Zebrafish prss59.1 is involved in chorion development.

The prss59.1 gene was identified as one of 11 genes that were highly upregulated during the induction of ovulation in zebrafish by using an in vivo ovulation assay. Previously, we conducted biochemical characterization of Prss59.1 and revealed it to be a trypsin-like proteolytic enzyme. In this study, we established a prss59.1 gene knockout strain using the CRISPR/Cas9 system. Phenotypic analysis of prss59.1 knockout fish showed that prss59.1 is associated with chorion elevation, a prominent event in egg activation during fertilization. The chorions of heterozygous and homozygous prss59.1 mutant zebrafish were smaller than those of the wild type. The results suggested that Prss59.1 is necessary for chorion expansion. The homozygous prss59.1 mutant strain, with a small chorion, showed an extremely low survival rate. Fiber-supported knob-like structures (KS) on the chorion showed an abnormal structure in prss59.1 mutants. Prss59.1 was detected in the KS on the chorion. The pores on the chorion were smaller in the prss59.1 mutants than in the wild type. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations of the cross sections of the chorions showed abnormalities in the chorion structure in prss59.1 mutants. These results demonstrated that Prss59.1 is involved in chorion elevation and in proper formation of the chorion, which is necessary for embryo development.

Whole genome sequencing data of Chromobacterium amazonense BASUSDA_45 isolated from soil in Bangladesh capable of degrading pesticide.

This article reports the Chromobacterium amazonense BASUSDA_45 strain's draft genomic sequence. The bacterium was isolated from cypermethrin pesticide contaminated soil and then the sequencing was carried out. Initially de novo assembly of the raw sequences, trimming and quality check generates 125 contigs having N50 of 78,923. Further mapping of the contigs generated scaffolds. The genome contains 53 scaffolds with a total length of 4,295,151 bp having 62.30% GC content and N50 of 3,726,017. Annotation using Prokaryotic Genome Annotation Pipeline (PGAP) reveals 4181 genes among which 4096 were coding sequences, 76 tRNAs, 3 rRNAs, 4 noncoding RNAs. The raw sequence reads and annotated genome were uploaded to NCBI's Bioproject repository with the accession number PRJNA686506.

The Evaluation of Serum Ascites Albumin Gradient and Portal Hypertensive changes in Cirrhotic Patients with Ascites.

INTRODUCTION: Ascites is a common complication of chronic liver diseases and is related to the extent of portal hypertension. This study evaluated whether the serum ascites albumin gradient (SAAG) (the difference between the albumin level of serum and of ascitic fluid) is endowed with clinical implications. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a prospective study involving 50 patients with cirrhosis of liver with ascites. The SAAG was measured in all patients and its relation with portal hypertensive changes was analyzed. RESULTS: Based on SAAG values, the patients were divided into three groups: Group 1 - SAAG value 1.1 to 1.49 gm/dL (n = 15); group 2 - SAAG value 1.5 to 1.99 gm/dL (n = 9); and group 3 - SAAG value 2.0 gm/dL (n = 26). In group 1, 14 patients had esophageal varices (93.3%) and 13 had gastropathy (86.6%). In group 2, all 9 patients had esophageal varices (100%), 7 (77.7%) had gastropathy, and 1 (11.1%) had gastric varices. In group 3, all 26 patients had esophageal varices (100%), 24 patients (92.3%) had gastropathy, and 1 patients (3.8%) had gastric varices. CONCLUSION: Serum ascites albumin gradient value is weakly related to the extent of portal hypertension in patients with liver cirrhosis and its implication seems to be limited in clinics. HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE: Shahed FHM, Al-Mahtab M, Rahman S. The Evaluation of Serum Ascites Albumin Gradient and Portal Hypertensive changes in Cirrhotic Patients with Ascites. Euroasian J Hepato-Gastroenterol 2016;6(1):8-9.