Displaying publications 41 - 60 of 62 in total

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  1. Fulltext Identification of non-ribosomal peptide synthetase in Ganoderma boninense Pat. that was expressed during the interaction with oil palm
    Shokrollahi N, Ho CL, Zainudin NAIM, Wahab MABA, Wong MY
    Sci Rep, 2021 Aug 11;11(1):16330.
    PMID: 34381084 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-95549-8
    Basal stem rot (BSR) of oil palm is a disastrous disease caused by a white-rot fungus Ganoderma boninense Pat. Non-ribosomal peptides (NRPs) synthesized by non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs) are a group of secondary metabolites that act as fungal virulent factors during pathogenesis in the host. In this study, we aimed to isolate NRPS gene of G. boninense strain UPMGB001 and investigate the role of this gene during G. boninense-oil palm interaction. The isolated NRPS DNA fragment of 8322 bp was used to predict the putative peptide sequence of different domains and showed similarity with G. sinense (85%) at conserved motifs of three main NRPS domains. Phylogenetic analysis of NRPS peptide sequences demonstrated that NRPS of G. boninense belongs to the type VI siderophore family. The roots of 6-month-old oil palm seedlings were artificially inoculated for studying NRPS gene expression and disease severity in the greenhouse. The correlation between high disease severity (50%) and high expression (67-fold) of G. boninense NRPS gene at 4 months after inoculation and above indicated that this gene played a significant role in the advancement of BSR disease. Overall, these findings increase our knowledge on the gene structure of NRPS in G. boninense and its involvement in BSR pathogenesis as an effector gene.
  2. Synergism: biocontrol agents and biostimulants in reducing abiotic and biotic stresses in crop
    Anuar MSK, Hashim AM, Ho CL, Wong MY, Sundram S, Saidi NB, et al.
    World J Microbiol Biotechnol, 2023 Mar 19;39(5):123.
    PMID: 36934342 DOI: 10.1007/s11274-023-03579-3
    In today's fast-shifting climate change scenario, crops are exposed to environmental pressures, abiotic and biotic stress. Hence, these will affect the production of agricultural products and give rise to a worldwide economic crisis. The increase in world population has exacerbated the situation with increasing food demand. The use of chemical agents is no longer recommended due to adverse effects towards the environment and health. Biocontrol agents (BCAs) and biostimulants, are feasible options for dealing with yield losses induced by plant stresses, which are becoming more intense due to climate change. BCAs and biostimulants have been recommended due to their dual action in reducing both stresses simultaneously. Although protection against biotic stresses falls outside the generally accepted definition of biostimulant, some microbial and non-microbial biostimulants possess the biocontrol function, which helps reduce biotic pressure on crops. The application of synergisms using BCAs and biostimulants to control crop stresses is rarely explored. Currently, a combined application using both agents offer a great alternative to increase the yield and growth of crops while managing stresses. This article provides an overview of crop stresses and plant stress responses, a general knowledge on synergism, mathematical modelling used for synergy evaluation and type of in vitro and in vivo synergy testing, as well as the application of synergism using BCAs and biostimulants in reducing crop stresses. This review will facilitate an understanding of the combined effect of both agents on improving crop yield and growth and reducing stress while also providing an eco-friendly alternative to agroecosystems.
  3. First Report of Neopestalotiopsis clavispora causing Leaf Spot on Coconut Seedling in Malaysia
    Chong D, Alsultan W, Ariff SNH, Kong LL, Ho CL, Wong MY
    Plant Dis, 2023 Sep 14.
