Mode of Action of IAA and GA3 on Root and Shoot Growth of Epiphyllous Buds of Bryophyllum tubiflorum

Darkness and GA₃ stimulate the elongation of the first internodebut inhibit the production of roots while IAA inhibits internodalelongation but promotes the production of roots on epiphyllousbuds of Bryophylhum tubiflorum. Cycloheximide inhibits both,implicating the synthesis of proteins in the growth of bothroot and shoot. Even pre-treatment of buds with cycloheximidefor 4 h inhibits rooting as well as internodal elongation whenthese are subsequently transferred to IAA or GA₃. On the otherhand, pre-treatment with IAA or GA₃ even for 8 h does not alleviatethe inhibitory effect of cycloheximide suggesting that thereis a lag period between the application of these regulatorsand the synthesis of proteins caused by them.     

Alteration in lipid composition differentiates breast cancer tissues: a <Superscript>1</Superscript>H HRMAS NMR metabolomic study

Introduction

Breast cancer is the most frequent diagnosed cancer among women with a mortality rate of 15% of all cancer related deaths in women. Breast cancer is heterogeneous in nature and produces plethora of metabolites allowing its early detection using molecular diagnostic techniques like magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Objectives

To evaluate the variation in metabolic profile of breast cancer focusing on lipids as triglycerides (TG) and free fatty acids (FFA) that may alter in malignant breast tissues and lymph nodes from adjacent benign breast tissues by HRMAS ¹H NMR spectroscopy.

Methods

The ¹H NMR spectra recorded on 173 tissue specimens comprising of breast tumor tissues, adjacent tissues, few lymph nodes and overlying skin tissues obtained from 67 patients suffering from breast cancer. Multivariate statistical analysis was employed to identify metabolites acting as major confounders for differentiation of malignancy.

Result

Reduction in lipid content were observed in malignant breast tissues along with a higher fraction of FFA. Four small molecule metabolites e.g., choline containing compounds (Chocc), taurine, glycine, and glutamate were also identified as major confounders. The test set for prediction provided sensitivity and specificity of more than 90% excluding the lymph nodes and skin tissues.

Conclusion

Fatty acids composition in breast cancer using in vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) is gaining its importance in clinical settings (Coum et al. in Magn Reson Mater Phys Biol Med 29:1–4, 2016). The present study may help in future for precise evaluation of lipid classification including small molecules as a source of early diagnosis of invasive ductal carcinoma by employing in vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopic methods.

     

Studies on inheritance of resistance and allelic relationships for strain 2 of pigeonpea sterility mosaic pathogen

Inheritance of resistance and allelic relationships were studied in three resistant pigeonpea sources for strain 2 of sterility mosaic pathogen. The resistant genotypes (ICP 7035, ICP 7349 and ICP 8850) were crossed with susceptible genotypes (BDN1 and LRG30) to determine the inheritance of resistance. The resistant and susceptible genotypes were also crossed among themselves to obtain information on their allelic relationships. Parents, F₁ and F₂ generations were sown in pots and screened using infector-hedge technique. Observations in parents, F₁ and F₂ generations, indicated dominance of resistance in certain crosses and the dominance of susceptibility in others. Disease reaction appeared to be governed by two independent non-allelic genes, with at least three multiple alleles, at one of the loci.     

Tolerance to reniform nematode (Rotylenchulus reniformis) race A in pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan) genotypes

The reniform nematode (Rotylenchulus reniformis) is an important pathogen of pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan). Forty‐six medium maturity (mature in 151–200 days at Patancheru, India) pigeonpea genotypes were evaluated for resistance and tolerance to the reniform nematode in greenhouse and field tests, over the period 1990–97. Each genotype was screened for number of nematode egg masses on a 1 (no egg mass = highly resistant) to 9 (> 50 egg masses = highly susceptible) scale. Plant biomass production in carbofurantreated plots was compared with that in non‐treated plots in a field naturally infested with R. reniformis. Pigeonpea genotypes C 11, ICPL 87119 and ICPL 270 were used as nematode susceptible checks. Genotypes with good plant growth, both in nematode‐free and nematode‐infested plots, were identified as tolerant and evaluated for plant growth and yield for at least three years. All the tested genotypes were susceptible (7 and 9 egg mass score). Single‐plant‐selections, based on plant vigour and yield, were made from genotypes showing tolerance to nematode infection. The level of tolerance was enhanced by plant‐to‐progeny row selection for plant vigour and seed yield in a nematode‐sick field for at least three years. The most promising nematode tolerant genotypes produced significantly greater yield and biomass than the locally grown pigeonpea cultivars in fields naturally infested with R. reniformis at two locations. Pigeonpea landraces are considered to be the most likely sources of tolerance to the nematode. These reniform nematode tolerant lines represent new germplasm and they are available in the genebank of pigeonpea at ICRISAT bearing accession numbers ICP 16329, ICP 16330, ICP 16331, ICP 16332, and ICP 16333.     

