Phylogenetic diversity of indigenous Rhizobium trapped from the natural habitat of Pisum sativum L. in eastern and central Algeria

Plant and Soil - The nitrogen-fixing symbiosis fixation between legumes and Rhizobium helps the plant to survive and to compete effectively on nitrogen poor soils. The soil environment attached to...     

Contrasting association of Leptin receptor polymorphisms and haplotypes with polycystic ovary syndrome in Bahraini and Tunisian women: a case–control study

Background: The present study examined the contribution of ethnicity to the association of leptin receptor gene (LEPR) gene variants with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in Tunisian and Bahraini Arabic-speaking women.Methods: Subjects consisted of 320 women with PCOS, and 446 eumenorrhic women from Tunisia, and 242 women with PCOS and 238 controls from Bahrain. Genotyping of (exonic) rs1137100 and rs1137101 and (intronic) rs2025804 LEPR variants was done by allelic exclusion.Results: The minor allele frequencies (MAFs) of rs1137100 and rs1137101 were significantly different between PCOS cases and control women from Bahrain but not Tunisia, and LEPR rs1137101 was associated with increased PCOS susceptibility only in Bahraini subjects. Furthermore, rs1137100 was associated with decreased PCOS risk among Bahrainis under codominant and recessive models; rs1137100 was negatively associated with PCOS in Tunisians after controlling for testosterone. In addition, rs2025804 was associated with increased PCOS risk among Tunisian but not Bahraini women, after adjusting for key covariates. Negative correlation was seen between rs1137101 and triglycerides in Tunisians, while homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and insulin correlated with rs2025804 and rs1137101 among Bahraini subjects, and rs1137101 correlated with estradiol and prolactin. Taking TAG haplotype as common, positive association of TAA and negative association of TGG haplotype with PCOS was seen among Bahraini women; no three-locus PCOS-associated haplotypes were found in Tunisians.Conclusions: The present study is the first to demonstrate the contribution of ethnicity to the association of LEPR gene variants with PCOS, thereby highlighting the significance of controlling for ethnicity in gene association investigations.     

Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells from patients with end-stage renal disease are suitable for autologous therapy

Background aimsMesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are pluripotent cells that have immunosuppressive and reparative properties in vitro and in vivo. Although autologous bone marrow (BM)-derived MSCs are already clinically tested in transplant recipients, it is unclear whether these BM cells are affected by renal disease. We assessed whether renal failure affected the function and therapeutic potential of BM-MSCs.MethodsMSCs from 10 adults with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and 10 age-matched healthy controls were expanded from BM aspirates and tested for phenotype and functionality in vitro.ResultsMSCs from ESRD patients were >90% positive for CD73, CD90 and CD105 and negative for CD34 and CD45 and showed a similar morphology and differentiation capacity as MSCs from healthy controls. Of importance for their clinical utility, growth characteristics were similar in both groups, and sufficient numbers of MSCs were obtained within 4 weeks. Messenger RNA expression levels of self-renewal genes and factors involved in repair and inflammation were also comparable between both groups. Likewise, microRNA expression profiling showed a broad overlap between ESRD and healthy donor MSCs. ESRD MSCs displayed the same immunosuppressive capacities as healthy control MSCs, demonstrated by a similar dose-dependent inhibition of peripheral blood mononuclear cell proliferation, similar inhibition of proinflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor-α and interferon-γ production and a concomitant increase in the production of interleukin-10.ConclusionsExpanded BM-MSCs procured from ESRD patients and healthy controls are both phenotypically and functionally similar. These findings are important for the potential autologous clinical application of BM-MSCs in transplant recipients.     

Water stress impact on young seedling growth of Acacia arabica

Drought is the major constraint in arid regions throughout the world and identification of drought-resistant plants is therefore of crucial importance. Since young seedling stage is especially sensitive to water stress, the present work analyzed the physiological behavior of seedling from Acacia arabica issued from a dry area, grown under controlled environmental conditions and subjected to progressive soil drying. Although soil gravimetric water content (g H₂O g^?1 soil dry weight) dropped from 80 % to less than 35 %, most plants remained alive until the end of the water stress. Seedlings were able to efficiently close their stomata to reduce water losses and accumulated high amounts of proline. Despite osmotic adjustment, turgor pressure decreased in stressed plants and could explain the stress-induced inhibition of plant growth. Decrease in net photosynthesis was related to stress-induced decrease in stomatal conductance and not to any impact on chlorophyll concentration or fluorescence-related parameter: both PSII efficiency and photochemical quenching remained unaffected by water stress while drought-induced increase in non-photochemical quenching should be regarded as a strategy to avoid over-energisation of the photosynthetic apparatus. Instantaneous water use efficiency increased in stressed plants comparative to controls. Oxidative stress estimated by malondialdehyde concentration was recorded only at the end of the treatment, suggesting that stressed plants remained able to cope with reactive oxygen species. Water stress induced an increase in anthocyanins, while aglycone flavonols decreased. Those compounds were not involved in the management of oxidative stress. It is concluded that A. arabica is a promising drought-resistant plant species for rehabilitation of dry areas.     

Square‐Centimeter‐Sized High‐Efficiency Polymer Solar Cells: How the Processing Atmosphere and Film Quality Influence Performance at Large Scale

Organic solar cells based on two benzodithiophene‐based polymers (PTB7 and PTB7‐Th) processed at square centimeter‐size under inert atmosphere and ambient air, respectively, are investigated. It is demonstrated that the performance of solar cells processed under inert atmosphere is not limited by the upscaling of photoactive layer and the interfacial layers. Thorough morphological and electrical characterizations of optimized layers and corresponding devices reveal that performance losses due to area enlargement are only caused by the sheet resistance of the transparent electrode reducing the efficiency from 9.3% of 7.8% for PTB7‐Th in the condition that both photoactive layer and the interfacial layers are of high layer quality. Air processing of photoactive layer and the interfacial layers into centimeter‐sized solar cells lead to additional, but only slight, losses (<10%) in all photovoltaic parameters, which can be addressed to changes in the electronic properties of both active layer and ZnO layers rather than changes in layer morphology. The demonstrated compatibility of polymer solar cells using solution‐processed photoactive layer and interfacial layers with large area indicates that the introduction of a standard active area of 1 cm² for measuring efficiency of organic record solar cells is feasible. However electric standards for indium tin oxides (ITO) or alternative transparent electrodes need to be developed so that performance of new photovoltaic materials can be compared at square centimeter‐size.     

Associations of rs1883832 and rs4810485 polymorphisms of CD40 gene with myocardial infarction in the Tunisian population

Context: Cluster of differentiation 40 (CD40), and its ligand CD40L, are major co-stimulatory molecules whose interactions are important in both cellular and humoral immunity, and has been suggested to play a role in the pathogenesis of acute coronary syndrome.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the association of CD40 polymorphisms (-1?C>T (rs1883832) and 945G>T (rs4810485)) and myocardial infarction (MI), and to test the association of CD40 gene haplotypes with MI in Tunisians.

Materials and methods: Three hundred and fifty MI patients and 301 apparently healthy controls were included in the study. The polymorphisms of CD40 were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP).

Results: There were significant differences in the genotype and allele frequencies of CD40 gene -1?C>T (rs1883832) polymorphism between cases and controls. Stratifying according to gender, the association between the TT genotype and MI was statistically significant in males, only. Haplotype analysis revealed that the C-T and T-G haplotypes were associated with an increased risk of MI (p?=?0.012 and p?<?0.001, respectively).

Conclusions: Our work showed a significant association between the -1?C>T (rs1883832) polymorphism of the CD40 gene and MI in the Tunisians.