Bio-efficacy of some leaf extracts on the inhibition of egg hatching and mortality of Meloidogyne incognita

Nematicidal activities of extracts from plants were assayed against Meloidogyne incognita in vitro. Leaves of six different plants were collected in and around Aligarh Muslim University Campus. Aqueous extracts of six plants were screened for egg hatchability and nematicidal activity against second stage juveniles of M. incognita in the plant pathology and nematology laboratory, AMU Aligarh. The nematode egg and juveniles were exposed 12, 24 and 48 h in (S, S/2, S/10, S/100) concentrations of plant extracts. The plant extracts of leaves of six plants species viz. Jatropha pandurifolia, Polyalthia longifolia, Wedelia chinensis, Nerium indicum, Duranta repens and Cassia fistula exhibited highly promising mortality of 99.00–72.00% after 48 h of exposure. Aqueous extracts of leaves of J. pandurifolia, P. longifolia, W. chinensis were recorded to be highly effective for inhibition of egg hatching and increasing juvenile mortality of M. incognita. There was a gradual decrease in egg hatching and increase in mortality rate of juveniles of M. incognita with increase in the concentration of leaf extract and exposure time.     

Role of Nitric Oxide Isoforms in Vascular and Alveolar Development and Lung Injury in Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Overexpressing Neonatal Mice Lungs

Background

The role of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-induced 3 different nitric oxide synthase (NOS) isoforms in lung development and injury in the newborn (NB) lung are not known. We hypothesized that VEGF-induced specific NOS pathways are critical regulators of lung development and injury.

Methodology

We studied NB wild type (WT), lung epithelial cell-targeted VEGF165 doxycycline-inducible overexpressing transgenic (VEGFTG), VEGFTG treated with a NOS1 inhibitor (L-NIO), VEGFTG x NOS2^-/- and VEGFTG x NOS3^+/- mice in room air (RA) for 7 postnatal (PN) days. Lung morphometry (chord length), vascular markers (Ang1, Ang2, Notch2, vWF, CD31 and VE-cadherin), cell proliferation (Ki67), vascular permeability, injury and oxidative stress markers (hemosiderin, nitrotyrosine and 8-OHdG) were evaluated.

Results

VEGF overexpression in RA led to increased chord length and vascular markers at PN7, which were significantly decreased to control values in VEGFTG x NOS2^−/− and VEGFTG x NOS3^+/- lungs. However, we found no noticeable effect on chord length and vascular markers in the VEGFTG / NOS1 inhibited group. In the NB VEGFTG mouse model, we found VEGF-induced vascular permeability in the NB murine lung was partially dependent on NOS2 and NOS3-signaling pathways. In addition, the inhibition of NOS2 and NOS3 resulted in a significant decrease in VEGF-induced hemosiderin, nitrotyrosine- and 8-OHdG positive cells at PN7. NOS1 inhibition had no significant effect.

Conclusion

Our data showed that the complete absence of NOS2 and partial deficiency of NOS3 confers protection against VEGF-induced pathologic lung vascular and alveolar developmental changes, as well as injury markers. Inhibition of NOS1 does not have any modulating role on VEGF-induced changes in the NB lung. Overall, our data suggests that there is a significant differential regulation in the NOS-mediated effects of VEGF overexpression in the developing mouse lung.     

A RanGAP protein physically interacts with the NB-LRR protein Rx, and is required for Rx-mediated viral resistance

Race-specific disease resistance in plants is mediated by the products of host disease resistance (R) genes. Plant genomes possess hundreds of R gene homologs encoding nucleotide-binding and leucine-rich repeat (NB-LRR) proteins. NB-LRR proteins induce a disease resistance response following recognition of pathogen-encoded avirulence (Avr) proteins. However, little is known about the general mechanisms by which NB-LRR proteins recognize Avr proteins or how they subsequently induce defense responses. The Rx NB-LRR protein of potato confers resistance to potato virus X (PVX). Using a co-purification strategy, we have identified a Ran GTPase-activating protein (RanGAP2) as an Rx-interacting protein. We show by co-immunoprecipitation that this interaction is mediated in planta through the putative signaling domain at the Rx amino terminus. Overexpression of RanGAP2 results in activation of certain Rx derivatives. Likewise, knocking down RanGAP2 expression in Nicotiana benthamiana by virus-induced gene silencing compromises Rx-mediated resistance to PVX. Thus, we have demonstrated a novel role for a RanGAP in the function of a plant disease resistance response.     

Fermentanomics: Relating quality attributes of a monoclonal antibody to cell culture process variables and raw materials using multivariate data analysis

Fermentanomics is an emerging field of research and involves understanding the underlying controlled process variables and their effect on process yield and product quality. Although major advancements have occurred in process analytics over the past two decades, accurate real‐time measurement of significant quality attributes for a biotech product during production culture is still not feasible. Researchers have used an amalgam of process models and analytical measurements for monitoring and process control during production. This article focuses on using multivariate data analysis as a tool for monitoring the internal bioreactor dynamics, the metabolic state of the cell, and interactions among them during culture. Quality attributes of the monoclonal antibody product that were monitored include glycosylation profile of the final product along with process attributes, such as viable cell density and level of antibody expression. These were related to process variables, raw materials components of the chemically defined hybridoma media, concentration of metabolites formed during the course of the culture, aeration‐related parameters, and supplemented raw materials such as glucose, methionine, threonine, tryptophan, and tyrosine. This article demonstrates the utility of multivariate data analysis for correlating the product quality attributes (especially glycosylation) to process variables and raw materials (especially amino acid supplements in cell culture media). The proposed approach can be applied for process optimization to increase product expression, improve consistency of product quality, and target the desired quality attribute profile. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 31:1586–1599, 2015     

