Genomic affinity between Oryza sativa and Oryza brachyantha as revealed by in situ hybridization and chromosome pairing

Genomic affinity between Oryza sativa (2n = 24 AA), and Oryza brachyantha (2n = 24 FF) was assessed by using three strategies: genomic in situ hybridization (GISH), meiotic chromosome pairing, pollen andspikelet sterility. The chromosome pairing was examined in pollen mother cells of O. brachyantha, O.sativa and the hybrid between O. sativa and O. brachyantha. The hybrid was highly sterile with no pollen stain ability. Both parents showed regular meiosis with normal chromosome pairing. The F1hybrid exhibited limited chromosome pairing. On an average, 0-2 bivalents and 20-24 univalents were recorded at metaphase-1 and 0 - 1 univalent at diakinesis. The most frequent configuration was twobivalents and twenty univalent. The meiosis was highly irregular showing unequal distribution of chromosomes at anaphase, formation of multipolar bodies and variation in the cell cycle of both genomes. GISH revealed unequivocal discrimination of O. brachyantha chromosomes as appeared red from O. sativa chromosomes that fluoresced yellow. No cross hybridization was examined between the labeled genomic DNA of O. brachyantha and the chromosomes of O. sativa. Mitotic chromosomes of O. brachyantha and O. sativa, in the hybrid, were discriminated by GISH. High sterility in this hybrid could be due to abnormal meiosis and lack of pairing

Production and molecular characterization of wide cross derivatives in rice

The reduced genetic variability of modern rice varieties (Oryza sativa L.) is of great concern because it reduces the possibilities of genetic gain in breeding programs. Introgression lines (ILs) containing genetic fragment from wild rice can be used to obtain new improved cultivars. The objective of the present study was to develop ILs from the cross between O. sativa x O. longistminata aiming to be used in rice breeding program. In the present study, 12 ILs were produced. Among them, three ILs were highly resistant to all the isolates of bacterial blight from North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan. A 900 bp DNA fragment linked to Xa21 was raised in these introgression lines and in O. longistminata by a pair of primers confirming the presence of Xa21 gene in these lines. Results indicated that Xa21 has broad spectrum of resistance to bacterial blight and wild species are the useful source for resistance

Localizing introgression on the chromosome of rice by genomic in situ hybridization (GISH)

Genomic in situ hybridization was used to detect introgressed segment from Oryza australinesis onto the chromosomes of introgression line derived from the hybrid O. sativa x O. australinesis. Genomic DNA from Oryza australinesis was labeled with biotin and hybridized to the homologous sequences on the O. sativa chromosomes. The probe hybridization fluoresced green and non labeled O. sativa chromosomes appeared red or blue due to counterstaining with propidium iodide (PI) or 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI). This differential painting of chromosomes unequivocally detected the introgressedsegment. Among the 200 cells analyzed, 6.5% of the cells showed  hybridization signal. Signal appeared on one chromosome in 5%, on two homologous chromosomes in 1% and on sister chromatids in 0.5%of the cells. Hybridization was seen on the short arm of the chromosome 12 of the introgression line

Efficacy of Avicennia marina (Forsk.) Vierh. leaves extracts against some atmospheric fungi

