Over-gene expression in the apoptotic, oxidative damage and liver injure in female rats exposed to butralin.

The present study is the first report for studying the toxic effects of butralin herbicide on COX2, BAX, and Bcl2 gene expression, oxidative stress, and liver damage in female rats. Female rats were received butralin in drinking water for 28 days at concentration 4.16, 312, and 3120 mg/L that corresponded to the acceptable daily intake (ADI), no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL), and 10 NOAEL, respectively. Butralin decreased body weights and increased relative liver weight of female rats exposed to high dose. It caused significant elevation in liver function enzymes, lipid peroxidation, and reactive oxygen species (ROS). Antioxidant enzymes were decreased in liver tissue by increasing the dose. Butralin induced over-expression in the apoptotic related genes including COX2, BAX, and Bcl2 and pathological alteration in the liver of female rats especially at a high dose. It can be concluded that butralin induced oxidative damage and liver injure. The mechanism of damage could be due to generate reactive oxygen species, and increase lipid peroxidation that causes over-expression in the apoptotic related genes including COX2, BAX, and Bcl2. From the Benchmark dose (BMD) approach, there is dose-dependent manner in body weight, AST, ALT, and ALP, and ALT is a very sensitive parameter.

Metagenomic analysis of fungal taxa inhabiting Mecca region, Saudi Arabia.

The data presented contains the sequences of fungal Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) and 18S rRNA gene from a metagenome of the Mecca region, Saudi Arabia. Sequences were amplified using fungal specific primers, which amplified the amplicon aligned between the 18S and 28S rRNA genes. A total of 460 fungal species belonging to 133 genera, 58 families, 33 orders, 13 classes and 4 phyla were identified in four contrasting locations. The raw sequencing data used to perform this analysis along with FASTQ file are located in the NCBI Sequence Read Archive (SRA) under accession numbers: SRR3150823, SRR3144873, SRR3150825 and SRR3150846.