Food habits of the Arabian skink,Scincus hemprichii Wiegmann, 1837, (Sauria: Scincidae), in the Southwest Saudi Arabia

Food and feeding habits of the Arabian skink, Scincus hemprichii were investigated in Jazan province, southwest of Saudi Arabia. S. hemprichii individuals fed during eleven months of the year. The mass of food in the stomachs indicated that a high degree of foraging success occurred during the warm spring while the lowest was during winter with January as an exception to feeding by the lizard. Analysis of the contents of 60 stomachs revealed that the diet of S. hemprichii in the study area consisted of arthropods, with two species of beetles of the family Dermestidae (Dermestis vulpinus and Dermestis maculates) and three type of dipteran larvae, accounting for 76% of the total volume of the food items. Specimens collected during January had empty stomachs.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Allophoma hayatii</Emphasis> sp. nov., an undescribed pathogenic fungus causing dieback of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Lantana camara</Emphasis> in Iran

Dieback and canker diseases are a major problem in ornamental shrubs and trees of Ahvaz, southwestern Iran. Symptomatic stems and branches were collected from two urban parks in the downtown regions of Ahvaz to identify the dieback-causing agents of Lantana camara. Accordingly, two isolates of a new species, Allophoma hayatii sp. nov., were obtained, which are described and illustrated. This species is identified based on morphological characters and analyses of nucleotide sequences of four regions, including internal transcribed spacer 1 and 2 and 5.8S nrDNA (ITS), partial large subunit 28S nrDNA (LSU-D1/D2), a partial sequence of the β-tubulin (tub2) and part of the RNA polymerase II (rpb2). The isolates of A. hayatii generated a well-supported clade in the trees constructed from multi-locus phylogenetic analysis, distinct from other previously known species of Allophoma. Pathogenicity of both isolates was verified by the inoculation of stem fragments of L. camara. These findings confirm A. hayatii as the causal agents of dieback and canker of L. camara in Ahvaz.     

Optimization of Zika virus envelope protein production for ELISA and correlation of antibody titers with virus neutralization in Mexican patients from an arbovirus endemic region

Background

Zika virus (ZIKV) has become a global threat with immediate need for accurate diagnostics, efficacious vaccines and therapeutics. Several ZIKV envelope (Env)-based vaccines have been developed recently. However, many commercially available ZIKV Env are based on the African lineage and produced in insect cells. Here, we sought to produce Asian-lineage ZIKV Env in mammalian cells for research and clinical applications.

Methods

We designed various gene expression constructs to optimize the production of ZIKV using prM-Env and full or C-terminal truncations of Env; with or without a rat CD4 fusion partner to allow large-scale production of soluble protein in mammalian HEK293 cells. Protein expression was verified by mass spectrometry and western-blot with a pan-flavivirus antibody, a ZIKV Env monoclonal antibody and with immune sera from adenoviral (ChAdOx1) ZIKV Env-vaccinated mice. The resulting Env-CD4 was used as a coating reagent for immunoassay (ELISA) using both mouse and human seropositive sera.

Results

Replacement of the C-terminus transmembrane Env domain by a rat CD4 and addition of prM supported optimal expression and secretion of Env. Binding between the antigens and the antibodies was similar to binding when using commercially available ZIKV Env reagents. Furthermore, antibodies from ZIKV patients bound ZIKV Env-CD4 in ELISA assays, whereas sera from healthy blood donors yielded minimal OD background. The serological outcomes of this assay correlated also with ZIKV neutralisation capacity in vitro.

Conclusions

Results obtained from this study indicate the potential of the Asian-lineage Zika Env-CD4 and Env proteins in ELISA assays to monitor humoral immune responses in upcoming clinical trials as well as a sero-diagnostic tool in ZIKV infection.

     

miRACA: A database for miRNAs associated with cancers and age related disorders (ARD)

Background

With the given diversity and abundance of several targets of miRNAs, they functionally appear to interact with several elements of the multiple cellular networks to maintain physiologic homeostasis. They can function as tumor suppressors or oncogenes, whose under or overexpression has both diagnostic and prognostic significance in various cancers while being implicated as prospective regulators of age-related disorders (ARD) as well. Establishing a concatenate between ARD and cancers by looking into the insights of the shared miRNAs may have a practical relevance.

Methods

In the present work, we performed network analysis of miRNA-disease association and miRNA-target gene interaction to prioritize miRNAs that play significant roles in the manifestation of cancer as well as ARD. Also, we developed a repository that stores miRNAs common to both ARD and cancers along with their target genes.

Results

We have comprehensively curated all miRNAs that we found to be shared in both the diseases in the human genome and established a database, miRACA (Database for microRNAs Associated with Cancers and ARD) that currently houses information of 1648 miRNAs that are significantly associated with 38 variants supported with pertinent data. It has been made available online at http://genomeinformatics.dtu.ac.in/miraca/ for easy retrieval and utilization of data by the scientific community.

Conclusion

To the best of our knowledge, our database is the first attempt at compilation of such data. We believe this work may serve as a significant resource and facilitate the analysis of miRNA regulatory mechanisms shared between cancers and ARD to apprehend disease etiology.

