Molecular genetics of naringenin biosynthesis, a typical plant secondary metabolite produced by Streptomyces clavuligerus

Background: Some types of flavonoid intermediates seemed to be restricted to plants. Naringenin is a typical plant metabolite, that has never been reported to be produced in prokariotes. Naringenin is formed by the action of a chalcone synthase using as starter 4-coumaroyl-CoA, which in dicotyledonous plants derives from phenylalanine by the action of a phenylalanine ammonia lyase. Results: A compound produced by Streptomyces clavuligerus has been identified by LC-MS and NMR as naringenin and coelutes in HPLC with a naringenin standard. Genome mining of S. clavuligerus revealed the presence of a gene for a chalcone synthase (ncs), side by side to a gene encoding a P450 cytochrome (ncyP) and separated from a gene encoding a Pal/Tal ammonia lyase (tal). Deletion of any of these genes results in naringenin non producer mutants. Complementation with the deleted gene restores naringenin production in the transformants. Furthermore, naringenin production increases in cultures supplemented with phenylalanine or tyrosine. Conclusion: This is the first time that naringenin is reported to be produced naturally in a prokariote. Interestingly three non-clustered genes are involved in naringenin production, which is unusual for secondary metabolites. A tentative pathway for naringenin biosynthesis has been proposedThis work was supported by Grant BIO2012-34723 from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitivity. R. Álvarez-Álvarez received a FPU fellowship from the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport

Hemorheologic profile in patients with angina pectoris

Thirteen patients (9 men and 4 women) with stable angina, whose ages ranged from 48 to 62 years (mean 57 years), were studied in order to establish the hemorheologic profile consequent to effort as well as some parameters of the oxygen transport system. The results were compared with those obtained from a control group of 8 healthy individuals, 4 men and 4 women, whose ages ranged from 40 to 57 years (mean 48 years). The patients presented values of P50 in vivo during rest (R) higher than the control group (p < 0.05); the filtration time of blood (FT) and the flow rate of erythrocyte filtration (FR) rose significantly from the R to the precocious recovery (Rec) phase, both in the control group (p < 0.01) and in the patients (p < 0.001). There was, therefore, no remarkable difference in these parameters as well as in arterial pH, Hb and Ht at rest and after maximum effort, between the patients and the control group. The lactate presented higher values (p < 0.05) in the control group when only early phase of Rec was taken into account. In the patients there was a significant positive correlation during rest between 2,3-DPG and FT (p < 0.05) and between PSOiv and FT (p < 0.02). This correlation was not found in the control group. It was also found a significant rise of Hi in the early phase of Rec among the patients as opposed to the control group. The results suggest: (a) adaptation of the oxygen transport system in the patients with angina through a rise of oxyhemoglobin dissociation capacity; (b) aggravation of hemorheologic profile after effort, more conspicuous in the patients than in the control group; (c) the system of oxygen transport in the patients seems to be influenced by alterations of hernoiheologic parameters

Evaluation of SiC-particle connectivity in functionally graded Al/SiCp composites by synchrotron radiation holographic microtomography

Reliability of functionally graded metal matrix composites (FGMMCs) for automotive components is still dependent on the detailed knowledge of the mechanisms of the microstructural build-up, for instance on the mechanisms leading to the distribution and relative positions of the reinforcing particles. In order to assess the influence of the SiC particle size on the 3-D inter-particle connectivity in functionally graded Al/SiCp composites produced by centrifugal casting, X-ray microtomography experiments were performed at the ID19 beamline in ESRF (European Synchrotron Radiation Facility). The FGMMCs consisted of an Al-10Si-2Mg alloy matrix, reinforced by an average SiC particle volume fraction of 0.10; two different average sizes were used: 37 μm and 12 μm. The holographic modification of the X-ray CMT (Computer Micro- Tomography) method allowed to obtain neatly contrasted images, as opposed to classical CMT.Good agreement was found between the particle size evaluated by CMT and by laser interferometry. Particle clustering has been evaluated in number and volume, showing that a lower mean particle size is related to more clustering. Such an adverse effect relies on the importance of particle/liquid alloy surface tension. Also, the mean particle size has been evaluated as a function of particle number within a cluster: as expected, the larger a cluster, the larger the particles inside it.(undefined

Customized luminescent multiplexed quick‐response codes as reliable temperature mobile optical sensors for eHealth and Internet of Things

The need to sense and track in real time through sustainable and multifunctional labels is exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, where the simultaneous measurement of body temperature and the fast tracking of people is required. One of the big challenges is to develop effective low-cost systems that can promote healthcare provision everywhere and for that, smarter and personalized Internet of things (IoT) devices are a pathway in large exploration, toward cost reduction and sustainability. Using the concept of color-multiplexed quick response (QR) codes, customized smart labels formed by two independent layers and smart location patterns provide simultaneous tracking and multiple synchronous temperature reading with maximum sensitivity values of 8.5% K−1 in the physiological temperature range, overwhelming the state-of-the-art optical sensor for healthcare services provided electronically via the internet (eHealth) and mobile sensors (mHealth).publishe

