scholarly journals Biodiversity of Phages Infecting the Dairy Bacterium Streptococcus thermophilus

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 1822
Author(s):  
Laurens Hanemaaijer ◽  
Philip Kelleher ◽  
Horst Neve ◽  
Charles Franz ◽  
Paul de Waal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Production Systems ◽  
Proteome Analysis ◽  
Morphological Diversity ◽  
Streptococcus Thermophilus ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Genetic Mosaicism ◽  
Diverse Groups ◽  
Encoding Genes ◽  
Dairy Fermentation ◽  
Made In

Streptococcus thermophilus-infecting phages represent a major problem in the dairy fermentation industry, particularly in relation to thermophilic production systems. Consequently, numerous studies have been performed relating to the biodiversity of such phages in global dairy operations. In the current review, we provide an overview of the genetic and morphological diversity of these phages and highlight the source and extent of genetic mosaicism among phages infecting this species through comparative proteome analysis of the replication and morphogenesis modules of representative phages. The phylogeny of selected phage-encoded receptor binding proteins (RBPs) was assessed, indicating that in certain cases RBP-encoding genes have been acquired separately to the morphogenesis modules, thus highlighting the adaptability of these phages. This review further highlights the significant advances that have been made in defining emergent genetically diverse groups of these phages, while it additionally summarizes remaining knowledge gaps in this research area.

scholarly journals Diversity of Cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp] Landraces in Mozambique: New Opportunities for Crop Improvement and Future Breeding Programs

Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 991
Author(s):  
Ana Maria Figueira Gomes ◽  
David Draper ◽  
Nascimento Nhantumbo ◽  
Rafael Massinga ◽  
José C. Ramalho ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Vigna Unguiculata ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Crop Improvement ◽  
Morphological Diversity ◽  
Ecological Zones ◽  
Nutrition Security ◽  
Food And Nutrition ◽  
High Level ◽  
Nutrition Sensitive

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) is a neglected crop native to Africa, with an outstanding potential to contribute to the major challenges in food and nutrition security, as well as in agricultural sustainability. Two major issues regarding cowpea research have been highlighted in recent years—the establishment of core collections and the characterization of landraces—as crucial to the implementation of environmentally resilient and nutrition-sensitive production systems. In this work, we have collected, mapped, and characterized the morphological attributes of 61 cowpea genotypes, from 10 landraces spanning across six agro-ecological zones and three provinces in Mozambique. Our results reveal that local landraces retain a high level of morphological diversity without a specific geographical pattern, suggesting the existence of gene flow. Nevertheless, accessions from one landrace, i.e., Maringué, seem to be the most promising in terms of yield and nutrition-related parameters, and could therefore be integrated into the ongoing conservation and breeding efforts in the region towards the production of elite varieties of cowpea.

Progress and Prospects for the Development of Computer-Generated Actors for Military Simulation: Part 1-Introduction and Background

2003 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 311-325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin R. Stytz ◽  
Sheila B. Banks
Keyword(s):  
Research Area ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Life Cycle Costs ◽  
Material Management ◽  
Reasoning System ◽  
Force Structure ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Future Work ◽  
Level Training ◽  
Made In

The development of computer-generated synthetic environments, also calleddistributed virtual environments, for military simulation relies heavily upon computer-generated actors (CGAs) to provide accurate behaviors at reasonable cost so that the synthetic environments are useful, affordable, complex, and realistic. Unfortunately, the pace of synthetic environment development and the level of desired CGA performance continue to rise at a much faster rate than CGA capability improvements. This insatiable demand for realism in CGAs for synthetic environments arises from the growing understanding of the significant role that modeling and simulation can play in a variety of venues. These uses include training, analysis, procurement decisions, mission rehearsal, doctrine development, force-level and task-level training, information assurance, cyberwarfare, force structure analysis, sustainability analysis, life cycle costs analysis, material management, infrastructure analysis, and many others. In these and other uses of military synthetic environments, computer-generated actors play a central role because they have the potential to increase the realism of the environment while also reducing the cost of operating the environment. The progress made in addressing the technical challenges that must be overcome to realize effective and realistic CGAs for military simulation environments and the technical areas that should be the focus of future work are the subject of this series of papers, which survey the technologies and progress made in the construction and use of CGAs. In this, the first installment in the series of three papers, we introduce the topic of computer-generated actors and issues related to their performance and fidelity and other background information for this research area as related to military simulation. We also discuss CGA reasoning system techniques and architectures.

scholarly journals Current and Emerging Biomarkers of Cell Death in Human Disease

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kongning Li ◽  
Deng Wu ◽  
Xi Chen ◽  
Ting Zhang ◽  
Lu Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Death ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Human Diseases ◽  
Mitotic Catastrophe ◽  
Regulated Necrosis ◽  
Early Diagnose ◽  
Multicellular Organisms ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Made In

