Species-Specific Codon Context Rules Unveil Non-Neutrality Effects of Synonymous Mutations

Codon pair usage (codon context) is a species specific gene primary structure feature whose evolutionary and functional roles are poorly understood. The data available show that codon-context has direct impact on both translation accuracy and efficiency, but one does not yet understand how it affects these two translation variables or whether context biases shape gene evolution.Here we study codon-context biases using a set of 72 orthologous highly conserved genes from bacteria, archaea, fungi and high eukaryotes to identify 7 distinct groups of codon context rules. We show that synonymous mutations, i.e., neutral mutations that occur in synonymous codons of codon-pairs, are selected to maintain context biases and that non-synonymous mutations, i.e., non-neutral mutations that alter protein amino acid sequences, are also under selective pressure to preserve codon-context biases.Since in vivo studies provide evidence for a role of codon context on decoding fidelity in E. coli and for decoding efficiency in mammalian cells, our data support the hypothesis that, like codon usage, codon context modulates the evolution of gene primary structure and fine tunes the structure of open reading frames for high genome translational fidelity and efficiency in the 3 domains of life

The potential role of polyelectrolyte complex nanoparticles based on cashew gum, tripolyphosphate and chitosan for the loading of insulin

Polyelectrolytic complexation has stood out due to its application in the development of drug delivery systems using biopolymers as raw materials. The formation of complexes between cashew gum and chitosan can be intermediated by cross-links, mediated by the action of the sodium tripolyphosphate crosslinking agent. These polymers have been used in the nanotechnological development of formulations to protect peptide drugs, such as insulin, allowing their oral administration. In this work, we describe the development of polyelectrolytic complexes from cashew gum and chitosan as biopolymers for oral administration of insulin. The obtained complexes showed a mean particle size of 234 nm and polydispersity index of 0.2. The complexes were 234 nm in size, PDI 0.2, zeta potential 4.5 mV and 22% trapping. The obtained complexes demonstrated considerable and promising characteristics for use as oral insulin delivery systems.e Fundação de Amparo à Ciência e Tecnologia do Estado de Pernambuco (FACEPE), Banco do Nordeste (grant FUNDECI/2016.0015), Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (FCT/MCT) and from European Funds (PRODER/COMPETE) through the project UIDB/04469/2020 (strategic fund), co-financed by FEDER, under the Partnership Agreement PT2020info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Study of complexation capacity and its relationship with some environmental variables in five reservoirs of the Tietê River system

The copper and cadmium complexation properties in natural sediment suspensions of reservoirs of the Tietê River were studied using the solid membrane copper and cadmium ion-selective electrodes. The complexation and the average conditional stability constants were determined under equilibrium conditions at pH=6.00 ± 0.05 in a medium of 1.0 mol L-1 sodium nitrate, using the Scatchard method. The copper and cadmium electrodes presented Nernstian behavior from 1x10-6 to 1x10-3 mol L-1 of total metal concentration. Scatchard graphs suggest two classes of binding sites for both metals. A multivariate study was done to correlate the reservoirs and the variables: complexation properties, size, total organic carbon, volatile acid sulfide, E II and pH.15051511Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES

Cell walls of the dimorphic fungal pathogens Sporothrix schenckii and Sporothrix brasiliensis exhibit bilaminate structures and sloughing of extensive and intact layers

This work was supported by the Fundação Carlos Chagas de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ), grants E-26/202.974/2015 and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), grants 229755/2013-5, Brazil. LMLB is a senior research fellow of CNPq and Faperj. NG acknowledged support from the Wellcome Trust (Trust (097377, 101873, 200208) and MRC Centre for Medical Mycology (MR/N006364/1). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Fibrinolytic protease production by new Streptomyces sp. DPUA 1576 from amazon lichens

Background Streptomyces sp. DPUA 1576 from Amazon lichens was studied to protease and fibrinolytic production. A 22 factorial experimental design was applied to optimize its protease enzyme production using two independent variables, namely soybean flour and glucose concentrations. Results The optimal conditions to obtain high protease production (83.42 U/mL) were 1.26% soybean flour and 1.23% glucose concentration. A polynomial model was fitted to correlate the relationship between the two variables and protease activity. In relation to fibrinolytic activity, the highest activity of 706.5 mm2 was obtained at 1.7% soybean flour and 1.0% glucose concentration, which was 33% higher than plasmin. Fibrinolytic production was not optimized in the studied conditions. Conclusions These results show that the optimization of the culture medium can enhance protease production, thus becoming a good process for further research. In addition, Streptomyces sp. DPUA 1576, isolated from Amazon lichens, might be a potential strain for fibrinolytic protease production.The authors thank CAPES (National Council for the Improvement of Higher Education) for the scholarship and CNPq/RENORBIO (National Counsel of Technological and Scientific Development, N. 55146/2010-3) and FACEPE (Fundacao de Amparo a Ciencia e Tecnologia do Estado de Pernambuco, 0158-2.12/11) for the financial support

Characterization, evaluation and conservation of the Moxotó goat breed in Pernambuco, Brazil

This work aimed to characterize and evaluate the state of conservation of the goat breed in Pernambuco State, in the Northeast region of Brazil. The methodology used is based on phenotypic aspects, populational census and interviews with farmers so as to characterize the production system of these animals in this region. The means and standard deviations for morphometric measures included: body length (BL), hip height (HH), chest perimeter (CP) and adult body weight (AW) of females of the breed. These were respectively 77.30 ± 9.88 cm; 60.43 ± 7.31 cm; 63.13 ± 7.02 cm and 30.13 ± 8.43 kg. Of all animals studied, approximately 76% are Without Breed Pattern Defined (WBPD), a product of crossbreeding with native animals, especially Moxotó and Nambi with exotic breeds such as Bhuj, Saanen, Boer and Anglo-Nubian, with a predominance of the latter. Only 12% are native breeds, with a predominance of Moxotó. Some older farmers confirm that the numbers of animals of this breed are decreasing progressively in the last few years. This is confirmed where at present 76% of the herd in the region are of mixed breed, due to crossbreeding with exotic breeds

Avaliação da fertilidade do solo em perímetros irrigados: Engenheiro Arcoverde e São Gonçalo, PB

O presente trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar a fertilidade dos solos dos perímetros Irrigados Engenheiro Arcoverde e São Gonçalo, PB, situados na Bacia do Médio e Alto Piranhas, respectivamente, nos municípios de Condado e Sousa, PB. Foram retiradas amostras de solos em quatro pontos em ambas as áreas, em diferentes profundidades (0-10, 10-20, 20-30, 30-40, 40-50 e 50-60cm). As amostras foram enviadas para o laboratório de solos da UFCG, Campus de Patos-PB para posterior análise. Avaliou-se pH, matéria orgânica (M.O), fósforo (P), cálcio (Ca), magnésio (Mg) potássio (K), sódio (Na), hidrogênio + alumínio (H+Al), percentual de sódio trocável (PST), capacidade de troca catiônica (T) e percentagem de saturação por base (V). O pH apresentou-se moderadamente ácido em ambos perímetros. Quanto aos nutrientes essenciais ao desenvolvimento das plantas (P, K+, Ca2+ Mg2+) poder-se-ia dizer que os solos predominantes nas áreas em estudo, estão bem supridos. Recomenda-se o cultivo de espécies de maior exigência nutricional no perímetro irrigado Engenheiro Arcoverde, por ter destacado em todos nutrientes analisados e o plantio de espécies menos exigentes no perímetro irrigado de São Gonçalo, devido algumas limitações químicas