Publications by authors named "Rekha Punchappady Devasya"

Unlabelled: During microbial surveillance of the Mars 2020 spacecraft assembly facility, two novel bacterial strains, potentially capable of producing lasso peptides, were identified. Characterization using a polyphasic taxonomic approach, whole-genome sequencing and phylogenomic analyses revealed a close genetic relationship among two strains from Mars 2020 cleanroom floors (179-C4-2-HS, 179-J1A1-HS), one strain from the Agave plant (AT2.8), and another strain from wheat-associated soil (V4I25).

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is a common pathogen associated with many oral diseases and is often isolated from oral cancer patients. However, limited information is available on its key virulence gene expression in oral cancer cell microenvironment and cancer cell behaviour in co-culture studies. overexpresses virulence genes when co-cultured with oral cancer cells and possibly alters the tumour microenvironment, promoting oral cancer proliferation and survival.

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Article Synopsis
  • Terrestrial and aquatic environments contaminated with animal urine can spread Leptospira, which causes leptospirosis in both humans and animals, but the factors influencing its growth and virulence are not fully understood.
  • A new strain of Leptospira interrogans, named KeTo, was isolated from sewage in India and can oxidize various organic acids, demonstrating susceptibility to ethyl acetoacetate that inhibits its growth and biofilm formation.
  • Genetic analysis revealed that KeTo shares a high similarity to pathogenic strains and has specific genes for utilizing acetoacetate, indicating its metabolic capabilities and the need for further research on its growth inhibition.
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Chronic wound is a major clinical challenge that complicates wound healing, mainly associated with bacterial biofilms. Bacterial burden damages tissue and persists inflammation, failing to granulate, leading to morbidity and mortality. Various therapeutic strategies and approaches have been developed for chronic wound healing in clinical practice.

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Bacterial exopolysaccharides (EPS) are an emerging class of biopolymers with extensive applications in different fields due to their versatile physico-chemical and biological properties. The role of EPS in healing of different wound types is gaining interest in the tissue engineering sector. Burn is one of the devitalizing injuries that causes greater physical harm and can be fatal.

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, an Indian-origin medicinal plant is the sole natural source of the labdane terpenoid forskolin (CHO), with growing demand Forskolin emerged as an industrially important bioactive compound, with many therapeutic applications in human health. It has established potential effects in the treatment of various diseases and conditions such as glaucoma, asthma, obesity, allergies, skin conditions and cardiovascular diseases. Moreover, clinical trials against different types of cancers are progressing.

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Uropathogens have adaptation strategies to survive in the host urinary tract by efficiently utilizing and tolerating the urinary metabolites. Many uropathogens harbour the enzyme urease for the breakdown of urea and the enzymatic breakdown of urea increases the pH and facilitate the struvite crystallization. In this study, the differential urease activity of uropathogenic Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains was investigated under different nutritional conditions.

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Radiotherapy can potentially influence the diversity and composition of the oral microbiome. We performed a study comparing the composition of oral microbiota in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) before radiotherapy (n = 6), at three months (n = 6), and six months (n = 6) post-radiotherapy, and controls (n = 6). We profiled the oral microbiome by 16S rRNA gene sequencing using Illumina MiSeq.

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Introduction: Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC), a common malignancy of the head and neck region, is frequently diagnosed at advanced stages, necessitating the development of efficient diagnostic methods. Profiling autoantibodies generated against tumor-associated antigens have lately demonstrated a promising role in diagnosis, predicting disease course, and response to therapeutics and relapse.

Methods: In the current study, we, for the first time, aimed to identify and evaluate the diagnostic value of autoantibodies in serum samples of patients with OSCC using autoantibody profiling by an immunome protein array.

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The unnotified or undifferentiable early stages of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) progression are the prime reasons for late-stage detection and poor survival outcomes of oral cancer. This review summarizes the prior research and recent advancements on the influence of dysregulated non-coding RNA (ncRNA) on cell cycle and their employability as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers of oral cancer. The literature search was performed using the following keywords: 'serum/saliva non-coding RNAs' and 'serum/saliva non-coding RNAs and cell cycle', 'serum/saliva dysregulated ncRNAs and cell cycle', 'Cdk/CKI and ncRNAs', 'tissue ncRNAs' concerning 'oral cancer''.

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Extremophiles possess unique cellular and molecular mechanisms to assist, tolerate, and sustain their lives in extreme habitats. These habitats are dominated by one or more extreme physical or chemical parameters that shape existing microbial communities and their cellular and genomic features. The diversity of extremophiles reflects a long list of adaptations over millions of years.

