scholarly journals Zur: Zinc-Sensing Transcriptional Regulator in a Diverse Set of Bacterial Species

Pathogens ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 344
Author(s):  
Divya Kandari ◽  
Hemant Joshi ◽  
Rakesh Bhatnagar
Keyword(s):  
Bacterial Species ◽  
Essential Element ◽  
Transcriptional Regulator ◽  
Transcriptional Factor ◽  
Functional Aspect ◽  
Functional Aspects ◽  
Zinc Sensing ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Moonlighting Functions ◽  
Zinc Uptake Regulator

Zinc (Zn) is the quintessential d block metal, needed for survival in all living organisms. While Zn is an essential element, its excess is deleterious, therefore, maintenance of its intracellular concentrations is needed for survival. The living organisms, during the course of evolution, developed proteins that can track the limitation or excess of necessary metal ions, thus providing survival benefits under variable environmental conditions. Zinc uptake regulator (Zur) is a regulatory transcriptional factor of the FUR superfamily of proteins, abundant among the bacterial species and known for its intracellular Zn sensing ability. In this study, we highlight the roles played by Zur in maintaining the Zn levels in various bacterial species as well as the fact that in recent years Zur has emerged not only as a Zn homeostatic regulator but also as a protein involved directly or indirectly in virulence of some pathogens. This functional aspect of Zur could be exploited in the ventures for the identification of newer antimicrobial targets. Despite extensive research on Zur, the insights into its overall regulon and its moonlighting functions in various pathogens yet remain to be explored. Here in this review, we aim to summarise the disparate functional aspects of Zur proteins present in various bacterial species.

Magnitude and variation of ratio of total body potassium to fat-free mass: a cellular level modeling study

2001 ◽  
Vol 281 (1) ◽  
pp. E1-E7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zimian Wang ◽  
F. Xavier Pi-Sunyer ◽  
Donald P. Kotler ◽  
Jack Wang ◽  
Richard N. Pierson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Fat ◽  
Essential Element ◽  
Physiological Model ◽  
Cellular Level ◽  
Fat Free Mass ◽  
Total Body Potassium ◽  
Fluid Compartment ◽  
Total Body Fat ◽  
Total Body ◽  
Living Organisms

Potassium is an essential element of living organisms that is found almost exclusively in the intracellular fluid compartment. The assumed constant ratio of total body potassium (TBK) to fat-free mass (FFM) is a cornerstone of the TBK method of estimating total body fat. Although the TBK-to-FFM (TBK/FFM) ratio has been assumed constant, a large range of individual and group values is recognized. The purpose of the present study was to undertake a comprehensive analysis of biological factors that cause variation in the TBK/FFM ratio. A theoretical TBK/FFM model was developed on the cellular body composition level. This physiological model includes six factors that combine to produce the observed TBK/FFM ratio. The ratio magnitude and range, as well as the differences in the TBK/FFM ratio between men and women and variation with growth, were examined with the proposed model. The ratio of extracellular water to intracellular water ( E/I) is the major factor leading to between-individual variation in the TBK/FFM ratio. The present study provides a conceptual framework for examining the separate TBK/FFM determinants and suggests important limitations of the TBK/FFM method used in estimating total body fat in humans and other mammals.

Iron Homeostasis and Disorders in Dogs and Cats: A Review

2011 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 151-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer L. McCown ◽  
Andrew J. Specht
Keyword(s):  
Iron Deficiency ◽  
Iron Overload ◽  
Iron Homeostasis ◽  
Diagnostic Testing ◽  
Clinical Manifestations ◽  
Essential Element ◽  
The Body ◽  
Deficiency Anemia ◽  
Enzyme Systems ◽  
Living Organisms

Iron is an essential element for nearly all living organisms and disruption of iron homeostasis can lead to a number of clinical manifestations. Iron is used in the formation of both hemoglobin and myoglobin, as well as numerous enzyme systems of the body. Disorders of iron in the body include iron deficiency anemia, anemia of inflammatory disease, and iron overload. This article reviews normal iron metabolism, disease syndromes of iron imbalance, diagnostic testing, and treatment of either iron deficiency or excess. Recent advances in diagnosing iron deficiency using reticulocyte indices are reviewed.