    PMID: 37709725 DOI: 10.1094/PDIS-04-23-0636-PDN
    Coconut (Cocos nucifera) is a high economic value cash crop in Malaysia. In December 2021, irregular spots with dotted rust-like appearance were observed mainly on the tip of the leaves of MATAG variety coconut seedlings at the nursery in Perak state. More than 90% of the coconut seedlings surveyed were infected with leaf spot symptoms. These symptoms could bring huge economic losses due to the downgrade value of the seedlings. 15 symptomatic leaves were obtained from the nursery, 10 mm2 of cut leaves were disinfected with 10% sodium hypochlorite for 10 minutes and rinsed with sterile distilled water before plated on potato dextrose agar (PDA). A total of 4 single-spore isolates were obtained and were observed morphologically. The isolates had white cotton-like appearance with undulate edge. Black acervuli were seen after 7 days of incubation at 26 °C. The conidia were fusiform and contained five cells with four septate and three versicolor cells in between the apical and basal cell. The conidia were 17.2 µm long and 5.9 µm wide (n=30). Conidia consisted of two to three apical appendages and one basal appendage. These morphological characters were consistent with the original description of Neopestalotiopsis clavispora (Santos et al., 2019; Abbas et al., 2022). Species identification was done by amplifying internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region using primers ITS 4 and ITS 5 (White et al., 1990) and beta-tubulin (TUB2) using primers Bt2a and Bt2b (Glass & Donaldson et al., 1995) of the representative isolate LKR1, then sequenced. The 488 bp ITS and 409 bp TUB2 sequences were deposited in GenBank under the accession numbers ON844193 and OP004810, respectively. Isolate LKR1 shares 99.8% identity with the ITS sequence (MH860736.1) of the reference pathogenic N. clavispora strain CBS:447.73 and 100% identity with the TUB2 sequence (KM199443.1) of the reference pathogenic N. clavispora strain CBS 447.73. The phylogenetic analysis confirmed that the isolate LKR1 belonged to N. clavispora when a supported clade is formed with 98% and 94% bootstrap support for ITS and TUB2 respectively with other related N. clavispora. Pathogenicity test was conducted by using five replicates of 8 month old seedlings, they were incubated under greenhouse condition and were watered daily. The leaves of the seedlings were injured with sterile needles and were sprayed with conidial suspension (1 x 10^6 conidia/ml). The control plants were also injured but sprayed with sterile distilled water. After a month, signature symptoms of spots on the leaves appear but none on the control seedling. N. clavispora was successfully re-isolated only from the inoculated symptomatic leaves and identified morphologically. No fungus was re-isolated from the control seedlings. The result was consistent even after repeating the test one more time. N. clavispora has been reported causing leaf spot on Macadamia integrifolia (Santos et al., 2019), Phoenix dactylifera L. (Basavand et al., 2020) and Musa acuminata (Qi et al., 2022). N. clavispora has also been reported causing rust-like appearance of leaves on strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) (Obregón et al., 2018). To our knowledge, this is the first report of N. clavispora causing leaf spot disease on coconut seedlings in Malaysia. Through the identification of N. clavispora as the causal agent of leaf spot on coconut, this can help coconut growers to tackle the disease problem earlier thus, preventing the disease from spreading until the adult phase.
  4. Overexpression of monodehydroascorbate reductase from a mangrove plant (AeMDHAR) confers salt tolerance on rice
    Sultana S, Khew CY, Morshed MM, Namasivayam P, Napis S, Ho CL
    J Plant Physiol, 2012 Feb 15;169(3):311-8.
    PMID: 22024734 DOI: 10.1016/j.jplph.2011.09.004
    Monodehydroascorbate reductase (MDHAR), an important enzyme of the ascorbate-glutathione cycle, is involved in salt tolerance of plants through scavenging of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In this study, a cDNA encoding MDHAR from the mangrove plant Acanthus ebracteatus was introduced into rice to examine its role in salt tolerance. Three stable transgenic lines (MT22, MT24 and MT25) overexpressing AeMDHAR were selected in vitro using hygromycin and confirmed by PCR, quantitative reverse-transcription (qRT) PCR and enzyme assay. The transgenic line MT24 was predicted to possess a single copy of the transgene while the other two transgenic lines were predicted to have multiple transgene integrations. The AeMDHAR transcripts were detected only in transgenic rice lines but not in untransformed rice. The abundance of AeMDHAR transcripts in transgenic lines MT22 and MT25 was approximately 2.75 times the amount found in MT24. The transgenic rice lines overexpressing AeMDHAR showed a significant increase in MDHAR enzyme activity compared to untransformed plants under both NaCl and control conditions. All transgenic lines showed better yield attributes such as a higher tiller number and increased 1000-grain weight compared to non-transgenics. They also showed tolerance to salt at germination and seedling stages. The transgenic line MT24, which harbors a single copy of AeMDHAR, displayed a lower rate of sterility, a higher number of tillers and longer panicle compared to untransformed plants when subjected to salt stress.
