Strains in the genus Thauera exhibit remarkably different denitrification regulatory phenotypes.

Denitrifiers differ in how they handle the transition from oxic to anoxic respiration, with consequences for NO and N2O emissions. To enable stringent comparisons we defined parameters to describe denitrification regulatory phenotype (DRP) based on accumulation of NO2(-) , NO and N2O, oxic/anoxic growth and transcription of functional genes. Eight Thauera strains were divided into two distinct DRP types.

Screening of the antidepressant-like effect of the traditional Chinese medicinal formula Si-Ni-San and their possible mechanism of action in mice.

Background: The traditional Chinese medicine formula Si-Ni-San has well therapeutic applications in improvement of mental diseases including depression. However, the neuropharmacological and neuroendocrine mechanisms of the formula on antidepressant-like action have not been reported.

Objective: Herein, we explored the antidepressant-like effect and its mechanism of Si-Ni-San.

Effects of selenium on agronomical characters of winter wheat exposed to enhanced ultraviolet-B.

Enhanced ultraviolet-B (UV-B) is one of the most important abiotic stress factors that can influence almost every aspect of plant. Selenium (Se) can increase the tolerance of plants to stressful environment. The paper mainly reported the effects of enhanced UV-B, Se supply and their combination on agronomical characters of winter wheat under field conditions.

Nobiletin Ameliorates the Deficits in Hippocampal BDNF, TrkB, and Synapsin I Induced by Chronic Unpredictable Mild Stress.

Background. Our previous study has demonstrated that nobiletin could reverse the behavioral alterations in stressed mice. However, the relation of its antidepressant-like action with neurotrophic molecular expression remains unknown.

Essential oil of Perilla frutescens-induced change in hippocampal expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in chronic unpredictable mild stress in mice.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Perilla frutescens (Perilla leaf), a traditional Chinese medicinal herb, has been used for centuries to treat various conditions including depression. A previous study of the authors demonstrated that essential oil of Perilla frutescens (EOPF) attenuated the depressive-like behavior in mice.

Aim Of The Study: This study was undertaken to explore the dynamic change of behaviors and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression induced by chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS), and improved by EOPF.

Draft genome sequences of five strains in the genus thauera.

Thauera species are members of the betaproteobacteria and are most noted for their ability to metabolize aromatic compounds under anoxic conditions. Here, we announce the draft genome sequences of five Thauera strains in an effort to provide further genetic information as a resource for understanding the ecological function of this environmentally important genus.

Genetic diversity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from Beijing, China assessed by Spoligotyping, LSPs and VNTR profiles.

Background: Tuberculosis is one of the most infectious diseases in the world. Molecular typing methods such as spoligotyping, and VNTR (variable number tandem repeats), IS6110 in the NTF region and LSP (large sequence polymorphisms) analysis are generally useful tools for the resolution of various issues related to the classical epidemiology of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis).

A rising tide of blue-absorbing biliprotein photoreceptors: characterization of seven such bilin-binding GAF domains in Nostoc sp. PCC7120.

Cyanobacteriochromes are photochromic sensory photoreceptors in cyanobacteria that are related to phytochromes but cover a much broader spectral range. Using a homology search, a group of putative blue-absorbing photoreceptors was identified in Nostoc sp. PCC 7120 that, in addition to the canonical chromophore-binding cysteine of cyanobacteriochromes, have a conserved extra cysteine in a DXCF motif.

Mesorhizobium shonense sp. nov., Mesorhizobium hawassense sp. nov. and Mesorhizobium abyssinicae sp. nov., isolated from root nodules of different agroforestry legume trees.

A total of 18 strains, representing members of the genus Mesorhizobium, obtained from root nodules of woody legumes growing in Ethiopia, have been previously shown, by multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) of five housekeeping genes, to form three novel genospecies. In the present study, the phylogenetic relationship between representative strains of these three genospecies and the type strains of their closest phylogenetic neighbours Mesorhizobium plurifarium, Mesorhizobium amorphae, Mesorhizobium septentrionale and Mesorhizobium huakuii was further evaluated using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. In line with our earlier MLSA of other housekeeping genes, the phylogenetic trees derived from the atpD and glnII genes grouped the test strains into three well-supported, distinct lineages that exclude all defined species of the genus Mesorhizobium.

