Direct correlation between the circadian sleep-wakefulness rhythm and time estimation in humans under social and temporal isolation

Several bodily functions in humans vary on a 24 h pattern and most of these variations persist with a circadian period ofca 25 h when subjects are studied under conditions of social and temporal isolation. We report in this paper that the estimates of short time intervals (TE) of 2 h are strongly coupled to the circadian rhythm in sleepwakefulness. There is a linear correlation between the number of hours humans stay awake (α) and their estimation of 2 h intervals. The coupling of TE to α appears to obtain only under conditions of physical well-being.     

Kinetics of succinic dehydrogenase inhibition by methyl parathion and its recovery by oximes and L-cysteine in hepatopancreas of Lamellidens marginalis

Effects in vitro of methyl parathion on some kinetic constants of succinic dehydrogenase (SDH) in hepatopancreas of freshwater mussel, L. marginalis were studied. Altered pH vs. specific activity curves for SDH demonstrated significant inhibition by methyl parathion in buffered acidic, neutral and alkaline ranges. At high pH ranges IC50 (12.5 microM) of methyl parathion did not cause 50% inhibition enzyme as it did at neutral and acidic pHs. Activation energies (delta E) were found to be increased suggesting decreased efficiency of enzyme in presence of methyl parathion. Non-competitive inhibition with respect to activation by succinate was indicated by decreased maximal velocity (V) without change in Michaelis Menten constant (Km). Pyridine-2-aldoxime (25 microM), pyridine-4-aldoxime (15 microM) and L-cysteine (40 microM) neutralized the inhibition of SDH by methyl parathion (12.5 microM). The kinetic data suggests that inhibition of SDH by methyl parathion was pH and temperature independent.     

Three dimensional modeling of N-terminal region of galanin and its interaction with the galanin receptor

The neuropeptide galanin comes under the powerful and versatile modulators of classical neurotransmitters and is present in brain tissues, which are intimately involved in epileptogenesis. It acts as appealing targets for studying basic mechanisms of seizure initiation and arrest, and for the development of novel approaches for various neurodegenerative diseases. Galanin is widely distributed in the mammalian brain which controls various processes such as sensation of pain, learning, feeding, sexual behaviour, carcinogenesis, pathophysiology of neuroendocrine tumors and others. The function of galanin can be exploited through its interaction with three G-protein coupled receptors subtypes such as GalR1, GalR2 and GalR3. The N-terminal region of galanin comprises about highly conserved 15 amino acid residues, which act as the crucial region for agonist-receptor binding. We have constructed a theoretical structural model for the N-terminal region of galanin from Homo sapiens by homology modeling. The stereochemistry of the model was checked using PROCHECK. The functionally conserved regions were identified by surface mapping of phylogenetic information generated by online web algorithm ConSurf. The docking studies on the pharmacologically important galanin receptors with the theoretical model of N-terminal region of galanin predicted crucial residues for binding which would be useful in the development of novel leads for neurodegenerative disorders.     

Length-weight relationship of six demersal fish species from Gulf of Mannar,Bay of Bengal,Eastern Indian Ocean

Length-weight relationship (LWR) parameters were analysed for six demersal finfish species from the Gulf of Mannar coast, Bay of Bengal. Fishes were sampled monthly from the landings of trawlers operated along the coast of Tuticorin and Rameshwaram with a cod-end mesh size of 35 mm at the depth of 60–80 m. Fish specimens were sampled by measuring the total length (TL) and total weight (TW) with precision to 0.1 cm and 0.1 g respectively. The present study also recorded a new maximum total length for Engyprosopon macrolepis, Torquigener brevipinnis and Leiognathus brevirostris.     

Green synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles for antimicrobial and vegetative growth applications: A novel approach for advancing efficient high quality health care to human wellbeing

The present work aims to synthesize zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles via green approaches using leaf extract of Parthenium hysterophorus. UV–vis and FT-IR tests confirmed the existence of biomolecules, active materials, and metal oxides. The X-ray diffraction structural study exposes the ZnO nanoparticles formation with hexagonal phase structures. SEM and TEM analysis reveal surface morphologies of ZnO nanoparticles and most of them are spherical with a size range of 10 nm. ZnO nanoparticles were revealed strong antimicrobial activity against both bacterial and fungal strains. The germination of seeds and vegetative growth of Sesamum indicum has been greatly improved.     

