Effect of 28-homobrassinolide on the nitrate reductase, carbonic anhydrase activities and net photosynthetic rate in Vigna radiata

The foliage of fifteen day-old Vigna radiata seedlings was sprayed with water (control) or with a 10–10 M, 10–8Mor 10–6 Maqueous solution of 28-homobrassinolide (HBR). Samples of the treated plant material, collected at 30/50 days after sowing (DAS), were assessed for the activities of carbonic anhydrase (CA) and nitrate reductase (NR); leaf chlorophyll content (Chl); stomatal conductance (gs); carboxylation efficiency (CE), and net photosynthetic rate (PN). 28-homobrassinolide generated a significant impact on all these characteristics and on seed yield at harvest. Among the treatments, 10–8Mproved best, in which case the values for the above six physiological parameters in 30 days-old plants increased by, respectively, 31, 29, 27, 28, 29 and 33% over the control. Moreover, the harvest weight of the seeds of these plants was 27% larger than in the control

Fine needle aspiration cytological diagnosis of thyroid nodule with its clinical correlation

Background: Nodular goiter is common in Bangladesh. Thyroid nodules are important for their malignant potential especially the solitary and cold ones and when functionally euthyroid. Objectives: This study was designed to investigate the frequency of malignancy and cellular aberration detected by fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) in euthyroid nodules and its correlation with clinical findings. Methods: Subjects with nodular goiter attending Endocrine out patient department [n=150, nonpregnant, age (mean± SD): 37±12 years; sex (male: female): 21:129] were recruited for this study. All subjects underwent clinical risk stratification, estimation ofFT4 and TSH as well as ultrnsonogram (USG) and isotope scan of thyroid. Thyroid nodules were categorized into malignant, suspicious, benign and indeterminant on the basis of cellular character by FNAC. Statistical analysis was done by Chi-square and multiple regression analysis. Results: Patients were mostly females (86%) and 4.7% had family history of thyroid problems. Some had recent changes of size (14.7%), pain in the nodule (4%) and dysphagia (6%). Nodules were solitary in 45.3% and the rest (54.7%) had multinodular goiter. Enlarged regional lymph node was found in 12.7% patients. About 41 % were partially-cold followed by cold nodules (26.7%), patchy (16.7%), isoform (12%) and hot (4%) by isotope scan. Frequency of malignant (10%) character was highest in cold nodules followed by uniform (5.6%), patchy (4.0%) and partially cold (1.6%) while none in hot nodules; which were 22.5%, 11.1 %, 4.0%, 9.8% and 16.7% respectively for suspicious nodules. About 17% showed cellular aberration and 4.7% were clearly malignant, whereas 124 (82.7%) were benign. Of the malignant, 4 were solitary and 3 were multinodular; which were 10 and 9 among the suspicious ones. A significant number (77%, 20 out of 26) among the malignant/suspicious nodules fell into moderate to high risk category (x2=22.861, p<0.001), while 23.1 % of the FNAC proven malignant/suspicious nodules were of low risk category. Enlarged lymph nodes (p<0.001), increased diameter of nodules of >4 cm (p=0.039) and recent changes in nodular size (p=0.042) were independently and signifi­cantly related to cellular aberration. Conclusions: FNAC is a useful tool for cellular diagnosis of thyroid nodules. Clinical suspicion for malignancy strongly correlates with the FNAC findings. But a good number of clinically Low risk categories would escape malignant cellular character unless FNAC is done

Effect of 28-homobrassinolide on the nitrate reductase, carbonic anhydrase activities and net photosynthetic rate in Vigna radiata

