Pseudomonas nitritireducens sp. nov., a nitrite reduction bacterium isolated from wheat soil.

A Gram-negative, non-mobile, polar single flagellum, rod-shaped bacterium WZBFD3-5A2(T) was isolated from a wheat soil subjected to herbicides for several years. Cells of strain WZBFD3-5A2(T) grow optimally on Luria-Bertani agar medium at 30 °C in the presence of 0-4.0 % (w/v) NaCl and pH 8.

[Correlation of bacterial diversity in rot Chinese cabbage with the habitat].

Objective: To investigate the diversity of bacteria in soft rot Chinese cabbage and analyze their correlation with rhizosphere bacteria, we analyzed the bacterial population structures of soft rot Chinese cabbage and the rhizosphere in different habitat.

Methods: Based on the initial medium and artificial Chinese cabbage medium, we isolated the bacteria from soft rot tissues and rhizospheric soils from two typical habitats. According to the analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequence homology, we identified the isolated strains and analyzed the strains population structure.

Oceanitalea nanhaiensis gen. nov., sp. nov., an actinobacterium isolated from seawater.

A Gram-positive, motile, short-rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain JLT1488(T), was isolated from the South China Sea and investigated in a taxonomic study using a polyphasic approach. The peptidoglycan type determined for strain JLT1488(T) was A4α with lysine as the diagnostic cell-wall diamino acid and an interpeptide bridge of L-Lys-L-Glu. The polar lipids consisted of diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylinositol mannosides, an unknown glycolipid and an unknown phospholipid.

A non-synonymous polymorphism Thr115Met in the EpCAM gene is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer in Chinese population.

As a tumor-associated antigen and a surface marker of breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs), epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) plays an important role in not only cell adhesion, morphogenesis, metastases but also carcinogenesis. A non-synonymous C/T polymorphism (rs1126497) in exon3 of EpCAM causes a transition of 115 amino acid from Met to Thr. Another polymorphism (A/G, rs1421) in the 3'UTR causes loss of has-miR-1183 binding.

Solearhynchus kostylewi (Meyer, 1932) comb. nov. (acanthocephala: Echinorhynchidae), a rare parasite of Solea solea (pisces: soleidae) in the Gemlik Bay, Sea of Marmara.

Paracanthocephaloides kostylewi (Meyer, 1932), a rare parasite of the common sole Solea solea, previously placed in the Arhythmacanthidae, is transfered to the genus Solearhynchus de Buron & Maillard, 1985 of the family Echinorhynchidae as Solearhynchus kostylewi (Meyer, 1932) new comb., because its proboscis is armed by a single type of hooks, the posterior hook in each row is pinlike and with feebly developed root. The species is redescribed on the basis of newly collected material from the Gemlik Bay, Sea of Marmara.

Stakelama pacifica gen. nov., sp. nov., a new member of the family Sphingomonadaceae isolated from the Pacific Ocean.

A Gram reaction-negative, weakly motile, non-spore-forming, rod-shaped, aerobic bacterium designated strain JLT832(T) was isolated from surface water of the central Pacific Ocean and formed yellow colonies on rich organic (RO) medium. The strain was oxidase-negative and catalase-positive. Acid was produced from mannitol, glucose, sucrose, lactose, sorbitol, maltose, (+)-trehalose and d-fructose.

Oceanicola nitratireducens sp. nov., a marine alphaproteobacterium isolated from the South China Sea.

A Gram-negative, non-motile, short-rod-shaped bacterial strain (JLT1210(T)) that accumulates poly-beta-hydroxybutyrate granules was isolated from the Beibu Gulf in the South China Sea. Cells have polar or subpolar flagella. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that the strain belongs to the genus Oceanicola in the order Rhodobacterales, class Alphaproteobacteria.

Mameliella alba gen. nov., sp. nov., a marine bacterium of the Roseobacter clade in the order Rhodobacterales.

A Gram-negative, non-motile, rod-shaped bacterial strain, JLT354-W(T), that accumulates poly-beta-hydroxybutyrate granules was isolated from the South China Sea. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that the strain was related to members of the genera Antarctobacter, Sagittula, Oceanicola and Loktanella; levels of similarity between strain JLT354-W(T) and members of the above genera were less than 92.0 %.

Amycolicicoccus subflavus gen. nov., sp. nov., an actinomycete isolated from a saline soil contaminated by crude oil.

Two novel actinomycetes, designated DQS3-9A1(T) and DQS3-9A2, were isolated from a saline soil contaminated with crude oil in the Shengli Oilfield in China. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, the two strains were most closely related to Mycobacterium species (92.7-94.

High frequency of hepatocellular carcinoma in Mongolia; association with mono-, or co-infection with hepatitis C, B, and delta viruses.

To investigate the association between viral infection pattern and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), 292 chronic hepatitis patients, including 108 with developed HCC were screened using serological and molecular genetics methods. Viral etiology was established in 267 (91.4%), anti-HCV detected in 198 (67.

