Genome-wide SNP association-based localization of a dwarfism gene in Friesian dwarf horses

The recent completion of the horse genome and commercial availability of an equine SNP genotyping array has facilitated the mapping of disease genes. We report putative localization of the gene responsible for dwarfism, a trait in Friesian horses that is thought to have a recessive mode of inheritance, to a 2-MB region of chromosome 14 using just 10 affected animals and 10 controls. We successfully genotyped 34,429 SNPs that were tested for association with dwarfism using chi-square tests. The most significant SNP in our study, BIEC2-239376 (P(2df)=4.54 × 10(-5), P(rec)=7.74 × 10(-6)), is located close to a gene implicated in human dwarfism. Fine-mapping and resequencing analyses did not aid in further localization of the causative variant, and replication of our findings in independent sample sets will be necessary to confirm these results.     

Characterization of coproporphyrinogen III oxidase in Plasmodium falciparum cytosol

A unique hybrid pathway has been proposed for de novo heme biosynthesis in Plasmodium falciparum involving three different compartments of the parasite, namely mitochondrion, apicoplast and cytosol. While parasite mitochondrion and apicoplast have been shown to harbor key enzymes of the pathway, there has been no experimental evidence for the involvement of parasite cytosol in heme biosynthesis. In this study, a recombinant P. falciparum coproporphyrinogen III oxidase (rPfCPO) was produced in E. coli and confirmed to be active under aerobic conditions. rPfCPO behaved as a monomer of 61 kDa molecular mass in gel filtration analysis. Immunofluorescence studies using antibodies to rPfCPO suggested that the enzyme was present in the parasite cytosol. These results were confirmed by detection of enzyme activity only in the parasite soluble fraction. Western blot analysis with anti-rPfCPO antibodies also revealed a 58 kDa protein only in this fraction and not in the membrane fraction. The cytosolic presence of PfCPO provides evidence for a hybrid heme-biosynthetic pathway in the malarial parasite.     

FGF9 can induce endochondral ossification in cranial mesenchyme

Background  

The flat bones of the skull (i.e., the frontal and parietal bones) normally form through intramembranous ossification. At these sites cranial mesenchymal cells directly differentiate into osteoblasts without the formation of a cartilage intermediate. This type of ossification is distinct from endochondral ossification, a process that involves initial formation of cartilage and later replacement by bone.     

Proteomic analysis of mice hippocampus in simulated microgravity environment

Space travel induces many deleterious effects on the flight crew due to the '0' g environment. The brain experiences a tremendous fluid shift, which is responsible for many of the detrimental changes in physical behavior seen in astronauts. It therefore indicates that the brain may undergo major changes in its protein levels in a '0' g environment to counteract the stress. Analysis of these global changes in proteins may explain to better understand the functioning of brain in a '0' g condition. Toward such an effort, we have screened proteins in the hippocampus of mice kept in simulated microgravity environment for 7 days and have observed a few changes in major proteins as compared to control mice. Essentially, the results show a major loss of proteins in the hippocampus of mice subjected to simulated microgravity. These changes occur in structural proteins such as tubulin, coupled with the loss of proteins involved in metabolism. This preliminary investigation leads to an understanding of the alteration of proteins in the hippocampus in response to the microgravity environment.     

Antimicrobial and antifungal activity of soil actinomycetes isolated from coal mine sites

In the current study, twenty-eight soil samples were collected from coalmine sites of Telangana, India. The isolates were purified and identified based on their culture characterization on oatmeal agar, glycerol asparagine agar, yeast extract-malt extract agar, inorganic salt starch agar, and starch casein agar medium. Further, the supernatant of all the isolates were tested for antimicrobial and antifungal activities. The biochemical and microscopic studies of isolated strains results indicates the potential isolate strains belongs to Streptomyces genus. Among all the strains the biological activity of BHPL-KSKU5 showed higher anti-bacterial and anti-funagal activity. The molecular characterization of BHPL-KSKU5 16s rDNA gene sequence and phylogenetic tree showed that is mostly related to the Streptomysis felleus (S. felleus) strain. This isolate was submitted to gene bank NCBI with accession number MH553077. In addition, physiological studies such as utilization of carbon, nitrogen, amino acid sources of potential isolated were studied. Further, optimization, purification and characterization of the novel compound producing strain may be helpful for discovering the new therapeutic microbial agent.     

Mechanism of resistance induced by plant activators against Colletotrichum falcatum in sugarcane

Abstract

A search for plant activators capable of inducing systemic resistance in sugarcane showed that plants pre-treated with synthetic signal inducers confer a high degree of resistance to Colletotrichum falcatum – the red rot pathogen. Among the various treatments, Acibenzolar S- methyl (ASM) was found to be very effective in restricting the pathogen colonization inside the inoculated cane stalk tissues. The induction of resistance was accompanied by a significant increase in peroxidases and polyphenoloxidases activities. A considerable decrease of pathogen titre in the pre-treated tissues as determined by ELISA, clearly demonstrated the restriction of pathogen colonization and proliferation in the sensitized cane stalks. Specific induction of new isoforms of peroxidases and polyphenoloxidases in C. falcatum elicitor treatment indicates the pathogen elicitor induced specific cellular response of sugarcane suspension-cultured cells.