Variability, correlation and path co-eeficient analysis for yield and its components in rice

Direct selection based on crop yields is often a paradox in breeding programmes because yield is a complex polygenically inherited character, influenced by its component traits. Breeding programmes should, therefore, take into consideration character association of various component traits with yield and among themselves. Inthis study, fourteen rice (Oryza sativa L.) genotypes at the Gezira Research Station Farm (GRSF), Sudan were assessed for genetic variability and correlations between yield and yield components among phenotypic markers and polygenic trait analysis. A wider genetic variability was observed among the genotypes for most of thecharacters studied. The highest genotypic coefficient of varation was recorded for grain yield, percent unfilled grain panicle-1, number of grains panicle-1 and number of filled grain panicle-1. Phenotypic correlations between grain yield and number of filled grain panicle-1, number of panicle m-2 and 1000 grain weight were 0.52, 0.36 and0.27, respectively. These results suggested that improvement in yield could be attained by selecting rice plants for higher number of filled grain panicle-1, number of panicle m-2, and 1000 grain weight. The path analysis revelead that number of filled grains panicle-1 had direct positive (0.87) contribution to the grain yield ha-1 and positive (0.33) indirect effect on grain yield ha-1 through days to 50% maturity and number of grains panicle-1 (0.089); while number of filled grains per particle had negative (-0.30) and (-0.21) indirect effect on grain yieldha-1 through number of tillers plant-1 and number of panicles m-2, respectively. The relative contribution of characters towards variability and results of correlation and path coefficient indicated the importance of number of grain panicle-1, number of filled grain panicle-1 and number of panicle m-2. Genotypes having these characters would offer a good possibility for the improvement of rice through conventional selection

Performance of Updated Stress-Strain Index in Differentiating between Normal, Forme-Fruste, Subclinical and Clinical Keratoconic Eyes.

PurposeThis study seeks to evaluate the ability of the updated stress strain index (SSIv2) and other Corvis ST biomechanical parameters in distinguishing between keratoconus with different disease stages, and normal eyes.DesignDiagnostic accuracy analysis to distinguish disease stages.Methods1084 eyes were included and divided into groups of normal (199 eyes), forme fruste keratoconus (FFKC, 194 eyes), subclinical keratoconus (SKC, 113 eyes), mild clinical keratoconus (CKC-I, 175 eyes), moderate clinical keratoconus (CKC-II, 204 eyes) and severe clinical keratoconus (CKC-III, 199 eyes). Each eye was subjected to a Corvis ST examination to determine the central corneal thickness (CCT), biomechanically corrected intraocular pressure (bIOP), SSIv2 and other eight Corvis parameters including the SSIv1, SP-A1, A1T, ARTh, IIR, DAM, DARatio2 and CBI. The sensitivity and specificity of these parameters in diagnosing keratoconus were analyzed through receiver operating characteristic curves.ResultsBefore and after correction for CCT and bIOP, SSIv2 and ARTh were significantly higher, and IIR and CBI were significantly lower in the normal group than in the FFKC group, SKC group and the 3 CKC groups (all PConclusionCorvis ST's updated SSI demonstrated superior performance in differentiating between normal and keratoconic corneas, and between corneas with different keratoconus stages. Similar, but less pronounced, performance was demonstrated by the IIR, ARTh and CBI

The multifunctional solute carrier 3A2 (SLC3A2) confers a poor prognosis in the highly proliferative breast cancer subtypes

Background: Breast cancer (BC) is a heterogeneous disease characterised by variant biology, metabolic activity and patient outcome. This study aimed to evaluate the biological and prognostic value of the membrane solute carrier, SLC3A2 in BC with emphasis on the intrinsic molecular subtypes. Methods: SLC3A2 was assessed at the genomic level, using METABRIC data (n=1,980), and proteomic level, using immunohistochemistry on TMA sections constructed from a large well-characterised primary BC cohort (n=2,500). SLC3A2 expression was correlated with clinicopathological parameters, molecular subtypes, and patient outcome. Results: SLC3A2 mRNA and protein expression were strongly correlated with higher tumour grade and poor Nottingham prognostic index (NPI). High expression of SLC3A2 was observed in triple negative (TN), HER2+, and ER+ high proliferation subtypes. SLC3A2 mRNA and protein expression were significantly associated with the expression of c-MYC in all BC subtypes (p<0.001). High expression of SLC3A2 protein was associated with poor patient outcome (p<0.001)), but only in the ER+ high proliferation (p=0.01) and triple negative (p=0.04) subtypes. In multivariate analysis SLC3A2 protein was an independent risk factor for shorter breast cancer specific survival (p<0.001). Conclusions: SLC3A2 appears to play a role in the aggressive BC subtypes driven by MYC and could act as a potential prognostic marker. Functional assessment is necessary to reveal its potential therapeutic value in the different BC subtypes

CD34+cells augment endothelial cell differentiation of CD14+endothelial progenitor cells in vitro

