Phytopathological strategies to combat some diseases of plantain for improved nutrition,income generation and poverty alleviation

The problem of micronutrient deficiencies in the diet of indigenous people of Imo State can be solved not only by improving the diet, but also by identifying nutritious foods as well as making such foods available both in quantities and qualities that needed to improve health. Plantain is widely consumed in many ways such as baked, fried, boiled, steamed, dried or eaten raw and the management demand for plantain make production expensive and out of the reach of resource for poor indigenes. Plantain production must cope with numerous environmental challenges particularly with fungal, bacteria, viral and nematode pathogens as well as pests and non-pathogenic diseases which reduce plantain production. Plantain is highly rich in iron, zinc and β-carotene whose deficiencies are commonly reported in children and women of reproductive age. The most serious disease of plantain is the black Sigatoka caused by Mycosphaerella fijiensis. Others include Fusarium wilt, anthracnose, bacteria wilt, fruit rot, burrowing nematode Radopholus similis and bract mosaic. There had been scientific approaches to combat these diseases such as use of chemicals, biological enhancement, crop sanitation, use of alternative and collateral hosts as well as genetic manipulations.     

Calosphaeria canker of almond caused by Calosphaeria pulchella in Iran

Trunk diseases are a potential threat for the almond industry in Northern Iran. In a survey on fungal agents associated with almond die back and decline in East Azerbaijan province, located in Northwest of Iran, acremonium-like hyphomycete isolates with hyaline and simple conidiophores and hyaline cylindrical phialides with a finely pigmented apical region and deep, flaring collarettes were repeatedly recovered from symptomatic tissues. Fungal isolates were identified as Calosphaeria pulchella based on cultural and morphological characteristics. The identity of the species was further confirmed based on the sequence data from LSU and ITS rDNA regions. A phylogeny inferred using ITS sequence data, clustered the Calosphaeria isolates together with Calosphaeria pulchella isolates in GenBank known from Prunus persica and Prunus avium. The results of pathogenicity assay using an excised shoot method showed that Calosphaeria pulchella is highly pathogenic on almond. The distribution and host range of this new pathogen on almond and the impact of the disease on almond industry in this region remain to be studied.     

The major economic field diseases of cowpea in the humid agro-ecologies of south-western Nigeria

Cowpea, which has now become an important protein source for the teeming populace of Nigerians, especially those living in the humid agro-ecological zones of south-western Nigeria, is severely attacked by diseases. The causal agents of these diseases find the environment more conducive for survival and hence induced disease conditions in the host plant, causing significant yield reduction. This paper reviews the present situation of the cowpea diseases in the humid forest agro-ecologies of south-western Nigeria.     

Computer-Aided,Rational Design of a Potent and Selective Small Peptide Inhibitor of Cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2)

Abstract

Cyclooxygenase (COX) is a key enzyme in the biosynthetic pathway leading to the formation of prostaglandins, which are the mediators of inflammation. This enzyme exists mainly in two isoforms, COX1 and COX2. Prostaglandins responsible for the inflammatory process could be sufficiently controlled with the conventional non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). These drugs, however, had adverse gastrointestinal side-effects and, therefore, drugs that selectively inhibit COX2, such as the coxibs, were developed. Recent reports on the harmful cardiovascular and renal side-effects of the conventional NSAIDs as well as the COX2 selective inhibitors valdecoxib and rofecoxib have once again led to the quest for a novel class of COX2 selective inhibitors.

Keeping this in mind, we have used the available X-ray crystal structures of the complexes of COX' and COX2 with the known inhibitors to carry out a structure-based, rational, molecular modeling approach to design a small peptide inhibitor, which is both potent and selective for COX2. Docking studies using SYBYL 6.81 (Tripos, Inc.) and AutoDock 3.0, indicate that the designed peptides inhibit COX2 with potency in the nanomolar range. Furthermore, it is found to be a million-fold selective for COX2 as compared with COX1. Thus, the small peptide inhibitor is a suitable lead compound for the design of a new class of anti-inflammatory drugs.     

Role of heat shock protein 47 in intestinal fibrosis of experimental colitis

Background and aims

Intestinal fibrosis is a clinically important issue of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). It is unclear whether or not heat shock protein 47 (HSP47), a collagen-specific molecular chaperone, plays a critical role in intestinal fibrosis. The aim of this study is to investigate the role of HSP47 in intestinal fibrosis of murine colitis.

Methods

HSP47 expression and localization were evaluated in interleukin-10 knockout (IL-10KO) and wild-type (WT, C57BL/6) mice by immunohistochemistry. Expression of HSP47 and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) in colonic tissue was measured. In vitro studies were conducted in NIH/3T3 cells and primary culture of myofibroblasts separated from colonic tissue of IL-10KO (PMF KO) and WT mice (PMF WT) with stimulation of several cytokines. We evaluated the inhibitory effect of administration of small interfering RNA (siRNA) targeting HSP47 on intestinal fibrosis in IL-10KO mice in vivo.

Results

Immunohistochemistry revealed HSP47 positive cells were observed in the mesenchymal and submucosal area of both WT and IL-10 KO mice. Gene expressions of HSP47 and TGF-β1 were significantly higher in IL-10KO mice than in WT mice and correlated with the severity of inflammation. In vitro experiments with NIH3T3 cells, TGF-β1 only induced HSP47 gene expression. There was a significant difference of HSP47 gene expression between PMF KO and PMF WT. Administration of siRNA targeting HSP47 remarkably reduced collagen deposition in colonic tissue of IL-10KO mice.

