Support for single major genes influencing fat androstenone level and development of bulbo-urethral glands in young boars

A two-step genetic analysis was performed on data collected in a fourgeneration selection experiment comprising a control and a selected line in a Large White-Landrace crossbred population. The two-trait selection index used for choosing replacement boars of the selected line included fat androstenone level and the average thickness of right and left bulbo-urethral glands, the latter trait being an indicator of the sexual maturity status of young boars. Fat androstenone level was determined on a biopsy sample of backfat taken at 118 kg liveweight, whereas bulbo-urethral gland size was measured by echotomography, using a rectal probe, at 99 kg liveweight. A total of 949 entire males, from 57 sires and 353 dams, were recorded for both traits. In the first step of analysis, REML genetic parameters were estimated using a bivariate animal model. Heritability estimates (± SE) were 0.55 ± 0.07 for fat androstenone level and 0.63 ± 0.05 for bulbo-urethral gland size. A fairly close genetic correlation (0.68 ± 0.05) was found between the two traits. The second step of analysis consisted in testing the hypothesis of a mixed mode of inheritance (polygenes + major gene) for each trait using segregation analysis methods. A major two-allele gene was found to affect fat androstenone level. Under the genetic model that best explained the situation, the ’low androstenone’ allele (L) is completely dominant over the ’high androstenone’ allele (H), and the difference between HH and LL (or HL) genotypes amounts to three SD units of the trait. A twoallele major gene was also shown to influence bulbo-urethral gland size (difference close to two SD units between the two homozygous genotypes) with a probably incomplete dominance of the ’small size’ allele. There was no evidence for linkage of these genes with the swine leukocyte antigen (SLA) system. Whether these two postulated major genes are a unique gene or not is discussed.Cette étude concerne une analyse génétique, en deux étapes, des données recueillies dans les quatre générations d’une expérience de sélection comportant une lignée témoin et une lignée sélectionnée dans une population croisée à base de Large White et de Landrace. L’indice à deux caractères utilisé pour le choix des verrats de la lignée sélectionnée combinait la teneur en androsténone du gras et l’épaisseur moyenne des glandes bulbo-uréthrales droite et gauche, ce dernier caractère étant un indicateur du statut de maturité sexuelle des jeunes verrats. La teneur en androsténone a été mesurée sur une biopsie de gras dorsal prélevée à 118 kg de poids vif alors que le développement des glandes bulbo-uréthrales a été mesuré par échotomographie, à l’aide d’une sonde rectale, à 99 kg de poids vif. Au total, 9l,9 mâles entiers, issus de 57 pères et 353 mères, ont été mesurés pour l’un et l’autre caractère. Dans la première étape de l’analyse, les paramètres génétiques des deux caractères ont été estimés à l’aide d’une procédure REML appliquée à un modèle animal bicaractère. Les estimées d’héritabilité (± erreur standard) sont 0,55 ± 0,07 pour la teneur en androsténone du gras et 0,63 ± 0,05 pour l’épaisseur moyenne des glandes bulbo-uréthrales. Une corrélation génétique relativement élevée (0,68 ± 0,05) a été trouvée entre les deux caractères. Une seconde étape de l’étude a consisté à tester, à l’aide de méthodes d’analyse de ségrégation, l’hypothèse d’un déterminisme génétique mixte (polygènes + un gène majeur) pour chaque caractère. Un gène à effet majeur sur la teneur en androsténone du gras a été mis en évidence : selon le modèle génétique le plus explicatif, l’allèle « faible» (L) est complètement dominant sur l’allèle « fort» (H), avec une différence entre les génotypes HH et LL (ou HL) voisine de trois écarts types phénotypiques du caractère. Un gène à effet majeur sur l’épaisseur moyenne des glandes bulbo-uréthrales (différence de l’ordre de deux écarts types phénotypiques entre les génotypes homozygotes) a également été mis en évidence avec une dominance probablement incomplète de l’allèle «faible». Ces deux gènes ne semblent pas être liés avec le système d’histocompatibilité majeur (SLA). La possible identité des deux gènes majeurs postulés est discuté

