Comparative Study of Seed Protein Profiles in the Genus Pisum

Seed protein profiles of 24 wild and cultivated taxa of Pisum have been compared by sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. No consistent differences were detected either among wild taxa or between wild and cultivated taxa. This shows that Pisum forms a single-species complex on the basis of seed protein profiles.     

Genome Size Variation in Some Tropical Hardwoods

4-C DNA values of 36 tropical hardwood species belonging to 13 families show a range from 2.08 to 20.07 pg, a 9.64-fold difference. DNA per chromosome values show a 10-fold difference. The minimum range of variation (1.2-fold) is shown by Annonaceae and Sapindaceae while the maximum range (6.23-fold) is shown by Euphorbiaceae, and Fabaceae and Rutaceae show 1.7 and 1.9-fold differences, respectively. On an average, Euphorbiaceae and Rutaceae have been found to possess the largest and the smallest genome sizes respectively.     

Evolution of genome size inAllium (Alliaceae)

The 4C DNA amounts of 86 species fromAllium subgg.Allium, Rhizirideum, Bromatorrhiza, Melanocrommyum, Caloscordum andAmerallium show a 8.35-fold difference ranging from 35.60 pg (A. ledebourianum, 2n = 16) to 297.13 pg (A. validum 2n = 56). At diploid level the difference is 3.57-fold betweenA. ledebourianum (35.60 pg) andA. ursinum (127.14 pg). This shows that a significant loss and/or gain of DNA has occurred during evolution. On average subgg.Rhizirideum andAllium have less DNA amount than subgg.Melanocrommyum andAmerallium. The distribution of nuclear DNA amounts does not show discontinuous pattern and regular groups. The evolution of genome size has been discussed in relation to polyploidy and genomes, heterochromatin, adaptive changes in morphological characteristics, phenology and ecological factors, and infrageneric classification.     

Early behavioral changes and quantitative analysis of neuropathological features in murine prion disease: Stereological analysis in the albino Swiss mice model

Behavioral and neuropathological changes have been widely investigated in murine prion disease but stereological based unbiased estimates of key neuropathological features have not been carried out. After injections of ME7 infected (ME7) or normal brain homogenates (NBH) into dorsal CA1 of albino Swiss mice and C57BL6, we assessed behavioral changes on hippocampal-dependent tasks. We also estimated by optical fractionator at 15 and 18 weeks post-injections (w.p.i.) the total number of neurons, reactive astrocytes, activated microglia and perineuronal nets (PN) in the polymorphic layer of dentate gyrus (PolDG), CA1 and septum in albino Swiss mice. On average, early behavioral changes in albino Swiss mice start four weeks later than in C57BL6. Cluster and discriminant analysis of behavioral data in albino Swiss mice revealed that four of nine subjects start to change their behavior at 12 w.p.i. and reach terminal stage at 22 w.p.i and the remaining subjects start at 22 w.p.i. and reach terminal stage at 26 w.p.i. Biotinylated dextran-amine BDA-tracer experiments in mossy fiber pathway confirmed axonal degeneration and stereological data showed that early astrocytosis, microgliosis and reduction in the perineuronal nets are independent of a change in the number of neuronal cell bodies. Statistical analysis revealed that the septal region had greater levels of neuroinflammation and extracellular matrix damage than CA1. This stereological and multivariate analysis at early stages of disease in an outbred model of prion disease provided new insights connecting behavioral changes and neuroinflammation and seems to be important to understand the mechanisms of prion disease progression.Key words: prion disease, optical fractionator, neuropathology, behavioral changes, albino Swiss mice     

Procathepsin D expression correlates with invasive and metastatic phenotype of MDA-MB-231 derived cell lines

Procathepsin D (pCD) is a glycoprotein secreted abundantly by cancerous cells with a documented role in tumor development. The levels of pCD in primary tumors are highly correlated with an increased incidence of metastasis. Our earlier studies have shown that pCD exerts its effect on cancer cells through its activation peptide (AP) and involves both autocrine and paracrine modes of action. In this study, we analyzed the expression and role of pCD in MDA-MB-231 and its derived cell lines 1833 and 4175 possessing discrete metastatic abilities. Our results demonstrated a direct relationship between expression and secretion of pCD to the differential invasive potential of these cells. Also, the cell lines responded to AP treatment by enhancing their invasive potential, proliferation and induction of secretion of various cytokines, suggesting that pCD plays a role in metastasis through its AP region.     

