Identification of Salmonella Strains of Phyllosphere Food Poisoning by Melt Curve Analysis: In Silico approach

During last few decades, there have been increased incidences of outbreak of diseases due to consumption of fresh vegetables and fruits contaminated with human pathogens.  Such threats warrant rapid detection test. The standard method of diagnosis relies on culture-plate and serological methods which lack discrimination and are time consuming having several drawbacks, inconsistency and are less efficient. We applied bioinformatics approaches to develop of a real- time PCR simulation for detecting Salmonella serovars which are involved in most disease outbreaks associated with phyllosphere. Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica (designated as S. enterica) are common in plants, on surface as well as present internally in tissues. Though more than 2500 serovars of Salmonella enterica are known but the reports of serovars colonizing in plants are limited. Nucleotide sequence variation in target genes, viz. PurE, SucA, hisD, hivA and fliC were used in in silico to differentiate Salmonella serovars. A large number of reference sequences of target genes were retrieved from NCBI, and common conserved region were used for development of multiplex primer design using muPlex. Primer thermodynamic properties and secondary structure were assessed using Beacon designer. Sequences were truncated to remove sequences outside of the region bounded by the primers.  We performed in silico DNA melting simulations with several Salmonella serovars using the programs umelt, and tested the utility of the programs for assay design, which will save time and cost of in vitro testing several multiple primers in RT PCR.Keywords- In Silico; Salmonella ; Phyllosphere;Real-time PCR (RT-PCR

Soil Chemical Properties Under Conservation Agriculture and Cereal-Based Cropping System in Eastern Tarai of Nepal

Field experiments were conducted for four years (2014-2017) at five locations namely Salbani, Bhokraha, Simariya, Bhaluwa and Kaptanganj of Sunsari district to assess the changes in soil chemical properties under conservation agriculture (CA)-based practices in two cropping systems namely rice-kidney bean-maize at Salbani and rice-wheat at rest of the locations. In rice-wheat cropping system, there were four treatments: (1) conventional tillage (CT) for rice transplantation and subsequent wheat sowing, (2) conventional tillage rice transplantation followed by zero tillage (ZT) wheat, (3) unpuddled rice transplantation followed by zero tillage wheat, (4) zero tillage in both rice and wheat. Similarly, in rice-kidney bean-maize cropping system, there were four treatments; (1) conventional tillage for rice transplantation and sowing of both kidney bean and maize, (2) conventional tillage rice transplantation followed by zero tillage in both kidney bean and maize, (3) unpuddled rice transplantation followed by zero tillage in both kidney bean and maize, (4) zero tillage in all three crops. Soil samples were taken at initial and every year after rice harvest.The soil samples were analyzed for total nitrogen, available phosphorus, available potassium, pH and soil organic matter.Total nitrogen (N) showed a slightly decreasing trend in the first three years and showed a slight increase at the end of experiment under ZT in all locations. The total N under ZT changed from 0.12 to 0.13%, 0.05 to 0.06%, 0.10 to 0.12%, 0.11 to 0.08% and 0.09 to 0.13% in Salbani, Bhokraha, Simariya, Bhaluwa and Kaptanganj, respectively.  All locations showed the positive values of available potassium; Salbani  revealing considerable change of 64.3 to 78.5 mg/kg in CT while 68.4 to 73.3 mg/kg in ZT condition. The treatment where rice was transplanted in unpuddled condition and zero tilled to wheat, had a mean value of available phosphorus and potassium as 87.3 and 81.9 mg/kg respectively. Soil pH ranged from 4.8 to 7.1 in CT while it was 5.2 to 6.8 in ZT across the locations. The change in soil organic matter in CT of all locations except Salbani was narrower as compared to ZT

Impact of farmer producer organization on organic chilli production in Telangana, India

Input intensive modern agriculture is adversely affecting human health and environment. Farmers of Telangana state have taken up organic chilli production with the assistance of FPOs. Primary data was collected from 120 farmers comprising 60 members and 60 non-members of FPO from two districts of Telangana through semi-structured interviews. The study found that the shift to organic chilli cultivation led to decrease in input use by 9.06% and yield by 23.4%. However, the gross return from organic chilli farming was 13.85% higher over that realised by non-members due to the efforts of FPOs. DEA analysis revealed that a higher proportion of member farmers (48%) had technical efficiency of more than 60% as compared to non-members (18%). FPOs were instrumental in reduction of transaction cost and number of intermediaries leading to the realization of a higher proportion of producer’s share in consumer’s rupee (65%). Discriminant function analysis revealed that the FPO promoting institutions (44%), ease of doing business (16%) and infrastructure facilities like storage, irrigation, electricity and credit have high influence on performance of the states with respect to FPOs

EFFECTS OF TADALAFIL ON CARDIOPULMONARY HAEMODYNAMICS IN PATIENTS OF CHRONIC PULMONARY DISEASES WITH PULMONARY HYPERTENSION: A PILOT STUDY