Cell death is a critical biological process, serving many important functions within multicellular organisms. Aberrations in cell death can contribute to the pathology of human diseases. Significant progress made in the research area enormously speeds up our understanding of the biochemical and molecular mechanisms of cell death. According to the distinct morphological and biochemical characteristics, cell death can be triggered by extrinsic or intrinsic apoptosis, regulated necrosis, autophagic cell death, and mitotic catastrophe. Nevertheless, the realization that all of these efforts seek to pursue an effective treatment and cure for the disease has spurred a significant interest in the development of promising biomarkers of cell death to early diagnose disease and accurately predict disease progression and outcome. In this review, we summarize recent knowledge about cell death, survey current and emerging biomarkers of cell death, and discuss the relationship with human diseases.

scholarly journals Analysis of the data of hydrogeochemical monitoring of groundwater in the North Sivash artesian basin

2019 ◽  
pp. 64-71
Author(s):  
K. Ya. Bulakhova ◽  
S. M. Sudarikov
Keyword(s):  
Research Area ◽  
Geological Structure ◽  
Hydrogeological Model ◽  
Artesian Basin ◽  
Correlation And Regression Analysis ◽  
The North ◽  
Gypsum Content ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Aquifer Complex ◽  
Made In

The results of hydrogeochemical monitoring of the Sarmat-Meotis-Pontic sediments aquifer complex of the North Sivash artesian basin have been analyzed. The analysis based on a routine observations for 16 producing wells. The observations were made in the period from 2014 to 2017 years. A correlation and regression analysis has been made for definition of dependencies between changes in the concentrations of the normalized components. The results obtained allow us to evaluate the main factors of formation of the chemical composition of groundwater. At the present stage, metamorphosed waters are pulled up from the lower strata of the complex, that leads to an increase in the amount of mineralization. The formation of sulphate waters is primarily associated with the peculiarities of the geological structure, namely, the high gypsum content of quaternary deposits and the presence of hydraulic connection with the overlying aquifers. One of the reasons for the formation of sulphate waters is the anthropogenic impact associated with the close location of the acid accumulator containing sulfur tailing. The results obtained allow us to proceed to the next stage of the survey — the creation of a natural hydrogeological model of the research area and the carrying of the thermodynamic modeling.

Proteome Analysis of Colorectal Cancer Cell Line SW480 Released Extracellular Vesicles

2018 ◽  
Vol 762 ◽  
pp. 3-7
Author(s):  
Ilva Nakurte ◽  
Kaspars Jekabsons ◽  
Elina Zandberga ◽  
Arturs Abols ◽  
Aija Line ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Colorectal Cancer ◽  
Extracellular Vesicles ◽  
Cancer Cell Line ◽  
Surface Protein ◽  
Proteome Analysis ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Surface Proteins ◽  
Colorectal Cancer Cell Line ◽  
Protein Fragments ◽  
Early Cancer Diagnosis

The detection and profiling of disease-specific extracellular vesicles (EVs) from body fluids has been challenging research area during recent years. However, the question – can EVs surface proteins be exploited as a credible tool for early cancer diagnosis – is still not answered. Objective of the current study was to find out whether hypoxia induces differences in protein profiles of EVs released from hypoxic human colorectal cancer cells SW480 (EVHyp) and EVs released from these cells grown in normoxic conditions – EVNorm. Obtained results show differences in EVs surface protein samples. Some protein fragments were found only or mostly in EVHyp surface protein samples. Finding of one or two such EVHyp protein fragments allows us to suggest that deciphered EVHyp surface proteins might be indices of hypoxia-induced proteome changes and might serve as a hint to find a cancer specific protein.

scholarly journals Biodiversity of Streptococcus thermophilus Phages in Global Dairy Fermentations

Viruses ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 577 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Lavelle ◽  
Ines Martinez ◽  
Horst Neve ◽  
Gabriele Lugli ◽  
Charles Franz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Host Range ◽  
Fragment Length Polymorphism ◽  
Sequence Similarity ◽  
Streptococcus Thermophilus ◽  
Starter Cultures ◽  
Polymorphism Analysis ◽  
Phage Group ◽  
Protein Phylogeny ◽  
Dairy Fermentation ◽  
Receptor Binding Protein

Streptococcus thermophilus strains are among the most widely employed starter cultures in dairy fermentations, second only to those of Lactococcus lactis. The extensive application of this species provides considerable opportunity for the proliferation of its infecting (bacterio)phages. Until recently, dairy streptococcal phages were classified into two groups (cos and pac groups), while more recently, two additional groups have been identified (5093 and 987 groups). This highlights the requirement for consistent monitoring of phage populations in the industry. Here, we report a survey of 35 samples of whey derived from 27 dairy fermentation facilities in ten countries against a panel of S. thermophilus strains. This culminated in the identification of 172 plaque isolates, which were characterized by multiplex PCR, restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis, and host range profiling. Based on this characterisation, 39 distinct isolates representing all four phage groups were selected for genome sequencing. Genetic diversity was observed among the cos isolates and correlations between receptor binding protein phylogeny and host range were also clear within this phage group. The 987 phages isolated within this study shared high levels of sequence similarity, yet displayed reduced levels of similarity to those identified in previous studies, indicating that they are subject to ongoing genetic diversification.