  5. Brassinosteroid insensitive 1-associated kinase 1 (OsI-BAK1) is associated with grain filling and leaf development in rice
    Khew CY, Teo CJ, Chan WS, Wong HL, Namasivayam P, Ho CL
    J Plant Physiol, 2015 Jun 15;182:23-32.
    PMID: 26037695 DOI: 10.1016/j.jplph.2015.05.003
    Brassinosteroid Insensitive 1 (BRI1)-Associated Kinase I (BAK1) has been reported to interact with BRI1 for brassinosteroid (BR) perception and signal transduction that regulate plant growth and development. The aim of this study is to investigate the functions of a rice OsBAK1 homologue, designated as OsI-BAK1, which is highly expressed after heading. Silencing of OsI-BAK1 in rice plants produced a high number of undeveloped green and unfilled grains compared to the untransformed plants. Histological analyses demonstrated that embryos were either absent or retarded in their development in these unfilled rice grains of OsI-BAK1 RNAi plants. Down regulation of OsI-BAK1 caused a reduction in cell number and enlargement in leaf bulliform cells. Furthermore, transgenic rice plants overexpressing OsI-BAK1 were demonstrated to have corrugated and twisted leaves probably due to increased cell number that caused abnormal bulliform cell structure which were enlarged and plugged deep into leaf epidermis. The current findings suggest that OsI-BAK1 may play an important role in the developmental processes of rice grain filling and leaf cell including the bulliform cells.
  6. Molecular cloning, modeling, and site-directed mutagenesis of type III polyketide synthase from Sargassum binderi (Phaeophyta)
    Baharum H, Morita H, Tomitsuka A, Lee FC, Ng KY, Rahim RA, et al.
    Mar Biotechnol (NY), 2011 Oct;13(5):845-56.
    PMID: 21181422 DOI: 10.1007/s10126-010-9344-5
    Type III polyketide synthases (PKSs) produce an array of metabolites with diverse functions. In this study, we have cloned the complete reading frame encoding type III PKS (SbPKS) from a brown seaweed, Sargassum binderi, and characterized the activity of its recombinant protein biochemically. The deduced amino acid sequence of SbPKS is 414 residues in length, sharing a higher sequence similarity with bacterial PKSs (38% identity) than with plant PKSs. The Cys-His-Asn catalytic triad of PKS is conserved in SbPKS with differences in some of the residues lining the active and CoA binding sites. The wild-type SbPKS displayed broad starter substrate specificity to aliphatic long-chain acyl-CoAs (C(6)-C(14)) to produce tri- and tetraketide pyrones. Mutations at H(331) and N(364) caused complete loss of its activity, thus suggesting that these two residues are the catalytic residues for SbPKS as in other type III PKSs. Furthermore, H227G, H227G/L366V substitutions resulted in increased tetraketide-forming activity, while wild-type SbPKS produces triketide α-pyrone as a major product. On the other hand, mutant H227G/L366V/F93A/V95A demonstrated a dramatic decrease of tetraketide pyrone formation. These observations suggest that His(227) and Leu(366) play an important role for the polyketide elongation reaction in SbPKS. The conformational changes in protein structure especially the cavity of the active site may have more significant effect to the activity of SbPKS compared with changes in individual residues.
  7. Fulltext Identification and characterisation of thiamine pyrophosphate (TPP) riboswitch in Elaeis guineensis
    Subki A, Ho CL, Ismail NFN, Zainal Abidin AA, Balia Yusof ZN
    PLoS One, 2020;15(7):e0235431.
