Abstract Archive   May 2007 Biofilm - An Extreme Focus Introduction A biofilm is a complex aggregation of microorganism marked by the excretion of a protective and adhesive matrix. They are also characterized by surface attachment, structural genetic heterogeneity diversity complex community interactions, and an extracellular matrix of polymeric substances Generally, two distinct modes of behavior are exhibited by single celled organism. The first is the familiar free floating, or planktonic, form in which single cells float or swim independently in some liquid medium. Free-living “Planktonic” state bacteria adhere to the surfaces by producing extra cellular polysaccharide or by means of specialized structures called HOLDFASTS. The second community is attached state in which cells are closely packed and firmly attached to each other and usually a solid surface. The adherent bacteria produce microcolonies, leading to the development of biofilms, initially which may be composed of only one bacterial type, frequently develop to contain several bacteria living in a complex community. Properties Biofilms are usually found on solid substrates submerged in or exposed to some aqueous solution. They form floating mats on liquid surfaces. In optimum condition, a biofilm will quickly grow to be macroscopic. Many different types of microorganism like Algae, fungi. Protozoa forms a single biofilm. Some biofilm consists of monospecies instead of diverse group. The bioflim is held together and protected by matrix of excreted polymeric compound called EPS (exopolymeric or extra cellular polymeric substance). This matrix protects the cells within it and facilitates communication among them through biochemical signals. Some biofilms have water channels that help the bacteria to distribute nutrients and signaling molecules. This matrix is strong enough that under certain conditions, biofilms can become fossilized. Bacteria living in a biofilm have significantly different properties from free- floating bacteria of the same species, as the dense and protected environment of the film allows them to cooperate and interact in various ways. One benefit of this environment is increased resistance to detergents and antibiotics, as the dense extracellular matrix and the outer layer of cells protect the interior of the community. In some cases antibiotic resistance can be increased 1000 fold. Author :S.Meenakumari. Stress- A real to human lives threat Stress is very common and affects as many as one in eight every people in their teen years. Depression, which is common form of stress related disorder affects people of every color, race, economic status, or age. However, it does seem to affect more females than males during adolescence and adulthood. Stress affects mind, body, and behavior in many ways. The signs and symptoms of stress vary from person to person, but all have the potential to harm our health, emotional wellbeing, and relationships with others. The stress response of the body is meant to protect and support us in maintaining stability. Our body is constantly adjusting to its surroundings. When a physical or mental event threatens this equilibrium, we react to it. Stress is simply a fact of the natural forces from the outside world affecting the individual. The individual responds to stress in ways that affect him as well as his environment. Hence, all living creatures are in a constant interchange with their surroundings (the ecosystem), both physically as well as behaviorally. This interplay of forces or energy is of course present in the relationships between all matter in the universe, both living and non living. However, there are critical differences in the methods in which the different living creatures relate to their environment. These differences have far-reaching consequences to their survival. Because of the overabundance of stress in our modern lives. The cultural ,social economical values has changes with time and so do the ability to cope with stress. Our ancestors responded to stressful ordeals in the fashion which is quite different and destructive Millions of years later, when we face a situation that we perceive as challenging, our body automatically goes into an overdrive, engaging the stress response to succumb it. Immediately, we release the same hormones that enabled prehistoric humans to move and think faster, hit harder, see better and hear more acutely since our experience of stress is generally related to how we respond to an event, not to the event itself. In practice, the biological concept of stress carries a more general connotation. Perhaps the most useful definition of biological stress is an adverse force or influence that tends to inhibit normal systems from functioning. The psychological and environmental stimuli can influence health and diseases. Stress is a