Integration of life cycle assessment into a decision support system for selecting sustainable road asphalt pavement mixtures prepared with waste

The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment - A challenge that the road paving sector is facing concerns the achievement of highly performing bituminous asphalt mixture solutions that do not...     

New Insights into Capsicum spp Relatedness and the Diversification Process of Capsicum annuum in Spain

The successful exploitation of germplasm banks, harbouring plant genetic resources indispensable for plant breeding, will depend on our ability to characterize their genetic diversity. The Vegetable Germplasm Bank of Zaragoza (BGHZ) (Spain) holds an important Capsicum annuum collection, where most of the Spanish pepper variability is represented, as well as several accessions of other domesticated and non-domesticated Capsicum spp from all over the five continents. In the present work, a total of 51 C. annuum landraces (mainly from Spain) and 51 accessions from nine Capsicum species maintained at the BGHZ were evaluated using 39 microsatellite (SSR) markers spanning the whole genome. The 39 polymorphic markers allowed the detection of 381 alleles, with an average of 9.8 alleles per locus. A sizeable proportion of alleles (41.2%) were recorded as specific alleles and the majority of these were present at very low frequencies (rare alleles). Multivariate and model-based analyses partitioned the collection in seven clusters comprising the ten different Capsicum spp analysed: C. annuum, C. chinense, C. frutescens, C. pubescens, C. bacatum, C. chacoense and C. eximium. The data clearly showed the close relationships between C. chinense and C. frutescens. C. cardenasii and C. eximium were indistinguishable as a single, morphologically variable species. Moreover, C. chacoense was placed between C. baccatum and C. pubescens complexes. The C. annuum group was structured into three main clusters, mostly according to the pepper fruit shape, size and potential pungency. Results suggest that the diversification of C. annuum in Spain may occur from a rather limited gene pool, still represented by few landraces with ancestral traits. This ancient population would suffer from local selection at the distinct geographical regions of Spain, giving way to pungent and elongated fruited peppers in the South and Center, while sweet blocky and triangular types in Northern Spain.     

2-D difference gel electrophoresis approach to assess protein expression profiles in Bathymodiolus azoricus from Mid-Atlantic Ridge hydrothermal vents

Hydrothermal vent mussels Bathymodiolus azoricus are naturally exposed to toxic chemical species originated directly from vent chimneys. The amount of toxic elements varies significantly among vent sites along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and B. azoricus must be able to adapt to changes in hydrothermal fluid composition, temperature and pressure. The aim of this work was to study changes in the proteome in the "gill-bacteria complex" of mussels B. azoricus from three hydrothermal vent sites with distinct environmental characteristics using 2-D Fluorescence Difference Gel Electrophoresis (2-D DIGE). Results showed that 31 proteins had different expression profiles among vent sites and both cluster and principal component analysis confirm a clear separation of mussels between sites. This suggests the existence of specific parameters grouping individuals from the same hydrothermal site. Protein spots of the more abundant differentially expressed proteins were excised, digested with trypsin and identified by mass spectrometry. All identified proteins (actin, ubiquinone, S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase, cysteine peptidases, chaperonin and catalase) have been related previously with oxidative stress conditions and are known to be affected by ROS inducing stressors, including metals. Results point out to specific adaptations at the proteome level of B. azoricus depending on the level of toxicants present in their environment.     

Screening trematodes for novel intervention targets: a proteomic and immunological comparison of Schistosoma haematobium, Schistosoma bovis and Echinostoma caproni

With the current paucity of vaccine targets for parasitic diseases, particularly those in childhood, the aim of this study was to compare protein expression and immune cross-reactivity between the trematodes Schistosoma haematobium, S. bovis and Echinostoma caproni in the hope of identifying novel intervention targets. Native adult parasite proteins were separated by 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis and identified through electrospray ionisation tandem mass spectrometry to produce a reference gel. Proteins from differential gel electrophoresis analyses of the three parasite proteomes were compared and screened against sera from hamsters infected with S. haematobium and E. caproni following 2-dimensional Western blotting. Differential protein expression between the three species was observed with circa 5% of proteins from S. haematobium showing expression up-regulation compared to the other two species. There was 91% similarity between the proteomes of the two Schistosoma species and 81% and 78·6% similarity between S. haematobium and S. bovis versus E. caproni, respectively. Although there were some common cross-species antigens, species-species targets were revealed which, despite evolutionary homology, could be due to phenotypic plasticity arising from different host-parasite relationships. Nevertheless, this approach helps to identify novel intervention targets which could be used as broad-spectrum candidates for future use in human and veterinary vaccines.     

Supporting tool suite for production proteomics

SUMMARY: The large amount of data produced by proteomics experiments requires effective bioinformatics tools for the integration of data management and data analysis. Here we introduce a suite of tools developed at Vanderbilt University to support production proteomics. We present the Backup Utility Service tool for automated instrument file backup and the ScanSifter tool for data conversion. We also describe a queuing system to coordinate identification pipelines and the File Collector tool for batch copying analytical results. These tools are individually useful but collectively reinforce each other. They are particularly valuable for proteomics core facilities or research institutions that need to manage multiple mass spectrometers. With minor changes, they could support other types of biomolecular resource facilities.