Fractal dimension in aspiration cytology smears of breast and cervical lesions

OBJECTIVE: To standardize the automated measurement of fractal dimension on cytologic smears and compare the fractal dimension of benign and malignant breast cells and cervical lesions on cytologic material to evaluate its role in the discrimination of benign from malignant cells. STUDY DESIGN: We randomly selected fine needle aspiration cytology smears of 42 cases of infiltrating duct carcinoma and 38 cases of fibroadenoma of the breast. Similarly, 16 cervical carcinoma and 20 normal cervical smears were selected for study. Ten cells were selected randomly from each case. Box counting of fractal dimension of malignant and benign cells was achieved with an image cytometer (Leica, Cambridge, England) using Quantimet 600 software (Leica). Then a well-spaced grid with multiple small boxes of a particular pixel length was superimposed on the cell. The dimension of the box was selected as 4, 8 and 16 pixels. With the help of a logical "AND" operation, we counted the number of boxes touching the peripheral margin of the cell nuclei. For each cell, the log-log graph of 1 per box size was plotted against the number of boxes touching the peripheral rim of the cell. The slope of each graph was identified using the least-squares method of regression analysis. RESULTS: The mean fractal dimension of malignant cells was 0.8536 +/- 0.1120 as compared to 0.8403 +/- 0.1115 in benign cell groups. The Mann-Whitney U test showed a significant difference in fractal dimension in these 2 groups (P = .05). The mean fractal dimension of malignant cells from the cervix was 0.8656 +/- 0.1499 as compared to 0.8315 +/- 0.1312 in benign cells. The Mann-Whitney U test showed a significant difference in fractal dimension in these 2 groups (P < .02). CONCLUSION: Fractal dimension may be a helpful adjunctive technique to discriminate between benign and malignant cells.     

Climate and growth form: the consequences for genome size in plants

The adaptive significance of nuclear DNA variation in angiosperms is still widely debated. The discussion mainly revolves round the causative factors influencing genome size and the adaptive consequences to an organism according to its growth form and environmental conditions. Nuclear DNA values are now known for 3874 angiosperm species (including 773 woody species) from over 219 families (out of a total of 500) and 181 species of woody gymnosperms, representing all the families. Therefore, comparisons have been made on not only angiosperms, taken as a whole, but also on the subsets of data based on taxonomic groups, growth forms, and environment. Nuclear DNA amounts in woody angiosperms are restricted to less than 23.54 % of the total range of herbaceous angiosperms; this range is further reduced to 6.8 % when woody and herbaceous species of temperate angiosperms are compared. Similarly, the tropical woody dicots are restricted to less than 50.5 % of the total range of tropical herbaceous dicots, while temperate woody dicots are restricted to less than 10.96 % of the total range of temperate herbaceous dicots. In the family Fabaceae woody species account for less than 14.1 % of herbaceous species. Therefore, in the total angiosperm sample and in subsets of data, woody growth form is characterized by a smaller genome size compared with the herbaceous growth form. Comparisons between angiosperm species growing in tropical and temperate regions show highly significant differences in DNA amount and genome size in the total angiosperm sample. However, when only herbaceous angiosperms were considered, significant differences were obtained in DNA amount, while genome size showed a non-significant difference. An atypical result was obtained in the case of woody angiosperms where mean DNA amount of tropical species was almost 25.04 % higher than that of temperate species, which is because of the inclusion of 85 species of woody monocots in the tropical sample. The difference becomes insignificant when genome size is compared. Comparison of tropical and temperate species among dicots and monocots and herbaceous monocots taken separately showed significant differences both in DNA amount and genome size. In herbaceous dicots, while DNA amount showed significant differences the genome size varies insignificantly. There was a non-significant difference among tropical and temperate woody dicots. In three families, i.e., Poaceae, Asteraceae, and Fabaceae the temperate species have significantly higher DNA amount and genome size than the tropical ones. Woody gymnosperms had significantly more DNA amount and genome size than woody angiosperms, woody eudicots, and woody monocots. Woody monocots also had significantly more DNA amount and genome size than woody eudicots. Lastly, there was no significant difference between deciduous and evergreen hardwoods. The significance of these results in relation to present knowledge on the evolution of genome size is discussed.