Expression and Characterization of Chandipura Virus Proteins

Chandipura virus (CHPV) has recently emerged as an extremely lethal human pathogen in the family Rhabdoviridae and is linked to significant encephalitis outbreaks in different parts of India. The biology of CHPV remains less studied to date and the availability of reagents such as purified proteins can enhance research in this direction. In this study, we have overexpressed four of the CHPV proteins namely Nucleoprotein (N), Phosphoprotein (P), Matrix protein (M) and Glycoprotein (G) using three  distinct tags in bacterial system and with changes in inducer concentration, growth and solubilisation conditions successfully purified M and G proteins for the first time along with N and P. Furthermore, the interactions of CHPV M protein with other viral proteins (G, N and P) was investigated using ELISA and GST pull down assays to show the utility of olubilised proteins. The results of both the assays demonstrated that M protein interacts with both G and N proteins, while it does not interact with P protein, in a similar  manner as reported for Vesicular Stomatitis Virus

Evaluation of pulmonary infiltrates in patients with haematological malignancies using fibreoptic bronchoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage

Background : Chest infection is the major cause of morbidity and mortality among patients with haematological malignancies. Conventional diagnostic methods - chest x-ray , blood and sputum culture have limited yield . We used fibreoptic bronchoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage to evaluate nature of pulmonary infiltrates on chest x-ray. Patients and Methods : 25 patients with haematological malignancies with fever and pulmonary infiltrates were studied. Patients median age was 32 years, ranging from 16 to 65 years. There were 21 males and 4 females. Initial evaluation included - detailed physical examination including chest to see for any focus of infection. In all patients , base line blood counts (total and differential), chest x-ray and cultures from blood and other body fluids were taken before starting broad spectrum antibiotics . Those not responding over next 48-72 hours received gram positive coverage followed by amphotericin-B therapy . Patients with persistent fever and pulmonary infiltrates were subjected to fibre-optic bronchoscopy (FOB) and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and samples were collected for bacterial, fungal, AFB and viral studies. The findings were correlated with Chest x-ray and CT scan. Results The median time for FOB and BAL was 16 days (range, 3 to 32 days) after the clinical diagnosis of chest infection.. BAL fluid examination/culture grew microbial isolates in 21 of 25 patients (84%). Of thesebacteria alone were present in 10, fungi alone in 1 and polymicrobial isolates were seen in 10 patients (40%). Later included- a combination of bacteria and fungi - in 2 patients, bacteria and AFB - 6 and a combination of bacteria, AFB and fungi were seen in 2 patients. BAL changed the radiological diagnosis in 14 patients (56% diagnostic utility). Therapy was modified according to BAL results in 6 patients (therapeutic utility of 24 %). Concordance between radiological and BAL findings were found only in 5 patients (20%). FOB procedure was tolerated well, with mild and reversible complications (throat pain, transient hypoxia, tachycardia) in some patients. Conclusions: Infections are the main cause of pulmonary infiltrates in patients with haematological malignancies. Bacterial , fungal and mycobacterium tubercular organisms are the main isolates. Isolation of ESBL positive organisms and polymicrobial isolates suggest inclusion of appropriate initial empirical antibiotics in these patients to prevent development of resistant organisms. Higher frequency of AFB isolates (32%) was the surprising finding and need to be confirmed in future studies

Enhancing productivity, economics and energy efficiency through precision nitrogen and water management in conservation agriculture-based maize (Zea mays) in the Indo-Gangetic Plains

Present study focuses on improving maize productivity, economics, and energy efficiency in the Indo-Gangetic Plains through the integration of CA, precision nitrogen and water management. Maize grain yield significantly differed among treatments, with CA outperforming CT by 13.3%, recording the highest yield with optimal N application (N3) and irrigation at 25% DASM. The CA incurred 23.7% lower cultivation costs (₹30,421/ha) compared to CT. Gross returns and net returns were higher under CA (₹1,16,007/ha and ₹85,586/ha) with a net benefit ratio of 2.78, showcasing its economic viability. Energy efficiency was a crucial aspect considered, with CA proving to be 33.1% more energy-efficient than CT. In different irrigation regimes, CA with W2 treatment exhibited superior energy parameters. The study also highlighted the significance of optimal N scheduling (N3) in achieving higher economic returns (₹97,927/ha) compared to conventional N splits (N1) and its integration. The most effective integration involved combining CA with precision N management (75% basal, GreenSeekerTM-guided top dressing) and irrigation at 25% DASM, resulting in higher grain yield (7.21 t/ ha), gross returns (₹132,497/ha), and impressive energy output (230,831 MJ/ha). In conclusion, CA, especially when combined with optimal irrigation and nitrogen management, not only enhances maize yield and economic returns but also proves to be more energy-efficient, promoting sustainable and resource-efficient agricultural practices. The study recommends this integrated approach for enhancing maize productivity, energy efficiency and economic returns