scholarly journals Next Generation Sequencing Approaches Deciphering Hidden Microbial Treasure in Soil

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 39-47
Author(s):  
Ruchi Srivastava ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Bacterial Species ◽  
Modern Concept ◽  
Soil Microbial Diversity ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Human Capabilities ◽  
Soil Microbial ◽  
Functional Aspects ◽  
Initial Culture ◽  
Generation Sequencing ◽  
Culture Dependent

Soil is one of the most important and complex biological habitats on earth. As we know the microbes are important key players in every ecosystem, and biological and ecological processes. Thus, it is necessary to understand this microbial treasure to have information about their role in such processes. Initial culture dependent methods helped a lot but are insufficient to indentify all the microbial species present in the soil. It has been estimated that only ~1% of bacterial species are cultivable on culture medium and rest are still hidden in through such methods. On the other hands, soil metagenomics is a modern concept that allows us to recognize these hidden species without biasness of growing bacteria on to petri plates. In last two decades rapid improvements in modern techniques itself enhanced the human capabilities in not only identifying but also have an understanding of functional aspects of these microbes in soil. Present review describes the available culture dependent methods and emergence and improvement in modern sequencing approaches helping to explore soil microbial diversity of more detail.

scholarly journals Change of mineral and organic nitrogen forms in a long term fertilization experiment (literature)

2014 ◽  
pp. 43-47
Author(s):  
Judit Horváth ◽  
János Kátai
Keyword(s):  
Organic Nitrogen ◽  
Inorganic Nitrogen ◽  
Essential Element ◽  
Nitrogen Forms ◽  
Organic Form ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Nitrogen Turnover ◽  
Mineralization Processes ◽  
Living Organisms

The research topic has timeliness, since the rational utilization and protection of the soil, besides the conservation of its diverse functions is part of the sustainable development. Research of the long-term experiments is esentially important, because it can model the term effects in the same place, under the same conditions. If we want to get accurate informations about the occured changes, way and danger of changes, we should track the resupply and effect of the mineral nutrients and the removed quantity of nutrients with the harvest. Nitrogen is an essential element for living organisms, it is present in the soil mainly in organic form. In general only only a low percentage of the total nitrogent content can be used directly by plants in the soil. This inorganic nitrogen is produced by the transformation of organic contents through mineralization processes and it get into the soil by the fertilization. The plants incorporote the mineral nitrogen into our bodies. This is how nitrogen turnover is realized when mineral forms become organic and organic forms become mineral. The purpose of our paper is to make a literature before our research.

scholarly journals Immunity in Light of Spinoza and Canguilhem

Philosophies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 38
Author(s):  
Hidetaka Yakura
Keyword(s):  
Essential Feature ◽  
Memory Function ◽  
Essential Element ◽  
Defense System ◽  
Baruch Spinoza ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
Essential Function ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Scientific Facts ◽  
With Memory

All living organisms are under stress imposed by their surrounding environments. They must adapt to their stressors to live and survive. At the forefront of this adaptation is a defense system called immunity. Immunity, as the most ancient cognitive apparatus with memory function, is present in all living organisms. In previous reports, minimal cognitive function was defined as a “biologized” concept—namely, perception of elements in a milieu, integration of perceived information, reaction according to integrated information, and memory of that experience. In this study, I aim to explore the essential feature of immunity by synthesizing scientific facts and “metaphysicalizing” them with logical reasoning. As a result of my analysis, I have realized the essential element in immunity: the capacity to preserve the existence of organisms by regulating their physiology and pathology. Having further analyzed immunity with special reference to the philosophy of Baruch Spinoza and George Canguilhem, conatus (“appetite”, to be precise) with normative activities is deeply embedded in immunity and may constitute its essential feature. Given that conatus and normativity imply mental elements, including the judgment of good and bad or health and disease, it is possible to conclude that the essential function of immunity includes cognition with normative connotations. This inclusive view encourages us to rethink the fundamental nature and philosophical implications of immunity from the cognitive perspective.

