Proteomics of Sago Palm Towards Identifying Contributory Proteins in Stress-Tolerant Cultivar

Transcriptome dataset of Metroxylon sagu palms from multiple sago plantations in Sarawak

OBJECTIVE

Sago palm (Metroxylon sagu Rottb.) is one of the most important economic crops abundantly found in Mukah, Sarawak, Malaysia. The robustness of the palm triggered the Sarawak government's selection as one of the state's commodity crops, with the opening of several sago palm plantations. However, stunted (non-trunking) palms were reported in several sago palm plantations despite attaining a maturity period of more than ten years after cultivation. Research targeting this problem has been conducted in various fields, yet information on molecular mechanisms is still scarce. This study aimed to determine the genes responsible for sago palm's normal phenotype (trunking) by attaining leaf transcriptomes from samples of all trunking sago palms from different sago palm plantations.

DATA DESCRIPTION

The conventional CTAB method was employed in the present investigation to extract total RNA from leaf tissues. Transcriptome sequencing was conducted on the Illumina NovaSeq 6000 platform. Differential expression analysis was performed using the DESeq2 package. A total of 6,119 differentially expressed genes, comprising 4,384 downregulated and 1,735 upregulated genes, were expressed in all three sago palm datasets. The datasets provide insights into the commonly expressed genes among trunking sago palms.

Transcriptome dataset of sago palm in peat soil

Sago palm (Metroxylon sagu Rottb.) is an important agricultural starch-producing palm that contributes to Malaysia's economics, especially in the State of Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. In this palm tree, the central part of the plant storage-starch. Under normal condition, sago palm develop its trunk after 4-5 years being planted. However, sago palms planted on deep-peat soil failed to develop their trunk even after 17 years of being planted. This phenomenon is known as ‘non-trunking’, which eliminates the economic value of the palms. Numerous research has been done to address the phenomenon, but the molecular mechanisms of sago palm responding toward the responsible stresses are still lacking. Therefore, in this study, leaf samples were collected from trunking (normal) and non-trunking sago palms planted on peat soil for total RNA extraction, followed by next-generation sequencing using the BGISEQ-500 platform. The raw reads were cleaned, and de novo assembled using TRINITY software package. A total of 40.11 Gb bases were sequenced from the sago palm leaf samples. The assembled sequence produced 102,447 unigenes, with N50 score 1809 bp and GC ratio of 44.34%. The alignment of unigenes with seven functional databases (NR, NT, GO, KOG, KEGG, SwissProt and InterPro) resulted in the annotation of 65,523 (63.96%) unigenes. Functional annotation results in the detection of 46,335 coding DNA sequences by Transdecoder. A total of 30,039 simple-sequence repeats distributed on 21,676 unigenes were detected using Primer3 software, and 2355 transcription factor coding unigenes were predicted using getorf and hmmseach software. This work is registered under NCBI BioProject PRJNA781491. The raw RNA sequencing data are available in Sequence Read Archive (SRA) database with accession numbers SRX13165895, SRX13165896, SRX13165897, SRX13165898, SRX13165899, and SRX13165900. Gene expression and annotation information are accessible in public functional genomics data repository Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) with accession number GSE189085.

Proteomic analysis revealed the biofilm-degradation abilities of the bacteriophage UPMK_1 and UPMK_2 against Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

OBJECTIVE

The degradation activity of two bacteriophages UPMK_1 and UPMK_2 against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus phages were examined using gel zymography.

METHODS

The analysis was done using BLASTP to detect peptides catalytic domains. Many peptides that are related to several phage proteins were revealed.

RESULTS

UPMK_1 and UPMK_2 custom sequence database were used for peptide identification. The biofilm-degrading proteins in the bacteriophage UPMK_2 revealed the same lytic activity towards polysaccharide intercellular adhesin-dependent and independent of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) biofilm producers in comparison to UPMK_1, which had lytic activity restricted solely to its host.

CONCLUSION

Both bacteriophage enzymes were involved in MRSA biofilm degradation during phage infection and they have promising enzybiotics properties against MRSA biofilm formation.

First high-quality genome assembly data of sago palm (Metroxylon sagu Rottboll)

The sago palm (Metroxylon sagu Rottboll) is a tropical halophytic starch-producing, economically important crop palm mainly located in Southeast Asian countries. Recently, a genome survey was conducted on this palm using the Illumina sequencing platform, with a very low (21.5%) BUSCO genome completeness score, and most of them (∼78%) are either fragmented or missing. Thus, in this study, the sago palm genome completeness was further improved with the utilization of the Nanopore sequencing platform that produced longer reads. A hybrid genome assembly was conducted, and the outcome was a much complete sago palm genome with BUSCO completeness achieved at as high as 97.9%, with only ∼2% of them either fragmented or missing. The estimated genome size of the sago palm is 509,812,790 bp in this study. A sum of 33,242 protein-coding genes was revealed from the sago palm genome and around 96.39% of them had been functionally annotated. An investigation on the carbohydrate metabolism KEGG pathways also unearthed that starch synthesis was one of the major sago palm activities. The genome data obtained from this work is indispensable for future molecular evolutionary and genome-wide association studies on the economically important sago palm.

Uncovering Prospective Role and Applications of Existing and New Nutraceuticals from Bacterial, Fungal, Algal and Cyanobacterial, and Plant Sources

Nutraceuticals are a category of products more often associated with food but having pharmaceuticals property and characteristics. However, there is still no internationally accepted concept of these food-pharmaceutical properties, and their interpretation can differ from country to country. Nutraceuticals are used as part of dietary supplements in most countries. They can be phytochemicals which are biologically active and have health benefits. These can be supplied as a supplement and/or as a functional food to the customer. For human health and longevity, these materials are likely to play a vital role. Consumption of these items is typical without a therapeutic prescription and/or supervision by the vast majority of the public. The development of nutraceuticals can be achieved through many bioresources and organisms. This review article will discuss the current research on nutraceuticals from different biological sources and their potential use as an agent for improving human health and well-being, as well as the gaps and future perspective of research related to nutraceutical development.