Abstract: A total of 36 fungal endophytes were isolated from apparently healthy sweet potato plants from leaves, stems and roots collected from Baguio City. Among the isolates, only P3AL2c (GenBank accession no. JN672600.1) and P3BS1c (GenBank accession no. JN672605) significantly enhanced growth of paclobutrazol treated rice seedlings. The genomic DNA of these two fungal endophytes were isolated and ran on PCR using ITS 1 and ITS 4 primers. The PCR products were sequenced and subjected to BLASTn for detection of homology to Genbank accessions. P3AL2c was closest to Fusarium oxysporum isolate UOA/HCPF and P3BS1c was most homologous with Emericella nidulans strain FH5. Phylogenetic analysis using maximum likelihood algorithm with 1000 bootstrap replications generated the phylogenetic affinities of the isolates with Fusarium/Gibberella clade and Emericella nidulans, respectively.

Abstract: This research was undertaken to evaluate the potential utility of several biochemical parameters as indicators of the toxic effects of copper (Cu) in the freshwater clam Corbicula fluminea. Clams were exposed to Cu concentration between 0 to 0.5 mg l-1 in aquariums for 0 to 30 days. The antioxidative enzyme activities for superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione reductase were qualified by the method of Misra and Fridovich, Lucks, and Smith respectively. DNA damage was measured by single cell gel electrophoresis (Comet Assay). Antioxidative enzyme activities in clam gills from Cu were higher than control after 30 days and suggest an increase in superoxide dismutase and catalase activities. Glutathione reductase was increased in gill of clams at 0.1 to 0.5 Cu mg l-1, but Cu concentrations at 0 and 0.05 mg l-1 were decreased. The results indicated that Cu induced a relatively high level of DNA damage in hemolymph cells comparison with the control. DNA damage was elevated in clams from the Cu exposure treatment only at 5 to 15 days; by 20 and 30 days of exposure values had declined to control levels.

Abstract: Satureja bachtiarica Bunge (local name: Marzeh-e-Koohi) is an endemic specie plant that widely distributed in the Central Zagros Mountains, Iran. This study was designed to examine the chemical composition and antibacterial activity of the essential oil of Satureja bachtiarica Bunge (Lamiacae). The essential oil of Bakhtiari savoury was analyzed by GC/MS, and also tested for antibacterial activity of the essential oil was tested by agar disc diffusion and serial dilations assay against four positive-Gram (Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus agalactiae and Listeria monocytogenes) and two negative-Gram (Proteus vulgaris and Salmonella typhimurium) bacteria strains. The results showed that the major components of the oil were carvacrol (44.8%), ?-terpinen (18.7%) and thymol (14.95%). The essential oil of S. bachtiarica has strong antibacterial against bacteria strains, especially S. agalactiae, S. typhimurium and P. vulgaris. MICs of the essential oil against B. cereus = 31.25 μg/ml, S. aureus = 250 μg/ml, S. agalactiae = 31.25 μg/ml, L. monocytogenes = 62.5 μg/ml, P. vulgaris = 62.5 μg/ml and S. typhimurium = 16 μg/ml were determined. Finally, the essential oil of S. bachtiarica aerial parts could be suitable for application in the food industry and pharmaceutical.

Abstract: The enzyme activities of two hydrolases and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase were analyzed in the seedlings of four mungbean cultivars (TARM-1, Kopergaon, ML-936 and Pant M-3) differing in their resistant status. Nine day after germination, the seedlings were challenged with Cercospora canescens cell wall elicitor and spore suspension and they were evaluated periodically for the enzyme activities. The hydrolases i.e. chitinases and -1,3 glucanases were found to be induced in all seedling parts by both inducers. The activities of these enzymes were higher in resistant cultivars. The maximum activity of glucanase, chitinase and PAL was observed in cotyledons of ML-936 followed by Pant M-3. This induced activity of defense related enzymes was found to be associated with resistant status of mungbean cultivars.

