The next step in biology: A periodic table?

Systems biology is an approach to explain the behaviour of a system in relation to its individual components. Synthetic biology uses key hierarchical and modular concepts of systems biology to engineer novel biological systems. In my opinion the next step in biology is to use molecule-to-phenotype data using these approaches and integrate them in the form a periodic table. A periodic table in biology would provide chassis to classify, systematize and compare diversity of component properties vis-a-vis system behaviour. Using periodic table it could be possible to compute higher-level interactions from component properties. This paper examines the concept of building a bio-periodic table using protein fold as the fundamental unit.     

A new species of water mite <Emphasis Type="Italic">Atractides</Emphasis> (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Atractides</Emphasis>) <Emphasis Type="Italic">turcicus</Emphasis> sp. n. (Acari: Hydrachnidia: Hygrobatidae) from Turkey

In this study, the structural characteristics, unique features, various organ measurements of males and females of the water mite Atractides (Atractides) turcicus sp. n. from Turkey are described. In addition, the study compares their characteristics with related species.     

Influence of duodenal secretions and its components on release and activities of human brush-border enzymes

The in vitro effects of human duodenal secretions and various combinations of its components on activity and release of enzymes from the human brush border were examined. Sucrase retained activity for 90 min in duodenal secretions, and maltase was almost as stable; lactase lost activity rapidly and alkaline phosphatase was of intermediate stability. Inactivation of lactase could only be partly (50%) attributed to luminal proteases, bile salts and phospholipids played no role. Rate of release of an enzyme from the brush border bore no relationship to its rate of inactivation. When individual proteases were studied, elastase was the most potent for releasing disaccharidases from the brush border; trypsin was ineffective alone but augmented the effect of elastase. Sucrase and maltase were activated by proteolytic release, but activation was abolished by simultaneous exposure of brush borders to bile salts. Lactase was released and rapidly inactivated by proteinases, while alkaline phosphatase appeared to be inactivated without significant release. These results show that there are significant interactions between luminal factors which have been inapparent when studying them in isolation. Loss of functionally useful enzyme does not follow release of sucrase or maltase from the brush border into the lumen but does follow release of lactase. Study of the susceptibility of lactase to inactivation by luminal factors in the various forms of lactose intolerance is warranted.     

Getting to the heart of the matter: CCN2 plays a role in cardiomyocyte hypertrophy

Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF/CCN2) is overexpressed in diabetes. Diabetic rats possess myocardial and cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. In a recent report, Wang and colleagues (Am J Physiol Cell Physiol. 2009 Jul 22. [Epub ahead of print]) show that CCN2 directly mediates cardiomyocyte hypertrophy as well as that induced by high glucose and fatty acid. CCN2 acted via the TrkA receptor. These data are the subject of this commentary, and emphasize that CCN2 may be an excellent target for therapy in diabetes.     

In vitro propagation of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Helleborus</Emphasis> species

A general in vitro cloning system was established for four Helleborus species: H. argutifolius, H. foetidus, H. niger and H. orientalis. The plant material was introduced in vitro from axillary buds. A Murashige and Skoog (MS)—based medium (Murashige and Skoog 1962) was used supplemented with 2% (w/v) sucrose, 2-isopentenyladenine (2-iP) and 6-benzylaminopurine (BA). Multiplication rates depended on the genotype and varied from 1.3 for H. foetidus till 3.8 for H. niger. The first results showed that the rooting phase could be done ex vitro. Rooting was induced by a drench for one week in a solution of indole-3-butyric acid (IBA -3 mg l⁻¹) and 1-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA-1 mg l⁻¹) at 5°C.     

Methods for rapid screening and isolation of bacteria producing acidic lipase: feasibility studies and novel activity assay protocols

Acidic lipase finds its commercial values in medical applications and bioremediation of food wastes. In this work, approaches for rapid screening of lipase-producing bacteria were developed and the feasibility assessment of the screening methods was performed. From food waste samples, the proposed screening procedures allowed isolation of sixteen pure bacterial strains expressing higher lipase activity at acidic pH (pH 6.0) than at alkaline pH (pH 9.0). To enhance the accuracy of lipase activity determination under acidic conditions, a novel assay procedure was also developed by deactivating lipase activity by microwave treatment prior to back titration. This additional step could minimize interferences arising from residual lipase activity during conventional direct back-titration methods in measuring lipase activity at acidic pH. Using the four strategies proposed in this work, the best acidic-lipase-producing isolate was obtained by strategy C (SSC) and was identified as Aeromonas sp. C14, displaying an optimal lipase activity of 0.7 U/ml at an acidic pH of 6.0.