarity groups; 10 of these strains were divided into three similarity groups which exhibited significant phenotypic differences from previously described species. Therefore, we propose the following new species: Peptostreptococcus vaginalis for group 1 strains, Peptostreptococcus lacrimalis for group 2 strains, and Peptostreptococcus lactolyticus for group 3 strains. The type strain of P. vaginalis is strain GIFU 12669 (= JCM 8138), the type strain of P. lacrimalis is strain GIFU 7667 (= JCM 8139), and the type strain of P. lactolyticus is strain GIFU 8586 (= JCM 8140).     

Novel Multi-Broadband Plasmonic Absorber Based on a Metal-Dielectric-Metal Square Ring Array

Plasmonics - We numerically analyzed a simple and novel design of multi-broadband plasmonic absorber which consists of a planar array of thin gold square ring structures on dielectric/metal...     

Clarireedia: A new fungal genus comprising four pathogenic species responsible for dollar spot disease of turfgrass

Dollar spot is one of the most destructive and economically important fungal diseases of amenity turfgrasses. The causal agent was first described in 1937 as the ascomycete Sclerotinia homoeocarpa. However, the genus-level taxonomic placement of this fungus has been the subject of an ongoing debate for over 75 y. Existing morphological and rDNA sequence evidence indicates that this organism is more appropriately placed in the family Rutstroemiaceae rather than the Sclerotiniaceae. Here we use DNA sequence data from samples of the dollar spot fungus and other members of the Rutstroemiaceae (e.g. Rutstroemia, Lanzia, Lambertella) collected throughout the world to determine the generic identity of the turfgrass dollar spot pathogen. Phylogenetic evidence from three nucleotide sequence markers (CaM, ITS and Mcm7; 1810-bp) confirmed that S. homoeocarpa is not a species of Sclerotinia; nor is it a member of any known genus in the Rutstroemiaceae. These data support the establishment of a new genus, which we describe here as Clarireedia gen. nov. The type species for the genus, Clarireedia homoeocarpa comb. nov., is described to accommodate the dollar spot fungus, and a neotype is designated. Three new species in this clade, Clarireedia bennettii sp. nov., Clarireedia jacksonii sp. nov., and Clarireedia monteithiana sp. nov. that also cause dollar spot disease are described. Clarireedia homoeocarpa and C. bennettii occur primarily on Festuca rubra (C3 grass) hosts and appear to be restricted to the United Kingdom. Clarireedia jacksonii and C. monteithiana occur on a variety of C3 and C4 grass hosts, respectively, and appear to be globally distributed. This resolved taxonomy puts to rest a major controversy amongst plant pathologists and provides a foundation for better understanding the nature and biology of these destructive pathogens.     

Investigation of Heavy Metal Level and Mineral Nutrient Status in Widely Used Medicinal Plants’ Leaves in Turkey: Insights into Health Implications

The use of plants in treatments has been as old as humanity and it has preserved its popularity for centuries til now because of their availability, affordability and safeness. However, despite their widespread use, safety and quality issues have been major concerns in the world due to industrial- and anthropogenic-based heavy metal contamination risks. Thus, this study was attempted to analyze the heavy metal levels and mineral nutrient status of widely used medicinal plants in Turkey to have insights about their health implications on humans. The plant concentrations of B, Ca, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Pb and Zn were analyzed by ICP-OES in the leaves of 44 medical plants purchased from herbal markets of three different districts of Istanbul/Turkey. The measured lowest to highest concentrations were 0.065–79.749 mg kg⁻¹ B, 921.802–12,854.410 mg kg⁻¹ Ca, 0.020–0.558 mg kg⁻¹ Cd, 0.015–4.978 mg kg⁻¹ Cr, 0.042–8.489 mg kg⁻¹ Cu, 34.356–858.446 mg kg⁻¹ Fe, 791.323–15,569.349 mg kg⁻¹ K, 102.236–2837.836 mg kg⁻¹ Mg, 4.915–91.519 mg kg⁻¹ Mn, 10.224–3213.703 mg kg⁻¹ Na, 0.001–5.589 mg kg⁻¹ Ni, 0.003–3.636 mg kg⁻¹ Pb and 2.601–36.102 mg kg⁻¹ Zn. Those levels in plants were in acceptable limits though some elements in some plants have high limits which were not harmful. Variations (above acceptable limits) in element concentrations also indicated that these plants could be contaminated with other metals and that genetic variations may influence accumulation of these elements at different contents. Overall, analyzed medicinal plants are expected not to pose any serious threat to human health.

     

Synthesis, in vitro and in silico studies of novel potent urease inhibitors: N-[4-({5-[(3-Un/substituted-anilino-3-oxopropyl)sulfanyl]-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl}methyl)-1,3-thiazol-2-yl]benzamides

The present article describes the synthesis, in vitro urease inhibition and in silico molecular docking studies of a novel series of bi-heterocyclic bi-amides. The synthesis of title compounds was initiated by benzoylation, with benzoyl chloride (1), of the key starter ethyl 2-(2-amino-1,3-thiazol-4-yl)acetate (2) in weak basic aqueous medium followed by hydrazide formation, 4, and cyclization with CS₂ to reach the parent bi-heterocyclic nucleophile, N-{4-[(5-sulfanyl-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl)methyl]-1,3-thiazol-2-yl}benzamide (5). Various electrophiles, 8a–l, were synthesized by a two-step process and these were finally coupled with 5 to yield the targeted bi-heterocyclic bi-amide molecules, 9a–l. The structures of the newly synthesized products were corroborated by IR, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, EI-MS and elemental analysis. The in vitro screening of these molecules against urease explored that most of the compounds exhibit potent inhibitory potential against this enzyme. The compound 9j, with IC₅₀ value of 2.58?±?0.02?µM, exhibited most promising inhibitory activity among the series, relative to standard thiourea having IC₅₀ value of 21.11?±?0.12?µM. In silico studies fully augmented the experimental enzyme inhibition results. Chemo-informatics analysis showed that synthesized compounds (9a–l) mostly obeyed the Lipinski's rule. Molecular docking study suggested that ligand 9j exhibited good binding energy value (?7.10?kcal/mol) and binds within the active region of target protein. So, on the basis of present investigation, it was inferred that 9j may serve as a novel scaffold for designing more potent urease inhibitors.     