term used to describe such an adverse force that can disrupt the physiological environment. Stress is the outcome of interaction between the stressor and the stressed and it ranges from the cellular and organic to the molecular level. Authors:Zaved Ahmed Khan, Iftikhar Aslam Tayubi. Gene Therapy- Blame or Blessing?! “I am the family face; flesh perishes, I live on, projecting trait and trace through time to times anon, and leaping from place to place over oblivion. the years-heired feature that can in curve and voice and eye despise the human span of durance - that is I; the eternal thing - gene in man, that heeds no call to die”. Introduction Genetics stands at the forefront of biological revolution. The body's genetic material is contained within the nucleus of each of its cells, which in an adult person number over 5 trillion. A person's genetic makeup is called the genotype, which determines the phenotype. Genes, which are carried on chromosomes, are the basic physical and functional units of heredity. Genes are specific sequences of bases that encode instructions on how to make proteins. When genes are altered so that the encoded proteins are unable to carry out their normal functions, genetic disorders can result. Gene therapy is a technique for correcting defective genes responsible for disease development. Advances in understanding and manipulating genes have set the stage for scientists to alter a person's genetic material to fight or prevent disease. Gene therapy is an experimental treatment that involves introducing genetic material (DNA or RNA) into a person's cells to fight disease. Gene therapy carries the excitement of a cure-all for a host of diseases, the controversy surrounding the altering of human genes, and the promise of a type of medical treatment most of us would never imagine possible. With its potential to eliminate and prevent hereditary diseases such as cystic fibrosis, hemophilia and other non-genetic disorders like heart disease, AIDS, and cancer, it is evident that gene therapy is a potential medical miracle-worker. Definition The ability to introduce the new genes into mammalian cell raises the possibility of being able to correct the genetic defects in humans. “Introduction of a copy of normal functional gene into the appropriate cells to treat the genetic disorders” is termed as gene therapy. Authors : J.Poongothai,T.Dharani Priya,O. Monika Gandhi. e-Biocomputing: Cracking Code of Life for e-Revolution in India The term e-Biocomputing or e-Bioinformatics is relative recent invention not appearing in literature until 1991. E-Biocomputing is the field of science, in which biology, computer science, and information technology merges into a single discipline. The important sub disciplines included in e-Biocomputing are (a) Analysis of Algorithms (b) Data structure and information retrieved (c) Software engineering like C, C++, PERL (Practical Extraction and Report Language) or FORTRAN The general belief about e-Biocomputing that it constitutes only genomics (the study of total molecular sequencing of one set of all genes of an organism) and proteomics (study about amino acid sequences and 3-dimension structures related to the function of proteins). But in recent time Cheminoformatics (study of low molecular weight compounds (LMW), Glycomics (study of carbohydrates), Metabolics (study of metabolic pathway in organisms) and Drug Design (DD) through bioinformatics are also being projected as legitimate area of e-Biocomputing. The Human genome sequences (project) are main concept in e- Biocomputing. In recent years, explosive growth in biological data has been observed. And many Bio-factories (Molecular Biology Research Labs) are producing a high amount of bioinformation in every year as well as sequencing project is producing large quantities of nucleotide sequences. The contents of nucleotides databases are doubling in size approximately every 12 months. To cope with this great quantity of data, a new scientific discipline has emerged such as Bioinformatics, e-Biocomputing or Computational biology and the ultimate goal of e-Biocomputing is to uncover the wealth of biological information hidden in the mass of sequences, structures, literature, and other biological data and use information to uplift the standard of life for social welfare . Major research fields in e-Biocomputing are (a) Sequence alignment (b) Gene finding (c) Genome assembly (d) Protein structure alignment (e) Protein model structure alignment (f) Prediction of gene expression (g) Genome annotation (h) Analysis of mutations Study of Bacterial Ribonuclease protein Rnase P Abstract Ribonuclease protein ( RNase P) has 2 subunits, a catalytic protein C5 and M1 RNA. The M1 RNA is a catalytic RNA that is essential for 5' terminal modification of tRNA and the protein aids in its activity. The