Comparative effects of organic and inorganic nitrogen sources applied to a flooded soil on rice yield and availability of N

A pot experiment was conducted to study the effect of organic and inorganic nitrogen (N) sources on the yield and N uptake of rice from applied and native soil-N. The residual effect of these N sources on a succeeding wheat crop was also studied. Organic N was applied in the form of ¹⁵N-labelled Sesbania aculeata L., a legume, and inorganic N in the form of ¹⁵N-labelled ammonium sulphate. The two sources were applied to the soil separately or together at the time of transplanting rice. Recovery of N by rice from both the applied sources was quite low but both sources caused significant increases in biomass and N yield of rice. Maximum increase was recorded in soil treated with organic N. The residual value of the two materials as source of N for wheat was not significant; the wheat took up only a small fraction of the N initially applied. Loss of N occurred from both applied N sources, the losses being more from inorganic N. Both applied N sources caused a substantial increase in the availability of soil-N to rice and wheat; most of this increase was due to organic N and was attributed to the so-called ‘priming’ effect or ANI (added nitrogen interaction) of the applied material.     

Changes in the levels of catecholamines, hexokinase and glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase in red cell aging

The activity of the enzymes hexokinase and glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase and the level of catecholamines were measured in isolated rat Red Blood Cells (RBC) during cellular aging. The results clearly showed a linear decline in the two enzyme profiles with corresponding increase in age of RBC. A decrease of 75-85% in the activities were found in the oldest cell fractions as compared to the youngest. The levels of glycosylated haemoglobin and catecholamines were found to increase with aging. A correlation can probably be established between the enzyme activities, the levels of glycosylated haemoglobulin and catecholamines during aging.     

Changes in erythrocyte glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase in alloxan diabetes

Glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase activities were measured in erythrocytes from control, diabetic and insulin-treated diabetic rats. A significant decrease in the activity of glutathione peroxidase and an increase in the glutathione reductase activity were found with increase in the time of diabetes which may result in the alteration in the activity of the pentose phosphate pathway by the modulation of the levels of NADPH. Insulin administration reverses the change in the activity of glutathione peroxidase but does not reverse the glutathione reductase activity during diabetes. The overall changes may be due to changes in the levels of insulin, triiodothyronine and thyroxine.     

Bacteria-organic matter coupling and its significance for oceanic carbon cycling

This paper synthesizes current ideas on the role of the microbial loop in carbon fluxes in the ocean and proposes some directions for future research. Organic matter flux into bacteria is highly variable, which can significantly influence the pathways of carbon flow in the ocean. A goal for future research is to elucidate the mechanistic bases of bacteria-organic matter coupling. This research should take into consideration the micrometer-scale distribution of bacteria and the composition, structure, and dynamics of the organic matter field in the bacterium's microhabitat. The ideas on the interactions of bacteria with the particulate organic phase need to be revised in view of recent findings of highly abundant, previously unknown particles ranging in size from nanometers to hundreds of micrometers. The hot-spots in the distribution of organic matter and remineralized nutrients can influence the rates as well as the direction of biogeochemical fluxes. Slow-to-degrade dissolved organic matter (DOM) may be produced because of loose bacteria-organic matter coupling resulting in DOM storage. Its use at a later time and place has profound implications for carbon fluxes and food web dynamics. A fundamental research need for the future is to understand the ecological interactions among the members of the microbial loop in an appropriate microhabitat context. While this goal was previously intractable, new molecular and optical techniques should make it possible to understand the biogeochemical activities of the microbial loop in terms of the ecology and evolution of pelagic microbial communities.     

Nano- and picoplankton growth and production in the Bay of Villefranche sur Mer (N.W. Mediterranean)

Plankton production in the Bay of Villefranche was relatively constant during March and April 1986 but the particle size at which the production occurred was more variable. At the beginning of the study, production was dominated by the larger (ca. 6 m) flagellates but towards the end it was more or less equally divided between the nano- and picoplankton. There were considerable differences in the estimates of population growth rates, depending on the methods used, but on average the population doubling times were close to 12 hours for autotrophs and 24 hours for heterotrophs. As autotrophs do not grow during the night, each population was therefore doubling once per day. It seemed that each of the nanoor picoplankton populations could adversely affect the growth of the others. This could be either by simple predation or by some form of inhibition. Although nutrient levels in the bay were uniformly low, the addition of nutrients did not always stimulate algal growth. The plankton populations seemed to be both in a state of equilibrium and intense ecological competition.     

