Smart Mesoporous Nanomaterials With Improved Therapeutic Applications

Nanomaterials have revolutionized the drug delivery and therapeutic industry due to their unique physical characteristics, which render them extremely manipulative at nano-scale. One such category of nanomaterials is mesoporous silica nanoparticles. Due to their small size and rigid honeycomb-like structure, they are highly conducive for packaging of drugs, dyes, antibodies, etc. In addition, they show excellent biocompatibility. These new generation nanomaterials can be further functionalized by incorporating surface modifications, thus increasing their acceptability as carriers for drugs and molecules. In this chapter, a brief and comprehensive review covering various aspects of the recent advancements in synthesis of mesoporous nanomaterials and post-synthesis strategies for functionalization has been presented. Further, it also sheds light on how efficiently these smart nano-carriers are involved in transport and site-specific delivery of highly toxic drugs, like chemotherapeutic agents for cancer treatment, and their biocompatibility evaluation from a biosafety point of view. </jats:p

Silicon nanoparticles (SiNPs) in sustainable agriculture: major emphasis on the practicality, efficacy and concerns

Silicon (Si), a beneficial element for plants, is known for its prophylactic effect under stress conditions.</p

Transcriptome profiling of differentially expressed genes in cytoplasmic male-sterile line and its fertility restorer line in pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan L.)

Pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan L.) is the sixth major legume crop widely cultivated in the Indian sub-continent, Africa, and South-east Asia. Cytoplasmic male-sterility (CMS) is the incompetence of flowering plants to produce viable pollens during anther development. CMS has been extensively utilized for commercial hybrid seeds production in pigeon pea. However, the molecular basis governing CMS in pigeon pea remains unclear and undetermined. In this study transcriptome analysis for exploring differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between cytoplasmic male-sterile line (AKCMS11) and its fertility restorer line (AKPR303) was performed using Illumina paired-end sequencing.Department of Science & Technology (DST), New Delhi, India and ICAR- Network Project on Transgenicsin Crops, New Delhi, India

Transcriptome profiling of differentially expressed genes in cytoplasmic male-sterile line and its fertility restorer line in pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan L.)

Abstract Background Pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan L.) is the sixth major legume crop widely cultivated in the Indian sub-continent, Africa, and South-east Asia. Cytoplasmic male-sterility (CMS) is the incompetence of flowering plants to produce viable pollens during anther development. CMS has been extensively utilized for commercial hybrid seeds production in pigeon pea. However, the molecular basis governing CMS in pigeon pea remains unclear and undetermined. In this study transcriptome analysis for exploring differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between cytoplasmic male-sterile line (AKCMS11) and its fertility restorer line (AKPR303) was performed using Illumina paired-end sequencing. Results A total of 3167 DEGs were identified, of which 1432 were up-regulated and 1390 were down-regulated in AKCMS11 in comparison to AKPR303. By querying, all the 3167 DEGs against TAIR database, 34 pigeon pea homologous genes were identified, few involved in pollen development (EMS1, MS1, ARF17) and encoding MYB and bHLH transcription factors with lower expression in the sterile buds, implying their possible role in pollen sterility. Many of these DEGs implicated in carbon metabolism, tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA), oxidative phosphorylation and elimination of reactive oxygen species (ROS) showed reduced expression in the AKCMS11 (sterile) buds. Conclusion The comparative transcriptome findings suggest the potential role of these DEGs in pollen development or abortion, pointing towards their involvement in cytoplasmic male-sterility in pigeon pea. The candidate DEGs identified in this investigation will be highly significant for further research, as they could lend a comprehensive basis in unravelling the molecular mechanism governing CMS in pigeon pea. </jats:sec

Additional file 1 of Transcriptome profiling of differentially expressed genes in cytoplasmic male-sterile line and its fertility restorer line in pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan L.)

Additional file 1: Table S1. Rcorrector ouput for k-mer content in the raw paired-end data. Table S2. Bowtie2 alignment statistics in sterile (AKCMS11) and fertile restorer (AKPR303). Figure S1. Pearson’s correlation coefficient between two replicates in sterile AKCMS11 (left) and fertile restorer AKPR303 (right). Figure S2. Graph representing per base sequence quality. a) Sterile AKCMS11 (replicates 1 and 2). b) Fertile AKPR303 (replicates 1 and 2)

Additional file 3 of Transcriptome profiling of differentially expressed genes in cytoplasmic male-sterile line and its fertility restorer line in pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan L.)

Additional file 3: Figure S1. Gene ontology classification of the assembled unigenes. The Y-axis indicates the number of unigenes and X-axis indicates the GO categories. Figure S2 Functional classification of KEGG pathways of the assembled unigenes. The KEGG pathways were classified into six functional categories: A- Metabolism; B- Genetic Information Processing; C- Environmental Information Processing; D- Cellular Processes; E- Organismal Systems; F- Human Diseases. The Y-axis represents the KEGG metabolic pathways. The X-axis represents number of unigenes annotated in that particular pathway. Figure S3 Hierarchical tree graph of over-represented GO terms in the biological process category of down-regulated DEGS. Boxes in the graph represent GO terms labeled according to their GO ID, term definition, and statistical information. Significant terms (adjusted P ≤ 0.05) are in color (red, orange, or yellow), while non-significant terms are shown as white boxes. In the diagram, the degree of color saturation of a box is positively correlated with the enrichment level of the term. Solid, dashed, and dotted lines represent two, one, and zero enriched terms at both ends connected by the line, respectively. The rank direction of the graph is set from top to bottom. Figure S4 Hierarchical tree graph of over-represented GO terms in the biological process category of up-regulated DEGS. Boxes in the graph represent GO terms labeled according to their GO ID, term definition, and statistical information. Significant terms (adjusted P ≤ 0.05) are in color (red, orange, or yellow), while non-significant terms are shown as white boxes. In the diagram, the degree of color saturation of a box is positively correlated with the enrichment level of the term. Solid, dashed, and dotted lines represent two, one, and zero enriched terms at both ends connected by the line, respectively. The rank direction of the graph is set from top to bottom

Additional file 2 of Transcriptome profiling of differentially expressed genes in cytoplasmic male-sterile line and its fertility restorer line in pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan L.)

Additional File 2: Table S1. Sequences with significant BLASTX hits against nr protein database. Table S2. Sequences with significant BLASTX hits against Virdiplantae database. Table S3. Gene Ontology classification of the assembled unigenes. Table S4. KEGG classification of Cajanus cajan unigenes. Table S5. Transcription factors identified in transcriptome of Cajanus cajan. Table S6. List of differentially expressed genes between sterile AKCMS11 and fertile AKPR303 in pigeon pea. Table S7. List of significantly enriched GO terms in down-regulated DEGs. Table S8. List of significantly enriched GO terms in up-regulated DEGs. Table S9. Summary of KEGG annotations for down and up-regulated DEGs. Table S10. TAIR database BLASTX results of pigeon pea, 951 DEGs in MapMan pathway analysis. Table S11. OrthoDB homologs search of 3167 pigeon pea DEGs against TAIR database. Table S12. List of qRT-PCR primers used in this study