Antifungal Potential of Plant Growth Promoting Bacillus Species Against Blossom Blight of Rose

Blossom blight caused by Botrytis cinerea is one among the most devastating diseases that cause complete post-harvest loss in flower crops. The present study focuses on the development of effective bioformulation towards suppression of blossom blight and plant growth promotion in rose. Bacillus amyloliquefaciens (VB2) and Bacillus subtilis (AP) effectively inhibited mycelial growth of B. cinerea in vitro. Genome screening of VB2 and AP revealed the presence of antimicrobial peptide genes including, ituD, ipa14, bacA, bacD, srfA, sfP, spaC, spaS responsible for the biosynthesis of antibiotics such as iturin, bacilysin, bacillomycin, surfactin and subtilin. Further, the presence of volatile antifungal compounds in the bacterial secretome was identified through gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis. Upon treatment, AP accelerated the metabolite profile of the plants and a rise in peak area of antifungal compounds such as, pentadecanoic acid, n-hexadecanoic acid, octadecanoic acid (stearic acid) and tetradecanoic acid was observed. In vitro, VB2 produced maximum indole acetic acid (9.17 µg/ml) and gibberellic acid (8.20 µg/ml) in nutrient broth. Under field conditions, foliar spray of VB2 at 0.5% (5 ml/l), four times at weekly interval suppressed blossom blight incidence (64% reduction over control) and also promoted yield. Future research towards development of an effective bioformulation with extended shelf life will aid in the management of various fungal, bacterial and viral diseases in different crop plants.

     

On the Phospholipid Metabolism of Glial Cell Primary Cultures.

Abstract: Primary cultures were prepared from newborn rat brain. After 16-18 days, they consisted mainly of mature and immature astrocytes and oligodendrocytes, as judged by immunohistochemistry. To study the metabolism of ethanolamine glycerophospholipids, the cells were incubated with 1-[1-³H]alkyl- sn -glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (1-alkyl-GPE), for 1–20 h. Five main products were formed: 1-alkyl-2-acyl-GPE; 1-alkyl-2-acyksn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (1-alkyl-2-acyl-GPC); 1-alkenyl-2-acyl-GPE (ethanolamine plasmalogen); 1-alkenyl-2-acyl-GPC (choline plasmalogen); and 1-alkyl-glycerol. Acylation of the substrate was the main reaction during the first 3 h of incubation, whereas desaturation to plasmaiogen reached a maximum after 12 h. Greater amounts of radioactivity were observed in the phosphatidylcholine fraction after longer incubation times. Only small amounts of choline plasmalogen were observed. The phosphatidylethanolamine fraction consisted of 26.5% diacyl-, 27.5% alkyl-acyl-, and 46.0% alkenyl-acyl- compounds, whereas the corresponding data for the phosphatidylcholine fraction were 78.5, 16.4, and 5.1%, respectively, after 20 h of incubation. Hydrolysis of the substrate to 1-alkyl-glycerol was a minor reaction.     

Asparaginase synthesis by semi-continuous fermentor cultures of Vibrio succinogenes

Summary Vibrio succinogenes produces an asparaginase that does not hydrolyze glutamine, is not immunosuppressive, and has antitumor activity. Fermentor cultures initiated by small inocula exhibit a pattern of increasing enzyme activity consistent with induction during exponential phase. Semi-continuous cultures permit the harvesting of fully induced cells.     

Calcium antagonists: A new class of therapeutic agents

A new class of therapeutic agents, sharing inhibition of the slow calcium channel, will soon be available to the American patient. Selective action of these agents upon the atrioventricular node, the smooth muscle of coronary and peripheral arteries, and the contractility of cardiac muscle opens new vistas in cardiovascular pharmacology. Early release of these agents by the Federal Drug Administration for general use is urged, based upon the already wide and successful experience in the European and South American continents.     