Effect of polyhalite on growth and yield of wheat (Triticum aestivum) in India

A field experiment was conducted at ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, Research Farm during winter (rabi) season 2021–22 to evaluate the effect of multi-nutrient carrier polyhalite and its combinations with variable doses of MOP on growth parameters, yield, and productivity of wheat. The application of 100% K (polyhalite), i.e. T8 resulted in significantly higher growth and yield parameters of wheat, viz. plant height, dry matter accumulation, tillers numbers, crop growth rate, leaf area index, grain yield (5.87 tonnes/ha). A 7.5% increase in grain yield was observed with the application of T8 over T11. So, a balanced and prolonged supply of available nutrients with polyhalite to crop in a sustained manner can be maintained

Elucidating the Interacting Domains of Chandipura

The nucleocapsid (N) protein of Chandipura virus (CHPV) plays a crucial role in viral life cycle, besides being an important structural component of the virion through proper organization of its interactions with other viral proteins. In a recent study, the authors had mapped the associations among CHPV proteins and shown that N protein interacts with four of the viral proteins: N, phosphoprotein (P), matrix protein (M), and glycoprotein (G). The present study aimed to distinguish the regions of CHPV N protein responsible for its interactions with other viral proteins. In this direction, we have generated the structure of CHPV N protein by homology modeling using SWISS-MODEL workspace and Accelrys Discovery Studio client 2.55 and mapped the domains of N protein using PiSQRD. The interactions of N protein fragments with other proteins were determined by ZDOCK rigid-body docking method and validated by yeast two-hybrid and ELISA. The study revealed a unique binding site, comprising of amino acids 1–30 at the N terminus of the nucleocapsid protein (N1) that is instrumental in its interactions with N, P, M, and G proteins. It was also observed that N2 associates with N and G proteins while N3 interacts with N, P, and M proteins

Unveiling the combined effect of nano fertilizers and conventional fertilizers on crop productivity, profitability, and soil well-being

It is widely accepted that deficiency of macro (nitrogen) and micronutrients (zinc, copper etc.) affects the plant growth and development which cause a significant threat to crop production and food security. The Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative (IFFCO) developed nano-urea (nano-N), nano-zinc (nano-Zn), and nano-copper (nano-Cu) liquid fertilizer formulations to enhance the crop yields, simultaneously addressing the nutrient deficiency, without causing toxicity. Therefore, this study was formulated to evaluate the effectiveness of nano-N (nano-urea), nano-Zn, and nano-Cu at varying N levels [0, 50, 75, and 100% of the recommended rates of nitrogen (RRN)] on maize-wheat and pearl millet-mustard systems during 2019–20 and 2020–21. The results exhibited that the application of nano-N + nano-Zn with 100% RRN exhibited significantly higher grain yields in maize (66.2–68.8%), wheat (62.6–61.9%), pearl millet (57.1–65.4%), and mustard (47.2–69.0%), respectively, over absolute control plots and combinations of three nano-fertilizers like nano-N + nano-Zn + nano-Cu applied plots. This was mainly attributed to the higher N and Zn uptake by the crops. However, 75% RRN with nano-N + nano-Zn also produced comparable yields. Thus, applying nano-N and nano-Zn via foliar applications, in conjunction with conventional urea, has the potential to reduce the required nitrogen fertilizer amount by up to 25%, while simultaneously maintaining equivalent yield levels. Similarly, 100% RRN and 75% RRN + nano-N + nano-Zn registered comparable profitability, soil mineral N, dehydrogenase activity (DHA), and soil microbial biomass carbon (SMBC), during both the study years. However, further research and field trials on nano fertilizers alone or in combination with conventional fertilizers are essential to fully unlock its benefits and ascertain its long-term effects which may offer a pathway to more efficient and eco-friendly crop nourishment

The Trypanosoma brucei MitoCarta and its regulation and splicing pattern during development

It has long been known that trypanosomes regulate mitochondrial biogenesis during the life cycle of the parasite; however, the mitochondrial protein inventory (MitoCarta) and its regulation remain unknown. We present a novel computational method for genome-wide prediction of mitochondrial proteins using a support vector machine-based classifier with ∼90% prediction accuracy. Using this method, we predicted the mitochondrial localization of 468 proteins with high confidence and have experimentally verified the localization of a subset of these proteins. We then applied a recently developed parallel sequencing technology to determine the expression profiles and the splicing patterns of a total of 1065 predicted MitoCarta transcripts during the development of the parasite, and showed that 435 of the transcripts significantly changed their expressions while 630 remain unchanged in any of the three life stages analyzed. Furthermore, we identified 298 alternatively splicing events, a small subset of which could lead to dual localization of the corresponding proteins