Occurrence of longfin goatfish Upeneus supravittatus (Uiblein and Heemstra, 2010) along Chennai coast, south India

Goatfishes (Family: Mullidae) are commercially important fishery resource along the Chennai coast, south-eastern India. Species-level identification of goatfishes is a challenge, particularly in the ‘vittatus’ group, as there is severe overlap of taxonomic characteristics. In 2010, Uiblein and Heemstra revised the Family Mullidae and reported the occurrence of Upeneus supravittatus along the Indian coast. They also remarked that U. supravittatus has been misidentified as U. taeniopterus in earlier reports from India. To resolve this and verify the occurrence of U. supravittatus, 15 morphometric characteristics and 13 meristic characteristics of goatfish samples collected at Chennai were analysed and compared with the corresponding data reported by Uiblein and Heemstra for U. taeniopterus and four other ‘vittatus’ group goat fishes. The analysis, as well as DNA bar coding and area of distribution of species confirmed the samples as Upeneus supravittatus. The gill raker count on the upper and lower limbs of first gill arch was an important key in identifying the species. Though the number of gill rakers was almost similar for U. supravittatus, U. vittatus and U. taeniopterus, the size and position of the gill rakers confirmed that the collected samples were all U. supravittatus. The study also indicates the possibility that U. supravittatus has been hitherto wrongly reported as U. taeniopterus. A detailed taxonomic study on the Family Mullidae needs to be undertaken along the Indian coast using morphometric and meristic characteristics and DNA barcoding to resolve these taxonomic issues

Design of human immunodeficiency virus-1 neutralizing peptides targeting CD4-binding site: An integrative computational biologics approach

Peptide therapeutics have recently gained momentum in antiviral therapy due to their increased potency and cost-effectiveness. Interaction of the HIV-1 envelope gp120 with the host CD4 receptor is a critical step for viral entry, and therefore the CD4-binding site (CD4bs) of gp120 is a potential hotspot for blocking HIV-1 infection. The present study aimed to design short peptides from well-characterized CD4bs targeting broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs), which could be utilized as bNAb mimetics for viral neutralization. Co-crystallized structures of HIV-1 gp120 in complex with CD4bs-directed bNAbs were used to derive hexameric peptides using the Rosetta Peptiderive protocol. Based on empirical insights into co-crystallized structures, peptides derived from the heavy chain alone were considered. The peptides were docked with both HIV-1 subtype B and C gp120, and the stability of the peptide–antigen complexes was validated using extensive Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations. Two peptides identified in the study demonstrated stable intermolecular interactions with SER365, GLY366, and GLY367 of the PHE43 cavity in the CD4 binding pocket, and with ASP368 of HIV-1 gp120, thereby mimicking the natural interaction between ASP368gp120 and ARG59CD4–RECEPTOR. Furthermore, the peptides featured favorable physico-chemical properties for virus neutralization suggesting that these peptides may be highly promising bNAb mimetic candidates that may be taken up for experimental validation.</p

MicroRNAs as diagnostic biomarkers for Tuberculosis: A systematic review and meta- analysis

BACKGROUND: The early diagnosis of tuberculosis using novel non-sputum-based biomarkers is of high priority in the End TB strategy. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are significant regulators of TB pathogenesis and their differential expression pattern among healthy, latent, and active TB population has revealed their potentiality as biomarkers in recent studies. Thus, we systematically reviewed and performed a meta-analysis on the role of host miRNAs in TB diagnosis. We also reviewed the involvement of miRNAs in the immune response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). METHODS: Pubmed, Ovid and Cochrane databases were searched to retrieve published literature from 2000 to 2020 using predefined keywords. We screened relevant studies based on inclusion and exclusion criteria and the included studies were assessed for their quality using STARD guidelines and QUADAS-2 tool. Funnel plots were constructed to assess the publication bias. The heterogeneity of studies and overall pooled results of sensitivity, specificity and DOR were determined using forest plots. RESULTS: We retrieved a total of 447 studies collectively from all the databases, out of which 21 studies were included for qualitative analysis. In these studies, miR-29, miR-31, miR-125b, miR146a and miR-155 were consistently reported. The overall sensitivity, specificity and DOR of these miRNAs were found to be 87.9% (81.7-92.2), 81.2% (74.5-86.5) and 43.1(20.3-91.3) respectively. Among these, miR-31 had the maximum diagnostic accuracy, with a sensitivity of 96% (89.7-98.5), specificity of 89% (81.2-93.8) and DOR of 345.9 (90.2-1326.3), meeting the minimal target product profile (TPP) for TB diagnostics. CONCLUSION: miRNAs can thus be exploited as potential biomarkers for rapid detection of tuberculosis as evident from their diagnostic performance. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42021226559 PROSPERO (CRD42021226559)

Enigmatic Indian Oil Sardine: An Insight

Marine capture fisheries is an important component of the fisheries sector in India, generating livelihood avenues for an estimated 3.79 million fishers directly besides those involved in the secondary and tertiary structures concerned with fish marketing, processing and exports of fish and fishery products. Sustainable harvesting of the marine fishery resources is important in a scenario where there is large scale over-capitalisation in the sector and abrupt and long-term disruptions in environmental parameters due to climate change related processes. The Indian Oil Sardine, a major single species fishery in India accounts for 17 - 20% of the total marine fish landings. At the national level, in landing volumes it is the top ranked species during most years. Among marine fishes, its importance as a favoured table fish and rich source of fish oils creates a unique position for the Indian oil sardine in terms of its economic value. However, the resource is prone to sudden fluctuations in abundance that makes it an enigma to researchers, fishers and managers. ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute has conducted extensive research on the resource since its inception and several aspects of its biology, fishery and stock assessment have been reported periodically. Considering the importance of this resource to the marine fisheries sector of India, it is important to compile all existing information and subsequent research insights to assist its efficient management along the Indian coast. I am happy that the scientists of the Pelagic Fisheries Division of CMFRI have completed the task of compiling all recent information and analysed large amount of data collected pertaining to the Indian Oil Sardine in this document for the benefit of all stakeholders interested in knowing about this valuable fishery resource

Elasmobranch conservation, challenges and management strategy in India: recommendations from a national consultative meeting

Historically, India has been projected as one of the major elasmobranch fishing nations in the world. However, management and conservation efforts are not commensurate with this trend. Along with the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, several generic conservation measures are in place at the regional/local level. But India is still a long way from meeting global conservation commitments. We present here the status of elasmobranch management and conservation in India, with the specific objec-tive of identifying the gaps in the existing set-up. We also present recommendations based on a national consultative workshop held at the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Kochi, in February 2020. We recommend the implementation of a National Plan of Action (NPOA-Sharks) and more in-clusive governance and policymaking for elasmobranch conservation in India