Multiple sources of evidence for density dependence in the endangered Hawaiian stilt (Himantopus mexicanus knudseni)

Hawaiian stilts (Himantopus mexicanus knudseni) are an endangered subspecies of the Black-necked stilt endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. Despite long-term study, the main drivers of Hawaiian stilt population dynamics are poorly understood. We tested for density dependence using two sources of evidence: a 30-year time series of annual estimated range-wide abundance, and two 15+ year time series of reproductive success. Using separate methods with independent data, sources allowed us to make up for the potentially positive bias of one approach with the more conservative nature of the second. We compared nonlinear density-dependent and density-independent population model fits to our time-series data, using both frequentist and Bayesian state-space approaches. Across both approaches, density-dependent models best fit observed population dynamics, with lower AICc and cross-validation statistics compared to density-independent models. Among density-dependent models, a conditional model in which density-independent dynamics occur below a population size threshold (~850–1,000 birds), and then density-dependent dynamics occur above that threshold, performed best across Bayesian and frequentist model comparisons, with the Ricker model ranked next or equivalently. Our analysis of reproduction data revealed a strong negative effect of local adult density on nest success (proportion of nests hatching at least one chick) at Kealia National Wildlife Refuge on Maui, where few alternative breeding habitats are available, but no such effect at another site where many nearby alternative wetlands are available. These congruent results across independent datasets and analytical approaches support the hypothesis that Hawaiian stilts exhibit density dependence across their range.     

Epigenetic Modulation in Parkinson’s Disease and Potential Treatment Therapies

In the recent past, huge emphasis has been given to the epigenetic alterations of the genes responsible for the cause of neurological disorders. Earlier, the scientists believed somatic changes and modifications in the genetic makeup of DNA to be the main cause of the neurodegenerative diseases. With the increase in understanding of the neural network and associated diseases, it was observed that alterations in the gene expression were not always originated by the change in the genetic sequence. For this reason, extensive research has been conducted to understand the role of epigenetics in the pathophysiology of several neurological disorders including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and, Huntington’s disease. In a healthy person, the epigenetic modifications play a crucial role in maintaining the homeostasis of a cell by either up-regulating or down-regulating the genes. Therefore, improved understanding of these modifications may provide better insight about the diseases and may serve as potential therapeutic targets for their treatment. The present review describes various epigenetic modifications involved in the pathology of Parkinson’s Disease (PD) backed by multiple researches carried out to study the gene expression regulation related to the epigenetic alterations. Additionally, we will briefly go through the current scenario about the various treatment therapies including small molecules and multiple phytochemicals potent enough to reverse these alterations and the future directions for a better management of PD.

     

Active Sensing System with In Situ Adjustable Sensor Morphology

Background

Despite the widespread use of sensors in engineering systems like robots and automation systems, the common paradigm is to have fixed sensor morphology tailored to fulfill a specific application. On the other hand, robotic systems are expected to operate in ever more uncertain environments. In order to cope with the challenge, it is worthy of note that biological systems show the importance of suitable sensor morphology and active sensing capability to handle different kinds of sensing tasks with particular requirements.

Methodology

This paper presents a robotics active sensing system which is able to adjust its sensor morphology in situ in order to sense different physical quantities with desirable sensing characteristics. The approach taken is to use thermoplastic adhesive material, i.e. Hot Melt Adhesive (HMA). It will be shown that the thermoplastic and thermoadhesive nature of HMA enables the system to repeatedly fabricate, attach and detach mechanical structures with a variety of shape and size to the robot end effector for sensing purposes. Via active sensing capability, the robotic system utilizes the structure to physically probe an unknown target object with suitable motion and transduce the arising physical stimuli into information usable by a camera as its only built-in sensor.

Conclusions/Significance

The efficacy of the proposed system is verified based on two results. Firstly, it is confirmed that suitable sensor morphology and active sensing capability enables the system to sense different physical quantities, i.e. softness and temperature, with desirable sensing characteristics. Secondly, given tasks of discriminating two visually indistinguishable objects with respect to softness and temperature, it is confirmed that the proposed robotic system is able to autonomously accomplish them. The way the results motivate new research directions which focus on in situ adjustment of sensor morphology will also be discussed.