Genistein effects on growth and cell cycle ofCandida albicans

Microbial virulence is generally considered to be multifactorial with infection resulting from the sum of several globally regulated virulence factors. Estrogen may serve as a signal for global virulence induction in Candida albicans. Nonsteroidal estrogens and estrogen receptor antagonists may therefore have interesting effects on yeast and their virulence factors. Growth of C. albicans was monitored by viable plate counts at timed intervals after inoculation into yeast nitrogen broth plus glucose. To determine if increased growth of yeast in the presence of estradiol was due to tyrosine kinase-mediated signaling, we measured growth in the presence of genistein, estradiol or genistein plus estradiol and compared these conditions to controls, which were not supplemented with either compound. Unexpectedly, genistein stimulated growth of C. albicans. In addition, genistein was found to increase the rate of germination (possibly reflecting release from G(0) into G(1) cell cycle phase) and also increased Hsp90 expression, demonstrated by a dot blot technique which employed a commercial primary antibody detected with chemiluminescence with horseradish peroxidase-labeled secondary antibody. These biological effects may be attributable to genistein's activity as a phytoestrogen. In contrast, nafoxidine suppressed growth of Candida and mildly diminished Hsp90 expression. This study raises the possibility of receptor cross-talk between estrogen and isoflavinoid compounds, and antiestrogens which may affect the same signaling system, though separate targets for each compound were not ruled out.     

Single nucleotide polymorphisms in <Emphasis Type="Italic">TaER</Emphasis> genes and their association with carbon isotope discrimination in wheat genotypes under drought

Candidate gene association studies implicate the detection of contributing single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) for the target traits and have been recommended as a promising technique to anatomize the complex characters in plants. The ERECTA gene in plants controls different physiological functions. In this study, we identified SNPs in 1.1 kb partial sequences of TaER-1 and TaER-2 of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Thirty-nine SNPs were identified in the coding regions of TaER-1 gene in 33 wheat genotypes, of which 20 SNPs caused non-synonymous mutations while 19 SNPs produced synonymous mutations; 31 SNPs were located in the coding regions of TaER-2 gene in 26 genotypes, of which 18 SNPs caused non-synonymous mutations and 13 SNPs caused synonymous mutations. In addition, 32 SNPs in TaER-1 and 9 SNPs in TaER-2 were also identified in the non-coding regions. Moreover, the significant genetic associations of SNPs of TaER-1 and TaER-2 genes with carbon isotope discrimination, stomatal conductance, photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, intrinsic water use efficiency (iWUE), leaf length, leaf width, stomatal density, epidermal cell density, and stomatal index were noted in wheat genotypes. This study confirms the importance of TaER-1 and TaER-2 genes which could improve iWUE of wheat by regulating leaf gas exchange and leaf structural traits. These identified SNPs may play a critical role in molecular breeding by means of marker-assisted selection.     

Changes in anti-heat shock protein 27 antibody and C-reactive protein levels following cardiac surgery and their association with cardiac function in patients with cardiovascular disease

The relationship between serum anti-heat shock protein (Hsp)27 antibody and high sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels and indices of cardiac function were investigated in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) or heart valve replacement. The changes in anti-Hsp27 antibody titers and hs-CRP levels were compared among patients undergoing off-pump and on-pump CABG or valvular heart replacement. Fifty-three patients underwent off-pump, on-pump CABG, and heart valvular replacement in each group. Serum anti-Hsp27 titers and hs-CRP values were measured 24 h before and after the operation and at discharge. Echocardiography was performed before surgery and before discharge. The results were compared with values from 83 healthy controls. hs-CRP levels increased and anti-Hsp27 antibody decreased following surgery (P < 0.001 and P < 0.05, respectively), although these changes were independent of operative procedure (P = 0.361 and P = 0.120, respectively). Anti-Hsp27 antibody levels were higher at the time of discharge (P = 0.016). Only in coronary patients were anti-Hsp27 antibody levels negatively associated with E/E′ (r = −0.268, P = 0.022), a marker of pulmonary capillary wedge pressure. In conclusions, anti-Hsp27 antibody levels are associated with indices of cardiac function in coronary patients. Cardiopulmonary bypass had no significant effect on the induction of changes in anti-Hsp27 levels. Moreover, anti-Hsp27 antibody levels fell in all groups postoperatively; this may be due to the formation of immune complexes of antigen–antibody, and antibody levels were higher at the time of discharge.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s12192-012-0358-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Some evidences for the involvement of plasmid in diuron herbicide degradation