interaction is essential for maturation of each tRNA, without which there would be no mature tRNA for amino acid incorporation in protein synthesis. The ribozyme is conserved in all life forms for 5' modifications of pre-tRNA. The efficient catalytic activity requires the presence of divalent cations especially Mg2+ for highest effect, any other cation shows reduced effect or miscleavage at RNase P- pre tRNA ( RNase P RNA and substrate interaction). The interaction is found to be at 73rd position of pre-tRNA and 294th position of RNase P RNA. It has been established that for the 73-294 interaction to occur other adjacent bases should form firm complexes with the substrate that aid in the final cleavage. With these factors in consideration ideas of exploiting the nature of RNase P as an effective target for particular strains could be done. For cleavage to occur Mg2+ ions should bind at appropriate locations to aid in the cleavage. It has been observed that binding of Pb2+ at these locations hinder the cleavage and could be used as an effective inhibiting agent. The ability of modifying particular RNase P RNA gene code would enable to completely hinder protein synthesis, the main factor is to locate hot spots that are not present in human RNase P RNA but are present in pathogenic or other strains is required to develop drug targets for that site. the gene for M1 RNA is rnpB and has 350-400 nucleotides. The sites for drug target could be Mg2+ binding sites or any other unique site in the rnpB gene of the pathogen. Introduction RNase P is a ribozyme. RNase P RNA is a naturally occurring trans-acting ribozyme. RNase P is an endoribonuclease responsible for specific 5' maturation of transfer RNA (tRNA). There are other RNases involved in the maturation of tRNA, each with its unique site of cleavage at the tRNA. RNase D, RNase BN, RNase T, RNase PH, RNase 2 and polynucleotide phosphorylase are required for 3' terminal modification of tRNA. RNase T and RNase BN modify tRNA even in the absence of other RNase ribozymes. RNase P is unique with its unique site of cleavage at the 5' end of tRNA. RNase P has 2 subunits a catalytic part M1 RNA subunit (known as rnpB RNA) and a protein part C5 protein subunit (known as rnpA protein). Both molecules, M1 RNA and C5 protein are required for efficient cleavage of 5' end. Mutations in the rnpA gene (the gene for the C5 protein component) of RNase P, and in strains that carry several different alleles of the rnpB gene (the gene for the M1 RNA component) of RNase P, depending on the genetic background different efficiencies of suppression were observed with various tRNA suppressors. Mutations in rnpA have separable and distinct effects from mutations in rnpB on the processing of tRNA precursors by RNase P. Author:Ismaeel Mohamed A. Genetic Modifications lead to Novel Cures Bacteria are often maligned as the causes of human and animal diseases. However, certain bacteria produce antibiotics such as streptomycin; others live symbiotically in the guts of animals and humans or elsewhere in their bodies, or on the roots of certain plants, converting nitrogen into a usable form. Bacteria put the tang in yogurt and the sour in sourdough bread; bacteria help to break down dead organic matter; bacteria make up the base of the food web in many environments. Bacteria are of such immense importance because of their extreme flexibility, capacity for rapid growth and reproduction. It is quite interesting to know that a bacterium, which is otherwise used mainly in the dairy industry, can also be modified to act as a vehicle for delivery of drugs. This bacterium is the common bacterium known as Lactococcus lactis. These bacteria which were earlier known as “Streptococcus” can have various forms depending on climatic factors they are usually ovoid in shape. These organisms grow in short chains unlike their other counterparts. Scientific Classification Kingdom: Bacteria Division: Firmicutes Class: Bacilli Order: Lactobacillales Family: Streptococcaceae Genus: Lactococcus Species: L. lactis In earlier times, role of the bacteria was limited to dairy industries itself, as adding the bacterium to milk produces small energy molecules called ATP molecules, which in turn produces lactic acid which leads to curdling of milk thereby providing a raw material for cheese and whey production. There are two subspecies of L. lactis, designated initially as Streptococcus lactis and Streptococcus cremoris and reclassified as L. lactis ssp. lactis and L. lactis ssp. cremoris, respectively. The former is preferred for making of soft cheeses and the latter for the hard ones. The two subspecies have been intensely studied, mainly because of their industrial interest, and have become excellent models for research on metabolism, physiology, genetics, and molecular biology of Lactic acid bacteria.