Interleukin-1α (IL-1α) production by alveolar macrophages in patients with acute lung diseases: the influence of zinc supplementation

In vertebrate retina, rod outer segment is the site of visual transduction. The inward cationic current in the dark-adapted outer segment is regulated by cyclic GMP. A light flash on the outer segment activates a cyclic GMP phosphodiesterase resulting in rapid hydrolysis of the cyclic nucleotide which in turn causes a decrease in the dark current. Restoration of the dark current requires inactivation of the phosphodiesterase and synthesis of cyclic GMP. The latter is accomplished by the enzyme guanylate cyclase which catalyzes the formation of cyclic GMP from GTP. Therefore, factors regulating the cyclase activity play a critcal role in visual transduction. But regulation of the cyclase by some of these factors — phosphodiesterase, ATP, the soluble proteins and metal cofactors (Mg and Mn) — is controversial. The availability of different types of cyclase preparations, dark-adapted rod outer segments with fully inhibited phosphodiesterase activity, partially purified cyclase without PDE contamination, cloned rod outer segment cyclase free of other rod outer segment proteins, permitted us to address these controversial issues. The results show that ATP inhibits the basal cyclase activity but enhances the stimulation of the enzyme by soluble activator, that cyclase can be activated in the dark at low calcium concentrations under conditions where phosphodiesterase activity is fully suppressed, and that greater activity is observed with manganese as cofactor than magnesium. These results provide a better understanding of the controls on cyclase activity in rod outer segments and suggest how regulation of this cyclase by ATP differs from that of other known membrane guanylate cyclases.This work was supported by the grants from the National Institutes of Health (EY07158, EY 05230, EY 10828, NS 23744) and the equipment grant from Pennsylvania Lions Eye Research Foundation.     

Direct liquid chromatographic micro-measurement of tamoxifen in plasma of cancer patients

We describe in this report a sensitive and direct method for the analysis of tamoxifen (TAM) in microsamples of plasma. The drug and internal standard (quinine bisulfate, I.S.) were separated on a 10-μm particle, 10 cm × 8 mm CN cartridge in conjuction with a radial compression system. The mobile phase was a mixture of 0.1 M sodium acetate in 0.001 M tetrabutylammonium phosphate solution (pH 6) and methanol (30:70, v/v) at a flow-rate of 4 ml/min. After addition of I.S. and o-phosphoric acid in acetonitrile (0.6 M) to the plasma (30 μl), the mixture was placed in an ultraviolet shortwave transluminator for 2 min prior to injection into the chromatograph. The compounds were detected in the effluent fluorometrically at excitation and emission wavelengths of 258 and 378 nm, respectively. Under these conditions, no interference in the assay from any endogenous substance or other concurrently used drugs was observed and the retention times of I.S. and TAM were 4.4 and 10.15 min, respectively. The concentration of TAM in plasma was linearly (r>0.9983) related to the peak height ratio (TAM/I.S.) in the range 0.01–2.0 μg ml⁻¹ and C.V. at 0.075, 0.4 and 1.2 μg ml⁻¹ was 4.96%. We are currently using this assay for monitoring TAM in plasma and investigating its pharmacokinetics in cancer patients receiving cytotoxic drugs in addition to TAM as a multi-drug resistance modifier.     

The role of selenium in amelioration of heat-induced oxidative damage in cucumber under high temperature stress

High temperature is an environmental stress which destroys agricultural crops and inhibits their growth and productivity. The aim of current investigation was to examine the role of selenium (Se) on cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) cv. Sahil plant growth, physio-biochemical and yield attributes under heat stress (HS) in controlled conditions. Plants were grown under normal temperature (NT; 28/18 °C day/night) from sowing to 32 days after sowing (DAS). All plants were foliar-sprayed with Se (8 µM) at flower-initiation stage (32-DAS) and heat stress (HS; 40/30 °C day/night) was induced from 35-DAS to entire duration of the experiment (75-DAS). Data regarding growth, physio-biochemical and yield traits were measured. Heat stress decreased growth traits, total chlorophyll contents, chlorophyll fluorescence parameters, photosynthesis (Pn), stomatal conductance (g _s), transpiration rate (E), antioxidant enzyme activities, membrane stability index (MSI) and yield-related attributes, while increased intercellular CO₂ (Ci), ROS production, lipid peroxidation (LPO), non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) and compatible solutes. Exogenous application of Se mitigated HS-induced injurious effects by improving growth components, Pn, g _s, E, chlorophyll content, chlorophyll fluorescence parameters, antioxidant enzyme activities, level of osmolytes, MSI and yield attributes and reducing ROS, LPO and NPQ. Selenium reversed heat-induced oxidative damage by strengthening antioxidative mechanism, which resulted in higher scavenging of ROS, thereby minimizing LPO. It is suggested that Se-induced improvement in Pn, growth and productivity associated traits under HS is linked with enhanced antioxidant activities and osmolytes accumulation. In addition, Se applied at flower initiation is highly effective in alleviating heat damage in cucumber.