No abstract

Most protein in hair and wool is of two broad types: keratin intermediate filament-forming proteins (commonly known as keratins) and keratin-associated proteins (KAPs). Keratin nomenclature was reviewed in 2006, but the KAP nomenclature has not been revised since 1993. Recently there has been an increase in the number of KAP genes (KRTAPs) identified in humans and other species, and increasingly reports of variation in these genes. We therefore propose that an updated naming system is needed to accommodate the complexity of the KAPs. It is proposed that the system is founded in the previous nomenclature, but with the abbreviation sp-KAPm-nL*x for KAP proteins and sp-KRTAPm-n(p/L)*x for KAP genes. In this system “sp” is a unique letter-based code for different species as described by the protein knowledge-based UniProt. “m” is a number identifying the gene or protein family, “n” is a constituent member of that family, “p” signifies a pseudogene if present, “L” if present signifies “like” and refers to a temporary “place-holder” until the family is confirmed and “x” signifies a genetic variant or allele. We support the use of non-italicised text for the proteins and italicised text for the genes.This nomenclature is not that different to the existing system, but it includes species information and also describes genetic variation if identified, and hence is more informative. For example, GenBank sequence JN091630 would historically have been named KRTAP7-1 for the gene and KAP7-1 for the protein, but with the proposed nomenclature would be SHEEP-KRTAP7-1*A and SHEEP-KAP7-1*A for the gene and protein respectively. This nomenclature will facilitate more efficient storage and retrieval of data and define a common language for the KAP proteins and genes from all mammalian species.

Tibetan is a valuable Himalayan sheep breed classified as endangered. Knowledge of the level and distribution of genetic diversity in Tibetan sheep is important for designing conservation strategies for their sustainable survival and to preserve their evolutionary potential. Thus, for the first time, genetic variability in the Tibetan population was accessed with twenty five inter-simple sequence repeat markers. All the microsatellites were polymorphic and a total of 148 alleles were detected across these loci. The observed number of alleles across all the loci was more than the effective number of alleles and ranged from 3 (BM6506) to 11 (BM6526) with 5.920 ± 0.387 mean number of alleles per locus. The average observed heterozygosity was less than the expected heterozygosity. The observed and expected heterozygosity values ranged from 0.150 (BM1314) to 0.9 (OarCP20) with an overall mean of 0.473 ± 0.044 and from 0.329 (BM8125) to 0.885 (BM6526) with an overall mean 0.672 ± 0.030, respectively. The lower heterozygosity pointed towards diminished genetic diversity in the population. Thirteen microsatellite loci exhibited significant (P < 0.05) departures from the Hardy–Weinberg proportions in the population. The estimate of heterozygote deficiency varied from − 0.443 (OarCP20) to 0.668 (OarFCB128) with a mean positive value of 0.302 ± 0.057. A normal ‘L’ shaped distribution of mode-shift test and non-significant heterozygote excess on the basis of different models suggested absence of recent bottleneck in the existing Tibetan population. In view of the declining population of Tibetan sheep (less than 250) in the breeding tract, need of the hour is immediate scientific management of the population so as to increase the population hand in hand with retaining the founder alleles to the maximum possible extent.

The highly co-evolved relationship of parasites and their hosts appears to include modulation of host immune signals, although the molecular mechanisms involved in the host-parasite interplay remain poorly understood. Characterization of these key genes and their cognate proteins related to the host-parasite interplay should lead to a better understanding of this intriguing biological phenomenon. The malaria agent Plasmodium falciparum is predicted to export a cohort of several hundred proteins to remodel the host erythrocyte. However, proteins actively exported by the asexual intracellular parasite beyond the host red blood cell membrane (before merozoite egress) have been poorly investigated so far. Here we used two complementary methodologies, two-dimensional gel electrophoresis/MS and LC-MS/MS, to examine the extracellular secreted antigens at asexual blood stages of P. falciparum. We identified 27 novel antigens exported by P. falciparum in the culture medium of which some showed clustering with highly polymorphic genes on chromosomes, suggesting that they may encode putative antigenic determinants of the parasite. Immunolocalization of four novel secreted proteins confirmed their export beyond the infected red blood cell membrane. Of these, preliminary functional characterization of two novel (Sel1 repeat-containing) parasite proteins, PfSEL1 and PfSEL2 revealed that they down-regulate expression of cell surface Notch signaling molecules in host cells. Also a novel protein kinase (PfEK) and a novel protein phosphatase (PfEP) were found to, respectively, phosphorylate/dephosphorylate parasite-specific proteins in the extracellular culture supernatant. Our study thus sheds new light on malaria parasite extracellular secreted antigens of which some may be essential for parasite development and could constitute promising new drug targets. Molecular & Cellular Proteomics 8:2102-2118, 2009.

Genetic diversity of Magra -a lustrous carpet wool breed of India, was investigated by means of 25 ovine microsatellite markers proposed by the Food and Agriculture Organization and the International Society for Animal Genetics (FAO-ISAG). All used microsatellites amplified well and exhibited polymorphisms. A wide range of genetic variability was observed as allele number from 3 (BM6506, OarCP20) to 10 (CSSM31), observed heterozygosity from 0.200 (BM6506) to 0.947 (OarHH35), expected heterozygosity from 0.368 (CSSM47) to 0.864 (BM1314) and Polymorphism Information Content (PIC) from 0.347 (CSSM47) to 0.849 (BM1314). This supported the utility of these microsatellite loci in the measurement of genetic diversity indices in Indian sheep too. Various average genetic variability measures viz., allele diversity (5.7), observed heterozygosity (0.597), expected heterozygosity (0.694) and mean PIC (0.648) values showed high genetic variability despite accumulated inbreeding as reflected by the high average inbreeding coefficient (F IS = 0.159) due to the unequal sex ratio of the breeding animals.