scholarly journals Thallium Toxicity in Humans

2010 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petra Cvjetko ◽  
Ivan Cvjetko ◽  
Mirjana Pavlica
Keyword(s):  
New Technologies ◽  
Essential Element ◽  
Glutathione Metabolism ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Toxic Heavy Metals ◽  
High Tech Industry ◽  
Adverse Health Effects ◽  
Thallium Poisoning ◽  
Low Concentrations ◽  
Living Organisms

Thallium Toxicity in HumansThallium is a naturally occurring trace element, widely distributed in the earth's crust, but at very low concentrations. It does not have a known biological use and does not appear to be an essential element for life. It has been considered one of the most toxic heavy metals.Occasionally, there are reports on thallium poisoning as results of suicide or murder attempt or accident. The main threat to humans is through occupational exposure, environmental contamination, and accumulation in food, mainly in vegetables grown on contaminated soil. Increasing use in emerging new technologies and demanding high-tech industry constantly raise concern about exposure risk to all living organisms. Thallium is considered a cumulative poison that can cause adverse health effects and degenerative changes in many organs. The effects are the most severe in the nervous system. The exact mechanism of thallium toxicity still remains unknown, although impaired glutathione metabolism, oxidative stress, and disruption of potassium-regulated homeostasis may play a role. The lack of data about mutagenic, carcinogenic, or teratogenic effects of thallium compounds in humans calls for further research.

scholarly journals Modeling the dynamics of mouse iron body distribution: hepcidin is necessary but not sufficient

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jignesh H. Parmar ◽  
Grey Davis ◽  
Hope Shevchuk ◽  
Pedro Mendes
Keyword(s):  
Blood Cells ◽  
Iron Homeostasis ◽  
Essential Element ◽  
Iron Regulation ◽  
Infectious Agents ◽  
Iron Distribution ◽  
Regulatory Interactions ◽  
High Iron ◽  
Body Distribution ◽  
Living Organisms

AbstractBackgroundIron is an essential element of most living organisms but is a dangerous substance when poorly liganded in solution. The hormone hepcidin regulates the export of iron from tissues to the plasma contributing to iron homeostasis and also restricting its availability to infectious agents. Disruption of iron regulation in mammals leads to disorders such as anemia and hemochromatosis, and contributes to the etiology of several other diseases such as cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. Here we test the hypothesis that hepcidin alone is able to regulate iron distribution in different dietary regimes in the mouse using a computational model of iron distribution calibrated with radioiron tracer data.ResultsA model was developed and calibrated to the data from adequate iron diet, which was able to simulate the iron distribution under a low iron diet. However simulation of high iron diet shows considerable deviations from the experimental data. Namely the model predicts more iron in red blood cells and less iron in the liver than what was observed in experiments.ConclusionsThese results suggest that hepcidin alone is not sufficient to regulate iron homeostasis in high iron conditions and that other factors are important. The model was able to simulate anemia when hepcidin was increased but was unable to simulate hemochromatosis when hepcidin was suppressed, suggesting that in high iron conditions additional regulatory interactions are important.

scholarly journals Influence of Spirulina Platensis on the content of iron and zinc in wheat bread

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 159
Author(s):  
Denka Zlateva ◽  
Mimi Petrova ◽  
Dana Stefanova
Keyword(s):  
Spirulina Platensis ◽  
Daily Intake ◽  
Control Sample ◽  
Essential Element ◽  
Zinc Content ◽  
Wheat Bread ◽  
Highly Sensitive ◽  
Iron And Zinc ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Different Sources

