Teaching of Fertility Regulation in Medical Schools: A Survey in the United States and Canada, 1964

Fertility regulation is taught didactically in 82 of 94 medical school departments of obstetrics and gynecology in the United States and Canada, but students are given clinical experience in only 59 medical schools, according to a survey conducted in 1964 by a committee of the American Public Health Association. Legal prohibitions impeded teaching in 1964 in two States and in all of Canada. Nearly all schools teach that help with fertility regulation should be offered for medical and socioeconomic stress, and most teach that it should be offered routinely in premarital counselling and in the postpartum period, but only two-thirds teach that this help should be given to unmarried adults and only one-third teach that any person requesting help with fertility regulation should receive it.     

Experimental murine hypersensitivity pneumonitis

To establish a model of experimental hypersensitivity pneumonitis (EHP) in mice and to examine the influence of genetic background on the pulmonary inflammatory response to Micropolyspora faeni, we determined the responses of C57BL/6, SJL/J, and C3H/HeJ mice to intratracheal (i.t.) injections of M. faeni. Recipient animals received lymph node cells (LNC), peritoneal exudate cells (PEC), and spleen cells (SC) from sensitized mice cultured in vitro with M. faeni. Controls included serum containing anti-M. faeni antibody; uncultured SC from M. faeni-sensitized donors, and M. faeni-cultured SC from ovalbumin (OA)-sensitized donors. Recipients were challenged i.t. with M. faeni or normal saline 48 hr after the cell or serum transfer. We developed a model of EHP in mice. Increasing amounts of i.t. M. faeni were associated with increasing extent of pulmonary inflammation with no difference between the mouse strains. There was substantial increase of the extent of pulmonary abnormalities in the animals receiving cultured SC. The number of transferred cells and the M. faeni concentration correlated with the extent of pulmonary histologic abnormalities. Cultured PEC and LNC could transfer EHP in C3H/HeJ mice only. Serum containing anti-M. faeni antibody, cultured SC from OA-sensitized donors, and noncultured SC from sensitized donors could not transfer EHP. We conclude that it is possible to adoptively transfer EHP.     

Nonspecific binding of monoclonal anti-FLAG M2 antibody in Indian mustard (Brassica juncea)

Chimeric constructs with the hydrophilic octapeptide FLAG epitope (DYKDDDDK) have been widely used as multipurpose tags for identification, detection, and purification of FLAG fusion proteins. Constructs consisting of C-terminal FLAG-tagged genomic and cDNA clones of anArabidopsis phytochelatin synthase gene,AtPCS1, were used in developing transgenic lines of Indian mustard. Presence and expression ofAtPCS1 in transgenic lines were confirmed by using PCR and Northern blot analyses. However, immunoblot analysis revealed strong nonspecific binding of a monoclonal anti-FLAG M2 antibody to an endogenous protein in both shoot and leaf tissues of wild-type Indian mustard (85-kDa) that masked presence of the phytochelatin synthase (PCS) protein of interest (55-kDa). Further analysis revealed absence of a nonspecific protein in root tissues of transgenic plants, thus allowing detection of the FLAG-tagged PCS protein.     

Genetic Mechanisms of Host–Pathogen Interactions for Charcoal Rot in Soybean

Soybean is a leading agronomic crop and contributes to food and agricultural security with expanding production areas in diverse regions around the world. Although soybean is challenged by several diseases and pests and progress has been made in understanding and managing some of these pathogens and pests, charcoal rot, incited by the soil-borne fungal pathogen Macrophomina phaseolina, has received little attention. M. phaseolina has a broad host range and is capable of attacking and infecting several groups of plant species, including soybean. Charcoal rot symptoms on soybean appear more commonly during hot and dry weather conditions, and are associated with drought stress. In recent years, it has become more important to develop management strategies to control charcoal rot in soybean fields. Understanding the genetics of this pathogen as well as its interactions with plant hosts will help in developing effective control and management strategies. The biology of M. phaseolina, its genetics, and plant–fungal relationships are reviewed herein. In addition, a discussion of potential opportunities utilizing modern tools to enhance genetic resistance against charcoal rot is also presented.     

