The effects of Nigella sativa (Ns), Anthemis hyalina (Ah) and Citrus sinensis (Cs) extracts on the replication of coronavirus and the expression of TRP genes family

Extracts of Anthemis hyalina (Ah), Nigella sativa (Ns) and peels of Citrus sinensis (Cs) have been used as folk medicine to fight antimicrobial diseases. To evaluate the effect of extracts of Ah, Ns and Cs on the replication of coronavirus (CoV) and on the expression of TRP genes during coronavirus infection, HeLa-CEACAM1a (HeLa-epithelial carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 1a) cells were inoculated with MHV-A59 (mouse hepatitis virus–A59) at moi of 30. 1/50 dilution of the extracts was found to be the safe active dose. ELISA kits were used to detect the human IL-8 levels. Total RNA was isolated from the infected cells and cDNA was synthesized. Fluidigm Dynamic Array nanofluidic chip 96.96 was used to analyze the mRNA expression of 21 TRP genes and two control genes. Data was analyzed using the BioMark digital array software. Determinations of relative gene expression values were carried out by using the 2^???Ct method (normalized threshold cycle (Ct) value of sample minus normalized Ct value of control). TCID₅₀/ml (tissue culture infectious dose that will produce cytopathic effect in 50 % of the inoculated tissue culture cells) was found for treatments to determine the viral loads. The inflammatory cytokine IL-8 level was found to increase for both 24 and 48 h time points following Ns extract treatment. TRPA1, TRPC4, TRPM6, TRPM7, TRPM8 and TRPV4 were the genes which expression levels changed significantly after Ah, Ns or Cs extract treatments. The virus load decreased when any of the Ah, Ns or Cs extracts was added to the CoV infected cells with Ah extract treatment leading to undetectable virus load for both 6 and 8hpi. Although all the extract treatments had an effect on IL-8 secretion, TRP gene expression and virus load after CoV infection, it was the Ah extract treatment that showed the biggest difference in virus load. Therefore Ah extract is the best candidate in our hands that contains potential treatment molecule(s).     

New chitin,chitosan, and O-carboxymethyl chitosan sources from resting eggs of Daphnia longispina (Crustacea); with physicochemical characterization,and antimicrobial and antioxidant activities

The paper describes the isolation and characterization of chitin and chitosan from Daphnia longispina resting eggs harvested from a reservoir. Resting eggs are fertilized eggs that are encased in chitinous shells called ‘ephippia’ and which ensure the survival of the Daphnia population in adverse conditions. The chitin-content of D. longispina resting eggs was found to be 23 ～ 25% and the chitosan (having a 70 ～ 75% deacetylation degree) yield of the chitin was 76 ～ 77%. This high chitin-content indicates that D. longispina resting eggs can be exploited as a chitin source. The structure and thermal properties of chitin, extracted from D. longispina resting eggs, were characterized by employing Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The crystallinity of the chitin was found to be very low (48%). Physicochemicallycharacterized chitosan and the produced O-carboxymethyl chitosan were tested for their antimicrobial and antioxidant activity. It has been observed that chitosan displays antimicrobial activity against all pathogenic bacteria, whereas O-carboxymethyl chitosan only exhibits inhibition activity against L. garvieae, L. Monocytogenes ATCC 7644, Y. enterocolitica NCTC 11175 and S. aureus ATCC 25923. In a free radical scavenging activity assay, the IC₅₀ values of chitosan, O-carboxymethyl chitosan and butylated hydroxytoluene were found to be 23.01, 56.43 and 0.05, respectively. The ferric-reducing power of O-carboxymethyl chitosan (EC₅₀ = 8.30) indicated higher activity than chitosan (EC₅₀ = 10.12).     

