Biology subjects

Rani, P. R.

Publications and source records attributed to Rani, P. R..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2021

Insights from Genomes and Genetic Epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 isolates from the state of Andhra Pradesh

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) emerged from a city in China and has now spread as a global pandemic affecting millions of individuals. The causative agent, SARS-CoV-2 is being extensively studied in terms of its genetic epidemiology using genomic approaches. Andhra Pradesh is one of the major states of India with the third-largest number of COVID-19 cases with limited understanding of its genetic epidemiology. In this study, we have sequenced 293 SARS-CoV-2 genome isolates from Andhra Pradesh with a mean coverage of 13,324X. We identified 564 high-quality SARS-CoV-2 variants, out of which 15 are novel. A total of 18 variants mapped to RT-PCR primer/probe sites, and 4 variants are known to be associated with an increase in infectivity. Phylogenetic analysis of the genomes revealed the circulating SARS-CoV-2 in Andhra Pradesh majorly clustered under the clade A2a (94%), while 6% fall under the I/A3i clade, a clade previously defined to be present in large numbers in India. To the best of our knowledge, this is the most comprehensive genetic epidemiological analysis performed for the state of Andhra Pradesh.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2020

Genetic epidemiology of variants associated with immune escape from global SARS-CoV-2 genomes

Many antibody and immune escape variants in SARS-CoV-2 are now documented in literature. The availability of SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences enabled us to investigate the occurrence and genetic epidemiology of the variants globally. Our analysis suggests that a number of genetic variants associated with immune escape have emerged in global populations.

bioinformatics↗

bioRxiv2019

Bacteriophages inhibit biofilms formed by multi-drug resistant bacteria isolated from septic wounds

Globally, indiscriminate use of antibiotics contributed to the development of antibiotic resistance by the majority of microbial pathogens. As an alternative to antibiotics, using bacteriophages as antibiofilm agents to tackle multi-drug resistant bacteria has gained importance in recent years. In the present study, we explored the ability of bacteriophages to inhibit biofilm formation under various conditions. Under dynamic condition (DR), wherein the medium is a renewal for every 12 h amount of biomass produced (0.74 {+/-} 0.039), log10 CFU count (6.3 {+/-} 0.55) was highest when compared to other physical conditions tested. Biomass of biofilms produced by Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Escherichia coli drastically reduced when incubated for 2 or 4 h with bacteriophages vB_SAnS_SADP1, vB_PAnP_PADP4, vB_KPnM_KPDP1, and vB_ECnM_ECDP3 respectively at the time points tested (24, 48 and 72 h). Among the phages, vB_ECnM_ECDP3 effectively inhibited the biomass of biofilm when incubated for 2 h (0.35 {+/-} 0.04, (44 %) (p < 0.0001) or 4 h (0.17 {+/-} 0.015, (21.5%) (p<0.0001). Bacteriophages of E. coli (vB_ECnM_ECDP3) P. aeruginosa (vB_PAnP_PADP4), K. pneumoniae (vB_KPnM_KPDP1) and S. aureus (vB_SAnS_SADP1) also significantly inhibited the biomass of biofilm formation as evidenced by Scanning Electron Microscopy and Confocal laser scanning microscopy.

microbiology↗