Relationship of Perceived Stress and Self-Efficacy with Satisfaction of Dissertation Process among Ph.D. Students

 Stress and self-efficacy directly affects the satisfaction of Ph.D. students. This research was designed to examine the relation of perceived stress and self-efficacy with satisfaction of the dissertation process among Ph.D students in University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. Two hundred and fifty doctoral students who were working on their dissertations participated in this study. For data collection, three instruments were used and the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient value of internal consistency for Perceived Stress Scale was 0.75 and that of Dissertation Self-Efficacy Scale was 0.95. The results revealed that Ph.D. Students perceived low-level stress and had a high level of self-efficacy regarding dissertation structural tasks. Doctoral students were moderately satisfied with dissertation process. It was also found that females felt more stress and anxiety than males and both had the same level of self-efficacy and satisfaction. Study revealed significant difference in efficacy of completers and non-completers of dissertation. Self-efficacy and satisfaction had positive relationship with each other while stress was negatively related to satisfaction and self-efficacy. Ph.D. students with had high self-efficacy and less stress were satisfied with their dissertation than students having stress on them

Protein Engineering of Endoglucanase CelR of Clostridium thermocellum for Enhanced Expression

Background: Enhanced production and improved properties of cellulases for a greater activity on plant biomass would rank amongst the top priorities for second-generation ethanol production. Based on the emergence of protein engineering as a cutting-edge technology for enhancing enzyme activity and expression level, the present study is aimed at the application of this technique to the major cellulosomal processing endoglucanase of C. thermocellum, CelR for refining enzyme characteristics. Methods: The full-length native enzyme gene (CelR) and a truncated version without the docking domains at C-terminus (CelR-CB) were PCR amplified using gene specific primers. The amplified PCR products were T/A cloned in the vector pTZ57 R/T and transformed in E. coli DH5α. The cellulase genes from the confirmed transformed plasmids were sub-cloned in T7 promoter-based expression vector pET-28a and expression analysis was done in E. coli (DE3) BL21 codon Plus. Results: An SDS PAGE analysis of both the CelR derivatives revealed that the truncated version i.e. CelR-CB showed a two-fold increase in expression level as compared to the full-length enzyme. Conclusion: The increased expression level of CelR in E. coli coupled with its increased production therefore makes it a promising method for augmenting the recombinant enzyme production for potential applications.

In silico study for diversing the molecular pathway of pigment formation: an alternative to manual coloring in cotton fibers

Diversity of colors in flowers and fruits is largely due to anthocyanin pigments. The flavonoid/anthocyanin pathway has been most extensively studied. Dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (DFR) is a vibrant enzyme of the flavonoid pathway which displays major impact on the formation of anthocyanins, flavan 3-ols and flavonols. The substrate specificity of the DFR was found to play a crucial role in determination of type of anthocyanidins. Altering the flavonoid/ anthocyanin pathway through genetic engineering to develop color of our own choice is an exciting subject of future research. In the present study, comparison among four DFR genes (Gossypium hirsutum, Iris × hollandica, Ang. DFRI and DFRII), sequence alignment for homology as well as protein modeling and docking is demonstrated. Estimation of catalytic sites, prediction of substrate preference and protein docking were the key features of this article. For specific substrate uptake, a proline rich region and positions 12 plus 26 along with other positions emphasizing the 26-amino acid residue region (132-157) was tested. Results showed that proline rich region position 12, 26 and 132-157 plays an important role in selective attachment of DFRs with respective substrates. Further, ‘Expasy ProtParam tool’ results showed that Iris × hollandica DFR amino acids (Asn 9: Asp 23) favorable for reducing DHQ and DHM thus accumulating delphinidin, while Gossypium hirsutum DFR has (Asn 13: Asp 21) hypothesized to consume DHK. Protein docking data showed that amino acid residues in above mentioned positions were just involved in attachment of DFR with substrate and had no role in specific substrate uptake.Advanced bioinformatics analysis has revealed that all above mentioned positions have role in substrate attachment. For substrate specificity, other residues region is involved. It will help in color manipulations in different plant species

Multidimensional roles of flavonoids in background of Gossypium hirsutum

Anthocyanins are known as the central players in kingdom Planta, elucidating their major role in various abiotic and biotic stresses including physiological events such as plant growth, development and defense responses. Plants synthesize a wide range of chemically diverse secondary metabolites that are distinctively important industrial biochemical compounds. The elucidation of regulatory mechanisms by flavonoids could facilitate the generation of new transgenic cotton varieties along the rational to increase fiber characteristics and yield at the verge of auxin transport. The anthocyanin gene expression and its structural genes encoding enzymes have already been explored in many ornamental flowers. But its particular role in crop plant stress regulatory mechanism is yet to be explored. This brief review summarizes the role of flavonoids against various abiotic factors including drought, light/ultraviolet (UV) stress, water scarcity, temperature variations and so on in the background of cotton crop. These factors adversely affect the growth and productivity of the crops. Moreover, information of the flavonoids metabolic interactions in relation to cotton fiber characteristics still needs to be unrevealed

Engineered Disease Resistance in Cotton Using RNA-Interference to Knock down Cotton leaf curl Kokhran virus-Burewala and Cotton leaf curl Multan betasatellite Expression

Cotton leaf curl virus disease (CLCuD) is caused by a suite of whitefly-transmitted begomovirus species and strains, resulting in extensive losses annually in India and Pakistan. RNA-interference (RNAi) is a proven technology used for knockdown of gene expression in higher organisms and viruses. In this study, a small interfering RNA (siRNA) construct was designed to target the AC1 gene of Cotton leaf curl Kokhran virus-Burewala (CLCuKoV-Bu) and the beta C1 gene and satellite conserved region of the Cotton leaf curl Multan betasatellite (CLCuMB). The AC1 gene and CLCuMB coding and non-coding regions function in replication initiation and suppression of the plant host defense pathway, respectively. The construct, V b, was transformed into cotton plants using the Agrobacterium-mediated embryo shoot apex cut method. Results from fluorescence in situ hybridization and karyotyping assays indicated that six of the 11 T-1 plants harbored a single copy of the V beta transgene. Transgenic cotton plants and non-transgenic (susceptible) test plants included as the positive control were challenge-inoculated using the viruliferous whitefly vector to transmit the CLCuKoV-Bu/ CLCuMB complex. Among the test plants, plant V beta-6 was asymptomatic, had the lowest amount of detectable virus, and harbored a single copy of the transgene on chromosome six. Absence of characteristic leaf curl symptom development in transgenic V beta-6 cotton plants, and significantly reduced begomoviral-betasatellite accumulation based on real-time polymerase chain reaction, indicated the successful knockdown of CLCuKoV-Bu and CLCuMB expression, resulting in leaf curl resistant plants.Pakistan-U. S. Cotton Productivity Enhancement Program, ICARDA - United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS) [58-6402-0-178F]; USDA-ARS Non-Assistance [58-6402-2-763]; Cotton Incorporated-Core Program [06-829]Open Access Journal.This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]