Prokaryotic diversity in Tuz Lake, a hypersaline environment in Inland Turkey

Tuz Lake is an inland thalassohaline water body located in central Anatolia that contributes to 60% of the total salt production in Turkey per year. The microbiota inhabiting this lake has been studied by FISH, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis of PCR-amplified fragments of 16S rRNA genes, and 16S rRNA gene clone library analysis. Total cell counts per milliliter (1.38 × 10⁷) were in the range of the values normally found for hypersaline environments. The proportion of Bacteria to Archaea in the community detectable by FISH was one to three. 16S rRNA gene clone libraries indicated that the archaeal assemblage was dominated by members of the Square Haloarchaea of the Walsby group, although some other groups were also found. Bacteria were dominated by members of the Bacteroidetes , including Salinibacter ruber -related phylotypes. Because members of Bacteroidetes are widely present in different hypersaline environments, a phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences from Bacteroidetes retrieved from these environments was carried out in order to ascertain whether they formed a unique cluster. Sequences retrieved from Tuz Lake and a group of sequences from other hypersaline environments clustered together in a branch that could be considered as the 'halophilic branch' within the Bacteroidetes phylum.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Nonomuraea insulae</Emphasis> sp. nov., isolated from forest soil

Strain H2R21^T, a novel actinobacterium, isolated from a forest soil sample collected from Heybeliada, Istanbul, Turkey, and a polyphasic approach was used for characterisation of the strain. Chemotaxonomic and morphological characterisation of strain H2R21^T indicated that it belongs to the genus Nonomuraea. 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity showed that the strain is closely related to Nonomuraea purpurea 1SM4-01^T (99.1%) and Nonomuraea solani CGMCC 4.7037^T (98.4%). DNA–DNA relatedness values were found to be lower than 70% between the isolate and its phylogenetic neighbours N. purpurea 1SM4-01^T, N. solani CGMCC 4.7037^T and Nonomuraea rhizophila YIM 67092^T. The whole cell hydrolysates of strain H2R21^T were found to contain meso-diaminopimelic acid as the diagnostic diamino acid and glucose, madurose, mannose and ribose as the cell sugars. The polar lipids were identified as phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylmethylethanolamine, phosphatidylethanolamine, hydroxy-phosphatidylethanolamine, dihydroxy-phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol, glycophosphatidylinositol, two glycophospholipids and two unidentified lipids. The predominant menaquinones were identified as MK-9(H₄) and MK-9(H₆). The major fatty acids were found to be iso-C_16:0, iso-C_16:0 2OH and C_17:0 10-methyl. On the basis of DNA–DNA relatedness data and some phenotypic characteristics, it is evident that strain H2R21^T can be distinguished from the closely related species in the genus Nonomuraea. Thus, it is concluded that strain H2R21^T represents a novel species of the genus Nonomuraea, for which the name Nonomuraea insulae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is H2R21^T (= DSM 102915^T = CGMCC 4.7338^T = KCTC 39769^T).     

Comprehensive genome analysis of a novel actinobacterium with high potential for biotechnological applications,Nonomuraea aridisoli sp. nov., isolated from desert soil

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek - During a study to isolate such actinobacteria with unique metabolic potential, a novel actinobacterium, designated KC333T, was isolated from a soil sample collected from...     

Association of genetic variation within UBL5 with phenotypes of metabolic syndrome

The BEACON gene was initially identified using the differential display polymerase chain reaction on hypothalamic mRNA samples collected from lean and obese Psammomys obesus, a polygenic animal model of obesity. Hypothalamic BEACON gene expression was positively correlated with percentage of body fat, and intracerebroventricular infusion of the Beacon protein resulted in a dose-dependent increase in food intake and body weight. The human homolog of BEACON, UBL5, is located on chromosome 19p in a region previously linked to quantitative traits related to obesity. Our previous studies showed a statistically significant association between UBL5 sequence variation and several obesity- and diabetes-related quantitative physiological measures in Asian Indian and Micronesian cohorts. Here we undertake a replication study in a Mexican American cohort where the original linkage signal was first detected. We exhaustively resequenced the complete gene plus the putative promoter region for genetic variation in 55 individuals and identified five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), one of which was novel. These SNPs were genotyped in a Mexican American cohort of 900 individuals from 40 families. Using a quantitative trait linkage disequilibrium test, we found significant associations between UBL5 genetic variants and waist-to-hip ratio (p = 0.027), and the circulating concentrations of insulin (p = 0.018) and total cholesterol (p = 0.023) in fasted individuals. These data are consistent with our earlier published studies and further support a functional role for the UBL5 gene in influencing physiological traits that underpin the development of metabolic syndrome.     

Elevated Chemerin Levels in Pakistani Men: An Interrelation with Metabolic Syndrome Phenotypes

Chemerin is a novel protein linked to adipocyte differentiation and the development of metabolic imbalances. We sought to examine the relationship of chemerin with metabolic syndrome disturbances including body fat percentage, serum lipid, glucose, insulin levels and body fat percentage in lean and obese volunteers. A cross-sectional study of 90 randomly selected healthy males from Pakistan were divided into three groups as per Body Mass Index (BMI) criteria for South Asian Population. Anthropometric measurements were taken for BMI, waist circumference, hip circumference and body fat percentage, while serum analyses were performed for fasting blood glucose, fasting insulin, fasting lipid profile and serum chemerin. Associations between serum chemerin levels and body fat and other metabolic syndrome parameters were performed using ANOVA and multiple regression analyses. Data was presented as Mean±SD. In all statistical analyses p-values <0.05 were considered significant. Circulating chemerin levels were significantly higher in obese subjects with BMI greater than 25 kg/m² compared with those with a BMI below 25 kg/m² (P = 0.001). Serum chemerin levels were found to be independently and significantly associated with serum levels of cholesterol (P = 0.0160; r = 0.255), fasting glucose (P = 0.002; r = 0.323), HOMA-IR (P = 0.004; r = 0.300) and hip circumference (P = 0.021; r = 0.246). This demonstrates that chemerin levels are associated with obesity and dyslipidemia and may play a role in the development of insulin resistance. This data suggests that chemerin may serve as an independent marker in diagnosing these conditions even before they become clinically symptomatic.