IN VITRO ACCUMULATION OF CADMIUM CHLORIDE IN PAPAYA SEEDLING AND ITS IMPACT ON PLANT PROTEIN

Background: Carica papaya has wide range of applications in traditional medicine. It has high nutritional content and various medical applications. Objectives: In the present study, changes have been observed at the morphological, biochemical, antioxidation and protein level in Carica papaya L variety Pusa Dwarf by accumulation of cadmium chloride in vitro. Material and methods: Plants were treated with different concentrations (20ppm, 40ppm, 60ppm and 80ppm) of cadmium chloride, and examined changes in growth and protectively induced oxidative stress in relation to heavy metal in three weeks old seedlings. Protein profiling by SDS-PAGE was done to study the influence of severe heavy metal stress in Carica papaya L. variety Pusa Dwarf leaf and root explants. Result: Plant seedlings showed decrease in morphological characteristics like plant height, root and shoot length in response to increasing concentrations of heavy metal stress. Similarly carbohydrate content decreased in both leaves and roots while chlorophyll pigments (a+b) increased in leaf explants. Proline and polyphenolic compounds showed an increase in stressed plants compared to control. Conclusions: Plants undertake many adaptive mechanisms for their survival under metal stress which includes morphological as well as biochemical characters. Proline and polyphenolic compounds indicate the presence of excellent antioxidative ingredients to protect the induced by free radicals. Plant protein profiling supports the effect of heavy metal stress in papaya

Cohort for Tuberculosis Research by the Indo-US Medical Partnership (CTRIUMPH): protocol for a multicentric prospective observational study

INTRODUCTION: Tuberculosis disease (TB) remains an important global health threat. An evidence-based response, tailored to local disease epidemiology in high-burden countries, is key to controlling the global TB epidemic. Reliable surrogate biomarkers that predict key active disease and latent TB infection outcomes are vital to advancing clinical research necessary to ‘End TB’. Well executed longitudinal studies strengthening local research capacity for addressing TB research priorities and advancing biomarker discovery are urgently needed. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The Cohort for Tuberculosis Research by the Indo-US Medical Partnership (CTRIUMPH) study conducted in Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Government Medical College (BJGMC), Pune and National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (NIRT), Chennai, India, will establish and maintain three prospective cohorts: (1) an Active TB Cohort comprising 800 adults with pulmonary TB, 200 adults with extrapulmonary TB and 200 children with TB; (2) a Household Contact Cohort of 3200 adults and children at risk of developing active disease; and (3) a Control Cohort consisting of 300 adults and 200 children with no known exposure to TB. Relevant clinical, sociodemographic and psychosocial data will be collected and a strategic specimen repository established at multiple time points over 24 months of follow-up to measure host and microbial factors associated with (1) TB treatment outcomes; (2) progression from infection to active TB disease; and (3) Mycobacterium tuberculosis transmission among Indian adults and children. We anticipate CTRIUMPH to serve as a research platform necessary to characterise some relevant aspects of the TB epidemic in India, generate evidence to inform local and global TB control strategies and support novel TB biomarker discovery. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study is approved by the Institutional Review Boards of NIRT, BJGMC and Johns Hopkins University, USA. Study results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journals and research conferences. FUNDING: NIH/DBT Indo-US Vaccine Action Programme and the Indian Council of Medical Research