Pseudomonas sp. strain Bk8 was isolated from field soil contaminated with different urea-herbicides. This strain is a plasmid (pBkB)-harbouring organism capable of complete degradation of diuron herbicide. Plasmid-cured strain Bk8M was obtained by treatment of Pseudomonas sp. Bk8 with Mitomycin C. This cured strain is capable of only partial degradation of diuron side chain and accumulated a phenolic compound in the medium during growing on diuron as a sole source of carbon and energy. Conjugation experiment was carried out using Bk8M as a recipient and Bk8 as a donor of pBk8 plasmid. The transconjugant was able to degrade a diuron without accumulation of phenolic compound. It was proposed that plasmid pBk8 is self-transmissible and involved in the degradation of diuron aromatic ring but it is not connected with the transformation of diuron into diuron phenol compound.     

Effect of bioaugmentation and nitrogen supplementation on composting of paddy straw

A composting experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of a hyperlignocellulolytic fungal consortium and different nitrogen amendments on paddy straw composting in terms of changes in physicochemical and biological parameters. A fungal consortium comprising four lignocellulolytic mesophilic fungal cultures was used as inoculum for bioaugmentation of paddy straw in perforated pits. The comparative effect of farmyard manure (FYM), soybean trash, poultry litter and urea on the composting process was evaluated at monthly intervals in terms of physicochemical (pH, EC, available P, C:N ratio and humus content) and biological (enzymatic and microbial activity) parameters. The compost prepared from bioaugmented paddy straw composting mixture, with poultry manure as nitrogen supplement attained desirable C:N ratio in 1 month and displayed least phytotoxicity levels along with higher production of β-1,4-Exoglucanase. The combined activity of the autochthonous composting microbiota as well as the externally applied fungal inoculum accelerated the composting process of paddy straw. Supplementation of paddy straw with poultry manure in 8:1 ratio was identified as the best treatment to hasten the composting process. This study highlights the importance of application of fungal inoculum and an appropriate N-amendment such as poultry manure for preparation of compost using a substrate having high C:N ratio, such as paddy straw.     

Mutations in the chloroplast inner envelope protein TIC100 impair and repair chloroplast protein import and impact retrograde signaling

Chloroplast biogenesis requires synthesis of proteins in the nucleocytoplasm and the chloroplast itself. Nucleus-encoded chloroplast proteins are imported via multiprotein translocons in the organelle’s envelope membranes. Controversy exists around whether a 1-MDa complex comprising TIC20, TIC100, and other proteins constitutes the inner membrane TIC translocon. The Arabidopsis thaliana cue8 virescent mutant is broadly defective in plastid development. We identify CUE8 as TIC100. The tic100^cue8 mutant accumulates reduced levels of 1-MDa complex components and exhibits reduced import of two nucleus-encoded chloroplast proteins of different import profiles. A search for suppressors of tic100^cue8 identified a second mutation within the same gene, tic100^soh1, which rescues the visible, 1 MDa complex-subunit abundance, and chloroplast protein import phenotypes. tic100^soh1 retains but rapidly exits virescence and rescues the synthetic lethality of tic100^cue8 when retrograde signaling is impaired by a mutation in the GENOMES UNCOUPLED 1 gene. Alongside the strong virescence, changes in RNA editing and the presence of unimported precursor proteins show that a strong signaling response is triggered when TIC100 function is altered. Our results are consistent with a role for TIC100, and by extension the 1-MDa complex, in the chloroplast import of photosynthetic and nonphotosynthetic proteins, a process which initiates retrograde signaling.

Complementary mutations in TIC100 of the chloroplast inner envelope membrane cause reductions or corrective improvements in chloroplast protein import, and highlight a signaling role.

