Malankara Catholic College

About: Malankara Catholic College is a based out in . It is known for research contribution in the topics: Chemistry & Shrimp. The organization has 84 authors who have published 75 publications receiving 1763 citations.

Listeria--review of epidemiology and pathogenesis.

Abstract: Listeria monocytogenes (commonly called Listeria) is a Gram-positive facultatively intracellular foodborne pathogen often found in food and elsewhere in nature It can cause a rare but serious disease called listeriosis, especially among pregnant women, the elderly or individuals with a weakened immune system In serious cases, it can lead to brain infection and even death Listeria is more likely to cause death than other bacteria that cause food poisoning In fact, 20 to 30% of food borne listeriosis infections in high-risk individuals may be fatal Recent technological developments have increased the ability of scientists to identify the cause of foodborne illnesses L monocytogenes has been used as a model organism for the study of intracellular parasitism Whilst the basic mechanisms of cellular pathogenesis have been elucidated by a series of elegant studies, recent research has begun to focus upon the gastrointestinal phase of L monocytogenes infection Epidemiological studies of outbreaks of human disease now demonstrate that the pathogen can cause gastroenteritis in the absence of invasive disease and associated mortality Elucidation of whole genome sequences and virulence determinants have greatly contributed to understanding of the organism and its infection pathways

Characterization of RNA in exosomes secreted by human breast cancer cell lines using next-generation sequencing

Abstract: Exosomes are nanosized (30–100 nm) membrane vesicles secreted by most cell types. Exosomes have been found to contain various RNA species including miRNA, mRNA and long non-protein coding RNAs. A number of cancer cells produce elevated levels of exosomes. Because exosomes have been isolated from most body fluids they may provide a source for non-invasive cancer diagnostics. Transcriptome profiling that uses deep-sequencing technologies (RNA-Seq) offers enormous amount of data that can be used for biomarkers discovery, however, in case of exosomes this approach was applied only for the analysis of small RNAs. In this study, we utilized RNA-Seq technology to analyze RNAs present in microvesicles secreted by human breast cancer cell lines. Exosomes were isolated from the media conditioned by two human breast cancer cell lines, MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-436. Exosomal RNA was profiled using the Ion Torrent semiconductor chip-based technology. Exosomes were found to contain various classes of RNA with the major class represented by fragmented ribosomal RNA (rRNA), in particular 28S and 18S rRNA subunits. Analysis of exosomal RNA content revealed that it reflects RNA content of the donor cells. Although exosomes produced by the two cancer cell lines shared most of the RNA species, there was a number of non-coding transcripts unique to MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-436 cells. This suggests that RNA analysis might distinguish exosomes produced by low metastatic breast cancer cell line (MDA-MB-436) from that produced by highly metastatic breast cancer cell line (MDA-MB-231). The analysis of gene ontologies (GOs) associated with the most abundant transcripts present in exosomes revealed significant enrichment in genes encoding proteins involved in translation and rRNA and ncRNA processing. These GO terms indicate most expressed genes for both, cellular and exosomal RNA. For the first time, using RNA-seq, we examined the transcriptomes of exosomes secreted by human breast cancer cells. We found that most abundant exosomal RNA species are the fragments of 28S and 18S rRNA subunits. This limits the number of reads from other RNAs. To increase the number of detectable transcripts and improve the accuracy of their expression level the protocols allowing depletion of fragmented rRNA should be utilized in the future RNA-seq analyses on exosomes. Present data revealed that exosomal transcripts are representative of their cells of origin and thus could form basis for detection of tumor specific markers.

Vibrio alginolyticus associated with white spot disease of Penaeus monodon.

Abstract: In February 2000, white spot disease outbreaks occurred among cultured Penaeus monodon in extensive shrimp farms on the southwest coast of India. Bacteria were isolated from infected shrimp that showed reddish body coloration and white spots in the cuticle. The isolates were screened on thiosulfate citrate bile salt sucrose (TCBS) agar plates for the selection of Vibrio species. The primary isolate (QS7) was characterized as V. alginolyticus based on morphological, biochemical and physiological characteristics. Antibiotic sensitivity tests of QS7 indicated that the isolate was highly sensitive to chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, nalidixic acid and streptomycin. Pathogenicity tests confirmed that the isolate was virulent for P. monodon. Based on the lethal dose (LD50) value (5 x 10(6) cfu per shrimp), it was inferred that shrimp weakened by white spot syndrome virus would succumb to secondary infection by QS7.