Characterizations of novel pesticide-degrading bacterial strains from industrial wastes found in the industrial cities of Pakistan and their biodegradation potential.

BACKGROUND: Lack of infrastructure for disposal of effluents in industries leads to severe pollution of natural resources in developing countries. These pollutants accompanied by solid waste are equally hazardous to biological growth. Natural attenuation of these pollutants was evidenced that involved degradation by native microbial communities. The current study encompasses the isolation of pesticide-degrading bacteria from the vicinity of pesticide manufacturing industries. METHODS: The isolation and identification of biodegrading microbes was done. An enrichment culture technique was used to isolate the selected pesticide-degrading bacteria from industrial waste. RESULTS: Around 20 different strains were isolated, among which six isolates showed significant pesticide biodegrading activity. After 16S rRNA analysis, two isolated bacteria were identified as Acinetobacter baumannii (5B) and Acidothiobacillus ferroxidans, and the remaining four were identified as different strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (1A, 2B, 3C, 4D). Phylogenetic analysis confirmed their evolution from a common ancestor. All strains showed distinctive degradation ability up to 36 hours. The Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains 1A and 4D showed highest degradation percentage of about 80% for DDT, and P. aeruginosa strain 3C showed highest degradation percentage, i.e., 78% for aldrin whilst in the case of malathion, A. baumannii and A. ferroxidans have shown considerable degradation percentages of 53% and 54%, respectively. Overall, the degradation trend showed that all the selected strains can utilize the given pesticides as sole carbon energy sources even at a concentration of 50 mg/mL. CONCLUSION: This study provided strong evidence for utilizing these strains to remove persistent residual pesticide; thus, it gives potential for soil treatment and restoration.

Obesity related lung complications and a possible phytochemical therapeutic solution.

Proteases, especially neutrophil elastase (NE), enzyme provide innate immunity in the lung tissues against elastin protein disintegration by microbial attacks. Normally, an antiprotease, called alpha-1-antitrypsin (A1AT), is responsible to keep NE activity in normal range. In most of the leptin-resistant obese subjects, A1AT deficiency develops which leads to a concurrent higher activity of NE. Obesity associated antiprotease-protease imbalance induces various lung complications, i.e. asthma, emphysema, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorders (COPD), cancer, etc. Past studies manifested that plant extracts/compounds reduce human NE activity. This knowledge will help in future to exploit phytochemicals as interventional therapeutic agents to decrease NE over-activity in susceptible obese individuals. Furthermore, the hypothesis discussed in this article will be helpful for researchers working in the fields of lung biology and obesity.

Sequence Variants in the WNT10B and TP63 Genes Underlying Isolated Split-Hand/Split-Foot Malformation.

Aims: Split-hand/split-foot malformation (SHFM) is a developmental and congenital limb malformation characterized by variable degrees of medial clefting or absence of one or more digits in hands and/or feet. The aim of this study was to identify the underlying cause of three consanguineous Pakistani families showing various types of SHFM-related features. Materials and Methods: Standard molecular methods, including whole-genome sequencing (WGS), whole-exome sequencing (WES), microsatellite markers-based genotyping, and Sanger sequencing were performed to search for the likely causative variants. Results: In family A, WES revealed a novel homozygous missense variant [c.338G>A, p.(Gly113Asp)] in the WNT10B gene. In family B, microsatellite-based genotyping followed by Sanger sequencing revealed a novel homozygous 13 base pairs deletion [c.884-896delTCCAGCCCCGTCT, p.(Phe295Cysfs*87)] in the same gene. In family C, WGS divulged a previously reported heterozygous missense variant [c.956G>A, p.(Arg319His)] in the TP63 gene. Conclusions: Mapping and sequencing genes and variants for severe skeletal disorders, such as SHRM, will facilitate establishing specific genotype-phenotype correlations and providing genetic counseling for the families suffering from such conditions.

Sequencing and Characterization of Mitochondrial Protein-Coding Genes for Schizothorax niger (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae) with Phylogenetic Consideration.

The present study was conducted to get more information about the genome and locate the taxonomic position of Schizothorax niger in Schizothoracinae through mitochondrial 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs). These PCGs for S. niger were found to be 11409 bps in length ranging from 165 (ATPase 8) to 1824 bps (NADH dehydrogenase subunit 5) and encode 3801 amino acids. In these PCGs, 4 genes overlap on the similar strands, while one shown on the opposite one: ATPase 6+8 and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 4+4L overlap by 7 nucleotides. Similarly, ND5-ND6 overlap by 4 nucleotides, while ATP6 and COIII overlap by 1 nucleotide. Similarly, four commonly used amino acids in S. niger were Leu (15.6 %), Ile (10.12 %), Thr (8.12 %), and Ala (8.7 %). The results presented that COII, COIII, NDI, ND4L, and Cytb had substantial amino acid conservation as compared to the COI gene. Through phylogenetic analysis, it was observed that S. niger is closely linked with S. progastus, S. labiatus, S. plagiostomus, and S. nepalensis with high bootstrap values. The present study provided more genomic data to know the diversity of the mitochondrial genome and its molecular evolution in Schizothoracinae.