IN A NUTSHELLBackground: Plants harvest energy from the sun and CO₂ from the air and convert them into the energy-rich molecules they, and eventually us, are made of. Plants do this, photosynthesis, in bodies called chloroplasts inside their cells. Chloroplasts, made of protein and membrane material, were, before plants evolved, free-living bacteria, but the synthesis of most of their proteins occurs outside them, using information carried by the cell’s nuclear DNA, so most proteins have to be brought into developing chloroplasts, across the double membrane surrounding them, through dedicated, selective channels, formed by TOC (outer) and TIC (inner envelope) proteins. The identity of those channels matters as it helps determine versions of chloroplasts suited for particular environments. Which TIC proteins constitute the inner envelope channel has been a matter of controversy.Question: A mutant Arabidopsis plant called cue8 is slow-to-green (young leaves begin almost white) and shows delayed chloroplast and plant development. We looked for the molecular identity of the CUE8 gene. We also caused further mutations in this mutant and searched whether any corrected the defects in cue8.Findings: We found the mutated gene causing the cue8 defects is the TIC100 gene. This is one essential component of the “TIC 1-MDa complex,” one of the two versions of the TIC import complex under debate. That complex is made of several proteins, all present at reduced levels in cue8. In laboratory assays in which proteins are imported into isolated chloroplasts, cue8 performed worse than normal plants for a photosynthetic and a housekeeping chloroplast protein. A corrective, “suppressor” mutant was identified, and it carried a second mutation in TIC100, one physically complementary to the first one. Both the single and the double (suppressed) mutant still were slow-to-green, which evidences a signaling role for import defects to the nucleus, making photosynthetic genes active or not.Next steps: Surprisingly the grasses, including the cereals, have one core protein of the TIC 1 MDa complex but not the rest (including TIC100). We don’t know how their TIC channels operate. We also need to learn how the information on the defect in protein import, which occurs at the chloroplast envelope, is relayed to the cell’s nucleus (but we do have some clues).     

The COMPASS family of H3K4 methylases in Drosophila

Methylation of histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4) in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is implemented by Set1/COMPASS, which was originally purified based on the similarity of yeast Set1 to human MLL1 and Drosophila melanogaster Trithorax (Trx). While humans have six COMPASS family members, Drosophila possesses a representative of the three subclasses within COMPASS-like complexes: dSet1 (human SET1A/SET1B), Trx (human MLL1/2), and Trr (human MLL3/4). Here, we report the biochemical purification and molecular characterization of the Drosophila COMPASS family. We observed a one-to-one similarity in subunit composition with their mammalian counterparts, with the exception of LPT (lost plant homeodomains [PHDs] of Trr), which copurifies with the Trr complex. LPT is a previously uncharacterized protein that is homologous to the multiple PHD fingers found in the N-terminal regions of mammalian MLL3/4 but not Drosophila Trr, indicating that Trr and LPT constitute a split gene of an MLL3/4 ancestor. Our study demonstrates that all three complexes in Drosophila are H3K4 methyltransferases; however, dSet1/COMPASS is the major monoubiquitination-dependent H3K4 di- and trimethylase in Drosophila. Taken together, this study provides a springboard for the functional dissection of the COMPASS family members and their role in the regulation of histone H3K4 methylation throughout development in Drosophila.     

Protein phosphatase 5 is required for ATR-mediated checkpoint activation

In response to DNA damage or replication stress, the protein kinase ATR is activated and subsequently transduces genotoxic signals to cell cycle control and DNA repair machinery through phosphorylation of a number of downstream substrates. Very little is known about the molecular mechanism by which ATR is activated in response to genotoxic insults. In this report, we demonstrate that protein phosphatase 5 (PP5) is required for the ATR-mediated checkpoint activation. PP5 forms a complex with ATR in a genotoxic stress-inducible manner. Interference with the expression or the activity of PP5 leads to impairment of the ATR-mediated phosphorylation of hRad17 and Chk1 after UV or hydroxyurea treatment. Similar results are obtained in ATM-deficient cells, suggesting that the observed defect in checkpoint signaling is the consequence of impaired functional interaction between ATR and PP5. In cells exposed to UV irradiation, PP5 is required to elicit an appropriate S-phase checkpoint response. In addition, loss of PP5 leads to premature mitosis after hydroxyurea treatment. Interestingly, reduced PP5 activity exerts differential effects on the formation of intranuclear foci by ATR and replication protein A, implicating a functional role for PP5 in a specific stage of the checkpoint signaling pathway. Taken together, our results suggest that PP5 plays a critical role in the ATR-mediated checkpoint activation.     

Construction of new stable strain over-expressing the glucose isomerase of the Streptomyces sp. SK strain

In order to over express the xylA gene of Streptomyces sp. SK strain, it was cloned under the control of the constitutive ermE-up promoter. This construct was integrated through site-specific recombination process into the chromosome of a Streptomyces violaceoniger glucose isomerase deficient strain using the non-replicative vector pTS55. The resulting CBS4 strain shows a perfect stability in the absence of selection pressure. Its glucose isomerase activity was about four and nine-fold greater, than that obtained from Streptomyces sp. SK, respectively fully induced or not by xylose.