Moringa oleifera Extract as a Natural Plant Biostimulant

Moringa, belonging to Moringaceae, is known as the “Miracle Tree” that has versatile uses in both animals and plants. The extract from Moringa oliefera serves as a cheap, eco-friendly, novel biostimulator, and bioenhancer that increases sustainable agriculture practices and crop production. Moringa contains several essential components like mineral nutrients, phytohormones (e.g., auxins, gibberellins, and cytokinins), vitamins, flavonols, phenols, sterols, and tannins, as well as several phytochemicals that make it highly beneficial for plants. It induces seed germination, plant growth, photosynthesis, and yields traits at a low cost. It also increases flowering, improves floral traits, fruiting, post-harvesting, and product quality of the fruit, and decreases senescence. Abiotic stresses have a detrimental effect on plant growth and development. The application of Moringa extracts on plants mitigates abiotic stress like salinity, drought, heavy metal, and heat by promoting the activity of antioxidant enzymes and increasing the content of phenols, flavonols, sugars, and osmolyte, which reduces the level of reactive oxygen species, lipid peroxidation, and electrolyte leakage. In particular, Moringa accelerates plant growth, relative water content, water use efficiency, mineral content, gas exchange traits, and yield attributes under stressful environmental conditions. Moringa serves as an essential biopesticide against plant pathogens, and is used in disease management and plant sustenance.

     

Prophylactic Treatment with a G Glycoprotein Monoclonal Antibody Reduces Pulmonary Inflammation in Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV)-Challenged Na?ve and Formalin-Inactivated RSV-Immunized BALB/c Mice

We examined whether prophylactically administered anti-respiratory syncytial virus (anti-RSV) G monoclonal antibody (MAb) would decrease the pulmonary inflammation associated with primary RSV infection and formalin-inactivated RSV (FI-RSV)-enhanced disease in mice. MAb 131-2G administration 1 day prior to primary infection reduced the pulmonary inflammatory response and the level of RSV replication. Further, intact or F(ab′)₂ forms of MAb 131-2G administered 1 day prior to infection in FI-RSV-vaccinated mice reduced enhanced inflammation and disease. This study shows that an anti-RSV G protein MAb might provide prophylaxis against both primary infection and FI-RSV-associated enhanced disease. It is possible that antibodies with similar reactivities might prevent enhanced disease and improve the safety of nonlive virus vaccines.Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection in infants and young children causes substantial bronchiolitis and pneumonia (11, 27, 28, 40) resulting in 40,000 to 125,000 hospitalizations in the United States each year (27). RSV is also a prominent cause of respiratory illness in older children; those of any age with compromised cardiac, pulmonary, or immune systems; and the elderly (6, 7, 11, 17, 18, 39). Despite extensive efforts toward vaccine development (3, 5, 8, 20, 30, 38), none is yet available. Currently, only preventive measures are available that focus on infection control to decrease transmission and prophylactic administration of a humanized IgG monoclonal antibody (MAb) directed against the F protein of RSV (palivizumab) that is recommended for high-risk infants and young children (4, 7, 17). To date, no treatment has been highly effective for active RSV infection (17, 21).The first candidate vaccine, a formalin-inactivated RSV (FI-RSV) vaccine developed in the 1960s, not only failed to protect against disease but led to severe RSV-associated lower respiratory tract infection in young vaccine recipients upon subsequent natural infection (8, 16). The experience with FI-RSV has limited nonlive RSV vaccine development for the RSV-naïve infant and young child. Understanding the factors contributing to disease pathogenesis and FI-RSV vaccine-enhanced disease may identify ways to prevent such a response and to help achieve a safe and effective vaccine.The RSV G, or attachment, protein has been implicated in the pathogenesis of disease after primary infection and FI-RSV-enhanced disease (2, 26, 31). The central conserved region of the G protein contains four evolutionarily conserved cysteines in a cysteine noose structure, within which lies a CX3C chemokine motif (9, 29, 34). The G protein CX3C motif is also immunoactive, as suggested by studies with the mouse model that show that G protein CX3C motif interaction with CX3CR1 alters pulmonary inflammation (41), RSV-specific T-cell responses (12), FI-RSV vaccine-enhanced disease, and expression of the neurokinin substance P (14) and also depresses respiratory rates (32). Recent studies demonstrated that therapeutic treatment with a murine anti-RSV G protein monoclonal antibody (MAb 131-2G) which blocks binding to CX3CR1 can reduce pulmonary inflammation associated with primary infection (13, 23). These findings led us to hypothesize that prophylactic administration of this anti-RSV G monoclonal antibody may also diminish pulmonary inflammation associated with RSV infection in naïve and in FI-RSV-vaccinated mice. In this study, we evaluate the impact of prophylactic administration of MAb 131-2G on the pulmonary inflammatory response to primary infection and to RSV challenge following FI-RSV immunization in mice.     

