Enhanced abundance of tintinnids under elevated CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> level from coastal Bay of Bengal

The role of microzooplankton (MZP) in the pelagic trophodynamics is highly significant, but the responses of marine MZP to increasing CO₂ levels are rather poorly understood. Hence the present study was undertaken to understand the responses of marine plankton to increasing CO₂ concentrations. Natural water samples from the coastal Bay of Bengal were incubated under the ambient condition and high CO₂ levels (703–711 μatm) for 5 days in May and June 2010. A significant negative correlation was obtained between phytoplankton and MZP abundance which indicated that phytoplankton community structure can considerably be controlled by MZP in this region. The average relative abundances of tintinnids under elevated CO₂ levels were found to be significantly higher (68.65 ± 5.63% in May; 85.46 ± 9.56% in June) than observed in the ambient condition (35.68 ± 6.83% in May; 79 ± 5.36% in June). The observed dominance of small chain forming diatom species probably played a crucial role as they can be potentially grazed by tintinnids. This fact was strengthened by the observed high negative correlations between the relative abundance of major phytoplankton and tintinnids. Moreover, particulate organic carbon and total bacterial counts were also enhanced under elevated CO₂ level and can serve as additional food source for ciliates. The observed responses of tintinnids to increasing CO₂ might have multiple impacts on the energy transfer, nutrient and carbon cycling in the coastal water. The duration of the present study was relatively short and therefore further investigation on longer time scale needs to be done and might give us a better insight about phytoplankton and MZP species succession under elevated CO₂ level.     

Transcriptomic profiling of nonneoplastic cortical tissues reveals epileptogenic mechanisms in dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumors

Functional & Integrative Genomics - Low-grade dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumors (DNTs) are a frequent cause of drug-refractory epilepsy. Molecular mechanisms underlying seizure generation...     

Cloning and sequence analysis of gyrA gene of Klebsiella pneumoniae.

The gene gyrA encoding the DNA gyrase A subunit of Klebsiella pneumoniae has been cloned in the plasmid pBR322. Bases of about 3.5 Kb DNA have been sequenced to locate the gyrA gene. An open reading frame of 2628 nucleotides coding for a 97 KD protein has been identified. Homology to the extent of about 85% was detected at the nucleotide level and about 90% at the amino acid level, when the sequences were compared with that of Escherichia coli gyrA. Some very interesting differences have, however, been found in the promoter region.     

5-LOX in Alzheimer’s Disease: Potential Serum Marker and In Vitro Evidences for Rescue of Neurotoxicity by Its Inhibitor YWCS

The inflammatory process plays a key role in neurodegenerative disorder. The inflammatory molecule, 5-lipooxygenase (5-LOX), protein is involved in the pathologic phenotype of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) which includes Aβ amyloid deposition and tau hyperphosphorylation. This study determined the level of 5-LOX in serum of AD patients, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) patients, and the normal elderly, and the rescue effect by YWCS, a peptide inhibitor of 5-LOX on neurotoxicity by Aβ amyloid_25–35 (Aβ_25–35) in neuroblastoma cells. The concentration of serum 5-LOX was estimated by surface plasmon resonance and western blot. The neuroprotective effect of 5-LOX peptide inhibitor YWCS in Aβ_25–35-induced neurotoxicity was analyzed by MTT assay and western blotting. We found significant upregulated serum 5-LOX in AD patients and also in MCI patients compared to the normal control group. The peptide inhibitor of 5-LOX, YWCS, prevented the neurotoxic effect of Aβ_25–35 by reducing the expression of γ-secretase as well as p-Tau₁₈₁ in SH-SY5Y cells. However, YWCS was nontoxic towards normal HEK cells. The differential expression of serum 5-LOX among the study groups suggests it can be one of potential serum protein marker and a therapeutic regimen for AD and MCI. The negative correlation with neuropsychological parameters, i.e., MoCA and HMSE, increases its importance and makes it useful during the clinical setup which is very needful in developing countries. Peptide YWCS can serve as a new platform as a 5-LOX inhibitor which can prevent neurotoxicity developed in AD.