Metabolism-mediated induction of zinc tolerance in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Brassica rapa</Emphasis> by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Burkholderia cepacia</Emphasis> CS2-1

Brassica rapa (Chinese cabbage) is an essential component of traditional Korean food. However, the crop is often subject to zinc (Zn⁺) toxicity from contaminated irrigation water, which, as a result, compromises plant growth and production, as well as the health of human consumers. The present study investigated the bioaccumulation of Zn⁺ by Burkholderia cepacia CS2-1 and its effect on the heavy metal tolerance of Chinese cabbage. Strain CS2-1 was identified and characterized on the basis of 16S rRNA sequences and phylogenetic analysis. The strain actively produced indole-3-acetic acid (3.08 ± 0.21 μg/ml) and was also able to produce siderophore, solubilize minerals, and tolerate various concentrations of Zn⁺. The heavy metal tolerance of B. rapa plants was enhanced by CS2-1 inoculation, as indicated by growth attributes, Zn⁺ uptake, amino acid synthesis, antioxidant levels, and endogenous hormone (ABA and SA) synthesis. Without inoculation, the application of Zn⁺ negatively affected the growth and physiology of B. rapa plants. However, CS2-1 inoculation improved plant growth, lowered Zn⁺ uptake, altered both amino acid regulation and levels of flavonoids and phenolics, and significantly decreased levels of superoxide dismutase, endogenous abscisic acid, and salicylic acid. These findings indicate that B. cepacia CS2-1 is suitable for bioremediation against Zn⁺-induced oxidative stress.     

Mutations of GIPC3 cause nonsyndromic hearing loss DFNB72 but not DFNB81 that also maps to chromosome 19p

A missense mutation of Gipc3 was previously reported to cause age-related hearing loss in mice. Point mutations of human GIPC3 were found in two small families, but association with hearing loss was not statistically significant. Here, we describe one frameshift and six missense mutations in GIPC3 cosegregating with DFNB72 hearing loss in six large families that support statistically significant evidence for genetic linkage. However, GIPC3 is not the only nonsyndromic hearing impairment gene in this region; no GIPC3 mutations were found in a family cosegregating hearing loss with markers of chromosome 19p. Haplotype analysis excluded GIPC3 from the obligate linkage interval in this family and defined a novel locus spanning 4.08?Mb and 104 genes. This closely linked but distinct nonsyndromic hearing loss locus was designated DFNB81.     

Genetic islands of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Streptococcus agalactiae</Emphasis> strains NEM316 and 2603VR and their presence in other Group B Streptococcal strains

Background  

Streptococcus agalactiae (Group B Streptococcus; GBS) is a major contributor to obstetric and neonatal bacterial sepsis. Serotype III strains cause the majority of late-onset sepsis and meningitis in babies, and thus appear to have an enhanced invasive capacity compared with the other serotypes that cause disease predominantly in immunocompromised pregnant women. We compared the serotype III and V whole genome sequences, strains NEM316 and 2603VR respectively, in an attempt to identify genetic attributes of strain NEM316 that might explain the propensity of strain NEM316 to cause late-onset disease in babies. Fourteen putative pathogenicity islands were described in the strain NEM316 whole genome sequence. Using PCR- and targeted microarray- strategies, the presence of these islands were assessed in a diverse strain collection including 18 colonizing isolates from healthy pregnant women, and 13 and 8 invasive isolates from infants with early- and late-onset sepsis, respectively.     

Kaolin and Jasmonic acid improved cotton productivity under water stress conditions

Drought is one of the most emerging threat that causes a severe reduction in cotton plant growth and development. Being cotton is a major cash crop has great threat to prevailing drought events in Pakistan. A field experiment was conducted in Kharif season 2018 at Research Area of MNS-University of Agriculture, Multan, Pakistan to assess the role of foliar applied kaolin and jasmonic acid on vegetative growth, gas exchange and reproductive traits of cotton under normal irrigated and artificial water deficit conditions. The experiment was laid -out in a factorial randomized complete block design with split – split plot arrangement. Main plots were allocated for irrigation levels, sub-plots for two -cotton genotypes viz. NIAB − 878 and SLH − 19 while sub – sub plots for treatments of kaolin and Jasmonic acid. Water deficit stress was created by skipping irrigation at flowering for 21 days. Foliar sprays of Kaolin (5%, w/v) and Jasmonic acid (100 μM) were applied alone or in combination at 60 days after planntinon both to normal irrigated and water-stresse skip irrigation while irrigation water alone was sprayed in control plots. Both cotton genotypes responded variably to normal irrigated and skip conditions. Skipping irrigation for up to 21 days at flowering caused a significant decrease in leaf relative water content, SPAD values, net photosynthetic rate and seed cotton yield in both the genotypes. Seed cotton yield showed an overall decline of 24.7% in skip over Normal irrigated crop. The genotype NIAB − 878 produced maximum seed cotton yield of 3.304 Mg ha⁻¹ in normal that dropped to 2.579 Mg ha⁻¹ in skip, thus showing an average decline of 21.9 %. Similarly, SLH − 19 produced 2.537 Mg ha⁻¹ seed cotton under normal that dropped to 1.822 Mg ha⁻¹ in skip, showing an average decline of 28.2%. The Application of Kaolin and JA Jasmonic acid, either applied individually or in combination, improved vegetative and reproductive development of both cotton varieties in normal and skip regimes. However, combined kaolin and Jasmonic Acid application proved to be more beneficial in terms of seed cotton production and other parameters studied.     

