Relatedness of Indian Flax Genotypes (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Linum usitatissimum</Emphasis> L.): An Inter-Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) Primer Assay

The objective of this study was to analyze the genetic relationships, using PCR-based ISSR markers, among 70 Indian flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) genotypes actively utilized in flax breeding programs. Twelve ISSR primers were used for the analysis yielding 136 loci, of which 87 were polymorphic. The average number of amplified loci and the average number of polymorphic loci per primer were 11.3 and 7.25, respectively, while the percent loci polymorphism ranged from 11.1 to 81.8 with an average of 63.9 across all the genotypes. The range of polymorphism information content scores was 0.03–0.49, with an average of 0.18. A dendrogram was generated based on the similarity matrix by the Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Mean (UPGMA), wherein the flax genotypes were grouped in five clusters. The Jaccard’s similarity coefficient among the genotypes ranged from 0.60 to 0.97. When the omega-3 alpha linolenic acid (ALA) contents of the individual genotypes were correlated with the clusters in the dendrogram, the high ALA containing genotypes were grouped in two clusters. This study identified SLS 50, Ayogi, and Sheetal to be the most diverse genotypes and suggested their use in breeding programs and for developing mapping populations.     

Ant Navigation: Fractional Use of the Home Vector

Home is a special location for many animals, offering shelter from the elements, protection from predation, and a common place for gathering of the same species. Not surprisingly, many species have evolved efficient, robust homing strategies, which are used as part of each and every foraging journey. A basic strategy used by most animals is to take the shortest possible route home by accruing the net distances and directions travelled during foraging, a strategy well known as path integration. This strategy is part of the navigation toolbox of ants occupying different landscapes. However, when there is a visual discrepancy between test and training conditions, the distance travelled by animals relying on the path integrator varies dramatically between species: from 90% of the home vector to an absolute distance of only 50 cm. We here ask what the theoretically optimal balance between PI-driven and landmark-driven navigation should be. In combination with well-established results from optimal search theory, we show analytically that this fractional use of the home vector is an optimal homing strategy under a variety of circumstances. Assuming there is a familiar route that an ant recognizes, theoretically optimal search should always begin at some fraction of the home vector, depending on the region of familiarity. These results are shown to be largely independent of the search algorithm used. Ant species from different habitats appear to have optimized their navigation strategy based on the availability and nature of navigational information content in their environment.     

A new entomogenous species of Phoma

Mycopathologia - A new entomogenous species ofPhoma, P. aspidioticola, has been described on a scale insect (Aspidiotus destructor Sign.) from India on the basis of morphological characters and...     

Y418C: a novel mutation in exon 9 of the glucocerebrosidase gene of a patient with Gaucher disease creates a new Bgl I site

We report a novel mutation in exon 9 of the glucocerebrosidase gene of a patient with Gaucher disease and of Sardinian origin.     

Functional stability and structural transitions of Kallikrein: spectroscopic and molecular dynamics studies

Kallikrein, a physiologically vital serine protease, was investigated for its functional and conformational transitions during chemical (organic solvents, Gdn-HCl), thermal, and pH induced denaturation using biochemical and biophysical techniques and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations approach. The enzyme was exceptionally stable in isopropanol and ethanol showing 110% and 75% activity, respectively, after 96 h, showed moderate tolerance in acetonitrile (45% activity after 72 h) and much lower stability in methanol (40% activity after 24 h) (all the solvents [90% v/v]). Far UV CD and fluorescence spectra indicated apparent reduction in compactness of KLKp structure in isopropanol system. MD simulation studies of the enzyme in isopropanol revealed (1) minimal deviation of the structure from native state (2) marginal increase in radius of gyration and solvent accessible surface area (SASA) of the protein and the active site, and (3) loss of density barrier at the active site possibly leading to increased accessibility of substrate to catalytic triad as compared to methanol and acetonitrile. Although kallikrein was structurally stable up to 90 °C as indicated by secondary structure monitoring, it was functionally stable only up to 45 °C, implicating thermolabile active site geometry. In GdnHCl [1.0 M], 75% of the activity of KLKp was retained after incubation for 4 h, indicating its denaturant tolerance. A molten globule-like structure of KLKp formed at pH 1.0 was more thermostable and exhibited interesting structural transitions in organic solvents. The above results provide deeper understanding of functional and structural stability of the serine proteases at molecular level.     

Synthesis and antimicrobial studies of novel 1-benzhydryl-piperazine sulfonamide and carboxamide derivatives

A series of novel substituted 1-benzhydryl-piperazine sulfonamide 8(a-f) and benzamides 9(a-h) were synthesized and their antimicrobial activities evaluated in vitro by paper disc diffusion and micro dilution method against standard strains of Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25953, Staphylococcus epidermis 25212, Bacillus cereus 11778, Bacillus substilis 6051) and Gram-negative (Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 2853, Proteus vulgaris ATCC 2853 and Salmonella typhi ATCC 9484) bacteria. Among the synthesized new compounds 8d, 8e, 9c, 9e, 9f and 9 h showed potent antimicrobial activities compared to the standard drug streptomycin.     

Design, synthesis and structure-activity study of shorter hexa peptide analogues as HIV-1 protease inhibitors

Inhibition of HIV-1 protease enzyme can render the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV-1) non-infectious in vitro. Previous studies have shown that several shorter peptides were discovered as HIV-1 protease inhibitors. In this context, a series of shorter synthetic hexapeptides, Leu-Leu-Glu-Tyr-Val-Xaa (Xaa=Phe, Met, Tyr and Trp), were designed. The synthesized hexa peptides were screened for their HIV-1 protease inhibition. These peptides showed moderately good HIV-1 protease inhibition when compared to acetyl pepstatin.