    PMID: 32726320 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0235431
    The oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) is an important crop in Malaysia but its productivity is hampered by various biotic and abiotic stresses. Recent studies suggest the importance of signalling molecules in plants in coping against stresses, which includes thiamine (vitamin B1). Thiamine is an essential microelement that is synthesized de novo by plants and microorganisms. The active form of thiamine, thiamine pyrophosphate (TPP), plays a prominent role in metabolic activities particularly as an enzymatic cofactor. Recently, thiamine biosynthesis pathways in oil palm have been characterised but the search of novel regulatory element known as riboswitch is yet to be done. Previous studies showed that thiamine biosynthesis pathway is regulated by an RNA element known as riboswitch. Riboswitch binds a small molecule, resulting in a change in production of the proteins encoded by the mRNA. TPP binds specifically to TPP riboswitch to regulate thiamine biosynthesis through a variety of mechanisms found in archaea, bacteria and eukaryotes. This study was carried out to hunt for TPP riboswitch in oil palm thiamine biosynthesis gene. Riboswitch detection software like RiboSW, RibEx, Riboswitch Scanner and Denison Riboswitch Detector were utilised in order to locate putative TPP riboswitch in oil palm ThiC gene sequence that encodes for the first enzyme in the pyrimidine branch of the pathway. The analysis revealed a 192 bp putative TPP riboswitch located at the 3' untranslated region (UTR) of the mRNA. Further comparative gene analysis showed that the 92-nucleotide aptamer region, where the metabolite binds was conserved inter-species. The secondary structure analysis was also carried out using Mfold Web server and it showed a stem-loop structure manifested with stems (P1-P5) with minimum free energy of -12.26 kcal/mol. Besides that, the interaction of riboswitch and its ligand was determined using isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) and it yielded an exothermic reaction with 1:1 stoichiometry interaction with binding affinities of 0.178 nM, at 30°C. To further evaluate the ability of riboswitch to control the pathway, exogenous thiamine was applied to four months old of oil palm seedlings and sampling of spear leaves tissue was carried out at days 0, 1, 2 and 3 post-treatment for expression analysis of ThiC gene fragment via quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Results showed an approximately 5-fold decrease in ThiC gene expression upon application of exogenous thiamine. Quantification of thiamine and its derivatives was carried out via HPLC and the results showed that it was correlated to the down regulation of ThiC gene expression. The application of exogenous thiamine to oil palm affected ThiC gene expression, which supported the prediction of the presence of TPP riboswitch in the gene. Overall, this study provides the first evidence on the presence, binding and the functionality of TPP riboswitch in oil palm. This study is hoped to pave a way for better understanding on the regulation of thiamine biosynthesis pathway in oil palm, which can later be exploited for various purposes especially in manipulation of thiamine biosynthesis pathways in combating stresses in oil palm.
  8. Fulltext Comparative transcriptome analysis reveals novel insights into transcriptional responses to phosphorus starvation in oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) root
    Kong SL, Abdullah SNA, Ho CL, Musa MHB, Yeap WC
    BMC Genom Data, 2021 02 05;22(1):6.
    PMID: 33568046 DOI: 10.1186/s12863-021-00962-7
    BACKGROUND: Phosphorus (P), in its orthophosphate form (Pi) is an essential macronutrient for oil palm early growth development in which Pi deficiency could later on be reflected in lower biomass production. Application of phosphate rock, a non-renewable resource has been the common practice to increase Pi accessibility and maintain crop productivity in Malaysia. However, high fixation rate of Pi in the native acidic tropical soils has led to excessive utilization of P fertilizers. This has caused serious environmental pollutions and cost increment. Even so, the Pi deficiency response mechanism in oil palm as one of the basic prerequisites for crop improvement remains largely unknown.

    RESULTS: Using total RNA extracted from young roots as template, we performed a comparative transcriptome analysis on oil palm responding to 14d and 28d of Pi deprivation treatment and under adequate Pi supply. By using Illumina HiSeq4000 platform, RNA-Seq analysis was successfully conducted on 12 paired-end RNA-Seq libraries and generated more than 1.2 billion of clean reads in total. Transcript abundance estimated by fragments per kilobase per million fragments (FPKM) and differential expression analysis revealed 36 and 252 genes that are differentially regulated in Pi-starved roots at 14d and 28d, respectively. Genes possibly involved in regulating Pi homeostasis, nutrient uptake and transport, hormonal signaling and gene transcription were found among the differentially expressed genes.

    CONCLUSIONS: Our results showed that the molecular response mechanism underlying Pi starvation in oil palm is complexed and involved multilevel regulation of various sensing and signaling components. This contribution would generate valuable genomic resources in the effort to develop oil palm planting materials that possess Pi-use efficient trait through molecular manipulation and breeding programs.

