Identification and functional validation of a unique set of drought induced genes preferentially expressed in response to gradual water stress in peanut

Peanut, found to be relatively drought tolerant crop, has been the choice of study to characterize the genes expressed under gradual water deficit stress. Nearly 700 genes were identified to be enriched in subtractive cDNA library from gradual process of drought stress adaptation. Further, expression of the drought inducible genes related to various signaling components and gene sets involved in protecting cellular function has been described based on dot blot experiments. Fifty genes (25 regulators and 25 functional related genes) selected based on dot blot experiments were tested for their stress responsiveness using northern blot analysis and confirmed their nature of differential regulation under different field capacity of drought stress treatments. ESTs generated from this subtracted cDNA library offered a rich source of stress-related genes including signaling components. Additional 50% uncharacterized sequences are noteworthy. Insights gained from this study would provide the foundation for further studies to understand the question of how peanut plants are able to adapt to naturally occurring harsh drought conditions. At present functional validation cannot be deemed in peanut, hence as a proof of concept seven orthologues of drought induced genes of peanut have been silenced in heterologous N. benthamiana system, using virus induced gene silencing method. These results point out the functional importance for HSP70 gene and key regulators such as Jumonji in drought stress response. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. The nucleotide sequence reported in this paper has been submitted to (database) under accession numbers: Acc. No. EC268400–EC268685; EC365167–EC365455. An erratum to this article can be found at     

A Phagosomally Expressed Gene,rv0428c,of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Demonstrates Acetyl Transferase Activity and Plays a Protective Role Under Stress Conditions

The Protein Journal - Mycobacterium tuberculosis genome is composed of several hypothetical gene products that need to be characterized for understanding the physiology of bacteria. Rv0428c was one...     

Economic thresholds of Thrips palmi (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) for eggplants in a greenhouse

Thrips palmi Karny has recently been implicated in damage to eggplant fruits. This thrips causes cosmetic scars on and deforms fruits, thus lowering their market value. To investigate the relationship between the density of thrips and the resulting damage, experimental plots with initial release densities of 0, 20, 40, 70, and 100 adults thrips per plot were established under greenhouse conditions. Thrips density (for flower sampling = x ₁; for sticky trap = x ₂) was monitored using flower sampling and blue sticky trap counts, and was found to be directly related to the proportion of damaged-fruits (y) and the reduction in fruit yield: significant relationships were found for the flower samples (y = 1.2261x ₁ ? 0.6232, r ² = 0.8582) and for the trap catches (y = 11.667 ln(x ₂) ? 9.5, r ² = 0.8896). The proportion of damaged fruits that could be tolerated from an economic perspective, based on the cost of controlling the thrips population chemically and the market value of the fruit, was 6.67–11.76 %; this translated into economic thresholds of 1.05–1.5 adults and/or larvae of T. palmi per flower or 4.91–10.17 adults T. palmi per four-day sticky card count.     

Synthesis and pharmacological evaluation of novel N-aryl-3,4-dihydro-1′H-spiro[chromene-2,4′-piperidine]-1′-carboxamides as TRPM8 antagonists

A novel series of N-aryl-3,4-dihydro-1′H-spiro[chromene-2,4′-piperidine]-1′-carboxamides was identified as transient receptor potential melastatin 8 (TRPM8) channel blockers through analogue-based rational design, synthesis and screening. Details of the synthesis, effect of aryl groups and their substituents on in-vitro potency were studied. The effects of selected functional groups on the 4-position of the chromene ring were also studied, which showed interesting results. The 4-hydroxy derivatives showed excellent potency and selectivity. Optical resolution and screening of alcohols revealed that (R)-(–)-isomers were in general more potent than the corresponding (S)-(+)-isomers. The isomer (R)-(–)-10e (IC₅₀: 8.9 nM) showed a good pharmacokinetic profile upon oral dosing at 10 mg/kg in Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats. The compound (R)-(–)-10e also showed excellent efficacy in relevant rodent models of neuropathic pain.     

