Molecular diversity of Symbiodinium spp. within six coral species in Larak Island, the Persian Gulf

Reef-building coral harbor communities of photosynthetic taxa of the genus Symbiodinium (zooxanthellae). The genus Symbiodinium is currently classified into nine genetic clades (A–I). Various corals harbor different Symbiodinium clades; some show specificity to a single strain. Coral and their zooxanthellae are sensitive to environmental stresses. In the Persian Gulf, coral reefs are subject to harsh environmental conditions including extreme temperatures and high salinity. This is the first study to use clade specific primers to clarify the diversity of Symbiodinium in each coral species of Larak Island. For this purpose six coral species were collected at two different locations in Larak Island. After DNA extraction, PCR amplification was performed using clade specific primers. The results showed that multiple Symbiodinium clades are hosted by most coral species. In addition, among thirteen obtained Symbiodinium sequences, the frequency of either tree [sic] clades, A, C and D was almost the same. Corals species may contain different clades of Symbiodinium depending on the region and on the tolerance characteristics of each clade. Thus, knowledge of zooxanthellae diversity associated with scleractinian can contribute to a better understanding of the sensitivity of corals to environmental conditions

Genome-wide analysis of alternative splicing events in Hordeum vulgare: highlighting retention of intron-based splicing and its possible function through network analysis

In this study, using homology mapping of assembled expressed sequence tags against the genomic data, we identified alternative splicing events in barley. Results demonstrated that intron retention is frequently associated with specific abiotic stresses. Network analysis resulted in discovery of some specific sub-networks between miRNAs and transcription factors in genes with high number of alternative splicing, such as cross talk between SPL2, SPL10 and SPL11 regulated by miR156 and miR157 families. To confirm the alternative splicing events, elongation factor protein (MLOC_3412) was selected followed by experimental verification of the predicted splice variants by Semi quantitative Reverse Transcription PCR (qRT-PCR). Our novel integrative approach opens a new avenue for functional annotation of alternative splicing through regulatory-based network discovery.Bahman Panahi, Seyed Abolghasem Mohammadi, Reyhaneh Ebrahimi Khaksefidi, Jalil Fallah Mehrabadi, Esmaeil Ebrahimi

Biodiversity of order Zoantharia in the Persian Gulf: Hormoz Island

The order Zoantharia (Zoanthids) is one of the most neglected orders of Cnidarians in the Persian Gulf. The present study aims to investigate the biodiversity of this order with morphological and molecular examination in Hormoz Island. For this purpose 34 colonies of zoanthids with variety of shape and colors have been collected of intertidal and shallow water region of Hormoz Island. After sampling, morphological characteristic of each specimen were recorded based in situ photographs. Then DNA was extracted using the CTAB- Chloroform method and mt 16s rDNA gene fragment was amplified and sequenced. The results of preliminary morphological identification integrated with mitochondrial marker sequencing demonstrated the presence of at least three different species in Hormoz Island; Zoanthus sansibaricus, Palythoa cf. mutuki and Palythoa tuberculosa. Although at first sight, morphological characteristics were not successful to identify zoanthid to the species level, after molecular identification they establish as reliable criteria to identify and delineate species

Association of the exotoxin A and exoenzyme S with antimicrobial resistance

INTRODUCTION: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a gram-negative and opportunistic bacterium that causes opportunistic infections in immunosuppressed patients. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the association between exotoxin A and exoenzyme S production with antibiotic resistance patterns. METHODS: The toxA and exoS genes were detected in 102 clinical isolates by PCR. Antibiotic susceptibility tests were performed by disk diffusion method (Kirby Bauer). The chi square and Fisher's test were used for evaluation of the association between �toxins and infections source� and �toxins and antibiotic resistance� respectively. RESULTS: Frequency of toxA+ and exoS+ strains was 81 and 61, respectively. The association between drug resistance and toxA+ genotype was significant for all antibiotics tested (P 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: High frequency of toxA+ resistant strains isolated from inpatients and significant association between the toxin and drug resistance in more antibiotics, reinforces possible role of exotoxin A as an extracellular protein in the regulation of drug resistance genes. The results may be further verified by Southern blot analysis of toxA and exoS gene expression and elucidation of the mechanism of antibiotic resistance. © 2016, Academy of Medical Sciences of I.R. Iran. All rights reserved

Molecular detection of TEM and AmpC (Dha, mox) broad spectrum β-lactamase in clinical isolates of Escherichia coli

"nBackground: Beta- lactamase enzymes are the most important resistant factors to beta lactam antibiotics among gram negative bacteria. Nowadays, the prevalence of beta- lactamase infection is increasing worldwide and drawn the scientists attention as an important subject. Due to high prevalence of bacteria contained TEM beta lactamase and AmpC enzymes, using molecular methods especially designing universal primers could be valuable to detect all of them. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of TEM and AmpC (Dha and MOX) beta- lactamase genes using universal primers. "nMethods: A total of 500 clinical specimens from various Hospitals in Tehran, Iran were collected and analyzed for E. coli based on biochemical tests. These clinical specimens were also screened by Disk diffusion agar, combined disk method and PCR to detect the samples producing extended- spectrum beta- lactamase. "nResults: Overall 200 isolates of Escherichia coli were collected from the 500 clinical specimens out of which 128(64%) isolates were positive by PCR assay and showed bla- TEM, bla- AmpC (Dha, MOX) genes, 74(57.8%) and 5(3.9%) to have bla- TEM and bla Dha, respectively. Mox gene was not detected in any of the specimens. "nConclusions: Our results revealed that using the molecular methods with phenotype methods is very essential for complete detection of Beta- lactamases. There is the need for updating the treatment protocol because the prevalence of this resistance is increasing