Abstract: Low concentrations of heavy metals are considerably difficult to remove by conventional techniques. A viable alternative to realize such a removal may be through the application of biosorption by fungal biomass. This research was carried out to estimate the removal of lead from an aqueous solution by biomass of Aspergillus niger from artificial vinegar factory. The adsorption of Pb2+ fitted well with the Langmuir equation, giving adsorption capacity (qmax) and binding constant (b) of 47.62 mg Pb g-1 dry wt. and 3 mg l-1, respectively. The A.niger biomass could also reduce metal concentrations to low residual levels (< 50 mg l-1) within 30 minutes. The adsorption was low at pH 3 - 4, but Pb2+ was well adsorpted in the pH range from 5 to 9 (p < 0.05). Desorption of biosorbed Pb2+ was achieved by elution with 0.1 M HNO3.

Abstract: The growth performance of O. niloticus fingerlings fed with diets having fermented fish offal was investigated for a 90 days. One reference (RFM) diet (Mustard oil cake + wheat flour + rice bran + egg shell dust) and one experimental diet containing fermented fish offal (39%) were (FOM)formulated. The diets were fed twice (06.00 and 17.00 hours) daily ad libitum in two replicates. The growth experiment with these diets showed that the diet with fermented fish offal rendered highest growth of the tilapia. The diet, containing fermented fish offal showed significantly higher (P<0.05) growth, feed conversion ratio (FCR), protein efficiency ratio (PER), specific growth rate (SGR), hepatosomatic index (HSI) and gonadosomatic index (GSI) than the reference diet without fermented fish offal. Fatty acid profile of FOM fed fish was also better as compared to the reference diet. It was concluded that effectiveness of fermented fish offal could be substantially increased the growth and fish quality by accumulating more poly unsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) in fish flesh of tilapia (O. niloticus).

Abstract: The objective of the current study was to investigate the aldose reductase inhibitory activity of flavonoids using in silico docking studies. In this perspective, flavonoids like 4-methyl esculatin, silbinin, taxifolin, and wogonin were selected. Epalrestat, a known aldose reductase inhibitor was used as the standard. In silico docking studies were carried out using AutoDock 4.2, based on the Lamarckian genetic algorithm principle. The results showed that, the selected flavonoids showed binding energy ranging between -10.60 kcal/mol to -7.17 kcal/mol when compared with that of the standard (-8.73 kcal/mol). Inhibition constant (16.94 nM to 5.51 μM) and intermolecular energy (-12.99 kcal/mol to -8.37 kcal/mol) of the flavonoids also coincide with the binding energy. In the selected flavonoids, silbinin and taxifolin were contributed better aldose reductase inhibitory activity than the standard because of its structural properties. These molecular docking analyses could lead to the further development of potent aldose reductase inhibitors for the treatment of diabetes.

Abstract: Since the introduction of β-lactam antibiotics, disease causing microbial resistance to these antibiotics has become a problem increasingly. Discovery of functional residues in beta-lactamase that play major role in antibiotic resistance provide an opportunity to understand their fundamental molecular mechanisms. We present an example of extraction of functional information from protein 3D structures using a bioinformatics approach in the context of the antibiotic resistance. In case studies, 45 homologous beta-lactamase sequences were investigated using a homology based approach by ConSurf server to analyse the surface of beta-lactamase to reveal common functional features which might facilitate them to identify lactam antibiotics. We have identified functional residues using phylogenetic studies, protein sequence MSA and three-dimensional mapping. The results demonstrate the presence of antibiotic resistance specific highly conserved residues comprising of high proportion of surface-exposed hydrophobic residues as do not endure amino acid substitutions, signifying that they have critical role in antibiotic resistance and the remaining positions tolerate amino acid substitutions and may affect the substrate specificity of the beta lactamase. These functionally important residues could also potentially be used in the rational design of novel, efficient antimicrobial agents

