Loss-of-function mutations are main drivers of adaptations during short-term evolution.

We noticed that during short-term experimental evolution and carcinogenesis, mutations causing gene inactivation (i.e., nonsense mutations or frameshifts) are frequent.

Apoptotic Factors Are Evolutionarily Conserved Since Mitochondrial Domestication.

The mechanisms initiating apoptotic programmed cell death in diverse eukaryotes are very similar. Basically, the mitochondrial permeability transition activates apoptotic proteases, DNases, and flavoproteins such as apoptosis-inducing factors (AIFs). According to the hypothesis of the endosymbiotic origin of apoptosis, these mechanisms evolved during mitochondrial domestication.

Improvement of native structure-based peptides as efficient inhibitors of protein-protein interactions of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and human ACE2.

New pathogens responsible for novel human disease outbreaks in the last two decades are mainly the respiratory system viruses. Not different was the last pandemic episode, caused by infection of a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). One of the extensively explored targets, in the recent scientific literature, as a possible way for rapid development of COVID-19 specific drug(s) is the interaction between the receptor-binding domain of the virus' spike (S) glycoprotein and human receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2).

The Anti-Inflammatory Effect of Cabbage Leaves Explained by the Influence of bol-miRNA172a on FAN Expression.

Recently, the possibility of cross-kingdom gene expression regulation by miRNAs from other species ("xenomiRs"), specifically from plants, has acquired scientific meaning. Based on the one of oldest methods for dealing with inflammation the use of cabbage leaf compresses, we investigated the effects of derived miR172a on the potential human target gene encoding FAN (Factor Associated with Neutral Sphingomyelinase Activation) protein. experiments showed a decrease in FAN protein levels in both human and mouse cells transfected with bol-miRNA172a.

Genetic interaction network has a very limited impact on the evolutionary trajectories in continuous culture-grown populations of yeast.

Background: The impact of genetic interaction networks on evolution is a fundamental issue. Previous studies have demonstrated that the topology of the network is determined by the properties of the cellular machinery. Functionally related genes frequently interact with one another, and they establish modules, e.

Metabolic Potential, Ecology and Presence of Associated Bacteria Is Reflected in Genomic Diversity of Mucoromycotina.

Mucoromycotina are often considered mainly in pathogenic context but their biology remains understudied. We describe the genomes of six Mucoromycotina fungi representing distant saprotrophic lineages within the subphylum (i.e.

Slow Adaptive Response of Budding Yeast Cells to Stable Conditions of Continuous Culture Can Occur without Genome Modifications.

Continuous cultures assure the invariability of environmental conditions and the metabolic state of cultured microorganisms, whereas batch-cultured cells undergo constant changes in nutrients availability. For that reason, continuous culture is sometimes employed in the whole transcriptome, whole proteome, or whole metabolome studies. However, the typical method for establishing uniform growth of a cell population, i.

Plasmidome of an environmental Acinetobacter lwoffii strain originating from a former gold and arsenic mine.

Emerging important Acinetobacter strains commonly accommodate a plethora of mobile elements including plasmids of different size. Plasmids, apart from encoding modules enabling their self-replication and/or transmission, can carry a diverse number of genes, allowing the host cell to survive in an environment that would otherwise be lethal or restrictive for growth. The present study characterizes the plasmidome generated from an arsenic-resistant strain named ZS207, classified as Acinetobacter lwoffii.

Evaluation of keratin biomaterial containing silver nanoparticles as a potential wound dressing in full-thickness skin wound model in diabetic mice.

Keratin is a cytoskeletal scaffolding protein essential for wound healing and tissue recovery. The aim of the study was to evaluate the potential role of insoluble fur keratin-derived powder containing silver nanoparticles (FKDP-AgNP) in the allogenic full-thickness surgical skin wound model in diabetic mice. The scanning electron microscopy image evidenced that the keratin surface is covered by a single layer of silver nanoparticles.

An Apoptotic and Endosymbiotic Explanation of the Warburg and the Inverse Warburg Hypotheses.

Otto Warburg, a Nobel prize winner, observed that cancer cells typically "switch" from aerobic to anaerobic respiration. He hypothesized that mitochondrial damage induces neoplastic transformation. In contrast, pathological aging is observed mainly in neuron cells in neurodegenerative diseases.

Development of a novel keratin dressing which accelerates full-thickness skin wound healing in diabetic mice: In vitro and in vivo studies.

Impaired wound healing is a major medical problem in diabetes. The objective of this study was to determine the possible application of an insoluble fraction of fur-derived keratin biomaterial as a wound dressing in a full thickness surgical skin wound model in mice ( n = 20) with iatrogenically induced diabetes. The obtained keratin dressing was examined in vitro and in vivo.

Activity and Identification of Methanotrophic Bacteria in Arable and No-Tillage Soils from Lublin Region (Poland).

Methanotrophic bacteria are able to use methane (CH) as a sole carbon and energy source. Photochemical oxidation of methane takes place in the stratosphere, whereas in the troposphere, this process is carried out by methanotrophic bacteria. On the one hand, it is known that the efficiency of biological CH oxidation is dependent on the mode of land use but, on the other hand, the knowledge of this impact on methanotrophic activity (MTA) is still limited.

Ancestral State Reconstruction of the Apoptosis Machinery in the Common Ancestor of Eukaryotes.

