A Green Strategy to Produce Potential Substitute Resource for Bear Bile Using Engineered Saccharomyces Cerevisiae

BackgroundBear bile powder is a precious natural material characterized by high content of tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA) at a ratio of 1.00–1.50 to taurochenodeoxycholic acid (TCDCA).ResultsIn this study, we use the crude enzymes from engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae to directional convert TCDCA from chicken bile powder to TUDCA at the committed ratio in vitro. This S. cerevisiae strain was modified with heterologous 7α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (7α-HSDH) and 7β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (7β-HSDH) genes. S. cerevisiae host and HSDH gene combinatorial optimization and response surface methodology was applied to get the best engineered strain and the optimal biotransformation condition, respectively, under which 10.99 ± 0.16 g/L of powder products containing 36.73±6.68 % of TUDCA and 28.22±6.05 % of TCDCA were obtained using 12.00 g/L of chicken bile powder as substrate.ConclusionThis study provides a healthy and environmentally friendly way to produce potential alternative resource for bear bile powder from cheap and readily available chicken bile powder, and also gives a reference for the green manufacturing of other rare and endangered animal-derived valuable resource.

Effect of the concentration of estradiol and vitellogenin in the blood serum of meat and egg breed chickens on egg productivity

The aim of the research is to determine the effect of changes in the concentration of estradiol-17β on the concentration of vitellogenin at the stage of egg shell formation and preparation of the body of meat and egg breed chickens (for example, the Pushkin breed) for ovulation.Materials and methods. The material for the study was the Pushkin breed chickens, in the amount of 28 heads. at the age of 48 weeks. Chickens were kept in individual cages. Light mode - 14C:10T. Drinking - nipple, temperature in the house and feeding - according to the standards adopted in the bioresource collection of RRIFAGB "Genetic collection of rare and endangered chicken breeds." Within 10 days prior to blood sampling, an ultrasound scan of the ovary and oviduct was performed from the studied group of chickens, which made it possible to determine the stage of egg formation. Blood from the studied chickens was taken in the morning on an empty stomach for the simultaneous determination of the concentration of estradiol and vitellogenin at the stage of egg shell formation. The concentration of estradiol and vitellogenin in the blood plasma of chickens was determined by ELISA. To clarify the effect of the concentration of estradiol (E2) on vitellogenin (VTG), the studied flock was divided into 2 groups according to the concentration of vitellogenin: 1st gr. – > Mav. (> 20 μg / ml) and 2nd gr. – < Mav. (<20 μg / ml). During the study period, eggs of chickens were evaluated according to the following morphometric parameters: the weight of the egg, yolk, protein and shell, elastic deformation, shape index, density of protein fractions, thickness of the shell and subshell, marbling. The number of eggs laid was determined in 10-day trial period.Results. It has been established that the duration of the ovulatory cycle in Pushkin breed chickens is 27-29 hours. As a result of such a long ovulatory cycle in the following days, laying of eggs occurs later with a progressive shift, as a result of which the laying cycle on average for the studied group of chickens is 3 days. The E2 level in the 1st group was 258,48 ± 30,60 pg/ml (p < 0,05), which significantly differed from the 2nd group – 181,45 ± 13,81 pg/ml. A positive correlation was found between VTG and E2, r = 0,5 (p < 0,001).Conclusion. The VTG level significantly increases in Pushkin chickens at the age of 48 weeks with an increase in the concentration of E2 in the blood. A positive correlation was noted between these features. According to the results of our research, the high content of estradiol and vitellogenin in the chickens blood serum did not have a significant effect on egg productivity.

