scholarly journals Peer Review #2 of "The level of putative carotenoid-binding proteins determines the body color in two species of endemic Lake Baikal amphipods (v0.1)"

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
N Wade
Keyword(s):  
Peer Review ◽  
Lake Baikal ◽  
Binding Proteins ◽  
The Body ◽  
Body Color

scholarly journals The level of putative carotenoid-binding proteins determines the body color in two species of endemic Lake Baikal amphipods

PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e9387
Author(s):  
Polina Drozdova ◽  
Alexandra Saranchina ◽  
Mariya Morgunova ◽  
Alena Kizenko ◽  
Yulia Lubyaga ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lake Baikal ◽  
Binding Proteins ◽  
The Body ◽  
Carotenoid Content ◽  
Body Color ◽  
Total Carotenoid Content ◽  
Color Morphs ◽  
Carotenoid Composition ◽  
Coloration Patterns ◽  
Odorant Binding

Color is an essential clue for intra- and interspecies communication, playing a role in selection and speciation. Coloration can be based on nanostructures and pigments; carotenoids and carotenoproteins are among the most widespread pigments in animals. Over 350 species and subspecies of amphipods (Crustacea: Amphipoda) endemic to Lake Baikal exhibit an impressive variability of colors and coloration patterns, including intraspecific color morphs. However, the mechanisms forming this diversity are underexplored, as while the carotenoid composition of several transparent, green, and red species was investigated, there have been no reports on the corresponding carotenoid-binding proteins. In this work, we analyze the coloration of two brightly colored Baikal amphipods characterized by intraspecific color variability, Eulimnogammarus cyaneus and E. vittatus. We showed that the color of either species is defined by the level of putative carotenoid-binding proteins similar to the pheromone/odorant-binding protein family, as the concentration of these putative crustacyanin analogs was higher in blue or teal-colored animals than in the orange- or yellow-colored ones. At the same time, the color did not depend on the total carotenoid content, as it was similar between animals of contrasting color morphs. By exploring the diversity of these sequences within a larger phylogeny of invertebrate crustacyanins, we show that amphipods lack orthologs of the well-studied crustacyanins A and C, even though they possess some crustacyanin-like sequences. The analysis of expression levels in E. cyaneus showed that the transcripts encoding crustacyanin analogs had much higher expression than the crustacyanin-like sequences, suggesting that the former indeed contribute to the color of these brightly colored animals. The crustacyanin analogs seem to act in a similar way to the well-studied crustacyanins in body color formation, but the details of their action are still to be revealed.

BIOCHEMICAL AND HISTOPATHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF HYDROETHANOLIC EXTRACT OF IRVINGIA WOMBOLU KERNELS ON RAT LIVER AND KIDNEY

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oyetunji Timothy Kolawole ◽  
Akeem Ademola Ayankunle ◽  
Olayemi Kamoru Wakeel ◽  
Anthony Tope Olofinnade ◽  
Olatunde Samson Olaniyi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Peer Review ◽  
Total Protein ◽  
Wistar Rats ◽  
Myocardial Damage ◽  
Serum Levels ◽  
Stem Bark ◽  
The Body ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Medicinal And Aromatic Plants ◽  
North East