Salt-induced modulation in growth,photosynthesis and antioxidant system in two varieties of Brassica juncea

The present study was carried out to examine salt-induced modulation in growth, photosynthetic characteristics and antioxidant system in two cultivars of Brassica juncea Czern and Coss varieties (Varuna and RH-30). The surface sterilized seeds of these varieties were sown in the soil amended with different levels (2.8, 4.2 or 5.6 dsm⁻¹) of sodium chloride under a simple randomized block design. The salt treatment significantly decreased growth, net photosynthetic rate and its related attributes, chlorophyll fluorescence, SPAD value of chlorophyll, leaf carbonic anhydrase activity and leaf water potential, whereas electrolyte leakage, proline content, and activity of catalase, peroxidase and superoxide dismutase enzymes increased in both the varieties at 30 d stage of growth. The variety Varuna was found more resistant than RH-30 to the salt stress and possessed higher values for growth, photosynthetic attributes and antioxidant enzymes. Out of the graded concentrations (2.8, 4.2 or 5.6 dsm⁻¹) of sodium chloride, 2.8 sm⁻¹ was least toxic and 5.6 dsm⁻¹ was most harmful. The variation in the responses of these two varieties to salt stress is attributed to their differential photosynthetic traits, SPAD chlorophyll value and antioxidant capacity, which can be used as potential markers for screening mustard plants for salt tolerance.     

Accurate detection of subclonal single nucleotide variants in whole genome amplified and pooled cancer samples using HaloPlex target enrichment

Background

Target enrichment and resequencing is a widely used approach for identification of cancer genes and genetic variants associated with diseases. Although cost effective compared to whole genome sequencing, analysis of many samples constitutes a significant cost, which could be reduced by pooling samples before capture. Another limitation to the number of cancer samples that can be analyzed is often the amount of available tumor DNA. We evaluated the performance of whole genome amplified DNA and the power to detect subclonal somatic single nucleotide variants in non-indexed pools of cancer samples using the HaloPlex technology for target enrichment and next generation sequencing.

Results

We captured a set of 1528 putative somatic single nucleotide variants and germline SNPs, which were identified by whole genome sequencing, with the HaloPlex technology and sequenced to a depth of 792–1752. We found that the allele fractions of the analyzed variants are well preserved during whole genome amplification and that capture specificity or variant calling is not affected. We detected a large majority of the known single nucleotide variants present uniquely in one sample with allele fractions as low as 0.1 in non-indexed pools of up to ten samples. We also identified and experimentally validated six novel variants in the samples included in the pools.

