Molecular phylogeny of the lionfish genera Dendrochirus and Pterois (Scorpaenidae, Pteroinae) based on mitochondrial DNA sequences

This study investigates the molecular phylogeny of seven lionfishes of the genera Dendrochirus and Pterois. MP, ML, and NJ phylogenetic analysis based on 964 bp of partial mitochondrial DNA sequences (cytochrome b and 16S rDNA) revealed two main clades: (1) “Pterois” clade (Pterois miles and Pterois volitans), and (2) “Pteropterus–Dendrochirus” clade (remainder of the sampled species). The position of Dendrochirus brachypterus either basal to the main clades or in the “Pteropterus–Dendrochirus” clade cannot be resolved. However, the molecular phylogeny did not support the current separation of the genera Pterois and Dendrochirus. The siblings P. miles and P. volitans are clearly separated and our results support the proposed allopatric or parapatric distribution in the Indian and Pacific Ocean. However, the present analysis cannot reveal if P. miles and P. volitans are separate species or two populations of a single species, because the observed separation in different clades can be either explained by speciation or lineage sorting. Molecular clock estimates for the siblings P. miles and P. volitans suggest a divergence time of 2.4–8.3 mya, which coincide with geological events that created vicariance between populations of the Indian and Pacific Ocean.     

Cytochemistry of gamma-glutamyltransferase in haemic cells and malignancies

Summary An improved cytochemical method for the demonstration of -glutamyltransferase is described. The enzyme was demonstrated in almost all normal leucocytes and in platelets. There was markedly reduced activity in most lymphoproliferative disorders. In a single case of Hodgkin's disease, T-lymphocytes showed slight to moderate activity contrasting with the marked activity displayed by Reed—Sternberg cells. The plasma cells of multiple myeloma and plasma cell leukaemia showed activity equal to or stronger than that of their normal counterparts. In acute myeloid leukaemia the positivity varied widely in blast cells, but was consistently increased in monoblasts of acute monoblastic leukaemia. -Glutamyltransferase may serve as a differentiation marker in the study of granulocytic and lymphocytic cell lineages.     

Spatial distribution of fifty ornamental fish species on coral reefs in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden

The spatial distribution of 50 ornamental fish species from shallow water habitats on coral reefs were investigated using visual census techniques, between latitudes 11−29°N in the Red Sea, in Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen, and in the adjacent Gulf of Aden in Djibouti. One hundred eighteen transects (each 100×5 m) were examined in 29 sites (3−8 sites per country). A total of 522,523 fish individuals were counted during this survey, with mean abundance of 4428.2 ± 87.26 individual per 500 m² transect. In terms of relative abundance (RA), the most abundant species were Blue green damselfish, Chromis viridis (RA=54.4%),followed bySea goldie, Pseudanthias squamipinnis (RA= 34.7), Whitetail dascyllus, Dascyllus aruanus (RA= 2.6%), Marginate dascyllus, Dascyllus marginatus (RA= 2.0),Red Sea eightline flasher Paracheilinus octotaenia (RA=1.0),andKlunzinger’s wrasse, Thalassoma rueppellii (0.7%). The highest number of species (S) per 500 m² transect was found on reefs at the latitude 20° in Saudi Arabia (S=21.8), and the lowest number of species was found at the latitude 15° in Djibouti (S=11.11). The highest mean abundance (8565.8) was found on reefs at latitude 20° in Saudi Arabia and the lowest mean abundance (230) was found on reefs at latitude 22°, also in Saudi Arabia. Whereas, the highest Shannon-Wiener Diversity Index was found in reefs at the latitude 22° (H`=2.4) and the lowest was found in reefs at the latitude 20° (H`=0.6). This study revealed marked differences in the structure of ornamental fish assemblages with latitudinal distribution. The data support the presence of two major biogeographic groups of fishes in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden: the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden group and the group in the northern and central Red Sea. Strong correlations were found between live coral cover and the number of fish species, abundance and Shannon-Wiener Diversity indices, and the strength of these correlations varied among the reefs. A conclusion was done that environmental differences among the reefs and the habitats investigated were important components of abundance variations and species diversity of ornamental fish along latitudinal gradients in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.     

Biomechanical properties enhancement of gamma radiation-sterilized cortical bone using antioxidants

Radiation and Environmental Biophysics - Gamma radiation sterilization is the method used by the majority of tissue banks to reduce disease transmission from infected donors to recipients through...     

Natural Killer Cell Immunoglobulin-like Receptor (KIR) genotypes in Follicular Lymphoma patients: Results of a pilot study

Aims

The Natural Killer Cell Immunoglobulin-like Receptor (KIR) genotype profiling in Follicular Lymphoma has not been reported before in the literature.

Materials and methods

DNA extracted from 20 Follicular Lymphoma patients and 62 healthy controls was analyzed for KIR genotyping using a polymerase chain reaction/sequence specific primers technique (PCR/SSP) for the presence of 16 KIR gene and pseudogene loci.

Results

The AA, AB, and BB genotype frequencies were, respectively, 20%, 60% and 20% with an A:B ratio of 1:1. KIR 2DL4, KIR 3DL2, KIR 3DL3, and KIR 3DP1*003 were presented in all individuals. No significant difference between patients and controls was detected.

Conclusion

KIR genotyping profile does not seem to be associated with Follicular Lymphoma. The results presented in this pilot research represent the first international report about this important clinical entity.     

Hatching conditions for Eocyzicus spinifer (Conchostraca:Crustacea) from Iraq

Some ecological aspects of Eocyzicus spinifer collected from a temporary freshwater pond near Baghdad are described. Physical and chemical variables of the pond are given. The relationship between age and growth of both sexes under laboratory conditions are documented.     

