To elucidate interactions between the antifungal cyclic lipopeptides iturin A, fengycin, and surfactin produced by Bacillus bacteria and the microtubular protein β-tubulin in plant pathogenic fungi (Fusarium oxysporum, Colletrotrichum gloeosporioides, Alternaria alternata, and Fusarium solani) in molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations, we retrieved the structure of tubulin co-crystallized with taxol from the Protein Data Bank (PDB) (ID: 1JFF) and the structure of the cyclic lipopeptides from PubChem (Compound CID: 102287549, 100977820, 10129764). Similarity and homology analyses of the retrieved β-tubulin structure with those of the fungi showed that the conserved domains shared 84% similarity, and the root mean square deviation (RMSD) was less than 2 Å. In the molecular docking studies, within the binding pocket, residues Pro274, Thr276, and Glu27 of β-tubulin were responsible for the interaction with the cyclic lipopeptides. In the molecular dynamics analysis, two groups of ligands were formed based on the number of poses analyzed with respect to the RMSD. Group 1 was made up of 10, 100, and 500 poses with distances 0.080 to 0.092 nm and RMSDs of 0.10 to 0.15 nm. For group 2, consisting of 1000 poses, the initial and final distance was 0.1 nm and the RMSDs were in the range of 0.10 to 0.30 nm. These results suggest that iturin A and fengycin bind with higher affinity than surfactin to β-tubulin. These two lipopeptides may be used as lead compounds to develop new antifungal agents or employed directly as biorational products to control plant pathogenic fungi.

Microbial degradation of aromatic hydrocarbons is an emerging technology, and it is well recognized for its economic methods, efficiency, and safety; however, its exploration is still scarce and greater emphasis on cyanobacteria–bacterial mutualistic interactions is needed. We evaluated and characterized the phenanthrene biodegradation capacity of consortium dominated by Fischerella sp. under holoxenic conditions with aerobic heterotrophic bacteria and their molecular identification through 16S rRNA Illumina sequencing. Results indicated that our microbial consortium can degrade up to 92% of phenanthrene in five days. Bioinformatic analyses revealed that consortium was dominated by Fischerella sp., however different members of Nostocaceae and Weeksellaceae, as well as several other bacteria, such as Chryseobacterium, and Porphyrobacter, were found to be putatively involved in the biological degradation of phenanthrene. This work contributes to a better understanding of biodegradation of phenanthrene by cyanobacteria and identify the microbial diversity related.

The runs of homozygosity (ROHs), the inbreeding coefficient, and the effective population size (Ne) in Pelibuey sheep were analyzed in 24 Pelibuey ewes from two lambs at parturition and 24 ewes that gave birth to a single lamb using the Ilumina OvineSNP50 BeadChip. The Ne decreased from 535 to 192 in the first ten generations. A total of 2194 ROHs were identified on the basis of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), were identified in the prolific group and 2185 SNPs in ROH in the non-prolific group. The distribution of the lengths of the ROH, considering both groups, were found to be: 4065 less than 6 Mb, 213 between 6 and 12 Mb, 72 between 12 and 24 Mb, twenty between 24 and 48 Mb and 8 greater than 48 Mb. In prolific sheep, the ROH associated with prolificacy were identified near the LINGO2, FLRT2, ADGRB3 genes, related to “positive regulation of synapse assembly”; and the DGKG, DGKE, DGKB and DGKI genes, related to “protein kinase C-activating G-protein coupled receptor signaling pathway”. The present work present genes that can function as signal mediators or have activity in embryonic development, which is relevant to the economic activity of this species.