The impact of biofilm-forming potential and tafi production on transport of environmental <Emphasis Type="Italic">Salmonella</Emphasis> through unsaturated porous media

Understanding the factors influencing the transport of microbial pathogens, such as Salmonella and Escherichia coli, through porous media is critical to protecting drinking water supplies. The production of biofilms, along with individual biofilm-associated components, such as tafi, is believed to hinder transport of microorganisms through soil. This study investigated the relationship between biofilm formation and tafi production and the transport of environmental Salmonella through porous media. Thirty-two Salmonella isolates were initially assayed for their ability to form biofilms, from which a subset of these was selected to represent a range of high and low biofilm-formation potential and tafi formation capabilities. These were subsequently examined in unsaturated sand columns for transport characteristics. No obvious correlation was observed between Salmonella phenotypes and column retention. The results indicated that while transport of well-characterized laboratory E. coli strains can often be hindered by the presence of tafi and the potential to form biofilms, the presence of tafi did not retard the transport of the Salmonella strains.     

Foraging Response of Turkish Honey Bee Subspecies to Flower Color Choices and Reward Consistency

Foraging behavior of Apis mellifera caucasica, A.m. carnica and A.m. syriaca in Turkey was studied for intrinsic subspecies-based differences. Models of forager flower-color fidelity, risk sensitive behavior and maximizing net gain were tested. Foragers were presented artificial flower patches containing blue, white and yellow flowers. Some bees of each subspecies showed high fidelity to yellow flowers, while others favored blue and white flowers. The degree of fidelity, however, differed among subspecies and was dependent upon which color was favored. Bees of all subspecies demonstrated risk indifferent behavior regardless of whether they favored yellow flowers or blue and white flowers. Flower handling time differed among subspecies and increased with reward quantity, and when a reward was present. Flight time between consecutive flowers also differed among honey bee subspecies. Foragers of all subspecies had a higher net gain when visiting flowers with consistent rewards.     

Reduced root mycorrhizal colonization as affected by phosphorus fertilization is responsible for high cadmium accumulation in wheat

Plant and Soil - Grass pea is a legume species with recognized resistance to several diseases and thus important for the improvement of related major legume crops. It is infected by the soil-borne...     

Identifying the World's Most Climate Change Vulnerable Species: A Systematic Trait-Based Assessment of all Birds,Amphibians and Corals

Climate change will have far-reaching impacts on biodiversity, including increasing extinction rates. Current approaches to quantifying such impacts focus on measuring exposure to climatic change and largely ignore the biological differences between species that may significantly increase or reduce their vulnerability. To address this, we present a framework for assessing three dimensions of climate change vulnerability, namely sensitivity, exposure and adaptive capacity; this draws on species’ biological traits and their modeled exposure to projected climatic changes. In the largest such assessment to date, we applied this approach to each of the world’s birds, amphibians and corals (16,857 species). The resulting assessments identify the species with greatest relative vulnerability to climate change and the geographic areas in which they are concentrated, including the Amazon basin for amphibians and birds, and the central Indo-west Pacific (Coral Triangle) for corals. We found that high concentration areas for species with traits conferring highest sensitivity and lowest adaptive capacity differ from those of highly exposed species, and we identify areas where exposure-based assessments alone may over or under-estimate climate change impacts. We found that 608–851 bird (6–9%), 670–933 amphibian (11–15%), and 47–73 coral species (6–9%) are both highly climate change vulnerable and already threatened with extinction on the IUCN Red List. The remaining highly climate change vulnerable species represent new priorities for conservation. Fewer species are highly climate change vulnerable under lower IPCC SRES emissions scenarios, indicating that reducing greenhouse emissions will reduce climate change driven extinctions. Our study answers the growing call for a more biologically and ecologically inclusive approach to assessing climate change vulnerability. By facilitating independent assessment of the three dimensions of climate change vulnerability, our approach can be used to devise species and area-specific conservation interventions and indices. The priorities we identify will strengthen global strategies to mitigate climate change impacts.     

