A new species of Rhabdochona Railliet, 1916 (Nematoda: Rhabdochonidae) from cyprinid fishes in the Western Ghats Region,India

A new nematode species, Rhabdochona (Globochona) puntii n. sp. (Rhabdochonidae), is described based on specimens collected from the intestine of the pool barb Puntius sophore (Hamilton) and Neolissochilus hexastichus (McClelland) (both Cyprinidae) from the Gadhena River, the Western Ghats, Maharashtra State, India. The nematode was also found in Wallago attu (Bloch & Schneider) which probably acts as postcyclic host. Rhabdochona (Globochona) puntii n. sp. differs markedly from its congeners in the body size, the number and distribution of caudal papillae, in the presence of an unpaired papilla-like structure on the anterior cloacal lip, and in having unusual shape and structure of the terminal crown of mucrons. This is the seventh species of the subgenus Globochona Moravec, 1972 reported from freshwater Indian fishes.     

DNMT1 and DNMT3B gene variants and their association with endometriosis in South Indian women

Background

Endometriosis is a multifactorial estrogen dependent gynecological disease characterized by implantation of functional endometrial tissue at ectopic positions. Though this disease is benign, it is associated with an increased risk of malignant transformation. Epigenetic disruptions like aberrant DNA methylation, resulting changes in gene expression capacity, are important in tumor progression and malignant cellular transformation. Therefore, variation in genes involved in DNA methylation might lead to disease susceptibility.

Purpose

To investigate the association between DNA methyl transferases (DNMT1 and DNMT3B) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and the risk of endometriosis in South Indian women.

Methods

In the present study, we examined the genotypic and allele distribution of DNMT1 (rs10423341C/A, rs2228611G/Aandrs4804490C/A) and DNMT3B (rs1569686G/T) among the endometriosis patients (n?=?150) and controls (n?=?150). The genotypes were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequencing methods. Haplotype frequencies for multiple loci and the standardized disequilibrium coefficient (D?) for pairwise linkage disequilibrium (LD) were surveyed by Haploview Software.

Result

Significant increase in the frequencies of DNMT1 rs10423341 (P?=?0.04601), rs2228611 (P?=?0.00175) and DNMT3B rs1569686 (P?=?0.033) genotypes and alleles was observed in patients compared to controls. In addition, the frequency of A/A/C (P?=?0.0065) haplotype was significantly high in patients. But the DNMT1 (rs4804490) SNP did not show significant association with the disease.

Conclusion

The DNMT1 and DNMT3B polymorphism may constitute an inheritable risk factor for endometriosis in South Indian women. To the best of our knowledge there is no reported study on the association of polymorphisms in DNMT1 and DNMT3B with endometriosis risk.

     

Aspartate aminotransferase is involved in cold adaptation in psychrophilic Pseudomonas syringae

CSM2, a cold-sensitive mutant of psychrophilic Pseudomonas syringae, grows like wild-type cells when cultured at 22 and 28°C; but at 4°C, the growth is retarded. In CSM2, AAT (coding for aspartate aminotransferase) is identified as the mutated gene. The expression of AAT in Pseudomonas syringae was transiently enhanced when cells were shifted from 22 to 4°C indicating that AAT is cold-inducible. Complementation of the mutated AAT transformed CSM2 from a cold-sensitive phenotype to a cold-resistant phenotype like the wild-type cells, thus providing evidence for the first time that AAT is required for low-temperature growth.     

Isolation and identification ofMicrococcus roseus andPlanococcus sp. from schirmacher oasis,antarctica

Five cultures isolated from soil samples collected in Schirmacher oasis, Antarctica, have been identified as members of the familyMicrococcaceae, with 3 belonging to the genusMicrococcus and two toPlanococcus. The 3Micrococcus isolates (37R, 45R and 49R) were red-pigmented and h a d ∼ 75 mol% G + C in their DNA; they were identified asMicrococcus roseus. The twoPlanococcus isolates (30Y and Lz3OR) were yellow and orange in colour, and had 43.5 and 40.9 mol % G + C in their DNA respectively; they were identified asPlanococcus sp.     

Pyrazole C-region analogues of 2-(3-fluoro-4-methylsulfonylaminophenyl)propanamides as potent TRPV1 antagonists

A series of 1-substituted 3-(t-butyl/trifluoromethyl)pyrazole C-region analogues of 2-(3-fluoro-4-methylsulfonamidophenyl)propanamides were investigated for hTRPV1 antagonism. The structure activity relationship indicated that the 3-chlorophenyl group at the 1-position of pyrazole was the optimized hydrophobic group for antagonistic potency and the activity was stereospecific to the S-configuration, providing exceptionally potent antagonists 13S and 16S with K_i(CAP) = 0.1 nM. Particularly significant, 13S exhibited antagonism selective for capsaicin and NADA and not for low pH or elevated temperature. Both compounds also proved to be very potent antagonists for rTRPV1, blocking in vivo the hypothermic action of capsaicin, consistent with their in vitro mechanism. The docking study of compounds 13S and 16S in our hTRPV1 homology model indicated that the binding modes differed somewhat, with that of 13S more closely resembling that of GRT12360.     

