Production of friable embryogenic callus and regeneration of Ugandan farmer-preferred cassava genotypes

Generation of embryogenic callus is a key step in genetic engineering of many crop species, including cassava. Protocols for generation of friable embryogenic callus (FEC) have been lacking for Ugandan cassava genotypes, thereby delaying their genetic engineering for agronomic and other desirable traits. The objective of this study was to determine conditions suitable for production and regeneration of FEC in the Ugandan cassava genotypes; Aladu, Bukalasa and Ebwanateraka, and control cultivar 60444. Immature leaf lobe explants were established on Murashige and Skoog (MS) based media for initiation of organized embryogenic callus (OES). To produce FEC, resulting OES were established on Gresshoff and Doy based callus induction media with varying levels of sucrose, maltose, tyrosine, tryptophan, naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) under light and dark conditions. Subsequently, FEC was subcultured to MS-based embryo maturation and embryo regeneration media. All genotypes produced OES. All genotypes produced FEC except Bukalasa. The amino acid tyrosine favoured production of FEC in Aladu and Ebwanatereka, but not in 60444, while 20 g/L of sucrose trigged production of FEC in Aladu and 60444, but 40 g/L of sucrose was superior for Ebwanatereka. Media supplemented with 1 ml/L naphthalene acetic acid NAA facilitated embryo regeneration in Ebwanatereka and 60444, while Aladu responded better to 5 ml/L NAA. Light, tyrosine and sucrose were essential for FEC production in Uganda cultivars while NAA was required for regeneration of somatic embryos. Ability to produce FEC in these genotypes lays a foundation for their improvement through genetic transformation for the desired and agronomic traits.Key words: Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz), somatic embryogenesis, amino acids, carbon sources

Oesophageal cancer management guidelines for Uganda

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Drug procurement, the Global Fund and misguided competition policies

In an effort to increase competition and decrease price, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria recently began asking some grant recipients to use international competitive bidding processes for certain drug purchases. Unfortunately, for countries like Kenya, this request has caused more harm than good. After awarding the tender for its annual supply of the anti-malarial artemether-lumefantrine to the lowest bidder, Ajanta Pharma, Kenya experienced wide stock-outs in part due to the company's inability to supply the order in full and on time. Similar problems could arise in Uganda. Despite Kenya's experience, Uganda has awarded its next tender for artemether-lumefantrine to Ajanta Pharma. Uganda is already facing wide stock-outs and risks exacerbating an already dire situation the longer it takes to fulfil the procurement contract. A tender process based primarily on price cannot account for a company's ability to consistently supply sufficient product in time

Maternal participation in a nutrition education program in Uganda is associated with improved infant and young child feeding practices and feeding knowledge: a post-program comparison study

Abstract Background Cost-effective approaches to improve feeding practices and to reduce undernutrition are needed in low-income countries. Strategies such as nutritional counseling, food supplements, and cash transfers can substantially reduce undernutrition among food-insecure populations. Lipid-based nutrient supplements (LNS) are an increasingly popular strategy for treating and preventing undernutrition and are often delivered with nutrition education. The post-program effects of participation in a LNS-supported supplemental feeding program on Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) practices and caregiver child feeding knowledge are not well understood. The objective of this study was to understand whether children’s diet quality and caregiver nutrition knowledge was improved after participation in such a program. Methods We conducted a post-program comparison group study to compare feeding practices and caregiver nutrition knowledge among mother-child dyads who completed a nutrition education program and a community comparison group in western Uganda. We administered a feeding practices survey and two 24-h dietary recalls to 61 Post-Program (PP) caregivers and children ages 6 to 59 months (mean age = 25.1 months) who participated in a supplemental feeding program (which included growth monitoring, caregiver nutrition education, and LNS) and a Comparison Group (CG) of 61 children and caregivers. PP caregivers were recruited 4 to 8 weeks after program participation ended. We hypothesized that PP caregivers would report better IYCF practices and greater knowledge of key nutrition education messages related to IYCF. Results PP children had higher dietary diversity scores (3.0 vs 2.1, p =0.001) than CG children, and were more fed more frequently (3.0 vs 2.1 times per day, p = 0.001). IYCF indicators were higher in the PP group for minimum meal frequency (44.8% vs. 37.9%), minimum dietary diversity (10.3 vs. 3.4%), iron-rich complementary foods (17.2 vs. 20.7%), and minimally acceptable diet (10.3% vs 3.6%), but differences were non-significant. Caregivers in the PP group demonstrated greater knowledge of healthful IYCF practices. Conclusions Nutrition education can be effective to improve caregiver feeding practices and children’s dietary diversity and the frequency by which they are fed. A 10-week nutrition education and supplemental feeding program appears to provide some benefit to children in terms of dietary diversity and frequency of meals, and caregiver knowledge of feeding 1 to 2 months after program completion. However, children in this rural Ugandan region have diets that are still largely inadequate, highlighting the need for enhanced interventions and policies to promote diverse and appropriate diets for young children in this region. Future follow-up work in LNS-supported programs is recommended to understand how other similar approaches influence children's diet quality after program completion in other contexts

