Role of glutathione in ethanol stress tolerance in yeast Pachysolen tannophilus

The effect of glutathione enrichment and depletion on the survival of Pachysolen tannophilus after ethanol stress was investigated. In this work, we verified that both control and glutathione deficient yeast cells were much more oxidized after ethanol stress. Depletion of cellular glutathione enhanced the sensitivity to ethanol and suppressed the adaptation. Incubation of the cell with amino acids constituting glutathione (GIu, Cys, Gly) increased the intracellular glutathione content, and subsequently the cell acquired resistance against ethanol. The level of reactive oxygen species, protein carbonyl, and lipid peroxidation in glutathione enriched groups were also studied. These results strongly suggest that intracellular glutathione plays an important role in the adaptive response in P. tannophilus to ethanol induced oxidative stress.     

AFLP-Based Genetic Diversity Assessment of Commercially Important Tea Germplasm in India

India has a large repository of important tea accessions and, therefore, plays a major role in improving production and quality of tea across the world. Using seven AFLP primer combinations, we analyzed 123 commercially important tea accessions representing major populations in India. The overall genetic similarity recorded was 51%. No significant differences were recorded in average genetic similarity among tea populations cultivated in various geographic regions (northwest 0.60, northeast and south both 0.59). UPGMA cluster analysis grouped the tea accessions according to geographic locations, with a bias toward China or Assam/Cambod types. Cluster analysis results were congruent with principal component analysis. Further, analysis of molecular variance detected a high level of genetic variation (85%) within and limited genetic variation (15%) among the populations, suggesting their origin from a similar genetic pool.     

Genetic Polymorphism of the β-Lactoglobulin Gene in Native Sheep from India

The genetic polymorphism of the β-lactoglobulin (β-LG) gene was determined in 638 animals belonging to 15 native Indian sheep breeds reared in different agroecological regions for various production traits. Variants of β-LG were found using PCR–RFLP of genomic DNA. Rsa1 restriction enzyme digestion of a 120-bp PCR fragment of exon 2 of β-LG revealed two genetic variants, A (0.37) and B (0.63), and the three genotypes AA (0.175), AB (0.389), and BB (0.436). The differences in allelic frequency were not significant across the breeds, irrespective of their geographic origin and utility (χ² test, P > 0.05). The pattern of occurrence of allelic variants revealed that the B allele was more frequent in the majority of the Indian breeds than in breeds reported from countries of Southwest Asia, Eastern and Central Europe, and the Mediterranean. A higher level of heterozygosity (0.422) was discerned, despite the declining status of several of the Indian breeds. These findings revealed that Indian sheep are predominantly of the β-LG B type.     

Microwave treatment induced mutations and altered gene expression in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Vigna aconitifolia</Emphasis>

Primary leaf explants of aseptically grown seedlings of moth bean [Vigna aconitifolia (Jacq.) Marechal] immersed in water or not were treated in microwave oven (2450 MHz, 800 W cm⁻²) for 1, 3, 5 and 7 s before culturing. Callusing and shoot emergence from these explants were enhanced up to microwave exposure lasted 5 s while longer treatment of water-immersed explants delayed callusing. One polypeptide (26.6 kD) was up regulated in the callus derived from microwave treatment in water-immersed explants. RAPD analysis detected alteration in DNA sequences due to microwave treatment in water-immersed explants for 7 s. The frequency of mutation was 1.6 % (4 bands out of 248) over all the cultures analyzed and the same was 13 % (4 bands out of 31), if amplicons generated at 7 s treatment alone were considered.     

Induction of male and female sterility in isabgol (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Plantago ovata</Emphasis>) due to floral infection of downy mildew (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Pernospora plantaginis</Emphasis>)

Downy mildew (Peronospora plantaginis) caused two different types of infection in the floral parts of isabgol (Plantago ovata). Systemic infection resulted in long spikes bearing weak and sterile florets, which later turned black due to saprophytic growth. Localised infection produced various symptoms ranging between normal flower opening and failure to bloom. Different parts of infected flowers such as sepal, petal, filament and anther were reduced in size compared to healthy flowers. However, gynoecium was elongated in localised infection. P. plantaginis induced gradual sterility of isabgol flowers. Androecium was affected more than the gynoecium was. Pollen number, pollen viability and germination reduced drastically due to localised infection. On the contrary, there were no significant differences between healthy and locally infected flowers in terms of stigma receptivity. In systemically infected spikes, bud development was arrested leading to sterility. When localised disease severity was high, secondary systemic infection caused similar symptoms. Microscopic observations showed presence of the pathogen in different parts of the flowers. Downy mildew adversely affected seed yield and quality; producing seeds, which were smaller and lighter than the healthy ones and later, became black. Seed yield was reduced by as much as 73.45 percent. Husk content per unit seed mass increased relatively as the total surface area of infected seeds increased.     

