Salinity and drought interaction in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is affected by the genotype and plant growth stage

Salinity and drought are important agro-environmental problems occurring separately as well as together with the combined occurrence increasing with time due to climate change. Screening of bread wheat genotypes against salinity or drought alone is common; however, little information is available on the response of wheat genotypes to a combination of these stresses. This study investigates the response of a salt-resistant (SARC-1) and a salt-sensitive (7-Cerros) wheat genotype to drought at different growth stages under non-saline (ECe 2.1 dS m^?1) and saline soil (ECe 15 dS m^?1) conditions. Drought was applied by withholding water for 21 days at a particular growth stage viz. tillering, booting, and grain filling stages. At booting stage measurements regarding water relations, leaf ionic composition and photosynthetic attributes were made. At maturity grain yield and different yield, components were recorded. Salinity and drought significantly decreased grain yield and different yield components with a higher decrease in the case of combined stress of salinity × drought. The complete drought treatment (drought at tillering + booting + grain filling stages) was most harmful for wheat followed by drought at booting stage and grain filling–tillering stages, respectively. The salt-resistant wheat genotype SARC-1 performed better than the salt-sensitive genotype 7-Cerros in different stress treatments. A decrease in the water and turgor potentials, photosynthetic and transpiration rates, stomatal conductance, leaf K⁺, and increased leaf Na⁺ were the apparent causes of growth and yield reduction of bread wheat due to salinity, drought, and salinity × drought.     

Characterization and gene mapping of a brittle culm mutant of diploid wheat (Triticum monococcum L.) with irregular xylem vessels development

Diploid wheat, Triticum monococcum L. (einkorn) is an ideal plant material for wheat functional genomics. Brittle culm mutant was identified by screening of the ethyl methane sulphonate-treated M ₂ progenies of a T. monococcum accession pau14087 by banding the plant parts manually. The brittle culm mutant with drooping leaves, early flowering, reduced tiller numbers and susceptible to lodging had also exhibited brittleness in all plant parts than the wild-type parents. Comprehensive mechanical strength, histological, biochemical, scanning electron microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analyses of brittle culm mutant supplemented and complemented the findings that the mutant had defective cellulose biosynthesis pathway and deposition of cell wall materials on secondary cell wall of mechanical tissues. Microscopic studies demonstrated that the decrease in cellulose contents resulted in the irregular cell wall organization in xylem vessels of leaf vascular bundles. To map the brc5 mutant, mapping populations were developed by crossing the brittle culm mutant with wild Triticum boeoticum acc. pau5088, having non-brittle characters. The brittle culm mutation was mapped between SSR markers, Xcfd39 and Xgwm126 on 5A^mL chromosome of T. monococcum, with genetic distances of 2.6 and 4.8 cM, respectively. The brc5 mutant mapped on 5A^mL, being distinct from a previously mapped brittle culm mutant in wheat, has been designated as brc5. The work on fine mapping and map-based cloning of brc5 gene regulating synthesis and deposition of cellulose on the secondary cell wall is in progress.     

Isolation of Coal Degrading Fungus from Drilled Core Coal Sample and Effect of Prior Fungal Pretreatment on Chemical Attributes of Extracted Humic Acid

Fungal degradation of low rank coal has appeared as an alternative technique for exploitation of non-fuel options. A fungal isolate, MW1, was isolated and coal sample was subjected to fungal pretreatment. The residual coal was processed for extraction of humic acid for determining the effect of such pretreatment. Extracted humic acid was analyzed on the basis of elemental composition and spectroscopy. Fungal pretreatment caused improvement in oxygen content, E₄/E₆ ratio, and absorption bands related to humic materials. Conclusively, pretreatment resulted in improving chemical attributes of humic acid molecule, thus, warranting supplementary high-tech investigations for the optimization of process upscale.     