The scent fingerprint of hepatocarcinoma: in-vitro metastasis prediction with volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common and aggressive form of cancer. Due to a high rate of postoperative recurrence, the prognosis for HCC is poor. Subclinical metastasis is the major cause of tumor recurrence and patient mortality.

Oridonin induces apoptosis and autophagy in murine fibrosarcoma L929 cells partly via NO-ERK-p53 positive-feedback loop signaling pathway.

Aim: To investigate the role of nitric oxide (NO) in oridonin-induced apoptosis and autophagy in murine fibrosarcoma L929 cells and the underlying molecular mechanisms.

Methods: Cell viability was measured using MTT assay. Intracellular NO level, SubG(1) cell ratio and autophagy cell ratios were analyzed with flow cytometry after diaminofluorescein-2 diacetate (DAF-2DA), propidium iodide (PI) and monodansylcadaverine (MDC) staining, respectively.

Evaluation of BACTEC MGIT 960 system for the second-line drugs susceptibility testing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in China.

When the performance of the BACTEC MGIT 960 system was evaluated with the traditional proportion method (PM) on 321 clinical isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from China, concordance values were 98.44% capreomycin, 98.75% kanamycin, 98.

Identifying protein complexes from interactome based on essential proteins and local fitness method.

High-throughput experimental technologies, along with computational predictions, have promoted the emergence of large-scale interactome for numerous organisms. Identification of protein complexes from these interactome networks is crucial to understand principles of cellular organization and predict protein functions. Protein complexes are generally considered as dense subgraphs.

[Meta analysis on the correlation between Mycobacterium tuberculosis Beijing family strains and drug resistance].

Objective: To explore the correlation between Beijing genotype (Beijing family) strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) and drug resistance.

Methods: A computer retrieval of Medline, Embase, SCI, EBSCO, CNKI, Weipu and Wanfang databases from 1990 to 2010 was conducted. A total of 525 articles exploring the relationship of Beijing genotype of MTB and drug resistance were found through literature search.

Regulation of denitrification at the cellular level: a clue to the understanding of N2O emissions from soils.

Denitrifying prokaryotes use NO(x) as terminal electron acceptors in response to oxygen depletion. The process emits a mixture of NO, N(2)O and N(2), depending on the relative activity of the enzymes catalysing the stepwise reduction of NO(3)(-) to N(2)O and finally to N(2). Cultured denitrifying prokaryotes show characteristic transient accumulation of NO(2)(-), NO and N(2)O during transition from oxic to anoxic respiration, when tested under standardized conditions, but this character appears unrelated to phylogeny.

[The protection of islet β-cells in db/db mice by combination pioglitazone and glucagon like peptide-1 treatment].

Objectives: To evaluate the effect of combination of liraglutide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 analogue and pioglitazone, an insulin sensitizer, on diabetic db/db mice.

Methods: Thirty-five 8-week old male db/db mice were divided into control group (n = 8), pioglitazone group (n = 9), liraglutide group (n = 9) and combined therapeutic group (n = 9), which was given normal saline 0.1 ml, 2/d, pioglitazone 24 mg×kg(-1)×d(-1) (feed contained 0.

Bis(μ-2-phenyl-acetato-κO:O)bis-[(2,2'-bipyridyl-κN,N')(2-phenyl-acetato-κO)copper(II)] dihydrate.

The mol-ecule of the binuclear title complex, [Cu(2)(C(8)H(7)O(2))(4)(C(10)H(8)N(2))(2)]·2H(2)O, is located on an inversion centre. The Cu atoms are bridged by two O atoms of the monodentate phenyl-acetate groups [Cu-O = 1.9808 (14) and 2.

MicroRNA-622 functions as a tumor suppressor by targeting K-Ras and enhancing the anticarcinogenic effect of resveratrol.