Crude ethanolic extract of Avicennia marina leaves was tested against seven allergenic fungi viz., Alternaria alternata, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus niger, Cladosporium herbarum, Penicillium notatum and Saccharomyces cerevisiae using five different solvents: dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO), distilled water (DW), chloroform, ethanol and acetone at 2000, 4000 and 6000 ppm doses. Dose dependent tendency in the increase or decrease in the growth of fungi was observed. Two synthetic drugs miconazole and amphotericin-B were used as positive control. Miconazole was 100% effective against A. alternata, C. herbatum, P. notatum and S. cerevisiae with the concentrations of 95.00 ± 1.62, 78.00 ± 4.99, 100.00 ± 0.69 and 110.00 ± 2.33 (μg/ml of SDA medium), respectively. Amphotericin-B completely controlled the growth of A. flavus, A. fumigatus and A. niger in the concentration of 24.00 ± 17.00, 30.00 ± 15.66 and 18.00 ± 18.34 (μg/ml of SDA medium), respectively. Distilled water and DMSO were considered to be the most effective solvents preventing 83.00 ± 4.73% growth of A. niger, 80.33 ± 5.60% A. flavus, 78.58 ± 3.18% A. alternata, 72.91 ± 7.96% P. notatum, 65.25 ± 3.55% C. herbarum, 63.25 ± 4.52% A. fumigatus and 48.5 ± 7.89% S. cerevisiae. Statistically, the results were compared with negative control and found to be highly significant (p<0.01).Key words: Allergenic fungi, inhibition, dose dependent, growth control, synthetic drugs

Sex differences in the association between plasma copeptin and incident type 2 diabetes: the Prevention of Renal and Vascular Endstage Disease (PREVEND) study

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Vasopressin plays a role in osmoregulation, glucose homeostasis and inflammation. Therefore, plasma copeptin, the stable C-terminal portion of the precursor of vasopressin, has strong potential as a biomarker for the cardiometabolic syndrome and diabetes. Previous results were contradictory, which may be explained by differences between men and women in responsiveness of the vasopressin system. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of copeptin for prediction of future type 2 diabetes in men and women separately. METHODS: From the Prevention of Renal and Vascular Endstage Disease (PREVEND) study, 4,063 women and 3,909 men without diabetes at baseline were included. A total of 208 women and 288 men developed diabetes during a median follow-up of 7.7 years. RESULTS: In multivariable-adjusted models, we observed a stronger association of copeptin with risk of future diabetes in women (OR 1.49 [95% CI 1.24, 1.79]) than in men (OR 1.01 [95% CI 0.85, 1.19]) (p (interaction) < 0.01). The addition of copeptin to the Data from the Epidemiological Study on the Insulin Resistance Syndrome (DESIR) clinical model improved the discriminative value (C-statistic,+0.007, p = 0.02) and reclassification (integrated discrimination improvement [IDI] = 0.004, p < 0.01) in women. However, we observed no improvement in men. The additive value of copeptin in women was maintained when other independent predictors, such as glucose, high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and 24 h urinary albumin excretion (UAE), were included in the model. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: The association of plasma copeptin with the risk of developing diabetes was stronger in women than in men. Plasma copeptin alone, and along with existing biomarkers (glucose, hs-CRP and UAE), significantly improved the risk prediction for diabetes in women

Neutralino dark matter in mSUGRA/CMSSM with a 125 GeV light Higgs scalar

The minimal supergravity (mSUGRA or CMSSM) model is an oft-used framework for exhibiting the properties of neutralino (WIMP) cold dark matter (CDM). However, the recent evidence from Atlas and CMS on a light Higgs scalar with mass m_h\simeq 125 GeV highly constrains the superparticle mass spectrum, which in turn constrains the neutralino annihilation mechanisms in the early universe. We find that stau and stop co-annihilation mechanisms -- already highly stressed by the latest Atlas/CMS results on SUSY searches -- are nearly eliminated if indeed the light Higgs scalar has mass m_h\simeq 125 GeV. Furthermore, neutralino annihilation via the A-resonance is essentially ruled out in mSUGRA so that it is exceedingly difficult to generate thermally-produced neutralino-only dark matter at the measured abundance. The remaining possibility lies in the focus-point region which now moves out to m_0\sim 10-20 TeV range due to the required large trilinear soft SUSY breaking term A_0. The remaining HB/FP region is more fine-tuned than before owing to the typically large top squark masses. We present updated direct and indirect detection rates for neutralino dark matter, and show that ton scale noble liquid detectors will either discover mixed higgsino CDM or essentially rule out thermally-produced neutralino-only CDM in the mSUGRA model.Comment: 17 pages including 9 .eps figure

