MorphoCatcher: a multiple-alignment based web tool for target selection and designing taxon-specific primers in the loop-mediated isothermal amplification method.

Background: Advantages of loop-mediated isothermal amplification in molecular diagnostics allow to consider the method as a promising technology of nucleic acid detection in agriculture and medicine. A bioinformatics tool that provides rapid screening and selection of target nucleotide sequences with subsequent taxon-specific primer design toward polymorphic orthologous genes, not only unique or conserved common regions of genome, would contribute to the development of more specific and sensitive diagnostic assays. However, considering features of the original software for primer selection, also known as the PrimerExplorer (Eiken Chemical Co.

Draft Genome Sequences of New Genomospecies " Pectobacterium maceratum" Strains, Which Cause Soft Rot in Plants.

Investigation of collections of phytopathogenic bacteria has revealed some strains distinct from known spp. We report here the draft genome sequences of five such strains, isolated during the period of 1947 to 2012. Based on comparative genomics, we propose a new candidate genomospecies of the genus , " Pectobacterium maceratum.

A hydrophobic segment of some cytotoxic ribonucleases.

The exact mechanism by which cytotoxic ribonucleases reach the cytosol of tumor cells remains unclear. The interaction of ribonucleases with a lipid bilayer is involved in the translocation of ribonucleases across the endosomal membrane. Here, we aimed to study the hydropathy character of toxic antitumor ribonucleases (bovine seminal ribonuclease and binase) and two non-toxic ribonucleases (bovine pancreatic ribonuclease and human pancreatic ribonuclease) by sliding-window hydrophobicity analysis.