Abstract: Direct electron transfer of hemoglobin, immobilized on a cadmium oxide nanoparticles modified carbon paste electrode, was investigated. Cadmium oxide nanoparticles synthesized by chemical methods. The prepared nanoparticles were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). The resulting electrode displayed a superior redox behavior for the hemoglobin. The hemoglobin showed a quasi-reversible electrochemical redox behavior with a formal potential of -50 mV (versus SCE) in 50 mM potassium phosphate buffer solution at pH 7.0 and temperature 25°C. The cathodic transfer coefficient was 0.40 and electron transfer rate constant was evaluated to be 1.47 s−1. Moreover, the modified electrode was used as a biosensor and exhibited a satisfactory stability and sensitivity to NO. In addition, NO induced a cathodic potential shift of the catalytic reduce peak of oxygen. This potential shift was proportional to the logarithm of NO concentration ranging from 5.0 × 10−8 to 5.0 × 10−6 mol/L. The detection limit has been estimated to be 50 nM. Thus the linear range of this biosensor for NO determination was from 0.05 to 5 μM while standard deviation in 5 μM NO concentration was 2.5% for 4 repetitions

Abstract: Sudden cardiac death is one of the most important reasons that has been recently increased the mortality rate in the world. There are many reasons that can cause cardiac death, but the most common of it, is the cardiac arrhythmia. Study of heart arrhythmia dynamics in human and finding their relation with cell processes, needs a cardiac cell model. This model should be able to represent adequate details about electrophysiology. Besides this ability, it should comprise minimum number of state variables and be computationally minimal. In this paper, a general form of nonlinear and minimal model with two-state variables is presented to cardiac muscle cell. Then, parameters of this model have been fitted by using the mean square error (MSE) and Voltage-Clamp method. In the end, this paper shows that the proposed method has better accuracy and efficiency in comparison of the method that is based on voltage-clamp.

Abstract: MicroRNAs (miRNA) have been proven to serve as important post-transcription regulators in gene expression. To understand the function of miRNAs, it is necessary to figure out the target gene of miRNAs. Here we developed a novel miRNA target predictor, miRPredictor, which is based on support vector machine (SVM) combining with feature selection procedure. We considered different types of features including the flanking sequences of the potential targets and pattern information. The features selected were also analyzed to dig out the intrinsic mechanism of miRNA-target interaction. miRPredictor is available at http://bis.zju.edu.cn/ mirpredictor/.

Abstract: All of us are surrounded and in constant contact with a variety of microorganisms in day to day life. The warm and moist environment of surroundings including floors provides optimum conditions for the growth of common micro flora. There are many microbial species commonly present on various surfaces, most of which are pathogenic only in higher concentration. In order to control growth of such organisms disinfectants are commonly used. In our laboratory, common floor micro flora were isolated, identified and efficacy of various floor disinfectants were tested suggesting Dazzl to be most effective. Whereas, according to the Indian Medical Association, Lizol and Dettol are claimed to be the most effective disinfectants. However, these experiments were limited to floor of Laboratory. In practice, there are many areas with potential to support the growth of micro organisms, but generally neglected with reference to disinfection. Therefore, in the present study, several such areas were selected and efficacy and longevity of various disinfectants was determined using in vivo analysis.

Abstract: Anti-citrullinated antibodies are autoantibodies detected in the blood of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients in the early stage. These autoantibodies recognize an epitope of citrullinated peptides found on the surface of filaggrin protein and are cross-reactive in immune response. Since the expression of filaggrin protein is associated with autoantibodies secretion, it may act as a potential serological marker for the detection of RA in early stage. In the present study, the contribution of filaggrin sequence repeats towards antigenicity was investigated using bioinformatic approaches. The electrostatic potential of citrullinated filaggrin repeats and its antigenicity was found to be the prominent factors for invoking such an immune response.

Abstract: The effect of Humates and silver nitrate on organogenesis of cotyledon and hypocotyl explants of four sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) varieties was investigated. The rate of plant regeneration was found to depend on genotype, explant type and culture medium. The cotyledons were more effective as explants for bud induction and subsequent plant elongation than hypocotyls. The highest regeneration frequency (2.35 plants per explant) was achieved in cotyledons from variety Maritsa on culture medium supplemented with 0.2 mgL-1 AgNO3. The medium containing 5.0 mlL-1 Humates promoted plant regeneration in hypocotyls. Differences in morphological characteristics and pollen fertility between seed-derived and in vitro regenerated plants grown in greenhouse conditions were registered.