Informatics Publishing Limited

R. Dileepkumar ¹, K. Anaswara ¹, V. Navya ², S. Beena ³, A. Jacob ⁴, L. Divya ⁵, A. S. Vijayasree ⁶, V. Deepthi ², G. Renganayaki ², P. R. Shidhi ², M. A. Akbarsha ⁷, K. P. Laladhas ⁸, Achuthsankar S. Nair ², P. R. Sudhakaran ², O. V. Oommen ²

Affiliations
1 Indriyam Biologics Private Limited, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram 695 001, IN
2 Department of Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram 695 581, IN
3 OmicsGen Life Sciences Pvt Ltd, Cochin 682 301, IN
4 Zoological Garden, Thiruvananthapuram 695 033, IN
5 Department of Animal Sciences, Central University of Kerala, Kasaragod 671 316, IN
6 Department of Zoology, Fatima Mata National College, Kollam 691 001, IN
7 Department of Biotechnology, National College (Autonomous), Tiruchirappalli 620 001, IN
8 St Stephen’s College, Pathanapuram 689 695, IN

Abstract

This study shows that the dominant mutation of Extension locus in the recessive locus of the agouti Indian three-striped palm squirrel results in constituting an active or hyperactive receptor. This is not inhibited by the agouti antagonist or agouti signalling protein, resulting in melanism. To the best of our knowledge, there is no earlier report of a melanic variant (black) of a three-striped palm squirrel (Funambulus palmarum Linn.) from India. The colour change is due to mutation and is traced to melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R) gene, where it is proved to be a sequence alteration causing a frame shift in the Extension locus of the wild type. This would have probably caused the constitutive activation of MC1R.

Keywords

Agouti Signalling Protein, Dominant Mutation, Funambulus palmarum, Melanism, Melanocortin-1 Receptor.

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V. Saraswathy ¹, R. Dileepkumar ², Achuthsankar S. Nair ¹, M. A. Akbarsha ³, Oommen V. Oommen ¹

Affiliations
1 Centre for Venom Informatics, Department of Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, University of Kerala-Kariavattom Campus, Thiruvananthapuram – 695581, Kerala, IN
2 Indriyam Biologicals, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Poojapura, Thiruvananthapuram – 695012, Kerala, IN
3 National College (Autonomous), Tiruchirappalli – 620001, Tamil Nadu, IN

Abstract

Envenomation is a serious neglected health issue at the global level that affects millions of people every year. It is highly prevalent among farmers and rural natives and is mainly due to the bite from snakes, spiders, frogs, dogs, wasps, bees, ants, etc. Many plants with antidote potential grow around our backyard without proper recognition and, unfortunately, several of them are under threat of extinction due to human interference and other environmental factors. The sustainable utilization of those antidote herbs can benefit as a life saver to the needy patients. The herbs can also be farmed and used commercially for the pharmaceutical application and incorporated with biotechnology and bioinformatics with a vision of synthesizing antidote drugs with less or no side effects. The objective of the present work is to create awareness among the public for the wise use of wild and local herbs, and their sustainable utilization with a computational case study on laboratory experiments done in two traditional plant based antidotes, selected from literature. The investigation is focused on Daboia russelii venom neutralization via in silico approach which can significantly reduce the time, expense, labour and samples taken. Our approach will add to the conventional non-specific polyvalent anti-snake venom (ASV) with more specific plant-based antidotes.

Keywords

Antidote, Envenomation, Herbal Medicines, Sustainable Utilization, Venom Informatics.

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