Inflammatory Breast Cancer: The Cytokinome of Post-Mastectomy Wound Fluid Augments Proliferation,Invasion, and Stem Cell Markers

Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is an aggressive phenotype with a high recurrence and low survival rate. Approximately 90% of local breast cancer recurrences occur adjacent to the same quadrant as the initial cancer, implying that tumor recurrence may be caused by residual cancer cells and/or quiescent cancer stem cells (CSCs) in the tumor. We hypothesized that wound fluid (WF) collected after modified radical mastectomy (MRM) may activate cancer cells and CSCs, promoting epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) and invasion. Therefore, we characterized the cytokinome of WF drained from post-MRM cavities of non-IBC and IBC patients. The WF of IBC patients showed a significantly higher expression of various cytokines than in non-IBC patients. In vitro cell culture models of non-IBC and IBC cell lines were grown in media conditioned with and/without WF for 48 h. Afterwards, we assessed cell viability, the expression of CSCs and EMT-specific genes, and tumor invasion. Genes associated with CSCs properties and EMT markers were regulated in cells seeded in media conditioned by WF. IBC-WF exhibited a greater potential for inducing IBC cell invasion than non-IBC cells. The present study demonstrates the role of the post-surgical tumor cavity in IBC recurrence and metastasis.     

Yeast Cell Adhesion Molecules Have Functional Amyloid-Forming Sequences

The occurrence of highly conserved amyloid-forming sequences in Candida albicans Als proteins (H. N. Otoo et al., Eukaryot. Cell 7:776–782, 2008) led us to search for similar sequences in other adhesins from C. albicans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The β-aggregation predictor TANGO found highly β-aggregation-prone sequences in almost all yeast adhesins. These sequences had an unusual amino acid composition: 77% of their residues were β-branched aliphatic amino acids Ile, Thr, and Val, which is more than 4-fold greater than their prevalence in the S. cerevisiae proteome. High β-aggregation potential peptides from S. cerevisiae Flo1p and C. albicans Eap1p rapidly formed insoluble amyloids, as determined by Congo red absorbance, thioflavin T fluorescence, and fiber morphology. As examples of the amyloid-forming ability of the native proteins, soluble glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-less fragments of C. albicans Als5p and S. cerevisiae Muc1p also formed amyloids within a few days under native conditions at nM concentrations. There was also evidence of amyloid formation in vivo: the surfaces of cells expressing wall-bound Als1p, Als5p, Muc1p, or Flo1p were birefringent and bound the fluorescent amyloid-reporting dye thioflavin T. Both of these properties increased upon aggregation of the cells. In addition, amyloid binding dyes strongly inhibited aggregation and flocculation. The results imply that amyloid formation is an intrinsic property of yeast cell adhesion proteins from many gene families and that amyloid formation is an important component of cellular aggregation mediated by these proteins.Protein amyloids are characteristic of pathological conditions, including neurodegenerative diseases (4, 11, 17, 38). These protein aggregates can also occur naturally in adhesive bacterial curli (3), melanosomes (14), condensed peptide hormone arrays (24), as regulatory prions in yeast (2, 5), and fungal hydrophobins, which are nonantigenic coats to some fungi (1, 33, 39). Nevertheless, such natural occurrences are relatively few, considering the negative free energy for amyloid formation (28).We have recently discovered that there are amyloid-forming sequences in the cell surface Als adhesins of Candida albicans. Cells that express these adhesins aggregate readily, and the aggregation has amyloid-like properties, including protein conformational shifting, surface birefringence, and ability to bind the amyloid-active dyes Congo red and amino-naphthalene sulfonic acid (ANS) (29). A five- to seven-residue sequence in Als1p, Als3p, and Als5p has extremely high potential for formation of β-aggregates, according to the protein state prediction program TANGO (13, 27, 31). Such β-aggregates include amyloids, which are ordered structures with paracrystalline regions of stacked parallel β-strands that are perpendicular to the long axis of micrometer-long fibrils. The strands are stabilized by interaction of identical sequences from many protein molecules (31, 32). Where TANGO analyses have shown that specific sequences have β-aggregate potentials greater than 20%, an insoluble β-aggregate state is likely to form. These β-aggregates nucleate formation of amyloids if the proteins can associate to form fibers (13, 27, 31). Sequences in the conserved 127-residue T region of Als1p, Als3p, and Als5p have β-aggregation potentials of >90% (27). An oligopeptide with this sequence, as well as 412- and 645-residue fragments of Als5p formed authentic amyloids, as determined by characteristic dye binding and fiber morphology. The amyloid-forming sequences were rich in the β-branched amino acids Thr, Val, and Ile. This amino acid composition is unusual among proteins in general, but is common in the Thr-rich mid-piece domains of yeast adhesins.Yeasts display many cell-wall-bound adhesins that mediate colonial and biofilm interactions as well as host-pathogen binding (9, 21, 41). Such adhesins have a common mosaic structure. In general, the adhesins have N-terminal globular binding domains (often immunoglobulin-like or lectin-like), Thr-rich mid-piece sequences including tandem repeats, and 300- to 800-residue heavily glycosylated Ser and Thr-rich “stalk” domains near the C-terminal domain that extend the active regions from the surface of the wall. The adhesins are covalently cross-linked to wall polysaccharides through modified glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchors and/or glycosyl esters of glutamic acid (9, 18).Because the yeast adhesins share this common modular domain structure, we searched among known and putative yeast adhesins for sequences with high β-aggregation potential. We have found that many of these proteins share amyloid-forming sequences and amyloid-like behavior on activation.