Alternative splicing and differential subcellular localization of the rat FGF antisense gene product

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>GFG/NUDT is a nudix hydrolase originally identified as the product of the fibroblast growth factor-2 antisense (FGF-AS) gene. While the FGF-AS RNA has been implicated as an antisense regulator of FGF-2 expression, the expression and function of the encoded GFG protein is largely unknown. Alternative splicing of the primary FGF-AS mRNA transcript predicts multiple GFG isoforms in many species including rat. In the present study we focused on elucidating the expression and subcellular distribution of alternatively spliced rat GFG isoforms.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry revealed tissue-specific GFG mRNA isoform expression and subcellular distribution of GFG immunoreactivity in cytoplasm and nuclei of a wide range of normal rat tissues. FGF-2 and GFG immunoreactivity were co-localized in some, but not all, tissues examined. Computational analysis identified a mitochondrial targeting sequence (MTS) in the N-terminus of three previously described rGFG isoforms. Confocal laser scanning microscopy and subcellular fractionation analysis revealed that all rGFG isoforms bearing the MTS were specifically targeted to mitochondria whereas isoforms and deletion mutants lacking the MTS were localized in the cytoplasm and nucleus. Mutation and deletion analysis confirmed that the predicted MTS was necessary and sufficient for mitochondrial compartmentalization.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Previous findings strongly support a role for the FGF antisense RNA as a regulator of FGF2 expression. The present study demonstrates that the antisense RNA itself is translated, and that protein isoforms resulting form alternative RNA splicing are sorted to different subcellular compartments. FGF-2 and its antisense protein are co-expressed in many tissues and in some cases in the same cells. The strong conservation of sequence and genomic organization across animal species suggests important functional significance to the physical association of these transcript pairs.</p

Effects of gamma irradiation and ethyl methane sulphonate on morphometric traits and prevalence of common viral diseases and whiteflies in cassava

