A Cytogenetic and Agronomic Study of Induced Translocation Lines of Common Wheat (Triticum aestivum L. em. Thell) Immune from Wheat Streak Mosaic Virus

Wheat streak mosaic is a serious virus disease that threatens the production of winter wheat in. some areas of the United States. It is caused by a virus transmitted by a wheat-curl mite, Aceria tulipae Keifer. Immunity from the virus has not been found in Triticum species but tolerance to some strains of the virus has been reported. An obvious way to improve this important crop plant is to exploit the variability of its relatives. A good source of immunity found in Agropyron intermedium Beau (2n = 70) has been used in crosses with common wheat, Triticum aestivum L. em, Thell. Transferring the immunity has been difficult because homoeologous chromosomes will not pair due to the presence of a gene on 5BL that acts as a suppressant. Interchanges between chromosomes can be achieved in several ways. One is by irradiation. Another is by removing or suppressing a dominant gene on 5B that prevents paring of homoeologous. A third is by taking advantage of the joining of two telocentrics from different chromosomes originating from misdivision. The transfer of characters to wheat from alien species contributes to our understanding of evolutionary relationship and may improve common wheat. If the interchanged segments are homoeologous and compensating, they are transmitted normally through egg and pollen. Once transfers are achieved, it is desirable to evaluate the derived lines cytologically and agronomically. The purposes of this study are two-fold. One is to characterize lines cytologically. Chromosome paring in F1 hybrids can indicate the size and nature of translocations. In the Triticinae, chromosome paring can be reduced as a result of chromosomal structural differentiation. The second purpose is to measure the effects of the Agropyron chromatin on the phenotypes of the lines studies in relation to the recurrent parent, Centurk, and to one another

Induction of Inflammation in Vascular Endothelial Cells by Metal Oxide Nanoparticles: Effect of Particle Composition

BACKGROUND: The mechanisms governing the correlation between exposure to ultrafine particles and the increased incidence of cardiovascular disease remain unknown. Ultrafine particles appear to cross the pulmonary epithelial barrier into the bloodstream, raising the possibility of direct contact with the vascular endothelium. OBJECTIVES: Because endothelial inflammation is critical for the development of cardiovascular pathology, we hypothesized that direct exposure of human aortic endothelial cells (HAECs) to ultrafine particles induces an inflammatory response and that this response depends on particle composition. METHODS: To test the hypothesis, we incubated HAECs for 1–8 hr with different concentrations (0.001–50 μg/mL) of iron oxide (Fe(2)O(3)), yttrium oxide (Y(2)O(3)), and zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles and subsequently measured mRNA and protein levels of the three inflammatory markers intra-cellular cell adhesion molecule-1, interleukin-8, and monocyte chemotactic protein-1. We also determined nanoparticle interactions with HAECs using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and transmission electron microscopy. RESULTS: Our data indicate that nanoparticle delivery to the HAEC surface and uptake within the cells correlate directly with particle concentration in the cell culture medium. All three types of nanoparticles are internalized into HAECs and are often found within intracellular vesicles. Fe(2)O(3) nanoparticles fail to provoke an inflammatory response in HAECs at any of the concentrations tested; however, Y(2)O(3) and ZnO nanoparticles elicit a pronounced inflammatory response above a threshold concentration of 10 μg/mL. At the highest concentration, ZnO nanoparticles are cytotoxic and lead to considerable cell death. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate that inflammation in HAECs following acute exposure to metal oxide nanoparticles depends on particle composition

The Role of Natural Enemies and Biopesticides for Sustainable Management of Major Insect Pests of Legumes

Pulses are the important components of a healthy diet and take an important place in the traditional diets throughout the World (Malaguti et al. 2014). pulses are damaged by a large number of insect species, both under field conditions and in storage (Clement et al. 2000). Among legume insect pests, Helicoverpa armigera is the single largest yield shrinking factor in food legumes, causes an estimated loss of US$317 million in pigeonpea and$328 million in chickpea (ICRISAT 1992). Worldwide, it causes an estimated loss of over $2 billion annually, despite over$1 billion value of insecticides used to control H. armigera (Sharma 2005). Another pod borer Maruca vitrata causes loss to the tune of US$30 million annually (Saxena et al. 2002). Pigeonpea yield losses due to pod borer are 25–70 fly is second most important pest of pigeonpea in northern and central India, and cause 10 - 50 reported to cause 5 - 25 can induce up to 58 et al. 1994) and annually$2.4 billion estimated losses in yield (Song et al. 2006, Tilmon et al. 2011). Legume flower thrips (LFT), Mylothris sjostedti Trybom in cowpea V. unguiculata in tropical Africa causes yield losses ranging from 20% to 100% (Karungi et al. 2000)

