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Hepatitis E virus (HEV) of the family Hepeviridae, is a major causative agent of acute hepatitis in developing countries. The Norway rat HEV genome is organized into six open reading frames (ORFs), i.e., ORF1, ORF2, ORF3, ORF4, ORF5 and ORF6. The additional reading frame encoded protein ORF6 is attributed to life cycle of rat HEV. As ORF6 protein's remains to be explored in terms of its structural and functional implications, the following study was conceptualized to explore the prospective role of this additional genomic component of rat HEV. The detailed computational investigation was carried out for the ORF6 protein to elucidate its physiochemical properties, primary structure, secondary structure, tertiary structure and post-translational modifications, motif prediction and other functional characteristics. The in silico analysis revealed ORF6 protein as unstable, highly thermostable, hydrophobic and basic in nature. The amino acid compositional analysis revealed higher abundance of Leu, Arg, Ile and Pro amino acids in the polypeptide chain of ORF6 protein. The secondary structural analysis revealed all the three major elements, i.e., 汐-helices, 汕-strands and coils. The generated 3D structural model of the ORF6 protein through homology modeling algorithm revealed mixed 汐/汕 structural fold of the ORF6 protein with abundance of coils. Additionally, the structural models revealed the presence of clefts and a tunnel. The identified binding functions and the presence of several clefts suggested the commitment of ORF6 protein towards interaction with other ligand molecules. This theoretical study will facilitate towards deciphering the role of unexplored ORF6 encoded protein, thereby providing better understanding towards the pathogenesis of Norway rat HEVs.

Geometric morphometric is an efficient and systematic tool to identify unnoticeable shape differences among biological entities. Sharpnose Hammer Coaker (Johnius borneensis) is a brackish fish and serves as a resource commodity in the study area. The study aims to investigate the body shape variations among its population. 100 individuals comprising 50 males and 50 females of the same size were collected and subjected to Symmetry and Asymmetry Geometric Data Software (SAGE). Procrustes ANOVA shows that males have a significant difference (P

Recenzje

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a quasi-enveloped RNA virus of the family Hepeviridae. HEV is the chief cause of acute hepatitis worldwide, causing approximately 20 million infections annually, which results in 60,000 deaths. Due to insufficiency in appropriate HEV in vitro cell culture systems, our knowledge of its pathogenesis is inadequately understood. HEV encodes three open reading frames (ORFs): ORF1 (replicative machinery), ORF2 (viral capsid) essential for (infectious particles formation) and ORF3 (viral release). The presence of known and unknown coding and non-coding regions of HEV ORFs are still debated. Viral proteins entail disordered regions which are linked with the infectivity and pathogenicity of virus. Thus, we examined the dark proteome of HEV through analyzing intrinsically disordered protein regions (IDPRs) present in the ORFs by exploiting computational methodologies. Our findings suggested that ORF3 had the highest prevalence of disordered regions. The ORF3 region was followed by ORF2, which had comparatively lesser fraction of intrinsic disorder. The ORF1 had the least number of disordered residues in the HEV proteome. Our intrinsic disorder analysis results revealed that ORF1 polyprotein consists of mostly ordered domains, i.e., proteins having significant level of well-defined structures, with the exclusion of Pro and PCP domains. The analysis reveals Pro domain as a highly disordered protein while PCP domain as an intrinsic disordered protein. MoRF analysis revealed that HEV proteome contains multiple MoRFs across all ORFs. IDPRs are characterized by remarkable conformational flexibility and structural plasticity resulting in their engagement in several biological processes. Due to possession of MoRF in the HEV proteins, these regions can be used for protein-protein interactions due to the structural flexibility. IDPRs are characterized by remarkable conformational flexibility and structural plasticity resulting in their engagement in several biological processes. Due to possession of MoRF in the HEV proteins, these regions can be used for protein-protein interactions due to the structural flexibility. These extensive findings on the HEV proteome will have significant implications in understanding the deeper functioning of structural as well as non-structural biology of HEV proteins.

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) belongs to the family Hepeviridae and is the major cause of hepatitis E infections across the globe. Recently, a novel viral protein of HEV, named as open reading frame (ORF4), has been associated with its replication in genotype 1 isolates. However, much information regarding ORF4 has not been explored. Thus, the study was conceptualized to explore the structural and functional features of HEV ORF4 protein to better understand the possible molecular mechanisms. The detailed investigation of the ORF4 was carried out in terms of its physicochemical properties, secondary and tertiary structure predictions and functional analysis using different bioinformatics tools. The in silico analyses revealed that ORF4 sequences were enriched in Serine, Proline and Glycine amino acid residues suggesting the prevalence of disordered residues. The protein was found to be thermostable, unstable and highly hydrophobic. The structural analysis showed the presence of cleft, tunnel and pore suggesting their participation in interaction with other molecules. Moreover, identification of several modified sites in ORF4 sequences such as glycosylation, phosphorylation and myristoylation sequences suggest their involvement in cellular signaling pathways and biological processes. Thus, taken together, it can be interpreted that HEV ORF4 possesses significant enormous flexibility due to the presence of Serine, Glycine and Proline amino acids, which suggest its involvement in protein-protein interaction. Furthermore, the presence of motifs, clefts and tunnels also strengthens our analysis, suggesting the commitment of ORF4 towards interaction with other target molecules. Thus, it could be potent drug-targets.

Ultrasonic is one of the promising technological innovation to modify structure, inactivate enzymes and/or neutralize microorganisms in food products for enhancement of their quality and safety. Apart from pasteurization, sanitation, disinfection and cleaning procedures, in the area of food microbiology, ultrasound can facilitate recovery of microorganisms and their identification through cell lysis or detachment of microbe from food surface. Hence, study of effect of sound waves on microbial cells in suspended condition and food matrices has opened a new horizon of its application in the area of food microbiology. Use of ultrasound in microbial analysis is already in practice and expanding, but the physics of interaction of acoustic waves with microbial cells in presence of actual food matrices need further attention. Ultrasonic reactor (UR) design needs interdisciplinary approach to further exploit the promise of ultra sound in food microbiology. Substantial demand in recent years for bench-top ultrasound reactors for cleaning of food contact surfaces in common households has increased. This review deals with the state of art of the ultrasound technology, process development, and further scope of the technology specific for its applications in cleaning and sanitization, microbial inactivation and in microbiological analysis in food processing industries.