A prawn transglutaminase: Molecular characterization and biochemical properties

In this study, we report the bioinformatics characterization, gene expression, transglutaminase activity and coagulation assays of transglutaminase (TGase) of freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii identified from the constructed cDNA library by GS FLX™ technology. Even though, TGase have sequence similarity, they differ extensively in their substrate specificity and are thought to play an important in variety of functions such as development, tissue differentiation and immune responses etc. Gene expression studies show that MrTGase is widely distributed in the tissues such as heart, muscle, intestine, brain, etc., but higher amounts are found in hemocyte. Results of TGase mRNA relative expression in hemocyte, before and after infected with white spot syndrome baculovirus (WSBV) and Vibrio harveyi show that the gene expression initially increases up to 24 h and then it falls down. Coagulation assay results showed that the endogenous TGase is involved in the rapid assembly of a specific, plasma clotting protein. Structural studies show that MrTGase contains a typical TGc domain between 323 and 424, and two putative integrin-binding motifs at Arg¹⁸⁰–Gly¹⁸¹–Asp¹⁸² and Arg²⁶⁹–Gly²⁷⁰–Asp²⁷¹. The predicted 3D model of MrTGase contains 47.04% coils (366 amino acid residues), 26.74% extended strand (208 residues), 21.72% α-helix (169 residues) and 4.5% beta turns (35 residues). BLASTp analysis of MrTGase exhibited high sequence similarities with other crustacean TGase, with the highest observed in white shrimp (77.1%). Moreover, the phylogenetic analysis also showed that MrTGase clustered with the other members of crustacean TGase. Overall, these results suggested that MrTGase is a major and functional TGase of M. rosenbergii for haemolymph coagulation and also in spread of infection.     

Resolving the pathogenicity factors of a novel opportunistic fungus Schizophyllum commune at molecular level

Molecular Biology Reports - Schizophyllum commune is a well-known mushroom forming fungi which is an edible one due to its nutritive value. It exhibits a special wood degrading mechanism to grow in...     

Physiological and biochemical responses of micropropagated tea plants

Summary Physiological and biochemical responses of micropropagated tea plants grown under field conditions were investigated in comparison to vegetatively propagated (VP) plants. No significant variation was observed between tissue culture raised (TC) and VP plants in terms of photosynthetic carbon assimilation rate. However, clones showed significant variation among themselves. Carbon assimilation studies carried out with a radiotracer technique revealed that ‘Assam’ cultivar UPASI-27 assimilated a higher amount of labeled carbon dioxide followed by UPASI-3. However, UPASI-27 was marginally better than UPASI-3 in terms of mobilization of assimilates to the growing sinks. Both, UPASI-3 and UPASI-27 reassimilated higher quantities of photosynthates followed by BSB-1 and UPASI-26. Though there was a marginal variation in photosynthetic pigments of TC and VP plants, it was not statistically significant. Similarly, no significant variations were observed in certain substrates (polyphenols, catechins and amino acids) and enzymes (polyphenol oxidase, peroxidase and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase) except protease involved in the formation of quality constituents of made tea. However, clonal variation was evident with respect to photosynthetic pigments, substrates/enzymes. Under soil moisture stress, no significant variation was observed between VP and TC plants in terms of proline accumulation.     

Molecular cloning,characterization and three-dimensional structure prediction of Lipoxygenase from Finger millet [Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.] germinating seedlings

Lipoxygenases (LOXs) are functionally diverse class of non-heme iron containing dioxygenases. They involve in multiple physiological processes in plants and animals. In current study a full length cDNA of LOX has been cloned from finger millet germinating seedlings using PCR and RACE PCR methods. The ORF (2661 bp) encodes 887 amino acid residues, with an approximate molecular weight of 100.8 kDa and an isoelectric point of 5.90. The sequence exhibited significant similarity to already known LOXs. It comprises of a putative PLAT domain and an iron-binding catalytic domain. Sequence analysis demonstrated that this LOX is most probably a type 9-LOX, and shared highest identity (85 %) with the Setaria italica 9-LOX. TargetP predicted EcLOX as a cytoplasmic protein. It has an optimum pH of about 6.4 and increased lipid peroxidation levels were observed on day 5 of germination. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis showed that EcLOX gene expression was preferentially higher on day 4 after germination, and in growing leaf and root tissues. Its expression could be induced by Methyl Jasmonate (MeJA), but not by Salicylic acid (SA). The 3-dimensional structure of the EcLOX was modeled using in silico approach and Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed. Further, to understand the protein active site, docking studies were performed with substrates and inhibitors. In summary, EcLOX protein was characterized using various molecular, biochemical and in silico methods which improves our understanding of these fascinating enzymes.     

Proteogenomic analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis by high resolution mass spectrometry

The genome sequencing of H37Rv strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis was completed in 1998 followed by the whole genome sequencing of a clinical isolate, CDC1551 in 2002. Since then, the genomic sequences of a number of other strains have become available making it one of the better studied pathogenic bacterial species at the genomic level. However, annotation of its genome remains challenging because of high GC content and dissimilarity to other model prokaryotes. To this end, we carried out an in-depth proteogenomic analysis of the M. tuberculosis H37Rv strain using Fourier transform mass spectrometry with high resolution at both MS and tandem MS levels. In all, we identified 3176 proteins from Mycobacterium tuberculosis representing ~80% of its total predicted gene count. In addition to protein database search, we carried out a genome database search, which led to identification of ~250 novel peptides. Based on these novel genome search-specific peptides, we discovered 41 novel protein coding genes in the H37Rv genome. Using peptide evidence and alternative gene prediction tools, we also corrected 79 gene models. Finally, mass spectrometric data from N terminus-derived peptides confirmed 727 existing annotations for translational start sites while correcting those for 33 proteins. We report creation of a high confidence set of protein coding regions in Mycobacterium tuberculosis genome obtained by high resolution tandem mass-spectrometry at both precursor and fragment detection steps for the first time. This proteogenomic approach should be generally applicable to other organisms whose genomes have already been sequenced for obtaining a more accurate catalogue of protein-coding genes.