Effects of dietary carotenoids on mouse lung genomic profiles and their modulatory effects on short-term cigarette smoke exposures

Male C57BL/6 mice were fed diets supplemented with either β-carotene (BC) or lycopene (LY) that were formulated for human consumption. Four weeks of dietary supplementations results in plasma and lung carotenoid (CAR) concentrations that approximated the levels detected in humans. Bioactivity of the CARs was determined by assaying their effects on the activity of the lung transcriptome (~8,500 mRNAs). Both CARs activated the cytochrome P450 1A1 gene but only BC induced the retinol dehydrogenase gene. The contrasting effects of the two CARs on the lung transcriptome were further uncovered in mice exposed to cigarette smoke (CS) for 3 days; only LY activated ~50 genes detected in the lungs of CS-exposed mice. These genes encoded inflammatory-immune proteins. Our data suggest that mice offer a viable in vivo model for studying bioactivities of dietary CARs and their modulatory effects on lung genomic expression in both health and after exposure to CS toxicants

A Brief Review on Advanced Sandwich Structures with Customized Design Core and Composite Face Sheet

Sandwich structures are a class of multifunctional high-performance structural composites that have the advantages of being lightweight, of a high strength-to-weight ratio, and of high specific energy absorption capabilities. The creative design of the core along with the apposite material selection for the fabrication of the face sheet and core are the two prerequisites with encouraging areas for further expedition towards the fabrication of advanced composite sandwich structures. The current review work focused on different types of core designs, such as truss, foam, corrugated, honeycomb, derivative, hybrid, hollow, hierarchical, gradient, folded, and smart core along with different composite materials accessible for face sheet fabrication, including fiber-reinforced composite, metal matrix composite, and polymer matrix composite are considered. The joining method plays a major role for the performance evolution of sandwich structures, which were also investigated. Further discussions are aligned to address major challenges in the fabrication of sandwich structures and further enlighten the future direction of the advanced composite sandwich structure. Finally, the work is summarized with a brief conclusion. This review article provides wider guidelines for researchers in designing and manufacturing next-generation lightweight multilayer core sandwich structures

Induction of inflammation in vascular endothelial cells by metal oxide nanoparticles: effect of particle composition.

BackgroundThe mechanisms governing the correlation between exposure to ultrafine particles and the increased incidence of cardiovascular disease remain unknown. Ultrafine particles appear to cross the pulmonary epithelial barrier into the bloodstream, raising the possibility of direct contact with the vascular endothelium.ObjectivesBecause endothelial inflammation is critical for the development of cardiovascular pathology, we hypothesized that direct exposure of human aortic endothelial cells (HAECs) to ultrafine particles induces an inflammatory response and that this response depends on particle composition.MethodsTo test the hypothesis, we incubated HAECs for 1-8 hr with different concentrations (0.001-50 mug/mL) of iron oxide (Fe(2)O(3)), yttrium oxide (Y(2)O(3)), and zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles and subsequently measured mRNA and protein levels of the three inflammatory markers intra-cellular cell adhesion molecule-1, interleukin-8, and monocyte chemotactic protein-1. We also determined nanoparticle interactions with HAECs using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and transmission electron microscopy.ResultsOur data indicate that nanoparticle delivery to the HAEC surface and uptake within the cells correlate directly with particle concentration in the cell culture medium. All three types of nanoparticles are internalized into HAECs and are often found within intracellular vesicles. Fe(2)O(3) nanoparticles fail to provoke an inflammatory response in HAECs at any of the concentrations tested; however, Y(2)O(3) and ZnO nanoparticles elicit a pronounced inflammatory response above a threshold concentration of 10 mug/mL. At the highest concentration, ZnO nanoparticles are cytotoxic and lead to considerable cell death.ConclusionsThese results demonstrate that inflammation in HAECs following acute exposure to metal oxide nanoparticles depends on particle composition

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Not AvailableGully erosion and the associated soil loss have caused major environmental disasters worldwide. Gully erosion causes numerous environmental and socio-economic consequences, and most of them are negative. Land degradation caused by ravines and gullies is a serious problem in many areas around the world. Ravine formation due to combined effect of climate, geological and human interference gets activated by other processes such as gully head cutting, scouring, selective erosion transport of sediment etc. Gully induced ravine are densely dissected areas which are severely degraded subjected to water erosion and soil disappeared or lost most of its fertility. The major factors causing gully erosion are high intensity rainfall, soft and deep alluvium soil, height difference between table land and stream, uncontrolled biotic interference etc which converts into ravine or badlands. Many technologies have proved to be effective in gully management including conservation structures like chute, gabions, vegetative barrier, checkdams etc. However, most of the techniques are adopted by the farmers as they directly not provide any rapid benefits.Not Availabl