Occurrence and Characterization of a Phosphoenolpyruvate: Glucose Phosphotransferase System in a Marine Bacterium, Serratia marinorubra

The mechanism of d-glucose transport in the marine bacterium Serratia marinorubra was investigated. Uptake is mediated by a single, constitutive phosphoenolpyruvate:sugar phosphotransferase system (PTS), resulting in phosphorylation of d-glucose to d-glucose phosphate during transport. The system is saturable (K(m) = 6.4 x 10 M) and highly temperature dependent, with a Q(10) of 3.5 between 5 and 15 degrees C. The system is highly specific for d-glucose; structurally related sugars and sugar alcohols did not significantly compete with d-glucose for transport. The PTS requires Mg (K(m) = 2.5 x 10 M), but its activity is otherwise unaffected by salinity changes over the range tested (0 to 35 per thousand). S. marinorubra differs from other gram-negative organisms (Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium) in that its glycerol (non-PTS substrate) permease is not regulated by the presence of glucose (PTS substrate).     

Molecular Docking Analysis of 120 Potential HPV Therapeutic Epitopes Using a New Analytical Method

International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics - The accurate modelling and scoring of protein–peptide (Pr–Pe) complexes are determining factors in the drug discovery...     

In silico design and in vitro expression of novel multiepitope DNA constructs based on HIV-1 proteins and Hsp70 T-cell epitopes

Objectives

Epitope-driven vaccines carrying highly conserved and immunodominant epitopes have emerged as promising approaches to overcome human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) infection.

Methods

Two multiepitope DNA constructs encoding T cell epitopes from HIV-1 Gag, Pol, Env, Nef and Rev proteins alone and/or linked to the immunogenic epitopes derived from heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) as an immunostimulatory agent were designed. In silico analyses were applied including MHC-I and MHC-II binding, MHC-I immunogenicity and antigen processing, population coverage, conservancy, allergenicity, toxicity and hemotoxicity. The peptide-MHC-I/MHC-II molecular docking and cytokine production analyses were carried out for predicted epitopes. The selected highly immunogenic T-cell epitopes were then used to design two multiepitope fusion constructs. Next, prediction of the physicochemical and structural properties, B cell epitopes, and constructs-toll-like receptors (TLRs) molecular docking were performed for each construct. Finally, the eukaryotic expression plasmids harboring totally 12 cytotoxic T Lymphocyte (CTL) and 10 helper T lymphocytes (HTL) epitopes from HIV-1 proteins (i.e., pEGFP-N1-gag-pol-env-nef-rev), and linked to 2 CTL and 2 HTL epitopes from Hsp70 (i.e., pEGFP-N1-hsp70-gag-pol-env-nef-rev) were generated and transfected into HEK-293 T cells for evaluating the percentage of multiepitope peptides expression using flow cytometry and western blotting.

Results

The designed DNA constructs could be successfully expressed in mammalian cells. The expression rates of Gag-Pol-Env-Nef-Rev-GFP and Hsp70-Gag-Pol-Env-Nef-Rev-GFP were about 56–60% as the bands of?~?63 and?~?72 kDa confirmed in western blotting, respectively.

Conclusion

The combined in silico/in vitro methods indicated two multiepitope constructs can be produced and used as probable effective immunogens for HIV-1 vaccine development.

     

Utilization of the human gamma-satellite insulator for the enhancement of anti-PCSK9 monoclonal antibody expression in Chinese hamster ovary cells

Molecular Biology Reports - Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are widely employed as invaluable therapeutics for a vast number of human disorders. Several approaches have been introduced for the...     

Structure-based prediction of protein–protein interactions between GhWlim5 Domain1 and GhACTIN-1 proteins: a practical evidence with improved fibre strength

Cotton fibre quality is a multigenic trait. Genetic modification of different genes to achieve high quality fibre is difficult without knowing the mechanism lying behind genes interaction. Based on background knowledge an attempt to explore the potential structural interactions between Gossypium hirsutum Wlim5 domain1 and Gossypium hirsutum ACTIN-1 proteins was done in current study. Sequence features of the LIM domain1 of GhWlim5 protein were identified through multiple sequence alignment analysis, and a phylogenetic tree was built to identify evolutionary relationships between sequences. Conservation indicated the evolutionary importance of side chain residues and the presence of several aliphatic and/or bulky residues, which stabilize the protein core and facilitate packing of zinc fingers. The structures of GhWlim5 domain1 and GhACTIN-1 proteins were modelled and validated through computational methods. Validation of GhACTIN-1 and GhWlim5 domain1 structures indicated good structural quality with 99.7% and 100% of the favoured number of residues in allowed regions and Z-score, within the ranges of − 9.87 and − 4.17, respectively. Docking analysis indicated various possible modes of interaction between these two proteins with favourable binding affinities. Based on our strong binding interaction results between GhWlim5 domain1 and GhACTIN-1 proteins, we further investigated the role of over-expression of GhWlim5 by transformation in cotton plants under fibre specific promoter and transgenic plants displayed significant increases in fibre strength.