Effect of phosphate supplementation on oxygen delivery at high altitude

In the present communication, effect of low doses of phosphate supplementation on short-term high altitude adaptation has been examined. Studies were carried out in 36 healthy, male, sea-level residents divided in a double blind fashion into drug and placebo treated groups. 3.2 mmol of phosphate were given orally to each subject of the drug treated group once a day for 4 days on arrival at an altitude of 3,500 m. Sequential studies were done in the subjects in both groups on the 3rd, 7th, 14th and 21st day of their altitude stay. Haemoglobin, haematocrit, erythrocyte and reticulocyte counts increased to the similar extent in both groups. Blood pH, pO₂ and adenosine tri-phosphate (ATP) did not differ between the two groups. On 3rd day of the altitude stay, inorganic phosphate and 2,3-diphosphoglycerate (2,3 DPG) levels in the drug treated group increased significantly as compared to the placebo group. No significant difference in inorganic phosphate and 2,3 DPG was observed later on in the two groups. Psychological and clinical tests also indicated that the drug treated subjects felt better as compared to the placebo treated subjects. The present study suggests that low doses of phosphate increases circulating 2,3-DPG concentration which in turn brings about beneficial effect towards short term high altitude adaptation.     

Gastrointestinal stress as innate defence against microbial attack

The human gastrointestinal (GI) tract has been bestowed with the most difficult task of protecting the underlying biological compartments from the resident commensal flora and the potential pathogens in transit through the GI tract. It has a unique environment in which several defence tactics are at play while maintaining homeostasis and health. The GI tract shows myriad number of environmental extremes, which includes pH variations, anaerobic conditions, nutrient limitations, elevated osmolarity etc., which puts a check to colonization and growth of nonfriendly microbial strains. The GI tract acts as a highly selective barrier/platform for ingested food and is the primary playground for balance between the resident and uninvited organisms. This review focuses on antimicrobial defense mechanisms of different sections of human GI tract. In addition, the protective mechanisms used by microbes to combat the human GI defence systems are also discussed. The ability to survive this innate defence mechanism determines the capability of probiotic or pathogen strains to confer health benefits or induce clinical events respectively.     

Mitochondrial oxidative stress elicits chromosomal instability after exposure to isocyanates in human kidney epithelial cells

The role of oxidative stress is often attributed in environmental renal diseases. Isocyanates, a ubiquitous chemical group with diverse industrial applications, are known to undergo bio-transformation reactions upon accidental and occupational exposure. This study delineates the role of isocyanate-mediated mitochondrial oxidative stress in eliciting chromosomal instability in cultured human kidney epithelial cells. Cells treated with 0.005 µM concentration of methyl isocyanate displayed morphological transformation and stress-induced senescence. Along the time course, an increase in DCF fluorescence indicative of oxidative stress, depletion of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione reductase (GR) and consistent accumulation of 8-oxo-dG were noticed. Thus, endogenous oxidative stress resulted in aberrant expression of p53, p21, cyclin E and CDK2 proteins, suggestive of deregulated cell cycle, chromosomal aberrations, centromeric amplification, aneuploidy and genomic instability.     

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and Trichoderma viride mediated Fusarium wilt control in tomato

The biocontrol potential of two arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) (Funneliformis mosseae and Acaulospora laevis) and Trichoderma viride was assessed against tomato wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum Schlecht. f. sp. lycopersici under pot condition. All the bioagent showed appreciable results in increasing plant growth. Combined inoculation of F. mosseae, A. laevis and T. viride showed maximum increases in plant height, shoot fresh weight, root dry weight, number of leaves and number of branches per plant while dual inoculation of F. mosseae and T. viride increased rest of the growth parameters like shoot dry weight, root fresh weight, root length and leaf area. AM colonisation and spore number was found highest in single inoculation of AMF, which decreases with the addition of T. viride. But, this decrease has no effect on biocontrol efficiency of bioagents. Photosynthesis, chlorophyll content and nutrient content were markedly decreased by pathogen infection. Bioagent application overcomes this effect and a remarkable increase in the plant phosphorus and nitrogen content was recorded. Among both the AMF, F. mosseae proved to be more effective strain compared to A. laevis for tomato. Maximum reduction in disease incidence and severity was recorded in combined inoculation of F. mosseae, A. laevis and T. viride. Whereas control plants without any bioagent showed maximum occurrence of disease. The findings of this study concludes that soil inoculation with F. mosseae along with root inoculation with conidial suspension of T. viride before transplantation offered better survival and resistance to tomato seedlings against Fusarium wilt.     

Vitamin D,Fibroblast Growth Factor 23 and Incident Cognitive Impairment: Findings from the REGARDS Study

