RT-qPCR investigation of post-mortem tissues during COVID-19.

In 2020, there were numerous cases in Kazakhstan with clinical symptoms of COVID-19 but negative PCR results in nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs. The diagnosis was confirmed clinically and by CT scans (computed tomography). The problem with such negative PCR results for SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmation still exists and indicates the need to confirm the diagnosis in the bronchoalveolar lavage in such cases.

Lethal pulmonary embolism in a pregnant woman with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 receiving prophylactic anticoagulation: a case report.

Background: A limited number of studies have described thrombotic complications in pregnant women with COVID-19. Here we report on fatal pulmonary embolism in a pregnant woman with laboratory confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Case Presentation: A 28-year-old Kazakh woman was hospitalized with muscle pain, dry cough and a temperature of 37.

Molecular detection and characterization of bovine viral diarrhea virus type 2 and bluetongue virus 9 in forest flies (Hippobosca equina) collected from livestock in southern Kazakhstan.

Keds are hematophagous ectoparasites of animals belonging to the family Hippoboscidae (Diptera: Hippoboscoidea). Because of their importance as vectors of some pathogens of medical and veterinary importance, they have received special attention. There are numerous studies demonstrating the presence of various parasites and pathogenic bacteria in keds.

Molecular and seroepidemiological investigation of Сoxiella burnetii and spotted fever group rickettsiae in the southern region of Kazakhstan.

Ticks are involved in the circulation of a number of human pathogens, including spotted fever group (SFG) Rickettsia spp. and Coxiella burnetii. Little is known about the occurrence of these microorganisms in the southern region of Kazakhstan.

Molecular and serological survey of bovine viral diarrhea virus infection in cattle in Kazakhstan.

The aim of this study was to estimate the occurrence of bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) infection and to assess the population immunity in cattle vaccinated against BVDV in different regions of Kazakhstan. Cattle samples were collected in 12 oblasts (43 districts) of Kazakhstan. A total of 2477 cattle from 114 herds and 21 Bukhara deer (Cervus elaphus bactrianus) were examined by ELISA and conventional RT-PCR.

Sweet Potato as a Key Crop for Food Security under the Conditions of Global Climate Change: A Review.

Sweet potato is one of the most economically important crops for addressing global food security and climate change issues, especially under conditions of extensive agriculture, such as those found in developing countries. However, osmotic stress negatively impacts the agronomic and economic productivity of sweet potato cultivation by inducing several morphological, physiological, and biochemical changes. Plants employ many signaling pathways to respond to water stress by modifying their growth patterns, activating antioxidants, accumulating suitable solutes and chaperones, and making stress proteins.

Glyphosate treatment mediates the accumulation of small discrete 5'- and 3'-terminal fragments of 18S rRNA in plant cells.

Under many kinds of stress, eukaryotic cells rapidly decrease the overall translation level of the majority of mRNAs. However, some molecular mechanisms of protein synthesis inhibition like phosphorylation of eukaryotic elongation factor 2 (eEF2), which are known to be functional in animals and yeast, are not implemented in plants. We suggest that there is an alternative mechanism for the inhibition of protein synthesis in plant cells and possibly, in other eukaryotes, which is based on the discrete fragmentation of 18S rRNA molecules within small ribosomal subunits.

Prevalence and genetic diversity of coronaviruses, astroviruses and paramyxoviruses in wild birds in southeastern Kazakhstan.

Wild birds are natural reservoirs of many emerging viruses, including some zoonoses. Considering that the territory of Kazakhstan is crossed by several bird migration routes, it is important to know pathogenic viruses circulating in migratory birds in this region. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify the host range, diversity and spatial distribution of avian paramyxoviruses, coronaviruses, and astroviruses in free-ranging wild birds in the southeastern region of Kazakhstan.

Identification and characterization of bluetongue virus in Culicoides spp. and clinically healthy livestock in southeastern Kazakhstan.

Objective: Bluetongue is an arthropod-borne disease of ruminants. Here, we investigated the seroprevalence of bluetongue virus (BTV) in livestock and performed the first genetic characterization of BTV isolated from sheep and Culicoides midges in the southeastern region of Kazakhstan.

Methods: Blood samples were collected from 1241 asymptomatic livestock.

Phosphorylation of the alpha-subunit of plant eukaryotic initiation factor 2 prevents its association with polysomes but does not considerably suppress protein synthesis.

Phosphorylation of the α-subunit of eukaryotic initiation factor 2 (eIF2α) and subsequent inhibition of protein synthesis is a major survival response to different stresses in animal and yeast cells. However, the role of this regulatory mechanism in plants is not unambiguously established to date. Here we describe a slight reduction of polysome abundance in Nicotiana benthamiana after the transient expression of a cDNA, AteIF2α(S56D), encoding a phosphomimetic form of Arabidopsis thaliana eIF2α.

Monitoring of pathogenic Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in the Almaty oblast, Kazakhstan.

Lyme borreliosis (LB) is one of the most common vector-borne diseases transmitted by ticks. It is caused by the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.

The prevalence of Borrelia in Ixodes persulcatus in southeastern Kazakhstan.

Borreliosis is one of the most common vector-borne zoonotic diseases in the world. Limited data are available regarding Borrelia spp. and their genotypes in Kazakhstan.

Constructing the constitutively active ribosomal protein S6 kinase 2 from Arabidopsis thaliana (AtRPS6K2) and testing its activity in vitro.

