An analytical study on integration of pedagogy and technology in secondary science classes of India during COVID-19

This study examines the importance of integration of pedagogy and technology in secondary science classroom of India in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The researchers in this study focused on four types schools. Twenty-two teachers and eighty students have taken part in this research. Looking to the COVID-19 situation data is generated through telephonic contacts, e- mails and Google meets. Researchers used a mixed method and followed qualitative as well as quantitative data analysis. According to teachers from all four kinds of schools, technology is a necessary instrument for advancing education in the COVID-19 period. According to the study, factors influencing effective pedagogy and technology integration include necessary infrastructure, technical support, teacher training, supportive school management, skilled and motivated teachers etc. Integration of ICT with pedagogy makes learning engaging and entertaining. It encourages inquiry-based learning, cooperative learning, creative and critical thinking among students. It provides opportunity for students to receive materials in multiple formats like videos audio recordings, text materials etc..

Identification and Expression Analysis of PIN-Like (PILS) Gene Family of Rice Treated with Auxin and Cytokinin

The phytohormone auxin is one of the most important signaling molecules that undergo accumulation or depletion in a temporal or spatial manner due to wide arrays of changes in developmental or stress programs. Proper distribution, maintenance and homeostasis of auxin molecules across the plant systems are one of the most important phenomena required for proper growth and development of plant. The distribution and homeostasis of auxin is maintained by auxin transport systems across the plant. The auxin transportation is carried out by auxin transporter family proteins, popularly known as auxin efflux carriers (PINs). In this study, a sub-family of auxin efflux carrier (OsPILS) genes was identified from Oryza sativa and relative expression profile was studied by treating them with auxin and cytokinin. Oryza sativa encodes seven putative sub-cellularly localized transmembrane OsPILS genes distributed in five chromosomes. Differential expression of OsPILS genes was found to be modulated by auxin and cytokinin treatment. In auxin treated plants, all OsPILS genes were up-regulated in leaves and down regulated in roots during the third week time period of developmental stages. In the cytokinin treated plants, the maximum of OsPILS genes were up-regulated during the third week time period in root and leaf tissue. Regulation of gene expression of OsPILS genes by auxin and cytokinin during the third week time period revealed its important role in plant growth and development

Genome-wide Identification of Calcium Dependent Protein Kinase Gene Family In Plant Lineage Shows Presence of Novel D-x-D and D-E-L Motifs in EF-Hand Domain

Calcium ions are considered ubiquitous second messengers in eukaryotic signal transduction pathways. Intracellular Ca2+ concentration are modulated by various signals such as hormones and biotic and abiotic stresses. Modulation of Ca2+ ion leads to stimulation of calcium dependent protein kinase genes (CPKs), which results in regulation of gene expression and therefore mediates plant growth and development as well as biotic and abiotic stresses. Here, we reported the CPK gene family of 40 different plant species (950 CPK genes) and provided a unified nomenclature system for all of them. In addition, we analyzed their genomic, biochemical and structural conserved features. Multiple sequence alignment revealed that the kinase domain, auto-inhibitory domain and EF-hands regions of regulatory domains are highly conserved in nature. Additionally, the EF-hand domains of higher plants were found to contain four D-x-D and two D-E-L motifs, while lower eukaryotic plants had two D-x-D and one D-x-E motifs in their EF-hands. Phylogenetic analysis showed that CPK genes are clustered into four different groups. By studying the CPK gene family across the plant lineage, we provide the first evidence of the presence of D-x-D motif in the calcium binding EF-hand domain of CPK proteins

Review of Andrew G. Newby, The Life and Times of Edward McHugh (1853-1915), Land Reformer, Trade Unionist, and Labour Activist (Lampeter, Lewiston, NY, and Queenston, Ontario: Edwin Mellen Press, 2004)

The details of phylogenetic datas are submitted to TreeBASE database and can be available in following link http://purl.org/phylo/treebase/phylows/study/TB2:S17414?x-access-code=1b88565e08ce238f8fc7928d2fa11a12&format=html

Genome-Wide Identification of Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Gene Family across Fungal Lineage Shows Presence of Novel and Diverse Activation Loop Motifs.

The mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) is characterized by the presence of the T-E-Y, T-D-Y, and T-G-Y motifs in its activation loop region and plays a significant role in regulating diverse cellular responses in eukaryotic organisms. Availability of large-scale genome data in the fungal kingdom encouraged us to identify and analyse the fungal MAPK gene family consisting of 173 fungal species. The analysis of the MAPK gene family resulted in the discovery of several novel activation loop motifs (T-T-Y, T-I-Y, T-N-Y, T-H-Y, T-S-Y, K-G-Y, T-Q-Y, S-E-Y and S-D-Y) in fungal MAPKs. The phylogenetic analysis suggests that fungal MAPKs are non-polymorphic, had evolved from their common ancestors around 1500 million years ago, and are distantly related to plant MAPKs. We are the first to report the presence of nine novel activation loop motifs in fungal MAPKs. The specificity of the activation loop motif plays a significant role in controlling different growth and stress related pathways in fungi. Hence, the presences of these nine novel activation loop motifs in fungi are of special interest

The phylogenetic tree of fungal MAPKs those contain a novel activation loop motif and all representative MAPKs of <i>A</i>. <i>thaliana</i> and <i>O</i>. <i>sativa</i>.

<p>The phylogenetic tree was constructed by taking all MAPKs of <i>O</i>. <i>sativa</i> and <i>A</i>. <i>thaliana</i> with MAPKs of fungi that contains only a “novel” activation loop motif [except one, i.e MbMPK (it contains a T-E-Y motif)]. The phylogenetic tree resulted into four different groups (red and lime color groups are plant-specific and magenta and blue colors are fungi-specific). OsMPKs and AtMPKs were grouped with AkMPK (T-T-Y motif) and AlMPK (T-I-Y motif) of fungi. This suggests that AkMPKs and AlMPKs which contains the T-T-Y and T-I-Y motifs can also be plant-specific as well, which is yet to be elucidated. The other MAPKs having T-N-Y, T-H-Y, T-S-Y, K-G-Y, T-Q-Y and S-E-Y activation loop motifs are those that fall into unique groups, which are specific to fungi only. The activation loop T-E-Y motif is very common and present in all three domains (plant, animal and fungi) of life. Therefore, one MAPK from fungi that contained the T-E-Y (MbMPK) motif was included in this study to better understand their grouping system and phylogenetic relationship. Owing to the presence of the T-E-Y motif, MbMPK is placed in between fungi and plant. Because the T-E-Y motif is common to all the three domains of life and others are unique to fungi, hence MbMPK is present in between the plant and fungi domains. ScMPK in the figure represents SLT2 of <i>Sachharomyces cerevisiae</i>.</p

Representative molecular structure of fungal MAPKs with their activation loop motifs.

<p>Different activation loop motifs shown in the figure are T-T-Y (AkMAPK), T-I-Y (AlMAPK-A), T-E-Y (CjMAPK), K-G-Y (ScMAPK-A), T-H-Y (LhMAPK), T-Q-Y (UrMAPK), T-G-Y (DeMAPK), T-N-Y (BiMAPK), T-S-Y (HvMAPK) and S-E-Y (AlMAPK-B). The items within the bracket represent MAPKs from different fungal species. The first letter represents the genus name in upper case, and the second letter represents the species name in lower case followed by MPK.</p