Host Reticulocytes Provide Metabolic Reservoirs That Can Be Exploited by Malaria Parasites

Human malaria parasites proliferate in different erythroid cell types during infection. Whilst Plasmodium vivax exhibits a strong preference for immature reticulocytes, the more pathogenic P. falciparum primarily infects mature erythrocytes. In order to assess if these two cell types offer different growth conditions and relate them to parasite preference, we compared the metabolomes of human and rodent reticulocytes with those of their mature erythrocyte counterparts. Reticulocytes were found to have a more complex, enriched metabolic profile than mature erythrocytes and a higher level of metabolic overlap between reticulocyte resident parasite stages and their host cell. This redundancy was assessed by generating a panel of mutants of the rodent malaria parasite P. berghei with defects in intermediary carbon metabolism (ICM) and pyrimidine biosynthesis known to be important for P. falciparum growth and survival in vitro in mature erythrocytes. P. berghei ICM mutants (pbpepc^-, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase and pbmdh^-, malate dehydrogenase) multiplied in reticulocytes and committed to sexual development like wild type parasites. However, P. berghei pyrimidine biosynthesis mutants (pboprt^-, orotate phosphoribosyltransferase and pbompdc^-, orotidine 5′-monophosphate decarboxylase) were restricted to growth in the youngest forms of reticulocytes and had a severe slow growth phenotype in part resulting from reduced merozoite production. The pbpepc^-, pboprt^- and pbompdc^- mutants retained virulence in mice implying that malaria parasites can partially salvage pyrimidines but failed to complete differentiation to various stages in mosquitoes. These findings suggest that species-specific differences in Plasmodium host cell tropism result in marked differences in the necessity for parasite intrinsic metabolism. These data have implications for drug design when targeting mature erythrocyte or reticulocyte resident parasites.     

Comparison of Groundnut bud necrosis virus isolates based on movement protein (NSm) gene sequences

The nucleotide and amino acid sequences of the movement protein (NSm) genes of five isolates of Groundnut bud necrosis virus (GBNV) originating from different hosts and parts of India such as cowpea and tomato from Kerala, groundnut from Tamil Nadu, and potato from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan were determined and compared to the known NSm sequences. Sequence analysis revealed that the NSm genes of GBNV isolates were identical in length (924 bp encoding 307 amino acids). GBNV isolates shared maximum identity (98–100%) at amino acid levels with GBNV‐Type isolate, while 82–83% and 34–65% amino acid sequence identities were observed with Watermelon silver mottle virus and other Tospoviruses respectively. The NSm genes among GBNV isolates originating from different hosts and locations appeared highly conserved (93–100%), suggesting their common origin.     

Using ant-based agents for congestion control in ad-hoc wireless sensor networks

Ad-hoc wireless sensor networks suffer from problems of congestion, which lead to packet loss and excessive energy consumption. In this paper, we address the issue of congestion in these networks. We propose a new routing protocol for wireless sensor networks namely Ant-based Routing with Congestion Control (ARCC), which takes into account the congestion of the network at a given instant and proposes to reduce it and then finds the optimum paths between the source and the sink nodes. Simulation results show that ARCC performs better with respect to the throughput, the number of packets lost and the priority performance.     