Chromosome 9p21 rs10757278 polymorphism is associated with the risk of metabolic syndrome

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a common multifactorial disorder that involves abdominal obesity, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and hyperglycemia. Genome-wide association studies have identified a major risk locus for coronary artery disease and myocardial infarction on chromosome 9p21. Here, we examined the frequency of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on chromosome 9p21 in a sample of Turkish patients with MetS and further investigated the correlation between regional SNPs, haplotypes, and MetS. The real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to analyze 4 SNPs (rs10757274 A/G, rs2383207 A/G, rs10757278 A/G, rs1333049 C/G) in 291 MetS patients and 247 controls. Analysis of 4 SNPs revealed a significant difference in the genotype distribution for rs2383207, rs10757278, and rs1333049 between MetS patients and controls (p = 0.041, p = 0.005, p = 0.023, respectively) but not for rs10757274 (p = 0.211). MetS and control allelic frequencies for rs2383207, rs10757278, and rs1333049 were statistically different (p < 0.05). The rs2383207 AG variant, was identified as a MetS risk factor (p = 0.012, OR = 33.271; 95 % CI: 2.193–504.805) and the AA haplotype in block 1 and the GC, AG haplotypes in block 2 were associated with MetS (χ ² = 3.875, p = 0.049; χ ² = 9.334, p = 0.0022; χ ² = 9.134, p = 0.0025, respectively). In this study, we found that chromosome 9p21 SNP rs10757278 and related haplotypes correlate with MetS risk. This is the first report showing an association between a 9p21 variant and MetS and suggests that rs10757278 polymorphism may confer increased risk for disease.     

Basal damage and oxidative DNA damage in children with chronic kidney disease measured by use of the comet assay

One consequence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an elevated risk for cancer. There is sufficient evidence to conclude that there is an increased incidence of at least some cancers in kidney-dialysis patients. Cancer risk after kidney transplantation has mainly been attributed to immunosuppressive therapy. There are no data evaluating DNA damage in children with CKD, in dialysis patients, or following kidney transplantation. In this study, the comet assay and the enzyme-modified comet assay - with the use of endonuclease III (Endo III) and formamidopyrimidine glycosylase (FPG) enzymes - were conducted to investigate the basal damage and the oxidative DNA damage as a result of treatment in peripheral blood lymphocytes of children. Children at various stages of treatment for kidney disease, including pre-dialysis patients (PreD) (n=17), regular hemodialysis patients (HD) (n=15), and those that received kidney transplants (Tx) (n=17), comprised the study group. They were compared with age- and gender-matched healthy children (n=20) as a control group. Our results show that the %DNA intensity, a measure of basal damage, was significantly increased in children with CKD (mean ± SD) (5.22 ± 1.57) and also in each of the PreD, HD, and Tx groups [(4.92 ± 1.23), (4.91 ± 1.35), and (5.79 ± 1.94), respectively, vs the healthy children (2.74 ± 2.91) (p<0.001). Significant increases in oxidative DNA damage were only found in the FPG-sensitive sites for the PreD and Tx groups, compared with control and HD groups (p<0.05), suggesting that basal DNA damage was more evident for the PreD, HD, and Tx groups. The findings of the present study indicate a critical need for further research on genomic damage with different endpoints and also for preventive measures and improvements in treatment of pediatric patients, in order to improve their life expectancy.     

Biofortification of wheat with iron through soil and foliar application of nitrogen and iron fertilizers

Increasing iron (Fe) concentration in food crops is an important global challenge due to high incidence of Fe deficiency in human populations. Evidence is available showing that nitrogen (N) fertilization increases Fe concentration in wheat grain. This positive impact of N on grain Fe was, however, not studied under varied soil and foliar applications of Fe. Greenhouse experiments were conducted to investigate a role of soil- and foliar-applied Fe fertilizers in improving shoot and grain Fe concentration in durum wheat (Triticum durum) grown under increasing N supply as Ca-nitrate. Additionally, an effect of foliar Fe fertilizers on grain Fe was tested with and without urea in the spray solution. Application of various soil or foliar Fe fertilizers had either a little positive effect or remained ineffective on shoot or grain Fe. By contrast, at a given Fe treatment, raising N supply substantially enhanced shoot and grain concentrations of Fe and Zn. Improving N status of plants from low to sufficient resulted in a 3-fold increase in shoot Fe content (e.g., total Fe accumulated), whereas this increase was only 42% for total shoot dry weight. Inclusion of urea in foliar Fe fertilizers had a positive impact on grain Fe concentration. Nitrogen fertilization represents an important agronomic practice in increasing grain Fe. Therefore, the plant N status deserves special attention in biofortification of food crops with Fe.