Conclusion

Our work demonstrates that whole genome amplified DNA can be used for target enrichment equally well as genomic DNA and that accurate variant detection is possible in non-indexed pools of cancer samples. These findings show that analysis of a large number of samples is feasible at low cost, even when only small amounts of DNA is available, and thereby significantly increases the chances of indentifying recurrent mutations in cancer samples.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2164-14-856) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Results in children of acute lymphoid leukaemia protocol ICIG-ALL 9 consisting of chemotherapy for only nine months followed by active immunotherapy

Summary Protocol ICIG-ALL 9 with only nine months' remission chemotherapy followed by active immunotherapy has given a proportion of about 50% of the patients on the plateau of the first remission curve, while 60% of the children are on the plateau of survival curve.These results do not differ from those of another protocol (ICIG-ALL 10) conducted on an identical population of patients and comprising a 25 month remission chemotherapy before immunotherapy.This observation, confirmed by a randomized trial of the EORTC Haemopathy Working Party, suggests that between the 9th and the 25th month, active immunotherapy is as efficient as maintenance chemotherapy.The overall results of this protocol with short chemotherapy followed by active immunotherapy have been compared with those of another prolonged maintenance chemotherapy before immunotherapy protocol (ICIG-ALL 11), and with published protocols comprising only long maintenance chemotherapy: protocol 9 is, as far as the first remission plateau and the survival plateau are concerned, superior to most of these protocols (if not all their branches).Lethal toxicity of active immunotherapy is nil, in contrast to the proportion of deaths (4–28%) occurring during remission in the patients submitted to maintenance chemotherapy.However, not all patients with so-called acute lymphoid leukaemias should be treated identically: our early prognosis parameters (WHO cytological types and volume of the tumour, in this study) allow us to distinguish a good prognosis group in which protocol 9 gave an 80% cure expectancy.The patients with a poor prognosis should be the object of further research for a more efficient therapy. Even if this should be more intensive, the risk is justified in this group, while it is not so for the good prognosis group.     

A role for brassinosteroids in the amelioration of aluminium stress through antioxidant system in mung bean (Vigna radiata L. Wilczek)

Brassinosteroids (BRs) elicit diverse physiological responses and ameliorate various biotic and abiotic stresses. With an aim to further explore and elaborate their role in plants subjected to abiotic stress, more specifically the heavy metal stress, the seedlings of mung bean were grown in a plant growth chamber under controlled conditions, on a sandy substratum. The seedlings were subjected to aluminium (0.0, 1.0 or 10.0 mM) stress, at 1-week-old stage and were sprayed with 0 or 10^?8 M of 24-epibrassinolide (EBL) or 28-homobrassinolide (HBL) at 14-day stage. The analysis of the plants at the completion of 3 weeks of growth revealed that the presence of aluminium in the nutrient medium caused a sharp reduction in growth (length, fresh and dry mass of root and shoot), the activity of carbonic anhydrase (E.C. 4.2.1.1), relative water content, water use efficiency, chlorophyll content and the rate of photosynthesis. However, the activity of antioxidative enzymes [catalase (E.C. 1.11.1.6), peroxidase (E.C. 1.11.1.7) and superoxide dismutase (E.C. 1.15.1.1)] in leaves and the content of proline, both in leaves and roots increased in the aluminium-stressed plants. The spray of EBL or HBL, in absence of aluminium strongly favoured the above parameters and also improved them, in the plants grown under aluminium stress. Moreover, it is also noteworthy that EBL and HBL caused a further stimulation of antioxidative enzymes and proline content, which were already enhanced by aluminium stress. This led us to the conclusion that the elevated level of proline in association with antioxidant system, at least in part, was responsible for the amelioration of Al stress in mung bean seedlings.     

Soil cadmium enrichment: Allocation and plant physiological manifestations

Cadmium (Cd) in soil is enriched through several leaky management agricultural practices and natural resources. Cd enriched soil is inevitable cause of nutritional stress besides Cd induced toxicity symptoms and physiological malfunctions. Redox signals shift toward oxidative stress which accelerates cellular damage and elicits defense mechanism at the cost of growth. Plants get enriched with this toxic, abundant and undesirable element through ‘mineral uptake system’ non-specifically. Different components and pathways have been marked cooperating in cellular sequestration and systemic localization of Cd, escaped from avoidance and efflux. Cd induced metabolic alteration led to electron leakage as ROS, reduced photosynthesis and carbon fixation. Compromised primary metabolism negatively feedbacks the plant growth, result into loss of potential crop yield.