ABSTRACT
Abstract This study was performed to screen out the various species of 'Cucurbitaceae' family, musk melon (Kalash and Durga), bottle gourd (Crystal Long and Nuefield) and squash (Green Round, and Squash Malika) against the salt stress. All genotypes were treated with five different levels of NaCl (T0 = control, T1 = 1.5 dS m-1, T2 = 3.0 dS m-1, T3 = 4.5 dS m-1 and T4 = 6.0 dS m-1) and half strength of Hoagland's nutrients solution as the base nutrient solution. Results showed that the bottle gourd varieties "Nuefield" and "Crystal Long" performed best by maintaining the highest germination (93.2% and 85.6%), number of leaves per plant (4.5 and 5.7), shoot length (16.84 cm and 16.14 cm), root length (13.48 cm and 13.00 cm), plant fresh weight (942.2 g and 918.6 g), plant dry weight (118.4 g and 107.5 g), leaf area (171.2 cm2 and 169.1 cm2), chlorophyll content (3.5 μg/cm-2 and 3.4 μg/cm-2) with low chloride (1.57 ppm and 1.59 ppm) and sodium content (0.47 ppm and 0.51 ppm) under salt stress followed by varieties of Squash (Green Round, and Squash Malika) and musk melon (Kalash and Durga). It was also found that a higher level of salinity (4.5 dS m-1 and 6.0 dS m-1) has more adverse effects on the performance of all selected genotypes. Conclusively, it can be recommended that as compared to all tested species, bottle gourd varieties "Nuefield" and "Crystal Long" have the ability to withstand against salinity stress and should be planted under salt stress conditions.
ABSTRACT
Background: Protein structural alignment is one of the most fundamental and crucial areas of research in the domain of computational structural biology. Comparison of a protein structure with known structures helps to classify it as a new or belonging to a known group of proteins. This, in turn, is useful to determine the function of protein, its evolutionary relationship with other protein molecules and grasping principles underlying protein architecture and folding. Results: A large number of protein structure alignment methods are available. Each protein structure alignment tool has its own strengths and weaknesses that need to be highlighted. We compared and presented results ofsix most popular and publically available servers for protein structure comparison. These web-based servers were compared with the respect to functionality (features provided by these servers) and accuracy (how well the structural comparison is performed). The CATH was used as a reference. The results showed that overall CE was top performer. DALI and PhyreStorm showed similar results whereas PDBeFold showed the lowest performance. In case of few secondary structural elements, CE, DALI and PhyreStorm gave 100% success rate. Conclusion: Overall none of the structural alignment servers showed 100% success rate. Studies of overall performance, effect of mainly alpha and effect of mainly beta showed consistent performance. CE, DALI, FatCat and PhyreStorm showed more than 90% success rate.
Subject(s)
Protein Conformation , Software , Sequence Alignment/methodsABSTRACT
FUNDAMENTO: Ainda não foi claramente estabelecido se a resistência/deficiência insulínica leva diretamente à aterogênese ou através de sua associação com outros fatores de risco como os níveis de lipoproteína (a)[Lp(a)]. OBJETIVO: O objetivo do estudo foi estabelecer a relação entre os níveis basais de insulina, lípides e lipoproteína (a) em pacientes com diabetes mellitus (DM) tipo 2. MÉTODOS: Amostras de sangue foram colhidas em jejum e os níveis de insulina, lipoproteína (a), colesterol total (CT), triglicérides (TG), lipoproteína de baixa densidade (LDL-C), lipoproteína de alta densidade (LDL-C), glicose e hemoglobina glicada (HbA1c) foram medidos em 60 pacientes com DM tipo 2 e 28 indivíduos saudáveis. Nós dividimos os pacientes em dois grupos baseados nos níveis basais de insulina: > 10 µIU/ml e < 10 µIU/ml. RESULTADOS: Os níveis de insulina eram mais altos nos indivíduos diabéticos do que nos controles [p < 0,05]. Os níveis de CT (p< 0,01), LDL-C (p< 0,05), razão CT/HDL (p< 0,01), e TG (p< 0,05) eram mais altos e os níveis de HDL- C eram significantemente