Keragaman Jenis Burung Pada Berbagai Komunitas di Pulau Sangiang, Provinsi Banten

Burung merupakan satwa liar yang banyak ditemukan diberbagai tipe habitat. Indonesia sendiri merupakan rumah bagi 17%  spesies burung yang ada di muka bumi. Keragaman jenis burung pada suatu komunitas juga dapat menjadi indikator lingkungan. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui keragaman jenis burung pada berbagai tipe komunitas yang terdapat di Pulau Sangiang, Banten. Komunitas yang diamati yaitu komunitas hutan dataran rendah, kebun dan hutan mangrove. Metode yang digunakan adalah metode Point Count, dimana pada tiap komunitas ditentukan sebanyak enam titik hitung yang mempunyai jarak sekitar 200 m tiap titik hitungnya. Berdasarkan penelitian ini didapatkan 52 spesies burung dari 31 famili yang tersebar di masing-masing ekosistem. Dari ketiga komunitas, indeks keanekaragaman tertinggi dijumpai pada ekosistem kebun yaitu senilai 2.76, ekosistem mangrove dengan nilai 2,61 dan indeks keanekaragaman paling rendah terdapat pada ekosistem dataran rendah dengan nilai indeks keanekaragaman 2.56. Secara keseluruhan dapat disimpulkan bahwa persebaran jenis burung pada tiap komunitas merata yang ditunjukkan oleh indeks kemerataan pada masing-masing tipe komunitas yang nilainya mendekati satu

DNA sexing for gender determination of Changeable Hawk-Eagle (

The Changeable hawk-eagle (Brontok eagle) is a protected bird species. It is one of the most frequently hunted and traded birds in Indonesia. The processes of being traded changes this bird natural behaviour. Therefore, a rehabilitation effort to return the eagle’s behaviour to conform to its natural habits is needed. The ultimate goal of rehabilitation is to release the changeable hawk-eagle back into its natural habitat. In conservation and breeding programs, efforts to determine the sex of eagles to be released are very important to help increase the population of changeable hawk-eagles in their habitat by looking at the sex ratio. At the present, sex determination at the Kamojang Conservation Eagle Center (Pusat Konservasi Elang Kamojang or PKEK) uses the morphometric method. This research used the DNA sexing method with primers 2550F and 2718R to determine the sex of Changeable hawk-eagles in PKEK by extracting DNA from blood samples of 30 eagles. Comparison of DNA sexing results and morphometric data showed differences. This proves that DNA sexing, is suitable in determining changeable hawk-eagles’ sex

Deregulated E2F Activity as a Cancer-Cell Specific Therapeutic Tool

The transcription factor E2F, the principal target of the tumor suppressor pRB, plays crucial roles in cell proliferation and tumor suppression. In almost all cancers, pRB function is disabled, and E2F activity is enhanced. To specifically target cancer cells, trials have been undertaken to suppress enhanced E2F activity to restrain cell proliferation or selectively kill cancer cells, utilizing enhanced E2F activity. However, these approaches may also impact normal growing cells, since growth stimulation also inactivates pRB and enhances E2F activity. E2F activated upon the loss of pRB control (deregulated E2F) activates tumor suppressor genes, which are not activated by E2F induced by growth stimulation, inducing cellular senescence or apoptosis to protect cells from tumorigenesis. Deregulated E2F activity is tolerated in cancer cells due to inactivation of the ARF-p53 pathway, thus representing a feature unique to cancer cells. Deregulated E2F activity, which activates tumor suppressor genes, is distinct from enhanced E2F activity, which activates growth-related genes, in that deregulated E2F activity does not depend on the heterodimeric partner DP. Indeed, the ARF promoter, which is specifically activated by deregulated E2F, showed higher cancer-cell specific activity, compared to the E2F1 promoter, which is also activated by E2F induced by growth stimulation. Thus, deregulated E2F activity is an attractive potential therapeutic tool to specifically target cancer cells

Deregulated E2F Activity as a Cancer-Cell Specific Therapeutic Tool

The transcription factor E2F, the principal target of the tumor suppressor pRB, plays crucial roles in cell proliferation and tumor suppression. In almost all cancers, pRB function is disabled, and E2F activity is enhanced. To specifically target cancer cells, trials have been undertaken to suppress enhanced E2F activity to restrain cell proliferation or selectively kill cancer cells, utilizing enhanced E2F activity. However, these approaches may also impact normal growing cells, since growth stimulation also inactivates pRB and enhances E2F activity. E2F activated upon the loss of pRB control (deregulated E2F) activates tumor suppressor genes, which are not activated by E2F induced by growth stimulation, inducing cellular senescence or apoptosis to protect cells from tumorigenesis. Deregulated E2F activity is tolerated in cancer cells due to inactivation of the ARF-p53 pathway, thus representing a feature unique to cancer cells. Deregulated E2F activity, which activates tumor suppressor genes, is distinct from enhanced E2F activity, which activates growth-related genes, in that deregulated E2F activity does not depend on the heterodimeric partner DP. Indeed, the ARF promoter, which is specifically activated by deregulated E2F, showed higher cancer-cell specific activity, compared to the E2F1 promoter, which is also activated by E2F induced by growth stimulation. Thus, deregulated E2F activity is an attractive potential therapeutic tool to specifically target cancer cells