scholarly journals Proteome Analysis of Streptococcus thermophilus Grown in Milk Reveals Pyruvate Formate-Lyase as the Major Upregulated Protein

2005 ◽  
Vol 71 (12) ◽  
pp. 8597-8605 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylviane Derzelle ◽  
Alexander Bolotin ◽  
Michel-Yves Mistou ◽  
Françoise Rul
Keyword(s):  
Anaerobic Fermentation ◽  
Physiological Role ◽  
Proteome Analysis ◽  
Streptococcus Thermophilus ◽  
Product Formation ◽  
Exponential Growth Phase ◽  
Transcriptional Level ◽  
Acid Product ◽  
Pyruvate Formate Lyase ◽  
Proteomic Approach

ABSTRACT We investigated the adaptation to milk of Streptococcus thermophilus LMG18311 using a proteomic approach. Two-dimensional electrophoresis of cytosolic proteins were performed after growth in M17 medium or in milk. A major modification of the proteome concerned proteins involved in the supply of amino acids, like the peptidase PepX, and several enzymes involved in amino acid biosynthesis. In parallel, we observed the upregulation of the synthesis of seven enzymes directly involved in the synthesis of purines, as well as formyl-tetrahydrofolate (THF) synthetase and serine hydroxy-methyl transferase, two enzymes responsible for the synthesis of compounds (THF and glycine, respectively) feeding the purine biosynthetic pathway. The analysis also revealed a massive increase in the synthesis of pyruvate formate-lyase (PFL), the enzyme which converts pyruvate into acetyl coenzyme A and formate. PFL has been essentially studied for its role in mixed-acid product formation in lactic acid bacteria during anaerobic fermentation. However, formate is an important methyl group donor for anabolic pathway through the formation of folate derivates. We hypothesized that PFL was involved in purine biosynthesis during growth in milk. We showed that PFL expression was regulated at the transcriptional level and that pfl transcription occurred during the exponential growth phase in milk. The complementation of milk with formate or purine bases was shown to reduce pfl expression, to suppress PFL synthesis, and to stimulate growth of S. thermophilus. These results show a novel regulatory mechanism controlling the synthesis of PFL and suggest an unrecognized physiological role for PFL as a formate supplier for anabolic purposes.

scholarly journals Modelling and Optimization of Organization of Workplaces in a Foundry

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 55-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Kukla
Keyword(s):  
Production Systems ◽  
Work Organization ◽  
Production Equipment ◽  
Limiting Factors ◽  
System A ◽  
Iron Castings ◽  
The Times ◽  
Modelling And Optimization ◽  
Bulk Production ◽  
Made In

Abstract The paper presents a practical example of improvement of foundry production systems in terms of post-finishing of nodular iron castings produced in the conditions of bulk production for automotive industry. The attention was paid to high labour-intensive efforts, which are difficult to be subjected to mechanization and automation. The times of actions related to grinding processing of castings in three grinding positions connected with a belt conveyor were estimated with the use of a time study method. A bottleneck as well as limiting factors were specified in a system. A number of improvements were proposed, aimed at improving work organization on the castings post-finishing line. An analysis of work ergonomics at the workplace was made in order to eliminate unnecessary and onerous for the employee actions. A model of production system using the Arena software, on which a simulation experiment was conducted, was drawn up in order to visualize the analysed phenomena. The effects of the project were shown on graphs comparing times, costs, work ergonomics and overall efficiency of production equipment indicator.

scholarly journals Postharvest Management Practices of Grains in the Eastern Region of Kenya

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anastasia W. Njoroge ◽  
Ibrahim Baoua ◽  
Dieudonne Baributsa
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Eastern Region ◽  
Stored Grain ◽  
Primary Methods ◽  
Postharvest Management ◽  
Seed Crops ◽  
Storage Technologies ◽  
Semi Arid ◽  
Made In

Cereals and legumes play a major role in the production systems and diets of farmers in the semi-arid eastern region of Kenya. Efficient postharvest management can tremendously contribute to food security in these regions. A study was carried out in three counties in eastern Kenya to assess pre and postharvest management practices among farmers. Data was collected using semi-structured questionnaires designed and administered using Kobo Toolbox via android tablets. Results showed that farmers cultivated three main crops: maize (98%), beans 66%), and pigeon peas (28%). The most saved seed crops were beans (80%) and pigeon peas (50%). Majority of the farmers (80%) experienced pre-drying losses due to insects (48%), rodents (40%) and birds (39%). Farmers stored grain for consumption (80%) and for sale (19%). About 48% of farmers stored the grain for more than 9 months. Challenges during grain storage were insects (57%) and rodents (43%). Primary methods of grain preservation included hermetic methods (61%) followed by insecticides (33%). While progress is being made in addressing storage challenges, there still a need to continue building awareness about improved storage technologies and find solutions for pest infestations in the field and drying after harvest.

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