The use of biofertilizer of Calothrix sp. M103, enhanced by addition of iron and siderophore production

Calothrix sp. M103, enhanced by addition of iron and siderophore production was used as a biofertilizer. The strain was isolated from a colony on the surface root of a rice plant from a rice field in Bangladesh. It showed a marked and immediate increase in nitrogenase activity in response to the addition of iron and also a normal activity (compared with the control) under siderophore production. The addition of iron to iron-limited cultures resulted in a rapid increase in algal iron (11-fold) followed by a marked increase (9-fold) in nitrogenase activity, reaching about 11.8 kg N/ha/crop. This was more than twice the amount of nitrogen usually fixed by the alga during normal growth (controlled conditions), suggesting that pulsing algal inocula with iron would increase the efficiency of algae as a biofertilizer. Indeed, the use of an iron-pulsed inoculum of this strain as a biofertilizer resulted in an increase in the yield of sweetcorn by ca 143% over that produced by the control (no algal inoculation) and to ca a 73% increase over that produced by the normal inoculum (unpulsed with iron). The ability of this strain to produce siderophores has also led to both normal (compared with the control) nitrogenase activity as well as normal growth, which shows a marked contrast to other circumstances where the non-siderophore producing strains showed no growth at all. The significance of these observations on the enhancement of biofertilizer technology is discussed.     

Herbal plants in the traditional medicine of Bahrain

Plant samples collected in Bahrain and data reported in the literature indicate the flora of Bahrain to contain 52 species (49 genera; 20 families) of medicinal interest. Of these plant species 20 appear to be indigenous and are being used in traditional herbal remedies for numerous afflictions. Preparation of such remedies appears to be simple and includes boiling, infusions, extraction of milled dry or fresh leaves, flowers, seeds or whole plants. Direct consumption of plant parts, raw or cooked, is also practiced. None of these plants has been studied systematically to evaluate their medicinal potential.     

Identification of Protor as a novel Rictor-binding component of mTOR complex-2

The mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) protein kinase is an important regulator of cell growth. Two complexes of mTOR have been identified: complex 1, consisting of mTOR-Raptor (regulatory associated protein of mTOR)-mLST8 (termed mTORC1), and complex 2, comprising mTOR-Rictor (rapamycininsensitive companion of mTOR)-mLST8-Sin1 (termed mTORC2). mTORC1 phosphorylates the p70 ribosomal S6K (S6 kinase) at its hydrophobic motif (Thr389), whereas mTORC2 phosphorylates PKB (protein kinase B) at its hydrophobic motif (Ser473). In the present study, we report that widely expressed isoforms of unstudied proteins termed Protor-1 (protein observed with Rictor-1) and Protor-2 interact with Rictor and are components of mTORC2. We demonstrate that immunoprecipitation of Protor-1 or Protor-2 results in the co-immunoprecipitation of other mTORC2 subunits, but not Raptor, a specific component of mTORC1. We show that detergents such as Triton X-100 or n-octylglucoside dissociate mTOR and mLST8 from a complex of Protor-1, Sin1 and Rictor. We also provide evidence that Rictor regulates the expression of Protor-1, and that Protor-1 is not required for the assembly of other mTORC2 subunits into a complex. Protor-1 is a novel Rictor-binding subunit of mTORC2, but further work is required to establish its role.     

Data mining in proteomic mass spectrometry

Data mining application to proteomic data from mass spectrometry has gained much interest in recent years. Advances made in proteomics and mass spectrometry have resulted in considerable amount of data that cannot be easily visualized or interpreted. Mass spectral proteomic datasets are typically high dimensional but with small sample size. Consequently, advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms are increasingly being used for knowledge discovery from such datasets. Their overall goal is to extract useful information that leads to the identification of protein biomarker candidates. Such biomarkers could potentially have diagnostic value as tools for early detection, diagnosis, and prognosis of many diseases. The purpose of this review is to focus on the current trends in mining mass spectral proteomic data. Special emphasis is placed on the critical steps involved in the analysis of surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry proteomic data. Examples are drawn from previously published studies and relevant data mining terminology and techniques are exlained.     

Nucleic Acid Related Compounds: A Convenient Synthesis of 3-Deazauridine Analogues

Abstract

A novel synthesis of 3-deazapyrimidine glycosides utilizing pyridine-2(1H)-ones or their sodium salts and α-halomonosugars namely D-glucose or D-galactose as starting components is described.     

Modeling of Fiber Optic Gold SPR Sensor Using Different Dielectric Function Models: A Comparative Study

The performance of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors has great dependence on its plasmonic material’s frequency response, which is described by the complex dielectric function. Through history, researchers developed and enhanced mathematical models to accurately describe the material dielectric function. Although many papers compared the accuracy of different dielectric function models and stated its limitations, none of it addressed the effect of dielectric function model on the SPR sensor’s characteristics. In this paper, we investigated the performance of the three most used dielectric function models (Drude, Lorentz-Drude, and Brendel-Bormann) and their effect on the theoretically obtained sensor parameters when used in a gold SPR sensor’s model and validated it with the experimentally measured dielectric function. The result showed that using less accurate dielectric function’s model has a drastic effect on the theoretically obtained sensor’s parameters. Among the three models, the widely used Drude model was not the most accurate; alternatively, Brendel-Bormann model was the most accurate.

     

Synthesis,Reactions, and Antimicrobial Activity of Novel Heterocyclic Compounds Containing Cyclopenta[d]thieno[2,3-b]pyridine Moiety and Related Fused Heterocycles

Russian Journal of Bioorganic Chemistry - We describe a simple method to synthesize novel 4-cyano-1-morpholin-4-yl-6,7-dihydro-5H-cyclopenta[c]pyridine-3-thione by the reaction of...     

Synthesis and Biological Activity of Modified Thiopyrimidine Nucleosides

Abstract

N³ -β-D-glucopyranosyl, galactopyranosyl and xylopyranosyl 6-methyl-2-methylthiouracil and their 5-bromo derivatives have been synthesized by coupling an a-acetobromosugar with the corresponding thiouracil. The new modified thiouridine analogues were evaluated for their inhibitory activity against Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) replication in MT-4 cells as well as for their cytotoxicity.     

Real-Time Analysis and Visualization for Single-Molecule Based Super-Resolution Microscopy

Accurate multidimensional localization of isolated fluorescent emitters is a time consuming process in single-molecule based super-resolution microscopy. We demonstrate a functional method for real-time reconstruction with automatic feedback control, without compromising the localization accuracy. Compatible with high frame rates of EM-CCD cameras, it relies on a wavelet segmentation algorithm, together with a mix of CPU/GPU implementation. A combination with Gaussian fitting allows direct access to 3D localization. Automatic feedback control ensures optimal molecule density throughout the acquisition process. With this method, we significantly improve the efficiency and feasibility of localization-based super-resolution microscopy.