Comparative analyses of codon and amino acid usage in symbiotic island and core genome in nitrogen-fixing symbiotic bacterium Bradyrhizobium japonicum

Genes involved in the symbiotic interactions between the nitrogen-fixing endosymbiont Bradyrhizobium japonicum, and its leguminous host are mostly clustered in a symbiotic island (SI), acquired by the bacterium through a process of horizontal transfer. A comparative analysis of the codon and amino acid usage in core and SI genes/proteins of B. japonicum has been carried out in the present study. The mutational bias, translational selection, and gene length are found to be the major sources of variation in synonymous codon usage in the core genome as well as in SI, the strength of translational selection being higher in core genes than in SI. In core proteins, hydrophobicity is the main source of variation in amino acid usage, expressivity and aromaticity being the second and third important sources. But in SI proteins, aromaticity is the chief source of variation, followed by expressivity and hydrophobicity. In SI proteins, both the mean molecular weight and mean aromaticity of individual proteins exhibit significant positive correlation with gene expressivity, which violate the cost-minimization hypothesis. Investigation of nucleotide substitution patterns in B. japonicum and Mesorhizobium loti orthologous genes reveals that both synonymous and non-synonymous sites of highly expressed genes are more conserved than their lowly expressed counterparts and this conservation is more pronounced in the genes present in core genome than in SI.     

Membrane-Wrapping Contributions to Malaria Parasite Invasion of the Human Erythrocyte

The blood stage malaria parasite, the merozoite, has a small window of opportunity during which it must successfully target and invade a human erythrocyte. The process of invasion is nonetheless remarkably rapid. To date, mechanistic models of invasion have focused predominantly on the parasite actomyosin motor contribution to the energetics of entry. Here, we have conducted a numerical analysis using dimensions for an archetypal merozoite to predict the respective contributions of the host-parasite interactions to invasion, in particular the role of membrane wrapping. Our theoretical modeling demonstrates that erythrocyte membrane wrapping alone, as a function of merozoite adhesive and shape properties, is sufficient to entirely account for the first key step of the invasion process, that of merozoite reorientation to its apex and tight adhesive linkage between the two cells. Next, parasite-induced reorganization of the erythrocyte cytoskeleton and release of parasite-derived membrane can also account for a considerable energetic portion of actual invasion itself, through membrane wrapping. Thus, contrary to the prevailing dogma, wrapping by the erythrocyte combined with parasite-derived membrane release can markedly reduce the expected contributions of the merozoite actomyosin motor to invasion. We therefore propose that invasion is a balance between parasite and host cell contributions, evolved toward maximal efficient use of biophysical forces between the two cells.     

Molecular Marker-Assisted Genotyping of Mungbean Yellow Mosaic India Virus Resistant Germplasms of Mungbean and Urdbean

Mungbean Yellow Mosaic India Virus (MYMIV) belonging to the genus begomovirus causes the yellow mosaic disease in a number of economically important edible grain legumes including mungbean (Vigna radiata), urdbean (Vigna mungo) and soybean (Glycine max). The disease is severe, critical, open spread and inflicts heavy yield losses annually. The objective of this study is to develop molecular markers linked to MYMIV-resistance to facilitate genotyping of urdbean and mungbean germplasms for MYMIV-reaction. Resistance-linked molecular markers were successfully developed from consensus motifs of other resistance (R) gene or R gene homologue sequences. Applying linked marker-assisted genotyping, plant breeders can carry out repeated genotyping throughout the growing season in absence of any disease incidence. Two MYMIV-resistance marker loci, YR4 and CYR1, were identified and of these two CYR1 is completely linked with MYMIV-resistant germplasms and co-segregating with MYMIV-resistant F₂, F₃ progenies of urdbean. The present study demonstrated that these two markers could be efficiently employed together in a multiplex-PCR-reaction for genotyping both V. mungo and V. radiata germplasms from field grown plants and also directly from the seed stock. This method of genotyping would save time and labour during the introgression of MYMIV-resistance through molecular breeding, as methods of phenotyping against begomoviruses are tedious, labour and time intensive.