Modification of the carotenoid production of mucor circinelloides using different xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous crts genes

Canthaxanthin and astaxanthin are oxygenated derivatives of β-carotene and have several beneficial effects on the animal and human health. They are mainly used as feed additives, especially for fishes and poultry. The aim of the present study is to examine the biological requirements for the microbial production of these natural pigments. Mucor circinelloides has been used as model organism of the microbial carotenoid biosynthesis. Previously, canthaxanthin production was achieved in this fungus by integrating a modified bacterial β-carotene-ketolase gene in the genome of M. circinelloides. In the present study, crtS genes of different X. dendrorhous strains were cloned and expressed in β-carotene producing wild type and canthaxanthin producing mutant M. circinelloides strains. X. dendrorhous is an astaxanthin producing basidiomycete yeast. Previously, it was proven, that the cythochrome-P450 hydroxylase enzyme encoded by the crtS gene has β-carotenehydroxylase activity (ÁLVAREZ et al., 2006). A hypothethical β-carotene-ketolase activity has also been suggested (OJIMA et al., 2006), but it has not been verified yet. In our study, crtS genes with different sequences were amplified and several plasmids were constructed carrying the isolated genes under the control of the regulator regions of the Mucor glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase 1 gene. The plasmids were transformed into the fungal protoplasts. Analysis of the carotenoid content of the transformants revealed astaxanthin production in the resulting strains. This work has been supported by the KTIA-OTKA grant CK 80188

Knowledge co-production with traditional herders on cattle grazing behaviour for better management of species-rich grasslands

The research gap between rangeland/livestock science and conservation biology/vegetation ecology has led to a lack of evidence needed for grazing-related conservation management. Connecting scientific understanding with traditional ecological knowledge of local livestock keepers could help bridge this research and knowledge gap. We studied the grazing behaviour (plant selection and avoidance) of beef cattle (c. 33,000 bites) on species-rich lowland pastures in Central Europe and traditional herding practices. We also did >450 outdoor interviews with traditional herders about livestock behaviour, herders' decisions to modify grazing behaviour and effects of modified grazing on pasture vegetation. We found that cattle grazing on species-rich pastures displayed at least 10 different behavioural elements as they encountered 117 forage species from highly desired to rejected. The small discrimination error suggests that cattle recognize all listed plants ‘by species’. We also found that herders had broad knowledge of grazing desire and they consciously aimed to modify desire by slowing, stopping or redirecting the herd. Modifications were aimed at increasing grazing intensity in less-desired patches and decreasing grazing selectivity in heterogenous swards. Synthesis and applications. The traditional herd management practices presented here have significant conservation benefits, such as avoiding under- and overgrazing, and targeted removal of pasture weeds, litter and encroaching bushes, tall competitive plants and invasive species. We argue that knowledge co-production with traditional herders who belong to another knowledge system could help connect isolated scientific disciplines especially if ecologists and rangeland scientists work closely with traditional herders, co-designing research projects and working together in data collection, analysis and interpretation. Stronger links between these disciplines could help develop evidence-based, specific conservation management practices while herders could contribute with their practical experiences and with real-world testing of new management techniques.Fil: Molnár, Zsolt. Institute of Ecology and Botany; HungríaFil: Kelemen, András. Institute of Ecology and Botany; HungríaFil: Kun, Róbert. Szent István University. Department of Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology; HungríaFil: Máté, János. Cattle Herder, Tatárszentgyörgy; HungríaFil: Sáfián, László. Cattle Herder, Tatárszentgyörgy; HungríaFil: Provenza, Fred. University of Utah; Estados UnidosFil: Díaz, Sandra Myrna. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Barani, Hossein. Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources; IránFil: Biró, Marianna. GINOP Sustainable Ecosystems Group; HungríaFil: Máté, András. Dorcadion Kft; HungríaFil: Vadász, Csaba. Kiskunság National Park; Hungrí

The effect of physical stimuli on the expression level of key elements in mitochondrial biogenesis

