International Letters of Natural Sciences Vol. 51

Abstract: The study of biological properties of filmforming Staphylococcus aureus strains, including its sensitivity to bacteriophages, is one of the important tasks of laboratory diagnostic service that allows, if it necessary, choose an alternative treatment strategy and to establish the sources of strains. In the study of material from the nose and throat of 26 persons-volunteers the strains of S. aureus were selected. Among them 16 (61.5%) were able to form biofilms. Analysis of resistance to phages drugs of filmformation strains of S. aureus showed that 87.5% strains were sensitive the phages drugs "Piobacteriophage" and "Bacteriophage staphylococcal liquid". Phage type was identified for 9 (56.3%) strains. 64.3% of these strains were sensitive to the 1 phage from set, 21.4% – to 2 and 14.3% – 3 phages. It was determined that 77.8% strains were typed by phages from third group. For 1 strain detected simultaneous sensitivity to phages of 2 and 3 groups. With phage 81 (out of group phage) interacted 4 strains: 2 showed sensitivity only to him and another 2 were also susceptible to phage of third group.

Abstract: The paper examines the influence of industrial emissions SO₂ and NO₂ on the anatomical structure of the annual shoot stems of Salix alba L. in conditions of steppe zone of Ukraine. It reveals high stability of histological characteristics of the studied type to phytotoxic pollutants, which was proved by thickening of almost all anatomical stem parameters. It was ascertained the toxic gases chronic effect results in increasing the thickness of the stem cortex in the research object through the increase of the primary cortex where collenchyme and parenchyma grow thicker, and through thickening the secondary cortex as hard bast indices rise. The study proved that toxic gases do not affect the wood radius and pith diameter, though the biggest trachea diameter increases significantly. It has shown the thickening of both primary cortex and secondary cortex which contribute to the change of the diameter of annual shoot stems of S. alba in conditions of technogenesis. The high adaptive capacity of anatomical indicators of this plant species stem to industrial pollution has been demonstrated, and therefore it was suggested that S. alba can be used for planting the areas subject to chronic actions of SO₂ and NO₂.

Abstract: Marine algae Gelidium, Grateloupia elliptica Holmes, and Codium fragile are employed for preparation of PANI/seaweed composites. Infrared absorption (IR), electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy measurements are carried out to confirm the resultant structure. The direct use of natural biological materials for polymerisation reaction allows us to production of polymers with characteristic surface. This can be referred to as bio-interface polymerisation.

Abstract: For studying water exchange in compartments of tissue water of maize, kinetic curves of dilution of tritium labeled water (³Н) were used, with the incubation of plant tissues in it. By resolving the summary kinetic curves into components, we determined the constants of membranes’ permeability for exchange diffusion flux in two compartments of tissue water – membrane-restricted water and water of higher mobility in free space of cell envelopes, and quantitative content of symplastic and apoplastic water in the plant tissues. Significant differences of rates of water-exchange processes in the symplast and apoplast of maize types with various genotypes were found at the temperatures of 20, 30, 40 and 50°С. In the Pioneer hybrid these figures vary in the intervals of 1,83–3,67 s^-1·10^-4 and 0,91–1,33 s^-1·10^-3, whereas in self-pollinated line А-204 the intervals are 1,80–3,51 and 1,12–1,48 accordingly. Peculiar features of water exchange reactions suggest the higher physiological constancy of the Pioneer hybrid under thermal action.

Abstract: Structural and functional characteristics of zooplankton as well as the results of biotesting were researched to indicate the ecological status of Mokraya Sura river sites. Zooplankton sampling was performed at the sites of Mokraya Sura river in autumn 2014 and in spring 2015. Species composition and abundance of zooplankton showed that zooplankton is most depressed at the upper sites of the river due to joint effect of slime accumulation eutrophication and industrial sewage. Biotesting results estimated water quality of the site near aeration plant sewage emergency discharge as most polluted of the river sites where large abundance and biomass of zooplankton were created mostly by planktonic rotifers. Large figures of filter-seeding crustaceans as well as low saprobity index indicate improvement in water quality at the sites 3 km and 2 km upstream from the river mouth.

