Understanding “green” multicellularity: do seaweeds hold the key?

International audienceLiving organisms are unicellular, composed of a single cell, or multicellular, where a group of up to ~1012 cells functions co-operatively (Kaiser, 2001). All multicellular organisms evolved from single-celled ancestors; every individual organism arises from a unicell and reproduces by forming unicells. Multicellularity enables competitive advantages, and may have shaped our oxygen-rich atmosphere (Grosberg and Strathmann, 1998; Kaiser, 2001; Schirrmeister et al., 2013). Multicellularity has evolved multiple times: animals, plants, algae, amoebae, fungi, and bacteria are or can all be multicellular (King, 2004; Grosberg and Strathmann, 2007; Rokas, 2008; Claessen et al., 2014). Multicellularity can be clonal (arising from division of a single cell) or aggregative (aggregation of genetically diverse cells), with clonal multicellularity considered evolutionarily more stable (Grosberg and Strathmann, 1998). The molecular mechanisms by which organisms become multicellular are not well understood. In this article, we outline eukaryotic multicellular evolution, and discuss how to increase our future understanding

How Motivational Factors Affect the Online Shopping Behavior: An Insight of Developing Economy Consumers

In recent years, usage of the internet in a developing economy like Pakistan rose exponentially which also enable users to use social media and eventually buy and order anything online. The trend of marketing changed all over the country as renowned brands and businesses started to shift their respective platforms. Some faced difficulties in that while others reached new heights of accomplishments. The online market is quite different from the conventional physical market and retailer’s sales generally depend upon the buyer’s mood, attitude, and behaviors which comprises trust, purchase intent, and motivational factors. Retailers must be aware of the ongoing trends and know-how and when to post what. For the purpose of the study, the data was collected from 265 respondents and Partial Least Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was used for the analysis. The results showed that motivational factors i.e. Social, Empowerment, and Remuneration have a significant relationship with Trust and Online Purchasing Intent. From the results, several implications can be derived for marketers, policymakers, and online retailer

The Impact of Disease Severity and Treatment on Quality of Life in Patients of Psoriasis

Background: Psoriasis is a common inflammatory dermatosis with significantly challenging clinical needs in patient management. Given its chronicity and social stigmatization, the burden on health-related life quality is substantial. The objective of this study was to assess psychosocial and financial impact of disease severity and treatment modalities on patients’ life quality. Methodology: A total of 93 clinically diagnosed patients with Psoriasis were included in this cross-sectional study. Quality of life was assessed through Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) scoring system and disease severity by Psoriasis area severity index (PASI) respectively. Treatment modalities were evaluated by filling out a brief questionnaire. Descriptive analyses were presented as mean ± SD for symmetrically distributed variables while median with interquartile range (IQR) were reported for non-symmetrically distributed variables. Association was determined by Chi-square test considering p-value ≤0.05 as significant. Results: There were 47.3% male and 52.7% female patients. The Median DLQI score was 6.00 with an IQR of 7. Topical treatment was used in the majority of patients currently (60%). Quality of life ( QOL) for 41.9% of cases was mildly affected. Rest of the cases were affected more severely, consisting of 47.3% with moderate and 10.8% with severe impact on quality of life. Significant association of DLQI scores was found with disease severity and current treatment modalities. Conclusion: Different therapies along with disease severity, remarkably affect QoL among psoriasis patients. KEYWORDS Disease Severity ,Impact, Psoriasis , Quality of Life, Treatmen

Lignin bioconversion based on genome mining for ligninolytic genes in Erwinia billingiae QL-Z3

Abstract Background Bioconversion of plant biomass into biofuels and bio-products produces large amounts of lignin. The aromatic biopolymers need to be degraded before being converted into value-added bio-products. Microbes can be environment-friendly and efficiently degrade lignin. Compared to fungi, bacteria have some advantages in lignin degradation, including broad tolerance to pH, temperature, and oxygen and the toolkit for genetic manipulation. Results Our previous study isolated a novel ligninolytic bacterial strain Erwinia billingiae QL-Z3. Under optimized conditions, its rate of lignin degradation was 25.24% at 1.5 g/L lignin as the sole carbon source. Whole genome sequencing revealed 4556 genes in the genome of QL-Z3. Among 4428 protein-coding genes are 139 CAZyme genes, including 54 glycoside hydrolase (GH) and 16 auxiliary activity (AA) genes. In addition, 74 genes encoding extracellular enzymes are potentially involved in lignin degradation. Real-time PCR quantification demonstrated that the expression of potential ligninolytic genes were significantly induced by lignin. 8 knock-out mutants and complementary strains were constructed. Disruption of the gene for ELAC_205 (laccase) as well as EDYP_48 (Dyp-type peroxidase), ESOD_1236 (superoxide dismutase), EDIO_858 (dioxygenase), EMON_3330 (monooxygenase), or EMCAT_3587 (manganese catalase) significantly reduced the lignin-degrading activity of QL-Z3 by 47–69%. Heterologously expressed and purified enzymes further confirmed their role in lignin degradation. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) results indicated that the lignin structure was damaged, the benzene ring structure and groups of macromolecules were opened, and the chemical bond was broken under the action of six enzymes encoded by genes. The abundant enzymatic metabolic products by EDYP_48, ELAC_205 and ESOD_1236 were systematically analyzed via liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS) analysis, and then provide a speculative pathway for lignin biodegradation. Finally, The activities of ligninolytic enzymes from fermentation supernatant, namely, LiP, MnP and Lac were 367.50 U/L, 839.50 U/L, and 219.00 U/L by orthogonal optimization. Conclusions Our findings provide that QL-Z3 and its enzymes have the potential for industrial application and hold great promise for the bioconversion of lignin into bioproducts in lignin valorization