Tunable Energy-Transfer Process in Heterometallic MOF Materials Based on 2,6-Naphthalenedicarboxylate: Solid-State Lighting and Near-Infrared Luminescence Thermometry

Trivalent lanthanide ions (Ln3+) are used to prepare a plethora of coordination compounds, with metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) being among the most sought-after in recent years. The porosity of Ln-MOFs is often complemented by the luminescence imparted by the metal centers, making them attractive multifunctional materials. Here, we report a class of three-dimensional (3D) MOFs obtained from a solvothermal reaction between 2,6-naphthalenedicarboxylic acid (H2NDC) and lanthanide chlorides, yielding three types of compounds depending on the chosen lanthanide: [LnCl(NDC)(DMF)] for Ln3+ = La3+, Ce3+, Pr3+, Nd3+, Sm3+ (type 1), [Eu(NDC)1.5(DMF)]·0.5DMF (type 2), and [Ln2(NDC)3(DMF)2] for Ln3+ = Tb3+, Dy3+, Y3+, Er3+, Yb3+ (type 3). Photoluminescent properties of selected phases were explored at room temperature. The luminescence thermometry capability of Yb3+-doped Nd-MOF was fully investigated in the 15-300 K temperature range under 365 and 808 nm excitation. To describe the optical behavior of the isolated MOFs, we introduce the total energy-transfer balance model. Therein, the sum of energy-transfer rates is considered along with its dependence on the temperature - the sign, magnitude, and variation of this parameter - permitting to afford a thorough interpretation of the observed behavior of the luminescent species of all materials presented here. The combination of novel theoretical and experimental studies presented herein to describe energy-transfer processes in luminescent materials can pave the way toward the design of MOF-based chemical and physical sensors working in an optical range of interest for biomedical applications.Fil: Gomez, Germán Ernesto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Investigaciones en Tecnología Química. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Instituto de Investigaciones en Tecnología Química; ArgentinaFil: Marin, Riccardo. University of Ottawa; CanadáFil: Carneiro Neto, Albano N.. Universidade de Aveiro; PortugalFil: Botas, Alexandre M. P.. Universidade de Aveiro; PortugalFil: Ovens, Jeffrey. University of Ottawa; CanadáFil: Kitos, Alexandros A.. University of Ottawa; CanadáFil: Bernini, Maria Celeste. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Investigaciones en Tecnología Química. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Instituto de Investigaciones en Tecnología Química; ArgentinaFil: Carlos, Luís D.. Universidade de Aveiro; PortugalFil: Soler Illia, Galo Juan de Avila Arturo. Universidad Nacional de San Martin. Instituto de Nanosistemas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Murugesu, Muralee. University of Ottawa; Canad

eggNOG 6.0: enabling comparative genomics across 12 535 organisms

The eggNOG (evolutionary gene genealogy Non-supervised Orthologous Groups) database is a bioinformatics resource providing orthology data and comprehensive functional information for organisms from all domains of life. Here, we present a major update of the database and website (version 6.0), which increases the number of covered organisms to 12 535 reference species, expands functional annotations, and implements new functionality. In total, eggNOG 6.0 provides a hierarchy of over 17M orthologous groups (OGs) computed at 1601 taxonomic levels, spanning 10 756 bacterial, 457 archaeal and 1322 eukaryotic organisms. OGs have been thoroughly annotated using recent knowledge from functional databases, including KEGG, Gene Ontology, UniProtKB, BiGG, CAZy, CARD, PFAM and SMART. eggNOG also offers phylogenetic trees for all OGs, maximising utility and versatility for end users while allowing researchers to investigate the evolutionary history of speciation and duplication events as well as the phylogenetic distribution of functional terms within each OG. Furthermore, the eggNOG 6.0 website contains new functionality to mine orthology and functional data with ease, including the possibility of generating phylogenetic profiles for multiple OGs across species or identifying single-copy OGs at custom taxonomic levels. eggNOG 6.0 is available at http://eggnog6.embl.de

Integrated genomics and proteomics define huntingtin CAG length-dependent networks in mice.

To gain insight into how mutant huntingtin (mHtt) CAG repeat length modifies Huntington's disease (HD) pathogenesis, we profiled mRNA in over 600 brain and peripheral tissue samples from HD knock-in mice with increasing CAG repeat lengths. We found repeat length-dependent transcriptional signatures to be prominent in the striatum, less so in cortex, and minimal in the liver. Coexpression network analyses revealed 13 striatal and 5 cortical modules that correlated highly with CAG length and age, and that were preserved in HD models and sometimes in patients. Top striatal modules implicated mHtt CAG length and age in graded impairment in the expression of identity genes for striatal medium spiny neurons and in dysregulation of cyclic AMP signaling, cell death and protocadherin genes. We used proteomics to confirm 790 genes and 5 striatal modules with CAG length-dependent dysregulation at the protein level, and validated 22 striatal module genes as modifiers of mHtt toxicities in vivo