Anonymous nuclear DNA markers in the American oyster and their implications for the heterozygote deficiency phenomenon in marine bivalves

A puzzling population-genetic phenomenon widely reported in allozyme surveys of marine bivalves is the occurrence of heterozygote deficits relative to Hardy-Weinberg expectations. Possible explanations for this pattern are categorized with respect to whether the effects should be confined to protein-level assays or are genomically pervasive and expected to be registered in both protein- and DNA-level assays. Anonymous nuclear DNA markers from the American oyster were employed to reexamine the phenomenon. In assays based on the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), two DNA-level processes were encountered that can lead to artifactual genotypic scorings: (a) differential amplification of alleles at a target locus and (b) amplification from multiple paralogous loci. We describe symptoms of these complications and prescribe methods that should generally help to ameliorate them. When artifactual scorings at two anonymous DNA loci in the American oyster were corrected, Hardy-Weinberg deviations registered in preliminary population assays decreased to nonsignificant values. Implications of these findings for the heterozygote-deficit phenomenon in marine bivalves, and for the general development and use of PCR-based assays, are discussed.      

Monocarbonyl Analogs of Curcumin with Potential to Treat Colorectal Cancer

Curcumin has a plethora of biological properties, making this compound potentially effective in the treatment of several diseases, including cancer. However, curcumin clinical use is compromised by its poor pharmacokinetics, being crucial to find novel analogs with better pharmacokinetic and pharmacological properties. Here, we aimed to evaluate the stability, bioavailability and pharmacokinetic profiles of monocarbonyl analogs of curcumin. A small library of monocarbonyl analogs of curcumin 1a–q was synthesized. Lipophilicity and stability in physiological conditions were both assessed by HPLC-UV, while two different methods assessed the electrophilic character of each compound monitored by NMR and by UV-spectroscopy. The potential therapeutic effect of the analogs 1a–q was evaluated in human colon carcinoma cells and toxicity in immortalized hepatocytes. Our results showed that the curcumin analog 1e is a promising agent against colorectal cancer, with improved stability and efficacy/safety profile.     

Sampling properties of DNA sequence data in phylogenetic analysis

We inferred phylogenetic trees from individual genes and random samples of nucleotides from the mitochondrial genomes of 10 vertebrates and compared the results to those obtained by analyzing the whole genomes. Individual genes are poor samples in that they infrequently lead to the whole-genome tree. A large number of nucleotide sites is needed to exactly determine the whole-genome tree. A relatively small number of sites, however, often results in a tree close to the whole-genome tree. We found that blocks of contiguous sites were less likely to lead to the whole-genome tree than samples composed of sites drawn individually from throughout the genome. Samples of contiguous sites are not representative of the entire genome, a condition that violates a basic assumption of the bootstrap method as it is applied in phylogenetic studies.      

Economic evaluation of water loss saving due to the biological control of water hyacinth at New Year’s Dam,Eastern Cape province,South Africa

Water hyacinth Eichhornia crassipes is considered the most damaging aquatic weed in the world. However, few studies have quantified the impact of this weed economically and ecologically, and even fewer studies have quantified the benefits of its control. This paper focuses on water loss saving as the benefit derived from biological control of this plant between 1990 and 2013 at New Year’s Dam, Alicedale, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Estimates of water loss due to evapotranspiration from water hyacinth vary significantly; therefore, the study used three different rates, high, medium and low. A conservative raw agriculture value of R 0.26 per m³ was used to calculate the benefits derived by the water saved. The present benefit and cost values were determined using 10% and 5% discount rates. The benefit/cost ratio at the low evapotranspiration rate was less than one, implying that biological control was not economically viable but, at the higher evapotranspiration rates, the return justified the costs of biological control. However, at the marginal value product of water, the inclusion of the costs of damage to infrastructure, or the adverse effects of water hyacinth on biodiversity, would justify the use of biological control, even at the low transpiration rate.     

Is the association between optimistic cardiovascular risk perceptions and lower rates of cardiovascular disease mortality explained by biomarkers of systemic inflammation or endothelial function? A case-cohort study

Background  

More optimistic perceptions of cardiovascular disease risk are associated with substantively lower rates of cardiovascular death among men. It remains unknown whether this association represents causality (i.e. perception leads to actions/conditions that influence cardiovascular disease occurrence) or residual confounding by unmeasured factors that associate with risk perceptions and with physiological processes that promote cardiovascular disease (i.e. inflammation or endothelial dysfunction).     

Treatment with apolipoprotein A-1 mimetic peptide reduces lupus-like manifestations in a murine lupus model of accelerated atherosclerosis

Introduction

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of L-4F, an apolipoprotein A-1 mimetic peptide, alone or with pravastatin, in apoE^-/-Fas^-/-C57BL/6 mice that spontaneously develop immunoglobulin G (IgG) autoantibodies, glomerulonephritis, osteopenia, and atherosclerotic lesions on a normal chow diet.

Methods

Female mice, starting at eight to nine weeks of age, were treated for 27 weeks with 1) pravastatin, 2) L-4F, 3) L-4F plus pravastatin, or 4) vehicle control, followed by disease phenotype assessment.