  9. Fulltext Hepatoprotective Activity of Elephantopus scaber on Alcohol-Induced Liver Damage in Mice
    Ho WY, Yeap SK, Ho CL, Abdul Rahim R, Alitheen NB
    Evid Based Complement Alternat Med, 2012;2012:417953.
    PMID: 22973401 DOI: 10.1155/2012/417953
    Elephantopus scaber has been traditionally used as liver tonic. However, the protective effect of E. scaber on ethanol-induced liver damage is still unclear. In this study, we have compared the in vivo hepatoprotective effect of E. scaber with Phyllanthus niruri on the ethanol-induced liver damage in mice. The total phenolic and total flavanoid content of E. scaber ethanol extract were determined in this study. Accelerating serum biochemical profiles (including AST, ALT, ALP, triglyceride, and total bilirubin) associated with fat drop and necrotic body in the liver section were observed in the mice treated with ethanol. Low concentration of E. scaber was able to reduce serum biochemical profiles and the fat accumulation in the liver. Furthermore, high concentration of E. scaber and positive control P. niruri were able to revert the liver damage, which is comparable to the normal control. Added to this, E. scaber did not possess any oral acute toxicity on mice. These results suggest the potential effect of this extract as a hepatoprotective agent towards-ethanol induced liver damage without any oral acute toxicity effect. These activities might be contributed, or at least in part, by its high total phenolic and flavonoid contents.
  10. A novel transcript of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.), Eg707, is specifically upregulated in tissues related to totipotency
    Le VT, Sarpan N, Huynh K, Ooi SE, Napis S, Ho CL, et al.
    Mol Biotechnol, 2011 Jun;48(2):156-64.
    PMID: 21153717 DOI: 10.1007/s12033-010-9356-4
    In this study, we report the molecular characterization of clone Eg707 isolated from cell suspension culture of the oil palm. The deduced polypeptide of clone Eg707 is highly similar to an unknown protein from Arabidopsis thaliana. The presence of an Ald-Xan-dh-C2 superfamily domain in the deduced protein sequence suggested that Eg707 protein might be involved in abscisic acid biosynthesis. Eg707 might be present as a single copy gene in the oil palm genome. This gene is highly expressed in tissue cultured materials compared to vegetative and reproductive tissues, suggesting a role of this gene during oil palm somatic embryogenesis or at the early stages of embryo development. Expression analysis of Eg707 by RNA in situ hybridization showed that Eg707 transcripts were present throughout somatic embryo development starting from proembryo formation at the embryogenic callus stages till the maturing embryo stages. Since proembryo formation within the embryogenic callus is one of the first key factors in oil palm somatic embryo development, it is suggested that Eg707 could be used as a reliable molecular marker for detecting early stage of oil palm somatic embryogenesis.
  11. Fulltext Vitamin C suppresses cell death in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells induced by tamoxifen
    Subramani T, Yeap SK, Ho WY, Ho CL, Omar AR, Aziz SA, et al.
    J Cell Mol Med, 2014 Feb;18(2):305-13.
    PMID: 24266867 DOI: 10.1111/jcmm.12188
    Vitamin C is generally thought to enhance immunity and is widely taken as a supplement especially during cancer treatment. Tamoxifen (TAM) has both cytostatic and cytotoxic properties for breast cancer. TAM engaged mitochondrial oestrogen receptor beta in MCF-7 cells and induces apoptosis by activation of pro-caspase-8 followed by downstream events, including an increase in reactive oxygen species and the release of pro-apoptotic factors from the mitochondria. In addition to that, TAM binds with high affinity to the microsomal anti-oestrogen-binding site and inhibits cholesterol esterification at therapeutic doses. This study aimed to investigate the role of vitamin C in TAM-mediated apoptosis. Cells were loaded with vitamin C by exposure to dehydroascorbic acid, thereby circumventing in vitro artefacts associated with the poor transport and pro-oxidant effects of ascorbic acid. Pre-treatment with vitamin C caused a dose-dependent attenuation of cytotoxicity, as measured by acridine-orange/propidium iodide (AO/PI) and Annexin V assay after treatment with TAM. Vitamin C dose-dependently protected cancer cells against lipid peroxidation caused by TAM treatment. By real-time PCR analysis, an impressive increase in FasL and tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) mRNA was detected after TAM treatment. In addition, a decrease in mitochondrial transmembrane potential was observed. These results support the hypothesis that vitamin C supplementation during cancer treatment may detrimentally affect therapeutic response.
