A comparison of in vitro with in vivo flowering in bamboo: Bambusa arundinacea

Seedling explants of Bambusa arundinacea were cultured in a Murashige & Skoog (MS) based liquid medium, supplemented with sucrose (2), coconut water (5) and 6-benzylaminopurine (2.2 μM). In 3–6 months about 70 of the cultures flowered. A comparison was made between in vitro and in vivo flowering. Though smaller in size, in vitro florets were morphologically comparable to the in vivo florets. Anthesis in in vivo flowering took place in the morning hours. It was more or less synchronized and was dependent on the atmospheric temperature and humidity. The lemma and palea opened to expose both androecium and gynoecium to the pollinating agent (wind). In in vitro flowering, some florets opened as in their in vivo counterparts, some did not open but the anthers protruded from the tip of the partially opened lemma and palea. Anthesis was not synchronized under in vitro conditions. Pollen fertility in in vivo and in vitro flowerings were approximately 93 and 31 respectively. Studies by scanning electron microscopy showed some discrepancies in the pollen wall development in vitro. The trifid stigmas of in vivo florets were highly feathery with many papillae and withered soon after pollination or within few hours. The stigmas of in vitro developed florets were smaller with fewer and stouter papillae. They remained turgid for relatively longer periods. Seed production in in vivo flowering was profuse whereas in in vitro flowering seeds were produced only when many florets opened at the same time, in the same culture vessel. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Heparin inhibits enhancing factor/phospholipase A2 activity and its binding to the cell surface

Enhancing factor (EF), a mouse intestinal phospholipase A₂ (PLA₂), has been isolated and characterized. EF increases the binding of epidermal growth factor (EGF) to A431 cells almost two-fold by interacting with EGF. EF binds to a 100 kDa cell surface receptor and brings about an increase in the binding of EGF. In the present study we demonstrate that EF is a heparin binding protein and at the time of iodination of EF, the heparin binding site of EF has to be protected. Heparin inhibits the enhancing activity of EF as well as the binding of labelled EF to A431 cells. Inhibition of binding of EF to cells by heparin indicates that heparin binding region forms at least part of the receptor binding domain. These data suggest that the receptor for EF on the cell surface could be a heparin sulphate proteoglycan.     

The Contributions to Primatology of Colin P. Groves (1942–2017): Corecipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award of the International Primatological Society, 2018

International Journal of Primatology -     

Dyadic brain modelling,mirror systems and the ontogenetic ritualization of ape gesture

The paper introduces dyadic brain modelling, offering both a framework for modelling the brains of interacting agents and a general framework for simulating and visualizing the interactions generated when the brains (and the two bodies) are each coded up in computational detail. It models selected neural mechanisms in ape brains supportive of social interactions, including putative mirror neuron systems inspired by macaque neurophysiology but augmented by increased access to proprioceptive state. Simulation results for a reduced version of the model show ritualized gesture emerging from interactions between a simulated child and mother ape.     

Targeting cysteine rich C1 domain of Scaffold protein Kinase Suppressor of Ras (KSR) with anthocyanidins and flavonoids – a binding affinity characterization study

Kinase Suppressor of Ras (KSR) is a molecular scaffold that interacts with the core kinase components of the ERK cascade, Raf, MEK, ERK to provide spatial and temporal regulation of Ras-dependent ERK cascade signaling. Interruption of this mechanism can have a high influence in inhibiting the downstream signaling of the mutated tyrosine kinase receptor kinase upon ligand binding. Still none of the studies targeted to prevent the binding of Raf, MEK binding on kinase suppressor of RAS. In that perspective the cysteine rich C1 domain of scaffold proteins kinase suppressor of Ras-1 was targeted rather than its ATP binding site with small ligand molecules like flavones and anthocyanidins and analyzed through insilico docking studies. The binding energy evaluation shows the importance of hydroxyl groups at various positions on the flavone and anthocyanidin nucleus. Over all binding interaction shows these ligands occupied the potential sites of cysteine rich C1 domain of scaffold protein KSR.     

Meningococcal polysaccharide vaccines: A review

Polysaccharides produced by Neisseria meningitidis are pharmaceutically important molecules, and are the active components of vaccines against N. meningitidis serogroups A, C, W135 and Y. Effective vaccines based on capsular polysaccharide, polysaccharide conjugates and outer membrane vesicles have been developed for strains expressing capsular polysaccharides that define the sero groups A, C, Y and W135. However, conventional approaches to develop a vaccine for group B strains have been largely unsuccessful. This review focuses on the various aspects of fermentative production of meningococcal polysaccharide from N. meningitidis, methods of conjugation for improving the immunogenicity of polysaccharide vaccine, and efficient and cost effective methods for the purification of N. meningitidis capsular polysaccharide and outer membrane vesicles. In addition, different analytical techniques for the quantitative determination of polysaccharide vaccine and evaluation of structural integrity of conjugate vaccine have been described.