Abstract: Maize is an agronomic cereal species that is sensitive to nutrient applications, especially nitrogen. Field experiments were conducted in 2011 and 2012 to evaluate the effect of nitrogen and mulching using dried weeds on maize growth and nutrient accumulation. The study was located in the Research Farm of the Agricultural Science Education Unit of the Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria ((latitude 5⁰ 46’N and longitude 6⁰ 5’E). The experiment consist of eight (8) treatments (i) control (ii) 40kgNha^-1 (iii) 80kgNha^-1 (iv) 120kgNha^-1 (v) 4.5t ha^-1 Panicum maximum + 40kgNha^-1 (vi) 4.5t ha^-1 Pueraria phaseoloides + 40kgNha^-1 (vii) 4.5t ha^-1 Eleusine indica + 40kgNha^-1 (viii) 4.5t ha^-1 Stylosanthes gracilis + 40kgNha^-1. The treatments were replicated three times. From research results, the combination of Pueraria phaseoloides with 40kgNha^-1 showed higher maize plant height, foliage development attributes, shoot dry matter, crop growth indices and nutrient uptake compared to other combinations, while only nitrogen application of 120kgNha^-1 recorded the highest in all the treatments. It can be concluded based on the results in this study, that legume based weeds as mulch can be supplemented with nitrogen to improve maize growth.

Abstract: It had been determined the contents of total protein, albumin, glucose, urea and activity of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), α-amylase in 4-years old individuals of both sexes of prussian carp (Carassius gibelio Bloch, 1782) and roach (Rutilus rutilus Linnaeus, 1758) in different parts of the Zaporozhian Reservoir (Ukraine). The level of biochemical parameters depended on the extent of anthropogenic impact on the aquatic environment. Comparing to the prussian carp, Zaporozhian Reservoir roach was established to have a higher vulnerability to the effects of pollutants, that is why it can serve as a kind of test bioindicator for testing hydroecological system ihtiotoxicity.

Abstract: B-Raf is a multi- drug target serine/threonine protein kinase, involved in the transduction of mitogenic signals from the cell membrane to the nucleus. Mutated B-Raf causes overactive downstream signaling via MEK and ERK, leading to excessive cell proliferation and survival, independent of growth factors causing cancers such as Pancreatic carcinoma. A novel bi-aryl urea- Sorafenib, is a potent inhibitor of Raf-1 that has been approved for the treatment of a number of cancers including pancreatic cancer. The present investigation was designed to identify the potential off-targets of Sorafenib which could be responsible for its reported undesirable side effects. Molecular docking was used to test the efficacy of structural analogs of Sorafenib against B-Raf using FlexX and it was found that the analog with CID:10151557 had a high potency with minimum number of clashes, low lipophilic score and high match score, similar to Sorafenib. To identify the potential off-target/s of Sorafenib, macromolecular surface similarity detection software MEDIT SA MED-SuMo was used and the results obtained were validated through literature. The possible off-targets obtained belonged to the family of protein tyrosine kinases i.e. VEGFR-2, VEGFR-3, platelet-derived growth factor receptor beta, Flt-3, and c-KIT, each of which were docked with Sorafenib. Based on high docking scores and similarity with B-Raf for its binding site interacting residues, it was concluded that Vascular endothelial growth factor tyrosine kinase receptor (VEGFR) is a potential off-target of anti-cancer chemotherapeutic agent Sorafenib.

Abstract: Pteridophytes and more specifically ferns represent a large but threatened group of plants which often serve as important environmental markers for pollution. Reports regarding stress responses in ferns are rare, apart from a few studies involving the ecological distribution and molecular marker studies. This work isolates a glutathione peroxidase enzyme from an aquatic fern widely distributed in fresh and polluted water bodies adjacent to sources of environmental polluted sources. Further computational analyses were performed to study the structure of the protein encoded by the open reading frame. Results indicate the presence of a large number of binding pockets which serve as important binding sites in the interactions with the cognate ligands.

Abstract: We studied the population and nesting records of House Sparrow Passer domesticus during winter in Yellampet village, Telangana. The ecological density of House Sparrow was investigated using fixed width transects. The density of sparrow vary from 15 to 335 per hectare in different transects. Bonferroni confidence interval was used to know the preference of location types i.e., houses, shops and hotels for foraging and nesting. Shops were used significantly more than expected according to availability of nest sites and also for foraging. A total of 81 active nests were recorded. The present study shows that a handful breeding population of House Sparrow harboring in Yellampet village.