Phlebotomus papatasi SP15: mRNA expression variability and amino acid sequence polymorphisms of field populations

Citation: Ramalho-Ortigao, M., Coutinho-Abreu, I. V., Balbino, V. Q., Figueiredo, C. A. S., Mukbel, R., Dayem, H., . . . McDowell, M. A. (2015). Phlebotomus papatasi SP15: mRNA expression variability and amino acid sequence polymorphisms of field populations. Parasites & Vectors, 8, 14. doi:10.1186/s13071-015-0914-2Background: The Phlebotomus papatasi salivary protein PpSP15 was shown to protect mice against Leishmania major, suggesting that incorporation of salivary molecules in multi-component vaccines may be a viable strategy for anti-Leishmania vaccines. Methods: Here, we investigated PpSP15 predicted amino acid sequence variability and mRNA profile of P. papatasi field populations from the Middle East. In addition, predicted MHC class II T-cell epitopes were obtained and compared to areas of amino acid sequence variability within the secreted protein. Results: The analysis of PpSP15 expression from field populations revealed significant intra-and interpopulation variation.. In spite of the variability detected for P. papatasi populations, common epitopes for MHC class II binding are still present and may potentially be used to boost the response against Le. major infections. Conclusions: Conserved epitopes of PpSP15 could potentially be used in the development of a salivary gland antigen-based vaccine.Additional Authors: Lobo, N. F.;Mahon, A. R.;Emrich, S. J.;Kamhawi, S.;Collins, F. H.;McDowell, M. A

Revisiting Politicide: State Annihilation in Israel/Palestine

State annihilation is a persistent concern in Israel/Palestine. While the specter of Israel’s destruction increasingly haunts Israeli public political debates, the actual materialization of Palestinian statehood seems to be permanently suspended, caught in an ever-protracted process of state-building. The current paper claims that to understand the unfolding of the discursive formations, as well as the spatial dimensions of conflict and control in Israel/Palestine, we should explicate the workings of the processes of politicide. Politicide, in this regard, denotes the eradication of the political existence of a group and sabotaging the turning of a community of people into a polity. This analysis suggests that the insistence that the State of Israel is under threat of extinction should be understood as a speech act, a performative reiteration, which allows for the securitization of Israeli rule in the occupied Palestinian territory, a securitization which then serves to rationalize the ongoing concrete politicide of the Palestinians. Elaborating on the concept of politicide, and diverging from defining it solely through the use of brute violence, this examination suggests that what is often overlooked in discussions of politicide are the seemingly more benign means of its implementation, the micro-power mechanisms of spatial control, prohibitions and regulations

Qur’anic Ethics for Environmental Responsibility: Implications for Business Practice

Despite the growing interest in examining the role of religious beliefs as a guide towards environmental conscious actions, there is still a lack of research informed by an analysis of divine messages. This deficiency includes the extent to which ethics for environmental responsibility are promoted within textual divine messages; types of environmental themes promoted within the text of divine messages; and implications of such religious environmental ethics for business practice. The present study attempts to fill this gap by conducting a thorough content analysis of environmental themes within the divine message of Muslims (the Qur’an) focusing on their related ethical aspects and business implications. The analysis has revealed 675 verses in 84 chapters throughout all 30 parts of the Qur’an, with environmental content relating to the core components of the natural world, i.e. human beings, water, air, land, plants, animals, and other natural resources. This environmental content and its related ethics are grounded on the belief that humans are vicegerents of God on the earth and their behaviours and actions are motivated by earthly and heavenly rewards. Implications of these findings for different sectors/businesses are also highlighted

Common components and specific weights analysis: A chemometric method for dealing with complexity of food products

International audienceFood products can be considered as complex systems that have to be described by several kinds of measurements. Nowadays, in food industry, more and more studies result in different data tables obtained from various types of measurements carried out on the same samples. In these situations, chemometrics provide invaluable tools, which makes it possible to take into account the whole information contained in the data tables and to discriminate between samples. We show in this work that the investigation of the relationships among data tables collected on the same samples can be a powerful approach in: – Food engineering and reverse engineering. In this case the relationships among data tables collected in the course of the fabrication process can be used to set up ‘‘technological paths’’ of the products. – The global characterization of food products. In this case the relationships among data tables collected by means of different methods can be used for an exhaustive characterization of the products. Each of these topics is illustrated in this paper by a case study. The investigation of the relationships between data tables was performed using a chemometric method: Common Components and Specific Weights Analysis. A brief presentation of the method together with recent developments is outlined

Molecular investigation of two contrasting genotypes of Medicago truncatula to salt stress using two expressed sequence tag-simple sequence repeat (EST-SSRs) markers

Two expressed sequence EST-SSRs primers were used to show genetic variation and determine a potential link of these markers to salt stress tolerance on two contrasting Medicago truncatula genotypes (Tru 131 tolerant genotype, and Jemalong, sensitive one). The amplification of the DNA were isolated from 10 individual seedlings for each genotype (tolerant and sensitive) with two Expressed Sequence Tag-Simple Sequence Repeat (EST-SSR) primers (MTIC 044) and (MTIC 124) produced a total of 20 amplified products, of which MTIC 124 was polymorphic. The sizes of the alleles detected ranged from 100 to 280 bp. The EST-SSRs markers were polymorphic with an average of 1.33 alleles per primers and gave moderate values of polymorphic information content (PIC) that ranged from 0 to 0.267. The analysis of polymorphism loci for each genotype showed that the tolerant genotype (Tru 131) population had two alleles; genetic diversity index of 0.32 and PIC value of 0.267. The results obtained from unigene database of highly similarity proteins sequences with these loci showed that these two EST- SSRs loci MTIC 044 and MTIC 124 encode GATA transcription factor and cysteine proteinase inhibitor, respectively and were expressed principally in root in M. truncatula. This data suggest that these two loci are involved in salt stress tolerance and the two EST-SSR markers used are appropriate for the studying of salt stress tolerance in M. truncatula.Keywords: Medicago truncatula, salt stress, in silico analysis, expressed sequence tag-simple sequence repeat (EST-SSR), UniGene / UniProt databases.African Journal of Biotechnology, Vol 13(41) 4046-405