Mapping the current and future distributions of Onosma species endemic to Iran

Climate change may cause shifts in the natural range of species especially for those that are geographically restricted and/or endemic species. In this study, the spatial distribution of five endemic and threatened species belonging to the genus Onosma (including O. asperrima, O. bisotunensis, O. kotschyi, O. platyphylla, and O. straussii) was investigated under present and future climate change scenarios: RCP2.6 (RCP, representative concentration pathway; optimistic scenario) and RCP8.5 (pessimistic scenario) for the years 2050 and 2080 in Iran. Analysis was conducted using the maximum entropy (MaxEnt) model to provide a basis for the protection and conservation of these species. Seven environmental variables including aspect, depth of soil, silt content, slope, annual precipitation, minimum temperature of the coldest month, and annual temperature range were used as main predictors in this study. The model output for the potential habitat suitability of the studied species showed acceptable performance for all species (i.e., the area under the curve (AUC)>0.800). According to the models generated by MaxEnt, the potential current patterns of the species were consistent with the observed areas of distributions. The projected climate maps under optimistic and pessimistic scenarios (RCP2.6 and RCP8.5, respectively) of 2050 and 2080 resulted in reductions and expansions as well as positive range changes for all species in comparison to their current predicted distributions. Among all species, O. bisotunensis showed the most significant and highest increase under the pessimistic scenario of 2050 and 2080. Finally, the results of this study revealed that the studied plant species have shown an acute adaptability to environmental changes. The results can provide useful information to managers to apply appropriate strategies for the management and conservation of these valuable Iranian medicinal and threatened plant species in the future.     

Effect of apple peel extract as natural antioxidant on lipid and protein oxidation of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) mince

International Aquatic Research - The aim of this study was to use apple peel extract (APE) as antioxidant for inhibition of lipid and protein oxidation in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) mince...     

Fucoidan and Cancer: A Multifunctional Molecule with Anti-Tumor Potential

There is a wide variety of cancer types yet, all share some common cellular and molecular behaviors. Most of the chemotherapeutic agents used in cancer treatment are designed to target common deregulated mechanisms within cancer cells. Many healthy tissues are also affected by the cytotoxic effects of these chemical agents. Fucoidan, a natural component of brown seaweed, has anti-cancer activity against various cancer types by targeting key apoptotic molecules. It also has beneficial effects as it can protect against toxicity associated with chemotherapeutic agents and radiation. Thus the synergistic effect of fucoidan with current anti-cancer agents is of considerable interest. This review discusses the mechanisms by which fucoidan retards tumor development, eradicates tumor cells and synergizes with anti-cancer chemotherapeutic agents. Challenges to the development of fucoidan as an anti-cancer agent will also be discussed.     

Modulating gut microbiota and digestive enzyme activities of Artemia urmiana by administration of different levels of Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus licheniformis

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus licheniformis on growth, gut microbiota, and digestive enzyme activities of Artemia urmiana. Three diets containing 10² (T₁), 10⁴ (T₂), 10⁶ (T₃) CFU of probiotics/g feed, and a control diet (C) without probiotic were used through a completely randomized design (treatments with triplicates). Twelve plastic tanks with the capacity of 60- l and density of 20 nauplii/ml were used and the trial continued for 15?days. Results showed that probiotics significantly increased the total length of A. urmiana (P?<?0.05). Although the total aerobic gastrointestinal bacteria count showed no significant differences among the treatments, the total Bacillus count significantly increased in experiments (P?<?0.05). The ratio of TCBS to total aerobic bacteria count was significantly lower in T₁ (0.31?±?0.05), T2 (0.27?±?0.15), and T₃ (0.25?±?0.05) compared to the control (0.76?±?0.34) (P?<?0.05). The probiotics were able to increase the protease and amylase activities (P?<?0.05). No significant effect on lipase activity. The study determined T₂ and T₃ as the most effective treatments for improving growth, bacterial flora, and digestive enzyme activities. As less probiotic needed in T₂, using 10⁴ bacteria per g diet is recommended for rearing Artemia up to the maturity stage.     

The effect of pod elimination on water stress in relation to antioxidant enzymes activity and proline in three annual medics species

Despite the importance of pod removal in the seeds of annual medics, there have been few studies carried out in this area. In this research, the role of pod removal in growth and biochemical enzyme activities was examined in three annual medic species during drought stress and subsequent recovery. This study was carried out as a factorial experiment based on a completely randomized design. The treatments were carried out on annual medic species of three levels: Medicago rigidula, M. scutellata, M. polymorpha, presence or removal of the pod and water stress. Water stress was split into the following four levels: 100%, 80%, 60%, and 40% field capacity (FC) during the stress period. The results showed that drought stress and subsequent recovery increased proline content and antioxidant enzyme activity. The highest proline content and antioxidant enzyme activity was observed in M. Scutellata. However, the rate at which proline increased, decreased at 40% FC whereas the antioxidant enzyme reached their highest activity at 40% FC. The antioxidant enzymes’ activity and proline content without the pod experiment were significantly higher than with the pod experiment. Since the activation of an antioxidant system and the increasing of the proline content helps the plants with stress induced damages, our results indicated that elimination of pods of annual medics before sowing helps seedlings to perform better under drought stress. This data is useful to gain a better understanding of the physiological basis of the changes in drought resistance as well as the crop breeding projects.     