Use of response surface methodology to study the effect of media composition on aflatoxin production by Aspergillus flavus

Aflatoxins are one of the most important secondary metabolites. These extrolites are produced by a number of Aspergillus fungi. In this study, we demonstrate the effect of media components and enhanced aflatoxin yield shown by A. flavus using response surface methodology in response to different nutrients. Different components of a chemically defined media that influence the aflatoxin production were monitored using Plackett–Burman experimental design and further optimized by Box–Behnken factorial design of response surface methodology in liquid culture. Interactions were studied with five variables, namely sorbitol, fructose, ammonium sulfate, KH₂PO₄, and MgSO₄.7H₂O. Maximum aflatoxin production was envisaged in medium containing 4.94 g/l sorbitol, 5.56 g/l fructose, 0.62 g/l ammonium sulfate, 1.33 g/l KH₂PO₄, and 0.65 g/l MgSO₄·7H₂O using response surface plots and the point prediction tool of the DESIGN EXPERT 8.1.0 (Stat-Ease, USA) software. However, a production of 5.25 μg/ml aflatoxin production was obtained, which was in agreement with the prediction observed in verification experiment. The other component (MgSO₄.7H₂O) was found to be an insignificant variable.     

Amelioration of cognitive impairment and neurodegeneration by catechin hydrate in rat model of streptozotocin-induced experimental dementia of Alzheimer’s type

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder resulting in cognitive decline and enhancement of oxidative loads in the brain. Flavonoids have been considered to exert human health benefits by anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. The present study is aimed to elucidate the neuroprotective effect of catechin hydrate (CH), a natural flavanoid with potential antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, on intracerebroventricular streptozotocin (ICV-STZ) induced neuronal loss and memory impairment. To test this hypothesis, male Wistar rats were pretreated with CH (10 and 20 mg/kg bwt) orally once daily for 21 days and then bilaterally injected with ICV-STZ (3 mg/kg bwt), while sham group rats receive the same volume of vehicle. After 2 weeks of ICV-STZ infusion, rats were tested for cognitive performance using Morris water maze (MWM) test and then sacrifice for biochemical and histopathological assays. CH was found to be successful in upregulating the antioxidant status and prevented the memory loss. The expression of choline acetyl transferase (ChAT) was decreased in ICV-STZ group and CH pretreatment increases the expression of ChAT. Moreover, inflammatory mediators like TNF-α, IL-1β levels and expression of iNOS were significantly attenuated by CH pretreatment. The study suggests that CH is effective in preventing memory loss, ameliorating the oxidative stress and might be beneficial for the treatment of sporadic dementia of Alzheimer’s type (SDAT).     

Supplementation with α-Lipoic Acid,CoQ10, and Vitamin E Augments Running Performance and Mitochondrial Function in Female Mice

Antioxidant supplements are widely consumed by the general public; however, their effects of on exercise performance are controversial. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of an antioxidant cocktail (α-lipoic acid, vitamin E and coenzyme Q10) on exercise performance, muscle function and training adaptations in mice. C57Bl/J6 mice were placed on antioxidant supplement or placebo-control diets (n = 36/group) and divided into trained (8 wks treadmill running) (n = 12/group) and untrained groups (n = 24/group). Antioxidant supplementation had no effect on the running performance of trained mice nor did it affect training adaptations; however, untrained female mice that received antioxidants performed significantly better than placebo-control mice (p ≤ 0.05). Furthermore, antioxidant-supplemented females (untrained) showed elevated respiratory capacity in freshly excised muscle fibers (quadriceps femoris) (p ≤ 0.05), reduced oxidative damage to muscle proteins (p ≤ 0.05), and increased expression of mitochondrial proteins (p ≤ 0.05) compared to placebo-controls. These changes were attributed to increased expression of proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1α (PGC-1α) (p ≤ 0.05) via activation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) (p ≤ 0.05) by antioxidant supplementation. Overall, these results indicate that this antioxidant supplement exerts gender specific effects; augmenting performance and mitochondrial function in untrained females, but does not attenuate training adaptations.     