It has been found that nutrition does not provide the necessary quantities of some important trace elements, including iron and zinc. Iron is an essential element for all living organisms. It has a key role in the transport of oxygen and as a cofactor in many enzymes. Zinc is a component of more than 200 enzymes involved in the synthesis of proteins and DNA and is needed for the metabolism of growth factors. Enriching bread with mineral substances is a very good approach to overcoming the deficit and achieving adequate levels of intake. Different sources are used for this purpose, but there has been a growing interest in seaweed in recent years. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of 2 and 4% Spirulina powder supplement on the iron and zinc content of bread made from wheat flour type 500. To determine the iron and zinc content, a highly sensitive ICP-AES method is used. Enrichment with 2% and 4% Spirulina plantesis has been found to increase the amount of zinc in wheat bread respectively to 6.36 ± 0.64 mg/kg and 6.77 ± 0.68 mg/kg, whereas its content in the control sample is 5.99 ± 0.49 mg/kg. The amount of iron in the enriched samples reached 15.9 ± 1.59 mg/kg with the addition of 2% Spirulina plantensis and 24.7 ± 2.48 mg/kg with the addition of 4%, while in the control sample of bread was 7.22 ± 0.58 mg/kg. Practical applicationsThe addition of Spirulina platensis algae to wheat bread increases its biological value and helps to achieve iron and zinc content amounts close to the recommended daily intake levels.

How the PhoP/PhoQ System Controls Virulence and Mg 2+ Homeostasis: Lessons in Signal Transduction, Pathogenesis, Physiology, and Evolution

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eduardo A. Groisman ◽  
Alexandre Duprey ◽  
Jeongjoon Choi
Keyword(s):  
Antimicrobial Agents ◽  
Bacterial Species ◽  
Transcriptional Regulator ◽  
Acidic Ph ◽  
Two Component System ◽  
Component System ◽  
Gram Negative ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Two Component ◽  
Serovar Typhimurium

The PhoP/PhoQ two-component system governs virulence, Mg 2+ homeostasis, and resistance to a variety of antimicrobial agents, including acidic pH and cationic antimicrobial peptides, in several Gram-negative bacterial species. Best understood in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, the PhoP/PhoQ system consists of the sensor PhoQ and the transcriptional regulator PhoP.

scholarly journals Multiomic Strategies Reveal Diversity and Important Functional Aspects of Human Gut Microbiome

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ravi Ranjan ◽  
Asha Rani ◽  
Patricia W. Finn ◽  
David L. Perkins
Keyword(s):  
Sequence Data ◽  
Bacterial Species ◽  
Abundant Species ◽  
Shotgun Sequencing ◽  
Sequencing Analysis ◽  
Sequencing Data ◽  
Illumina Platform ◽  
Shotgun Metagenomics ◽  
Functional Aspects ◽  
Detectable Bias

It is well accepted that dysbiosis of microbiota is associated with disease; however, the biological mechanisms that promote susceptibility or resilience to disease remain elusive. One of the major limitations of previous microbiome studies has been the lack of complementary metatranscriptomic (functional) data to complement the interpretation of metagenomics (bacterial abundance). The purpose of this study was twofold, first to evaluate the bacterial diversity and differential gene expression of gut microbiota using complementary shotgun metagenomics (MG) and metatranscriptomics (MT) from same fecal sample. Second, to compare sequence data using different Illumina platforms and with different sequencing parameters as new sequencers are introduced, and to determine if the data are comparable on different platforms. In this study, we perform ultradeep metatranscriptomic shotgun sequencing for a sample that we previously analyzed with metagenomics shotgun sequencing. We performed sequencing analysis using different Illumina platforms, with different sequencing and analysis parameters. Our results suggest that use of different Illumina platform did not lead to detectable bias in the sequencing data. The analysis of the sample using MG and MT approach shows that some species genes are highly represented in the MT than in the MG, indicating that some species are highly metabolically active. Our analysis also shows that ~52% of the genes in the metagenome are in the metatranscriptome and therefore are robustly expressed. The functions of the low and rare abundance bacterial species remain poorly understood. Our observations indicate that among the low abundant species analyzed in this study some were found to be more metabolically active compared to others, and can contribute distinct profiles of biological functions that may modulate the host-microbiota and bacteria-bacteria interactions.

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