Bio Saga Blog - A Chronicle of Life Sciences & Informatics

Listeria TDRM Database http://www.lmtdrm.com/ . Please keep your comments and suggestions flowing in  kamesh@pronetinformatix.com The genus  Listeria  consists of a group of gram-positive bacteria of low G+C content closely related to  Bacillus, Clostridium, Enterococcus, Streptococcus,  and  Staphylococcus .  Listeria spp.   are facultative anaerobic rods of 0.4 by 1 to 1.5 µm that do not form spores, have no capsule and are motile at 10 to 25°C.  Listeria spp .  is isolated from a diversity of environmental sources, including soil, water, effluents, a large variety of foods, and the feces of humans and animals. The genus  Listeria  currently includes eight species:  L. monocytogenes ,  L. ivanovii ,  L. seeligeri , L.rocourtiace ,  L. innocua ,  L. welshimeri ,  L. marthii   and  L. grayi . Two of these species  L. monocytogenes  and  L. ivanovii  are potential...

GeneGo today said that Agilent's GeneSpring bioinformatics solution has been integrated with GeneGo's MetaCore. The collaboration was announced in connection with the newest version of Agilent's GeneSpring. Agilent said today introduced GeneSpring GX 11.5, which can interpret microarray, proteomics, and metabolomics experiments together for the first time. The newest version includes a direct connection to the MetaCore pathway analysis engine, enabling users to seamlessly upload expression data analyzed in GeneSpring, said GeneGo. "MetaCore can concurrently visualize multiple types of data and will be able to take advantage of this new functionality in GeneSpring which will be very helpful to our joint customers," Julie Bryant, VP of business development for St. Joseph, Mich.-based GeneGo, said in a statement.

Microsoft has signed an agreement to acquire Rosetta Biosoftware , a unit of Rosetta Inpharmatics, from parent company Merck for undisclosed consideration. Microsoft said that the deal will enable it to add genetic, genomic , metabolomic , and proteomic data management software into its own Amalga Life Sciences platform for "enhanced translational research capabilities." Merck will become a customer of the Amalga Life Sciences 2009 platform and provide "strategic input" to Microsoft on the evolution of new solutions that incorporate Rosetta Biosoftware technologies, Microsoft said. The Redmond, Wash.-based software giant launched the Amalga Life Sciences 2009 platform in April. "The newly combined offering will enable customers to improve the management and analysis of genomic, biological and research data , helping to bring lifesaving drugs and therapies to market faster and accelerate the realization of personalized medicine," Peter Neupert, corpora...

A new computer-based method of analyzing cellular activity has correctly predicted the anti-tumour activity of several molecules. Research published today in BioMed Central's open access journal Molecular Cancer describes 'CoMet' – a tool that studies the integrated machinery of the cell and predicts those components that will have an effect on cancer. Jeffrey Skolnick, in collaboration with John McDonald, led a team from the Georgia Institute of Technology who have developed this new strategy. As Skolnick explains, "This opens up the possibility of novel therapeutics for cancer and develops our understanding of why such metabolites work. CoMet provides a deeper understanding of the molecular mechanisms of cancer". Identification of metabolites with anticancer properties by Computational Metabolomics The small molecules that are naturally produced in cells are called metabolites. Enzymes, the biological catalysts that produce and consume these metabolites are cr...

A team of scientists from The Scripps Research Institute found an increased concentration of certain metabolites in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of monkeys with SIV-induced central nervous system (CNS) disease, a model for HIV patients with CNS damage. The investigators used global metabolomics to assess the levels of metabolites in CSF before and after SIV-induced encephalitis appeared. They found elevated levels in four categories: carnitine, acyl-carnitines, fatty acids, and phospholipids. Consistent with this, the team reports, a protein known to be important in the generation of fatty acids was increased in the brains of monkeys with SIV-induced encephalitis. The elevation in free fatty acids and lysophospholipids correlated with increased expression of specific phospholipases in the brains of animals with encephalitis, according to the researchers. One of these, phospholipase A2 isoenzyme, is capable of releasing a number of the fatty acids identified. It was expressed in d...