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A secretory multifunctional serine protease, DegP of Plasmodium falciparum, plays an important role in thermo-oxidative stress, parasite growth and development.

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A secretory multifunctional serine protease, DegP of Plasmodium falciparum, plays an important role in thermo-oxidative stress, parasite growth and development.

FEBS J. 2014 Mar;281(6):1679-99

Authors: Sharma S, Jadli M, Singh A, Arora K, Malhotra P

Abstract
UNLABELLED: Plasmodium falciparum heat shock proteins and proteases are known for their indispensable roles in parasite virulence and survival in the host cell. They neutralize various host-derived stress responses that are deleterious for parasite growth and invasion. We report identification and functional characterization of the first DegP from an apicomplexan (P. falciparum). To determine the molecular identity and functions of the parasite-encoded DegP, we complemented the Escherichia coli degP null mutant with a putative PfdegP gene, and the results showed that PfDegP complements the growth defect of the temperature sensitive DegP-deficient mutant and imparts resistance to non-permissive temperatures and oxidative stress. Molecular interaction studies showed that PfDegP exists as a complex with parasite-encoded heat shock protein 70, iron superoxide dismutase and enolase. DegP expression is significantly induced in parasite culture upon heat shock/oxidative stress. Our data suggest that the PfDegP protein may play a role in the growth and development of P. falciparum through its ability to confer protection against thermal/oxidative stress. Antibody against DegP showed anti-plasmodial activity against blood-stage parasites in vitro, suggesting that PfDegP and its associated complex may be a potential focus for new anti-malarial therapies.
STRUCTURED DIGITAL ABSTRACT: ●PfDegP physically interacts with PfHsp70 and PfEno by anti-bait co-immunoprecipitation (View interaction) ●PfDegP physically interacts with PfEno, PfSod, PfOat, PfHsp70, PfLDH and PfGpi by anti-bait co-immunoprecipitation (View interaction) ●PfHsp-70 and PfDegP co-localize by fluorescence microscopy (View interaction) ●PfDegP physically interacts with PfOat, PfHsp70, PfEno, PfSod, PfGpi and PfLDH by surface plasmon resonance (View interaction) ●PfEno and PfDegP co-localize by fluorescence microscopy (View interaction) ●PfDegP and PfHsp70 co-localize by co-sedimentation through density gradient (View interaction).

PMID: 24494818 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]

Effects of In Vitro Exposure to Diarrheic Toxin Producer Prorocentrum lima on Gene Expressions Related to Cell Cycle Regulation and Immune Response in Crassostrea gigas.

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Effects of In Vitro Exposure to Diarrheic Toxin Producer Prorocentrum lima on Gene Expressions Related to Cell Cycle Regulation and Immune Response in Crassostrea gigas.

PLoS One. 2014;9(5):e97181

Authors: de Jesús Romero-Geraldo R, García-Lagunas N, Hernández-Saavedra NY

Abstract
BACKGROUND: Crassostrea gigas accumulates diarrheic shellfish toxins (DSP) associated to Prorocentrum lima of which Okadaic acid (OA) causes specific inhibitions of serine and threonine phosphatases 1 and 2A. Its toxic effects have been extensively reported in bivalve mollusks at cellular and physiological levels, but genomic approaches have been scarcely studied.
METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Acute and sub-chronic exposure effects of P. lima were investigated on farmed juvenile C. gigas (3-5 mm). The Pacific oysters were fed with three dinoflagellate concentrations: 0.3, 3, and 30×103 cells mL-1 along with a nontoxic control diet of Isochrysis galbana. The effects of P. lima on C. gigas were followed by analyzing expression levels of a total of four genes, three involved in cell cycle regulation and one in immune response by polymerase chain reaction and real time quantitative PCR, where changes in time and cell concentration were found. The highest expression levels were found in oysters fed 3×103 cells mL-1 at 168 h for the cycle regulator p21 protein (9 fold), chromatin assembly factor 1 p55 subunit (8 fold), elongation factor 2 (2 fold), and lipopolysaccharide/β-1, 3 glucan binding protein (13 fold above base line). Additionally, the transcript level of all the genes decreased in oysters fed wich the mixed diet 30×103 cells mL-1 of dinoflagellate after 72 h and was lowest in the chromatin assembly factor 1 p55 subunit (0.9 fold below baseline).
CONCLUSIONS: On C. gigas the whole cell ingestion of P lima caused a clear mRNA modulation expression of the genes involved in cell cycle regulation and immune system. Over-expression could be related to DNA damage, disturbances in cell cycle continuity, probably a genotoxic effect, as well as an activation of its innate immune system as first line of defense.

