Advances in biotechnology and genomics of switchgrass

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is a C4 perennial warm season grass indigenous to the North American tallgrass prairie. A number of its natural and agronomic traits, including adaptation to a wide geographical distribution, low nutrient requirements and production costs, high water use efficiency, high biomass potential, ease of harvesting, and potential for carbon storage, make it an attractive dedicated biomass crop for biofuel production. We believe that genetic improvements using biotechnology will be important to realize the potential of the biomass and biofuel-related uses of switchgrass. Tissue culture techniques aimed at rapid propagation of switchgrass and genetic transformation protocols have been developed. Rapid progress in genome sequencing and bioinformatics has provided efficient strategies to identify, tag, clone and manipulate many economically-important genes, including those related to higher biomass, saccharification efficiency, and lignin biosynthesis. Application of the best genetic tools should render improved switchgrass that will be more economically and environmentally sustainable as a lignocellulosic bioenergy feedstock

Source of Previous Treatment for Re-Treatment TB Cases Registered under the National TB Control Programme, India, 2010

BACKGROUND: In 2009, nearly half (289,756) of global re-treatment TB notifications are from India; no nationally-representative data on the source of previous treatment was available to inform strategies for improvement of initial TB treatment outcome. OBJECTIVES: To assess the source of previous treatment for re-treatment TB patients registered under India's Revised National TB control Programme (RNTCP). METHODOLOGY: A nationally-representative cross sectional study was conducted in a sample of 36 randomly-selected districts. All consecutively registered retreatment TB patients during a defined 15-day period in these 36 districts were contacted and the information on the source of previous treatment sought. RESULTS: Data was collected from all 1712 retreatment TB patients registered in the identified districts during the study period. The data includes information on 595 'relapse' cases, 105 'failure' cases, 437 'treatment after default (TAD)' cases and 575 're-treatment others' cases. The source of most recent previous anti-tuberculosis therapy for 754 [44% (95% CI, 38.2%-49.9%)] of the re-treatment TB patients was from providers outside the TB control programme. A higher proportion of patients registered as TAD (64%) and 'retreatment others' (59%) were likely to be treated outside the National Programme, when compared to the proportion among 'relapse' (22%) or 'failure' (6%). Extrapolated to national registration, of the 292,972 re-treatment registrations in 2010, 128,907 patients would have been most recently treated outside the national programme. CONCLUSIONS: Nearly half of the re-treatment cases registered with the national programme were most recently treated outside the programme setting. Enhanced efforts towards extending treatment support and supervision to patients treated by private sector treatment providers are urgently required to improve the quality of treatment and reduce the numbers of patients with recurrent disease. In addition, reasons for the large number of recurrent TB cases from those already treated by the national programme require urgent detailed investigation

Polymer Composites Containing Gated Mesoporous Materials for On-Command Controlled Release

Polyamidic nanofibrous membranes containing gated silica mesoporous particles, acting as carriers, are described as novel hybrid composite materials for encapsulation and on-command delivery of garlic extracts. The carrier system consists of MCM-41 solids functionalized in the outer surface, with linear polyamines (solid P1) and with hydrolyzed starch (solid P2), both acting as molecular gates. Those particles were adsorbed on electospun nylon-6 nanofibrous membranes yielding to composite materials M1 and M2. FE-SEM analysis confirmed the presence of particles incorporated on the nylon nanofibers. The release of the entrapped molecules (garlic extract) from the P1, P2, M1, and M2 materials was evaluated using cyclic voltammetry measurements. Electrochemical studies showed that at acidic pH P1 and M1 were unable to release their entrapped cargo (closed gate), whereas at neutral pH both materials release their loading (open gate). Dealing with P2 and M2 materials, in the absence of pancreatin a negligible release is observed (closed gate), whereas in the presence of enzyme the load is freely to diffuse to the solution. These newly developed composite nanomaterials, provide a homogeneous easy-to-handle system with controlled delivery and bioactive-protective features, having potential applications on pharmacology, medical and engineering fields.The authors wish to express their gratitude to the Generalitat Valenciana (Grisolia scholarship 2011/012, project PROM-ETEO/2009/016), Spanish Government (MINECO Projects AGL2012-39597-C02-01, AGL2012-39597-C02-02 and MAT2012-38429-C04-01) and the CIBER-BBN for their support. IILA thanks DISTAM and Universita degli di Milano for a specialization scholarship. We would also like to thank the Institut de Ciencia dels Materials (ICMUV) and to the Microscopy Service of the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia for technical support. We thank Roquette for the Glucidex samples.Acosta Romero, C.; Pérez Esteve, E.; Fuenmayor, CA.; Benedetti, S.; Cosio, MS.; Soto Camino, J.; Sancenón Galarza, F.... (2014). Polymer Composites Containing Gated Mesoporous Materials for On-Command Controlled Release. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. 6(9):6453-6460. https://doi.org/10.1021/am405939y645364606

