The phylum Apicomplexa comprises eukaryotic parasites that cause fatal diseases affecting millions of people and animals worldwide. Their mitochondrial genomes have been significantly reduced, leaving only three protein-coding genes and highly fragmented mitoribosomal rRNAs, raising challenging questions about mitoribosome composition, assembly and structure. Our study reveals how Toxoplasma gondii assembles over 40 mt-rRNA fragments using exclusively nuclear-encoded mitoribosomal proteins and three lineage-specific families of RNA-binding proteins.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Eating Attitudes Test 26 (EAT-26) scale is a well-established tool for assessing the risk of eating disorders. A reliability generalization meta-analysis was conducted to estimate the average reliability of the EAT-26 scale scores and how reliability estimates vary according to the composition and variability of samples, to identify study characteristics that can explain its variability, and to estimate the reliability induction rate. A literature search produced 14 articles involving 15 studies that met the inclusion criteria.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRibosomes are macromolecular RNA-protein complexes that constitute the central machinery responsible for protein synthesis and quality control in the cell. Ribosomes also serve as a hub for multiple non-ribosomal proteins and RNAs that control protein synthesis. However, the purification of ribosomes and associated factors for functional and structural studies requires a large amount of starting biological material and a tedious workflow.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExamination of all publicly available Oryctolagus cuniculus (rabbit) ribosome cryo-EM structures reveals numerous confusing inconsistencies. First, there are a plethora of single nucleotide differences among the various rabbit 28S and 18S rRNA structures. Second, two nucleotides are absent from the NCBI Reference Sequence for the 18S rRNA gene.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDandruff, a common scalp disorder characterized by flaking dead skin, is often treated with conventional topical products. However, limitations exist due to potential side effects and high costs. Therefore, searching for natural, cost-effective solutions for dandruff and hair loss is crucial.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe most abundant N-methyladenosine (mA) modification on mRNAs is installed non-stoichiometrically across transcripts, with 5' untranslated regions (5' UTRs) being the least conductive. 5' UTRs are essential for translation initiation, yet the molecular mechanisms orchestrated by mA remain poorly understood. Here, we combined structural, biochemical, and single-molecule approaches and show that at the most common position, a single mA does not affect translation yields, the kinetics of translation initiation complex assembly, or start codon recognition both under permissive growth and following exposure to oxidative stress.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFcan cause a wide array of chronic and acute infections associated with its ability to rapidly switch between planktonic, biofilm, and dispersed lifestyles, each with a specific arsenal for bacterial survival and virulence. At the cellular level, many of the physiological transitions are orchestrated by the intracellular second messenger c-di-GMP and its receptor-effector FleQ. A bacterial enhancer binding protein, FleQ acts as a master regulator of both flagellar motility and adherence factor secretion and uses remarkably different transcription activation mechanisms depending on its dinucleotide loading state, adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) activity, interactions with polymerase sigma (σ) factors, and complexation with a second ATPase, FleN.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInfections with (MG) in poultry are associated with a wide range of disease conditions, including those affecting the respiratory and reproductive systems. The purpose of this study was to endorse the more sensitive diagnostic scheme for MG infection and identify the best molecular marker for MG phylogenetic analysis using six housekeeping genes: , , , , and . For these purposes, 55 poultry flocks of different species were screened using either qRT-PCR or PCR techniques analogous to conventional culturing from non-cultured and cultured swabs on PPLO broth.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe electronic energy in the Hartree-Fock (HF) theory is the trace of the product of the charge density matrix (CDM) with the one-electron and two-electron matrices represented in an atomic orbital basis, where the two-electron matrix is also a function of the same CDM. In this work, we examine a formalism of analytic representation of a generic molecular potential energy surface (PES) as a sum of a linearly parameterized HF and a correction term, the latter formally representing the electron correlation energy, also linearly parameterized, by expressing the elements of CDM using permutationally invariant polynomials (PIPs). We show on a variety of numerical examples, ranging from exemplary two-electron systems HeH and H to the more challenging cases of methanium (CH) fragmentation and high-energy tautomerization of formamide to formimidic acid that such a formulation requires significantly fewer, 10-20% of PIPs, to accomplish the same accuracy of the fit as the conventional representation at practically the same computational cost.