A comparative proteome assay on the quality of yardlong bean pods as influenced by the organic and inorganic nourishment systems

The assumption of enhanced nutritional quality of food produced through the organic systems against the inorganic systems is under constant challenge. Changes in nutritional quality under varying methods of crop nourishment, if any, should be through the differential translation of proteins and hence should be reflected in the proteome profile. The present study was undertaken to understand the effect of organic and inorganic crop nourishments on the nutritional quality of yardlong bean, through two-dimensional proteome profiling. Yardlong beans were raised separately under organic and inorganic nourishment and the proteome of pods was profiled. The differentially expressed and upregulated proteins from immature and mature pods from both the systems were characterized through MALDI-ToF/MS. Under both the production systems, differentially expressed proteins were the contributors to antioxidant properties at different pod maturity stages and pod quality was proven to be independent of crop nourishment system. This study does not support the hypothesis that organically produced foods will be nutritionally superior.     

High frequency embryoid and plantlet formation from tissue cultures of the Finger millet-Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn

Compact nodulated embryogenic callus differentiated from cultured seeds of Eleusine coracana (Finger Millet) on Murashige and Skoog (1962) basal medium with 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (1.0, 3.0 mg ^l). This embryogenic callus was maintained on a medium with a lower level of 2,4 — dichlorophenoxyacetic acid. At every subculture the embryogenic callus had some preexisting embryoids in it. With this method of subculture the callus has retained its morphogenic potential for four years. Following transfer to media with different levels of auxins and cytokinins, the callus showed varied patterns of growth and morphogenesis. Embryoids could be germinated in profusion to form plantlets which could be transferred to the field. Shoot buds also differentiated from the whole surface of the embryoid or from the flattened meristemoids.Abbreviations BAP 6-benzylaminopurine - IAA indole-3-acetic acid - 2,4-D 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid - NAA napthaleneacetic acid - IBA indolebutyric acid - KN kinetin - MS Murashige and Skoog (1962) - GA₃ Gibberellic acid     

A flagellar A-kinase anchoring protein with two amphipathic helices forms a structural scaffold in the radial spoke complex

A-kinase anchoring proteins (AKAPs) contain an amphipathic helix (AH) that binds the dimerization and docking (D/D) domain, RIIa, in cAMP-dependent protein kinase A (PKA). Many AKAPs were discovered solely based on the AH–RIIa interaction in vitro. An RIIa or a similar Dpy-30 domain is also present in numerous diverged molecules that are implicated in critical processes as diverse as flagellar beating, membrane trafficking, histone methylation, and stem cell differentiation, yet these molecules remain poorly characterized. Here we demonstrate that an AKAP, RSP3, forms a dimeric structural scaffold in the flagellar radial spoke complex, anchoring through two distinct AHs, the RIIa and Dpy-30 domains, in four non-PKA spoke proteins involved in the assembly and modulation of the complex. Interestingly, one AH can bind both RIIa and Dpy-30 domains in vitro. Thus, AHs and D/D domains constitute a versatile yet potentially promiscuous system for localizing various effector mechanisms. These results greatly expand the current concept about anchoring mechanisms and AKAPs.     

Antifungal activity of a series of 1,2-benzisothiazol-3(2H)-one derivatives

A series of broad-spectrum antifungal agents based on the 1,2-benzisothiazol-3(2H)-one scaffold is reported. Preliminary structure-activity relationship studies have established the importance of the presence of the heterocyclic ring, a methyl group, and a phenyl ring for optimal manifestation of antifungal activity.     

The Effects of Excipients and Particle Engineering on the Biophysical Stability and Aerosol Performance of Parathyroid Hormone (1-34) Prepared as a Dry Powder for Inhalation

Pulmonary delivery of therapeutic peptides and proteins has many advantages including high relative bioavailability, rapid systemic absorption and onset of action and a non-invasive mode of administration which improves patient compliance. In this study, we investigated the effect of spray-drying (SD) and spray freeze-drying processes on the stability and aerosol performance of parathyroid hormone (PTH) (1-34) microparticles. In this study, the stabilisation effect of trehalose (a non-reducing sugar) and Brij 97 (a non-ionic surfactant) on spray-dried PTH particles was assessed using analytical techniques including circular dichroism (CD), fluorescence spectroscopy, modulated differential scanning calorimetry and an in vitro bioactivity assay. Physical characterisation also included electron microscopy, tap density measurement and laser light diffraction. The aerosol aerodynamic performance of the formulations was assessed using the Andersen cascade impactor. Based on these studies, a formulation for spray freeze-drying was selected and the effects of the two particle engineering techniques on the biophysical stability and aerosol performance of the resulting powders was determined. CD, fluorescence spectroscopy and bioactivity data suggest that trehalose when used alone as a stabilising excipient produces a superior stabilising effect than when used in combination with a non-ionic surfactant. This highlights the utility of CD and fluorescence spectroscopy studies for the prediction of protein bioactivity post-processing. Therefore, a method and formulation suitable for the preparation of PTH as a dry powder was developed based on spray-drying PTH with trehalose as a stabiliser with the bioactivity of SD PTH containing trehalose being equivalent to that of unprocessed PTH.     

Genetic integrity of somaclonal variants in tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) O Kuntze) as revealed by inter simple sequence repeats

Adoption of inter simple sequence repeats (ISSR) technique to analyze the genetic variability of somatic embryo derived tea plants was evaluated. Morphological characterisation of the field grown plants revealed no identical character aligning with the parent, UPASI-10. Out of 40 primers, 15 exhibited concurrent polymorphism were selected for the study. Genetic variability of somaclones derived from single line cotyledonary culture ranged from 33.0 to 55.0%. A unique fragment of 1.2Kb was visible in majority of the accessions whereas the fragments below the length of 0.6Kb were noticed only in 50% of the variants. Out of 120 interactions attempted using Pearson's coefficient correlation, only 9.2% of somaclones exhibited significant similarity at genetic level. Dendrogram constructed based on simple matching coefficient revealed a distance of 2.257-3.317 between the final clusters. This strengthens the existence of wide genetic variation among the somaclones.     

Down-regulation of PERK enhances resistance to ionizing radiation

Although, ionizing radiation (IR) has been implicated to cause stress in endoplasmic reticulum (ER), how ER stress signaling and major ER stress sensors modulate cellular response to IR is unclear. Protein kinase RNA-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK) is an ER transmembrane protein which initiates unfolded protein response (UPR) or ER stress signaling when ER homeostasis is disturbed. Here, we report that down-regulation of PERK resulted in increased clonogenic survival, enhanced DNA repair and reduced apoptosis in irradiated cancer cells. Our study demonstrated that PERK has a role in sensitizing cancer cells to IR.