Apoptotic cell death is a type of eukaryotic cell death. In animals, it regulates development, is involved in cancer suppression, and causes cell death during pathological aging of neuronal cells in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's. Mitochondrial apoptotic-like cell death, a form of primordial apoptosis, also occurs in unicellular organisms.

Detection of Plant miRNAs Abundance in Human Breast Milk.

Breast milk is a natural food and important component of infant nutrition. Apart from the alimentary substances, breast milk contains many important bioactive compounds, including endogenous microRNA molecules (miRNAs). These regulatory molecules were identified in various mammalian biological fluids and were shown to be mostly packed in exosomes.

Taxonomic and chemical assessment of exceptionally abundant rock mine biofilm.

Background: An exceptionally thick biofilm covers walls of ancient gold and arsenic Złoty Stok mine (Poland) in the apparent absence of organic sources of energy.

Methods And Results: We have characterized this microbial community using culture-dependent and independent methods. We sequenced amplicons of the 16S rRNA gene obtained using generic primers and additional primers targeted at Archaea and Actinobacteria separately.

Microbial biodiversity of meadows under different modes of land use: catabolic and genetic fingerprinting.

The main goal of the study was to find differences in the bacterial community structure resulting from different ways of meadow management in order to get the first insight into microbial biodiversity in meadow samples. The next generation sequencing technique (454-pyrosequencing) was accompanied with the community level physiological profiling (CLPP) method in order to acquire combined knowledge of both genetic and catabolic bacterial fingerprinting of two studied meadows (hayland and pasture). Soil samples (FAO: Mollic Gleysol) were taken in April 2015 from the surface layer (0-20 cm).

Metagenomic Analysis of Some Potential Nitrogen-Fixing Bacteria in Arable Soils at Different Formation Processes.

The main goal of the study was to determine the diversity of the potential nitrogen-fixing (PNF) bacteria inhabiting agricultural (A) soils versus wastelands serving as controls (C). The soils were classified into three groups based on the formation process: autogenic soils (Albic Luvisols, Brunic Arenosols, Haplic Phaeozem) formed on loess material, hydrogenic soils (Mollic Gleysols, Eutric Fluvisol, Eutric Histosol) formed under the effect of stagnant water and lithogenic soils (Rendzina Leptosols) formed on limestone. In order to determine the preferable conditions for PNF bacteria, the relationships between the soil chemical features and bacterial operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were tested.

Mapping Protein-Protein Interactions of the Resistance-Related Bacterial Zeta Toxin-Epsilon Antitoxin Complex (ε₂ζ₂) with High Affinity Peptide Ligands Using Fluorescence Polarization.

Toxin-antitoxin systems constitute a native survival strategy of pathogenic bacteria and thus are potential targets of antibiotic drugs. Here, we target the Zeta-Epsilon toxin-antitoxin system, which is responsible for the stable maintenance of certain multiresistance plasmids in Gram-positive bacteria. Peptide ligands were designed on the basis of the ε₂ζ₂ complex.

Noteworthy Facts about a Methane-Producing Microbial Community Processing Acidic Effluent from Sugar Beet Molasses Fermentation.

Anaerobic digestion is a complex process involving hydrolysis, acidogenesis, acetogenesis and methanogenesis. The separation of the hydrogen-yielding (dark fermentation) and methane-yielding steps under controlled conditions permits the production of hydrogen and methane from biomass. The characterization of microbial communities developed in bioreactors is crucial for the understanding and optimization of fermentation processes.

The ClpXP protease is responsible for the degradation of the Epsilon antidote to the Zeta toxin of the streptococcal pSM19035 plasmid.

Most bacterial genomes contain different types of toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems. The ω-ε-ζ proteinaceous type II TA cassette from the streptococcal pSM19035 plasmid is a member of the ε/ζ family, which is commonly found in multiresistance plasmids and chromosomes of various human pathogens. Regulation of type II TA systems relies on the proteolysis of antitoxin proteins.

Bacteria diversity and arsenic mobilization in rock biofilm from an ancient gold and arsenic mine.

In this paper we characterize the biofilm community from an ancient Złoty Stok gold and arsenic mine. Bacterial diversity was examined using a culture-independent technique based on 16S rRNA gene amplification, cloning and sequencing. We show that unexpectedly the microbial diversity of this community was extremely high (more than 190 OTUs detected), with the most numerous members from Rhizobiales (α-Proteobacteria).

Regulation of toxin-antitoxin systems by proteolysis.

Toxin-antitoxin systems are widely distributed among many bacterial species, including human pathogens. Typically, these systems consist of two genes in an operon which encodes a stable toxin disrupting essential cellular processes and a labile antitoxin preventing toxicity. Regulation of type II TA system in which both components are proteins, relies on proteolysis.

Functioning of the TA cassette of streptococcal plasmid pSM19035 in various Gram-positive bacteria.

Toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems are common in microorganisms and are frequently found in the chromosomes and low-copy number plasmids of bacterial pathogens. One such system is carried by the low copy number plasmid pSM19035 of the pathogenic bacterium Streptococcus pyogenes. This plasmid encodes an omega-epsilon-zeta cassette that ensures its stable maintenance by post-segregational killing of plasmid-free cells.

Comparative analysis of hydrogen-producing bacterial biofilms and granular sludge formed in continuous cultures of fermentative bacteria.

A system for biohydrogen production was developed based on long-term continuous cultures grown on sugar beet molasses in packed bed reactors. In two separate cultures, consortia of fermentative bacteria developed as biofilms on granitic stones. In one of the cultures, a granular sludge was also formed.