Fuzzy Logic Based Edge Detection in Smooth and Noisy Clinical Images

Edge detection has beneficial applications in the fields such as machine vision, pattern recognition and biomedical imaging etc. Edge detection highlights high frequency components in the image. Edge detection is a challenging task. It becomes more arduous when it comes to noisy images. This study focuses on fuzzy logic based edge detection in smooth and noisy clinical images. The proposed method (in noisy images) employs a 3×3 mask guided by fuzzy rule set. Moreover, in case of smooth clinical images, an extra mask of contrast adjustment is integrated with edge detection mask to intensify the smooth images. The developed method was tested on noise-free, smooth and noisy images. The results were compared with other established edge detection techniques like Sobel, Prewitt, Laplacian of Gaussian (LOG), Roberts and Canny. When the developed edge detection technique was applied to a smooth clinical image of size 270×290 pixels having 24 dB ‘salt and pepper’ noise, it detected very few (22) false edge pixels, compared to Sobel (1931), Prewitt (2741), LOG (3102), Roberts (1451) and Canny (1045) false edge pixels. Therefore it is evident that the developed method offers improved solution to the edge detection problem in smooth and noisy clinical images.     

FREE CHOICE PROFILING OF CHILEAN GOAT CHEESE

Different goat cheeses from Chile were studied by Free-Choice Profile (FCP) analysis. Generalized Procrustes Analysis (GPA) applied to FCP data permitted differentiation between samples and informed on the attributes responsible for the observed differences. Appearance was a dominant factor in discriminating samples and to a lesser degree textural variables were also correlated with GPA dimensions. In acceptability the fresh cheeses were significantly preferred over the ripened ones.     

Safety of an Enhanced Recovery Pathway for Patients Undergoing Open Hepatic Resection

Background

Enhanced recovery pathways (ERP) have not been widely implemented for hepatic surgery. The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety of an ERP for patients undergoing open hepatic resection.

Methods

A single-surgeon, retrospective observational cohort study was performed comparing the clinical outcomes of patients undergoing open hepatic resection treated before and after implementation of an ERP. Morbidity, mortality, and length of hospital stay (LOS) were compared between pre-ERP and ERP groups.

Results

126 patients (pre-ERP n = 73, ERP n = 53) were identified for the study. Patient characteristics and operative details were similar between groups. Overall complication rate was similar between pre-ERP and ERP groups (37% vs. 28%, p = 0.343). Before and after pathway implementation, the median LOS was similar, 5 (IQR 4–7) vs. 5 (IQR 4–6) days, p = 0.708. After adjusting for age, type of liver resection, and ASA, the ERP group had no increased risk of major complication (OR 0.38, 95% CI 0.14–1.02, p = 0.055) or LOS greater than 5 days (OR 1.21, 95% CI 0.56–2.62, p = 0.627).

Conclusions

Routine use of a multimodal ERP is safe and is not associated with increased postoperative morbidity after open hepatic resection.     

Morphological and physiological response of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) to natural and synthetic cytokinin sources: a comparative study

Among the natural plant growth stimulants, moringa has attained enormous attention due to its leaf composition being enriched with cytokinin, antioxidants and minerals. Exogenous application of moringa leaf extract (MLE) improves productivity in many crops. This study investigated the potential of MLE with different dilutions, i.e., MLE0, MLE10, MLE20 and MLE30 (0, 10, 20 and 30 times diluted in water, respectively) to improve the performance of tomato. Foliage-applied water and benzylaminopurine (BAP, 50 mg L^?1) were taken as controls. Among treatments, foliar-applied MLE30 produced maximum vegetative and flowering branches, number of flowers and heaviest fruits per plant of tomato in comparison with synthetic BAP and other treatments. A similar increase in vegetative and flowering branches was recorded for root-applied MLE20 including BAP. Foliage-applied MLE30 also increased chlorophyll (a) pigments and leaf total soluble proteins than other stimulants used. This increase was followed by enhanced antioxidant activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT), total phenolics in leaves and fruit lycopene contents of tomato. In general, foliar application of MLE30 was more effective as natural biostimulant to improve growth, productivity and fruit quality of tomato as compared to synthetic BAP and its root application.     

Genetic improvement of Citrus for disease resistance

Progress in the genetic improvement of Citrus species was reviewed. Tools used for the genetic improvement of Citrus were categorised as conventional (introduction, selection and hybridisation) and non-conventional methods (mutation, somatic cell hybridisation and genetic engineering) of improvement. Genes linked with the disease resistance were characterised and tagged through molecular marker techniques such as Sequenced Characterised Amplified Region and Cleaved Amplified Polymorphic Sequences. Disease resistance genes showed both monogenic and polygenic inheritance. Conventional methods for disease resistance improvement of Citrus were bottleneck due to inadequate and lengthy breeding procedures. However, non-conventional methods, such as mutation breeding and protoplast fusion, have been routinely utilised for the production of disease resistant germplasm while novel genes from variable sources were used to transform Citrus species to induce resistance against diseases. These non-conventional techniques have been shown to overcome the disadvantages of conventional breeding procedures and could be regarded as rapid methods of genetic improvement as well as helpful to overcome the interspecies barrier.