-Amylase production by Penicillium fellutanum isolated from mangrove rhizosphere soil

The effects of pH, temperature, incubation time, salinity, sources of carbon and nitrogen were tested in submerged fermentation process in production of -amylase by Penicillium fellutanum isolated from coastal mangrove soil. The production medium without addition of seawater and with provision ofmaltose as carbon source, peptone as nitrogen source, incubated for 96 h, maintained with pH of 6.5 at 30oC, was found optimal for production of -amylase by P. fellutanu

Ethical Studies in Aacharakkovai

Aacharakkovai is a poetic work of didactic nature belonging to eighteen texts anthology of Tamil literature. This book guides man to live his life in a good manner from birth to death. By adapting the book Aaridam, the writer has sung more than hundred songs in this book. This book is written in Venba style and it belongs to the fifth century. The author of this book is Kayathur Mulliyar. Aacharam means the moral standards that people follow in life. This book has been created with the notion that all the people of the world can know the moral standards that should be followed in life. This article examines the values of academic discipline that is prevalent in Aacharakkovai. Education is an important principle of morality. Educated people live with discipline. Academic discipline is a code of conduct that can be cherished at all times. The purpose of this article is to know and explain such educational thoughts through Aacharakkovai

A review on marine based nanoparticles and their potential applications

The increasing demands on nanoparticles have wide pertinent in almost all the fields. Marine ecosystem has variety of living resources, which includes prokaryotes like microorganism to eukaryotic organism like higher plants and animals. The present review dealt with the application of marine organisms in nanotechnology. Our discussion mainly focused on what the marine organisms are involved in and what type of nanoparticles is synthesized, including size and, medical and medicinal applications. Based on our observation through this review, it will be a good reference document for the further research on marine ecosystem to develop drug from sea. Keywords: Nanomaterial, marine animals, mangroves, marine microbe

Chromosome 1p13 genetic variants antagonize the risk of myocardial infarction associated with high ApoB serum levels

PMCID: PMC3480949This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

First record of Coelastrella vacuolata (Chlorophyta: Scenedesmaceae) in Tuticorin coast, Gulf of Mannar

Present study was aimed to isolate marine green algae from the sea water samples of Tuticorin coast, Gulf of Mannar. The collected seawater was maintained in Walne’s medium with optimum conditions (pH: 8.2-8.7, light intensity: 1000 Lux, salinity: 35 ppt and temperature: 18-25 °C and) for obtaining maximum growth. Then the mixed culture was purified by streak plate method and monoalgal sample was isolated. Monoalgal sample was identified as Coelastrella vacuolata by Light Microscope (LM), Fluorescent Microscope (FM) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) based on its morphology. It was further confirmed by the molecular identification by 18s rDNA sequencing. Cells were observed either in isolated or in the colony and the size was ranged from 7 to 11 µ. It is the first record for the presence of C. vacuolata in the seawater of Tuticorin coast, Gulf of Mannar

Efficacy of new herbicide (bispyribac sodium 10% SC) against different weed flora, nutrient uptake in rice and their residual effects on succeeding crop of green gram under zero tillage

Field experiment was conducted in the wetland farms of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore during rabi season (August to February) of 2011-12 to evaluate the herbicide (Bispyribac sodium 10% SC) on weed control and their nutrient management in direct seeded lowland rice. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three replications. The results revealed that Early Post Emergence (EPOE) application of bispyribac sodium 10% SC 40 g ha-1 recorded higher weed control efficiency and lesser weed density, nutrient uptake at reproductive stage of the crop. Different weed management practices imposed on rice crop did not affect the germination of succeeding green gram

Antifungal activity of mangrove rhizobacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa against certain phytopathogenic fungi and its growth characterization

Antimicrobial substances are widespread and they are likely to play an important protective role. Marine bacterium has been recognized as producer of important antimicrobial substances which has an exceedingly bright future in the discovery of life saving drugs. The present study was carried out to screen the antifungal activity of mangrove rhizobacteria against certain phyto pathogens from Manakudi estuary, Kanyakumari District, Tamilnadu. Around 20 colonies obtained in Zobell marine agar plates were screened for antifungal traits. Among the 20 isolates, the candidate bacterial isolate exhibited good anti fungal ability. Identification of strains was carried out and confirmed by cultural, biochemical and 16S rDNA sequences. The potent strain was identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Various process factors such as different pH, temperature, carbon and nitrogen sources and NaCl were tested for the bacterial growth in static and shaking conditions. The isolated Pseudomonas aeruginosa possesed a variety of promising properties that favoured as a better biocontrol agent. In the present investigation antifungal activity of the mangrove isolate was tested against common pathogens like Penicillium sp., Candida sp., Aspergillus sp., Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus flavus, Pescalotionbsis sp., Fusarium oxysporum and Glomerella cinculata. The candidate bacterium showed inhibitory action to the tested fungal pathogens except Fusarium oxysporum and Glomerella cinculata.