Rapid detection and quantification of specific proteins by immunodepletion and microfluidic separation

Conventional immunoblotting techniques are labor intensive, time consuming and rely on the elution of target protein after depletion. Here we describe a new method for detection and quantification of proteins, independent of washing and elution. In this method, the target protein is first captured by immunodepletion with antibody-coated microbeads. In the second step, both the supernatant after immunodepletion and the untreated protein sample are directly analyzed by microfluidic electrophoresis without further processing. Subsequently, the detection and quantification are performed by comparing the electropherograms of these two samples. This method was tested using an Escherichia coli lysate with a FLAG-tagged protein and anti-FLAG magnetic beads. An incubation of as short as one min was sufficient for detectable depletion (66%) by microchip electrophoresis. Longer incubation (up to 60 min) resulted in more depletion of the target band (82%). Our results show that only 19% of the target is recovered after elution from the beads. By eliminating multiple wash and elution steps, our method is faster, less labor intensive, and highly reproducible. The target protein can still be easily identified even in the case of nonspecific binding at low concentrations. This work highlights the advantages of integrating immunodepletion techniques on a microfluidic platform.     

Storage of Pollen Grains in Organic Solvents: Effect of Organic Solvents on Leaching of Phospholipids and its Relationship to Pollen Viability

In vitro germinability and membrane integrity (as revealed bythe fluorochromatic reaction (FCR) test) of pollen grains ofCrotalaria retusa L. stored in various organic solvents forsix months at –20±2 °C were studied and correlatedwith leaching of lipids, phospholipids, sugars and free aminoacids from pollen grains into organic solvents during storage.Pollen grains stored in organic solvents with low dielectricconstants (a measure of their non-polar nature), such as hexane,cyclohexane and diethyl ether, showed high scores for germinationand FCR and very little leaching of phospholipids, sugars andamino acids. Pollen grains stored in solvents with high dielectricconstants (a measure of their polar nature) such as isopropanoland methanol did not show germination or positive FCR scores,but showed extensive leaching of phospholipids, sugars and freeamino acids. The viability of pollen grains stored in organicsolvents seems to be determined largely by the effect of theorganic solvents on pollen phospholipid composition, which inturn affects membrane integrity and consequently pollen viability. Crotalaria retusa, organic solvents, pollen storage, viability, phospholipids     

Patterns of Bat Fatalities at Wind Energy Facilities in North America

Abstract Wind has become one of the fastest growing sources of renewable energy worldwide, but widespread and often extensive fatalities of bats have increased concern regarding the impacts of wind energy development on bats and other wildlife. We synthesized available information on patterns of bat fatalities from a review of 21 postconstruction fatality studies conducted at 19 facilities in 5 United States regions and one Canadian province. Dominance of migratory, foliage- and tree-roosting lasiurine species (e.g., hoary bat [Lasiurus cinereus]) killed by turbines was consistent among studies. Bat fatalities, although highly variable and periodic, consistently peaked in late summer and fall, coinciding with migration of lasiurines and other species. A notable exception was documented fatalities of pregnant female Brazilian freetailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) in May and June at a facility in Oklahoma, USA, and female silver-haired bats (Lasionycteris noctivagans) during spring in Tennessee, USA, and Alberta, Canada. Most studies reported that fatalities were distributed randomly across turbines at a site, although the highest number of fatalities was often found near the end of turbine strings. Two studies conducted simultaneously in the same region documented similar timing of fatalities between sites, which suggests broader patterns of collisions dictated by weather, prey abundance, or other factors. None of the studies found differences in bat fatalities between turbines equipped with lighting required by the Federal Aviation Administration and turbines that were unlit. All studies that addressed relationships between bat fatalities and weather patterns found that most bats were killed on nights with low wind speed (<6 m/sec) and that fatalities increased immediately before and after passage of storm fronts. Weather patterns may be predictors of bat activity and fatality; thus, mitigation efforts that focus on these high-risk periods could reduce bat fatality substantially. We caution that estimates of bat fatality are conditioned by length of study and search interval and that they are biased in relation to how searcher efficiency, scavenger removal, and habitat differences were or were not accounted for. Our review will assist managers, biologists, and decision-makers with understanding unifying and unique patterns of bat fatality, biases, and limitations of existing efforts, and it will aid in designing future research needed to develop mitigation strategies for minimizing or eliminating bat fatality at wind facilities.