Neovascularization by endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) for the treatment of ischaemic diseases has been a topic of intense research. The CD34+ cell is often designated as EPC, because it contributes to repair of ischaemic injuries through neovascularization. However, incorporation of CD34+ cells into the neovasculature is limited, suggesting another role which could be paracrine. CD14+ cells can also differentiate into endothelial cells and contribute to neovascularization. However, the low proliferative capacity of CD14+ cell-derived endothelial cells hampers their use as therapeutic cells. We made the assumption that an interaction between CD34+ and CD14+ cells augments endothelial differentiation of the CD14+ cells. In vitro, the influence of CD34+ cells on the endothelial differentiation capacity of CD14+ cells was investigated. Endothelial differentiation was analysed by expression of endothelial cell markers CD31, CD144, von Willebrand Factor and endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase. Furthermore, we assessed proliferative capacity and endothelial cell function of the cells in culture. In monocultures, 63% of the CD14+-derived cells adopted an endothelial cell phenotype, whereas in CD34+/CD14+ co-cultures 95% of the cells showed endothelial cell differentiation. Proliferation increased up to 12% in the CD34+/CD14+ co-cultures compared to both monocultures. CD34-conditioned medium also increased endothelial differentiation of CD14+ cells. This effect was abrogated by hepatocyte growth factor neutralizing antibodies, but not by interleukin-8 and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 neutralizing antibodies. We show that co-culturing of CD34+ and CD14+ cells results in a proliferating population of functional endothelial cells, which may be suitable for treatment of ischaemic diseases such as myocardial infarction

Fast preparation route to high-performances textured Sr-doped Ca 3 Co 4 O 9 thermoelectric materials through precursor powder modification

This work presents a short and very efficientmethod to produce high performance textured Ca3Co4O9thermoelectric materials through initial powders modifica-tion. Microstructure has shown good grain orientation, andlow porosity while slightly lower grain sizes were obtained insamples prepared from attrition milled powders. All samplesshow the high density of around 96% of the theoretical value.These similar characteristics are reflected in, approximately,the same electrical resistivity and Seebeck coefficient valuesfor both types of samples. However, in spite of similar powerfactor (PF) at low temperatures, it is slightly higher at hightemperature for the attrition milled samples. On the otherhand, the processing time reduction (from 38 to 2 h) whenusing attrition milled precursors, leads to lower mechanicalproperties in these samples. All these data clearly point out tothe similar characteristics of both kinds of samples, with adrastic processing time decrease when using attrition milledprecursors, which is of the main economic importance whenconsidering their industrial production

MYC functions are specific in biological subtypes of breast cancer and confers resistance to endocrine therapy in luminal tumours.

BACKGROUND: MYC is amplified in approximately 15% of breast cancers (BCs) and is associated with poor outcome. c-MYC protein is multi-faceted and participates in many aspects of cellular function and is linked with therapeutic response in BCs. We hypothesised that the functional role of c-MYC differs between molecular subtypes of BCs. METHODS: We therefore investigated the correlation between c-MYC protein expression and other proteins involved in different cellular functions together with clinicopathological parameters, patients' outcome and treatments in a large early-stage molecularly characterised series of primary invasive BCs (n=1106) using immunohistochemistry. The METABRIC BC cohort (n=1980) was evaluated for MYC mRNA expression and a systems biology approach utilised to identify genes associated with MYC in the different BC molecular subtypes. RESULTS: High MYC and c-MYC expression was significantly associated with poor prognostic factors, including grade and basal-like BCs. In luminal A tumours, c-MYC was associated with ATM (P=0.005), Cyclin B1 (P=0.002), PIK3CA (P=0.009) and Ki67 (P<0.001). In contrast, in basal-like tumours, c-MYC showed positive association with Cyclin E (P=0.003) and p16 (P=0.042) expression only. c-MYC was an independent predictor of a shorter distant metastases-free survival in luminal A LN+ tumours treated with endocrine therapy (ET; P=0.013). In luminal tumours treated with ET, MYC mRNA expression was associated with BC-specific survival (P=0.001). In ER-positive tumours, MYC was associated with expression of translational genes while in ER-negative tumours it was associated with upregulation of glucose metabolism genes. CONCLUSIONS: c-MYC function is associated with specific molecular subtypes of BCs and its overexpression confers resistance to ET. The diverse mechanisms of c-MYC function in the different molecular classes of BCs warrants further investigation particularly as potential therapeutic targets

3, 3′5 Triiodo L Thyronine Induces Apoptosis in Human Breast Cancer MCF-7cells, Repressing SMP30 Expression through Negative Thyroid Response Elements

Thyroid hormones regulate cell proliferation, differentiation as well as apoptosis. However molecular mechanism underlying apoptosis as a result of thyroid hormone signaling is poorly understood. The antiapoptotic role of Senescence Marker Protein-30 (SMP30) has been characterized in response to varieties of stimuli as well as in knock out model. Our earlier data suggest that thyroid hormone 3, 3'5 Triiodo L Thyronine (T(3)), represses SMP30 in rat liver.In highly metastatic MCF-7, human breast cancer cell line T3 treatment repressed SMP30 expression leading to enhanced apoptosis. Analysis by flow cytometry and other techniques revealed that overexpression and silencing of SMP30 in MCF-7 resulted in decelerated and accelerated apoptosis respectively. In order to identify the cis-acting elements involved in this regulation, we have analyzed hormone responsiveness of transiently transfected hSMP30 promoter deletion reporter vectors in MCF-7 cells. As opposed to the expected epigenetic outcome, thyroid hormone down regulated hSMP30 promoter activity despite enhanced recruitment of acetylated H3 on thyroid response elements (TREs). From the stand point of established epigenetic concept we have categorised these two TREs as negative response elements. Our attempt of siRNA mediated silencing of TRβ, reduced the fold of repression of SMP30 gene expression. In presence of thyroid hormone, Trichostatin- A (TSA), which is a Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor further inhibited SMP30 promoter activity. The above findings are in support of categorisation of both the thyroid response element as negative response elements as usually TSA should have reversed the repressions.This is the first report of novel mechanistic insights into the remarkable downregulation of SMP30 gene expression by thyroid hormone which in turn induces apoptosis in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells. We believe that our study represents a good ground for future effort to develop new therapeutic approaches to challenge the progression of breast cancer