mais baixos em ambos os grupos de diabéticos, quando comparados aos controles. Os níveis de Lp(a) eram significantemente mais baixos em diabéticos com insulina basal > 10 µIU/ml comparados com aqueles que apresentavam insulina basal < 10 µIU/ml (p < 0.05). A análise de regressão mostrou uma relação significante da Lp(a) com os níveis de insulina (r = 0,262, p < 0,05) e razão Insulina/Glicose(r = 0,257, p < 0,05). CONCLUSÃO: Os níveis de Lp(a) se correlacionam inversamente com os níveis de insulina em pacientes com DM tipo 2. Os níveis de Lp(a) podem ser um dos fatores de risco cardiovascular em pacientes com DM tipo 2 com maior duração da doença. (Arq Bras Cardiol 2009;93(1):28-33)
BACKGROUND: It has not been clearly established whether insulin resistance/deficiency leads directly to atherogenesis or through its association with other risk factors such as Lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)]. OBJECTIVE: This project aimed at studying the association between basal Insulin, Lipids and Lipoprotein(a) levels in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. METHODS: Fasting blood samples were analyzed for Insulin, Lipoprotein(a), total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels in 60 patients with type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (DM) and 28 healthy subjects. We divided patients into two groups based on basal insulin levels: > 10 µIU/ml and < 10 µIU/ml. RESULTS: Insulin levels were higher in diabetic versus control individuals [p < 0.05]. TC (p< 0.01), LDL-C (p< 0.05), TC/HDL ratio (p< 0.01) and TG levels (p< 0.05) were higher and HDL- C levels were significantly lower (p < 0.001) in both diabetic groups as compared to control. Lp(a) levels were significantly higher in both diabetic groups, when compared to the control group. Lp(a) levels were significantly lower in diabetics with basal insulin > 10 µIU/ml when compared to those with basal insulin < 10 µIU/ml (p < 0.05). Regression analysis revealed a significant relationship of Lp(a) with insulin levels (r = 0.262, p < 0.05) and Insulin Glucose ratio (r = 0.257, p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Lp(a) levels correlate inversely with insulin levels in Type 2 diabetic patients. Lp(a) may be one of the cardiovascular risk factor in type 2 diabetic patients with longer duration of DM.
FUNDAMENTO: Todavía no se aclaró totalmente si la resistencia/deficiencia insulínica lleva directamente a la aterogénesis o a través de su asociación con otros factores de riesgo como los niveles de lipoproteína (a) [Lp(a)]. OBJETIVO: : El objetivo del estudio fue establecer la relación entre los niveles basales de insulina, lípidos y lipoproteína (a) en pacientes con diabetes mellitus (DM) tipo 2. MÉTODOS: Se extrajeron muestras de sangre en ayuno y se determinaron los niveles de insulina, lipoproteína (a), colesterol total (CT), triglicéridos (TG), lipoproteína de baja densidad (LDL-C), lipoproteína de alta densidad (LDL-C), glucosa y hemoglobina glicosilada (HbA1c) en 60 pacientes con DM tipo 2 y 28 individuos sanos. Dividimos a los pacientes en dos grupos basados en los niveles basales de insulina: > 10 µIU/ml y < 10 µIU/ml. RESULTADOS: : Los niveles de insulina eran más altos en los individuos diabéticos que en los controles [p < 0,05]. Los niveles de CT (p< 0,01), LDL-C (p< 0,05), razón CT/HDL (p< 0,01), y TG (p< 0,05) eran más altos y los niveles de HDL- C eran significantemente más bajos en ambos grupos de diabéticos, cuando comparados a los controles. Los niveles de Lp(a) eran significantemente más bajos en diabéticos con insulina basal > 10 µIU/ml comparados con aquellos que presentaban insulina basal < 10 µIU/ml (p < 0.05). El análisis de regresión evidenció una relación significante de la Lp(a) con los niveles de insulina (r = 0,262, p < 0,05) y razón insulina glucosa(r = 0,257, p < 0,05). CONCLUSIÓN: Los niveles de Lp(a) se correlacionan inversamente con los niveles de insulina en pacientes con DM tipo 2. Los niveles de Lp(a) pueden ser uno de los factores de riesgo cardiovascular en pacientes con DM tipo 2 con mayor duración de la enfermedad.