Meiotic maturation of vitrified immature chousingha (Tetracerus quadricornis) oocytes recovered postmortem

The ability to recover and cryopreserve oocytes from postmortem ovaries of endangered or wildlife species holds tremendous potential for conservation using assisted reproductive technologies. The objective of this study was to assess the in vitro meiotic maturation of chousingha (four-horned antelope) oocytes following vitrification using open pulled straw (OPS) method. The average number of oocytes recovered per ovary was 65.6. The proportion of oocytes that matured was significantly lower in vitrified oocytes (29.4%) when compared with fresh oocytes (69.3%). The study provides evidence that it is possible to cryopreserve immature oocytes by vitrification collected from the ovaries of chousingha at postmortem and also demonstrates that these cryopreserved oocytes retain their potential to undergo in vitro meiotic maturation.     

Alterations in gut bacterial and fungal microbiomes are associated with bacterial Keratitis,an inflammatory disease of the human eye

Dysbiosis, or imbalance in the gut microbiome, has been implicated in auto-immune, inflammatory, neurological diseases as well as in cancers. More recently it has also been shown to be associated with ocular diseases. In the present study, the association of gut microbiome dysbiosis with bacterial Keratitis, an inflammatory eye disease which significantly contributes to corneal blindness, was investigated. Bacterial and fungal gut microbiomes were analysed using fecal samples of healthy controls (HC, n?=?21) and bacterial Keratitis patients (BK, n?=?19). An increase in abundance of several anti-inflammatory organisms including Dialister, Megasphaera, Faecalibacterium, Lachnospira, Ruminococcus and Mitsuokella and members of Firmicutes, Veillonellaceae, Ruminococcaceae and Lachnospiraceae was observed in HC compared to BK patients in the bacterial microbiome. In the fungal microbiome, a decrease in the abundance of Mortierella, Rhizopus, Kluyveromyces, Embellisia and Haematonectria and an increase in the abundance of pathogenic fungi Aspergillus and Malassezia were observed in BK patients compared to HC. In addition, heatmaps, PCoA plots and inferred functional profiles also indicated significant variations between the HC and BK microbiomes, which strongly suggest dysbiosis in the gut microbiome of BK patients. This is the first study demonstrating the association of gut microbiome with the pathophysiology of BK and thus supports the gut–eye axis hypothesis. Considering that Keratitis affects about 1 million people annually across the globe, the data could be the basis for developing alternate strategies for treatment like use of probiotics or fecal transplantation to restore the healthy microbiome as a treatment protocol for Keratitis.     

New Sources of Resistance and Identification of DNA Marker Loci for Sheath Blight Disease Caused by Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn,in Rice

Sheath blight disease caused by the necrotrophic, soil-borne pathogen Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn, is the global threat to rice production. Lack of reliable stable resistance sources in rice germplasm pool for sheath blight has made resistance breeding a very difficult task. In the current study, 101 rice landraces were screened against R. solani under artificial epiphytotics and identified six moderately resistant landraces, Jigguvaratiga, Honasu, Jeer Sali, Jeeraga-2, BiliKagga, and Medini Sannabatta with relative lesion height (RLH) range of 21–30%. Landrace Jigguvaratiga with consistent and better level of resistance (21% RLH) than resistant check Tetep (RLH 28%) was used to develop mapping population. DNA markers associated with ShB resistance were identified in F₂ mapping population developed from Jigguvaratiga × BPT5204 (susceptible variety) using bulk segregant analysis. Among 56 parental polymorphic markers, RM5556, RM6208, and RM7 were polymorphic between the bulks. Single marker analysis indicated the significant association of ShB with RM5556 and RM6208 with phenotypic variance (R²) of 28.29 and 20.06%, respectively. Co-segregation analysis confirmed the strong association of RM5556 and RM6208 located on chromosome 8 for ShB trait. This is the first report on association of RM6208 marker for ShB resistance. In silico analysis revealed that RM6208 loci resides the stearoyl ACP desaturases protein, which is involved in defense mechanism against plant pathogens. RM5556 loci resides a protein, with unknown function. The putative candidate genes or quantitative trait locus harbouring at the marker interval of RM5556 and RM6208 can be further used to develop ShB resistant varieties using molecular breeding approaches.