Results

In preliminary studies, dysfunctional, proinflammatory high-density lipoproteins (piHDL) were decreased six hours after a single L-4F, but not scrambled L-4F, injection in eight- to nine-week old mice. After 35 weeks, L-4F-treated mice, in the absence/presence of pravastatin, had significantly smaller lymph nodes and glomerular tufts (P_{L, LP} < 0.05), lower serum levels of IgG antibodies to double stranded DNA (dsDNA) (P_L < 0.05) and oxidized phospholipids (oxPLs) (P_{L, LP} < 0.005), and elevated total and vertebral bone mineral density (P_{L, LP} < 0.01) compared to vehicle controls. Although all treatment groups presented larger aortic root lesions compared to vehicle controls, enlarged atheromas in combination treatment mice had significantly less infiltrated CD68⁺ macrophages (P_LP < 0.01), significantly increased mean α-actin stained area (P_LP < 0.05), and significantly lower levels of circulating markers for atherosclerosis progression, CCL19 (P_{L, LP} < 0.0005) and VCAM-1 (P_L < 0.0002).

Conclusions

L-4F treatment, alone or with pravastatin, significantly reduced IgG anti-dsDNA and IgG anti-oxPLs, proteinuria, glomerulonephritis, and osteopenia in a murine lupus model of accelerated atherosclerosis. Despite enlarged aortic lesions, increased smooth muscle content, decreased macrophage infiltration, and decreased pro-atherogenic chemokines in L-4F plus pravastatin treated mice suggest protective mechanisms not only on lupus-like disease, but also on potential plaque remodeling in a murine model of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and accelerated atherosclerosis.     

The promoter of filamentation (POF1) protein from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Saccharomyces cerevisiae</Emphasis> is an ATPase involved in the protein quality control process

Background

The gene YCL047C, which has been renamed promoter of filamentation gene (POF1), has recently been described as a cell component involved in yeast filamentous growth. The objective of this work is to understand the molecular and biological function of this gene.

Results

Here, we report that the protein encoded by the POF1 gene, Pof1p, is an ATPase that may be part of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae protein quality control pathway. According to the results, Δpof1 cells showed increased sensitivity to hydrogen peroxide, tert-butyl hydroperoxide, heat shock and protein unfolding agents, such as dithiothreitol and tunicamycin. Besides, the overexpression of POF1 suppressed the sensitivity of Δpct1, a strain that lacks a gene that encodes a phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase, to heat shock. In vitro analysis showed, however, that the purified Pof1p enzyme had no cytidylyltransferase activity but does have ATPase activity, with catalytic efficiency comparable to other ATPases involved in endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation of proteins (ERAD). Supporting these findings, co-immunoprecipitation experiments showed a physical interaction between Pof1p and Ubc7p (an ubiquitin conjugating enzyme) in vivo.

Conclusions

Taken together, the results strongly suggest that the biological function of Pof1p is related to the regulation of protein degradation.

     

Phenotyping for Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Maize

The ability to quickly develop germplasm having tolerance to several complex polygenic inherited abiotic and biotic stresses combined is critical to the resilience of cropping systems in the face of climate change.Molecular breeding offers the tools to accelerate cereal breeding;however,suitable phenotyping proto-cols are essential to ensure that the much-anticipated benefits of molecular breeding can be realized.To facilitate the full potential of molecular tools,greater emphasis needs to be given to reducing the within-experimental site variability,application of stress and characterization of the environment and appropriate phenotyping tools.Yield is a function of many processes throughout the plantcycle,and thus integrative traits that encompass crop performance over time or organization level(i.e.canopy level) will provide a better alternative to instantaneous measurements which provide only a snapshot of a given plant process.Many new phenotyping tools based on remote sensing are now available including non-destructive measurements of growth-related parameters based on spectral reflectance and infrared thermometry to estimate plant water status.Here we describe key field phenotyping protocols for maize with emphasis on tolerance to drought and low nitrogen.     

Human attitudes towards herpetofauna: The influence of folklore and negative values on the conservation of amphibians and reptiles in Portugal

Background

Human values and folklore of wildlife strongly influence the effectiveness of conservation efforts. These values and folklore may also vary with certain demographic characteristics such as gender, age, or education. Reptiles and amphibians are among the least appreciated of vertebrates and are victims of many negative values and wrong ideas resulting from the direct interpretation of folklore. We try to demonstrate how these values and folklore can affect the way people relate to them and also the possible conservation impacts on these animals.

Methods

A questionnaire survey distributed to 514 people in the district of Évora, Portugal, was used to obtain data regarding the hypothesis that the existence of wrong ideas and negative values contributes to the phenomenon of human-associated persecution of these animals. A structural equation model was specified in order to confirm the hypothesis about the possible relationships between the presence of perceptions and negative values about amphibians and reptiles and persecution and anti-conservation attitudes. Sociodemographic variables were also added.

Results

The results of the model suggest that the presence of folklore and negative values clearly predicts persecution and anti-conservation attitudes towards amphibians and reptiles. Also, the existence of folklore varies sociodemographically, but negative values concerning these animals are widespread in the population.

Conclusions

With the use of structural equation models, this work is a contribution to the study of how certain ideas and values can directly influence human attitudes towards herpetofauna and how they can be a serious conservation issue.