ECG signal denoising using higher order statistics in Wavelet subbands

In this work, we propose a novel denoising method based on evaluation of higher-order statistics at different Wavelet bands for an electrocardiogram (ECG) signal. Higher-order statistics at different Wavelet bands provides significant information about the statistical nature of the data in time and frequency. The fourth order cumulant, Kurtosis, and the Energy Contribution Efficiency (ECE) of signal in a Wavelet subband are combined to assess the noise content in the signal. Accordingly, four denoising factors are proposed. Performance of the denoising factors is evaluated and compared with the soft thresholding method. The filtered signal quality is assessed using Percentage Root Mean Square Difference (PRD), Wavelet Weighted Percentage Root Mean Square Difference (WWPRD), and Wavelet Energy-based Diagnostic Distortion (WEDD) measures. It is observed that the proposed denoising scheme not only filters the signal effectively but also helps retain the diagnostic information.     

Nitrogen accumulation in plant tissues and roots and N mineralization under oilseeds, pulses, and spring wheat

To understand how pulse and oilseed crops might use nitrogen (N) more efficiently under varying levels of water and N availability in soil, we conducted a 2-year field study to monitor N accumulation in aboveground (AG-N) and root material at five growth stages, for canola (Brassica napus L.), mustard (Brassica juncea L.), chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.), dry pea (Pisum sativum L.) and lentil (Lens culinaris Medicum) alongside spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Crops were grown in lysimeters (15 cm diameter × 100 cm deep) installed in the field in southern Saskatchewan, Canada. AG-N in all crops was greater under high-water than under low-water conditions. In oilseeds and wheat, AG-N increased until flowering then tended to level off, while in pulses it increased gradually to maturity. At maturity, dry pea and wheat had the greatest AG-N and mustard the least. Enhanced water availability increased seed N but did not affect straw N; consequently, N harvest index was greater under high-water than under low-water conditions. Root N increased until late-flowering or late-pod (dough stage in wheat) then decreased to maturity. Mustard had the lowest root N, chickpea the second lowest, and canola, wheat, dry pea, and lentil the highest. Improved water availability increased root N for oilseeds and wheat but did not affect root N in pulses. At maturity, average root N of oilseeds, pulses, and wheat was 14, 17, and 20 kg ha^-1, respectively. At the seedling stage pulse crops had about 27% of total plant N in their roots, a much greater proportion than for the non-legumes. However, by maturity all crops had about 14% of plant N in their roots. Soil NO₃-N increased gradually between seedling and maturity in non-legumes but in pulses there was a sharp spike at early flowering. Estimated apparent net N mineralized was similar for wheat and pulse crops which were greater than for canola and mustard. Soil N amounts and temporal change patterns varied substantially among crops evaluated, and these differences need to be considered in the development of diverse cropping systems where cereals, legumes, and oilseeds are included in rotation systems.     

Stress-mediated alteration in V-ATPase and V-PPase of Butea monosperma

The activity and subunit amounts of V-ATPase and V-PPase in various plants of Butea monosperma Taub. (Fabaceae) (ver. Dhak; Palas) growing as a natural inhabitant in varying stress conditions in southeast Rajasthan were studied. Western blot analysis followed by immunological quantification of V-ATPase subunits using specific polyclonal antibodies showed that the subunits A, B, D, E, and c are clearly detectable in all plants, with A, B, and c appearing as intense bands. The other subunits of V-ATPase, viz., C, a, and d, were also detected in majority of the plants. Various subunits exhibited variations in their protein amount in different plants. Besides, a few other clear bands were also detected. Of these, the 30- and 29-kD bands may possibly be Di and Ei. Furthermore, a clear band of V-PPase corresponding to 67–70 kD was also detected. A comparison of the V-ATPase and V-PPase activity revealed that Butea plants in the upper region of the study site showed 70% and 39% higher activity, respectively. Furthermore, the immunological quantification showed that the V-ATPase and V-PPase protein amounts are also higher in the upper Butea plants which have drought stress and, moreover, are also exposed to stronger light intensities for relatively longer duration.     

Changes in cell proliferation,but not in vascularisation are characteristic for human endometrium in different reproductive failures - a pilot study

Background  

Reproductive failure, determined as recurrent spontaneous abortions (RSA) or recurrent implantation failure (RIF) in women is not well understood. Several factors, including embryo quality, and cellular and molecular changes in endometrium may contribute to the insufficient feto-maternal interaction resulting in reproductive failure. Prior clinical studies suggest an inadequate endometrial growth and development of the endometrium, leading to a lesser endometrial thickness.