Plant-derived natural products or secondary metabolites attract a great deal of attention pertaining to their structure, synthesis and production of wide variety of economically important products, such as flavors, fragrances, pigments, dyes, fine chemicals, cosmetics, nutraceuticals, drugs and pharmaceuticals. Most common approach for obtaining these compounds is from their native source i.e. plants. However, this conventional process presents a number of disadvantages such as non-availability of these metabolites from plants throughout year, difficulty in plant cultivation and inconsistent product yield due to climatic variations. Difficulty to obtain sufficient amounts of desired plant material, their slow growth, varying composition and concentration depending upon the geographical position and climatic conditions coupled with low yield of isolated compounds are some of the limitations of commercial extraction of these compounds by using plants as a single resource.
Metagenomics is defined as the direct analysis of genomes found in an environmental sample. It involves cloning and analyzing the genomes without culturing the organisms in the community. A number of new and novel molecules with significant functionalities and applications have been identified through this approach. This study focuses on identifying riboswitches in Archaeal metagenomes. Instances of TPP and Ado-Cbl variant riboswitches have been identified in different uncultured archaeal metagenomes. These riboswitches were searched and verified by using various bioinformatics approaches. The findings in Archaeal metagenomes hint at the possibility of finding more predefined and novel classes of riboswitches as new genomic samples are extracted from the environment.
Growth hormone-inducible transmembrane protein (GHITM) is an inner mitochondrial membrane protein that contains the Bax inhibitor-1 motif and is implicated in the regulation of mitochondrial morphology and especially cristae structure. The downregulation of GHITM results in fragmented mitochondria and the release of cytochrome c, while its upregulation delays the release of cytochrome c. We inhibited CG2076 the Drosophila GHITM homologue in the neurons using RNA interference and analysed the phenotypic consequences of this mitochondrial protein. The directed expression of GHITM-RNAi in neurons under the control of the Dopa decarboxylase (Ddc) transgene results in shortened lifespan and impaired climbing ability. The co-expression of Buffy, the only anti-apoptotic B cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) protein in Drosophila, along with GHITM-RNAi results in suppression of the shortened lifespan and premature age-dependent loss in climbing ability.
With the population ageing, the number of seniors with cognitive impairments is growing, as is the number of requests for competency assessments. The Competency Assessment Tool (CAT) was designed to assist health and social service professionals to clinically assess competency. A qualitative study was held to validate de CAT. Five focus group (including elders, caregivers and professionals from organizations protecting elders’ rights) were held, along with ten telephone interviews (with legal practitioners). All participants were asked for their overall opinion of the CAT and its relevance in improving assessments and protecting people’s rights. According to the results, the CAT is an innovative, comprehensive and relevant tool that provides a fair and nuanced assessment of competency. Implementing this tool will help to protect the rights and freedoms of the individuals evaluated by producing an assessment that will make it easier to identify the most appropriate protective measures.
Among the small non coding RNAs classes, piRNAs are of particular interest because of their role in allowing the normal reproduction of individuals, from Drosophila to mouse. The reduction of piRNAs in the germ cells is sufficient to cause the sterility of fruit flies. This damaging effect arises from the spread of transposable elements, normally silenced by the piRNAs, into the genome. The DNA damages caused from mobile elements are directly related to the reproductive deficits.