The evolution of chicken stem cell culture methods

1. The avian embryo is an excellent model for studying embryology and the production of pharmaceutical proteins in transgenic chickens. Furthermore, chicken stem cells have the potential for proliferation and differentiation and emerged as an attractive tool for various cell-based technologies.

2. The objective of these studies is the derivation and culture of these stem cells is the production of transgenic birds for recombinant biomaterials and vaccine manufacture, drug and cytotoxicity testing, as well as to gain insight into basic science, including cell tracking.

3. Despite similarities among the established chicken stem cell lines, fundamental differences have been reported between their culture conditions and applications. Recent conventional protocols used for expansion and culture of chicken stem cells mostly depend on feeder cells, serum-containing media and static culture.

4. Utilising chicken stem cells for generation of cell-based transgenic birds and a variety of vaccines requires large-scale cell production. However, scaling up the conventional adherent chicken stem cells is challenging and labour intensive. Development of a suspension cell culture process for chicken embryonic stem cells (cESCs), chicken primordial germ cells (PGCs) and chicken induced pluripotent stem cells (ciPSCs) will be an important advance for increasing the growth kinetics of these cells.

6. This review describes various approaches and suggestions to achieve optimal cell growth for defined chicken stem cells cultures and use in future manufacturing applications.     

Isolation of Streptococci from milk samples of normal, acute and subclinical mastitis cows and determination of their antibiotic susceptibility patterns

Streptococci are frequently isolated from bovine mastitis in dairy cows with only limited information available on the antimicrobial susceptibility of these organisms. A total of 42 Streptococci isolated from 148 milk samples of normal, sub acute and acute bovine mastitis cases. Overall, 35% of the strains tested were Streptococcus dysgalactiae, Streptococcus agalactiae 26%, Streptococcus uberis 18 and 4% were Enterococcus sp. Differences between the number of isolations in acute and sub acute groups were statistically significant, (p<0.5). The antimicrobial susceptibility for these organisms was determined for the following antimicrobial agents: cephalexine, penicillin, clindamycin, cloxaciline, gentamicin, streptomycin, amoxicillin, tetracycline, kanamycin, oxytetracycline, ampicillin, chloramphenicol and erythromycin. S. agalactiae, S. dysgalactiae, S. uberis and Enterococci demonstrated high level of resistance against streptomycin, penicillin and cloxaciline. Low level of sensitivity to other tested antimicrobials was demonstrated.     

Seroepidemiology of Neospora caninum infection in dairy cattle herds in Mashhad area, Iran

A seroepidemiology study of Neospora caninum was conducted in Mashhad area, Khorasan province, Iran on 337 cattle from 30 dairy using ELISA. All herds had seropositive cattle and antibodies were formed in 46% of the cattle. Abortion was significantly associated with seropositivity of cattle. The highest risk of abortion was observed in the 1-2-year-old cows. Our results indicate that Neospora infection is widespread in Iran.     

The Highlighted Roles of Metabolic and Cellular Response to Stress Pathways Engaged in Circulating hsa-miR-494-3p and hsa-miR-661 in Alzheimer’s Disease

Background:Among different roles of miRNAs in AD pathogenesis, hsa-miR-494-3p and hsa-miR-661 functions are poorly understood. Methods:To obtain the gene targets, gene networks, gene ontology, and enrichment analysis of the two miRNAs, some web servers were utilized. Furthermore, the expressions of these miRNAs were analyzed by qRT-PCR in 36 blood sera, including 18 Alzheimer’s patients and 18 healthy individuals. Results:The in silico analysis demonstrated the highlighted roles of metabolic and cellular response to stress pathways engaged in circulating hsa-miR-494-3p and hsa-miR-661 in AD. The qRT-PCR analysis showed that the downregulated expression level of hsa-miR-661 was statistically significant (p < 0.05). Also, the ROC curve of hsa-miR-661 displayed the significant AUC (p = 0.01). Conclusion:Based on our findings, the metabolic and cellular responses to stress pathways are closely connected to these two miRNAs functions. Besides, the qRT-PCR and Roc curve determined hsa-miR-661 could be as a biomarker for diagnosis or prognosis of AD patients. Key Words: Alzheimer’s disease, Serum, Circulating microRNAs