Photoaffinity labeling with cholesterol analogues precisely maps a cholesterol-binding site in voltage-dependent anion channel-1

Voltage-dependent anion channel-1 (VDAC1) is a highly regulated β-barrel membrane protein that mediates transport of ions and metabolites between the mitochondria and cytosol of the cell. VDAC1 co-purifies with cholesterol and is functionally regulated by cholesterol, among other endogenous lipids. Molecular modeling studies based on NMR observations have suggested five cholesterol-binding sites in VDAC1, but direct experimental evidence for these sites is lacking. Here, to determine the sites of cholesterol binding, we photolabeled purified mouse VDAC1 (mVDAC1) with photoactivatable cholesterol analogues and analyzed the photolabeled sites with both top-down mass spectrometry (MS), and bottom-up MS paired with a clickable, stable isotope-labeled tag, FLI-tag. Using cholesterol analogues with a diazirine in either the 7 position of the steroid ring (LKM38) or the aliphatic tail (KK174), we mapped a binding pocket in mVDAC1 localized to Thr83 and Glu73, respectively. When Glu73 was mutated to a glutamine, KK174 no longer photolabeled this residue, but instead labeled the nearby Tyr62 within this same binding pocket. The combination of analytical strategies employed in this work permits detailed molecular mapping of a cholesterol-binding site in a protein, including an orientation of the sterol within the site. Our work raises the interesting possibility that cholesterol-mediated regulation of VDAC1 may be facilitated through a specific binding site at the functionally important Glu73 residue

Replication of LDL SWAs hits in PROSPER/PHASE as validation for future (pharmaco)genetic analyses

<p><b>Background:</b> The PHArmacogenetic study of Statins in the Elderly at risk (PHASE) is a genome wide association study in the PROspective Study of Pravastatin in the Elderly at risk for vascular disease (PROSPER) that investigates the genetic variation responsible for the individual variation in drug response to pravastatin. Statins lower LDL-cholesterol in general by 30%, however not in all subjects. Moreover, clinical response is highly variable and adverse effects occur in a minority of patients. In this report we first describe the rationale of the PROSPER/PHASE project and second show that the PROSPER/PHASE study can be used to study pharmacogenetics in the elderly.</p> <p><b>Methods:</b> The genome wide association study (GWAS) was conducted using the Illumina 660K-Quad beadchips following manufacturer's instructions. After a stringent quality control 557,192 SNPs in 5,244 subjects were available for analysis. To maximize the availability of genetic data and coverage of the genome, imputation up to 2.5 million autosomal CEPH HapMap SNPs was performed with MACH imputation software. The GWAS for LDL-cholesterol is assessed with an additive linear regression model in PROBABEL software, adjusted for age, sex, and country of origin to account for population stratification.</p> <p><b>Results:</b> Forty-two SNPs reached the GWAS significant threshold of p = 5.0e-08 in 5 genomic loci (APOE/APOC1; LDLR; FADS2/FEN1; HMGCR; PSRC1/CELSR5). The top SNP (rs445925, chromosome 19) with a p-value of p = 2.8e-30 is located within the APOC1 gene and near the APOE gene. The second top SNP (rs6511720, chromosome 19) with a p-value of p = 5.22e-15 is located within the LDLR gene. All 5 genomic loci were previously associated with LDL-cholesterol levels, no novel loci were identified. Replication in WOSCOPS and CARE confirmed our results.</p> <p><b>Conclusion:</b> With the GWAS in the PROSPER/PHASE study we confirm the previously found genetic associations with LDL-cholesterol levels. With this proof-of-principle study we show that the PROSPER/PHASE study can be used to investigate genetic associations in a similar way to population based studies. The next step of the PROSPER/PHASE study is to identify the genetic variation responsible for the variation in LDL-cholesterol lowering in response to statin treatment in collaboration with other large trials.</p&gt