Biosafety of RNA silencing and genome editing technologies in crop plants: Malaysian and Australian research perspectives

Research in agricultural biotechnology can produce novel solutions to address the ever growing demand for food, feed, renewable materials and renewable energy using increasingly limited resources. Yet research is expensive with long timelines before implementation can disseminate the benefits to society, so there is a need to maximise co-operation and communication between scientists, stakeholders and their governments, to optimise research, its development and the implementation of research outcomes, into mainstream applications. Recognising the impacts of regulations on biosafety, biosecurity and intellectual property policy on strategies for research, senior and early career researchers from two research intensive universities in Malaysia and Australia, held a workshop to identify and to deliberate over two key areas of technology that offer much promise for agriculture, namely RNA silencing and genome editing. A major focus of the workshop was the regulation of new breeding technologies, and how the regulations need to take into account these new technologies. Themes discussed were the need for harmonisation of international legal frameworks and careful use of terminology, standards and guidelines; and the need for good communication and consensus within and between groups of stakeholders and law-makers. This mini-review highlights the deliberations and recommendations from the workshop

Synthesis of a soluble flag-tagged single chain variable fragment (scFv) antibody targeting Cucumber Mosaic Virus (CMV) coat protein

Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) is a serious pathogen of many economically important commercial fruit and vegetable crops worldwide. It is a particular problem in warmer climates, where plants are not grown under cover thus necessitating undesirably high use of agrochemicals for the control of insect vectors. Efforts towards controlling of this virus would include the development of improved methods of virus detection including the ability to produce cost effective and specific reagents. In this study the production of recombinant antibodies provides one such approach. A single chain variable fragment (scFv) antibody, targeted to CMV coat protein, was constructed with mRNA from the spleen of a CMV coat protein-immunized mouse. The nucleotide sequence of the variable heavy (VH) and variable light (VL) framework regions of the mouse spleen cDNA were used to design and construct primers for scFv library construction via RT-PCR. Three rounds of panning of the scFv library with the coat protein of a local isolate of a chilli strain CMV resulted in the cloning of a novel soluble Flag-tagged scFv antibody that suitable for use as a diagnostic reagent with the further potential of in situ application in the development of transgenic plants with novel resistance

Evaluation of banana germplasm and genetic analysis of an F 1 population for resistance to Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense race 1

Open Access Article; Published online: 23 Sept 2019Fusarium wilt of bananas (Musa spp.), caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc) causes up to 100% yield loss in bananas. Foc race 1 in particular is very devastating to dessert bananas in Uganda. One of the effective control strategies for the disease is the development of resistant cultivars through breeding. The objectives of this study were to identify suitable banana germplasm for generating a segregating population for resistance to Foc race 1 and understand the mode of inheritance of resistance to Foc race 1. Twenty-two banana accessions sourced from the National Agricultural Research Organisation in Uganda were challenged with Foc race 1 in a screen house experiment. Monyet, resistant to Foc race 1 and Kokopo, susceptible, were selected and crossed to generate 142 F1 genotypes. These F1 genotypes were also challenged with Foc race 1 in a screen house experiment. Data were collected on rhizome discoloration index (RDI), leaf symptom index (LSI) and pseudo-stem splitting (PSS), and analysed for variability. The banana accessions evaluated showed varying degrees of resistance to Foc race 1. Segregation ratios for resistant versus susceptible progenies fitted 13:3 (χ2 = 0.12, P = 0.73) for RDI and 11:5 (χ2 = 3.04, P = 0.08) for PSS. Estimated broad sense heritability was 27.8% for RDI, 13.9% for LSI and 14.7% for PSS. The results suggest that resistance to Foc race 1 in banana is controlled by at least two dominant genes with epistatic interaction and that heritability of resistance to Foc race 1 is low in Musa spp

Mihrab design and its basic acoustical characteristics of traditional vernacular mosques in Malaysia

