Proteomics approach to identify dehydration responsive nuclear proteins from chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

Dehydration or water-deficit is one of the most important environmental stress factors that greatly influences plant growth and development and limits crop productivity. Plants respond and adapt to such stress by altering their cellular metabolism and activating various defense machineries. Mechanisms that operate signal perception, transduction, and downstream regulatory events provide valuable information about the underlying pathways involved in environmental stress responses. The nuclear proteins constitute a highly organized, complex network that plays diverse roles during cellular development and other physiological processes. To gain a better understanding of dehydration response in plants, we have developed a comparative nuclear proteome in a food legume, chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). Three-week-old chickpea seedlings were subjected to progressive dehydration by withdrawing water and the changes in the nuclear proteome were examined using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Approximately 205 protein spots were found to be differentially regulated under dehydration. Mass spectrometry analysis allowed the identification of 147 differentially expressed proteins, presumably involved in a variety of functions including gene transcription and replication, molecular chaperones, cell signaling, and chromatin remodeling. The dehydration responsive nuclear proteome of chickpea revealed a coordinated response, which involves both the regulatory as well as the functional proteins. This study, for the first time, provides an insight into the complex metabolic network operating in the nucleus during dehydration

Solvent Extraction and Separation of Trivalent Lanthanides Using Cyphos IL 104, a Novel Phosphonium Ionic Liquid as Extractant

Solvent extraction of trivalent lanthanides from chloride solution using a novel ionic liquid Cyphos IL 104 (trihexyl(tetradecyl)phosphonium bis-2,4,4-(trimethylpentyl) phosphinate or [R4PA]) has been investigated, while comparing the results with that of its precursors trihexyl(tetradecyl)phosphonium chloride [R4PCl or Cyphos IL 101], Cyanex 272 [HA] and their equimolar mixture. The results also indicate very high extractability of Cyphos IL 104 toward trivalent lanthanides. Unlike the conventional acidic extractants, extraction of trivalent lanthanides with Cyphos IL 104 increases the equilibrium pH of the aqueous phase due to the preferential extraction of acid over the lanthanide ions. Extraction mechanism has been established by studying the extraction of neodymium(III) with the ionic liquid as a function of the concentrations of Cyphos IL 104 and chloride ions. Separation studies of trivalent lanthanides from a mixed solution containing 1 × 10−4M each of La, Nd, Gd, and Lu with Cyphos IL 104 or Cyanex 272 indicate that Cyphos IL 104 is a better extractant in terms of extraction coefficient, but Cyanex 272 exhibits better selectivity toward heavier lanthanides. The prospects of stripping and regeneration of ionic liquid (Cyphos IL 104) have also been discussed in the present study

Synthetic investigations in epimerization reactions of β-lactams

A novel and facile synthesis of cis-3-phenylthio & cis-3-chloro-β-lactams using epimerization reaction has been studied. The optimized reaction conditions for this conversion using very mild base have been studied. All the new synthesized compounds have been characterized. The reported work gives easy conversion of trans isomers to cis without forming any side product

Comparative proteomics analysis of differentially expressed proteins in chickpea extracellular matrix during dehydration stress

Water deficit or dehydration is the most crucial environmental factor that limits crop productivity and influences geographical distribution of many crop plants. It is suggested that dehydration-responsive changes in expression of proteins may lead to cellular adaptation against water deficit conditions. Most of the earlier understanding of dehydration-responsive cellular adaptation has evolved from transcriptome analyses. By contrast, comparative analysis of dehydration-responsive proteins, particularly proteins in the subcellular fraction, is limiting. In plants, cell wall or extracellular matrix (ECM) serves as the repository for most of the components of the cell signaling process and acts as a frontline defense. Thus, we have initiated a proteomics approach to identify dehydration-responsive ECM proteins in a food legume, chickpea. Several commercial chickpea varieties were screened for the status of dehydration tolerance using different physiological and biochemical indexes. Dehydration-responsive temporal changes of ECM proteins in JG-62, a relatively tolerant variety, revealed 186 proteins with variance at a 95% significance level statistically. The comparative proteomics analysis led to the identification of 134 differentially expressed proteins that include predicted and novel dehydration-responsive proteins. This study, for the first time, demonstrates that over a hundred ECM proteins, presumably involved in a variety of cellular functions, viz. cell wall modification, signal transduction, metabolism, and cell defense and rescue, impinge on the molecular mechanism of dehydration tolerance in plants

Extractive separation of La and Nd using Ionic Liquid as extractant

Significant amount of Rare Earth Metals (REMs) are used in magnets, batteries, tube lights, catalyst etc. due to their unique features. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a process which can extract and separate the individual REMs efficiently. The present investigation deals with the solvent extraction and separation of light rare earth elements such as La and Nd from the chloride medium using an ionic liquid(IL), [R3N+.Cy272-] as an extractant. Various parameters were investigated to optimize the condition for separating La(III) and Nd(III) of 10-4M concentration each. At pH 4.0, 90% Nd(III) and 20% La(III) were extracted from the chloride solution. The pH0.5 values for La(III) and Nd(III) were found to be 4.5 and 3.7 respectively. Extraction of La(III) and Nd(III) increased with the increase in IL concentration. At pH 4.5 and IL concentration of 0.01M separation factor (βNd/La) Nd(III) over La(III) was found to be 49. This shows that synthesized ionic liquid has sufficient potential to separate lighter lanthanides (e.g. La and Nd) from their mixed solutions generated during the processing of the REMs from primary or secondary resources

Seed Priming: The Way Forward to Mitigate Abiotic Stress in Crops

Abiotic stress is a major threat to the farming community, biasing the crop productivity in arid and semi-arid regions of the world. The seed is an important component of agriculture, contributing significantly to the booming production of food and feed crops across the different agro-ecological regions of the world with constant challenges with reference to production, storage, and quality control. Germination, plant growth, and development via non-normal physiological processes are detrimentally affected by stress. Seed priming is an alternative, low cost, and feasible technique, which can improve various abiotic stress tolerances through enhanced and advanced seed production. Seed priming is a process that involves imbibing seed with a restricted amount of water to allow sufficient hydration and advancement of metabolic processes but preventing germination. The beneficial influence of priming on the germination performance of diverse species is attributed to the induction of biochemical mechanisms of cell repair: the resumption of metabolic activity that can re-impose cellular integrity, through the synthesis of nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) and proteins and the improvement of the antioxidant defense system metabolic damage incurred by dry seed and thus fortifying the metabolic machinery of the seed. With this background, this chapter highlights the morphological, physiological, biochemical, and molecular responses of seed priming and recent advances in priming methods as a tool to combat abiotic stress in crop plants

Synthetic investigations in epimerization reactions of β-lactams

755-760A novel and facile synthesis of cis-3-phenylthio & cis-3-chloro-β-lactams using epimerization reaction has been studied. The optimized reaction conditions for this conversion using very mild base have been studied. All the new synthesized compounds have been characterized. The reported work gives easy conversion of trans isomers to cis without forming any side product