Zanoxyline—a new alkaloid from stem bark of Zanthoxylum oxyphyllum

The EtOH extract of stem bark of Zanthoxylum oxyphyllum yielded rhetsinine and a new alkaloid 1-(4′methoxy benzyl)-6,7-dimethoxy N:N dimethyl 1,2,3,4 tetrahydroisoquinolinium hydroxide provisionally named zanoxyline.     

Molecular Insights into the Role of Reactive Oxygen,Nitrogen and Sulphur Species in Conferring Salinity Stress Tolerance in Plants

Journal of Plant Growth Regulation - Salinity stress is the major abiotic stress that affects crop production and productivity as it has a multifarious negative effect on the growth and development...     

Rivularinin,a new saponin from Anemone rivularis

A new saponin, rivularinin, has been isolated from the ethanolic extract of Anemone rivularis (Ranunculaceae). The saponin was shown to be [α-l-arabinofuranosyl(1→2)-α-l-rhamnopyranosyl (1→4)-β-d-glucopyranosyl(1→4)-β-d-glucuronopyranosyl(1→3)]-3β-hydroxy-olean-12-en-28-oic acid.     

Fabrication of silver nanoparticles by Phoma glomerata and its combined effect against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus

Aims:  We report extracellular synthesis of silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) from Phoma glomerata and its efficacy against Escherichia coli , Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa . The bacteria exhibiting resistance to various antibiotics showed remarkable sensitivity, when used in combination of antibiotics and Ag-NPs.
Methods and Results:  Biosynthesis of Ag-NPs was carried out by challenging the fungal cell filtrate with 1 mmol l⁻¹ silver nitrate. The Ag-NPs were characterized with the help of UV–Visible spectrophotometer and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Scanning electron microscopy was carried out to detect the size of Ag-NPs. Evaluation of the combined effect(s) was studied by disc diffusion method against E. coli , Staph. aureus and Ps. aeruginosa .
Conclusions:  The biosynthesis route seems to be eco-friendly and easy to scale up the process. Thus, these Ag-NPs may prove as a better candidate for drugs and can potentially eliminate the problem of chemical agents because of their biogenic nature.
Significance and Impact of the Study:  The bacterial resistance against antibiotics has been increasing with alarming rate. To overcome this problem, there is a pressing need to develop bactericidal agents. Ag-NPs may prove to be an answer to drug-resistant bacteria.     

The Symbiotic Requirements of Different Medicago Spp. Suggest the Evolution of Sinorhizobium Meliloti and S. Medicae with Hosts Differentially Adapted to Soil pH

Nitrogen fixing rhizobia associated with the Medicago L. genus belong to two closely related species Sinorhizobium medicae and S. meliloti. To investigate the symbiotic requirements of different Medicago species for the two microsymbionts, 39 bacterial isolates from nodules of eleven Medicago species growing in their natural habitats in the Mediterranean basin plus six historical Australian commercial inocula were symbiotically characterized with Medicago hosts. The bacterial species allocation was first assigned on the basis of symbiotic proficiency with M. polymorpha. PCR primers specific for 16S rDNA were then designed to distinguish S. medicae and S. meliloti. PCR amplification results confirmed the species allocation acquired in the glasshouse. PCR fingerprints generated from ERIC, BOXA1R and nif-directed RPO1 primers revealed that the Mediterranean strains were genetically heterogenous. Moreover PCR fingerprints with ERIC and BOX primers showed that these repetitive DNA elements were specifically distributed and conserved in S. meliloti and S. medicae, clustering the strains into two divergent groups according to their species. Linking the Sinorhizobium species with the plant species of origin we have found that S. medicae was mostly associated with medics well adapted to moderately acid soils such as M. polymorpha, M. arabica and M. murex whereas S. meliloti was predominantly isolated from plants naturally growing on alkaline or neutral pH soils such as M. littoralis and M. tornata. Moreover in glasshouse experiments the S. medicae strains were able to induce well-developed nodules on M. murex whilst S. meliloti was not infective on this species. This feature provides a very distinguishing characteristic for S. medicae. Results from the symbiotic, genotypic and cultural characterization suggest that S. meliloti and S. medicae have adapted to different Medicago species according to the niches these medics usually occupy in their natural habitats.     

