Improving Quantitative and Qualitative Characteristics of Wheat (<i>Triticum aestivum</i> L.) through Nitrogen Application under Semiarid Conditions

Nitrogen (N), the building block of plant proteins and enzymes, is an essential macronutrient for plant functions. A field experiment was conducted to investigate the impact of different N application rates (28, 57, 85, 114, 142, 171, and 200 kg ha⁻¹) on the performance of spring wheat (cv. Ujala-2016) during the 2017–2018 and 2018–2019 growing seasons. A control without N application was kept for comparison. Two years mean data showed optimum seed yield (5,461.3 kg ha⁻¹) for N-application at 142 kg ha⁻¹ whereas application of lower and higher rates of N did not result in significant and economically higher seed yield. A higher seed yield was obtained in the 2017–2018 (5,595 kg ha⁻¹) than in the 2018–2019 (5,328 kg ha⁻¹) growing seasons under an N application of 142 kg ha⁻¹. It was attributed to the greater number of growing degree days in the first (1,942.35°C days) than in the second year (1,813.75°C). Higher rates of N (171 and 200 kg ha⁻¹) than 142 kg ha⁻¹ produced more number of tillers (i.e., 948,300 and 666,650 ha⁻¹, respectively). However, this increase did not contribute in achieving higher yields. Application of 142, 171, and 200 kg ha⁻¹ resulted in 14.15%, 15.0% and 15.35% grain protein concentrations in comparison to 13.15% with the application of 114 kg ha⁻¹. It is concluded that the application of N at 142 kg ha⁻¹ could be beneficial for attaining higher grain yields and protein concentrations of wheat cultivar Ujala-2016.

     

Antioxidant and Enzyme Inhibitory Activities of Rhoifolin Flavonoid: In Vitro and in Silico Studies

Rhoifolin (apigenin-7-O-β-neohesperidoside) belongs to the class of flavonoids and was reported to exhibit anti-inflammatory, cytotoxic, antidiabetic, hepatoprotective, and cardioprotective activities. The current study presents the in-vitro evaluation of the antioxidative effects of rhoifolin by many assays, namely DPPH, CUPRAC, ABTS, phosphomolybdenum, and FRAP. Enzyme inhibitory potential was also evaluated for acetylcholinesterase (AChE), butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), tyrosinase, amylase, and glucosidase enzymes. While results revealed weak antioxidant activities for rhoifolin, the compound demonstrated some promising enzyme inhibitory effects against BChE (4.03 mg GALAE/g) and tyrosinase (7.44 mg KAE/g) but was not active on AChE. Regarding anti-diabetic enzymes, the compound was active on amylase but did not show any inhibition effect on glucosidase. In-silico molecular docking study was performed for rhoifolin on the active site of NADPH oxidase, BChE, and amylase enzymes to verify the observed enzyme inhibitory effect. Good binding affinities were observed for rhoifolin on all the docked enzymes, revealing numerous hydrogen bonds, carbon-hydrogen, van der Waals interactions. This is the first study to evaluate the enzyme inhibition potential of rhoifolin. We concluded that the increase in the degree of glycosylation might decrease the antioxidant abilities of flavonoids and that rhoifolin had moderate enzyme inhibition abilities to be investigated in future studies.     

Hemovigilance in developing countries

Hemovigilance like quality systems and audits has become an integral part of the Blood Transfusion Service (BTS) in the developed world and has contributed greatly to the development of the blood service. However developing countries are still grappling with donor recruitment and efforts towards sufficiency and safety of the blood supply. In these countries the BTS is generally fragmented and a national hemovigilance program would be difficult to implement. However a few developing countries have an effective and sustainable blood program that can deliver equitable, safe and sufficient blood supply to the nation. Different models of hemovigilance program have been introduced with variable success. There are deficiencies but the data collected provided important information that can be presented to the health authorities for effective interventions.Hemovigilance program modeled from developed countries require expertise and resources that are not available in many developing countries. Whatever resources that are available should be utilized to correct deficiencies that are already apparent and obvious. Besides there are other tools that can be used to monitor the blood program in the developing countries depending on the need and the resources available. More importantly the data collected should be accurate and are used and taken into consideration in formulating guidelines, standards and policies and to affect appropriate interventions. Any surveillance program should be introduced in a stepwise manner as the blood transfusion service develops.     

Unusual synthesis of carbohydrate sec-sec ether-linked pseudodisaccharides

In this paper, we describe the synthesis of sec-sec ether-linked pseudodisaccharides by the coupling of various secondary carbohydrate alcohols with di-O-isopropylidene allose 3-O-triflate. Reactions proceeded with inversion of configuration to give the 3-substituted di-O-isopropylidene glucose derivatives. The crystal structure of a sec-sec ether-linked pseudodisaccharide is reported.     

Purification, characterization and application of a novel extracellular agarase from a marine Bacillus megaterium

A marine, gram positive, aerobic, spore forming, and non flagellated bacterium which degrades low melting point (LMP) — agarose was isolated from the west coast of India and identified as Bacillus megaterium based on its morphological, biochemical, and molecular characterization. This bacterium produced clear haloes or zone of clearance on agar containing plates which was a clear indication of its agarolytic property. The extracellular agarase thus obtained was purified 8.8 and 78 fold from the culture supernatant by ammonium sulfate precipitation and gel filtration, respectively. Molecular mass by gel filtration and SDS-PAGE gave values of 15 and 12 kDa, respectively. The optimum temperature and pH for maximum agarase activity were 40°C and 6.6. The activity of agarase was drastically reduced by addition of metal ions in the assay system. This agarase, gave a K _m and V _max value of 4 mg/mL and 2.75 μmol/min/mg. The isolation of protoplast from agarophyte like Gelidiella acerosa using indegenous agarase is reported for the first time.     

Influence of Salt Stress on Growth, Ion Accumulation and Seed Oil Content in Sweet Fennel

A greenhouse experiment was conducted to assess the effect of 25, 50, 75, and 100 mM NaCl on growth, ion accumulation, seed yield, and seed oil content in 67-d-old plants of Foeniculum vulgare Mill. Increasing NaCl concentration caused a significant reduction in fresh and dry masses of both shoots and roots as well as seed yield. Na⁺ and Cl^– in both shoots and roots increased, whereas K⁺ and Ca²⁺ decreased consistently with the increase in NaCl concentration. Plants maintained markedly higher Ca²⁺/Na⁺ ratios in the shoots than those in the roots, whereas that of K⁺ /Na⁺ ratios remained almost uniform in both shoots and roots. Proline content in the shoots increased markedly at the highest NaCl concentration. Oil content in the seed decreased progressively with increase in salinity.     

Transient expression of lacZ in particle bombarded Gracilaria changii (Gracilariales, Rhodophyta)

Using a Biolistic PDS 1000/He system, healthy thalli of Gracilaria changii were bombarded with gold particles coated with plasmid DNA containing the lacZ reporter gene. Transient expression of lacZ was observed in bombarded thalli under the rupture-disc pressures of 4482, 6206, 7584 and 8963 KPa, two days after bombardment. Although G. changii exhibits a slight blue background, positive expression and the background colour can be clearly differentiated. The results indicate that lacZ could be a useful reporter gene and that SV40 promoter could be an effective promoter for Gracilaria transformation.