Motivational factors towards fast-food joint selection in under-developed country setting: A Partial Least Square and Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) approach

The abrupt rise in the fast food business the world over calls for research attention to the phenomenon, especially, in underdeveloped and developing economies. Research is scanty regarding the phenomenon; especially what motivates patrons to select fast food joints in under developed economies such as Ghana. The study sought to ascertain the motivational factors that actuate (or stimulate) consumers' intent to select a fast-food joint in an under-developed country setting, particularly, in Ghana, a sub-Sahara African region. Additionally, the partial goal of this survey is to examine the mediating role of convenience (CONV), and taste and preference (TASPRE) given the indirect effect of traditional advertising communication medium (ACM); Radio/Tv and word-of-mouth. Using a quantitative research approach, a structured survey questionnaire was used to intercept buyers of fast-food at vantage points in the Cape Coast metropolis in the Central region of Ghana. A non-randomized sampling technique, precisely, the convenience sampling, was adopted to consider popular fast-food joints that aided the researchers to intercept customers/buyers for the study. Results from the application of partial least square and structural equation modelling (PL-SEM) of 305 valid responses revealed that the mediation (indirect) analysis supported all the mediate-hypotheses. The research implications and future study directions are discussed in the concluding part of the paper.Internal Grant Agency of FaME through Tomas Bata University in Zlin, Czech Republic [IGA/FaME/2019/008

Atypical mycotic lesion in the guttural pouch of a Thoroughbred race horse

A six-year-old Thoroughbred race horse was presented with left unilateral mucopurulent nasal discharge. Endoscopic examination revealed atypical mycotic lesion within the guttural pouch in which the fungal mass was not located on any neurovascular structures. This case was successfully treated by the combination of manual debulking of fungal diphtheritic plaques and medical treatment that included daily local irrigation and systemic medication. There were no complications and the horse returned to race three weeks later

Single seed-based high-throughput genotyping and rapid generation advancement for accelerated groundnut genetics and breeding research

The groundnut breeding program at International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics routinely performs marker-based early generation selection (MEGS) in thousands of segregating populations. The existing MEGS includes planting of segregating populations in fields or glasshouses, label tagging, and sample collection using leaf-punch from 20–25 day old plants followed by genotyping with 10 single nucleotide polymorphisms based early generation selection marker panels in a high throughput genotyping (HTPG) platform. The entire process is laborious, time consuming, and costly. Therefore, in order to save the time of the breeder and to reduce the cost during MEGS, we optimized a single seed chipping (SSC) process based MEGS protocol and deployed on large scale by genotyping >3000 samples from ongoing groundnut breeding program. In SSC-based MEGS, we used a small portion of cotyledon by slicing-off the posterior end of the single seed and transferred to the 96-deep well plate for DNA isolation and genotyping at HTPG platform. The chipped seeds were placed in 96-well seed-box in the same order of 96-well DNA sampling plate to enable tracking back to the selected individual seed. A high germination rate of 95–99% from the chipped seeds indicated that slicing of seeds from posterior end does not significantly affect germination percentage. In addition, we could successfully advance 3.5 generations in a year using a low-cost rapid generation turnover glass-house facility as compared to routine practice of two generations in field conditions. The integration of SSC based genotyping and rapid generation advancement (RGA) could significantly reduce the operational requirement of person-hours and expenses, and save a period of 6–8 months in groundnut genetics and breeding research

Genome-wide Identification and Characterization of Hsp70 gene family in Pearl millet (Pennisetumglaucum)