Effectiveness of biochar and compost on improving soil hydro-physical properties,crop yield and monetary returns in inceptisol subtropics

Organic manures in combination with biochar might improve efficacy of biochar in improving soil functions related to hydro-physical properties and a field experiment was conducted over the course of two years with two levels of biochar @ 0 and 2tha⁻¹ and four levels of compost (100% recommended dose of N through farm yard manure, 100% recommended dose of N through vermicompost, 50% recommended dose of N through farm yard manure, and vermicompost each, and unfertilized control). Each treatment was replicated three times in factorial randomized block design (RBD). The objective of this research was to determine the effects of biochar and compost on soil hydro-physical properties, water use efficiency, monetary returns and yield of knolkhol (Brassica oleracea var. gongyloides L.) under sub-tropics of North West India. Compared with no-biochar, application of biochar significantly increased knolkhol yield by 7.8% and soil properties (infiltration rate, aggregate stability, maximum water holding capacity and hydraulic conductivity). Similarly, integration of compost significantly enhanced the soil water retention, aggregate stability, hydraulic conductivity and crop yield and gave highest infiltration rate, water retention, hydraulic conductivity and crop yield under M3 (50 % N through farm yard manure, +50 % N through vermicompost) treatment. Furthermore, synergetic positive effect of biochar and compost were noted for soil infiltration rate (4–38%), water retention (0.9–13.7%), aggregate stability (6–10.7%) and yield (6–11.9%) over the sole application of compost. Combined use of farm yard manure, and vermicompost accompanied by biochar resulted in highest net returns and B:C ratio. Biochar in combination with farm yard manure, and vermicompost can enhance soil hydraulic properties resulting in increased crop yield and maximum monetary returns under subtropical conditions.     

Green synthesis of tellurium-doped SnO2 nanoparticles with sulfurized g-C3N4: Insights into methylene blue photodegradation and antibacterial capability

The construction of SnO₂ nanoparticles (NPs), specifically Te-doped SnO₂ NPs, using a simple and economical co-precipitation technique has been thoroughly described in this work. NH₃ served as the reducing agent in this procedure, whilst polyethylene glycol served as the capping agent. The primary goals of our work were to investigate the physicochemical properties of the synthesized SnO₂ NPs and assess their potential use as antibacterial agents and photocatalysts. Scanning electron microscopy–energy dispersive X-ray, ultraviolet light, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and other analytical techniques were used to thoroughly analyze the NPs. Based on the full width at half maximum of the most noticeable peaks in the XRD spectrum, the Debye–Scherrer equation was used to calculate the crystallite sizes, which indicated the presence of a single tetragonal SnO₂ phase. Particularly noteworthy was the exceptional photocatalytic activity of graphene-assisted Te-doped SnO₂ NPs, achieving an impressive decomposition efficiency of up to 98% in the photo-oxidation of methylene blue. Furthermore, our investigation delved into the antibacterial attributes of the synthesized SnO₂ NPs against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, demonstrating inhibitory effects on both bacteria strains. This suggests potential applications for these NPs in various environmental and medical contexts.     

Contamination of Red Chilli with Aflatoxin B1 in Pakistan

A survey of red chilli (Capsicum indicum) for contamination with aflatoxins was performed on different samples comprising whole, crushed and powdered red chilli collected from various stores located in the city of Karachi, Pakistan. Red chilli required rather rigorous clean-up procedure for removal of adulterants and interference resulting from various types of compounds. A modified Romer method followed by bi-directional thin layer chromatography (TLC) was used for the detection of aflatoxins and confirmatory tests were performed by spraying the TLC plates with 50% sulphuric acid and making the derivative with trifluoroacetic acid. Of all the 176 samples of red chilli examined, 66% were found to be contaminated with aflatoxin B₁. Generally, samples of red chilli exammined were found to be fairly low in aflatoxin B₁ content, whereas only seven samples were found to contain concentrations greater than 25 μg/kg of aflatoxin B₁.     

Determination of reduced, oxidized, and protein-bound glutathione in human plasma with precolumn derivatization with monobromobimane and liquid chromatography

This assay measures reduced (GSH), oxidized (GSSG, GSSR), and protein-bound (glutathione-protein mixed disulfides, ProSSG) glutathione in human plasma. Oxidized glutathione and ProSSG are converted to GSH in the presence of NaBH4, and, after precolumn derivatization with monobromobimane, GSH is quantitated by reversed-phase liquid chromatography and fluorescence detection. The NaBH4 concentration is optimized so that total recovery of oxidized glutathione is obtained and no interference with the formation/stability of the GSH-bimane adduct occurs. The presence of 50 microM dithioerythritol prevents reduced recovery at low concentrations of GSH, and the standard curve for GSH is linear over a wide concentration range and is super-imposed upon that obtained with GSSG. Selective determination of oxidized glutathione exploits the fact that N-ethylmaleimide (NEM) blocks free sulfhydryl groups and excess NEM is inactivated by the subsequent addition of NaBH4. To measure total glutathione including the protein-bound forms, the protein is solubilized with dimethyl sulfoxide, which is compatible with the other reagents and slightly increases the yield of the fluorescent GSH derivative. The assay is characterized by a sensitivity (less than 2 pmol) sufficiently high to detect the various forms of glutathione in plasma, by an analytical recovery of GSH and GSSG close to 100%, and by a within-day precision corresponding to a coefficient of variation of 7%. The assay was used to determine the dynamic relationships among various glutathione species in human plasma.