Objective: Many plants are consumed as food by humans for growth and survival, but a large number of these plants have not been tested for toxicity potential. Repeated consumption of such plants could lead to accumulation of toxic chemicals in the body and cause health-related problems. Irvingia wombolu kernel is widely consumed by many ethnic groups in Nigeria and some other African countries. The toxicity potentials of Irvingia wombolu kernel extract (IWKE) on the kidney and liver of rats was evaluated in this study. Methods: Three groups of Wistar rats were fed orally with IWKE (50, 100, and 200 mg/kg b.w) daily for 28 days. The fourth group which is the control was treated with distilled water (10 ml/kg b.w) for the same period.  The rats were sacrificed on the 29th day, and blood samples, kidney and liver were harvested for analyses. Serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), total protein, albumin, bilirubin, creatinine, and urea were determined. Kidney and liver sections were examined for histopathological changes. Data were subjected to Student’s t-test for statistical analysis. Results: Serum levels of creatinine and urea were not significantly altered in the IWKE-treated rats compared with the control. At 200 mg/kg b.w, the extract significantly increased (p<0.05) serum levels of ALT, AST, total bilirubin, total protein, and albumin compared with the control. Significant distortions were observed in the liver sections of rats treated with 200 mg/kg b.w IWKE compared with control, but the structure of the kidney section of IWKE-treated rats was not significantly different from the control. Conclusion: The results showed that repeated ingestion of Irvingia wombolu kernel at a dose of 200 mg/kg b.w for 28 days induced liver damage, but does not significantly affect renal function.                       Peer Review History: Received: 9 September 2021; Revised: 12 October; Accepted: 27 October, Available online: 15 November 2021 Academic Editor:  Dr. Ali Abdullah Al-yahawi, Al-Razi university, Department of Pharmacy, Yemen, [email protected] UJPR follows the most transparent and toughest ‘Advanced OPEN peer review’ system. The identity of the authors and, reviewers will be known to each other. This transparent process will help to eradicate any possible malicious/purposeful interference by any person (publishing staff, reviewer, editor, author, etc) during peer review. As a result of this unique system, all reviewers will get their due recognition and respect, once their names are published in the papers. We expect that, by publishing peer review reports with published papers, will be helpful to many authors for drafting their article according to the specifications. Auhors will remove any error of their article and they will improve their article(s) according to the previous reports displayed with published article(s). The main purpose of it is ‘to improve the quality of a candidate manuscript’. Our reviewers check the ‘strength and weakness of a manuscript honestly’. There will increase in the perfection, and transparency.  Received file:                Reviewer's Comments: Average Peer review marks at initial stage: 6.0/10 Average Peer review marks at publication stage: 7.5/10 Reviewers: Dr. Sangeetha Arullappan, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia, [email protected] Ahmad Najib, Universitas Muslim Indonesia, Makassar, Indonesia, [email protected] Taha A.I. El Bassossy, Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Department, Desert Research Center, Cairo, Egypt, [email protected] Dr. Nazim Hussain, North East Frontier Technical University, Arunachal pradesh, India, [email protected] Similar Articles: MYOCARDIAL POTENCY OF AQUEOUS EXTRACT OF HARUNGANA MADAGASCARIENSIS STEM BARK AGAINST ISOPROTERENOL-INDUCED MYOCARDIAL DAMAGE IN RATS PROTECTIVE EFFECT OF METHANOL EXTRACT OF RUSSELIA EQUISETIFORMIS AGAINST PARACETAMOL-INDUCED HEPATOTOXICITY IN WISTAR RATS

Different transcriptional levels of Corazonin, Elevenin and PDF according to the body-color of the two-spotted cricket, Gryllus bimaculatus

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hitomi Seike ◽  
Shinji Nagata
Keyword(s):  
Locusta Migratoria ◽  
Living Environment ◽  
The Body ◽  
Transcriptional Level ◽  
Body Color ◽  
Gryllus Bimaculatus ◽  
Pigment Dispersing Factor ◽  
Color Changes ◽  
Quantitative Analyses ◽  
Endocrine Factors

Abstract Body-color in insects changes according to the living environment and physiological stresses possibly involved in endocrine factors. To date, three predominant bioactive peptides, Corazonin, Elevenin, and pigment-dispersing factor (PDF) have been illuminated to be involved in the body-color in insects and crustaceans. Here, we examined the possibilities that these three factors would contribute to body-color changes via melanization in the two-spotted cricket, Gryllus bimaculatus, whose body color changes according to population density drastically. Quantitative analyses revealed that the higher transcriptional levels of Corazonin and Elevenin in the crowded-conditioned crickets, whereas the transcriptional level of PDF was higher in the isolated-conditioned crickets. However, the body color was not changed by knockdown of Corazonin, Elevenin, and PDF by RNA interference. The present data indicated that coloration mechanisms in G. bimaculatus is differently controlled from the previous observation in Locusta migratoria, a closely related orthopteran species.

scholarly journals The Insulin-Like Growth Factor System

2003 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 205-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek Le Roith
Keyword(s):  
Growth Factor ◽  
Essential Role ◽  
Binding Proteins ◽  
The Body ◽  
Normal Adult ◽  
Insulin Like Growth Factor ◽  
Igf System ◽  
Major Player ◽  
Factor System

The insulin-like growth factor (IGF) system in ubiquitous and plays a role in every tissue of the body. It is comprised of ligands, receptors and binding proteins, each with specific functions. While it plays an essential role in embryonic and post-natal development, the IGF system is also important in normal adult physiology. There are now numerous examples of diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and malnutrition in which the IGF system is a major player and, not surprisingly, there are attempts to affect these disorders by manipulating the system.

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