Ethnomedicinal survey among Kani Tribes and traditional healers in Selected Tribal populations of Trivandrum district

Indian tribes constitute around 8.3% of the total population. The health problems of tribal communities are influenced by the interaction of various socioeconomic and political factors. An attempt is made to document the traditional knowledge of the Kani tribes in the floristically rich Peringamala panchayath of Thiruvananthapuram district. The investigation revealed that the Kani tribes were using 127 species of ethnomedicinal plants, belonging to 57 families. The most cited family was Fabaceae and leaves were the most frequently used plant parts for the treatment of various diseases. Some medicinal plants used by Kani tribes which are included in the list of rare and endangered categories, such as Aristolochia tagala, Holostemma adakodien, Entada scandens, Anaphyllum beddomeii, decalepsis arayalpathra which are vanishing from the tribal settlement areas. So special attention should be given to cultivate and conserve these rare medicinal plants by making them available for mass cultivation, either through conventional methods or other non-conventional methods like micropropagation. The study showed that the Kani tribes have good knowledge about medicinal plants that have been passed orally from generation to generation. Current healers may be the final generation of Kani tribal healers. Due to rapid socio-economic and cultural changes, there is a possibility of losing the treasure of tribal knowledge in near future. The wealth of this tribal knowledge would lead to a greater potential for the Indian system of medicine towards new drug discovery and development.

Plants of the Siberian Flora exposition of the N.V. Tsitsin Main Botanical Garden RAS, listed in the Red Book of Russia

The strategy and key principles of setting up natural flora exhibits were conceptualized by the founder and first manager of the Flora Department, Prof. M. Kultiasov based on the ecological and historical method of plant introduction. The Siberian flora exhibit was among the first created by the Laboratory. Nowadays it comprises 111 species (131 specimens) belonging to 68 genera of 39 families of plants. This collection includes 5 species of plants listed in the Red Data Book of Russia, namely Anemonastrum baicalense (Turcz.) Mosyakin, Cotoneaster acutifolius Turcz., Erythronium sibiricum (Fisch. & C.A. Mey.) Krylov, Paeonia tenuifolia L., Leuzea carthamoides (Willd.) DC. By category of rareness, out of five these species, one (Paeonia tenuifolia) belongs to Category Two (threatened) and four species (Anemonastrum baicalense, Cotoneaster acutifolius, Erythronium sibiricum, Leuzea carthamoides) belong to Category Three (rare). By category of integrated introductory resistance, all the species introduced may be categorized as ‘resistant in a controlled environment’. Keywords: PLANT INTRODUCTION, NATIVE FLORA OF THE SIBERIA, RARE AND ENDANGERED PLANTS, RED DATA BOOK OF RUSSIA, MOSCOW, N. V. TSITSIN MAIN BOTANICAL GARDEN RAS

Meander floodplain management and stabilization of riverbank in urban region

The normalization of the Meander River in the past caused environmental problems, changed the river’s ecology, and required heavy maintenance such as stabilizing riverbanks with revetments, sheet piles and other constructions. Pesanggrahan River, located at Southern Region of Jakarta, Indonesia which has a meander channel at the border between the middle reach and downstream reach. The river was normalized at the end of the year 2012 with several modifications such as resection, realignment and cutting-off meandering bends. Analysis the effect of normalization consisting of meander cut-off and riverbank stabilization presented in this paper in term of the behaviour of sediment transport along the channel that has been normalized. HEC-RAS program is used to track the Pesanggrahan river flow from upstream to downstream before and after normalization. The Ackers-White equation used to calculate the amount of sediment for each section based on the change of the river section due to sediment motion after normalizing of the channel river. From the results of the study, it is proposed that a river naturalization or low impact development (LID) approach, such as floodplain management especially at the meander bend with riparian ecosystems that maintain stabilization at the riverbank also maintain habitat heterogeneity, is an important factor for the long-term survival of several rare and endangered species.

The Development and State of Criminal Legislation on Responsibility for Smuggling Strategically Important Goods and Resources