  12. Fulltext Nucleotide variations of 9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase 2 (NCED2) and pericarp coloration genes (Rc and Rd) from upland rice varieties
    Amer Hamzah M, Mohd Kasim NA, Shamsuddin A, Mustafa N, Mohamad Rusli NI, Teh CY, et al.
    3 Biotech, 2020 Mar;10(3):105.
    PMID: 32099746 DOI: 10.1007/s13205-020-2092-y
    In this study, we analyzed the Rc and Rd genes that are responsible for the coloration of rice pericarps from six upland rice varieties. We also examined the association of pericarp coloration to the single nucleotide polymorphism in 9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase 2 (NCED2), a key gene involved in abscisic acid (ABA) biosynthesis. Our findings demonstrated that all the upland rice varieties analyzed have a Rd gene which encodes a complete dihydroflavonol-4-reductase without early translational termination codon irrespective of their pericarp colors. However, the upland rice varieties with white pericarps were found to have a defective Rc gene with a 14-base deletion at exon 7 which could disrupt the function of a positive regulator of proanthocyanidin biosynthesis. In addition, the NCED2 genes from the upland rice varieties with white pericarps in this study have a C-allele while the NCED2 genes from Pandasan Red, Tomou and Taragang varieties that bear red pericarps were found to have a T-allele which was reported to be associated with a higher ABA level in upland rice. A better understanding of the gene sequences of upland rice varieties with red pericarp may provide important information for rice breeding programs.
  13. Nordamnacanthal potentiates the cytotoxic effects of tamoxifen in human breast cancer cells
    Subramani T, Yeap SK, Ho WY, Ho CL, Osman CP, Ismail NH, et al.
    Oncol Lett, 2015 Jan;9(1):335-340.
    PMID: 25435988
    Tamoxifen (TAM) is the mainline drug treatment for breast cancer, despite its side effects and the development of resistance. As an alternative approach, in the present study a novel combination therapy was established through combining TAM with nordamnacanthal (NDAM) in order to investigate the additive effect of these drugs in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells. A significant dose-dependent reduction in cell viability and an increase in apoptosis were observed in the MCF-7 cells cotreated with TAM and NDAM compared with the untreated control cells or the cells treated with TAM and NDAM alone (P<0.05). The cytotoxic influence of the combination of TAM and NDAM was found to be two-fold that of the individual agents. Annexin V/propidium iodide double-staining revealed the typical nuclear features of apoptosis. Furthermore, an increase in the proportion of apoptotic, Annexin V-positive cells was observed with the combination therapy. Moreover, this apoptotic induction was associated with a collapse of the mitochondrial membrane potential and the generation of reactive oxygen species. To the best of our knowledge, the findings of the present study are the first to suggest that combining TAM with NDAM may be a potential combination therapy for the treatment of breast cancer and may have the potential to minimize or eliminate the side effects associated with high doses of TAM.
  14. Fulltext Flavokawain B induced cytotoxicity in two breast cancer cell lines, MCF-7 and MDA-MB231 and inhibited the metastatic potential of MDA-MB231 via the regulation of several tyrosine kinases In vitro
    Abu N, Akhtar MN, Yeap SK, Lim KL, Ho WY, Abdullah MP, et al.
    BMC Complement Altern Med, 2016;16:86.
    PMID: 26922065 DOI: 10.1186/s12906-016-1046-8
    The kava-kava plant (Piper methysticum) is traditionally consumed by the pacific islanders and has been linked to be involved in several biological activities. Flavokawain B is a unique chalcone, which can be found in the roots of the kava-kava plant. In this study, the operational mechanism of the anti-cancer activity of a synthetic Flavokawain B (FKB) on two breast cancer cell lines, MCF-7 and MDA-MB231 was investigated.