     

Healthcare-associated (HA) and community-associated (CA) methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in Bangladesh – Source,diagnosis and treatment

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has long been a common pathogen in healthcare facilities, but now, it has emerged as a problematic pathogen in the community setting as well. This study reported source, diagnosis and treatment of HA-MRSA and CA-MRSA.A total of sixty-five clinical samples (urine, pus, wound swab) were collected from clinical origin of Dhaka city, Bangladesh. All the isolates were tested phenotypically by conventional methods and genotypically by PCR targeting nuc, pvl and mecA genes. Finally sequencing was carried out for pvl gene to know the mutagenic variation or any amino acid changes in pvl gene. Chi square test was employed for statistical analysis. Patients of age group 51–60?years are more susceptible (46.15%) to MRSA, CA-MRSA or HA-MRSA infection. Female are (32.30%) more susceptible to MRSA infection. Among 65 isolates 53 isolates identified phenotypically as S. aureus. These were positive for amplification of nuc (270?bp) gene of S. aureus. Moreover, among 53 isolates 33 phenotypically considered as MRSA and 38 (72%) showed positive amplification for mecA (162?bp) gene. Among 38 MRSA isolates 22 (57.89%) confirmed as CA-MRSA and 16 (42.10%) as HA-MRSA. Finally, sequence analysis for lukS/F-PV genes from 4 representative isolates detected a new single nucleotide polymorphism in comparison with the control sequence. However, no amino acid changes were found. Statistical analysis showed HA-MRSA isolates were more commonly found in urine sample and CA-MRSA in pus and wound swab. CA-MRSA isolates were more resistant to tested antibiotics than HA-MRSA.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Cupriavidus malaysiensis</Emphasis> sp. nov., a novel poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-<Emphasis Type="Italic">co</Emphasis>-4-hydroxybutyrate) accumulating bacterium isolated from the Malaysian environment

Bacterial classification on the basis of a polyphasic approach was conducted on three poly(3 hydroxybutyrate-co-4-hydroxybutyrate) [P(3HB-co-4HB)] accumulating bacterial strains that were isolated from samples collected from Malaysian environments; Kulim Lake, Sg. Pinang river and Sg. Manik paddy field. The Gram-negative, rod-shaped, motile, non-sporulating and non-fermenting bacteria were shown to belong to the genus Cupriavidus of the Betaproteobacteria on the basis of their 16S rRNA gene sequence analyses. The sequence similarity value with their near phylogenetic neighbour, Cupriavidus pauculus LMG3413^T, was 98.5%. However, the DNA–DNA hybridization values (8–58%) and ribotyping analysis both enabled these strains to be differentiated from related Cupriavidus species with validly published names. The RiboPrint patterns of the three strains also revealed that the strains were genetically related even though they displayed a clonal diversity. The major cellular fatty acids detected in these strains included C15:0 ISO 2OH/C16:1 ω7c, hexadecanoic (16:0) and cis-11-octadecenoic (C18:1 ω7c). Their G+C contents ranged from 68.0  to 68.6 mol%, and their major isoprenoid quinone was Ubiquinone Q-8. Of these three strains, only strain USMAHM13 (= DSM 25816 = KCTC 32390) was discovered to exhibit yellow pigmentation that is characteristic of the carotenoid family. Their assembled genomes also showed that the three strains were not identical in terms of their genome sizes that were 7.82, 7.95 and 8.70 Mb for strains USMAHM13, USMAA1020 and USMAA2-4, respectively, which are slightly larger than that of Cupriavidus necator H16 (7.42 Mb). The average nucleotide identity (ANI) results indicated that the strains were genetically related and the genome pairs belong to the same species. On the basis of the results obtained in this study, the three strains are considered to represent a novel species for which the name Cupriavidus malaysiensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of the species is USMAA1020^T (= DSM 19416^T = KCTC 32390^T).     

Thermophilic xylanases: from bench to bottle

Lignocellulosic biomass is a valuable raw material. As technology has evolved, industrial interest in new ways to take advantage of this raw material has grown. Biomass is treated with different microbial cells or enzymes under ideal industrial conditions to produce the desired products. Xylanases are the key enzymes that degrade the xylosidic linkages in the xylan backbone of the biomass, and commercial enzymes are categorized into different glycoside hydrolase families. Thermophilic microorganisms are excellent sources of industrially relevant thermostable enzymes that can withstand the harsh conditions of industrial processing. Thermostable xylanases display high-specific activity at elevated temperatures and distinguish themselves in biochemical properties, structures, and modes of action from their mesophilic counterparts. Natural xylanases can be further improved through genetic engineering. Rapid progress with genome editing, writing, and synthetic biological techniques have provided unlimited potential to produce thermophilic xylanases in their natural hosts or cell factories including bacteria, yeasts, and filamentous fungi. This review will discuss the biotechnological potential of xylanases from thermophilic microorganisms and the ways they are being optimized and produced for various industrial applications.