PMID: 24825133 [PubMed – in process]

Distinguishing between "function" and "effect" in genome biology.

Distinguishing between “function” and “effect” in genome biology.
Genome Biol Evol. 2014 May 9;
Authors: Doolittle WF, Brunet TD, Linquist S, Gregory TR
Abstract
There is renewed debate among biolog…

Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals Evidence for a Cryptic Plastid in the Colpodellid Voromonas pontica, a Close Relative of Chromerids and Apicomplexan Parasites.

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Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals Evidence for a Cryptic Plastid in the Colpodellid Voromonas pontica, a Close Relative of Chromerids and Apicomplexan Parasites.
PLoS One. 2014;9(5):e96258
Authors: Gi…

Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals Evidence for a Cryptic Plastid in the Colpodellid Voromonas pontica, a Close Relative of Chromerids and Apicomplexan Parasites

Colpodellids are free-living, predatory flagellates, but their close relationship to photosynthetic chromerids and plastid-bearing apicomplexan parasites suggests they were ancestrally photosynthetic. Colpodellids may therefore retain a cryptic plastid, or they may have lost their plastids entirely, like the apicomplexan Cryptosporidium. To find out, we generated transcriptomic data from Voromonas pontica ATCC 50640 and searched for homologs of genes …

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Predictive functional profiling of microbial communities using 16S rRNA marker gene sequences.

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Predictive functional profiling of microbial communities using 16S rRNA marker gene sequences.
Nat Biotechnol. 2013 Sep;31(9):814-21
Authors: Langille MG, Zaneveld J, Caporaso JG, McDonald D, Knig…

The microtubular cytoskeleton of the apusomonad Thecamonas, a sister lineage to the opisthokonts.

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The microtubular cytoskeleton of the apusomonad Thecamonas, a sister lineage to the opisthokonts.
Protist. 2013 Sep;164(5):598-621
Authors: Heiss AA, Walker G, Simpson AG
Abstract
A…

Evaluation of photo-reactive siderophore producing bacteria before, during and after a bloom of the dinoflagellate Lingulodinium polyedrum.

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Evaluation of photo-reactive siderophore producing bacteria before, during and after a bloom of the dinoflagellate Lingulodinium polyedrum.

Metallomics. 2014 Apr 24;

Authors: Yarimizu K, Polido G, Gärdes A, Carter ML, Hilbern M, Carrano CJ

Abstract
Evidence is increasing for a mutualistic relationship between phytoplankton and heterotrophic marine bacteria. It has been proposed that bacteria producing photoactive iron binding compounds known as siderophores could play an important role in such mutualistic associations by producing bioavailable iron utilizable by phytoplankton and in exchange receive autotrophically derived DOM. In order to understand the potential role photoactive siderophores might be playing in bacterial-algal mutualism or marine biogeochemistry in general, it is important to be able to detect and quantify their presence in various environments. One approach to accomplish that end is to make use of high sensitivity genomics technology (qPCR) to search for siderophore biosynthesis genes related to the production of photoactive siderophores. In this way one can access their “biochemical potential” and utilize this information as a proxy for the presence of these siderophores in the marine environment. In this report we studied the correlation of the presence of bacteria producing one of the three photoactive siderophores relative to total bacterial and dinoflagellate numbers from surface water at the Scripps Pier before, during, and after fall bloom of the dinoflagellate Lingulodinium polyedrum. We believe that these findings will aid us in gauging the importance of photoactive siderophores in the marine environment and in harmful algal bloom dynamics in particular.

PMID: 24760287 [PubMed – as supplied by publisher]

SEMINAR: Philosophy of Fungi

SEMINAR IN EVOLUTION AND PHILOSOPHY Austin Booth Department of Philosophy Harvard University “Evolution and the Individuality of Fungi and Holobionts” 10:30 AM, Thursday 17 April Room 3H1, Sir Charles Tupper Building College and Carleton Streets Abstract: Using a Darwinian framework, I articulate accounts of individuality in two kinds of biological systems: heterokaryotic fungi and holobionts. …

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Ycf93 (Orf105), a Small Apicoplast-Encoded Membrane Protein in the Relict Plastid of the Malaria Parasite Plasmodium falciparum That Is Conserved in Apicomplexa.

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Ycf93 (Orf105), a Small Apicoplast-Encoded Membrane Protein in the Relict Plastid of the Malaria Parasite Plasmodium falciparum That Is Conserved in Apicomplexa.
PLoS One. 2014;9(4):e91178
Authors: …