Genomic analysis reveals the biotechnological and industrial potential of levan producing halophilic extremophile, Halomonas smyrnensis AAD6T

WOS: 000359435700004PubMed ID: 26251777Halomonas smyrnensis AAD6T is a gram negative, aerobic, and moderately halophilic bacterium, and is known to produce high levels of levan with many potential uses in foods, feeds, cosmetics, pharmaceutical and chemical industries due to its outstanding properties. Here, the whole-genome analysis was performed to gain more insight about the biological mechanisms, and the whole-genome organization of the bacterium. Industrially crucial genes, including the levansucrase, were detected and the genome-scale metabolic model of H. smyrnensis AAD6T was reconstructed. The bacterium was found to have many potential applications in biotechnology not only being a levan producer, but also because of its capacity to produce Pel exopolysaccharide, polyhydroxyalkanoates, and osmoprotectants. The genomic information presented here will not only provide additional information to enhance our understanding of the genetic and metabolic network of halophilic bacteria, but also accelerate the research on systematical design of engineering strategies for biotechnology applications.Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) [MAG/110M613]; Marmara University Research Fund [FEN-C-YLP-060911-0280]This research has been financially supported by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) through Grant MAG/110M613 and by Marmara University Research Fund through Grant FEN-C-YLP-060911-0280

Determinants and perceptions of tobacco use habits of university students: An example from health services school students in Istanbul

Amaç: Sağlık Meslek Yüksekokulu öğrencilerinin tütün ve tütün ürünleri kullanma davranışlarını incelemek ve bu davranış üzerinde belirleyicifaktörleri ortaya koymaktır.Yöntem: Bu araştırma, Medipol Üniversitesi Sağlık Hizmetleri Meslek Yüksekokulu’nda gerçekleştirilmiştir. Toplam 26 soruluk olarakhazırlanan, yapılandırılmış bir anket, 307 öğrenciye yüz yüze uygulanmıştır. Veriler, SPSS 23 programı kullanılarak Pearson ki-karekorelasyon testi ve binary lojistik regresyon modeli ile analiz edilmiştir. Çalışma öncesi İstanbul Medipol Üniversitesi Girişimsel OlmayanAraştırmalar Etik Kurulu’ndan onay alınmıştır.Bulgular: Anket verileri öğrencilerin %32.6’sının tütün ürünleri (sıklıkla sigara) kullandığını, erkek öğrencilerin sigara kullanma alışkanlığısıklığının daha yüksek olduğunu, daha erken yaşlarda sigara kullanmaya başladıklarını ve günlük tüketim miktarının (adedinin) daha fazlaolduğunu göstermiştir. Sigara kullanma davranışının gelişmesinde “sigara sağlığa zararlıdır” düşüncesine sahip olmanın azaltıcı, bunakarşılık sık görüşülen arkadaşların sigara kullanmasının artırıcı etkisi olduğu görülmüştür. Üniversite eğitiminin ilk ve son yıllarıkarşılaştırıldığında, sigara kullanan öğrenci sayısının zamanla arttığı saptanmıştır.Sonuç: Önceki yıllara göre, toplumumuzda Sağlık Meslek Yüksekokulu öğrencileri arasında sigara ve nargile kullanımı artmaktadır. Bu artıştacinsiyet, arkadaş etkisi, merak, özenti, stres ve kültürel özellikler ön plana çıkmaktadır. Bu nedenle tütün ürünleri ile mücadele politikalarındabu hususların dikkate alınması önem arz etmektedir.Aim: To examine tobacco and tobacco use behaviors of the students of Health Vocational School and to reveal the determining factors on this behavior. Methods: This research was carried out in Medipol University Health Services Vocational School. A structured questionnaire with a total of 26 questions was applied to 307 students face to face. The data were analyzed using the SPSS 23 program by Pearson chi-square test and binary logistic regression model. Before the study, approval was obtained from the Medipol University Non-Invasive Research Ethics Committee. Results: The survey data showed that 32.6% of the students used tobacco products (mainly cigarettes), the frequency of smoking habit of male students was higher, they started smoking at an earlier age and the amount of daily consumption was higher. In the development of smoking behavior, it has been observed that having the belief of “smoking is harmful for health” has a decreasing effect, whereas smoking of frequently seen friends has an increasing effect. When the first and last years of university education are compared, it is found that the number of students who smoke increases over time. Conclusion: Compared to previous studies, smoking and waterpipe use are increased among Health Vocational School students in our society. In this increase, gender, peer influence, curiosity, interest, stress, and cultural characteristics come to the front. For this reason, it is important to consider these issues in policies to combat tobacco products

