Lack of B 0 AT1 (SLC6A19) partially protects mice against the onset of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). To achieve a similar outcome through pharmacological treatment, we improved previously identified inhibitors of B 0 AT1 by medicinal chemistry and identified second generation inhibitors by high through-put screening. Modified diarylmethine compounds inhibited B 0 AT1 with IC 50 values ranging from 8-90 mM. A second generation of inhibitors was derived from high-throughput screening and showed higher affinity (IC 50 of 1-15 mM) and strong selectivity against amino acid transporters with similar substrate specificity, such as ASCT2 (SLC1A5) and LAT1 (SLC7A5). All compounds were unrelated to B 0 AT1 substrates, but were likely to bind in the vicinity of the substrate binding site.

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Chromohalobacter salexigens ANJ207 was isolated from a salt crystal and is known to tolerate up to 30% NaCl concentration. Here, we report the de novo draft assembly of C. salexigens ANJ207.

Fusarium udum F02845 is a destructive fungal pathogen which causes pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L. Millspaugh) wilt.

Soil salinity is one of the major global issues affecting soil quality and agricultural productivity. The plant growth-promoting halophilic bacteria that can thrive in regions of high salt (NaCl) concentration have the ability to promote the growth of plants in salty environments. In this study, attempts have been made to understand the salinity adaptation of plant growth-promoting moderately halophilic bacteria Chromohalobacter salexigens ANJ207 at the genetic level through transcriptome analysis. In order to identify the stress-responsive genes, the transcriptome sequencing of C. salexigens ANJ207 under different salt concentrations was carried out. Among the 8,936 transcripts obtained, 93 were upregulated while 1,149 were downregulated when the NaCl concentration was increased from 5 to 10%. At 10% NaCl concentration, genes coding for lactate dehydrogenase, catalase, and OsmC-like protein were upregulated. On the other hand, when salinity was increased from 10 to 25%, 1,954 genes were upregulated, while 1,287 were downregulated. At 25% NaCl, genes coding for PNPase, potassium transporter, aconitase, excinuclease subunit ABC, and transposase were found to be upregulated. The quantitative real-time PCR analysis showed an increase in the transcript of genes related to the biosynthesis of glycine betaine coline genes (gbcA, gbcB, and L-pro) and in the transcript of genes related to the uptake of glycine betaine (OpuAC, OpuAA, and OpuAB). The transcription of the genes involved in the biosynthesis of L-hydroxyproline (proD and proS) and one stress response proteolysis gene for periplasmic membrane stress sensing (serP) were also found to be increased. The presence of genes for various compatible solutes and their increase in expression at the high salt concentration indicated that a coordinated contribution by various compatible solutes might be responsible for salinity adaptation in ANJ207. The investigation provides new insights into the functional roles of various genes involved in salt stress tolerance and oxidative stress tolerance produced by high salt concentration in ANJ207 and further support the notion regarding the utilization of bacterium and their gene(s) in ameliorating salinity problem in agriculture.

Two new approaches for the synthesis of natural product piperodione, secondary metabolite have been achieved. Hitherto, unknown and easily accessible piperidine and morpholine based a-ketoamide phosphoranes obtained from pyruvic acid have served as key building blocks for synthesis based on Wittig reaction. The alkylation of b-keto esters with 3-bromo derivative of pyruvic acid amides has been equally successful. Both the developed routes have enabled access to several new analogues of piperodione, opening up opportunities for systematic structure activity relationships studies during evaluation of biological activity.

Towards the synthesis of symmetrical and unsymmetrical , -diarylacroleins for assembling diarylmethine fragments present in biologically important molecules, we have developed a new Weinreb amide (WA) based building block, derived from propiolic acid. The WA functionality present in this

The stint of the bacterial species is convoluting, but the new algorithms to calculate genome-to-genome distance (GGD) and DNA-DNA hybridization (DDH) for comparative genome analysis have rejuvenated the exploration of species and sub-species characterization. The present study reports the first whole genome sequence of Exiguobacterium profundum PHM11. PHM11 genome consist of~2.92 Mb comprising 48 contigs, 47.93% G + C content. Functional annotations revealed a total of 3033 protein coding genes and 33 non-protein coding genes. Out of these, only 2316 could be characterized and others reported as hypothetical proteins. The comparative analysis of predicted proteome of PHM11 with five other Exiguobacterium sp. identified 3806 clusters, out of which the PHM11 shared a total of 2723 clusters having 1664 common clusters, 131 singletons and 928 distributed between five species. The pan-genome analysis of 70 different genomic sequences of Exigubacterium strains devoid of a species taxon was done on the basis of GGD and the DDH which identified eight genomes analogous to the PHM11 at species level and may be characterized as E. profundum. The ANI value and phylogenetic tree analysis also support the same. The results regarding pan-genome analysis provide a convincing insight for delineation of these eight strains to species.