Conclusions

Our results indicate that HSP47 plays an essential role in intestinal fibrosis of IL-10KO mice, and may be a potential target for intestinal fibrosis associated with IBD.     

Susceptibility to take‐all of cereal and grass species,and their effects on pathogen inoculum

Two field trials were conducted to investigate different herbage grasses and cereals for their susceptibility to the disease take‐all, for their impact on concentrations of the pathogen, Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici (Ggt), in soil and for their effect on development of take‐all in a subsequent wheat crop. In the herbage grass trial, Bromus willdenowii was highly susceptible to Ggt, produced the greatest post‐senescence Ggt concentrations in soil and highest incidence of take‐all in following wheat crop. Lolium perenne, Lolium multiflorum and Festuca arundinacea supported low Ggt soil concentrations and fallow the least. The relationship between susceptibility to Ggt and post‐senescence concentrations in soil differed between pasture grasses and cereals. In a trial in which Ggt was added to half the plots and where wheat, barley, triticale, rye or fallow were compared, the susceptibility of the cereals to take‐all was not clearly linked to post‐harvest soil Ggt concentrations. In particular, triticale and rye had low and negligible take‐all infection respectively, but greater post‐harvest soil Ggt concentrations than barley or wheat. This indicates that low Ggt concentrations on roots may build up during crop senescence on some cereals. Soil Ggt concentrations were greater following harvest in inoculated plots sown to cereals, but in the second year there was more take‐all in the previously non‐inoculated than inoculated plots. Thus, the grass and cereal species differed in susceptibility to take‐all, in their impact on Ggt multiplication and in associated take‐all severity in following wheat crop.     

Species differences of macrophage very low-density-lipoprotein (VLDL) receptor protein expression

Triglyceride-rich lipoproteins (TGRLs) and low-density-lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol are independent risk factors for coronary artery disease. We have previously proposed that the very low-density-lipoprotein (VLDL) receptor is one of the receptors required for foam cell formation by TGRLs in human macrophages. However, the VLDL receptor proteins have not been detected in atherosclerotic lesions of several animal models. Here we showed no VLDL receptor protein was detected in mouse macrophage cell lines (Raw264.7 and J774.2) or in mouse peritoneal macrophages in vitro. Furthermore, no VLDL receptor protein was detected in macrophages in atherosclerotic lesions of chow-fed apolipoprotein E-deficient or cholesterol-fed LDL receptor-deficient mice in vivo. In contrast, macrophage VLDL receptor protein was clearly detected in human macrophages in vitro and in atherosclerotic lesions in myocardial infarction-prone Watanabe-heritable hyperlipidemic (WHHLMI) rabbits in vivo. There are species differences in the localization of VLDL receptor protein in vitro and in vivo. Since VLDL receptor is expressed on macrophages in atheromatous plaques of both rabbit and human but not in mouse models, the mechanisms of atherogenesis and/or growth of atherosclerotic lesions in mouse models may be partly different from those of humans and rabbits.     

Arrhythmogenic risks of stem cell replacement therapy for cardiovascular diseases

Ischemic heart disease and congestive heart failure are major contributors to high morbidity and mortality. Approximately 1.5 million cases of myocardial infarction occur annually in the United States; the yearly incidence rate is approximately 600 cases per 100,000 people. Although significant progress to improve the survival rate has been made by medications and implantable medical devices, damaged cardiomyocytes are unable to be recovered by current treatment strategies. After almost two decades of research, stem cell therapy has become a very promising approach to generate new cardiomyocytes and enhance the function of the heart. Along with clinical trials with stem cells conducted in cardiac regeneration, concerns regarding safety and potential risks have emerged. One of the contentious issues is the electrical dysfunctions of cardiomyocytes and cardiac arrhythmia after stem cell therapy. In this review, we focus on the cell sources currently used for stem cell therapy and discuss related arrhythmogenic risk.     

Complicated trafficking behaviors involved in paradoxical regulation of sortilin in lipid metabolism

This review aims to summarize and discuss the most recent advances in our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of the paradoxical effects of sortilin on lipid metabolism. The vacuolar protein sorting 10 protein (Vps10p) domain in the sortilin protein is responsible for substrate binding. Its cytoplasmic tail interacts with adaptor molecules, and modifications can determine whether sortilin trafficking occurs via the anterograde or retrograde pathway. The complicated trafficking behaviors likely contribute to the paradoxical roles of sortilin in lipid metabolism. The anterograde pathway of sortilin trafficking in hepatocytes, enterocytes, and peripheral cells likely causes an increase in plasma lipid levels, while the retrograde pathway leads to the opposite effect. Hepatocyte sortilin functions via the anterograde or retrograde pathway in a complicated and paradoxical manner to regulate apoB-containing lipoprotein metabolism. Clarifying the regulatory mechanisms underlying the trafficking behaviors of sortilin is necessary and may lead to artificial sortilin intervention as a potential therapeutic strategy for lipid disorder diseases. Conclusively, the paradoxical regulation of sortilin in lipid metabolism is likely due to its complicated trafficking behaviors.