  15. Fulltext Isolation and Characterization of Lactobacillus spp. from Kefir Samples in Malaysia
    Talib N, Mohamad NE, Yeap SK, Hussin Y, Aziz MNM, Masarudin MJ, et al.
    Molecules, 2019 Jul 17;24(14).
    PMID: 31319614 DOI: 10.3390/molecules24142606
    Kefir is a homemade, natural fermented product comprised of a probiotic bacteria and yeast complex. Kefir consumption has been associated with many advantageous properties to general health, including as an antioxidative, anti-obesity, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, and anti-tumor moiety. This beverage is commonly found and consumed by people in the United States of America, China, France, Brazil, and Japan. Recently, the consumption of kefir has been popularized in other countries including Malaysia. The microflora in kefir from different countries differs due to variations in culture conditions and the starter media. Thus, this study was aimed at isolating and characterizing the lactic acid bacteria that are predominant in Malaysian kefir grains via macroscopic examination and 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing. The results revealed that the Malaysian kefir grains are dominated by three different strains of Lactobacillus strains, which are Lactobacillus harbinensis, Lactobacillusparacasei, and Lactobacillus plantarum. The probiotic properties of these strains, such as acid and bile salt tolerances, adherence ability to the intestinal mucosa, antibiotic resistance, and hemolytic test, were subsequently conducted and extensively studied. The isolated Lactobacillus spp. from kefir H maintained its survival rate within 3 h of incubation at pH 3 and pH 4 at 98.0 ± 3.3% and 96.1 ± 1.7% of bacteria growth and exhibited the highest survival at bile salt condition at 0.3% and 0.5%. The same isolate also showed high adherence ability to intestinal cells at 96.3 ± 0.01%, has antibiotic resistance towards ampicillin, penicillin, and tetracycline, and showed no hemolytic activity. In addition, the results of antioxidant activity tests demonstrated that isolated Lactobacillus spp. from kefir G possessed high antioxidant activities for total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP), and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazine (DPPH) assay compared to other isolates. From these data, all Lactobacillus spp. isolated from Malaysian kefir serve as promising candidates for probiotics foods and beverage since they exhibit potential probiotic properties and antioxidant activities.
  16. Functional characterization of the MSP-C6 promoter as a potential tool for mesocarp-preferential expression of transgenes
    Badai SS, Rasid OA, Masani MYA, Chan KL, Chan PL, Shaharuddin NA, et al.
    J Plant Physiol, 2023 Oct;289:154080.
    PMID: 37699261 DOI: 10.1016/j.jplph.2023.154080
    Modification of lipid composition in the mesocarp tissue of oil palm involves genetic manipulation of multiple genes. More than one mesocarp-preferential promoter is necessary for the expression of individual transgenes in the same plant to obviate transcriptional gene silencing. This study aimed to identify genes that are preferentially expressed in the mesocarp tissue and characterize selected candidate mesocarp-preferential promoters. Ten transcripts that were preferentially expressed in the mesocarp tissue were identified from the analysis of 82 transcriptome datasets of 12 different oil palm tissues. The expression of two candidate genes, MSP-C1 and MSP-C6, was verified to be preferentially expressed in the mesocarp tissues and shown to have a low expression level in non-mesocarp tissues by reverse transcription quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR). MSP-C6 promoter fragments of different lengths were transformed into tomato plants for further characterization. Both unripe and ripe fruits of transgenic tomato plants transformed with a construct harboring the MSP-C6-F1 (2014 bp) promoter were shown to have high beta-glucuronidase (GUS) activities. The findings of this study suggest the potential applications of the MSP-C6 promoter as a molecular tool for genetic engineering of novel traits in fruit crops.
  17. Anti-Diabetic Effect of Lactobacillus Paracasei Isolated from Malaysian Water Kefir Grains
    Talib N, Mohamad NE, Yeap SK, Ho CL, Masarudin MJ, Abd-Aziz S, et al.
    Probiotics Antimicrob Proteins, 2024 Dec;16(6):2161-2180.
