CORPORATE GOVERNANCE IN INDIA: A STUDY OF THE NEED, RELEVANCE AND SIGNIFICANCE FROM A MACRO PERSPECTIVE

Abstract Corporate Governance (CG

Cloning of taxadiene synthase gene into Arabidopsis thaliana (ecotype Columbia-0)

Paclitaxel (Taxol), a complex diterpenoid, produced by yew tree (Taxus sp.) is the most important chemotherapeutic agent that is widely used against a variety of malignancies such as ovarian and breast cancers. However, destructive methods for its production from natural resources together with currently used low-yielding industrial production systems via total synthesis or semi-synthesis have led researchers to invent a robust alternative biological production system using biotechnological approaches. The first committed step in taxol biosynthesis pathway is the  production of taxadiene from geranylgeranyl diphosphate (GGPP) catalyzed by the plastid-localized enzyme taxadiene synthase (TXS). In this research, an attempt was made to evaluate the effects of the first critical enzyme in thetaxol biosynthesis pathway on Arabidopsis plant through the expression of taxadiene synthase gene under the control of a dexamethasone-inducible promoter. To achieve this goal, Arabidopsis plants (ecotype Columbia-0) were transformed with the construct pTA-TXS-His via floral dip method using Agrobacterium tumefaciens AGL1. The transformed plants were confirmed using the PCR reaction amplifying an 800 bp fragment of the cloned gene. Upon these findings, a proposal was made that biotechnological strategies could be utilized for the production of taxol components

Analysis of Genetic Diversity in Iranian Grasspea Landraces (Lathyrus sativus L.) based on Agronomic Traits and Seed Storage Proteins

Regarding the decreasing number of the available crop species for plant breeders, the study of “ignored” crops seems necessary, one of which is grasspea (Lathyrus sativus). In order to evaluation of the Iranian landraces of grasspea for agro-morphological traits, 26 accessions were planted in the field as an augmented design based on a complete block design with five replications.  Some traits, such as date of maturity, number of pods/plant, number of grains/pod, dry biomass, one-hundred grain weight, and grain yield per plant were studied. The analysis of variance showed that there is a significant difference between the agro-morphological traits.The cluster analysis of the landraces for their agro-morphological traits using UPGMA method resulted in three distinct groups: 1) Tabriz-1 and Tabriz-2, 2) Arak-246, and 3) the others. The diversity of the aforesaid 26 grasspea landraces as well as Lathyrus ochrus and L. cicera species for their total seed storage proteins using SDS-PAGE method was studied and 19 protein bands identified. The cluster analysis based on the SDS-PAGE results through UPGMA method and simple matching coefficient could separate Tabriz-2 as well as the two species from the remaining of the landraces being in a single group

Investigating the reliability and validity of subacromial space measurements using ultrasound and MRI

Abstract Background While ultrasound (US) measures of the subacromial space (SAS) have demonstrated excellent reliability, measurements are typically captured by experts with extensive ultrasound experience. Further, the agreement between US measured SAS width and other imaging modalities has not been explored. This research evaluated the agreement between SAS measures captured by novice and expert raters and between US and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This study also evaluated the effect of US transducer tilt on measured SAS. Methods Nine men and nine women participated in this study. US images were captured by a novice and expert with the participant in both seated and supine positions. An inclinometer was fixed to the US probe to measure transducer tilt. SAS width was measured in real time from freeze framed images. MRI images were captured, and the humerus and acromion manually segmented. The SAS width was measured using a custom algorithm. Results Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) between novice and expert raters were 0.74 and 0.63 for seated and supine positions, respectively. Intra-rater agreement was high for both novice (ICC = 0.83–0.84) and expert (ICC ≥ 0.94) raters. Agreement between US and MRI was poor (ICC = 0.21–0.49) but linearly related. Conclusions Moderate agreement between novice and expert raters was demonstrated, while the agreement between US and MRI was poor. High intra-rater reliability within each rater suggests that US measures of the SAS may be completed by a novice with introductory training

Multilocus Sequence Analysis for Assessment of the Biogeography and Evolutionary Genetics of Four Bradyrhizobium Species That Nodulate Soybeans on the Asiatic Continent

A highly supported maximum-likelihood species phylogeny for the genus Bradyrhizobium was inferred from a supermatrix obtained from the concatenation of partial atpD, recA, glnII, and rpoB sequences corresponding to 33 reference strains and 76 bradyrhizobia isolated from the nodules of Glycine max (soybean) trap plants inoculated with soil samples from Myanmar, India, Nepal, and Vietnam. The power of the multigene approach using multiple strains per species was evaluated in terms of overall tree resolution and phylogenetic congruence, representing a practical and portable option for bacterial molecular systematics. Potential pitfalls of the approach are highlighted. Seventy-five of the isolates could be classified as B. japonicum type Ia (USDA110/USDA122-like), B. liaoningense, B. yuanmingense, or B. elkanii, whereas one represented a novel Bradyrhizobium lineage. Most Nepalese B. japonicum Ia isolates belong to a highly epidemic clone closely related to strain USDA110. Significant phylogenetic evidence against the monophyly of the of B. japonicum I and Ia lineages was found. Analysis of their DNA polymorphisms revealed high population distances, significant genetic differentiation, and contrasting population genetic structures, suggesting that the strains in the Ia lineage are misclassified as B. japonicum. The DNA polymorphism patterns of all species conformed to the expectations of the neutral mutation and population equilibrium models and, excluding the B. japonicum Ia lineage, were consistent with intermediate recombination levels. All species displayed epidemic clones and had broad geographic and environmental distribution ranges, as revealed by mapping climate types and geographic origins of the isolates on the species tree.UCR::Vicerrectoría de Docencia::Ciencias Básicas::Facultad de Ciencias::Escuela de Biologí