Cassava ( Manihot esculenta Crantz) is an important staple and food security crop for millions of people in Africa. However, its nutritional value is limited; yet its productivity is constrained by several pests and diseases. Induced mutagenesis is one approach with the potential to overcome such biotic stresses. The objective of this study was to assess the variability in morphometric traits and prevalence of common viral diseases and whiteflies in cassava to different doses and concentrations of gamma irradiation and ethyl methane sulphonate (ems) treatments. The effects were assessed on seed germination and growth of stakes, as well as foliar viral disease symptoms and whitefly counts. Radio-sensitivity tests revealed LD50 for sprouting as 37.6Gy for \u3b3-irradiation and 0.08% for EMS treatment. There was notable decrease in sprout, epicotyl length, shoot height, petiole length and number of leaf lobes, with increasing \u3b3-ray doses and EMS concentrations. Contrastingly, total chlorophyll content increased with increasing doses of \u3b3-rays and EMS concentrations. Basing on foliar whitefly counts and disease symptoms, there was a general increase in susceptibility to whitefly infestation and cassava mosaic disease (CMD) incidence. Significantly varying levels of resistance or tolerance to whiteflies and CMD were observed among plantlets derived from irradiated and EMS treated stems, compared to the controls. These findings lay a foundation for more future research on breeding for various traits, including disease resistance in cassava using induced mutagenesis approach.Le manioc ( Manihot esculenta Crantz) est une culture de base et de la s\ue9curit\ue9 alimentaire importante pour des millions de personnes en Afrique. Cependant, sa valeur nutritionnelle est limit\ue9e; pourtant, sa productivit\ue9 est limit\ue9e par plusieurs ravageurs et maladies. La mutagen\ue8se induite est une approche ayant le potentiel de surmonter de tels stress biotiques. L\u2019objectif de cette \ue9tude \ue9tait d\u2019\ue9valuer la variabilit\ue9 des traits morphom\ue9triques et la pr\ue9valence des maladies virales courantes et des aleurodes du manioc en raison de l\u2019exposition \ue0 diff\ue9rentes doses et concentrations des traitements par l\u2018 irradiation gamma et \ue9thyl m\ue9thane sulfonate (EMS). Les effets ont \ue9t\ue9 \ue9valu\ue9s sur la germination des graines et la croissance des tuteurs, ainsi que sur les sympt\uf4mes de la maladie virale foliaire et le nombre des aleurodes. Les tests de radiosensibilit\ue9 ont r\ue9v\ue9l\ue9 que la DL50 pour la germination \ue9tait de 37,6 Gy pour l\u2019irradiation et de 0,08 % pour le traitement EMS. Il y avait une diminution notable de la pousse, de la longueur de l\u2019\ue9picotyle, de la hauteur des pousses, de la longueur du p\ue9tiole et du nombre des lobes foliaires, avec l\u2019augmentation des doses de rayons et des concentrations EMS. En revanche, la teneur totale en chlorophylle augmentait avec l\u2019augmentation des doses de rayons et des concentrations EMS. Sur la base des d\ue9nombrements foliaires des aleurodes et des sympt\uf4mes de la maladie, il y avait une susceptibilit\ue9 g\ue9n\ue9ralement accrue \ue0 l\u2019infestation des aleurodes et \ue0 l\u2019incidence de la maladie de la mosa\uefque du manioc (CMD). Des niveaux significativement variables de r\ue9sistance ou de tol\ue9rance aux aleurodes et \ue0 la CMD ont \ue9t\ue9 observ\ue9s parmi les plantules d\ue9riv\ue9es de tiges irradi\ue9es et trait\ue9es par EMS, par rapport aux t\ue9moins. Ces r\ue9sultats jettent les bases des autres recherches futures sur la s\ue9lection pour les divers caract\ue8res, y compris la r\ue9sistance aux maladies du manioc en utilisant une approche de mutagen\ue8se induite

Multinational data show that conspiracy beliefs are associated with the perception (and reality) of poor national economic performance

While a great deal is known about the individual difference factors associated with conspiracy beliefs, much less is known about the country-level factors that shape people's willingness to believe conspiracy theories. In the current article we discuss the possibility that willingness to believe conspiracy theories might be shaped by the perception (and reality) of poor economic performance at the national level. To test this notion, we surveyed 6723 participants from 36 countries. In line with predictions, propensity to believe conspiracy theories was negatively associated with perceptions of current and future national economic vitality. Furthermore, countries with higher GDP per capita tended to have lower belief in conspiracy theories. The data suggest that conspiracy beliefs are not just caused by intrapsychic factors but are also shaped by difficult economic circumstances for which distrust might have a rational basis.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Social mindfulness predicts concern for nature and immigrants across 36 nations

People cooperate every day in ways that range from largescale contributions that mitigate climate change to simple actions such as leaving another individual with choice – known as social mindfulness. It is not yet clear whether and how these complex and more simple forms of cooperation relate. Prior work has found that countries with individuals who made more socially mindful choices were linked to a higher country environmental performance – a proxy for complex cooperation. Here we replicated this initial finding in 41 samples around the world, demonstrating the robustness of the association between social mindfulness and environmental performance, and substantially built on it to show this relationship extended to a wide range of complex cooperative indices, tied closely to many current societal issues. We found that greater social mindfulness expressed by an individual was related to living in countries with more social capital, more community participation and reduced prejudice towards immigrants. Our findings speak to the symbiotic relationship between simple and more complex forms of cooperation in societies.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio