Determination of chromosomes that control physiological traits associated with salt tolerance in barley at the seedling stage

Salt stress is one of the most important abiotic stresses, and plays an important role in reducing the yield of crops worldwide. It is now recognized that tolerance to salinity is genetically and physiologically complex and also inherited quantitatively. Barley is a short-season, early maturing, diploid and self pollinating crop, thus it is an ideal model plant for genetic and physiological studies of salinity tolerance. In order to map the genes/QTLs for salinity tolerance in barley, 72 doubled-haploid lines derived from a cross between ‘Steptoe’ and ‘Morex’ were used in an experiment using a randomized complete factorial design with three replications. The phenotypic traits under study included: chlorophyll contents, chlorophyll fluorescence (Fo, Fv, Fv/Fm), proline and carbohydrate rates, relative water content (RWC) and dry and wet weight of plant. Analysis of variance results showed that there were significant differences among the lines and different levels of salinity for all the traits. The strongest correlation was observed between dry and wet weight of plant (r = 0.95**). QTL analysis was performed using the genetic linkage map derived from 327 RFLP molecular markers and QTL cartographer software with the composite interval mapping method. Phenotypic variations that were explained by these QTLs, ranged from 10.64 to 24.20. The highest and lowest phenotypic variances were related to chlorophyll content (Q3cls) and Fv/Fm (Q1fv/fms), respectively. LOD values ranged from 2.77 to 6.33. The highest LOD scores were attained for Fv/Fm on chromosome 2H. Physiological traits associated with salt tolerance in this population were mapped to chromosomes 1H, 2H, 5H and 7H.Key words: Barley, QTL, salinity, stress, tolerance

Isolation of OmpA gene from Salmonella typhimurium and transformation into alfalfa in order to develop an edible plant based vaccine

The outer membrane protein A (OmpA) of Salmonella typhimurium may contribute to immunity and virulence in livestock animals. Introduction of this gene in forage crops like alfalfa may be an alternative and effective way to produce animal edible vaccine. In the present study, the OmpA gene was obtained after polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and sequencing. We successfully identified the complete ORF encoding this protein. In order to express OmpA protein in alfalfa, the gene was insertedinto a plant expression vector PBI121.The recombinant OmpA was  expressed in Escherichia coli TG1. The new construct was used to transform the Agrobacterium tumefaciens Strain LBA4404 before plant transformation. Transgenic alfalfa plants were then developed by introducing OmpA gene in the plant genome under the control of Camv35s promoter and for the first time we expressed this protein in alfalfa. Releasing this one new transgenic variety may be a considerable progress towards release varieties which enables the production of edible vaccine.Key words: Outer membrane protein A (OmpA), sub cloning, plantibodies, transgenic alfalfa, bioreactor, edible vaccine

Cytokine storm in COVID-19 and parthenolide: Preclinical evidence

A group of patients with pneumonia caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) were reported from China in December 2019. Although several antiviral drugs are widely tested, none of them has been approved as specific antiviral therapy for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Accumulating evidence established a hyperinflammatory states or cytokine storm in COVID-19. Among these cytokines, IL-6 plays a key role in cytokine storm and can predict the adverse clinical outcomes and fatality in these patients. Based on the evidence of the significant role of IL-6 in cytokine storm, diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular diseases as principal comorbidities, it seems that anti-cytokine therapy may be useful in patients with severe COVID-19 to reduce mortality. Recent studies demonstrated that herbal-derived natural products had immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory properties and exhibited exceptional act on mediators of inflammation. Parthenolide is the principal sesquiterpene lactones and the main biologically active constituent Tanacetum parthenium (commonly known as feverfew) which has could significantly reduce IL-1, IL-2, IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α production pathways established in several human cell line models in vitro and in vivo studies. Therefore, parthenolide may be one of the herbal candidates for clinical evaluation. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

A review on phytochemical and therapeutic potential of Iris germanica

OBJECTIVES: Iris germanica L. is a medicinal plant, which has a long history of uses, mainly in medieval Persia and many places worldwide for the management of a wide variety of diseases. In this study, we aimed to review ethnopharmacological applications in addition to phytochemical and pharmacological properties of I. germanica. KEY FINDINGS: Ethnomedical uses of I. germanica have been reported from many countries such as China, Pakistan, India, Iran and Turkey. The medicinal part of I. germanica is the rhizome and the roots. Based on phytochemical investigations, different bioactive compounds, including flavonoids, triterpenes, sterols, phenolics, ceramides and benzoquinones, have been identified in its medicinal parts. Current pharmacological studies represent that the plant possesses several biological and therapeutic effects, including neuroprotective, hypoglycaemic, hypolipidaemic, antimicrobial, antioxidant, antiproliferative, anti-inflammatory, antiplasmodial, antifungal, immunomodulatory, cytotoxic and antimutagenic effects. SUMMARY: Although the majority of preclinical studies reported various pharmacological activities of this plant, however, sufficient clinical trials are not currently available. Therefore, to draw a definitive conclusion about the efficacy and therapeutic activities of I. germanica and its bioactive compounds, further clinical and experimental studies are required. Moreover, it is necessary to focus on the pharmacokinetic and safety studies on the extracts of I. germanica. © The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: [email protected]

Expression of biological active VHH camelid single domain antibody in transgenic tobacco

Functional VHH single domain antibody lacking light chains occur naturally in Camelidae. The single domain nature of VHH gives rise to several unique features when compared to antigen-binding derivatives of conventional antibodies. The level of expression in Escherichia coli was found to be too low for therapeutic purposes. Therefore, there is a need to examine other production systems such as plants. Several plants are the facile and economic bioreactor for large-scale production of industrial and pharmaceutical agents like proteins and antibodies. Here, we have selected tobacco as the host plant because of large scale production capability and many other advantages such as greater safety and lower production costs when compared to animal-based systems. In this study, we have subcloned VHH gene into pBI121 using phasmid pCANTAB5E. The new construct was used to transform the Agrobacterium strains C58GV3101 and LBA4404. Agrobacterium strain C58GV3101 showed a higher virulence on leaf disks of Nicotiana tabacum (NC25). Transgenic tobacco plants were then developed by introducing VHH gene under the control of CaMV 35S promoter. The presence of the VHH antibody gene in the plant genome was verified by PCR analysis and Southern hybridization experiments. Northern blot analysis showed that the genes coding for the VHH could be expressed in tobacco plants. Three lines of transgenic plant that expresses high levels of mRNA were screened in a further analysis. The expression of VHH was then observed in transgenic plants by ELISA using the specific antibody developed, the results showed three to five folds higher than non-transgenic tobaccos.Key words: VHH antibody fragment, subcloning, antibodies, transgenic tobacco, bioreactor