Determinants of the high-methionine trait in wild and exotic germplasm may have escaped selection during early cultivation of maize

The 18 kDa high-methionine δ-class zein gene from maize has been cloned, and its regulation, structure, and map position studied. These studies have shown that (i) zein genes may also contain tryptophan and lysine codons, (ii) the 18 kDa and the related 10 kDa zein gene are coordinately regulated, but their products accumulate to different levels in a genotype-dependent manner, (iii) the duplication of δ-zein genes probably involved unequal crossing over, (iv) no copy correction in either direction has occurred from teosinte to modern corn, and (v) the duplication of of the 18 kDa zein gene probably occurred before the tetraploidization of a progenitor chromosome. The work shows that important nutritional quality determinants like the high-methionine seed proteins are abundant in several exotic and wild corn varieties and low in most of the inbreds screened. The lack of a selectable phenotype for such quality traits during initial domestication and breeding of corn would have eliminated cis and trans regulatory determinants from the germplasm used in modern corn breeding. Examples of the high-methionine δ-class zeins shown here may be generally applicable in explaining the low nutritional quality of most present-day corn grown.     

Reversed-phase chromatographic method for specific determination of glutathione in cultured malignant cells

A chromatographic method for the specific determination of glutathione in malignant cell lines is described. The method is based on the ability of glutathione-S-transferase to specifically and quantitatively conjugate glutathione to 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene and chromatographic quantitation of the resultant conjugate, dinitrophenyl-S-glutathione, by reversed-phase liquid chromatography. The assay can be performed on 20 000 g supernatants of cell homogenates without acid extraction. 2-Mercaptoethanol, a sulfhydryl compound often used as a thiol-protective agent to preserve enzymatic activities of a number of enzymes, did not interfere with glutathione determination by this method. The dinitrophenyl-S-glutathione isolated from either standard glutathione samples or from cell homogenates was shown to be identical to authentic dinitrophenyl-S-glutathione using mass spectrometry. Recovery of glutathione in standard samples by the current method was identical to that determined using 5,5′-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid). Exogenous glutathione added to supernatants of cell homogenate in the presence or absence of 2-mercaptoethanol was also completely recovered.     

Clinical and Treatment Aspects of Brown–Black Fungi

Brown–black (or dematiaceous) fungi are responsible for a wide variety of infectious syndromes in both immunocompetent and immunocompromised patients, including local infections, allergic disease, pneumonia, brain abscess, and disseminated infection. They are distinct from the more common hyaline molds, Aspergillus and Fusarium, that cause human disease. They are often found in soil and generally distributed worldwide. In recent years, these fungi have been increasingly recognized as important pathogens. Dematiaceous fungi may have unique pathogenic mechanisms owing to the presence of melanin in their cell walls, which imparts the characteristic dark color to their spores and hyphae. Diagnosis rests on careful microscopic and pathologic examination, as there are no specific laboratory tests to reliably identify these fungi. Therapy depends upon the clinical syndrome, although disseminated infection often has high mortality. Triazoles such as voriconazole, posaconazole, and itraconazole are the most active antifungal agents available. Further studies are needed to better understand the pathogenesis and optimal treatment of these uncommon infections.     

MsrA Efflux Pump Inhibitory Activity of Piper cubeba L.f. and its Phytoconstituents against Staphylococcus aureus RN4220

MsrA, an efflux pump belonging to ATP‐binding cassette (ABC) transporter family that conferred resistance to macrolides, was detected in Staphylococcus aureus strains. Herein, we report the isolation of phytoconstituents from Piper cubeba fruit methanol extract and investigated their efflux pump inhibitory potential against S. aureus MsrA pump. Four isolated compounds, viz. pellitorine, sesamin, piperic acid and tetrahydropiperine studied in combination with erythromycin in S. aureus RN4220, exhibited 2–8‐fold reduction in minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of erythromycin. Pellitorine and sesamin decreased MIC of erythromycin by 8‐fold. The real‐time fluorometry‐based efflux and accumulation studies of ethidium bromide (EtBr) on S. aureus RN4220 in the presence of these compounds showed reduced efflux and enhanced uptake, thus indicating inhibition of the efflux pump. Pellitorine showed significant post‐antibiotic effect of erythromycin. The results revealed that the primary mechanism of action of these compounds involves steady ATP production impairment.     

Multigene CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing of hybrid proline rich proteins (HyPRPs) for sustainable multi-stress tolerance in crops: the review of a promising approach

Physiology and Molecular Biology of Plants - The recent global climate change has directly impacted major biotic and abiotic stress factors affecting crop productivity worldwide. Therefore, the...     

Poly ethylene glycol mediated in vitro screening and physico-biochemical changes induced in mango callus due to moisture stress

Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture (PCTOC) - A method for in vitro screening and selection of drought (moisture stress) tolerant mango calli was developed. Poly ethylene glycol (PEG) (Molecular...     

Determination of acid α-naphthyl acetate esterase enzyme activity in peripheral blood leukocytes of gazelles (Gazella subgutturosa)

We examined gazelle peripheral blood leucocytes using the α-Naphthyl acetate esterase (ANAE) staining technique (pH 5.8). Our purpose was to determine the percentage of ANAE positive lymphocytes. The proportion of ANAE positive T-lymphocytes was 72%. T-lymphocytes showed an ANAE positive reaction, but eosinophilic granulocytes and monocytes also showed a positive reaction. By contrast, no reaction was detected in B-lymphocytes, neutrophil granulocytes or platelets. The reaction observed in T-lymphocytes was a red-brown coloration, usually 1–2 granules, but enough granules to fill the cytoplasm were detected rarely. As a result of ANAE enzyme staining, we concluded that the staining technique can be used as a cytochemical marker for gazelle T-lymphocytes.     

Design and synthesis of novel 2,4-disubstituted aminopyrimidines: reversible non-covalent T790M EGFR inhibitors

Abstract

Cardiotoxicity is one amongst the adverse effect of Osimertinib delineate in clinical trials and related to escalating doses. To triumph over the drawbacks of Osimertinib, in this study, we tend to delineate the design, synthesis, in vitro biological analysis of a series of novel reversible selective T790M inhibitors with minimal cardiotoxicity. Amongst the virtually sorted compounds; compound 18 and 74 have been located to be the foremost active compounds of the series with IC₅₀ value of 0.88, 0.92?μM in cellular assay and 0.56, 0.62?μM in enzymatic assay, against double mutant L858R/T790M EGFR. Additionally, they showed much less affinity toward wild-type (WT)-EGFR with minimal cardiotoxicity.