An oxidant, detergent and salt stable alkaline protease from Bacillus cereus SIU1

A novel soil bacterium, Bacillus cereus SIU1 was earlier isolated from non-saline, slightly alkaline soil of Eastern Uttar Pradesh, India. The isolate B. cereus SIU1 was grown in modified glucose yeast extract (modified GYE) medium at pH 9.0 and 45°C. It produced maximum protease at 20 h incubation. The enzyme was stable at pH 9.0 and 55°C. It was fully stable at 0.0 to 3.0% and moderately stable at 4.0 to 10.0% (w/v) NaCl concentrations. Whereas PMSF, EDTA and ascorbic acid were inhibitory, cysteine and β-mercaptoethanol enhanced protease activity. Calcium, magnesium, manganese and copper at 1 mM concentration increased the enzyme activity. Hydrogen peroxide, sodium perborate, sodium lauryl sulphate, Triton X100 and Tween 80 significantly increased the activity, while protease remained fairly stable (52 to 98%) at 0.1 and 1.0% concentrations of commercial detergents. The halotolerant thermoalkaline protease of B. cereus SIU1 was highly active and stable in the presence of several modulators, oxidants and detergents, revealing its possible use in several commercial and biological applications.Key words: Bacillus cereus SIU1, thermoalkaline protease, PMSF, EDTA, Hydrogen peroxide, Triton X100, Tween 80

Momentum transport of wave zero during March: A possible predictor for the Indian summer monsoon

Analysis of monthly momentum transport of zonal waves at 850 hPa for the period 1979 to 1993, between 30°S and 30°N for January to April, using zonal (u) and meridional (v) components of wind taken from the ECMWF reanalysis field, shows a positive correlation (.1 level of significance) between the Indian summer monsoon rainfall (June through September) and the momentum transport of wave zero TM(0) over latitudinal belt between 25°S and 5°N (LB) during March. Northward (Southward) TM(0) observed in March over LB subsequently leads to a good (drought) monsoon season over India which is found to be true even when the year is marked with the El-Nino event. Similarly a strong westerly zone in the Indian Ocean during March, indicates a good monsoon season for the country, even if the year is marked with El-Nino. The study thus suggests two predictors, TM(0) over LB and the strength of westerly zone in the Indian Ocean during March

Novel microfilaricidal activity of nanosilver

Sunil K Singh1, Kalyan Goswami2, Richa D Sharma2, Maryada VR Reddy2, Debabrata Dash11Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, 2Department of Biochemistry, Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Sevagram, IndiaPurpose: The currently available drug repertoire against lymphatic filariasis, a major health hazard in the developing world, is inadequate and is fraught with serious limitations. Thus, the development of an effective antifilarial strategy has become a global research thrust mandated by the World Health Organization. Nanoparticles of silver endowed with antibacterial potency are known to induce apoptosis in eukaryotic cells. The present study was designed to investigate the possible microfilaricidal efficacy of silver nanoparticles and to establish the validity of apoptotic rationale in antifilarial drug designing.Methods: This report analyzed the effect of nanoparticles of silver as well as gold (size range: 10–15 nm) on the microfilariae of Brugia malayi obtained from the lavage of peritoneal cavities of infected jirds (Meriones unguiculatus). The study included a microfilarial motility assay, a trypan blue exclusion test, a poly(adenosine diphosphate-ribose) polymerase activity study, ethidium bromide/acridine orange differential staining, and transmission, as well as scanning electron microscopic evaluation of ultrastructural changes in microfilariae.Results: The study demonstrates that nanoparticles of silver, but not of gold, elicited significant loss in microfilarial motility. Differential staining of parasites with ethidium bromide and acridine orange, poly(adenosine diphosphate-ribose) polymerase activity in microfilarial lysate, and electron microscopic findings underscored apoptotic death of parasites attributable to nanosilver. In a trypan blue exclusion test, the 50% lethal dose of nanosilver was measured to be 101.2 µM, which was higher than the recorded complete inhibitory concentration value (50.6 µM), thus supporting nanosilver as a potential drug candidate against lymphatic filariasis.Conclusion: The present report provides the first ever conclusive proof in support of apoptosis as a novel stratagem in antifilarial drug designing and nanoscale silver as a valid lead in research on antifilarial therapeutics. The main embargo about the current drug diethylcarbamazine citrate is its empirical use without rationale. Effective microfilaricidal activity of nanosilver at relatively low concentrations as reported in this study, with evidence of the induction of apoptosis in microfilariae, projects nanosilver as a potential drug adjuvant against lymphatic filariasis. The much higher 50% lethal dose value of nanosilver compared to the complete inhibitory concentration value reported in this study argues in favor of a safe therapeutic window of this agent in its antifilarial efficacy.Keywords: silver nanoparticles, apoptosis, lymphatic filariasis, microfilaricidal agent, parasitic disease