    PMID: 37755545 DOI: 10.1007/s12602-023-10159-2
    The prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is alarming because it is always linked to the increase in chronic diseases, mortality, and socioeconomic burden. Water kefir has a wide range of functional and probiotic characteristics attributed to the microorganisms present in the kefir grains. The present study aims to evaluate the in vivo anti-diabetic potential of the isolated Lactobacillus paracasei from Malaysian water kefir grains (MWKG) which was reported to have excellent probiotic properties and high antioxidant activities as reported previously. High-fat diet/streptozotocin (HFD/STZ) induction was used to obtain a T2DM model followed by treatment with the isolated L. paracasei from MWKG. The levels of glucose, insulin, and in vivo liver antioxidants were quantified after 14 weeks. Gene expression analysis of the liver was also carried out using microarray analysis, and several genes were selected for validation using quantitative real-time PCR. Insulin tolerance test demonstrated that the L. paracasei isolated from the MWKG alleviated T2DM by improving the area under the curve of the insulin tolerance test whereby low-dose and high-dose concentrations treated groups showed 2424.50 ± 437.02 mmol/L·min and 2017.50 ± 347.09 mmol/L·min, respectively, compared to untreated diabetic mice which was 3884.50 ± 39.36 mmol/L·min. Additionally, treatment with the isolated L. paracasei from MWKG regulated the expression of several genes related to glucose homeostasis and lipid metabolism in diabetic mice. These results suggested that the isolated L. paracasei from MWKG could be a potential dietary supplement for T2DM.
  18. Analysis and functional annotation of expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from multiple tissues of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.)
    Ho CL, Kwan YY, Choi MC, Tee SS, Ng WH, Lim KA, et al.
    BMC Genomics, 2007;8:381.
    PMID: 17953740
    Oil palm is the second largest source of edible oil which contributes to approximately 20% of the world's production of oils and fats. In order to understand the molecular biology involved in in vitro propagation, flowering, efficient utilization of nitrogen sources and root diseases, we have initiated an expressed sequence tag (EST) analysis on oil palm.
  19. Fulltext ABCC5, a gene that influences the anterior chamber depth, is associated with primary angle closure glaucoma
    Nongpiur ME, Khor CC, Jia H, Cornes BK, Chen LJ, Qiao C, et al.
    PLoS Genet, 2014 Mar;10(3):e1004089.
    PMID: 24603532 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1004089
    Anterior chamber depth (ACD) is a key anatomical risk factor for primary angle closure glaucoma (PACG). We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) on ACD to discover novel genes for PACG on a total of 5,308 population-based individuals of Asian descent. Genome-wide significant association was observed at a sequence variant within ABCC5 (rs1401999; per-allele effect size =  -0.045 mm, P = 8.17 × 10(-9)). This locus was associated with an increase in risk of PACG in a separate case-control study of 4,276 PACG cases and 18,801 controls (per-allele OR = 1.13 [95% CI: 1.06-1.22], P = 0.00046). The association was strengthened when a sub-group of controls with open angles were included in the analysis (per-allele OR = 1.30, P = 7.45 × 10(-9); 3,458 cases vs. 3,831 controls). Our findings suggest that the increase in PACG risk could in part be mediated by genetic sequence variants influencing anterior chamber dimensions.
  20. Fulltext A common variant near TGFBR3 is associated with primary open angle glaucoma
    Li Z, Allingham RR, Nakano M, Jia L, Chen Y, Ikeda Y, et al.
    Hum Mol Genet, 2015 Jul 01;24(13):3880-92.
    PMID: 25861811 DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddv128
    Primary open angle glaucoma (POAG), a major cause of blindness worldwide, is a complex disease with a significant genetic contribution. We performed Exome Array (Illumina) analysis on 3504 POAG cases and 9746 controls with replication of the most significant findings in 9173 POAG cases and 26 780 controls across 18 collections of Asian, African and European descent. Apart from confirming strong evidence of association at CDKN2B-AS1 (rs2157719 [G], odds ratio [OR] = 0.71, P = 2.81 × 10(-33)), we observed one SNP showing significant association to POAG (CDC7-TGFBR3 rs1192415, ORG-allele = 1.13, Pmeta = 1.60 × 10(-8)). This particular SNP has previously been shown to be strongly associated with optic disc area and vertical cup-to-disc ratio, which are regarded as glaucoma-related quantitative traits. Our study now extends this by directly implicating it in POAG disease pathogenesis.
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