Digging deeper into precision/personalized medicine: cracking the sugar code, the third alphabet of life, and sociomateriality of the cell

Precision/personalized medicine is a hot topic in health care. Often presented with the motto "the right drug, for the right patient, at the right dose, and the right time," precision medicine is a theory for rational therapeutics as well as practice to individualize health interventions (e.g., drugs, food, vaccines, medical devices, and exercise programs) using biomarkers. Yet, an alien visitor to planet Earth reading the contemporary textbooks on diagnostics might think precision medicine requires only two biomolecules omnipresent in the literature: nucleic acids (e.g., DNA) and proteins, known as the first and second alphabet of biology, respectively. However, the precision/personalized medicine community has tended to underappreciate the third alphabet of life, the "sugar code" (i.e., the information stored in glycans, glycoproteins, and glycolipids). This article brings together experts in precision/personalized medicine science, pharmacoglycomics, emerging technology governance, cultural studies, contemporary art, and responsible innovation to critically comment on the sociomateriality of the three alphabets of life together. First, the current transformation of targeted therapies with personalized glycomedicine and glycan biomarkers is examined. Next, we discuss the reasons as to why unraveling of the sugar code might have lagged behind the DNA and protein codes. While social scientists have historically noted the importance of constructivism (e.g., how people interpret technology and build their values, hopes, and expectations into emerging technologies), life scientists relied on the material properties of technologies in explaining why some innovations emerge rapidly and are more popular than others. The concept of sociomateriality integrates these two explanations by highlighting the inherent entanglement of the social and the material contributions to knowledge and what is presented to us as reality from everyday laboratory life. Hence, we present a hypothesis based on a sociomaterial conceptual lens: because materiality and synthesis of glycans are not directly driven by a template, and thus more complex and open ended than sequencing of a finite length genome, social construction of expectations from unraveling of the sugar code versus the DNA code might have evolved differently, as being future-uncertain versus future-proof, respectively, thus potentially explaining the "sugar lag" in precision/personalized medicine diagnostics over the past decades. We conclude by introducing systems scientists, physicians, and biotechnology industry to the concept, practice, and value of responsible innovation, while glycomedicine and other emerging biomarker technologies (e.g., metagenomics and pharmacomicrobiomics) transition to applications in health care, ecology, pharmaceutical/diagnostic industries, agriculture, food, and bioengineering, among others

Monogenic Childhood Diabetes: Dissecting Clinical Heterogeneity by Next-Generation Sequencing in Maturity-Onset Diabetes of the Young

Diabetes is a common disorder with a heterogeneous clinical presentation and an enormous burden on health care worldwide. About 1-6% of patients with diabetes suffer from maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY), the most common form of monogenic diabetes with autosomal dominant inheritance. MODY is genetically and clinically heterogeneous and caused by genetic variations in pancreatic beta-cell development and insulin secretion. We report here new findings from targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) of 13 MODY-related genes. A sample of 22 unrelated pediatric patients with MODY and 13 unrelated healthy controls were recruited from a Turkish population. Targeted NGS was performed with Miseq 4000 (Illumina) to identify genetic variations in 13 MODY-related genes: HNF4A, GCK, HNF1A, PDX1, HNF1B, NEUROD1, KLF11, CEL, PAX4, INS, BLK, ABCC8, and KCNJ11. The NGS data were analyzed adhering to the Genome Analysis ToolKit (GATK) best practices pipeline, and variant filtering and annotation were performed. In the patient sample, we identified 43 MODY-specific genetic variations that were not present in the control group, including 11 missense mutations and 4 synonymous mutations. Importantly, and to the best of our knowledge, the missense mutations NEUROD1 p.D202E, KFL11 p.R461Q, BLK p.G248R, and KCNJ11 p.S385F were first associated with MODY in the present study. These findings contribute to the worldwide knowledge base on MODY and molecular correlates of clinical heterogeneity in monogenic childhood diabetes. Further comparative population genetics and functional genomics studies are called for, with an eye to discovery of novel diagnostics and personalized medicine in MODY. Because MODY is often misdiagnosed as type 1 or type 2 diabetes mellitus, advances in MODY diagnostics with NGS stand to benefit diabetes overall clinical care as well