Growth and nutritional status of the Bharia--a primitive tribe of Madhya Pradesh

This study is an attempt to understand the physical growth and nutritional status of Bharia, a primitive tribe of Central India. A cross sectional study was conducted on 551 children (283 boys and 268 girls) aged 4 to 18 years. Body weight, height, sitting height, head circumference, upper arm circumference, chest circumference, biceps, triceps, sub scapular and calf skin fold thickness were measured. Body Mass Index was calculated as weight/height2 to calculate chronic energy deficiency. All anthropometric measurements except skin fold measurement exhibit uniform increase with age in both the sexes. Age-specific Body Mass Index (BMI) indicated substantial changes and falls during pre-school age and rise in adolescence. The BMI according to the Indian standard was normal, but when the data was compared with the International standard malnutrition in both sexes was noticed in childhood. Boys remained undernourished after adolescence, while girls reached the normal growth patterns.     

Role of K(+) binding residues in stabilization of heme spin state of Leishmania major peroxidase

The endogenous cation in peroxidases may contribute to the type of heme coordination. Here a series of ferric and ferrous derivatives of wild-type Leishmania major peroxidase (LmP) and of engineered K(+) site mutants of LmP, lacking potassium cation binding site, has been examined by electronic absorption spectroscopy at 25°C. Using UV-visible spectrophotometry, we show that the removal of K(+) binding site causes substantial changes in spin states of both the ferric and ferrous forms. The spectral changes are interpreted to be, most likely, due to the formation of a bis-histidine coordination structure in both the ferric and ferrous oxidation states at neutral pH 7.0. Stopped flow spectrophotometric techniques revealed that characteristics of Compound I were not observed in the K(+) site double mutants in the presence of H(2)O(2). Similarly electron donor oxidation rate was two orders less for the K(+) site double mutants compared to the wild type. These data show that K(+) functions in preserving the protein structure in the heme surroundings as well as the spin state of the heme iron, in favor of the enzymatically active form of LmP.     

Propeptide-Mediated Specific Inhibition of a Recombinant Serine Protease from Indian Malaria Vector, Anopheles culicifacies

Serine proteases are a class of proteolytic enzymes that are synthesized as enzymically inactive zymogens and when required in the cell, they are activated by the removal of proregion. The role of proregions as potent and specific inhibitors of their associated protease has been established. Here, we investigated the inhibition of a recombinantly expressed and refolded Anopheles c ulicifacies serine protease (ACSP) that was isolated from the body tissue of an Indian malaria vector, A. culicifacies by its own N-terminally located 19 amino acid residue propeptide. The synthetic peptide identical to the propeptide, its three deletion mutants and leupeptin (a general serine protease inhibitor) were tested in vitro for their inhibitory activity towards recombinant ACSP. Amongst the five peptides tested, leupeptin displayed maximum inhibition closely followed by native propeptide. The reduction or loss of inhibitory potential of deletion mutants of propeptide revealed the importance of charged residues present in the propeptide for inhibition of the cognate enzyme.     

Genetics of three esterase loci in Anopheles stephensi liston

A survey of laboratory strains of Anopheles stephensi for nonspecific esterases by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed 10 zones of esterase activity. In 3 of the 10 zones, three electromorphs were observed. Genetic analysis revealed that these three zones are controlled by three loci, viz., Est-3, Est-4, and Est-5, and that the electromorphs are codominant alleles at each locus. The three esterase loci were found linked to each other and to an autosomal marker colorless-eye. The esterase loci have tentatively been placed in linkage group II. The probable gene sequence on chromosome 2 is either c-Est-3-Est-4-Est-5 or c-Est-4-Est-3-Est-5.     

Moderation of physiological responses in rice plants with Azolla under 2,4-Dichlorophenoxy acetic acid stress

Molecular Biology Reports - The present work highlights some preliminary observations on metabolism in rice (Oryza sativa Linn.) when an aquatic fern Azolla pinnata R.Br. was co-cultured under...     

Bacterial diversity analysis of larvae and adult midgut microflora using culture-dependent and culture-independent methods in lab-reared and field-collected Anopheles stephensi-an Asian malarial vector

Background  

Mosquitoes are intermediate hosts for numerous disease causing organisms. Vector control is one of the most investigated strategy for the suppression of mosquito-borne diseases. Anopheles stephensi is one of the vectors of malaria parasite Plasmodium vivax. The parasite undergoes major developmental and maturation steps within the mosquito midgut and little is known about Anopheles-associated midgut microbiota. Identification and characterization of the mosquito midgut flora is likely to contribute towards better understanding of mosquito biology including longevity, reproduction and mosquito-pathogen interactions that are important to evolve strategies for vector control mechanisms.     

On the conspecificity ofAnopheles fluviatilis species S withAnopheles minimus species C

Anopheles fluviatilis andAn. minimus complexes, each comprising of at least three sibling species, are closely related and important malaria vectors in Oriental Region. RecentlyAn. fluviatilis species S, which is a highly efficient malaria vector in India, has been made conspecific withAn. minimus species C (senior synonym) on the basis of homology in 335 base pair nucleotide sequence of D3 domain of 28S ribosomal DNA(rDNA). We examined the conspecificity of these two nominal species by obtaining and analysing the DNA sequences of nuclear ribosomal loci internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) and D2-D3 domain of 28S rDNA (28S-D2/D3) from those ofAn. fluviatilis S andAn. minimus C. We found that the sequences ofAn. fluviatilis S are appreciably different from those ofAn. minimus C with pair-wise distance (Kimura-2-parametre model) of 3.6 and 0.7% for loci ITS2 and 28S-D2/D3, respectively. Pair-wise distance and phylogenetic analyses using ITS2 sequences of members of Minimus and Fluviatilis Complexes revealedthat An. fluviatilis S is distantly related toAn. minimus C as compared to any other members of the Fluviatilis Complex. These findings suggest that the two nominal species,An. fluviatilis S andAn. minimus C, do not merit synonymy. The study also confirms that the reported speciesAn. fluviatilis X is synonym with species S.     

Synthesis and antimicrobial activity of new 1,2,4-triazole and 1,3,4-thiadiazole derivatives

In this study, new 3-[(1(2H)-phthalazinone-2-yl(methyl/ethyl]-4-aryl-1,2,4-triazole-5-thione and 2-[[1(2H)-phthalazinone-2-yl]methyl/ethyl]-5-arylamino-1,3,4-thiadiazole derivatives were synthesized. Antimicrobial properties of the title compounds were investigated against two Gram (+) bacteria (S. aureus, B. subtilis), two Gram ( ? ) bacteria (P. aeruginosa, E. coli) and two yeast-like fungi (C. albicans and C. parapsilosis) using the broth microdilution method. Generally the compounds were found to be active against B. subtilis and the fungi. Derivatives carrying a 1,3,4-thiadiazole ring generally showed higher antimicrobial activity against B. subtilis and the fungi when compared to other synthesized compounds.