Phytoremediation of Sr2+ and its influence on the growth, Ca2+ and solasodine content of shoot cultures of Solanum laciniatum

Shoot cultures of Solanum laciniatum were able to remediate Sr²⁺ contained in the media (25–200 mg l^–1) and to accumulate Sr²⁺ up to 0.13% in the biomass. The growth of these shoot cultures remained good. Sr²⁺ at 50 and 100 mg l^–1 caused the vascular system of the stem to develop outwards with an increase of solasodine content 1.6 and 1.4 fold, respectively. A decrease of Ca²⁺ content of 16% was observed at Sr²⁺ 100 and 200 mg l^–1.     

Blood volume inMacaca fascicularis

The plasma and erythrocyte volumes ofMacaca fascicularis were determined using blood labelled with¹²⁵I-serum albumin and⁵¹Cr. It was found that the erythrocyte, plasma and packed cell volumes were 108±6 ml (Mean±S.D.), 210±10 ml and 37±2%, respectively. Total blood volume of macaque was 8% of body weight.     

Molecular modelling and dynamics of CA2 missense mutations causative to carbonic anhydrase 2 deficiency syndrome

Abstract

Carbonic anhydrase 2 (CA2) enzyme deficiency caused by CA2 gene mutations is an inherited disorder characterized by symptoms like osteopetrosis, renal tubular acidosis, and cerebral calcification. This study has collected the CA2 deficiency causal missense mutations and assessed their pathogenicity using diverse computational programs. The 3D protein models for all missense mutations were built, and analyzed for structural divergence, protein stability, and molecular dynamics properties. We found M-CAP as the most sensitive prediction method to measure the deleterious potential of CA2 missense mutations. Free energy dynamics of tertiary structure models of CA2 mutants with DUET, mCSM, and SDM based consensus methods predicted only 50% of the variants as destabilizing. Superimposition of native and mutant CA2 models revealed the minor structural fluctuations at the amino acid residue level but not at the whole protein structure level. Near native molecular dynamic simulation analysis indicated that CA2 causative missense variants result in residue level fluctuation pattern in the protein structure. This study expands the understanding of genotype-protein phenotype correlations underlying CA2 variant pathogenicity and presents a potential avenue for modifying the CA2 deficiency by targeting biophysical structural features of CA2 protein.

Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma     

Transcriptome-wide effect of DE-ETIOLATED1 (DET1) suppression in embryogenic callus of Carica papaya

Journal of Plant Research - Papaya is one of the most nutritional fruits, rich in vitamins, carotenoids, flavonoids and other antioxidants. Previous studies showed phytonutrient improvement without...     

Mechanisms of cell death induced by hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) involves apoptosis,autophagy, and ER stress

Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD), was a widely utilized brominated flame retardant, commonly found in a wide range of household products. The pervasiveness of HBCD has identified the presence of this chemical in foods and in human tissues. Therefore, HBCD has been identified as a chemical of concern. The aim was to investigate the degree of cytotoxicity of HBCD in a range of cell lines derived from different tissues, (including hematopoietic, nerve, liver, and kidney-derived cells) with a view of determining any differential cell type effects. In addition, this study also investigated the mechanism(s) by which HBCD could cause cell death. The results showed that HCBD was considerably more toxic to leukocyte-derived (RBL2H3) and neuronal-derived (SHSY-5Y) cells with LC₅₀ values of 1.5 and 6.1 µM, respectively, compared to cells derived from liver (HepG2) and kidney (Cos-7), which had LC₅₀ values of 28.5 and 17.5 µM, respectively. A detailed investigation of the mechanism(s) of cell death showed that HBCD caused, at least in part, Ca²⁺-dependent cell death, caspase-activated apoptosis, and autophagy, but there was little evidence for either necrosis or necroptosis occurring. Furthermore, it was shown that HBCD can also induce the ER stress response which is a known trigger of both apoptosis and autophagy and therefore this could be one of the crucial events by which cell death is initiated. As each of these cell death mechanisms was investigated in at least two different cell lines and no differences were identified, it is likely that the mode of action is not cell-type specific.     

Monoamines and their metabolites in somatosensory,visual, and cingulate cortices of adult rat: Differences in content and lack of sidedness

Small areas of somatosensory, visual and cingulate cortex were microdissected and assayed for their monoamine content by high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection. No differences were found between the right and the left hemisphere for any area nor for any of the monoamines. The values averaged from left and right hemispheres for the sensory areas were significantly different from the cingulate in the content of norepinephrine, 4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenylglycol, dopamine, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid, homovanillic acid, 5-hydroxyl-tryptophan, serotonin and 5-hydroxyindole-3-acetic acid. The two sensory cortices differed in their levels of norepinephrine, dopamine, 3–4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid and homovanillic acid. In the latter comparison, the measured amounts were higher in somatosensory than in visual cortex. This biochemical heterogeneity in monoamine distribution may reflect specific innervation patterns for these compounds in these discrete cortical areas and allows differences in content to be related to functional specialization of the cerebral cortex.     

Chromosomally-determined induced tolerance to copper in Escherichia coli

Pre-exposure of Echerichia coli to sub-lethal concentrations of cupric sulphate induced copper tolerance: pre-exposed (habituated) organisms were essentially unaffected by concentrations of Cu²⁺ which completely prevented colony formation by non-habituated ones. The observed copper tolerance was not dependent on the selection of copper-resistant mutants but resulted from a phenotypic change in the organisms during the pre-exposure period.     

Restoration of Rice Husk-Adsorbed Lipase Activity after Rehydration

Hydrolytic and esterifying activities of lipase from Candida cylindracea adsorbed on rice husks were lost by dehydration using molecular sieve pellets and P₂O₅which removed 90-97% of the water after 9 days. However, only the esterifying activity of the enzyme was restored by gradual water transfer via the organic phase to the dried enzyme either by direct water addition or by using salt hydrates as water donors.