Ribosomal protein S6 (RPS6) is the only phosphorylatable protein of the eukaryotic 40S ribosomal subunit. Ribosomes with phosphorylated RPS6 can selectively translate 5'TOP-(5'-terminal oligopyrimidine)-containing mRNAs that encode most proteins of the translation apparatus. The study of translational control of 5'TOP-mRNAs, which are preferentially translated when RPS6 is phosphorylated and cease to be translated when RPS6 is de-phosphorylated, is particularly important.

Evidence That Phosphorylation of the -Subunit of eIF2 Does Not Essentially Inhibit mRNA Translation in Wheat Germ Cell-Free System.

A mechanism based on reversible phosphorylation of the -subunit of eukaryotic initiation factor 2 (eIF2) has been confirmed as an important regulatory pathway for the inhibition of protein synthesis in mammalian and yeast cells, while plants constitute the significant exception. We studied the induction of eIF2 phosphorylation in germinated wheat () embryos subjected to different adverse conditions. Data confirmed that formation of eIF2(P) was not a general response, as no phosphorylation was observed under salt, oxidative, or heat stress.

Two case reports of neuroinvasive West Nile virus infection in the Almaty region, Kazakhstan.

Background: West Nile virus (WNV) is a member of the genus , which transmitted to humans mainly by mosquitoes. Recent pilot serosurveillance data from the Almaty region, Kazakhstan, suggest widespread WNV circulation in this area. This report includes two cases of neuroinvasive WNV infection in the same family living in a rural area near Tekeli city, Eskeldinsky district, Almaty region, Kazakhstan.

The Effect of Translation Promoting Site (TPS) on Protein Expression in E. coli Cells.

The study of translation initiation in prokaryotes assumes that there should be a mechanism different from the canonical model, which postulates the formation of the pre-initiation complex through the interaction of the Shine-Dalgarno sequence (SD) at the 5'-end of mRNA and the anti-Shine-Dalgarno site at the 3'-end of 16S rRNA. In this paper we've studied the effect of TPS (Translation-initiation Promoting Site) on β-glucuronidase expression in E. coli cells at different cultivation temperatures.

[Fragment of mRNA coding part that is complementary to region 1638-1650 of wheat 18S rRNA functions as a translational enhancer].

Possible involvement of 18S rRNA fragment 1638-1650 including basements of the helices h44 and h28 and nucleotides of the ribosomal decoding site in the cap-independent translation initiation on plant ribosomes is studied. This rRNA fragment is shown to be accessible for complementary interactions within the 40S ribosomal subunit. It is found that the sequence complementary to the 18S rRNA fragment 1638-1650 is able to enhance efficiency of a reporter mRNA translation when placed just after the initiation codon.

2'-OH of mRNA are critical for the binding of its codons at the 40S ribosomal P site but not at the mRNA entry site.

The roles of 2'-OH groups in the binding of mRNA to human ribosomes were studied using site-directed cross-linking. We found that both mRNA and mDNA analogues bearing a cross-linker can modify ribosomal proteins (rps) S3e and S2e at the mRNA entry site independently on tRNA presence, but only mRNA analogues were capable of a tRNA(Phe)-dependent binding to human ribosomes and cross-linking to rpS26e in the mRNA binding centre. Thus, 2'-OH groups of mRNA are unimportant for binding at the entry site but they are crucial for codon-anticodon interactions at the P site, implying the existence of mRNA-ribosome contacts that do not occur in bacteria.

[Probable involvement of 3'-terminal segment of 18S rRNA in translation initiation of uncapped mRNAs in plants].

A possibility of involvement of 3'-terminal 18S rRNA segment in the cap-independent initiation of translation on plant ribosomes was studied. It was shown that 3-terminal segment (nucleotides 1777-1811) of 18S rRNA including the last hairpin 45 is accessible for complementary interactions in 40S ribosomal subunits. Oligonucleotides complementary to this segment of rRNA when added to wheat germ cell-free protein synthesizing system were found to specifically inhibit translation of uncapped reporter mRNA coding for beta-glucuronidase, which bears in the 5'-untranslated region (UTR) a leader sequence of potato virus Y (PVY) genomic RNA possessing fragments complementary to the region 1777-1811.

[Region 1112-1123 in the central domain of 18S rRNA in 40S subunits of plant ribosomes: accessibility for complementary interactions and the functional role].

The binding of the 18S RNA of the 40S subunits of wheat germ ribosomes to an oligodeoxyribonucleotide complementary to the 1112-1123 region of the central domain of this RNA molecule has been studied. The selective binding of this oligomer to the complementary RNA fragment and the inhibition of the translation of uncapped chimeric RNA containing enhancer sequences in the 5'-untranslated region upstream of the reporter sequence coding for beta-glucuronidase has been shown in a cell-free protein-synthesizing system. The use of a derivative of the aforementioned oligomer containing an alkylating group at the 5' end allowed for the demonstration that the 1112-1123 region of 18S RNA can form a heteroduplex with the complementary sequence of the oligomer.

ARC-1, a sequence element complementary to an internal 18S rRNA segment, enhances translation efficiency in plants when present in the leader or intercistronic region of mRNAs.

The sequences of different plant viral leaders with known translation enhancer ability show partial complementarity to the central region of 18S rRNA. Such complementarity might serve as a means to attract 40S ribosomal subunits and explain in part the translation-enhancing property of these sequences. To verify this notion, we designed beta-glucuronidase (GUS) mRNAs differing only in the nature of 10 nt inserts in the center of their 41 base leaders.