Monitoring sugar beet rooting depth irrigated with recycled waste water and different irrigation methods for water savings in an arid climate

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT-A detailed understanding of crop rooting systems will facilitate water use reduction, optimized nutrient uptake and irrigation scheduling more efficiently. A field experiment was conducted during 2005-2006 to investigate sugar beet rooting depth growth, irrigated with three irrigation methods (subsurface drip, surface drip and furrow) and two water qualities (recycled wastewater: EC= 1.52 dS m -1 and fresh water: EC=0.51 dS m -1 ) in order to improve irrigation water management. A local rooting depth model was developed and three empirical models describing the root growth were evaluated. A significant reduction in sugar beet root depth was observed in the plots irrigated with furrows compared to those irrigated with the pressure irrigation methods. However, no significant difference (p<0.05) in root depth was observed for the crops irrigated with recycled wastewater and fresh water. A good correlation (R 2 = 0.99) between root depth and time was observed. The results also showed that using a locally developed rooting depth model to predict the soil water depletion may lead to water savings of between 20% and 34% when compared to the empirical models developed in other regions. The highest root yield obtained was 80 t ha -1 by surface drip irrigation with recycled waste water and the lowest was 41.4 t ha -1 by furrow irrigation with fresh water

Vanadium complex induced apoptosis in HepG2 Cells by the up-regulation of p53, p21, and Caspase-8

OBJECTIVE: The anti-cancer effects of 4-bromo-2-(((5-chloro-2-hydroxyphenyl) imino) methyl) phenol ([IV(L)] complex) have been verified. The main mechanisms used by the [IV(L)] complex to induce apoptosis in cancer cells have yet to be clarified. This study has been designed to explore the effects of the [IV(L)] complex on the expression of apoptosis-related genes, including P53, caspase-8, bax, bcl-2, bim, P21, and bid, in human liver hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) cell lines and mouse fibroblast cells (L929), as normal cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The RPMI medium was used to culture L929 and HepG2 cells at the IC50 concentration of the [IV(L)] complex. The expression of some apoptosis-related genes (p53, caspase-8, bax, bcl-2, bim, P21, and bid) was evaluated before and after 48 h from treating the cells by the [IV(L)] complex at the IC50 concentration using the real-time PCR. Data analyzed via SPSS 18 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) software and p< 0.05 was designated as the significant level. RESULTS: The [IV(L)] complex increased the mRNA expression levels of P53 and P21 genes in HepG2 (p< 0.05) cells. In addition, the expression levels of caspase-8 and bid decreased after treatment with the [IV(L)] complex (p= 0.05), and the expression levels of bax and bim genes remained fixed in the HepG2-treated cells. In L929 cells, the mRNA expression levels of P53, caspase-8, bim, P21, and bid increased, with the expression level of the bax gene significantly decreased after 48 h from treatment with the [IV(L)] complex(p= 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The Vanadium [IV(L)] complex induced apoptosis in HepG2 cells using the P53-P21 pathway-dependent method. In L929 cells, the mRNA expression levels of caspase-8 and bid were up-regulated in the treated cells. Therefore, it seems that apoptosis is triggered by both the P53-P21 pathway and the extrinsic apoptotic pathway in L929 cells

The hydroalcoholic extract of Baneh leaves (Pistacia atlantica) induces apoptosis in the breast cancer cells

Objective: Breast cancer is one of the most prevalent cancers among women, which has widespread in recent years in Iran. Wild Pistachio (Pistacia Atlantica), known as Baneh in Iran, is a medicinal plant. The present study aimed to test the anti-tumor properties of the hydro-alcoholic extract of Baneh leaves in MCF-7 breast cancerous cells. Materials and Methods: The MTT assay, morphologic analysis, and DNA fragmentation assay were conducted to evaluate the inhibitory effects of the Baneh leaves hydro-alcoholic extract on the proliferation of cancerous cells (MCF-7) and normal ones (L929). The mRNA expression levels of some apoptotic genes, including p53, caspase-8, caspase-3, bax, and bcl-2 were measured by real-time PCR. Results: Data analysis demonstrated that the IC50 value for MCF-7 and L929 cells after 48-hours treatment with extract was 250 g/mL and 400 g/mL, respectively. The morphologic analysis and DNA fragmentation assay confirmed the occurrence of apoptosis in both L929 and MCF-7 cells after treatment with the Baneh extract at IC50 concentration. It gives the idea that up-regulation of caspase-8, caspase-3, p53, and bax genes decrease in the expression of bcl-2 gene, showing that the Baneh extract induces apoptosis through both intrinsic and extrinsic pathways of programmed cell death in MCF-7 cells. Conclusions: Breast cancer cells are more sensitive to the treatment with the Baneh extract compared to normal cells, making this extract a promising candidate to be used in the preparation of anti-cancer drugs against breast cancer cells with fewer side effects on healthy cells

Small nucleolar RNA host genes promoting epithelial�mesenchymal transition lead cancer progression and metastasis

The small nucleolar RNA host genes (SNHGs) belong to the long non-coding RNAs and are reported to be able to influence all three levels of cellular information-bearing molecules, that is, DNA, RNA, and proteins, resulting in the generation of complex phenomena. As the host genes of the small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs), they are commonly localized in the nucleolus, where they exert multiple regulatory functions orchestrating cellular homeostasis and differentiation as well as metastasis and chemoresistance. Indeed, worldwide literature has reported their involvement in the epithelial�mesenchymal transition (EMT) of different histotypes of cancer, being able to exploit peculiar features, for example, the possibility to act both in the nucleus and the cytoplasm. Moreover, SNHGs regulation is a fundamental topic to better understand their role in tumor progression albeit such mechanism is still debated. Here, we reviewed the biological functions of SNHGs in particular in the EMT process and discussed the perspectives for new cancer therapies. © 2021 International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology