Ecofriendly Method for Bioremediation of Chlorpyrifos from Agricultural Soil by Novel Fungus Aspergillus terreus JAS1

The aim of this work was to study the degradation of three azo dyes, Orange II, Methyl red and Biebrich Scarlet by electro-Fenton and the effect of the electrochemical pretreatment on the biodegradability of the solutions. The electrochemical pretreatment showed that an electrochemical reduction on the carbon felt electrode was mainly responsible for the decolorization of the azo dyes. Indeed, the electrochemical behaviour of the azo dyes highlighted their electroactivity; electrolysis with and without ferric ions led to the same decolorization yield, namely 99 % at 15 min for Methyl red, and stable chemical oxygen demand (COD) values were recorded during decolorization. In a second step and owing to the absence of by-product electroactivity in reduction, the formation of hydroxyl radicals by the Fenton reaction led to the oxidation of by-products from the electrochemical reduction. It was illustrated by the decrease recorded for the COD values. The results also showed that the azo bond cleavage occurring during the electrochemical reduction was not sufficient to significantly reduce recalcitrance, as shown from biological oxygen demand (BOD)₅/COD ratio examination below the limit of biodegradability (0.4). Contrarily, a positive trend was recorded for Orange II during the electro-Fenton reaction, with a BOD₅/COD ratio of 0.81 after 28 h of pretreatment.     

Adipose triglyceride lipase contributes to cancer-associated cachexia

Cachexia is a multifactorial wasting syndrome most common in patients with cancer that is characterized by the uncontrolled loss of adipose and muscle mass. We show that the inhibition of lipolysis through genetic ablation of adipose triglyceride lipase (Atgl) or hormone-sensitive lipase (Hsl) ameliorates certain features of cancer-associated cachexia (CAC). In wild-type C57BL/6 mice, the injection of Lewis lung carcinoma or B16 melanoma cells causes tumor growth, loss of white adipose tissue (WAT), and a marked reduction of gastrocnemius muscle. In contrast, Atgl-deficient mice with tumors resisted increased WAT lipolysis, myocyte apoptosis, and proteasomal muscle degradation and maintained normal adipose and gastrocnemius muscle mass. Hsl-deficient mice with tumors were also protected although to a lesser degree. Thus, functional lipolysis is essential in the pathogenesis of CAC. Pharmacological inhibition of metabolic lipases may help prevent cachexia.     

Assessment of genetic diversity in Solanum trilobatum L., an important medicinal plant from South India using RAPD and ISSR markers

Solanum trilobatum L. is an Indian medicinal plant containing rich amount of steroidal glyco-alkoloids that can be used as precursor for commercial steroid production. Two efficient marker systems such as Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and Inter Simple Sequence Repeats (ISSR) were used for the first time to assess the genetic diversity across 14 S. trilobatum accessions obtained from five South Indian states. Twenty out of 60 RAPD primers generated 189 distinct bands of which 160 were polymorphic with an average of 8 polymorphic bands per primer. A maximum of up to 15 fragments were amplified with an average of 9.45 bands per primer and the amplicons varied in size between 100 and 3,000 bp. The percentage of polymorphism ranged from 55.5 to 100, with an average of 84.6. ISSR profiling using 7 out of 20 primers amplified 83 bands and the number of amplified fragments varied from 2 to 16 with a size range of 200–1,800 bp. Totally 72 polymorphic bands were obtained using 7 ISSR primers at an average of 10.28 polymorphic bands per primer. Polymorphism percentage varied from 50 to 100 among the selected accessions resulting in an average percentage of polymorphism of 86.7. The PIC values ranged from 0.49 to 0.93 for RAPD and 0.16 to 0.90 for ISSR primers. The study pointed out that ISSR markers were more efficient than RAPD markers in evaluating the degree of genetic variation in S. trilobatum. The UPGMA cluster analysis grouped all Tamil Nadu accessions in one cluster and other state accessions in another cluster. The Principal component analysis also substantiates this clustering pattern. Thus the phylogenetic relationship and a high genetic variation revealed in the present study could provide a baseline data for conservation and improvement of this plant in future. Also the molecular markers identified in this study will be helpful in authentication of this species to prevent adulteration in herbal medicine.