Effect of gluten formation on wheat quality

Wheat gluten contains two type of protein molecules namely gliadins and glutenins. Gliadin and glutenins play main role in determining viscoelastic properties of wheat dough and other technological quality parameters. Gluten proteins can cause intestinal disorders or celiac disease in some gluten intolerant individuals. This require the selection of cultivars having low gluten content. In this paper gluten content of 10 old wheat cultivars created in former Yugoslavia were analyzed during two year (2011-2013) with different climatic conditions (temperature and precipitation). In first year the dry gluten content varied between 24.21% (Lasta) and 32.16% (Macvanka 2), while in the second year all cultivars had higher gluten content and changed from 26.95% (Loznicanka) to 36.36% (Crvenkapa). The protein content and loaf volume were also higher in all cultivars in the second year in comparison to the values of the first experimental year. The presence of gliadin alleles at Gli-A1 and Gli-A2 loci, controlling α-, β-, γ- and ω-gliadins were also analyzed and probability of their origin were estimated. Five alleles (a, b, f, h, k) were present in Gli-A1 locus in Yugoslav cultivars while 7 alleles (b, e, g, j, k, o, p) were present at Gli-A2 locus in cultivars originating from other countries (Italy, Hungary, Romania, France, Great Britain, Mexico and the late Soviet Union), Gli-A1h allele was not present in any studied foreign cultivars. Lasta variety was identified with the lowest gluten content and being the most suitable for breeding and bread making for celiac patient.16th Alps-Adria Workshop – Synergism in Science, Opatija, Croatia, 201

Intelligent thermopile-based vacuum sensor

We report here the development of a simple and low-cost intelligent vacuum sensor based on multipurpose thermopile MEMS chips. Our devices have a p(+)Si heater and two thermopiles with 30 p(+)Si/Al thermocouples each. Thermal and electrical isolation is provided by a sandwich membrane (residual n-Si and sputtered oxide). The sensor utilizes for its intelligent mode of operation a modified version of an existing processing module we developed for our piezoresistive sensors

New radiometric ages for the BH-1 hominin from Balanica (Serbia): implications for understanding the role of the Balkans in Middle Pleistocene human evolution

Newly obtained ages, based on electron spin resonance combined with uranium series isotopic analysis, and infrared/post-infrared luminescence dating, provide a minimum age that lies between 397 and 525 ka for the hominin mandible BH-1 from Mala Balanica cave, Serbia. This confirms it as the easternmost hominin specimen in Europe dated to the Middle Pleistocene. Inferences drawn from the morphology of the mandible BH-1 place it outside currently observed variation of European Homo heidelbergensis. The lack of derived Neandertal traits in BH-1 and its contemporary specimens in Southeast Europe, such as Kocabaş, Vasogliano and Ceprano, coupled with Middle Pleistocene synapomorphies, suggests different evolutionary forces acting in the east of the continent where isolation did not play such an important role during glaciations

A portable BRCA1-HAC (human artificial chromosome) module for analysis of BRCA1 tumor suppressor function

BRCA1 is involved in many disparate cellular functions, including DNA damage repair, cell-cycle checkpoint activation, gene transcriptional regulation, DNA replication, centrosome function and others. The majority of evidence strongly favors the maintenance of genomic integrity as a principal tumor suppressor activity of BRCA1. At the same time some functional aspects of BRCA1 are not fully understood. Here, a HAC (human artificial chromosome) module with a regulated centromere was constructed for delivery and expression of the 90 kb genomic copy of the BRCA1 gene into BRCA1-deficient human cells. A battery of functional tests was carried out to demonstrate functionality of the exogenous BRCA1. In separate experiments, we investigated the role of BRCA1 in maintenance of heterochromatin integrity within a human functional kinetochore. We demonstrated that BRCA1 deficiency results in a specific activation of transcription of higher-order alpha-satellite repeats (HORs) assembled into heterochromatin domains flanking the kinetochore. At the same time no detectable elevation of transcription was observed within HORs assembled into centrochromatin domains. Thus, we demonstrated a link between BRCA1 deficiency and kinetochore dysfunction and extended previous observations that BRCA1 is required to silence transcription in heterochromatin in specific genomic loci. This supports the hypothesis that epigenetic alterations of the kinetochore initiated in the absence of BRCA1 may contribute to cellular transformation

The Past, Present, and Future of Human Centromere Genomics

The centromere is the chromosomal locus essential for chromosome inheritance and genome stability. Human centromeres are located at repetitive alpha satellite DNA arrays that compose approximately 5% of the genome. Contiguous alpha satellite DNA sequence is absent from the assembled reference genome, limiting current understanding of centromere organization and function. Here, we review the progress in centromere genomics spanning the discovery of the sequence to its molecular characterization and the work done during the Human Genome Project era to elucidate alpha satellite structure and sequence variation. We discuss exciting recent advances in alpha satellite sequence assembly that have provided important insight into the abundance and complex organization of this sequence on human chromosomes. In light of these new findings, we offer perspectives for future studies of human centromere assembly and function

Absence of amyloid-beta in lenses of Alzheimer patients: A confocal Raman microspectroscopic study

We have compared the protein profiles in plaques and tangles in the hippocampus of post-mortem Alzheimer brains and in opaque and clear regions in the deep cortex of eye lenses of the same donors. From the 7 Alzheimer donors studied, 1 had pronounced bilateral cortical lens opacities, 1 moderate and 5 only minor or no cortical opacities. We focused on beta-sheet levels, a hallmarking property of amyloid-beta, the major protein of plaques and tau protein, the major protein of tangles in Alzheimer brains. Confocal Raman microspectroscopy and imaging was used in combination with hierarchical cluster analysis. Plaques and tangles show high levels of beta-sheets with a beta-sheet to protein ratio of 1.67. This ratio is 1.12 in unaffected brain tissue surrounding the plaques and tangles. In the lenses this ratio is 1.17 independently of the presence or absence of opacities. This major difference in beta-sheet conformation between hippocampus and lens is supported by Congo red and immunostaining of amyloid-beta and tau which were positive for plaques and tangles in the hippocampus but fully negative for the lens irrespective of the presence or absence of opacities. In line with a previous study (Michael et al., 2013) we conclude that cortical lens opacities are not typical for Alzheimer patients and are not hallmarked by accumulation of amyloid-beta, and can thus not be considered as predictors or indicators of Alzheimer disease as claimed by Goldstein et al. (2003)