Drying kinetics and determination of water sorption isotherms of corn

The study was carried out for the purpose of determining the drying kinetics as well as moisture sorption isotherm of hybrid-81 corn. Corn at about 31% moisture content (wb) was dried in a forced convective hot air cabinet dryer at different drying conditions, such as variable air dry bulb temperature (40°C, 50°C and 60°C) and loading density (3.56 kg/m2, 7.12 kg/m2, and 10.68 kg/m2) as well as in shining sun at different layers (3.56 kg/m2, 7.12 kg/m2, and 10.68 kg/m2). The water sorption isotherm of the dried corn was developed using vacuum desiccators, which contained saturated salt solutions in the range of 11-93% RHs. The mono-layer moisture content calculated by the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) model (6.76 g/100 g solid) was lesser than that calculated by the Guggenheim–Anderson–De Boer (GAB) model (10.53 g/100 g solid). The energy constants were 10.45 and 4.64 as per BET and GAB equation, respectively. Both models gave suitable fits for corn. The activation energy (Ea) for diffusion of water was found to be 11.09 kcal/gm-mole for corn. Furthermore, it was noticed that, with the increase of corn layer, the drying rate decreased in case of both sun and mechanical drying. However, higher loading density resulted in efficient drying, at least up to 10.7 kg/m2. It was shown that the drying time to obtain stability was the lowest for moisture content (12.08 %) corresponding to aw of 0.65 in case of BET or GAB monolayer moisture content. This finding could be helpful in predicting the storage life of corn

EVALUATION OF REVERSAL EFFECTS OF EUGENIA JAMBOLANA SEED EXTRACTS AGAINST HIGH-FRUCTOSE DIET-INDUCED INSULIN RESISTANCE IN ALBINO RATS

Objective: The objective of this study is to evaluate the reversal effects of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of jamun seeds against high-fructose (HFr) diet-induced insulin resistance (IR) in albino rats.Methods: Thirty male albino rats were divided into five groups (n=6), and all the group rats except normal control were provided with HFr (60% w/v) to their drinking water daily for 42 days. Group 1 and 2 served as a normal and fructose control. Groups 3, 4, and 5 were supplemented with metformin (MET 500mg/kg p.o) and aqueous and ethanolic extracts of jamun seeds (Jamun seed aqueous extract [JSAE] and Jamun seed ethanolic extract [JSEE] 1000 mg/kg of each p.o), from day 28 to day 42, respectively. Physical (body weights, food, and water intake) and biochemical (glucose, insulin, and lipid) parameters were estimated, and Homeostasis model assessment (HOMA)-IR values were calculated.Results: HFr diet significantly (p<0.05) increased weight gain and water intake with decreased food intake in rats. HFr-fed rats exhibited a significant (p<0.05) increase in fasting glucose, insulin, and lipid levels along with increased HOMA-IR values and confirms the development of IR. Supplementation with MET, JSAE, and JSEE significantly (p<0.05) restored the physical parameters and reversed fasting glucose and lipid levels in comparison with HFr control. Whereas, only JSAE had significantly reversed the fasting insulin levels in comparison with HFr control. HOMA-IR values were significantly (p<0.05) decreased in both the extract groups of HFr-fed rats, and the results were comparable to MET.Conclusion: Our study concludes that both aqueous and ethanolic extracts of jamun exhibit a significant reversal effect against HFr diet-induced IR, due to insulin-sensitizing actions at the target tissues

Acute encephalitis syndrome surveillance, Kushinagar district, Uttar Pradesh, India, 2011-2012

In India, quality surveillance for acute encephalitis syndrome (AES), including laboratory testing, is necessary for understanding the epidemiology and etiology of AES, planning interventions, and developing policy. We reviewed AES surveillance data for January 2011-June 2012 from Kushinagar District, Uttar Pradesh, India. Data were cleaned, incidence was determined, and demographic characteristics of cases and data quality were analyzed. A total of 812 AES case records were identified, of which 23\% had illogical entries. AES incidence was highest among boys<6 years of age, and cases peaked during monsoon season. Records for laboratory results (available for Japanese encephalitis but not AES) and vaccination history were largely incomplete, so inferences about the epidemiology and etiology of AES could not be made. The low-quality AES/Japanese encephalitis surveillance data in this area provide little evidence to support development of prevention and control measures, estimate the effect of interventions, and avoid the waste of public health resources

Host-Pathogen Interaction in Leishmaniasis: Immune Response and Vaccination Strategies

Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Leishmaniasis is a zoonotic and vector-borne infectious disease that is caused by the genus Leishmania belonging to the trypanosomatid family. The protozoan parasite has a digenetic life cycle involving a mammalian host and an insect vector. Leishmaniasisis is a worldwide public health problem falling under the neglected tropical disease category, with over 90 endemic countries, and approximately 1 million new cases and 20,000 deaths annually. Leishmania infection can progress toward the development of species–specific pathologic disorders, ranging in severity from self-healing cutaneous lesions to disseminating muco-cutaneous and fatal visceral manifestations. The severity and the outcome of leishmaniasis is determined by the parasite’s antigenic epitope characteristics, the vector physiology, and most importantly, the immune response and immune status of the host. This review examines the nature of host–pathogen interaction in leishmaniasis, innate and adaptive immune responses, and various strategies that have been employed for vaccine development.Funding: This research received no external funding

