FUNCTIONAL CHARACTERIZATION OF APOLIPOPROTEIN H POLYMORPHISMS AND THEIR RELATION TO SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS

Sequence variation in gene promoters is often associated with disease risk. In this study, a 1,418 bp sequence of the 5'-flanking region of the APOH (encoding for β₂-glycoprotein I) has been functionally characterized by in vitro analysis. Associations of APOH promoter SNPs with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) risk and related phenotypes along with their effect on human plasma β₂GPI levels were examined. Transient transfections, dual-luciferase reporter gene assays were performed in COS-1 and HepG2 cells. HepG2 nuclear extracts was used for electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA). A case-control design and genotyped 345 SLE women and 454 healthy control women for 12 APOH promoter single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (-1284C>G, -1219G>A, -1190G>C, -1076G>A, -1055T>G, -759A>G, - 700C>A, -643T>C, -627A>C, -581A>C, -363C>T -38G>A, and -32C>A). Haplotype analyses were performed using EH (Estimate Haplotype-frequencies) and Haploview programs. Deletion analysis localized the core promoter of APOH ∼160 bp upstream of ATG codon with the presence of critical cis-acting elements between -166 and -65. Functional relevance for three SNPs (-1219G>A, -643T>C and -32C>A) that resulted in lower promoter activity (51%, 40% and 37%, respectively) as compared to the wild-type alleles in COS-1 cells. EMSA demonstrated HepG2 nuclear protein(s) bind to the elements located in the regions of the three SNPs. Overall haplotype distribution of the APOH promoter SNPs was significantly different between cases and controls (P = 0.009). The -643C allele was found to be protective against carotid plaque formation (adjusted OR = 0.37, P = 0.013) among SLE patients. Three-site haplotype analysis revealed one haplotype carrying -32A to be significantly associated with decreased plasma β₂GPI levels (P < 0.001) and another haplotype harboring the minor allele for -1219A showed a significant albeit less pronounced association (P = 0.046). Our data indicate that APOH promoter variants may be involved in the etiology of SLE, especially the risk for autoimmune-mediated cardiovascular disease. Public Health Significance: Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S. and other developed nations. Understanding its pathogenesis will help in formulating newer therapeutic strategies and treatment that may decrease the adverse consequences of accelerated atherosclerosis in SLE patients

First record of Pomadasys furcatus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) from Saurashtra coast of Gujarat

A single specimen of the Banded grunt, Pomadasys furcatus (Schneider, 1801) belonging to the family Haemulidae was collected at Bhidiya near Veraval landing centre on 22nd December, 2012. The fish was caught by a single day boat locally called as “Hodi” operated at a depth of 10-20 m near Veraval. The fish was 33.3 cm long and weighed 608 g. It is mainly a tropical reef associated fish distributed in Indo-west Pacific region. Earlier the fish has been reported from Andaman and Nicobar islands of India. Though known to be distributed in the Western Indian Ocean, hitherto it has not been reported from Gujarat

First record of the scorpion fish, Scorpaenopsis lactomaculata (Herre, 1945) from inshore waters of Veraval, Gujarat

Scorpaenopsis lactomaculata (Herre, 1945) belongs to the family Scorpaenidae and commonly known as Scorpion fish. As the name suggests, scorpion fish have a type of “sting” in the form of sharp spines coated with venomous mucus. They are widespread in tropical and temperate seas, but mostly found in the Indo-Pacific. Originally Scorpenopsis lactomaculata (Herre, 1945)was assigned underthe genus Scorpaena Herre, 1945

Post-frontline demonstration impact analysis of open sea cage culture among Sidi tribes in Gujarat

Front line demonstrations (FLD) evolved by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research are conducted under the close supervision of scientists of the National Agriculture Research System, where in technologies are demonstrated for the first time by the scientists themselves before being fed in to the main extension system of the state machinery. Post-front line demonstration impact analysis on open sea cage culture of finfishes and lobsters, among Sidi tribes of Gujarat aimed at assessing the socio-personal, socio-psychological and socio-economic and behavioural characteristics of Sidis - a primitive tribal group who are the beneficiaries of the open sea cage culture programme of the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) under the Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) of the Government of India. Using multistage random sampling method, a sample of 135 Sidi tribals were selected from Veraval and Talala taluks in Junagadh District of Gujarat. The group consisted of 45 Sidis practising cage culture, 45 non-practising beneficiaries of the tribal society and 45 Sidis who were non-practising non-beneficiaries of the society. The findings of the study revealed that most of the participant beneficiaries (58.33%) were having high school level of education, compared to non-participant beneficiaries, most of whom were illiterates (55.55%). It could be inferred that, the participant beneficiaries had a higher average monthly income of ` 1,216.25 when compared to non-participant beneficiaries who earned an average monthly income of ` 854.25. Among the participant beneficiaries, 41.67% had medium level of knowledge in cage culture, 50% had medium level of attitude and 75% had medium level of perceived skill in cage culture technologies