Bhargavaea indica sp. nov., a member of the phylum Firmicutes, isolated from Arabian Sea sediment

A Gram-positive, aerobic, coccoid-rod shaped, non-motile, catalase- and oxidase-positive bacterium, designated strain KJW98^T, was isolated from the marine sediment of Karwar jetty, west coast of India. The strain was β-haemolytic, non-endospore-forming and grew with 0–8.5% (w/v) NaCl, at 15–48°C and at pH 6.5–9.0, with optimum growth with 0.5% (w/v) NaCl, at 42°C and at pH 7.0–8.0. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA and gyrB gene sequences showed that strain KJW98^T forms a lineage within the genus Bhargavaea. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 55 mol%. The DNA-DNA relatedness values of strain KJW98^T with B. beijingensis DSM 19037^T, B. cecembensis LMG 24411^T and B. ginsengi DSM 19038^T were 43.2, 39 and 26.5%, respectively. The major fatty acids were anteiso-C_15:0 (37.7%), iso-C_15:0 (19.7%), anteiso-C_17:0 (17.0%) and iso-C_16:0 (11.1%). The predominant menaquinone was MK-8 and the cell-wall peptidoglycan was of A4α type with L-lysine as the diagnostic diamino acid. The major polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylglycerol. The phenotypic, genotypic and DNA-DNA relatedness data indicate that strain KJW98^T should be distinguished from the members of the genus Bhargavaea, for which the name Bhargavaea indica sp. nov. is proposed with the type strain KJW98^T (=KCTC 13583^T =LMG 25219^T).     

Evidence of differential control of renal and lumbar sympathetic nerve activity in conscious rabbits

We have explored the possibility that renal sympathetic nerve activity (RSNA) and vasomotor sympathetic nerve activity are differentially regulated. We measured sympathetic nerve activity (SNA) to the kidney and the hind limb vasculature in seven conscious rabbits 6-8 days after the implantation of recording electrodes. Acute infusion of N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) (6 mg.kg(-1).min(-1) for 5 min) led to an increase in blood pressure (from 66 +/- 1 to 82 +/- 3 mmHg) and a decrease in heart rate (from 214 +/- 15 to 160 +/- 13 bpm). L-NAME administration caused a significantly greater decrease in RSNA than lumbar sympathetic nerve activity (LSNA) (to 68 +/- 14% vs. 84 +/- 4% of control values, respectively). Volume expansion (1.5 ml.kg(-1).min(-1)) resulted in a significant decrease in RSNA to 66 +/- 7% of control levels but no change in LSNA (127 +/- 20%). There was no difference in the gain of the baroreflex curves between the LSNA and RSNA [maximum gain of -7.6 +/- 0.4 normalized units (nu)/mmHg for LSNA vs. -7.9 +/- 0.75 nu/mmHg for RSNA]. A hypoxic stimulus (10% O2 and 3% CO2) led to identical increases in both RSNA and LSNA (195 +/- 40% and 158 +/- 21% of control values, respectively). Our results indicate tailored differential control of RSNA and LSNA in response to acute stimuli.     

Mouse recombinant leptin protects human hepatoma HepG2 against apoptosis,TNF-α response and oxidative stress induced by the hepatotoxin–ethanol

Obesity is a risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) complicated with alcoholic liver disease (ALD) and cryptogenic cirrhosis. Leptin is a 16-kDa antiobesity hormone secreted mainly by adipocytes. The role of leptin on alcohol-mediated effects in cell line is yet to be unraveled. Therefore, we investigated the effect of leptin against ethanol-elicited cytoxicity in human hepatoma cell lines (HepG2). HepG2 cells were treated with leptin (31.2 nM), ethanol (500 mM), ethanol + leptin and untreated cells served as control. 48 h after treatment, cell viability, apoptosis, TNF-α secretory response and oxidative damage were analysed. Our results suggest that leptin at a concentration of 31.2 nM prevents ethanol elicited cytotoxicity as evidenced by MTT and trypan blue dye exclusion assay. Leptin also inhibited ethanol-induced apoptosis, which was confirmed by [³H] thymidine uptake and cell cycle analysis using propidium iodide (PI) staining. Further, simultaneous leptin treatment along with ethanol showed protection against ethanol mediated cellular damage as indicated by significantly decreased levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and significantly increased levels of reactive nitrogen species (RNS), reduced glutathione (GSH) and elevated activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT). In addition, leptin downregulated the secretion of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) by ethanol-induced HepG2 cells. Our results demonstrate that simultaneous leptin treatment along with ethanol could be useful in preventing the damage produced by ethanol, which might be of therapeutic interest.