Vitamin D protects against cognitive decline in animals but evidence in humans has been inconsistent. Fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) is a hormone that inhibits vitamin D activation yet few studies examined whether FGF23 is associated with cognitive impairment. The objective of this study was to examine associations of 25(OH)D and FGF23 with incident cognitive impairment in the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study, a cohort of black and white adults ≥45 years old. FGF23 and 25(OH)D were measured in 474 incident impairment cases and 561 controls. In multivariable-adjusted models, there were no significant associations of FGF23 with incident cognitive impairment. In analyses using clinically-relevant categories of 25(OH)D (< 20 ng/ml, 20–29.9 ng/ml, ≥30 ng/ml), there was no statistically significant association of lower 25(OH)D concentrations with odds of incident cognitive impairment in models adjusted for demographic, clinical, and laboratory variables and season of blood draw (tertile 1 [≥30 ng/ml] reference; tertile 2 [20–29.9 ng/ml], odds ratio [OR] 0.96, 95%CI 0.67, 1.38; tertile 3 [<20 ng/ml] OR 1.26, 95%CI 0.83, 1.91). When 25(OH)D was modeled as race-specific tertiles, there were no significant associations of 25(OH)D with incident cognitive impairment in whites, whereas lower 25(OH)D was associated with higher odds in blacks (tertile 1 [>23 ng/ml] reference; tertile 2 [15–23 ng/ml], OR 2.96, 95%CI 1.48,5.94; tertile 3 [<15 ng/ml] OR 2.40, 95%CI 1.07,5.40) in the fully adjusted model. In this cohort of older adults, lower race-specific tertiles of 25(OH)D were associated with higher incidence of cognitive impairment in black individuals but not white individuals. These data suggest that treating low 25(OH)D may be a novel strategy for addressing racial disparities in neurocognitive outcomes.     

Biometry of frozen-thawed sperm from eight breeds of Indian buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis)

Sperm morphometry, in combination with other objective traits, can be useful for developing a fertility index. The objective of the present study was to measure various biometric end points of frozen-thawed sperm from eight breeds of Indian buffaloes (Murrah, Surti, Tarai, Mehsana, Jaffrabadi, Bhadawari, Pandharpuri and Nili-Ravi). The sperm head of Pandharpuri buffaloes had the greatest length (10.21 microm), width (6.05 microm), area (52.31 microm(2)) and perimeter (31.86 microm). The ratio of sperm width to length was also greatest (0.61) in Pandharpuri as well as in two other breeds, viz. Nili-Ravi and Jaffrabadi. Murrah had the smallest sperm head width (4.75 microm), area (41.65 microm(2)) and perimeter (29.17 microm), but its sperm tail was longest (57.02 microm), along with that of Jaffrabadi buffaloes (56.96 microm). Based on mean values of sperm tail length, mid piece length and its width the eight buffalo breeds were categorized into three, four and five groups, respectively. Multivariate analysis and clustering put six breeds (Surti, Tarai, Mehsana, Jaffrabadi, Bhadawari and Nili-Ravi) in one cluster, whereas Murrah and Pandharpuri appeared as separate entities.     

Biofortification of safflower: an oil seed crop engineered for ALA-targeting better sustainability and plant based omega-3 fatty acids

Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) deficiency and a skewed n6:n3 fatty acid ratio in the diet is a major explanation for the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases and inflammatory/autoimmune diseases. There is mounting evidence of the health benefits associated with omega-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC PUFA’s). Although present in abundance in fish, a number of factors limit our consumption of fish based omega-3 PUFA’s. To name a few, overexploitation of wild fish stocks has reduced their sustainability due to increased demand of aquaculture for fish oil and meal; the pollution of marine food webs has raised concerns over the ingestion of toxic substances such as heavy metals and dioxins; vegetarians do not consider fish-based sources for supplemental nutrition. Thus alternative sources are being sought and one approach to the sustainable supply of LC-PUFAs is the metabolic engineering of transgenic plants with the capacity to synthesize n3 LC-PUFAs. The present investigation was carried out with the goal of developing transgenic safflower capable of producing pharmaceutically important alpha-linolenic acid (ALA, C18:3, n3). This crop was selected as the seeds accumulate ~?78% of the total fatty acids as linoleic acid (LA, C18:2, n6), the immediate precursor of ALA. In the present work, ALA production was achieved successfully in safflower seeds by transforming safflower hypocotyls with Arabidopsis specific delta 15 desaturase (FAD3) driven by truncated seed specific promoter. Transgenic safflower fortified with ALA is not only potentially valuable nutritional superior novel oil but also has reduced ratio of LA to ALA which is required for good health.     

Indigenous salt-tolerant rhizobacterium <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pantoea dispersa</Emphasis> (PSB3) reduces sodium uptake and mitigates the effects of salt stress on growth and yield of chickpea

Salt stress has multiple damaging effects on plants including physiological damage, reduced growth, and productivity. Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are one of the valuable options to mitigate the negative effects of this stress. In the present study, native bacteria from chickpea’s rhizosphere were isolated, and checked for their salt tolerance and plant growth-promoting attributes (phosphate (P) solubilization, siderophores, indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) production, and 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase production). One isolate, subsequently identified as Pantoea dispersa, showed appreciable production of IAA (218.3 µg/ml) and siderophores (60.33% SU), P-solubilization (3.64 µg/ml) and ACC deaminase activity (207.45 nmol/mg/h) in the presence of 150 mM NaCl, under laboratory conditions. Salt stress in uninoculated chickpea (GPF2 cultivar) plants induced high accumulation of Na⁺ ions (3.86 mg g^?1 dw) in the leaves, along with significant reduction in K⁺ uptake, membrane integrity, chlorophyll concentration, and leaf water content, thus resulting in impaired growth of the plant and yield (pods and seeds) in a salt concentration-dependent manner. The damage due to salt stress was restored significantly in plants inoculated with P. dispersa. A significant improvement in biomass (32–34%), pods number (31–34.5%), seeds number (32–35.7%), pods weight (30–32.6%), and seeds weight (27–35%) per plant occurred in salt stress-affected plants, which was associated with significant reduction in Na⁺ uptake, reduced membrane damage, significantly improved leaf water content, chlorophyll content, and K⁺ uptake. This study suggests for the first time that native P. dispersa strain PSB3 can be used to alleviate the negative effects of salt stress on chickpea plants and holds the potential to be used as a biofertilizer.