Bacterial isolates from Palomena prasina (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) include potential microbial control agents

The green shield bug, Palomena prasina (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), is a pest of deciduous trees and shrubs throughout Turkey and is found in a large variety of habitats, including gardens. We investigated the facultative cultivable bacterial flora of 10 healthy and 5 dead green shield bugs, collected from the vicinity of Trabzon, Turkey, and tested them for insecticidal activity. Based on the conventional and molecular tests, 12 different bacteria were isolated and identified as Curtobacterium sp., Rhodococcus sp., Arthrobacter nicotinovorans, Arthrobacter oxydans, Agrococcus jejuensis, Pseudomonas poae, Raoultella terrigena, Serratia sp., Lysinibacillus sphaericus, Stenotrophomonas rhizophila, Bacillus thuringiensis and Microbacterium oxydans. Mortalities due to the application of 0.5 mL of L. sphaericus, B. thuringiensis and R. terrigena at a density of OD₆₀₀ 1.89 were 60%, 70% and 60%, respectively, on adult P. prasina. This indicates that facultative cultivable bacterial flora isolated from P. prasina have potential for microbial control of this pest.     

Mutations in EMP2 Cause Childhood-Onset Nephrotic Syndrome

Nephrotic syndrome (NS) is a genetically heterogeneous group of diseases that are divided into steroid-sensitive NS (SSNS) and steroid-resistant NS (SRNS). SRNS inevitably leads to end-stage kidney disease, and no curative treatment is available. To date, mutations in more than 24 genes have been described in Mendelian forms of SRNS; however, no Mendelian form of SSNS has been described. To identify a genetic form of SSNS, we performed homozygosity mapping, whole-exome sequencing, and multiplex PCR followed by next-generation sequencing. We thereby detected biallelic mutations in EMP2 (epithelial membrane protein 2) in four individuals from three unrelated families affected by SRNS or SSNS. We showed that EMP2 exclusively localized to glomeruli in the kidney. Knockdown of emp2 in zebrafish resulted in pericardial effusion, supporting the pathogenic role of mutated EMP2 in human NS. At the cellular level, we showed that knockdown of EMP2 in podocytes and endothelial cells resulted in an increased amount of CAVEOLIN-1 and decreased cell proliferation. Our data therefore identify EMP2 mutations as causing a recessive Mendelian form of SSNS.     

Causative Agents of Superficial Mycoses in Istanbul,Turkey: Retrospective Study

The aim of the present study was to determine the percentage of agents, which can give rise to superficial fungal infections in Istanbul, Turkey. Between 2000 and 2007, the clinical samples collected from 8,200 patients attending the outpatient Dermatology Clinic at Mihrimahsultan Medical Center were examined by direct microscopy and culture. Pathogen fungi were detected in 5,722 of the patients. Of the isolates were 4,218 (74%) dermatophytes, 1,196 (21%) Candida sp., 170 (3%) Malassezia furfur, and 138 (2%) Trichosporon sp. Among the dermatophytes, Trichophyton sp. was the most common isolate followed by Epidermophyton floccosum (243) and Microsporum sp. Among the Candida species, C. albicans (549) was also frequently found. Onychomycosis was the most prevalent type of infection, followed by tinea pedis, tinea cruris, tinea corporis, and tinea capitis. In conclusion, our study showed that the most common isolated agents from superficial infections were T. rubrum being Candida sp. the second most prevalent.     

Mitochondria as the target of the pro-apoptotic protein Bax

During apoptosis, engagement of the mitochondrial pathway involves the permeabilization of the outer mitochondrial membrane (OMM), which leads to the release of cytochrome c and other apoptogenic proteins such as Smac/DIABLO, AIF, EndoG, Omi/HtraA2 and DDP/TIMM8a. OMM permeabilization depends on activation, translocation and oligomerization of multidomain Bcl-2 family proteins such as Bax or Bak. Factors involved in Bax conformational change and the function(s) of the distinct domains controlling the addressing and the insertion of Bax into mitochondria are described in this review. We also discuss our current knowledge on Bax oligomerization and on the molecular mechanisms underlying the different models accounting for OMM permeabilization during apoptosis.     