The foliage of fifteen day-old Vigna radiata seedlings was sprayed with water (control) or with a 10–10 M, 10–8Mor 10–6 Maqueous solution of 28-homobrassinolide (HBR). Samples of the treated plant material, collected at 30/50 days after sowing (DAS), were assessed for the activities of carbonic anhydrase (CA) and nitrate reductase (NR); leaf chlorophyll content (Chl); stomatal conductance (gs); carboxylation efficiency (CE), and net photosynthetic rate (PN). 28-homobrassinolide generated a significant impact on all these characteristics and on seed yield at harvest. Among the treatments, 10–8Mproved best, in which case the values for the above six physiological parameters in 30 days-old plants increased by, respectively, 31, 29, 27, 28, 29 and 33% over the control. Moreover, the harvest weight of the seeds of these plants was 27% larger than in the control

Host target modification as a strategy to counter pathogen hijacking of the jasmonate hormone receptor

In the past decade, characterization of the host targets of pathogen virulence factors took a center stage in the study of pathogenesis and disease susceptibility in plants and humans. However, the impressive knowledge of host targets has not been broadly exploited to inhibit pathogen infection. Here, we show that host target modification could be a promising new approach to “protect” the disease-vulnerable components of plants. In particular, recent studies have identified the plant hormone jasmonate (JA) receptor as one of the common targets of virulence factors from highly evolved biotrophic/hemibiotrophic pathogens. Strains of the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae, for example, produce proteinaceous effectors, as well as a JA-mimicking toxin, coronatine (COR), to activate JA signaling as a mechanism to promote disease susceptibility. Guided by the crystal structure of the JA receptor and evolutionary clues, we succeeded in modifying the JA receptor to allow for sufficient endogenous JA signaling but greatly reduced sensitivity to COR. Transgenic Arabidopsis expressing this modified receptor not only are fertile and maintain a high level of insect defense, but also gain the ability to resist COR-producing pathogens Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato and P. syringae pv. maculicola. Our results provide a proof-of-concept demonstration that host target modification can be a promising new approach to prevent the virulence action of highly evolved pathogens

Fine needle aspiration cytological diagnosis of thyroid nodule with its clinical correlation

Background: Nodular goiter is common in Bangladesh. Thyroid nodules are important for their malignant potential especially the solitary and cold ones and when functionally euthyroid. Objectives: This study was designed to investigate the frequency of malignancy and cellular aberration detected by fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) in euthyroid nodules and its correlation with clinical findings. Methods: Subjects with nodular goiter attending Endocrine out patient department [n=150, nonpregnant, age (mean± SD): 37±12 years; sex (male: female): 21:129] were recruited for this study. All subjects underwent clinical risk stratification, estimation ofFT4 and TSH as well as ultrnsonogram (USG) and isotope scan of thyroid. Thyroid nodules were categorized into malignant, suspicious, benign and indeterminant on the basis of cellular character by FNAC. Statistical analysis was done by Chi-square and multiple regression analysis. Results: Patients were mostly females (86%) and 4.7% had family history of thyroid problems. Some had recent changes of size (14.7%), pain in the nodule (4%) and dysphagia (6%). Nodules were solitary in 45.3% and the rest (54.7%) had multinodular goiter. Enlarged regional lymph node was found in 12.7% patients. About 41 % were partially-cold followed by cold nodules (26.7%), patchy (16.7%), isoform (12%) and hot (4%) by isotope scan. Frequency of malignant (10%) character was highest in cold nodules followed by uniform (5.6%), patchy (4.0%) and partially cold (1.6%) while none in hot nodules; which were 22.5%, 11.1 %, 4.0%, 9.8% and 16.7% respectively for suspicious nodules. About 17% showed cellular aberration and 4.7% were clearly malignant, whereas 124 (82.7%) were benign. Of the malignant, 4 were solitary and 3 were multinodular; which were 10 and 9 among the suspicious ones. A significant number (77%, 20 out of 26) among the malignant/suspicious nodules fell into moderate to high risk category (x2=22.861, p4 cm (p=0.039) and recent changes in nodular size (p=0.042) were independently and signifi­cantly related to cellular aberration. Conclusions: FNAC is a useful tool for cellular diagnosis of thyroid nodules. Clinical suspicion for malignancy strongly correlates with the FNAC findings. But a good number of clinically Low risk categories would escape malignant cellular character unless FNAC is done