Phylogenetic Diversity of Bacterial Community Associated with the Marine Sponge Halichondira nigrocutis Collected off Southwest Indian Coast

This study aimed to evaluate the bacterial communities associated with the marine sponge Halichondria nigrocutis present in Indian waters by both cultivation and cultivation-independent techniques. Results using cultivation method showed that bacteria belonging to Bacillus, Acinetobacter and Vibrio spp. to be the predominant groups. Metagenomic study of sponge-associated bacteria by cultivation independent approach, involving cloning and sequencing of the 16S rDNA gene generated sequences that were subjected to phylogenetic analysis. Results demonstrated the community structure to be represented by the phyla Proteobacteria (alpha-, gamma- and delta-classes), Cyanobacteria, Actinobacteria and Firmicutes, with isolates belonging to alpha-proteobacterial group to be predominating. To our knowledge this study appears to be the first to record cultivable and uncultivable bacterial groups associated with H.nigrocutis from Indian waters

A bibliography of parasites and diseases of marine and freshwater fishes of India

With the increasing demand for fish as human food, aquaculture both in freshwater and salt water is rapidly developing over the world. In the developing countries, fishes are being raised as food. In many countries fish farming is a very important economic activity. The most recent branch, mariculture, has shown advances in raising fishes in brackish, estuarine and bay waters, in which marine, anadromous and catadromous fishes have successfully been grown and maintained

Marker-assisted introgression of a major broad spectrum blast resistance gene Pi54 into a popular rice variety Warangal Samba (WGL-14)

Warangal Samba (WGL-14) is a widely known medium slender-grain rice variety that matures within 135-140 days. This variety has been extensively cultivated in Telangana, India, due to its high yield potential of 7-7.5 t/ha and its favourable cooking qualities. However, it is highly susceptible to rice blast disease caused by the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae. This research sought to improve the blast resistance of WGL-14 by incorporating the Pi54 gene, a widely recognized blast resistance gene, using (MABB) along with selection based on phenotypic traits. NLR-145, a high-yielding rice variety containing the Pi54 gene, was used as the donor parent and crossed with WGL-14 to produce F1 plants. The Pi54MAS marker, which is specific to the Pi54 gene, was employed for foreground selection in F1, BC1F1, BC2F1 and BC3F1 generations, while background selection involved 80 parentals polymorphic SSR markers and phenotypic traits observed in each backcross generation. At BC3F5 generation, 28 lines were selected for their strong resistance to blast, high yields, plant type, grain characteristics and other traits comparable to the recurrent parent. These 28 lines were tested in yield trials during the wet seasons from 2018 to 2020 at the Regional Agricultural Research Station (RARS) in Warangal. At Advanced Varietal Trials (AVT), 3 lines namely WGL-1467, WGL-1472 and WGL-1473 were identified as having strong blast resistance and superior agronomic traits, closely resembling the original WGL-14

Dysregulation of IFN System Can Lead to Poor Response to Pegylated Interferon and Ribavirin Therapy in Chronic Hepatitis C

Despite being expensive, the standard combination of pegylated interferon (Peg-IFN)- α and ribavirin used to treat chronic hepatitis C (CH) results in a moderate clearance rate and a plethora of side effects. This makes it necessary to predict patient outcome so as to improve the accuracy of treatment. Although the antiviral mechanism of genetically altered IL28B is unknown, IL28B polymorphism is considered a good predictor of IFN combination treatment outcome

Dysregulation of IFN System Can Lead to Poor Response to Pegylated Interferon and Ribavirin Therapy in Chronic Hepatitis C

Despite being expensive, the standard combination of pegylated interferon (Peg-IFN)- α and ribavirin used to treat chronic hepatitis C (CH) results in a moderate clearance rate and a plethora of side effects. This makes it necessary to predict patient outcome so as to improve the accuracy of treatment. Although the antiviral mechanism of genetically altered IL28B is unknown, IL28B polymorphism is considered a good predictor of IFN combination treatment outcome

Prayers to Kāli: practicing radical numinosity

Prayers to Kāli is an invocation of the radical-sacred as a way into decolonization, liberation, and healing. The radical-sacred, as I conceive of it, is broadly to do with the work of retrieving our spiritual dimensions as an inextricable part of queer, and decolonial futurities. The construction and performance of decolonial, queer-feminist theory, and knowledge discourses as fundamentally located in communities of coalition, new modes of resistance and cosmologies, form the theoretical foil of this paper. The broader aim of the paper is to highlight the significance of spiritual, corporeal, and emotional knowledges in the work of decoloniality and dismantling systems of oppression. I locate this exploration within the narrative specifics of contemporary spirit- poetry from Tamil Nadu; a radical, border site where these connections and dimensions of decoloniality, gender, desire, and resistance play out

Deficiency of a Niemann-Pick, Type C1-related Protein in Toxoplasma Is Associated with Multiple Lipidoses and Increased Pathogenicity

Several proteins that play key roles in cholesterol synthesis, regulation, trafficking and signaling are united by sharing the phylogenetically conserved ‘sterol-sensing domain’ (SSD). The intracellular parasite Toxoplasma possesses at least one gene coding for a protein containing the canonical SSD. We investigated the role of this protein to provide information on lipid regulatory mechanisms in the parasite. The protein sequence predicts an uncharacterized Niemann-Pick, type C1-related protein (NPC1) with significant identity to human NPC1, and it contains many residues implicated in human NPC disease. We named this NPC1-related protein, TgNCR1. Mammalian NPC1 localizes to endo-lysosomes and promotes the movement of sterols and sphingolipids across the membranes of these organelles. Miscoding patient mutations in NPC1 cause overloading of these lipids in endo-lysosomes. TgNCR1, however, lacks endosomal targeting signals, and localizes to flattened vesicles beneath the plasma membrane of Toxoplasma. When expressed in mammalian NPC1 mutant cells and properly addressed to endo-lysosomes, TgNCR1 restores cholesterol and GM1 clearance from these organelles. To clarify the role of TgNCR1 in the parasite, we genetically disrupted NCR1; mutant parasites were viable. Quantitative lipidomic analyses on the ΔNCR1 strain reveal normal cholesterol levels but an overaccumulation of several species of cholesteryl esters, sphingomyelins and ceramides. ΔNCR1 parasites are also characterized by abundant storage lipid bodies and long membranous tubules derived from their parasitophorous vacuoles. Interestingly, these mutants can generate multiple daughters per single mother cell at high frequencies, allowing fast replication in vitro, and they are slightly more virulent in mice than the parental strain. These data suggest that the ΔNCR1 strain has lost the ability to control the intracellular levels of several lipids, which subsequently results in the stimulation of lipid storage, membrane biosynthesis and parasite division. Based on these observations, we ascribe a role for TgNCR1 in lipid homeostasis in Toxoplasma