Genetic diversity and population structure of Moringa oleifera

Moringa is a genus of the tropical flowering plant family Moringaceae containing 13 diverse species. Among the different species, only Moringa oleifera L. is cultivated. This species has great potential in serving as a high-value crop for food, medicinal products, as well as fodder for animals, particularly in developing tropical regions of the world. In this study, the genetic diversity and population structure of world-wide collections of M. oleifera were investigated using DNA markers. A total of 19 microsatellite or simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers along with a partial sequence of the chloroplast gene atpB were used to study genetic diversity within 161 accessions of M. oleifera collected from Asia, Africa, North and South America, and the Caribbean. On average, 8.3 alleles/per SSR were amplified in each accession. A total number of 158 alleles were detected in 131 accessions collected from the wild in Pakistan and from 30 accessions obtained from ECHO (Florida). Observed heterozygosity varied from 0.16 to 0.86, with an average of 0.58, while the average PIC value was 0.59. Partial sequencing of chloroplast genes of 43 of 161 plants generated mixed patterns. These findings have demonstrated that there is a large genetic diversity present in wild collections of M. oleifera collected in Pakistan; whereas low genetic diversity is detected in cultivated accessions obtained from ECHO. Taken together, these results agree with previous reports that M. oleifera is native to the Indo-Pakistan ecological region, and provides sufficient diversity for genetic exploration as well as for genetic improvement efforts.     

Immunogenic properties of a lettuce-derived C4(V3)6 multiepitopic HIV protein

Elicitation of broad humoral immune responses is a critical factor in the development of effective HIV vaccines. In an effort to develop low-cost candidate vaccines based on multiepitopic recombinant proteins, this study has been undertaken to assess and characterize the immunogenic properties of a lettuce-derived C4(V3)6 multiepitopic protein. This protein consists of V3 loops corresponding to five different HIV isolates, including MN, IIIB, RF, CC, and RU. In this study, both Escherichia coli and lettuce-derived C4(V3)6 have elicited local and systemic immune responses when orally administered to BALB/c mice. More importantly, lettuce-derived C4(V3)6 has shown a higher immunogenic potential than that of E. coli-derived C4(V3)6. Moreover, when reactivity of sera from mice immunized with C4(V3)6 are compared with those elicited by a chimeric protein carrying a single V3 sequence, broader responses have been observed. The lettuce-derived C4(V3)6 has elicited antibodies with positive reactivity against V3 loops from isolates MN, RF, and CC. In addition, splenocyte proliferation assays indicate that significant T-helper responses are induced by the C4(V3)6 immunogen. Taken together, these findings account for the observed elicitation of broader humoral responses by the C4(V3)6 multiepitopic protein. Moreover, they provide further validation for the production of multiepitopic vaccines in plant cells as this serves not only as a low-cost expression system, but also as an effective delivery vehicle for orally administered immunogens.     

Engineering production of antihypertensive peptides in plants

To date, a number of antihypertensive peptides (AHPs) have been identified. Most of these are derived from proteins present in common edible consumables, including milk, egg, and plant foods. Consumption of these foods serves as means of AHP delivery and thus contributing favorable health benefits. It is hypothesized that food crops, either over-expressing AHP precursor proteins or producing particular peptides as heterologous components, may serve as viable vehicles for production and delivery of functional foods as alternative hypertension therapies. In recent years, genetic engineering efforts have been undertaken to add value to functional foods. Pioneering approaches have been pursued in several crop plants, such as rice and soybean. In this review, a summary of current tools used for discovery of new AHPs, as well as strategies and perspectives of capitalizing on these AHPs in genetic engineering efforts will be presented and discussed. The implications of these efforts on the development of functional foods for preventing and treating hypertension are also presented.