Design, fabrication and performance evaluation of a 22-channel direct reading atomic emission spectrometer using inductively coupled plasma as a source of excitation

The indigenous design, fabrication and performance evaluation of a polychromator, using inductively coupled plasma (ICP) as a source of excitation, are described. A concave holographic grating is used as the dispersing element and a Paschen-Runge mount is chosen to focus the spectra over a wide range along the Rowland circle. Twenty-two exit slits, mounted along the circle, precisely correspond to the wavelengths used for determination of up to twenty elements present in the plasma. Radiations emerging from the exit slits are detected by photomultiplier tubes placed behind them. The photomultiplier signal is recorded by an electronic system consisting of an integrator and a PC-based data acquisition system. The performance of the spectrometer has been evaluated with an ICP excitation source. Synthetic standards in deionized water containing a mixture of twenty impurities have been analysed. Typical determination limits observed for elements range from sub-ppm to ppm levels. All the elements present as impurities can be detected simultaneously. It is also observed that each element has a different emitting region in the ICP flame for which the maximum signal to the background is obtained. The determination limits obtained corresponding to these zones are the lowest. A study of the sensitive emitting zones for several elements has been carried out and the results are demonstrated by photographs of the ICP flame. The study will help in achieving the minimum value of determination limit for an impurity element

Genome-wide identification and prediction of SARS-CoV-2 mutations show an abundance of variants: Integrated study of bioinformatics and deep neural learning

Genomic data analysis is a fundamental system for monitoring pathogen evolution and the outbreak of infectious diseases. Based on bioinformatics and deep learning, this study was designed to identify the genomic variability of SARS-CoV-2 worldwide and predict the impending mutation rate. Analysis of 259044 SARS-CoV-2 isolates identified 3334545 mutations with an average of 14.01 mutations per isolate. Globally, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) is the most prevalent mutational event. The prevalence of C > T (52.67%) was noticed as a major alteration across the world followed by the G > T (14.59%) and A > G (11.13%). Strains from India showed the highest number of mutations (48) followed by Scotland, USA, Netherlands, Norway, and France having up to 36 mutations. D416G, F106F, P314L, UTR:C241T, L93L, A222V, A199A, V30L, and A220V mutations were found as the most frequent mutations. D1118H, S194L, R262H, M809L, P314L, A8D, S220G, A890D, G1433C, T1456I, R233C, F263S, L111K, A54T, A74V, L183A, A316T, V212F, L46C, V48G, Q57H, W131R, G172V, Q185H, and Y206S missense mutations were found to largely decrease the structural stability of the corresponding proteins. Conversely, D3L, L5F, and S97I were found to largely increase the structural stability of the corresponding proteins. Multi-nucleotide mutations GGG > AAC, CC > TT, TG > CA, and AT > TA have come up in our analysis which are in the top 20 mutational cohort. Future mutation rate analysis predicts a 17%, 7%, and 3% increment of C > T, A > G, and A > T, respectively in the future. Conversely, 7%, 7%, and 6% decrement is estimated for T > C, G > A, and G > T mutations, respectively. T > G\A, C > G\A, and A > T\C are not anticipated in the future. Since SARS-CoV-2 is mutating continuously, our findings will facilitate the tracking of mutations and help to map the progression of the COVID-19 intensity worldwide

The Phyre2 web portal for protein modeling, prediction and analysis

Phyre2 is a suite of tools available on the web to predict and analyze protein structure, function and mutations. The focus of Phyre2 is to provide biologists with a simple and intuitive interface to state-of-the-art protein bioinformatics tools. Phyre2 replaces Phyre, the original version of the server for which we previously published a paper in Nature Protocols. In this updated protocol, we describe Phyre2, which uses advanced remote homology detection methods to build 3D models, predict ligand binding sites and analyze the effect of amino acid variants (e.g., nonsynonymous SNPs (nsSNPs)) for a user's protein sequence. Users are guided through results by a simple interface at a level of detail they determine. This protocol will guide users from submitting a protein sequence to interpreting the secondary and tertiary structure of their models, their domain composition and model quality. A range of additional available tools is described to find a protein structure in a genome, to submit large number of sequences at once and to automatically run weekly searches for proteins that are difficult to model. The server is available at http://www.sbg.bio.ic.ac.uk/phyre2. A typical structure prediction will be returned between 30 min and 2 h after submission