Cometabolic Degradation of Trichloroethylene by Single- and Two-Phase Systems

The cometabolic degradation of trichloroethylene (TCE) by Pseudomonas putida F1 (strain ATCC 700007) at different concentrations was studied in single- and two-phase systems using 2-undecanone as the second organic phase. Toluene vapors were used as the primary growth substrate for Pseudomonas putida F1. The effects of the biomass concentration and the phase ratio on the biodegradation process were investigated. The best biomass concentration and the most suitable phase ratio were found to be 0.462 and 0.025 g/L (v_org/v_aq), respectively. In the single-phase system, 36.5 mg/L TCE was degraded completely in 15 hours and only 78% of 55 mg/L TCE was degraded in 27 hours, while in the two-phase system 55 mg/L TCE was degraded completely in 14 hours. The use of the two-phase system not only decreased the biodegradation time of TCE but also prevented the inhibition effect of high concentrations of TCE on the microbial biomass.     

Enhancing Science Teaching through Performing Marbling Art Using Basic Solutions and Base Indicators

Basic solutions are an indispensable part of our daily life. Basic solutions are commonly used in industries such as the textile industry, oil refineries, the fertilizer industry, and pharmaceutical products. Most cleaning agents, such as soap, detergent, and bleach, and some of our foods, such as chocolate and eggs, include bases. Bases are the fundamental concepts of chemistry. Indicators are chemical compounds that can be added to solution to determine whether it is a base or not. This article describes an activity whose primary aim is to teach base indicators to preservice elementary teachers. In this activity, the authors turned the traditional art of marbling into something achievable with the chemical substances that are the basic solutions and base indicators found in nearly all chemistry laboratories. Therefore, this activity can be called chemical marbling. The preservice elementary teachers learned the base indicators and basic solutions throughout this activity. The purpose of the study is not only to teach the science concepts to the preservice elementary teachers with fun but also to promote the development of their attitudes toward science, creativity, and aesthetic feelings. Suggestions stress that chemical marbling might be a good tool to acquire the preservice elementary teachers’ cognitive and affective learning outcomes.     

Synthetic antisense oligodeoxynucleotides to transiently suppress different nucleus- and chloroplast-encoded proteins of higher plant chloroplasts

Selective inhibition of gene expression by antisense oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) is widely applied in gene function analyses; however, experiments with ODNs in plants are scarce. In this work, we extend the use of ODNs in different plant species, optimizing the uptake, stability, and efficiency of ODNs with a combination of molecular biological and biophysical techniques to transiently inhibit the gene expression of different chloroplast proteins. We targeted the nucleus-encoded phytoene desaturase (pds) gene, encoding a key enzyme in carotenoid biosynthesis, the chlorophyll a/b-binding (cab) protein genes, and the chloroplast-encoded psbA gene, encoding the D1 protein. For pds and psbA, the in vivo stability of ODNs was increased by phosphorothioate modifications. After infiltration of ODNs into juvenile tobacco (Nicotiana benthamiana) leaves, we detected a 25% to 35% reduction in mRNA level and an approximately 5% decrease in both carotenoid content and the variable fluorescence of photosystem II. In detached etiolated wheat (Triticum aestivum) leaves, after 8 h of greening, the mRNA level, carotenoid content, and variable fluorescence were inhibited up to 75%, 25%, and 20%, respectively. Regarding cab, ODN treatments of etiolated wheat leaves resulted in an up to 59% decrease in the amount of chlorophyll b, a 41% decrease of the maximum chlorophyll fluorescence intensity, the cab mRNA level was reduced to 66%, and the protein level was suppressed up to 85% compared with the control. The psbA mRNA and protein levels in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) leaves were inhibited by up to 85% and 72%, respectively. To exploit the potential of ODNs for photosynthetic genes, we propose molecular design combined with fast, noninvasive techniques to test their functional effects.     

Genetic characterization of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) genotypes by AFLP markers

The Coruh Valley, located in Northeastern Turkey, is one of the most important centers of diversity in pomegranate in Turkey. In this study, we attempted to characterize 19 promising pomegranate genotypes originating from the Coruh Valley in using fluorescent dye AFLP markers and capillary electrophoresis. Four AFLP primer combinations were used, generating a total of 297 fragments, 213 of which were polymorphic (73.0%). Resolving powers of the AFLP primers ranged from 0.700 to 1.018, with a total of 3.440, while polymorphism information contents ranged from 0.707 to 0.837 with an average of 0.764. UPGMA clustering of the genotypes showed two major groups. Most of the fruit characteristics of the genotypes within the same group were variable. Therefore, the results showed that molecular characterization is necessary to get reliable relationships among pomegranate genotypes and AFLP markers can be used effectively in pomegranate.