Resistance Induction and Direct Antifungal Activity of Some Monoterpenes against Rhizoctonia solani, the Causal of Root Rot in Common Bean

This study was conducted to evaluate eco-friendly control agents (carvone, cuminaldehyde, and linalool) against Rhizoctonia solani, which causes root rot disease either by induction of defense response or direct antifungal activity. The induction of resistance was examined by detecting the transcription of defense genes and the effect of the tested control agents on the growth and the yield of common bean plants. The growth of R. solani was significantly inhibited after treatment with the tested compounds compared to the untreated control under laboratory conditions. The disease severity of root rot was decreased in common bean plants treated with the tested compounds compared to untreated control plants under greenhouse conditions. Common bean plants treated with the tested control agents expressed defense genes (Phenylalanine ammonia lyase and β-1,3-Glucanase) involved in jasmonic acid (JA) and salicylic acid (SA) signaling pathways with 2–5 fold higher than the control. Treatment of common beans with the tested control agents and fungicide significantly improved the growth and yield characteristics of common bean. Therefore, the use of monoterpenes could be a novel strategy to control this pathogen and consider the first report

Evaluation of Expressed MicroRNAs as Prospective Biomarkers for Detection of Breast Cancer

Background: Early detection and screening of breast cancer (BC) might help improve the prognosis of BC patients. This study evaluated the use of serum microRNAs (miRs) as non-invasive biomarkers in BC patients. Methods: Using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, we evaluated the serum expression of four candidate miRs (miR-155, miR-373, miR-10b, and miR-34a) in 99 Egyptian BC patients and 40 healthy subjects (as a control). The miRs expression was correlated with clinicopathological data. In addition, the sensitivity and specificity of the miRs were determined using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Results: Serum miR-155, miR-373, and miR-10b expression were significantly upregulated (p < 0.001), while serum miR-34a was downregulated (p < 0.00) in nonmetastatic (M0) BC patients compared to the control group. In addition, serum miR-155 and miR-10b were upregulated in BC patients with large tumor sizes and extensive nodal involvement (p < 0.001). ROC curve analysis showed high diagnostic accuracy (area under the curve = 1.0) when the four miRs were combined. Serum miR-373 was significantly upregulated in the human epidermal growth factor 2–negative (p < 0.001), estrogen receptor–positive (p < 0.005), and progesterone receptor (PR)-positive (p < 0.024) in BC patients, and serum miR-155 was significantly upregulated in PR-negative (p < 0.001) BC patients while both serum miR-155 and miR-373 were positively correlated with the tumor grade. Conclusions: Circulating serum miR-155, miR-373, miR-10b, and miR-34a are potential biomarkers for early BC detection in Egyptian patients and their combination shows high sensitivity and specificity