Rediscovery of Lichen Genus Psorotheciopsis Rehm for India

The genus Psorotheciopsis Rehm recorded by Cunningham from Calcutta in 1879 has been rediscovered for India after a gap of 135 years. The taxonomic characters of Psorotheciopsis patellarioides (Rehm) Rolf Santesson are provided to facilitate the identification of the species. (© 2013 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Repetitive elements sequence (REP/ERIC)-PCR based genotyping of clinical and environmental strains of Yersinia enterocolitica biotype 1A reveal existence of limited number of clonal groups

REP- and ERIC-PCR genotyping were used to assess genetic heterogeneity among 81 strains of Yersinia enterocolitica biotype 1A isolated from India, Germany, France and the USA. Although both gave comparable results, ERIC fingerprints discriminated the strains better. The rep- (REP and ERIC) PCR genotyping showed that strains having different serotypes produced identical rep-profiles indicating their limited genetic diversity. The concatenated dendrogram of REP- and ERIC-PCR fingerprints clustered the biotype 1A strains into two major groups. In each group, majority of the Indian, European and American strains exhibited similarities ranging from 85% to >95%. Similarity of rep-PCR fingerprints amongst strains isolated from widely separated geographical regions revealed existence of a limited number of clonal groups of Y. enterocolitica biotype 1A. The present study failed to reveal unequivocal relationships between rep-PCR genotypes and the source of isolation. However, the clinical serotype O:6,30-6,31 strains formed a tight cluster and the aquatic O:6,30-6,31 strains formed a yet another tight cluster.     

Aphrodisiac activity of Butea frondosa Koen. ex Roxb. extract in male rats.

In the present study, the aphrodisiac activity of Butea frondonsa Koen. ex Roxb (Papillionaceae) bark extract was investigated. The extract (400 mg/kg body wt./day) was administered orally by gavage for 28 days. Mount latency (ML), intromission latency (IL), ejaculation latency (EL), mounting frequency (MF), intromission frequency (IF), ejaculation frequency (EF) and post-ejaculatory interval (PEI) were the parameters observed before and during the sexual behavior study at day 0, 7, 10, 14, 21, and 28. The extract reduced significantly ML, IL, EL and PEI (p < 0.05). The extract also increased significantly MF, IF and EF (p < 0.05). These effects were observed in sexually active and inactive male rats.     

Occurrence of Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus in tropical and subtropical plants of Western Ghats, India

Endophytic bacteria were isolated from the tissues of surface sterilized roots, stems, and leaves of fifty different crop plants. Phenotypic, biochemical tests and species-specific PCR assay permitted identification of four isolates of Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus from root tissues of carrot (Daucus carota L.), raddish (Raphanus sativus L.), beetroot (Beta vulgaris L.) and coffee (Coffea arabica L.). Further the plant growth promoting traits such as nitrogenase activity, production of phytohormone indole acetic acid (IAA), phosphorus and zinc solubilization were assessed. Significant nitrogenase activity was recorded among the isolates and all the isolates produced IAA in the presence of tryptophan. Though all the four isolates efficiently solubilized phosphorus, the zinc solubilizing ability differed among the isolates.     

Sequencing approaches in cancer treatment

Use of sequencing approaches is an important aspect in the field of cancer genomics, where next‐generation sequencing has already been utilized for targeting oncogenes or tumour‐suppressor genes, that can be sequenced in a short time period. Alterations such as point mutations, insertions/deletions, copy number alterations, chromosomal rearrangements and epigenetic changes are encountered in cancer cell genomes, and application of various NGS technologies in cancer research will encounter such modifications. Rapid advancement in technology has led to exponential growth in the field of genomic analysis. The $1000 Genome Project (in which the goal is to sequence an entire human genome for $1000), and deep sequencing techniques (which have greater accuracy and provide a more complete analysis of the genome), are examples of rapid advancements in the field of cancer genomics. In this mini review, we explore sequencing techniques, correlating their importance in cancer therapy and treatment.     

Slow repair of lipid peroxidation-induced DNA damage at p53 mutation hotspots in human cells caused by low turnover of a DNA glycosylase

Repair of oxidative stress- and inflammation-induced DNA lesions by the base excision repair (BER) pathway prevents mutation, a form of genomic instability which is often observed in cancer as ‘mutation hotspots’. This suggests that some sequences have inherent mutability, possibly due to sequence-related differences in repair. This study has explored intrinsic mutability as a consequence of sequence-specific repair of lipid peroxidation-induced DNA adduct, 1, N⁶-ethenoadenine (εA). For the first time, we observed significant delay in repair of ϵA at mutation hotspots in the tumor suppressor gene p53 compared to non-hotspots in live human hepatocytes and endothelial cells using an in-cell real time PCR-based method. In-cell and in vitro mechanism studies revealed that this delay in repair was due to inefficient turnover of N-methylpurine-DNA glycosylase (MPG), which initiates BER of εA. We determined that the product dissociation rate of MPG at the hotspot codons was ≈5–12-fold lower than the non-hotspots, suggesting a previously unknown mechanism for slower repair at mutation hotspots and implicating sequence-related variability of DNA repair efficiency to be responsible for mutation hotspot signatures.     

Association mapping for wood quality and growth traits in Eucalyptus globulus ssp. globulus Labill identifies nine stable marker-trait associations for seven traits

The moderate to high levels of nucleotide diversity and low linkage disequilibrium found in many forest tree species make them ideal candidates for association mapping. Here, we report candidate gene-based association mapping results for complex wood quality and growth traits in Eucalyptus globulus Labill. ssp. globulus, the most widely grown eucalypt in temperate regions of the world. Ninety-eight single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from 20 wood quality candidate genes were assayed in a discovery population consisting of 385 trees sourced from a provenance-progeny trial. Twenty-five selected SNPs with significant associations (P?.