Background and Objectives: Effect of tadalafil on cardiopulmonary haemodynamics in patients of chronic pulmonary diseases residing at an altitude has not been studied adequately. The present study reports the effect of tadalafil on cardiopulmonary haemodynamics in patients of chronic pulmonary diseases with PH residing at an altitude ranging between 1000 meters to 2500 meters above mean sea level. Methods: Seventy six patients of chronic pulmonary diseases with PH diagnosed by echocardiography were randomized to receive tadalafil 40 mg once a day or to the control group. The effect of tadalafil on cardiopulmonary haemodynamics was assessed after 3 months of tadalafil exposure. The echo Doppler derived indices of cardiopulmonary haemodymics recorded were; TR gradient, pulmonary flow acceleration time, pulmonary vascular resistance, myocardial performance index, RV eccentricity index, tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion and cardiac output. The arterial oxygen saturation was measured by Pulse oxymeter. Results and Interpretation: Tadalafil significantly improved the indices of RV performance; pulmonary flow velocity time integral (14.54 ± 3.17cm versus 12.25 ± 2.25cm, p <0.0002), tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (18.53±4.0mm versus 17.11±3.94mm, p<0.002), RVFS 30.6% vs. 24.8% p<0.003. There was no significant change in the TR gradient although PFAT increased significantly with tadalafil; (89.8±11.7 vs. 76.2±8.2 msec. p<0.001). There was a trend of lower PVR with tadalafil buts not statistically significant 3.6±0.9 vs. 3.1±1.0. Tadalafil also improved the arterial oxygen saturation, SPO2 (90.91±1.76% versus 88.40±1.79%, p<0.0001) significantly. Conclusions: Tadalafil improved RV function significantly but its effect on PVR was modest.  

Characterizing patterns of seasonal drought stress for use in common bean breeding in East Africa under present and future climates

Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is the second most important source of dietary protein and the third most important source of calories in Africa, especially for the poor. In East Africa, drought is an important constraint to bean production. Therefore, breeding programs in East Africa have been trying to develop drought resistant varieties of common bean. To do this, breeders need information about seasonal drought stress patterns including their onset, intensity, and duration in the target area of the breeding program, so that they can mimic this pattern during field trials. Using the Decision Support for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) v4.7 model together with historical and future (Coupled Model Inter-comparison Project 6, CMIP6) climate data, this study categorized Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Uganda into different target population of environments (TPEs) based on historical and future seasonal drought stress patterns. We find that stress-free conditions generally dominate across the three countries under historical conditions (50–80% frequency). These conditions are projected to increase in frequency in Ethiopia by 2–10% but the converse is true for Tanzania (2–8% reduction) and Uganda (17–20% reduction) by 2050 depending on the Shared Socioeconomic Pathway (SSP). Accordingly, by 2050, terminal drought stresses of various intensities (moderate, severe, extreme) are prevalent in 34% of Uganda, around a quarter of Ethiopia, and 40% of the bean growing environments in Tanzania. The TPEs identified in each country serve as a basis for prioritizing breeding activities in national programs. However, to optimize resource use in international breeding programs to develop genotypes that are resilient to future projected stress patterns, we argue that common bean breeding programs should focus primarily on identifying genotypes with tolerance to severe terminal drought, with co-benefits in relation to adaptation to moderate and extreme terminal drought. Little to no emphasis on heat stress is warranted by 2050s

Similarity Evaluation in Image Retrieval Using the Hough Transform

This work investigates the use of orientation features, computed using the Hough transform, as a criterion for image similarity evaluation in content based picture retrieval. The context of this work is the management of thematic catalogues, in which coherence in the meaning of the image contents can be relied upon to a certain degree. The vector space model, a well-assessed technique in textual information retrieval, is utilized for the retrieval model

Heat stress tolerance in peas (Pisum sativum L.): Current status and way forward

In the era of climate change, the overall productivity of pea (Pisum sativum L.) is being threatened by several abiotic stresses including heat stress (HS). HS causes severe yield losses by adversely affecting several traits in peas. A reduction in pod yield has been reported from 11.1% to 17.5% when mean daily temperature increase from 1.4 to 2.2°C. High-temperature stress (30.5-33°C) especially during reproductive phase is known to drastically reduce both seed yield and germination. HS during germination and early vegetative stage resulted in poor emergence and stunted plant growth along with detrimental effects on physiological functions of the pea plant. To combat HS and continue its life cycle, plants use various defense strategies including heat escape, avoidance or tolerance mechanisms. Ironically, the threshold temperatures for pea plant and its responses are inconsistent and not yet clearly identified. Trait discovery through traditional breeding such as semi leaflessness (afila), upright growing habit, lodging tolerance, lower canopy temperature and small seeded nature has highlighted their utility for greater adaptation under HS in pea. Screening of crop gene pool and landraces for HS tolerance in a targeted environment is a simple approach to identify HS tolerant genotypes. Thus, precise phenotyping using modern phenomics tools could lead to increased breeding efficiency. The NGS (next generation sequencing) data can be associated to find the candidate genes responsible for the HS tolerance in pea. In addition, genomic selection, genome wide association studies (GWAS) and marker assisted selection (MAS) can be used for the development of HS tolerant pea genotypes. Additionally, development of transgenics could be an alternative strategy for the development of HS tolerant pea genotypes. This review comprehensively covers the various aspects of HS tolerance mechanisms in the pea plant, screening protocols, omic advances, and future challenges for the development of HS tolerant genotypes