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAerial image data are becoming more widely available, and analysis techniques based on supervised learning are advancing their use in a wide variety of remote sensing contexts. However, supervised learning requires training datasets which are not always available or easy to construct with aerial imagery. In this respect, unsupervised machine learning techniques present important advantages.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAntibiotic resistance ABC-Fs (ARE ABC-Fs) are translation factors that provide resistance against clinically important ribosome-targeting antibiotics which are proliferating among pathogens. Here, we combine genetic and structural approaches to determine the regulation of streptococcal ARE ABC-F gene msrD in response to macrolide exposure. We show that binding of cladinose-containing macrolides to the ribosome prompts insertion of the leader peptide MsrDL into a crevice of the ribosomal exit tunnel, which is conserved throughout bacteria and eukaryotes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMany gut bacteria degrade polysaccharides, providing nutritional advantages to their hosts. Fucose, a mucin degradation product, was suggested as a communication molecule between the resident microbiota and external pathogens. However, the precise role and variants of the fucose utilization pathway remain to be elucidated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnterococci are a common cause of urinary tract infections. The severity of enterococcal infections is associated with their ability to form biofilms. Morus leaves are known as a natural antibacterial, however, their antibiofilm activity against Enterococcus remains unveiled.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChronic respiratory disease (CRD) caused by Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) leads to impaired broiler growth performance and significant economic losses worldwide. The utilization of essential oils (EOs) as natural alternatives to antibiotics to control CRD outbreaks is not completely clarified yet. Thus, we investigated the effect of a commercial EOs mixture (toldin CRD), in comparison to tilmicosin antibiotic, on the clinical observations, growth performance, immunity, digestive enzymes, gut barrier functions, and bacterial loads in broilers experimentally infected with MG.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRespiratory diseases inflicted by Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) and Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale (ORT) cause severe economic losses and great burden to the poultry industry worldwide. Therefore, the current study was planned to assess the efficacy of aivlosin alone or in combination with zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) in the treatment of experimental MG and/or ORT infections in broilers. Moreover, we also aimed to evaluate the role of ZnO-NPs on aivlosin residues in broiler tissues.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiofilm-formed enterococcal urinary tract clinical isolates (n = 92) were used for studying the antibiofilm activity of cinnamon, ginger, and chemical AgNPs. The average particle sizes of cinnamon, ginger, and chemical AgNPs were 8.7, 41.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMitochondria are the powerhouse of eukaryotic cells. They possess their own gene expression machineries where highly divergent and specialized ribosomes, named hereafter mitoribosomes, translate the few essential messenger RNAs still encoded by mitochondrial genomes. Here, we present a biochemical and structural characterization of the mitoribosome in the model green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, as well as a functional study of some of its specific components.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTranslation initiation on structured mammalian mRNAs requires DHX29, a DExH protein that comprises a unique 534-aa-long N-terminal region (NTR) and a common catalytic DExH core. DHX29 binds to 40S subunits and possesses 40S-stimulated NTPase activity essential for its function. In the cryo-EM structure of DHX29-bound 43S preinitiation complexes, the main DHX29 density resides around the tip of helix 16 of 18S rRNA, from which it extends through a linker to the subunit interface forming an intersubunit domain next to the eIF1A binding site.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis research aimed to assess the pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics (PK/PD) and tissue residues of spiramycin in chickens. The PK of spiramycin were determined in 12 chickens using a parallel study design in which each group of chickens ( = 6) received a single dose of spiramycin at 17 mg/kg intravenously (IV) or orally. Plasma samples were collected at assigned times for up to 48 h to measure spiramycin concentrations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlants make up by far the largest part of biomass on Earth. They are the primary source of food and the basis of most drugs used for medicinal purposes. Similarly to all eukaryotes, plant cells also use mitochondria for energy production.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Patients with diabetes are more vulnerable to the detrimental respiratory effects of combustible cigarette smoke (CS) when compared to the general population. Electronic cigarettes (ECIG) and heated tobacco products (HTP) are marketed as less harmful alternatives to CS. In this study, we compared the effects of acute ECIG, HTP and CS exposure on the lungs of type II diabetes versus non-diabetic mice in an animal model.
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