Luminescent Organic–Inorganic Hybrids of Functionalized Mesoporous Silica SBA-15 by Thio-Salicylidene Schiff Base

Novel organic–inorganic mesoporous luminescent hybrid material N, N′-bis(salicylidene)-thiocarbohydrazide (BSTC-SBA-15) has been obtained by co-condensation of tetraethyl orthosilicate and the organosilane in the presence of Pluronic P123 surfactant as a template. N,N′-bis(salicylidene)-thiocarbohydrazide (BSTC) grafted to the coupling agent 3-(triethoxysilyl)-propyl isocyanate (TESPIC) was used as the precursor for the preparation of mesoporous materials. In addition, for comparison, SBA-15 doped with organic ligand BSTC was also synthesized, denoted as BSTC/SBA-15. This organic–inorganic hybrid material was well-characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and photoluminescence spectra, which reveals that they all have high surface area, uniformity in the mesostructure. The resulting materials (BSTC-SBA-15 and BSTC/SBA-15) exhibit regular uniform microstructures, and no phase separation happened for the organic and the inorganic compounds was covalently linked through Si–O bonds via a self-assemble process. Furthermore, the two materials have different luminescence range: BSTC/SBA-15 presents the strong dominant green luminescence, while BSTC-functionalized material BSTC-SBA-15 shows the dominant blue emission

Breeding and Health Benefits of Fruit and Nut Crops

The fruit and nut crops are laden with health benefits. As people are becoming more conscious about their health and nutritional uptake, the worldwide demand and consumption of fruit and nut crops are steadily increasing. This has made it hard to keep pace between the rate of fruit and nut production and its consumption. To meet this increasing demand, there is a need to produce improved, better yielding, and high-quality fruit and nut crops. This book intends to provide the reader with a comprehensive overview of the current status and future prospects of fruit and nut crops. Such information covered in this book will directly enhance both basic and applied research in fruit and nut crops and will particularly be useful for students, scientists, researchers, teachers, breeders, policy-makers, and growers

Advances in Biofuels and Bioenergy

The worldwide consumption of fossil fuel continues to increase at unsustainable levels, which will lead to progressive scarcity, if immediate and innovative measures are not taken for its sustainable use. This scarcity necessitates the development of renewable and sustainable alternatives for fossil fuels. A possible solution to today's energy challenges can be provided by biofuels. This book intends to provide the reader with a comprehensive overview of the current status and the future implications of biofuels. Diverse and aptly covered comprehensive information in this book will directly enhance both basic and applied research in biofuels and will particularly be useful for students, scientists, breeders, growers, ecologists, industrialists and policy makers. It will be a valuable reference point to improve biofuels in the areas of ecologically and economically sustainable bioenergy research

Tropical Forests - New Edition

Tropical forests occupy only one-tenth of the world's land area but are home to more than half of the world's flora and fauna. They comprise extremely complex labyrinth of ecological interactions. The astounding richness and biodiversity of tropical forests are rapidly dwindling. There is a fear that the burgeoning human population and industrialization, where a majority of these tropical forests are found, may lead to the clearing or modification or may be a complete disappearance of the remaining tropical forests within few decades. This has severely altered the vital biogeochemical cycles of carbon, phosphorus, nitrogen, and so on and has led to the change in global climate and pristine natural ecosystems. Hence, there is an urgent need to protect, restore, conserve, and improve the forest resources before they are irrevocably lost. In this second edition of the book Tropical Forests, the chapters share the above issues and help in understanding, educating, and creating awareness on the role of ""tropical forests"" for the very survival of mankind, climate change, and the diversity of biota across the globe. This book will be of great use and could be useful to students, scientists, ecologists, population and conservation biologists, and forest managers across the globe

Tropical Forests

The astounding richness and biodiversity of tropical forests is rapidly dwindling. This has severely altered the vital biogeochemical cycles of carbon, phosphorus, nitrogen etc. and has led to the change in global climate and pristine natural ecosystems. In this elegant book, we have defined ""Tropical Forests"" broadly, into five different themes: (1) tropical forest structure, synergy, synthesis, (2) tropical forest fragmentation, (3) impact of anthropogenic pressure, (4) Geographic Information System and remote sensing, and (5) tropical forest protection and process. The cutting-edge synthesis, detailed current reviews, several original data-rich case studies, recent experiments/experiences from leading scientists across the world are presented as unique chapters. Though, the chapters differ noticeably in the geographic focus, diverse ecosystems, time and approach, they share these five important themes and help in understanding, educating, and creating awareness on the role of ""Tropical Forests"" for the very survival of mankind, climate change, and the diversity of biota across the globe. This book will be of great use to the students, scientists, ecologists, population and conservation biologists, and forest managers across the globe. The publication of this book was supported by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, United Nations </span