Bacteriophage Receptor Binding Protein Based Assays for the Simultaneous Detection of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli

Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli are the most common bacterial causes of foodborne gastroenteritis which is occasionally followed by a debilitating neuropathy known as Guillain-Barré syndrome. Rapid and specific detection of these pathogens is very important for effective control and quick treatment of infection. Most of the diagnostics available for these organisms are time consuming and require technical expertise with expensive instruments and reagents to perform. Bacteriophages bind to their host specifically through their receptor binding proteins (RBPs), which can be exploited for pathogen detection. We recently sequenced the genome of C. jejuni phage NCTC12673 and identified its putative host receptor binding protein, Gp047. In the current study, we localized the receptor binding domain to the C-terminal quarter of Gp047. CC-Gp047 could be produced recombinantly and was capable of agglutinating both C. jejuni and C. coli cells unlike the host range of the parent phage which is limited to a subset of C. jejuni isolates. The agglutination procedure could be performed within minutes on a glass slide at room temperature and was not hindered by the presence of buffers or nutrient media. This agglutination assay showed 100% specificity and the sensitivity was 95% for C. jejuni (n = 40) and 90% for C. coli (n = 19). CC-Gp047 was also expressed as a fusion with enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP). Chimeric EGFP_CC-Gp047 was able to specifically label C. jejuni and C. coli cells in mixed cultures allowing for the detection of these pathogens by fluorescent microscopy. This study describes a simple and rapid method for the detection of C. jejuni and C. coli using engineered phage RBPs and offers a promising new diagnostics platform for healthcare and surveillance laboratories.     

Molten Globule of Hemoglobin Proceeds into Aggregates and Advanced Glycated End Products

Conformational alterations of bovine hemoglobin (Hb) upon sequential addition of glyoxal over a range of 0–90% v/v were investigated. At 20% v/v glyoxal, molten globule (MG) state of Hb was observed by altered tryptophan fluorescence, high ANS binding, existence of intact heme, native-like secondary structure as depicted by far-UV circular dichroism (CD) and ATR-FTIR spectra as well as loss in tertiary structure as confirmed by near-UV CD spectra. In addition, size exclusion chromatography analysis depicted that MG state at 20% v/v glyoxal corresponded to expanded pre-dissociated dimers. Aggregates of Hb were detected at 70% v/v glyoxal. These aggregates of Hb had altered tryptophan environment, low ANS binding, exposed heme, increased β-sheet secondary structure, loss in tertiary structure, enhanced thioflavin T (ThT) fluorescence and red shifted Congo Red (CR) absorbance. On incubating Hb with 30% v/v glyoxal for 0–20 days, advanced glycation end products (AGEs) were detected on day 20. These AGEs were characterised by enhanced tryptophan fluorescence at 450 nm, exposure of heme, increase in intermolecular β-sheets, enhanced ThT fluorescence and red shift in CR absorbance. Comet assay revealed aggregates and AGEs to be genotoxic in nature. Scanning electron microscopy confirmed the amorphous structure of aggregates and branched fibrils of AGEs. The transformation of α-helix to β-sheet usually alters the normal protein to amyloidogenic resulting in a variety of protein conformational disorders such as diabetes, prion and Huntington''s.     

Patient navigation pathway and barriers to treatment seeking in cancer in India: A qualitative inquiry

Cancer is a leading cause of mortality worldwide. Early diagnosis and treatment of cancer may curb the growing burden of the disease. Understanding cancer patients’ navigation pathways for seeking treatment is important in order to facilitate early diagnosis and treatment. With this background we conducted a hospital-based cross-sectional study comprising 68 randomly selected cancer inpatients in a tertiary cancer specialty hospital in Odisha, India, to explore the treatment-seeking pathways of the cancer patients and the barriers and enablers in seeking treatment. Financial constraint is one of the major reasons for the delay in accessing treatment, even when patients are suspected of or diagnosed with cancer. Low awareness of the presenting signs and symptoms of cancer and limited knowledge of the availability of cancer diagnosis and treatment facilities are major factors contributing to delay. Family and friends’ support is found to be the major enabling factor toward seeking treatment. Generation of awareness of cancer among the general population and primary-care practitioners – including those in alternative systems of medicine – is important. Information on diagnostic and treatment services appears to be a felt need.