Proper mitochondrial function is crucial for intact cellular homeostasis. Mitochondrial dysfunction is clearly involved in the pathogenesis of most neurodegenerative- and age-related chronic disorders. The aim of this study is to stimulate cellular production of important compounds of mitochondrial biogenesis, namely in the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator (PGC)- and Sirtuin (SIRT)-systems. We studied the effect of cold challenge and training on the mRNA expression levels of some compounds of these systems in different brain areas of mice. With regard to the PGC-system, the mRNA levels of the full- and N-truncated isoforms, and those of the two promoters (brain-specific, reference) were measured. In case of Sirtuins, the mRNA levels of SIRT1 and SIRT3-M1/M2/M3 were assessed. We found the following expression level alterations: cooling resulted in the elevation of cortical SIRT3-M1 levels and the decrease of cerebellar SIRT3-M3 levels after 200 min. 900 min of cold exposure resulted in the reduction of cortical SIRT1 and striatal SIRT3-M1 levels. A prominent elevation could be observed in the levels of all PGC-1α isoforms in the cerebellum after 12 days of training. The 12 days of exercise resulted in increased cerebellar SIRT3-M1 and SIRT3-M2 mRNA levels as well. Although the efficacy of cooling core body and brain temperature is questionable, we found that training exerted a clear effect. The cause of the prominent cerebellar elevation of PGC-, and Sirtuin isoforms could be an increase in synaptic plasticity between Purkinje cells, which facilitates better motor coordination and more precise movement integration. We propose that these systems may serve as promising targets for future therapeutic studies in neurodegenerative diseases

Preservation effect of cinnamon and clove essential oil vapors on shelled walnut

Shelled walnut (Juglans regia) kernels are prone to rancidity during storage. In this study we examined the preservation effect of cinnamon and clove essential oil (EO) vapors compared to cold storage and vacuum packaging by measuring the hexanal content, indicating rancidity, in stored walnut kernels. Odor and taste of stored shelled walnut was investigated by sensory evaluation and by measuring residues of the main EO components in the kernels. During storage under EO vapors, cinnamaldehyde and eugenol were absorbed on the surface of walnuts in a time-dependent manner changing the odor and taste of the kernels. Clove (Syzygium aromaticum) EO prevented rancidity and EO treated kernels were rated as acceptable by the sensory panel while cinnamon EO treatment increased rancidity compared to the other treatments and the control samples

nucleAIzer: A Parameter-Free Deep Learning Framework for Nucleus Segmentation Using Image Style Transfer

Single-cell segmentation is typically a crucial task of image-based cellular analysis. We present nucleAIzer, a deep-learning approach aiming toward a truly general method for localizing 2D cell nuclei across a diverse range of assays and light microscopy modalities. We outperform the 739 methods submitted to the 2018 Data Science Bowl on images representing a variety of realistic conditions, some of which were not represented in the training data. The key to our approach is that during training nucleAIzer automatically adapts its nucleus-style model to unseen and unlabeled data using image style transfer to automatically generate augmented training samples. This allows the model to recognize nuclei in new and different experiments efficiently without requiring expert annotations, making deep learning for nucleus segmentation fairly simple and labor free for most biological light microscopy experiments

Kriptovaluta, mint fizetőeszköz

A témaválasztásunk azért esett a kriptovalutára, mivel manapság egyre többen használják az elektronikus fizetőeszközöket. Szakdolgozatunk nagy részében igyekeztünk minden kriptopénzekkel kapcsolatos kérdésre választ adni és egy valós képet nyújtani, hogy milyen helyzetben van most ez a pénzügyi szektor. Kérdőívünk segítségével elemeztük ki, hogy Magyarországon milyen megítélése van ennek a valutaformának. Készítettünk egy kutatást is, melyben számszerűsítettük a bányászat jövedelmezőségét. A kutatásunk alatt megszerzett tapasztalatok alapján, következtetéseket és javaslatokat tettünk azoknak, akik érdeklődnek a bányászat, a kereskedelem vagy a kriptopénz tőzsde iránt. Végül, összegeztük a tanultakat és egy lehetséges jövőképet írtunk le a kriptovalutákról.BSc/BAGazdaságinformatiku