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The Research of Dr. Ivana De Domenico

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Discovery

New Species Of Firefly Discovered

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A new species of firefly has recently been discovered in Southern California by an undergraduate student by the name of Joshua Oliva. Joshua was collecting specimens for his semester insect collection. The Entomology Research Museum made the announcement of the discovery at the University of California in Riverside yesterday. Doug Yanega, the head of the museum confirmed the find after Joshua Oliva had brought it to him to inspect.

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When Joshua had first collected the inspect he was not sure what it was exactly that he found. He decided to bring it to Doug Yanega for a second opinion who then confirmed that it was a firefly. Doug has a great familiarity with the area and after seeing the specimen knew that this firefly was something new.

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Experts at the University of Florida also had a chance to inspect the insect and agreed with Yanega that the specimen is a new species of firefly. The formal announcement was made because the habitat where the firefly was found may end up requiring some protection as they continue to try and learn more about the species. While the discovery is certainly a big moment, especially in Joshua Oliva’s early career, discoveries of new species of insects is actually a fairly common occurrence.

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A name for the new species has yet to be determined as they look to uncover more evidence on the species beforehand. This process may end up taking several years to complete. However, there is a chance that we will see the new firefly named after Joshua, as the practice of naming a new species after the person who discovered it is a fairly common practice.

Black Hole Re-Awakens

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1313631302547591570A huge black hole has re-awakened after 26 years of being dormant. The black hole is located about 7,800 light-years from Earth and is described by the European Space Agency as part of V404 Cygni, a binary system made of up the hole and a star. The last time activity was dedicated from V404 was back in 1989, but on June 15th NASA’s Swift satellite detected new bursts of gamma rays.
You can read more about this story here.

Coral Reef’s Building Resistance To Pollution

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Clouds of reef fish and corals, French frigate shoals, NWHIAs species survive the increasing heat over time, they are building up a resistance, or “genetic rescue.” Scientists have discovered the certain types of coral in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef have developed elevated thermal tolerances. As long as one type of the coral’s parents come from a warmer lower-latitude location, they are actually able to survive far better than similar coral without such parents. Essentially, a piece of coral who has a parent that lived in a heated environment, you are able to withstand the heat. This means that the coral is naturally toughening up to protect itself from pollution.

You can read more about this story here.

Role of Cyclin-D in Spread of Cancers

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Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have elucidated the role of a protein essential to regulating the progression of the cell cycle. Until recently, it assumed to promote development of cancer. Actually, it works to suppress the growth of tumors. Findings reported in the scientific journal eLife and recently covered by Science Daily show that cyclin-D, synthesized during the first stage of cell replication, is now believed to induce interactions with the retinoblastoma protein, otherwise known as Rb. Since we know that Rb acts as a tumor suppressor, mutilated and dysfunctional Rb is associated with several major cancers.

Scientists have long considered Cyclin-D has be a possible cause in the spread of cancer, as it hinders of the ability of Rb to suppress tumors through a process called phosphorylation. In the study, a team led by UC San Diego Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine professor Steven F. Dowdy, took the effort to count the number of phosphates added to Rb during cell cycle progression. They began this process to discover how many single phosphates cyclin-D adds during the process. The results of their studies and observations found that cyclin-D adds one phosphate at one of the fourteen locations early along in the G1 phase of the cell cycle. This indicates that fourteen different versions of Rb tumor suppressors are created and instigated, thus enabling the activation of Rb.

The researchers believe these findings could change current understandings of the G1 cell cycle regulation, as well as the molecular origins of many of the common cancers affecting the general public today.

Protease Breakthrough

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Science Daily has reported that two new methods of attacking troublesome protease “ClpP”, associated with the troublesome and resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Mycobacterium tuberculosis, have been discovered. Some of us may already know about staph infections and tuberculosis, so let’s rewind for a second and talk about exactly what these “proteases” are.

For starters, proteases are a kind of protein. As with all other proteins, proteases are comprised of chains of amino acids, and integral to cellular process and function. As explained by Science Daily, proteases take it one step further, and act as “scissors”. The protease’s “scissors” cut other proteins, shortening or lengthening their amino acid chains. This cutting action allows the protein to execute a variety of functions. These functions run the cellular gamut from decomposition to proper positioning.

Staphylococcus aureus and Mycobacterium tuberculosis are characterized by the special protease known as “ClpP”. Scientists can identify this protease, but they have had some difficulty disabling them. Convention dictates an attack on the “cutting edge” of the scissor-like proteins. But ClpP responds in a deceptive manner. At first, it looks like the antibiotic works. The “cutting edge” shuts down- but just for a few hours. Then, it activates again. Because Staphylococcus aureus and Mycobacterium tuberculosis are unyielding to many antibiotics, the fact that there now exist two ways to attack these proteases is major breakthrough.

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Depiction of Protease Structure.

Science Daily reports that the head chair of biochemistry at the Technical University at Munich, Michael Groll, discovered two new methods of attacking the troublesome protease. Groll is joined by two doctoral candidates, Malte Gersch and Roman Kolb, and the discovery seems promising. But what exactly are these new processes? The first is a way of scrambling the amino acids’ order. The ensuing disorder splits the protease into two separate parts. The second approach focuses on the active center, the cutting edge of the “scissors”. The attack on the center transforms the amino acid chain in charge of the cutting into something different. Without the cutting action, the proteins cannot be properly activated.

These two discoveries are important, but the team of scientists uncovered even more. They discovered inhibitors that reveal how these two new approaches are initialized. The scientists plan to take their discoveries and test them on live bacterial strains. They aim to allow the human immune system to fight only a few of the pathogens, with the new methods preventing newer resistances from being formed.