Study of the tribe Phaeogenini (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae, Ichneumoninae) in northern Iran, with two new genera and four new species records for the fauna of Iran

This survey was conducted as a taxonomic work on the species of the tribe Phaeogenini (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae, Ichneumoninae)in North central Iran during March to November 2010 and 2011. Nine species belonging to six genera were identified, of which two genrea (i.e. Oronotus Wesmael, 1845 and Stenodontus Berthoumieu, 1897) and four species, Dicaelotus erythrostoma Wesmael, 1845, Dicaelotus pudibundus (Wesmael, 1845), Oronotus binotatus (Gravenhorst, 1829), Stenodontus marginellus (Gravenhorst, 1829) are newly recorded from Iran. This work raises the number of Phaeogenini of Iran to 27 species and 13 genera. An updated list of the species in tribe Phaeogenini and detailed morphological characters of newly recorded species are also provided

Boron Nutrition of Tobacco BY-2 Cells. V. Oxidative Damage is the Major Cause of Cell Death Induced by Boron Deprivation

Boron (B) is an essential micronutrient for vascular plants. However, it remains unclear how B deficiency leads to various metabolic disorders and cell death. To understand this mechanism, we analyzed the physiological changes in suspension-cultured tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) BY-2 cells upon B deprivation. When 3-day-old cells were transferred to B-free medium, cell death was detectable as early as 12 h after treatment. The B-deprived cells accumulated more reactive oxygen species and lipid peroxides than control cells, and showed a slight but significant decrease in the cellular ascorbate pool. Supplementing the media with lipophilic antioxidants effectively suppressed the death of B-deprived cells, suggesting that the oxidative damage is the immediate and major cause of cell death under B deficiency. Dead cells in B-free culture exhibited a characteristic morphology with a shrunken cytoplasm, which is often seen in cells undergoing programmed cell death (PCD). However, they did not display other hallmarks of PCD such as internucleosomal DNA fragmentation, decreased ascorbate peroxidase expression and protection from death by cycloheximide. These results suggest that the death of tobacco cells induced by B deprivation is not likely to be a typical PCD

A catalogue of Triticum monococcum genes encoding toxic and immunogenic peptides for celiac disease patients

The celiac disease (CD) is an inflammatory condition characterized by injury to the lining of the small-intestine on exposure to the gluten of wheat, barley and rye. The involvement of gluten in the CD syndrome has been studied in detail in bread wheat, where a set of “toxic” and “immunogenic” peptides has been defined. For wheat diploid species, information on CD epitopes is poor. In the present paper, we have adopted a genomic approach in order to understand the potential CD danger represented by storage proteins in diploid wheat and sequenced a sufficiently large number of cDNA clones related to storage protein genes of Triticum monococcum. Four bona fide toxic peptides and 13 immunogenic peptides were found. All the classes of storage proteins were shown to contain harmful sequences. The major conclusion is that einkorn has the full potential to induce the CD syndrome, as already evident for polyploid wheats. In addition, a complete overview of the storage protein gene arsenal in T. monococcum is provided, including a full-length HMW x-type sequence and two partial HMW y-type sequences

Patterns of mitochondrial DNA instability in Brassica campestris cultured cells

We previously showed that the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of a Brassica campestris callus culture had undergone extensive rearrangements (i.e. large inversions and a duplication) relative to DNA of the control plant [54]. In this study we observed that after continued growth, the mtDNA of this culture continues to change, with rearranged forms amplifying and diminishing to varying proportions. Strikingly similar changes were detected in the mtDNA profiles of a variety of other long- and short-term callus and cell suspension lines. However, the proportions of parental (‘unrearranged’) and novel (‘rearranged’) forms varied in different cultured cell mtDNAs. To address the source of this heterogeneity, we compared the mtDNA organization of 28 individual plants from the parental seed stock. With the exception of one plant containing high levels of a novel plasmid-like mtDNA molecule, no significant variation was detected among individual plants and therefore source plant variation is unlikely to have contributed to the diversity of mitochondrial genomes observed in cultured cells. The source of this culture-induced heterogeneity was also investigated in 16 clones derived from single protoplasts. A mixed population of unrearranged and rearranged mtDNA molecules was apprent in each protoclone, suggesting that the observed heterogeneity in various cultures might reflect the genomic composition of each individual cell; however, the induction of an intercellular heterogeneity subsequent to the protoplast isolation was not tested and therefore cannot be ruled out. The results of this study support our earlier model that the rapid structural alteration of B. campestris mtDNA in vitro results from preferential amplification and reassortment of minor pre-existing forms of the genome rather than de novo rearrangement. Infrequent recombination between short dispersed repeated elements is proposed as the underlying mechanism for the formation of these minor mtDNA molecules.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43428/1/11103_2004_Article_BF00017914.pd

The Prevalence of Irritable Bowel Syndrome Symptoms in High School Students in Abadan City in 2016

Background and Purpose: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a chronic functional bowel disorder that is thought to be due to a disorder of brain-gut function and a chronic and debilitating functional gastrointestinal disorder that affects 9-23 of the population across the world. This problem (IBS) is the second cause of absenteeism from the work and school, too. There is classification system for IBS (Rome IV classification system). Method: The purpose of this descriptive cross-sectional study was determination Prevalence of Irritable Bowel Syndrome Symptoms in High School female Students in Abadan City in 2016. In this study, using a two-part questionnaire designed by the researcher, one part of which was demographic information, and the second part was IBS symptoms, 1044 girls were classified using random sampling method. After collecting data, data were analyzed by SPSS software version 19 and descriptive statistics tests. P value less than 0.05 was considered significant. Findings: The age range of participants was between the ages of 14 and 18 and their mean age was 16 +/- 2. The findings of this study showed that the most common symptoms of IBS include abdominal pain (66.4), diarrhea (46.7), constipation (42.5). Conclusion: According to the results of the study, it can be said that the symptoms of IBS are high among high school female students, thus clarifying the need for more attention to this issue