Detergent-insoluble aggregates associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in transgenic mice contain primarily full-length, unmodified superoxide dismutase-1

Determining the composition of aggregated superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) species associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), especially with respect to co-aggregated proteins and post-translational modifications, could identify cellular or biochemical factors involved in the formation of these aggregates and explain their apparent neurotoxicity. The results of mass spectrometric and shotgun-proteomic analyses of SOD1-containing aggregates isolated from spinal cords of symptomatic transgenic ALS mice using two different isolation strategies are presented, including 1) resistance to detergent extraction and 2) size exclusion-coupled anti-SOD1 immunoaffinity chromatography. Forty-eight spinal cords from three different ALS-SOD1 mutant mice were analyzed, namely G93A, G37R, and the unnatural double mutant H46R/H48Q. The analysis consistently revealed that the most abundant proteins recovered from aggregate species were full-length unmodified SOD1 polypeptides. Although aggregates from some spinal cord samples contained trace levels of highly abundant proteins, such as vimentin and neurofilament-3, no proteins were consistently found to co-purify with mutant SOD1 in stoichiometric quantities. The results demonstrate that the principal protein in the high molecular mass aggregates whose appearance correlates with symptoms of the disease is the unmodified, full-length SOD1 polypeptide.     

Mapping and characterization of novel parthenocarpy QTLs in tomato

Parthenocarpy is the development of the fruit in absence of pollination and/or fertilization. In tomato, parthenocarpy is considered as an attractive trait to solve the problems of fruit setting under unfavorable conditions. We studied the genetics of parthenocarpy in two different lines, IL5-1 and IVT-line 1, both carrying Solanum habrochaites chromosome segments. Parthenocarpy in IL5-1 is under the control of two QTLs, one on chromosome 4 (pat4.1) and one on chromosome 5 (pat5.1). IVT-line 1 also contains two parthenocarpy QTLs, one on chromosome 4 (pat4.2) and one on chromosome 9 (pat9.1). In addition, we identified one stigma exsertion locus in IL5-1, located on the long arm of chromosome 5 (se5.1). It is likely that pat4.1, from IL5-1 and pat4.2, from IVT-line 1, both located near the centromere of chromosome 4 are allelic. By making use of the microsynteny between tomato and Arabidopsis in this genetic region, we identified ARF8 as a potential candidate gene for these two QTLs. ARF8 is known to act as an inhibitor for further carpel development in Arabidopsis, in absence of pollination/fertilization. Expression of an aberrant form of the Arabidopsis ARF8 gene, in tomato, has been found to cause parthenocarpy. This candidate gene approach may lead to the first isolation of a parthenocarpy gene in tomato and will allow further use in several crop species.     

Purification and characterization of plantaricin LR14: a novel bacteriocin produced by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Lactobacillus plantarum</Emphasis> LR/14

Bacteriocin produced by Lactobacillus plantarum strain LR/14 was purified to homogeneity by a multi-step protocol consisting of ammonium sulfate precipitation, cation-exchange chromatography, gel-filtration, and reverse-phase FPLC. L. plantarum LR/14 secreted a low-molecular-weight bacteriocin consisting of two peptides designated as plantaricin LR14alpha and -beta with molecular mass of 3,012.46 and 5,605.74 Da, respectively. The purified peptides were characterized to be highly thermostable and active in acidic pH range, with a pI of >10.0. Both alpha and beta peptides showed bactericidal mode of action against indicator strain, Micrococcus luteus and together showed a synergistic action. These peptides were differentially sensitive to a range of proteolytic enzymes, indicating differences in their composition. Amino acid sequencing revealed that the N-terminus in both the cases is blocked; thus, only a partial sequence could be obtained after CNBr digestion. These sequences, when compared with those available in the database, showed no homology with known bacteriocins, indicating it to be a novel compound.     

Comparing trends in cancer rates across overlapping regions

Monitoring and comparing trends in cancer rates across geographic regions or over different time periods have been major tasks of the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program as it profiles healthcare quality as well as decides healthcare resource allocations within a spatial-temporal framework. A fundamental difficulty, however, arises when such comparisons have to be made for regions or time intervals that overlap, for example, comparing the change in trends of mortality rates in a local area (e.g., the mortality rate of breast cancer in California) with a more global level (i.e., the national mortality rate of breast cancer). In view of sparsity of available methodologies, this article develops a simple corrected Z-test that accounts for such overlapping. The performance of the proposed test over the two-sample "pooled"t-test that assumes independence across comparison groups is assessed via the Pitman asymptotic relative efficiency as well as Monte Carlo simulations and applications to the SEER cancer data. The proposed test will be important for the SEER * STAT software, maintained by the NCI, for the analysis of the SEER data.