Invasive fungal disease in PICU: epidemiology and risk factors

Candida and Aspergillus spp. are the most common agents responsible for invasive fungal infections in children. They are associated with a high mortality and morbidity rate as well as high health care costs. An important increase in their incidence has been observed during the past two decades. In infants and children, invasive candidiasis is five times more frequent than invasive aspergillosis. Candida sp. represents the third most common agent found in healthcare-associated bloodstream infections in children. Invasive aspergillosis is more often associated with hematological malignancies and solid tumors. Recommendations concerning prophylactic treatment for invasive aspergillosis have been recently published by the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Candida albicans is the main Candida sp. associated with invasive candidiasis in children, even if a strong trend toward the emergence of Candida non-albicans has been observed. The epidemiology and the risk factors for invasive fungal infections are quite different if considering previously healthy children hospitalized in the pediatric intensive care unit, or children with a malignancy or a severe hematological disease (leukemia). In children, the mortality rate for invasive aspergillosis is 2.5 to 3.5 higher than for invasive candidiasis (respectively 70% vs. 20% and 30%)

The role of dipole interactions in hyperthermia heating colloidal clusters of densely-packed superparamagnetic nanoparticles

This work aims to investigate the influence of inter-particle dipole interactions on hyperthermia heating colloidal clusters of densely-packed Fe3O4 nanoparticles at low field intensity. Emulsion droplet solvent evaporation method was used to assemble oleic acid modified Fe3O4 particles into compact clusters which were stabilized by surfactant in water. Both experimental and simulation works were conducted to study their heating performance at different cluster’s sizes. The dipole interactions improve the heating only when the clusters are small enough to bring an enhancement in clusters’ shape anisotropy. The shape anisotropy is reduced at greater clusters’ sizes, since the shapes of the clusters become more and more spherical. Consequently, the dipole interactions change to impair the heating efficiency at larger sizes. When the clusters are totally isotropic in shape, the heating efficiency is lower than that of non-interacting particles despite the cluster’s size, although the efficiency increases by a little bit at a particular size most likely due to the dipole couplings. In these situations, one has to use particles with higher magnetic anisotropy and/or saturation magnetization to improve the heating

Association of Adiponectin SNP+45 and SNP+276 with Type 2 Diabetes in Han Chinese Populations: A Meta-Analysis of 26 Case-Control Studies

Recently, many studies have reported that the SNP+45(T>G) and SNP+276(G>T) polymorphisms in the adiponectin gene are associated with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) in the Chinese Han population. However, the previous studies yielded many conflicting results. Thus, a meta-analysis of the association of the adiponectin gene with T2DM in the Chinese Han population is required. In the current study, we first determined the distribution of the adiponectin SNP+276 polymorphism in T2DM and nondiabetes (NDM) control groups. Our results suggested that the genotype and allele frequencies for SNP+276 did not differ significantly between the T2DM and NDM groups. Then, a meta-analysis of 23 case-control studies of SNP+45, with a total of 4161 T2DM patients and 3709 controls, and 11 case-control studies of SNP+276, with 2533 T2DM patients and 2212 controls, was performed. All subjects were Han Chinese. The fixed-effects model and random-effects model were applied for dichotomous outcomes to combine the results of the included studies. The results revealed a trend towards an increased risk of T2DM for the SNP+45G allele as compared with the SNP+45T allele (OR = 1.34; 95% CI, 1.11–1.62; P<0.01) in the Chinese Han population. However, there was no association between SNP+276 and T2DM (OR = 0.90; 95% CI, 0.73–1.10; P = 0.31). The results of our association study showed there was no association between the adiponectin SNP+276 polymorphism and T2DM in the Yunnan Han population. The meta-analysis results suggested that the SNP+45G allele might be a susceptibility allele for T2DM in the Chinese Han population. However, we did not observe an association between SNP+276 and T2DM