Aberrant expression of microRNA (miRNA) has been previously demonstrated to play an important role in a wide range of cancer types and further elucidation of its role in the mechanisms underlying tumorigenesis, anticarcinogenesis and potential chemotherapeutics is warranted. We chose the anti-benzo[a]pyrene-7,8-diol-9,10-epoxide-transformed human bronchial epithelial cell line 16HBE-T to study miRNAs involved in anticarcinogenesis. In resveratrol-treated cells, we found that miR-622 was upregulated, whereas it was downregulated in 16HBE-T cells, suggesting that miR-622 potentially acts as a tumor suppressor.

A comparison of the functional modules identified from time course and static PPI network data.

Background: Cellular systems are highly dynamic and responsive to cues from the environment. Cellular function and response patterns to external stimuli are regulated by biological networks. A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network with static connectivity is dynamic in the sense that the nodes implement so-called functional activities that evolve in time.

Survivin and pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic cancer is estimated to be the fourth most common cancer in men and fifth in women in the world and has poor prognosis. In recent years, more and more effort has been put on the relationship between pancreatic cancer and apoptosis. As a newly discovered inhibitor of apoptosis, survivin has drawn more attention.

Role of ROS in the protective effect of silibinin on sodium nitroprusside-induced apoptosis in rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cells.

Silibinin mostly has been used as hepatoprotectants, but it has other interesting activities, e.g. anti-cancer, cardial protective and brain-protective activities.

(2,2'-Bipyridine-κN,N')bis-(3-meth-oxy-benzoato-κO,O)copper(II) mono-hydrate.

The title compound, [Cu(C(8)H(7)O(3))(2)(C(10)H(8)N(2))]·H(2)O, is comprised of a Cu(II) ion, two 3-meth-oxy-benzoate ligands, a 2,2'-bipyridine (bipy) ligand and one uncoordinated water mol-ecule. The Cu(II) ion and the water O atom lie on a twofold axis. The Cu(II) ion exhibits a six-coordinate distorted octa-hedral geometry, with two N atoms from the bipy ligand [Cu-N = 1.

Using search engine technology for protein function prediction.

Prediction of protein function is one of the most challenging problems in the post-genomic era. In this paper, we propose a novel algorithm Improved ProteinRank (IPR) for protein function prediction, which is based on the search engine technology and the preferential attachment criteria. In addition, an improved algorithm IPRW is developed from IPR to be used in the weighted protein?protein interaction (PPI) network.

New Cu(II) complexes based on the hydroxo-bridged dinuclear [Cu(OH)2Cu] units: step-like di- and trimerizations of [Cu(OH)2Cu] units.

Four new Cu(II) complexes {[Cu(4)(bpy)(4)(OH)(4)(H(2)O)(2)]}(NO(3))(2)(C(7)H(5)O(2))(2)·6H(2)O 1, {[Cu(4)(bpy)(4)(OH)(4)(H(2)O)(2)]}(NO(3))(2)(C(5)H(6)O(4))·8H(2)O 2, {[Cu(4)(bpy)(4)(OH)(4)(H(2)O)(2)]}(C(5)H(6)O(4))(2)·16H(2)O 3 and {[Cu(6)(bpy)(6)(OH)(6)(H(2)O)(2)]}(C(8)H(7)O(2))(6)·12H(2)O 4 were synthesized (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine, H(2)(C(5)H(6)O(4)) = glutaric acid, H(C(7)H(5)O(2)) = benzoic acid, H(C(8)H(7)O(2)) = phenyl acetic acid). The building units in 1-3 are the tetranuclear [Cu(4)(bpy)(4)(H(2)O)(2)(μ(2)-OH)(2)(μ(3)-OH)(2)](4+) complex cations, and in 4 the hexanuclear [Cu(6)(bpy)(6)(H(2)O)(2)(μ(2)-OH)(2)(μ(3)-OH)(4)](6+) complex cations, respectively. The tetra- and hexanuclear cluster cores [Cu(4)(μ(2)-OH)(2)(μ(3)-OH)(2)] and [Cu(6)(μ(2)-OH)(2)(μ(3)-OH)(4)] in the complex cations could be viewed as from step-like di- and trimerization of the well-known hydroxo-bridged dinuclear [Cu(2)(μ(2)-OH)(2)] entities via the out-of-plane Cu-O(H) bonds.