Functional diversity changes in native and alien urban flora over three centuries

Biological Invasions - Alien species in urban areas have a large effect on overall species diversity. A suitable metric of flora’s response to environmental change is functional diversity...     

Molecular characterization of colistin resistance genes in a high-risk ST101/KPC-2 clone of Klebsiella pneumoniae in a University Hospital of Split,Croatia

International Microbiology - Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase-producing K. pneumoniae (KPC-KP) has become a major concern worldwide due to multidrug resistance and the ability to spread locally...     

Association of the C242T polymorphism in the NADPH oxidase p22 phox gene with carotid atherosclerosis in Slovenian patients with type 2 diabetes

Oxidative stress plays an important role in the pathogenesis of diabetes and its complications. Genetic variations of enzymes producing reactive oxygen species could change their activity, thus contributing to the susceptibility to oxidative stress. The aim of this study was to examine the role of the NADPH oxidase C242T polymorphism in the development of carotid atherosclerosis in patients with type 2 diabetes. 286 diabetic patients and 150 healthy controls were enrolled in the study. Carotid atherosclerosis was quantified ultrasonographically as carotid intima-media thickness, plaque score (0–6) and plaque type (1–5). Diabetic patients were divided into low and high risk groups based on ultrasound phenotypes of carotid atherosclerosis. Genotypes were determined by real-time PCR. Levels of 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Diabetic patients demonstrated a statistically significant difference compared to healthy controls in the following parameters: age, BMI, waist circumference, smoking prevalence, glucose, triglyceride and 8-OHdG serum levels. Control subjects had significantly higher levels of HDL, LDL and total cholesterol than diabetics (p?<?0.001). The NADPH C242T polymorphism was not related with clinical characteristics, lipid parameters and 8-OHdG serum levels. We found no significant difference in the NADPH genotype distribution between diabetics and controls (p?=?0.19) nor between low and high risk subgroups of diabetics (mean CIMT: p?=?0.67; plaque score: p?=?0.49, plaque type: p?=?0.56). In the present study the NADPH C242T polymorphism was not associated with the degree of oxidative stress and carotid atherosclerosis. Further studies will show if it can be used as a genetic marker for carotid atherosclerosis in diabetic patients.     

First Report about Mineral Content,Fatty Acids Composition and Biological Activities of Four Wild Edible Mushrooms

The goal of this research was a comprehensive analysis of four wild edible mushroom species, Cantharellus cinereus, Clavariadelphus pistillaris, Clitocybe nebularis and Hygrocybe punicea, which have not been analyzed so far. Extracts of different polarities have been prepared and evaluated for their antioxidant activities by DPPH, ABTS, FRAP, TRP and CUPRAC methods. For all extracts, total phenolic content was determined. Based on the analysis, it was shown that solvent type had a significant effect on the antioxidant capacities of mushroom extracts, so water extracts showed the highest activity. Furthermore, the analysis includes determination of mineral composition, fatty acid profiles and antimicrobial activity. Unsaturated fatty acids, which are very important for human health, are dominant in the studied mushroom species. Linoleic and oleic acid consist of over 50 % of the total fatty acid composition. Seventeen biologically important and toxic elements have been analyzed by ICP‐OES and ICP‐MS and results showed that the element concentrations were species‐dependent. Also, it has been found that analyzed mushrooms did not show any antimicrobial activity. Chemometric analysis was used to understand the connection between the extracts of different polarities.     

<i>In Vitro</i> and <i>in Silico</i> Insights on the Biological Activities,Phenolic Compounds Composition of <i>Hypericum perforatum</i> L. Hairy Root Cultures

Three Hypericum perforatum hairy root lines (HR B, HR F and HR H) along with non-transformed roots were analyzed for phenolic compounds composition and in vitro enzyme inhibitory properties. In silico molecular modeling was performed to predict the interactions of the most representative phenolic compounds in HR clones with enzymes related to depression, neurodegeneration and diabetes. Chromatographic analyses revealed that HR clones represent an efficient source of quinic acid and hydroxybenzoic acids, epicatechin and procyanidin derivatives, quercetin and kaempferol glycosides, as well numerous xanthones. In vitro antidepressant activity of HR extracts through monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) inhibition was attributed to the production of oxygenated and prenylated xanthones. The neuroprotective potential of HR extracts was related to the accumulation of quercetin 6-C-glucoside, epicatechin, procyanidins and γ-mangostin isomers as potential inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE). Vanillic acid and prenylated xanthones in HR clones as promising inhibitors of tyrosinase additionally contributed to the neuroprotective activity. Five preeminent xanthones in HR (γ-mangostin, mangiferin, garcinone C, garcinone E and 1,3,7-trihydroxy-6-metoxy-8-prenyl xanthone) along with the flavonol quercetin 6-C-glucoside effectively inhibited α-amylase and α-glucosidase indicating the antidiabetic properties of HR extracts. Transgenic roots of H. perforatum can be exploited for the preparation of novel phytoproducts with multi-biological activities.     

Entropies of coding and noncoding sequences of DNA and proteins.

The entropies of protein coding genes from Escherichia coli were calculated according to Boltzmann's formula. Entropies of the coding regions were compared to the entropies of noncoding or miscoding ones. With nucleotides as code units, the entropies of the coding regions, when compared to the entropies of complete sequences (leader and coding region as well as trailer), were seen to be lower but with a marginal statistical significance. With triplets of nucleotides as code units, the entropies of correct reading frames were significantly lower than the entropies of frameshifts +1 and -1. With amino acids as code units, the results were opposite: Biologically functional proteins had significantly higher entropies than proteins translated from the frameshifted sequences. We attempt to explain this paradox with the hypothesis that the genetic code may have the ability of lowering information content (increasing entropy) of proteins while translating them from DNA. This ability might be beneficial to bacteria because it would make the functional proteins more probable (having a higher entropy) than nonfunctional proteins translated from frameshifted sequences.