The paper is devoted to monitoring the development in the Russian criminal legislation of responsibility for the illegal movement of strategically important goods and resources across the customs border of the Customs Union within the EurAsEC or the State border of the Russian Federation. At the same time, the author argues the correctness of the indication in the disposition of Art. 226.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation a State Border as a place of commission of the crime under consideration. The author provides a detailed list of strategically important goods and resources, since the establishment of the subject matter of a crime makes it possible to qualify the offense and differntiate criminal smuggling from smuggling the responsibility for which is envisaged only in administrative legislation. The author substantiates the statement according to which this type of smuggling infringes not on public safety, but on relations in the field of economic activity. Therefore, a proposal is made to return the criminal law rule to Ch. 22 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. At the same time, it is proposed to establish criminal liability for smuggling flora and fauna items classified as strategically important goods and resources in a separate article in the Chapter entitled "Environmental Crimes" with due regard to the social danger of this act. The liability should not be related to the value of the goods and resources being moved. Taking into account only the cost of biological resources in their protection under criminal law does not reflect the real social danger of these acts. The need for the protection of biological resources using criminal law instruments is caused not only and not so much by economic preconditions but by the need to preserve rare and endangered representatives of flora and fauna for future generations—the most important components of the ecosystem of the entire planet. The author draws conclusions largely aimed at observing the systematic nature of the criminal law due to the peculiarities of the object of the offence.

Breaking the Limits - Multichromosomal Structure of an Early Eudicot Pulsatilla Patens Mitogenome Reveals Extensive RNA-editing, Longest Repeats and Chloroplast Derived Regions Among Sequenced Land Plant Mitogenomes

Background: The mitogenomes of vascular plants are one of the most structurally diverse molecules. In the present study we characterize mitogenome of a rare and endangered species Pulsatilla patens. We investigated the gene content and its RNA editing potential, repeats distribution and plastid derived sequences.Results: The mitogenome structure of early divergent eudicot, endangered Pulsatilla patens does not support the master chromosome hypothesis, revealing the presence of three linear chromosomes of total length 986 613 bp. The molecules are shaped by the presence of extremely long, exceeding 87 kbp, repeats and multiple chloroplast derived regions including nearly complete inverted repeat. Since the plastid IR content of Ranunculales is very characteristic, the incorporation into mitogenome could be explained rather by intracellular transfer than mitochondrial HGT. The mitogenome contains an almost complete set of genes known from other vascular plants with exception of rps10 and sdh3, the latter being present but pseudogenised. Analysis of long ORFs enabled the identification of genes which are rarely present in plant mitogenomes, including RNA and DNA polymerases, albeit their presence even at species level is variable. Mitochondrial transcripts of P. patens were edited with a high frequency, exceeding the level known in other analyzed angiosperms, despite strict qualification criteria of editing event’s count and analysis of generally less frequently edited leaf transcriptome. The total number of edited sites was 902 and nad4 was identified as the most edited gene with 65 C to U changes. Non-canonical, reverse U to C editing was not detected. Comparative analyses of mitochondrial genes of three Pulsatilla species revealed a level of variation comparable to chloroplast CDS dataset and much higher infrageneric differentiation than in other known angiosperm genera. The variation found in CDS of mitochondrial genes is comparable to values found among Pulsatilla plastomes. Despite a complicated mitogenome structure, 14 single copy regions not splitted by repeats or MTPT of 329 kbp revealed potential for phylogenetic, phylogeographic and population genetics studies by revealing intra- and interspecific collinearity.Conclusions: This studies provides valuable new information about mitochondrial genome of early divergent eudicots, Pulsatilla patens, revealed multi-chromosomal structure and shed new light on mitogenomics of early eudicots.

Recent Progress in Spermatology Contributing to the Knowledge and Conservation of Rare and Endangered Species

There is a remarkable diversity in the animal kingdom regarding mechanisms underlying the production, maturation, structure, and function of sperm cells. Spermatology studies contribute to the knowledge of species diversity and also provide information about individual or population fitness. Furthermore, this fundamental research is required before collected spermatozoa can be used for conservation breeding, including assisted reproduction and cryobanking. This article aims to ( a) review the most recent knowledge on sperm morphology and function in wild animal species, ( b) analyze how this knowledge can be used to save species in their natural habitat or ex situ, and ( c) propose future scientific directions in wildlife spermatology that could positively impact animal conservation. Variations in sperm structure and performance within and between species have multiple origins and significance. This collective body of knowledge enables the design and implementation of conservation strategies and action plans that integrate several disciplines. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Animal Biosciences, Volume 10 is February 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.