Mosque design, globally, has evolved considerably from being very simple design and functional, to more sophisticated forms and layout and recently being very monumental. Its function; however,remain the same, not only as a place for prostrations, but more so as a community centre and a symbol of Islam. Basic elements and spaces such as prayer hall, ablution, minaret, minbar and mihrab; for example, are common features in any mosque. Mihrab, a component of Qibla wall marks the Qibla direction. Functionally, it positions the Imam who recites during congregations. It form and design helps the Imam to have khusyu’ in prayer. Mihrab should also function acoustically. This research was carried out with the objectives to review the level of acoustic performance in selected mosques and to evaluate the design and acoustic performance of the mihrabs. Initial survey of 37 traditional mosques in Malaysia, built between 1728-1830, has concluded that the mosques are either square or rectangular in plan with clear Mihrab visibility from the main entrance. Mihrab’s form vary from having circular niche with flat ceiling to rectangular shaped with slanting ceiling and semi-circular concaved niched forms. To evaluate the acoustical characteristics of the selected mosques the PCbased acoustic measuring system and analyser was utilized. The PC-based measuring system (dBBati32) was integrated with sound level meter (01dB Solo Metravib) as analyser. Data collected from five case study reveals initial findings that the operating facilities in the mosques resulting higher rating NC-49 which is reducing the performance of speech intelligibility. The investigations on the mosque’s mihrab offer good characteristics to confirm the tendency of fair acoustical performance with a maximum difference of 4.0dB

Molecular studies on Southern Bean Mosaic virus

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USTART®

A programme organized by University of Malaya through its Centre of Innovation and Commercialization UMCIC, showcasing technology startups, interactive panel discussion from experts in university technology transfer and providing business networking and investor matching opportunities that will allow for a free flow exchange of best practices for research commercialization. The event aims to highlight efforts by universities in innovating and commercializing R&D outputs through the establishment of startup companies.The objectives are to build a University STARTUP COMMUNITY across universities, creating a showcase platform for regional excellence in university entrepreneurship, opening regional markets through inter-university joint venture, creating new opportunities through a Blue Ocean Strategy of shared mentoring and co-incubator facilities, student entrepreneurship initiatives and open up channels for startups through real angels and venture funders. This trademark registered under class 16, 35, 36, 38, 41 and 4

Recent advances in toxoplasma gondii immunotherapeutics

Toxoplasmosis is an opportunistic infection caused by the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii. T gondii is widespread globally and causes severe diseases in individuals with impaired immune defences as well as congenitally infected infants. The high prevalence rate in some parts of the world such as South America and Africa, coupled with the current drug treatments that trigger hypersensitivity reactions, makes the development of immunotherapeutics intervention a highly important research priority. Immunotherapeutics strategies could either be a vaccine which would confer a pre-emptive immunity to infection, or passive immunization in cases of disease recrudescence or recurrent clinical diseases. As the severity of clinical manifestations is often greater in developing nations, the development of well-tolerated and safe immunotherapeutics becomes not only a scientific pursuit, but a humanitarian enterprise. In the last few years, much progress has been made in vaccine research with new antigens, novel adjuvants, and innovative vaccine delivery such as nanoparticles and antigen encapsulations. A literature search over the past 5 years showed that most experimental studies were focused on DNA vaccination at 52%, followed by protein vaccination which formed 36% of the studies, live attenuated vaccinations at 9%, and heterologous vaccination at 3%; while there were few on passive immunization. Recent progress in studies on vaccination, passive immunization, as well as insights gained from these immunotherapeutics is highlighted in this review

Effect of Benzylaminopurine (BAP) pulsing on in vitro shoot multiplication of musa acuminata (banana) cv. berangan

MS (Murashige and Skoog) media supplemented with benzylaminopurine (BAP) showed that the number of bud formation in shoot cultures of Musa acuminata cv.Berangan during the initiation stage increased proportionately with the concentrations used (11, 22 and 33 μM). However, the highest concentration of BAP (33 μM) simultaneously increased the formation of abnormal shoots. After the first apical bud appeared, explants were transferred to MS medium with lower concentrations of BAP either with or without indole acetic acid (IAA). Proliferation media supplemented with IAA showed enhanced shoot multiplication and elongation but did not help to reduce the abnormality index that occurre

Expression of a functional anti-cucumber mosaic virus single-chain variable fragment antibody in tobacco plants (nacotiana tabacum)

As an alternative method to produce low cost reagents for immunodiagnosis and protect the plants from viral disease, a gene encoding a single chain variable fragment(scFv) recombinant antibody targeted to the coat protein of cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) was expressed in Nacotiana tabacum. The source of the scFv recombinant antibody gene was from spleen tissue of an immunized mouse. The gene was initially cloned into the pCANTAB5E phagemid and expressed in E. coli. In the following study, the antibody gene was subcloned into the plant expression vector, pCAMBIA-1301 and introduced into tobacco leaf tissue via Agrobacterium tumefacients mediated transformation. After transformation, 56 out of 58 plants were shown to carry the desired anti-CMV scFv gene by PCR analysis. Overall, only 12.5 of the 56 putative transgenic plants were found to express the antibody to a detectable level