Regeneration of plantlets through protocorm-like bodies: An alternative method for vanilla micro propagation

388-395An efficient protocol for direct plant regeneration inclusive of rooting and genetic fidelity testing via protocorm-like body (PLB) induction on nodal segments of Vanilla planifolia is presented. Effects of 16 different combinations of plant growth regulators, namely, benzyl aminopurine (BAP), zeatin and naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) were evaluated for PLB induction. BAP at a concentration of 1.5 mg/l together with 2 mg/l NAA in Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium was the most effective in inducing PLBs. Induced PLBs showed good proliferation on peptone supplemented media. Histological observation revealed the sub dermal origin of PLBs, gradually forming shoot apical meristem, shoot primordia and leaf primordia. Mature PLBs regenerated to form shoots on 20 media combinations tested for plantlet regeneration. Best induction rate of 5.08 shoots per PLB after eight weeks of culture was observed on MS medium containing 1 mg/l BAP and 1.5 mg/l NAA. NAA had a stimulatory effect on in vitro rooting with best response recorded on MS medium supplemented with 1 mg/l NAA. Genetic fidelity analysis of well-developed plantlets using inter sequence simple repeat (ISSR) markers revealed no change amongst the tested plants and their mother stocks. Direct regeneration of plantlets by induction of PLBs is an efficient alternative to routine micro-propagation via shoot tips/nodal explants for mass multiplication and germplasm conservation of this commercially important orchid species

Protective role of fish oil (Maxepa) on early events of rat mammary carcinogenesis by modulation of DNA-protein crosslinks, cell proliferation and p53 expression

BACKGROUND: Fish oil is known to protect from many types of cancers of the colon, liver, breast, prostate and lung [1-3]. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the role of fish oil [Maxepa, supplemented at a dose of 0.5 ml is equivalent to 90 mg eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and 60 mg docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)] on cell proliferation, expression of p53 tumor suppressor protein and DNA protein crosslinks (DPCs) in a defined model of chemical rat mammary carcinogenesis. Mammary carcinogenesis was initiated by a single, intravenous (i.v.) tail vein injection of 7,12 dimethylbenz(α)anthracene (DMBA) at a dose of 5 mg DMBA/2 ml corn oil/kg body weight in female Sprague-Dawley rats at 7 weeks of age. Fish oil supplementation was started daily, 2 weeks prior to DMBA injection and continued for 24 (31 weeks of animal age) weeks and 35 (42 weeks of animal age) weeks of post DMBA injection, for histopathological and immunohistochemical and for morphological studies, respectively. RESULTS: Our results indicate the chemopreventive effect of fish oil (Maxepa) on DMBA-induced rat mammary carcinogenesis. Administration of fish oil further showed a prominent reduction of cell proliferation (24.34%, P = 0.001); DPCs (25%, P < 0.001) and an increased expression of p53 protein (4.636 ± 0.19, P < 0.001) in preneoplastic mammary tissue when compared to carcinogen control counterpart. Histopathological and morphological analyses were carried out as end-point biomarkers. CONCLUSION: Our study thus provides evidence for the anticarcinogenic effect of fish oil (Maxepa) in limiting mammary preneoplasia in Sprague-Dawley rats

Field identification manual for the commercially important shrimp species of Gujarat

Field identification manual for the commercially important shrimp species of Gujarat in English and Gujarath

Phenotypic evaluation of USDA peanut (<i>Arachis hypogaea</i> L.) mini-core collection for resistance against stem rot caused by <i>Sclerotium rolfsii</i> Sacc.

Sclerotium rolfsii is a necrotrophic fungus that causes devastating stem rot disease on peanuts under high temperature and humidity conditions. Developing more resistant stem rot varieties is a better disease management strategy from an economic and environmental point of view. In this study, 105 peanut accessions from the USDA mini-core collection were screened for resistance against stem rot under growth chamber and greenhouse conditions at the New Mexico State University Agricultural Science Center in Clovis, NM, USA. The accessions were inoculated with a virulent isolate of S. rolfsii, and disease development was monitored and scored at 5, 7, 9, 11, and 17-days post-inoculation (DPI). Mean disease score, lesion length and broad sense heritability were calculated, and cluster analysis was performed. Though the accessions were not significantly different for the mean disease parameters, numerical differences were observed in disease score and lesion length among the accessions at 17-DPI. Eleven accessions showed moderate resistance and performed better than stem rot resistant commercial cultivar, ‘G03L’, and ninety-four accessions were susceptible based on mean disease scores under both growing conditions. Low broad-sense heritability for disease score (0.05 to 0.06) and lesion length (0.03 to 0.06) under different environments indicates that most of the variance for these traits is due to environmental effects, and that stem rot resistance can be a complex trait. The identified resistant accessions can be used for genotyping and finding major QTLs through genome-wide association mapping to dissect genetic basis of stem rot resistance in peanuts. This information would be helpful to the peanut breeding program to develop more resistant varieties.</p