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A new phage PseuPha1, infecting multiple multi-drug resistant strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa with strong anti-biofilm activities, was isolated from wastewater in India. PseuPha1 showed optimal multiplicity of infection at 10, maintained the infectivity at wide ranges of pH (6-9) and temperature (4-37 ⁰C), and exhibited 50 minutes latent period and a burst size of 200 when tested against P. aeruginosa PAO1.

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Biopolymers play a significant role in tissue engineering, including in the formulation of bioinks that require careful selection of the biopolymers having properties ideal for printability and supporting biological entities such as cells. Alginate is one of the most widely explored natural biopolymers for tissue engineering applications due to its biocompatibility, cross-linking ability, hydrophilic nature, and easy incorporation with other polymers. Here, a succinoglycan-like exopolysaccharide (EPS-R17) produced by a bacterial strain Rhizobium sp.

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Article Synopsis
  • * This study focuses on the draft genome of an algae-associated strain, Alteromonas sp. PRIM-21, from India, revealing its similarities to the closely related strain A. fortis 1, including a high degree of genetic similarity and the presence of genes for EPS production.
  • * The strain PRIM-21 possesses unique enzymes for degrading various polysaccharides, which may help it extract nutrients from its algal host, highlighting genetic differences in polysaccharide utilization among closely related Alter
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Urea is one of the major components of the human urine and its breakdown by the uropathogens occurs mainly through the activity of the enzyme urease. However, a few reports suggest the presence of an alternate enzyme system for urea breakdown namely urea carboxylase (UC) and allophanate hydrolase (AH). We have previously reported the UC and AH system in the genome of a urease-negative uropathogen Kalamiella piersonii YU22 of the novel genus Kalamiella (reclassified recently as Pantoea).

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Biofilm formation associated with quorum sensing (QS) is a community behaviour displayed by many gram-negative pathogenic bacteria that provide survival advantages in hostile conditions. The inhibitors of QS interrupt bacterial communication and coordinated cell signalling for community aggregation in the biofilm. Thymol, a natural monoterpenoid, was tested against QS in Chromobacterium violaceum.

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Diabetic wound management is a serious health care challenge due to higher rates of relapse, expensive treatment approaches, and poor healing outcomes. Among cell-based therapies, use of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) has been shown to be effective for diabetic wounds, but its poor shelf-life limits its clinical use. Here, we demonstrate a simple but effective polymer system to increase the shelf-life of PRP by developing a polyelectrolyte complex with dropwise addition of chitosan solution containing PRP by simple mixing at room temperature.

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Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder with wide spectrum of symptoms and few effective therapies. Evidence is suggestive of an association between immune system dysfunction and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) among children with ASD. Immunoglobulins (Ig) are found to be increased in the circulation of individuals with autism.

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Quorum sensing (QS)-dependent gene regulation in bacteria performs a vital role in synchronization of cell-density-dependent functions. In Chromobacterium violaceum QS-dependent cviI/R regulatory genes are activated during the mid- or late-exponential phase of growth. However, sufficient evidence is lacking on the role of QS inhibitors on gene regulation at different phases of growth.

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Natural biopolymers have gained remarkable attention for bioremediation particularly in heavy metal removal and oil degradation due to their non-toxic nature and lack of secondary pollution. The exopolysaccharides (EPS) produced by the bacteria have become an important class of biopolymers that are employed in bioremediation. The bacteria isolated from the rhizospheric soil have higher metal tolerance and their EPS are effective in biosorption of heavy metals.

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Carvone is a natural monoterpenoid and in this study it was tested for its role in attenuating quorum sensing (QS) controlled biofilm formation in It showed significant QS inhibition in terms of reduction in violacein at a concentration range of 60 to 70 µg/mL against ATCC 12472. At the same concentration, carvone also inhibited biofilm formation by more than 80%. The biofilm morphology of is unique with a well organised pattern of cell arrangement in a tight matrix.

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The marine bacterial exopolysaccharides (EPS) have transfigured the biotech sector with their myriad applications and prospects. This work was carried out to characterize and analyze the functional and biochemical properties of an EPS (EPS-DR3A) produced by a marine bacterium, Pseudoalteromonas sp. YU16-DR3A.

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Development of drug resistance in opportunistic pathogens is one of the major healthcare challenges associated with infection management. Combination therapy has many advantages due to the simultaneous action of two drugs on two separate cellular targets. However, selection of the drugs should offer safety and synergistic interaction against most of the strains.

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Article Synopsis
  • Uropathogenic bacteria contribute to urinary tract infections and kidney stone disease, with a specific strain (YU22) isolated from a struvite stone patient showing potential links to this condition.
  • The strain YU22, sharing similarities with bacteria found on the International Space Station, exhibits virulence factors that facilitate colonization and infection, including motility and biofilm formation.
  • Experimental results indicate that YU22 can thrive in the urinary environment, enhance struvite crystallization, and warrants further investigation to understand its health risks more comprehensively.
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