A new species of the monogenea genus Heteromazocraes Mamaev, 1981, from a freshwater cyprinid Securicula gora (Ham.) from the Lucknow district,India

Heteromazocraes mamaevi n. sp. is described from a cyprinid, Securicula gora (Ham.) from the Lucknow district, India. It is characterised by well-developed cephalic glands, the shape of the genital spines, the structure of the egg and the shape of the clamp sclerites. This is the first record of the genus Heteromazocraes Mamaev, 1981 from a cyprinid fish.     

A new species of Eriocaulon (Eriocaulaceae) from Madhya Pradesh, India

Eriocaulon raipurense (Eriocaulaceae) is described and illustrated as a new species from Madhya Pradesh, India. The species is closely allied to E. hamiltonianum but differs in the size and apex of involucral bancts, white-pilose nature of floral bracts and colour of female petals.     

BaTiO3-Graphene-Affinity Layer–Based Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) Biosensor for Pseudomonas Bacterial Detection

Plasmonics - In the present work, a highly sensitive SPR biosensor based on silver (Ag), barium titanate (BaTiO3), graphene, and affinity layer is proposed for the detection of Pseudomonas...     

Reduced caloric intake and periodic fasting independently contribute to metabolic effects of caloric restriction

Caloric restriction (CR) has positive effects on health and longevity. CR in mammals implements time‐restricted (TR) feeding, a short period of feeding followed by prolonged fasting. Periodic fasting, in the form of TR or mealtime, improves metabolism without reduction in caloric intake. In order to understand the relative contribution of reduced food intake and periodic fasting to the health benefits of CR, we compared physiological and metabolic changes induced by CR and TR (without reduced food intake) in mice. CR significantly reduced blood glucose and insulin around the clock, improved glucose tolerance, and increased insulin sensitivity (IS). TR reduced blood insulin and increased insulin sensitivity, but in contrast to CR, TR did not improve glucose homeostasis. Liver expression of circadian clock genes was affected by both diets while the mRNA expression of glucose metabolism genes was significantly induced by CR, and not by TR, which is in agreement with the minor effect of TR on glucose metabolism. Thus, periodic fasting contributes to some metabolic benefits of CR, but TR is metabolically different from CR. This difference might contribute to differential effects of CR and TR on longevity.     

Efficacy of Indolicidin,Cecropin A (1-7)-Melittin (CAMA) and Their Combination Against Biofilm-Forming Multidrug-Resistant Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli

The present study examined the anti-biofilm efficacy of two short-chain antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), namely, indolicidin and cecropin A (1-7)-melittin (CAMA) against biofilm-forming multidrug-resistant enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (MDR-EAEC) isolates. The typical EAEC isolates re-validated by PCR and confirmed using HEp-2 cell adherence assay was subjected to antibiotic susceptibility testing to confirm its MDR status. The biofilm-forming ability of MDR-EAEC isolates was assessed by Congo red binding, microtitre plate assays and hydrophobicity index; broth microdilution technique was employed to determine minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and minimum biofilm eradication concentrations (MBECs). The obtained MIC and MBEC values for both AMPs were evaluated alone and in combination against MDR-EAEC biofilms using crystal violet (CV) staining and confocal microscopy-based live/dead cell quantification methods. All the three MDR-EAEC strains revealed weak to strong biofilm-forming ability and were found to be electron-donating and weakly electron-accepting (hydrophobicity index). Also, highly significant (P < 0.001) time-dependent hydrodynamic growth of the three MDR-EAEC strains was observed at 48 h of incubation in Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium (DMEM) containing 0.45% D-glucose. AMPs and their combination were able to inhibit the initial biofilm formation at 24 h and 48 h as evidenced by CV staining and confocal quantification. Further, the application of AMPs (individually and combination) against the preformed MDR-EAEC biofilms resulted in highly significant eradication (P < 0.001) at 24 h post treatment. However, significant differences were not observed between AMP treatments (individually or in combination). The AMPs seem to be an effective candidates for further investigations such as safety, stability and appropriate biofilm-forming MDR-EAEC animal models.

     

Do the beneficial fungi manage phytosanitary problems in the tea agro-ecosystem?

BioControl - In recent years, Fungal Biocontrol Agents (FBCAs) have played a significant role in the biological control of pests and plant pathogens of several economically important crops,...     

Substitution of Glutamate Residue by Lysine in the Dimerization Domain Affects DNA Binding Ability of HapR by Inducing Structural Deformity in the DNA Binding Domain

HapR has been given the status of a high cell density master regulatory protein in Vibrio cholerae. Though many facts are known regarding its structural and functional aspects, much still can be learnt from natural variants of the wild type protein. This work aims at investigating the nature of functional inertness of a HapR natural variant harboring a substitution of a conserved glutamate residue at position 117 which participates in forming a salt bridge by lysine (HapR_V2G-E¹¹⁷K). Experimental evidence presented here reveals the inability of this variant to interact with various cognate promoters by in vitro gel shift assay. Furthermore, the elution profiles of HapR_V2G-E¹¹⁷K protein along with the wild type functional HapR_V2G in size-exclusion chromatography as well as circular dichroism spectra did not reflect any significant differences in its structure, thereby indicating the intactness of dimer in the variant protein. To gain further insight into the global shape of the proteins, small angle X-ray scattering analysis (SAXS) was performed. Intriguingly, increased radius of gyration of HapR_V2G-E¹¹⁷K of 27.5 Å in comparison to the wild type protein from SAXS data analyses implied a significant alteration in the global shape of the dimeric HapR_V2G-E¹¹⁷K protein. Structure reconstruction brought forth that the DNA binding domains were substantially “parted away” in this variant. Taken together, our data illustrates that substitution of the conserved glutamate residue by lysine in the dimerization domain induces separation of the two DNA binding domains from their native-like positioning without altering the dimeric status of HapR variant.     

Purification and Characterization of an Extracellular Low Temperature-Active and Alkaline Stable Peptidase from Psychrotrophic Acinetobacter sp. MN 12 MTCC (10786)

An extracellular low temperature-active alkaline stable peptidase from Acinetobacter sp. MN 12 was purified to homogeneity with a purification fold of 9.8. The enzyme exhibited specific activity of 6,540 U/mg protein, with an apparent molecular weight of 35 kDa. The purified enzyme was active over broad range of temperature from 4 to 60 °C with optimum activity at 40 °C. The enzyme retained more than 75 % of activity over a broad range of pH (7.0–11.0) with optimum activity at pH 9.0. The purified peptidase was strongly inhibited by phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, giving an indication of serine type. The K _m and V _max for casein and gelatin were 0.3529, 2.03 mg/ml and 294.11, 384.61 μg/ml/min respectively. The peptidase was compatible with surfactants, oxidizing agents and commercial detergents, and effectively removed dried blood stains on cotton fabrics at low temperature ranging from 15 to 35 °C.