Metazoa parasites of the invasive round goby Apollonia melanostoma (Neogobius melanostomus) (Pallas) (Gobiidae: Osteichthyes) in the Gulf of Gdańsk, Baltic Sea, Poland: a comparison with the Black Sea.

The known metazoa parasite fauna of the invasive round goby Apollonia melanostoma (formerly Neogobius melanostomus) consists of 12 species. The core of the parasite fauna comprises two species: Cryptocotyle concavum and Diplostomum spathaceum; secondary species are absent; satellite species include Cercariae gen. sp.

Absence of spinocerebellar ataxia type 3/Machado-Joseph disease within ataxic patients in the Czech population.

Although spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 (SCA3)/Machado-Joseph disease is the most common type of SCA worldwide, we did not identify any cases of the disease amongst SCA patients in the Czech population. It has been proposed that the prevalence of large normal alleles correlates with the frequency of various types of SCA. We have therefore attempted to resolve the absence of SCA3 in our population by investigating, within 204 normal chromosomes, the frequency and nature of CAG repeats as well as two intragenic polymorphisms.

Can ataxin-2 be down-regulated by allele-specific de novo DNA methylation in SCA2 patients?

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2) is caused by a CAG trinucleotide repeat expansion within the coding region of the ataxin-2 gene. Affected individuals typically have between 34 and 57 CAG repeats. Signs of the disorder generally begin in adulthood and include progressive ataxia, dysarthria, tremor, hyporeflexia, and slow saccades.

Cell cycle progression and cytokine gene expression of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells modulated by Agaricus blazei.

We selected Agaricus blazei Murill, used in the treatment of tissue inflammation and cancer in traditional Chinese medicine, to test its immunopharmacological activity. The effects of A. blazei extracted fractions (AB-BDM-1 to AB-BDM-10) on human peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) proliferation were determined on the basis of the uptake of tritiated thymidine.

Effect of salicylic acid, methyl jasmonate, ethephon and cantharidin on anthraquinone production by Rubia cordifolia callus cultures transformed with the rolB and rolC genes.

It has been suggested that the rol genes of Agrobacterium rhizogenes could play an essential role in the activation of secondary metabolite production in plant transformed cultures. This study investigated whether the content of anthraquinone phytoalexins was changed in callus cultures of Rubia cordifolia transgenic for the 35S-rolB and 35S-rolC genes in comparison with a non-transformed callus culture. The anthraquinone content was shown to be significantly increased in transgenic cultures, thus providing further evidence that the rol-gene transformation can be used for the activation of secondary metabolism in plant cells.

Shikonin production by p-fluorophenylalanine resistant cells of Lithospermum erythrorhizon.

Studies were conducted with a BK-39 callus culture of Lithospermum erythrorhizon, which produced seven shikonin derivatives (acetylshikonin, propionylshikonin, isobutyrylshikonin, beta,beta-dimethylacrylshikonin, isovalerylshikonin, beta-hydroxyisovalerylshikonin and alpha-methyl-n-butyrylshikonin). A selection of cell aggregates of BK-39 culture on a medium containing p-fluorophenylalanine (PFP) yields a cell line possessing a higher resistance to the inhibitor than the initial culture. Selected BK-39F cultures produced almost the same profile of shikonin naphthoquinones as the initial culture.

Histologic effect of mitomycin C on strabismus surgery in the rabbit.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficiency of mitomycin C (MMC) in limiting the postoperative inflammatory response and scarring after strabismus surgery.

Methods: A prospective, two-stage, masked, controlled trial was conducted. In the first stage, the inflammatory response at the extraocular muscle reattachment site was increased after inferior rectus recession in eight rabbits.

20-hydroxyecdysone as a human lymphocyte and neutrophil modulator: In vitro evaluation.

20-hydroxyecdysone (1 microM) was found to activate in vitro T-cell CD2 presentation, which is suppressed both in secondary immunodeficient persons and pharmacologically by increasing intracellular cAMP levels. The compound was found to act like a synthetic psycho-immunomodulator 1-oxy-4-oxoadamantane (1 microM) and to exceed the effects of the thymomimetic agent levamisol (1 microM). In addition, 20-hydroxyecdysone (1 microM) was also revealed to modulate the fluoride-stimulated respiratory burst of human neutrophils in the same manner as water soluble antioxidants.

[Effect of temperature acclimation on glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity in various tissues of the Mullus barbatus ponticus].

Acclimation of the Mullus barbatus ponticus to the temperature fall (from 16 to 8 degrees C) induces an increase in the activity of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase both in summer and in autumn. These changes are more expressed in the liver and red muscle than in the white ones. The values of Km of glucose-6-phosphate (only in autumn) and NADP are also higher at 8 than at 16 degrees C.