Alkaloid production in Vernonia cinerea: Callus, cell suspension and root cultures

Fast-growing callus, cell suspension and root cultures of Vernonia cinerea, a medicinal plant, were analyzed for the presence of alkaloids. Callus and root cultures were established from young leaf explants in Murashige and Skoog (MS) basal media supplemented with combinations of auxins and cytokinins, whereas cell suspension cultures were established from callus cultures. Maximum biomass of callus, cell suspension and root cultures were obtained in the medium supplemented with 1 mg/L alpha-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) and 5 mg/L benzylaminopurine (BA), 1.0 mg/L NAA and 0.1 mg/L BA and 1.5 mg/L NAA, respectively. The 5-week-old callus cultures resulted in maximum biomass and alkaloid contents (750 microg/g). Cell suspension growth and alkaloid contents were maximal in 20-day-old cultures and alkaloid contents were 1.15 mg/g. A 0.2-g sample of root tissue regenerated in semi-solid medium upon transfer to liquid MS medium containing 1.5 mg/L NAA regenerated a maximum increase in biomass of 6.3-fold over a period of 5 weeks. The highest root growth and alkaloid contents of 2 mg/g dry weight were obtained in 5-week-old cultures. Maximum alkaloid contents were obtained in root cultures in vitro compared to all others including the alkaloid content of in vivo obtained with aerial parts and roots (800 microg/g and 1.2 mg/g dry weight, respectively) of V. cinerea.     

Traumatic suprahepatic inferior vena cava injury: surgical management

SUMMARY:: Suprahepatic inferior vena caval (IVC) injuries are rare but carry nearly a 100% mortality rate. The main problem with its surgical management is the technical difficulty in draining the IVC during cardiopulmonary bypass. In this report, an efficient method of IVC drainage for repair of the IVC on cardiopulmonary bypass is described.     

Field performance of bacterial inoculants to alleviate water stress effects in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Plant and Soil - Plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB) containing 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase can play an important role in abiotic stress tolerance in plants, particularly...     

Current advances and future directions in genetic enhancement of a climate resilient food legume crop,cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp.)

Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture (PCTOC) - Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) is a warm-season legume crop which is widely grown by resource-poor small and marginal farmers of Sub-Saharan...     

Seed Priming with Iron Oxide Nanoparticles Triggers Iron Acquisition and Biofortification in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Grains

Iron deficiency anaemia is a major challenge among consumers in developing countries. Given the deficiency of iron in the diet, there is an urgent need to devise a strategy for providing the required iron in the daily diet to counter the iron deficiency anaemia. We propose that iron biofortification of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) through seed priming would be an innovative strategy to address this issue. This investigation attempts to find the interaction of iron oxide nanoparticles on germination, growth parameters and accumulation of grain iron in two contrasting wheat genotypes WL711 (low-iron genotype) and IITR26 (high-iron genotype). Wheat seeds were primed with different concentrations of iron oxide nanoparticles in the range of 25–600 ppm, resulting in differential accumulation of grain iron contents. We observed a pronounced increase in germination percentage and shoot length at 400 and 200 ppm treatment concentrations in IITR26 and WL711 genotypes, respectively. Intriguingly, the treatment concentration of 25 ppm demonstrated higher accumulation with a significant increase in grain iron contents to 45.7% in IITR26 and 26.8% in WL711 genotypes, respectively. Seed priming represents an innovative and user-friendly approach for wheat biofortification which triggers iron acquisition and accumulation in grains.

     

Stabilization of hypoxia-inducible factor 1α by cobalt chloride impairs podocyte morphology and slit-diaphragm function

Glomerular podocytes are the major components of the renal filtration barrier, and altered podocyte permselectivity is a key event in the pathogenesis of proteinuric conditions. Clinical conditions such as ischemia and sleep apnea and extreme physiological conditions such as high-altitude sickness are presented with renal hypoxia and are associated with significant proteinuria. Hypoxia is considered as an etiological factor in the progression of acute renal injury. A sustained increase in hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF1α) is a major adaptive stimulus to the hypoxic conditions. Although the temporal association between hypoxia and proteinuria is known, the mechanism by which hypoxia elicits proteinuria remains to be investigated. Furthermore, stabilization of HIF1α is being considered as a therapeutic option to treat anemia in patients with chronic kidney disease. Therefore, in this study, we induced stabilization of HIF1α in glomerular regions in vivo and in podocytes in vitro upon exposure to cobalt chloride. The elevated HIF1α expression is concurrence with diminished expression of nephrin and podocin, podocyte foot-processes effacement, and significant proteinuria. Podocytes exposed to cobalt chloride lost their arborized morphology and cell-cell connections and also displayed cytoskeletal derangements. Elevation in expression of HIF1α is in concomitance with loss of nephrin and podocin in patients with diabetic nephropathy and chronic kidney disease. In summary, the current study suggests that HIF1α stabilization impairs podocyte function vis-à-vis glomerular permselectivity.     

Diminished energy metabolism and enhanced apoptosis in livers of B6C3F1 mice treated with the antihepatocarcinogen rotenone

Rotenone decreases the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma and lowers rates of hepatocellular proliferation. In an effort to delineate mechanisms involved, the in vivo effect of rotenone on liver mitochondrial metabolism, apoptotic machinery as well as elements of the hepatic signal transduction pathways were investigated. Mitochondria from livers of male B6C3F1 mice fed a standard diet containing 600 ppm rotenone for 7 days were uncoupled or inhibited when succinate or glutamate plus malate were used as the substrate, respectively. These livers also showed a significant increase in apoptosis compared with control livers. Furthermore, rotenone increased the expression of c-myc mRNA to 5-fold of control values within 3 days, an effect which was still observed (3-fold) after 7 days. Levels of p53 mRNA were also increased 3-fold after 1 day, but declined to control levels by 7 days. Rotenone also caused a transient, yet marked increase in liver particulate glyceraldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) protein expression, while it did not alter the expression of the cytosolic form of the enzyme. Conversely, mRNA of the proto-oncogene H-ras showed a decline of 35% after 3 days of rotenone treatment, and remained diminished for the duration of the experiment. These data suggest that rotenone may act as an anticancer agent by diminishing mitochondrial bioenergetics which prevents basal hepatocyte proliferation and lowers the threshold for liver cells with DNA damage to undergo apoptosis.