Holographic flows to IR Lifshitz spacetimes

Recently we studied `vanishing' horizon limits of `boosted' black D3-brane geometry \cite{hsnr}. The type IIB solutions obtained by taking these special double limits were found to describe nonrelativistic Lifshitz spacetimes at zero temperature. In the present work we study these limits for TsT black-hole solutions which include $B$-field. The new Galilean solutions describe a holographic RG flow from Schr\"odinger ($a=2$) spacetime in UV to a Lifshitz universe ($a=3$) in the IR.Comment: 10 pages; v2: A bad typo in eq.8 corrected; v3: Discussion and reference on Kaigorodov spaces included, correction in sec-3, to be published in JHE

Lifshitz/Schr\"odinger D-p-branes and dynamical exponents

We extend our earlier study of special double limits of `boosted' $AdS_5$ black hole solutions to include all black D$p$-branes of type II strings. We find that Lifshitz solutions can be obtained in generality, with varied dynamical exponents, by employing these limits. We then study such double limits for `boosted' D$p$-brane bubble solutions and find that the resulting non-relativistic solutions instead describe Schr\"odinger like spacetimes, having varied dynamical exponents. We get a simple map between these Lifshitz & Schr\"odinger solutions and a relationship between two types of dynamical exponents. We also discuss about the singularities of the Lifshitz solutions and an intriguing thermodynamic duality.Comment: 20 pages; 3 figures; v3: similar to JHE

Komagataeibacter Tool Kit (KTK): A Modular Cloning System for Multigene Constructs and Programmed Protein Secretion from Cellulose Producing Bacteria

Bacteria proficient at producing cellulose are an attractive synthetic biology host for the emerging field of Engineered Living Materials (ELMs). Species from the Komagataeibacter genus produce high yields of pure cellulose materials in a short time with minimal resources, and pioneering work has shown that genetic engineering in these strains is possible and can be used to modify the material and its production. To accelerate synthetic biology progress in these bacteria, we introduce here the Komagataeibacter tool kit (KTK), a standardized modular cloning system based on Golden Gate DNA assembly that allows DNA parts to be combined to build complex multigene constructs expressed in bacteria from plasmids. Working in Komagataeibacter rhaeticus, we describe basic parts for this system, including promoters, fusion tags, and reporter proteins, before showcasing how the assembly system enables more complex designs. Specifically, we use KTK cloning to reformat the Escherichia coli curli amyloid fiber system for functional expression in K. rhaeticus, and go on to modify it as a system for programming protein secretion from the cellulose producing bacteria. With this toolkit, we aim to accelerate modular synthetic biology in these bacteria, and enable more rapid progress in the emerging ELMs community

Universal time-dependent deformations of Schrodinger geometry

We investigate universal time-dependent exact deformations of Schrodinger geometry. We present 1) scale invariant but non-conformal deformation, 2) non-conformal but scale invariant deformation, and 3) both scale and conformal invariant deformation. All these solutions are universal in the sense that we could embed them in any supergravity constructions of the Schrodinger invariant geometry. We give a field theory interpretation of our time-dependent solutions. In particular, we argue that any time-dependent chemical potential can be treated exactly in our gravity dual approach.Comment: 24 pages, v2: references adde

A direct physical interaction between Nanog and Sox2 regulates embryonic stem cell self-renewal

Embryonic stem (ES) cell self-renewal efficiency is determined by the Nanog protein level. However, the protein partners of Nanog that function to direct self-renewal are unclear. Here, we identify a Nanog interactome of over 130 proteins including transcription factors, chromatin modifying complexes, phosphorylation and ubiquitination enzymes, basal transcriptional machinery members, and RNA processing factors. Sox2 was identified as a robust interacting partner of Nanog. The purified Nanog–Sox2 complex identified a DNA recognition sequence present in multiple overlapping Nanog/Sox2 ChIP-Seq data sets. The Nanog tryptophan repeat region is necessary and sufficient for interaction with Sox2, with tryptophan residues required. In Sox2, tyrosine to alanine mutations within a triple-repeat motif (S X T/S Y) abrogates the Nanog–Sox2 interaction, alters expression of genes associated with the Nanog-Sox2 cognate sequence, and reduces the ability of Sox2 to rescue ES cell differentiation induced by endogenous Sox2 deletion. Substitution of the tyrosines with phenylalanine rescues both the Sox2–Nanog interaction and efficient self-renewal. These results suggest that aromatic stacking of Nanog tryptophans and Sox2 tyrosines mediates an interaction central to ES cell self-renewal

Determination of monolayer-protected gold nanoparticle ligand–shell morphology using NMR

It is accepted that the ligand shell morphology of nanoparticles coated with a monolayer of molecules can be partly responsible for important properties such as cell membrane penetration and wetting. When binary mixtures of molecules coat a nanoparticle, they can arrange randomly or separate into domains, for example, forming Janus, patchy or striped particles. To date, there is no straightforward method for the determination of such structures. Here we show that a combination of one-dimensional and two-dimensional NMR can be used to determine the ligand shell structure of a series of particles covered with aliphatic and aromatic ligands of varying composition. This approach is a powerful way to determine the ligand shell structure of patchy particles; it has the limitation of needing a whole series of compositions and ligands' combinations with NMR peaks well separated and whose shifts due to the surrounding environment can be large enough