In-vitro Antioxidant activity assay of Habenaria longicorniculata J. Graham wild medicinal tubers

About: Habenaria longicorniculataJ.Graham are wild medicinal orchids with immunomodulatory and rejuvenating properties. Hence it has been tested to evaluate its antioxidant property. Materials and methods: Tubers were collected from Western-ghats during flowering season, shade dried, powder prepared and used for further study. In vitro antioxidant activity for DPPH, Nitric oxide, Hydroxyl radicals and inhibitory activity for Hydrogen peroxide was planned as per standard protocol. Results: The antioxidant activity property of H. longicorniculata J. Graham tuber extract exhibited the IC50 value for DPPH >1000, for NO and OH >5000 and inhibitory activity for H2O2 68.6189 respectively. Thus tubers of test drug proved to be potent H2O2 inhibitor. Keywords: Habenaria longicorniculataJ.Graham, In vitro antioxidant, H2O

Reconstructing Indian-Australian phylogenetic link

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>An early dispersal of biologically and behaviorally modern humans from their African origins to Australia, by at least 45 thousand years via southern Asia has been suggested by studies based on morphology, archaeology and genetics. However, mtDNA lineages sampled so far from south Asia, eastern Asia and Australasia show non-overlapping distributions of haplogroups within pan Eurasian M and N macrohaplogroups. Likewise, support from the archaeology is still ambiguous.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In our completely sequenced 966-mitochondrial genomes from 26 relic tribes of India, we have identified seven genomes, which share two synonymous polymorphisms with the M42 haplogroup, which is specific to Australian Aborigines.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results showing a shared mtDNA lineage between Indians and Australian Aborigines provides direct genetic evidence of an early colonization of Australia through south Asia, following the "southern route".</p

Lack of Wdr13 Gene in Mice Leads to Enhanced Pancreatic Beta Cell Proliferation, Hyperinsulinemia and Mild Obesity

WD-repeat proteins are very diverse, yet these are structurally related proteins that participate in a wide range of cellular functions. WDR13, a member of this family, is conserved from fishes to humans and localizes into the nucleus. To understand the in vivo function(s) of Wdr13 gene, we have created and characterized a mutant mouse strain lacking this gene. The mutant mice had higher serum insulin levels and increased pancreatic islet mass as a result of enhanced beta cell proliferation. While a known cell cycle inhibitor, p21, was downregulated in the mutant islets, over expression of WDR13 in the pancreatic beta cell line (MIN6) resulted in upregulation of p21, accompanied by retardation of cell proliferation. We suggest that WDR13 is a novel negative regulator of the pancreatic beta cell proliferation. Given the higher insulin levels and better glucose clearance in Wdr13 gene deficient mice, we propose that this protein may be a potential candidate drug target for ameliorating impaired glucose metabolism in diabetes

Meta-Analysis of Genome-Wide Association Studies and Network Analysis-Based Integration with Gene Expression Data Identify New Suggestive Loci and Unravel a Wnt-Centric Network Associated with Dupuytren’s Disease

Dupuytren´s disease, a fibromatosis of the connective tissue in the palm, is a common complex disease with a strong genetic component. Up to date nine genetic loci have been found to be associated with the disease. Six of these loci contain genes that code for Wnt signalling proteins. In spite of this striking first insight into the genetic factors in Dupuytren´s disease, much of the inherited risk in Dupuytren´s disease still needs to be discovered. The already identified loci jointly explain ~1% of the heritability in this disease. To further elucidate the genetic basis of Dupuytren´s disease, we performed a genome-wide meta-analysis combining three genome-wide association study (GWAS) data sets, comprising 1,580 cases and 4,480 controls. We corroborated all nine previously identified loci, six of these with genome-wide significance (p-value < 5x10-8). In addition, we identified 14 new suggestive loci (p-value < 10−5). Intriguingly, several of these new loci contain genes associated with Wnt signalling and therefore represent excellent candidates for replication. Next, we compared whole-transcriptome data between patient- and control-derived tissue samples and found the Wnt/β-catenin pathway to be the top deregulated pathway in patient samples. We then conducted network and pathway analyses in order to identify protein networks that are enriched for genes highlighted in the GWAS meta-analysis and expression data sets. We found further evidence that the Wnt signalling pathways in conjunction with other pathways may play a critical role in Dupuytren´s disease

DRYLAND AGRICULTURE TECHNOLOGY PARK – A TOOL FOR DRYLAND TECHNOLOGIES AND CONTINGENCY PLAN

Not AvailableKarnataka has the 2nd largest area under dry farming(7.0 m.ha) next to rajasthan. Five out of ten Agro-Climatic Zones in Karnataka were classified as dry zones on the basis of rainfall, topography, soil types and dominant crops covering 63 percent of the total geographical area and 70 percent of the net sown area, with substantial contribution to agricultural production from dry lands.Not Availabl