Synteny Approach of Drug Target Prediction among Unique Hypothetical Proteins of Streptococcus Gordonii Causing Infective Endocarditis

At the time of infection, many of the gene products of completely  sequenced organisms yet remain ‘hypothetical’ meaning they remain unsimilar to any previously characterized and may disguise some true virulent factors. Domain scanning provides a means of understanding functional information in these cases, extending facilitated identification oftheir virulence factors, proceeding for antimicrobial drug and vaccine  design. In developing countries, mortality rate due to Infective  endocarditis is accelerating along with retardation in efficiency of pathogen specific drugs. We have re-annotated at domain level and predicted cellular localization of 200 unique and hypothetical proteins obtained by syntenic comparison of Streptococcus gordonii among other strains of similar species for similar infection. The study resulted into 200 unique and hypothetical proteins, of which, domains of 85 proteins are  predictable, representing 15 with no similarity with human proteome. Later, 9 proteins with 8 domains predicted to be antimicrobial targets. Further, these can be experimentally validated for drug and vaccine target ability

Synthesis of coumarins linked with 1,2,3-triazoles under microwave irradiation and evaluation of their antimicrobial and antioxidant activity

A series of coumarin derivatives linked with 1,2,3-triazoles has been synthesized by utilizing the copper catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition reaction and were screened for their antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. Some of the compounds displayed promising antibacterial activities (MIC ranging from 5-150 µg/mL) and moderate antifungal activities as compared to the respective standards. The compounds 4k and 4g displayed good antibacterial activity when compared with the standard, Ciprofloxacin, and 4n exhibited better antifungal activity when compared to other synthesized compounds. The in silico docking studies of the active compounds were carried out against the gyrase enzyme and from those studies, it was acknowledged that 4k possessed significant hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions which could be the plausible reason for its superior activity as compared to the other synthesized compounds. The compounds 4h and 4q showed promising antioxidant activity when compared with the standard, BHT, which could be attributed to the presence of electron donating substituents. © 2020, Sociedad Química de México.Russian Foundation for Basic Research, RFBR: 170300641AThe authors are thankful to the Department of Industrial Chemistry, Kuvempu University for rendering all the facilities to carry out the experiments. Vasiliy Bakulev is thankful to Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Grant # 170300641A)

Expression of drought responsive genes in pigeonpea and in silico comparison with soybean cDNA library

Pigeonpea, a drought tolerant, semi-arid pulse crop has been investigated for the expression of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) under drought stress. The cDNA library of soybean leaf tissue retrieved from the Unigene database of the NCBI, were compared for in silico expression using IDEG6 web statistical tool. A list of 52 non-redundant DEGs consisting of 11 up-regulated and 41 down-regulated was obtained. Among these, more photosynthesis and light harvesting proteins were down-regulated in drought stress conditions. Pathways were assigned based on KEGG database, revealing 32 genes involved in 17 metabolic pathways. Homologous sequences of six up-regulated genes namely, ADF3, APB, ASR, DLP, LTP1, and UGE5 were then used for quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) in pigeonpea. The qRT-PCR result revealed the significant up-regulation of dehydrin-like protein (DLP) (5.02 log2 fold) and down-regulation of acid phosphatase class B family protein (APB) (9.43 log2 fold) and non-specific lipid transfer protein 1-like (LTP1) (18.81 log2 fold) in pigeonpea water-stressed leaf sample compared to well-watered leaf samples. No significant difference was observed in the stressed root compared to the stressed pigeonpea leaf sample except that APB showed an up-regulation of 11.35 log2 fold chang

The Transferability of Lipid-Associated Loci Across African, Asian and European Cohorts

Abstract: Most genome-wide association studies are based on samples of European descent. We assess whether the genetic determinants of blood lipids, a major cardiovascular risk factor, are shared across populations. Genetic correlations for lipids between European-ancestry and Asian cohorts are not significantly different from 1. A genetic risk score based on LDL-cholesterol-associated loci has consistent effects on serum levels in samples from the UK, Uganda and Greece (r = 0.23–0.28, p < 1.9 × 10−14). Overall, there is evidence of reproducibility for ~75% of the major lipid loci from European discovery studies, except triglyceride loci in the Ugandan samples (10% of loci). Individual transferable loci are identified using trans-ethnic colocalization. Ten of fourteen loci not transferable to the Ugandan population have pleiotropic associations with BMI in Europeans; none of the transferable loci do. The non-transferable loci might affect lipids by modifying food intake in environments rich in certain nutrients, which suggests a potential role for gene-environment interactions

Anisotropic nanomaterials: structure, growth, assembly, and functions

Comprehensive knowledge over the shape of nanomaterials is a critical factor in designing devices with desired functions. Due to this reason, systematic efforts have been made to synthesize materials of diverse shape in the nanoscale regime. Anisotropic nanomaterials are a class of materials in which their properties are direction-dependent and more than one structural parameter is needed to describe them. Their unique and fine-tuned physical and chemical properties make them ideal candidates for devising new applications. In addition, the assembly of ordered one-dimensional (1D), two-dimensional (2D), and three-dimensional (3D) arrays of anisotropic nanoparticles brings novel properties into the resulting system, which would be entirely different from the properties of individual nanoparticles. This review presents an overview of current research in the area of anisotropic nanomaterials in general and noble metal nanoparticles in particular. We begin with an introduction to the advancements in this area followed by general aspects of the growth of anisotropic nanoparticles. Then we describe several important synthetic protocols for making anisotropic nanomaterials, followed by a summary of their assemblies, and conclude with major applications

Development, analysis, test and validation of a shock response spectrum (SRS) test bench for space equipment

Spacecraft systems and sub/systems are subject to high mechanical energy at a high frequency during shock events. These sudden mechanical loads have been known to cause damage, leading to complete or partial loss of space missions. To prevent this, it is important to validate space equipment for compatibility through Shock Response Spectrum (SRS) testing. The main objective of this master thesis is to understand the behavior of shock loads and to measure SRS for mid-field applications of spaceflight components. The requirements for a new metal-to-metal impact shock test facility have been defined based on extensive research into the shock phenomenon and a thorough examination of existing shock test facilities. To achieve this goal, an iterative approach is employed, where the results and insights gained from each iteration serve as the foundation for developing the subsequent iteration. This method is applied to address the objectives in an attempt to solve the defined problem. In the first iteration, a fundamental model was established to provide a foundational understanding of the set-up and instrumentation. This allowed for the detection of accelerations resulting from the impact and the plotting of SRS for mid-field shock levels within the frequency range of 10 Hz to 10 000 Hz. ANSYS was employed to predict and analyze various parameters such as impact height, impactor mass, impactor material, anvil plate material and mechanical filters that influence the SRS. The generated plots provided insights into how the initial slope (in the low-frequency range of 10 Hz to 1000 Hz), knee frequency and plateau (in the high-frequency range of 1000 Hz to 10 000 Hz) change as the properties and values of these parameters were varied. The second iteration built upon the initial model, further developed the test set-up and conducted a characteristic test campaign. This was based on the knowledge gained from both Finite Element Method (FEM) analysis and the first iteration. The obtained results were compared with the FEM outputs, enhancing the understanding of how different parameters impact the SRS. In the third iteration, the test set-up was refined to meet industry-standard requirements, enabling the testing of flight-grade electro-optical modules against mid-field shock environments found in launch vehicles and spacecraft. This iteration marked the achievement of a highly capable test set-up for conducting shock tests in demanding aerospace applications. The shock test facility has demonstrated its capability to test equipment weighing up to 12 kgrams while maintaining control over the SRS within the frequency range of 100 Hz to 6000 Hz