Heat shock proteins (Hsps) are a class of molecular chaperons which are crucial for protein folding, assembly, and translocation in many normal cellular processes. They stabilize proteins and membranes, and can assist in protein refolding under stress conditions in plants. Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) is highly abiotic stress tolerant, but its Hsps have not been characterized. In the present study, PgHsp70 genes were retrieved and gene information analyzed in order to characterize their structure, localization and functions. Genome-wide screening using the tools of bioinformatics identified 18 PgHsp70 genes in the pearl millet genome which have been categorized into four subfamilies depending on their cellular localization such as endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondria, chloroplast and cytoplasm. Number of introns ranged from 0-11 in PgHsp70 family genes and the genes are located across 1 to 7 chromosomes. Phylogenetic analysis of Hsp70s revealed that they are closely related to Sorghum Hsp70s. Promoter analysis showed the presence of cisacting elements such as GCN4, HSE, LTR, MBS, ABRE, MYB, and TC Aassociated with abiotic stress conditions indicating the involvement of these genes in the abiotic stress. Under vapour pressure deficit (VPD) conditions, leaf and root tissues of VPD-sensitive ICMR 1152 line, showed mild expression and in the presence of high VPD, VPD-insensitive ICMR1122 PgHsp70 genes showed high expression in leaf and root tissues in comparison with VPD-sensitive line. Gene PgcHsp70-1 displayed high transcript level under high VPD conditions. These results expand our horizon of understanding of the structure and function of Hsp70s, especially under abiotic stress conditions which can further be validated and employed in breeding programs and genetic engineering

Isolation and functional characterization of three abiotic stress-inducible (Apx, Dhn and Hsc70) promoters from pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum L.)

Pearl millet is a C4 cereal crop that grows in arid and semi-arid climatic conditions with the remarkable abiotic stress tolerance. It contributed to the understanding of stress tolerance not only at the physiological level but also at the genetic level. In the present study, we functionally cloned and characterized three abiotic stress-inducible promoters namely cytoplasmic Apx1 (Ascorbate peroxidase), Dhn (Dehydrin), and Hsc70 (Heat shock cognate) from pearl millet. Sequence analysis revealed that all three promoters have several cis-acting elements specific for temporal and spatial expression. PgApx pro, PgDhn pro and PgHsc70 pro were fused with uidA gene in Gateway-based plant transformation pMDC164 vector and transferred into tobacco through leaf-disc method. While PgApx pro and PgDhn pro were active in seedling stages, PgHsc70 pro was active in stem and root tissues of the T2 transgenic tobacco plants under control conditions. Higher activity was observed under high temperature and drought, and less in salt and cold stress conditions. Further, all three promoters displayed higher GUS gene expression in the stem, moderate expression in roots, and less expression in leaves under similar conditions. While RT-qPCR data showed that PgApx pro and PgDhn pro were expressed highly in high temperature, salt and drought, PgHsc70 pro was fairly expressed during high temperature stress only. Histochemical and RT-qPCR assays showed that all three promoters are inducible under abiotic stress conditions. Thus, these promoters appear to be immediate candidates for developing abiotic stress tolerant crops as these promoter-driven transgenics confer high degree of tolerance in comparison with the wild-type (WT) plants

An update and perspectives on the use of promoters in plant genetic engineering

Genetically engineered plants have varied applications in agriculture for enhancing the values of food and feed. Genetic engineering aims to introduce selected genetic regions with desirable traits into target plants for both spatial and temporal expressions. Promoters are the key elements responsible for regulating gene expressions by modulating the transcription factors (TFs) through recognition of RNA polymerases. Based on their recognition and expression, RNA polymerases were categorized into RNA pol II and pol III promoters. Promoter activity and specificity are the two prime parameters in regulating the transgene expression. Since the use of constitutive promoters like Cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S may lead to adverse effects on nontarget organisms or ecosystem, inducible/tissue specific promoters and/or the RNA pol III promoters provide myriad opportunities for gene expressions with controlled regulation and with minimum adverse effects. Besides their role in transgene expression, their influence in synthetic biology and genome editing are also discussed. This review provides an update on the importance, current prospects, and insight into the advantages and disadvantages of promoters reported thus far would help to utilize them in the endeavour to develop nutritionally and agronomically improved transgenic crops for commercialization

Functional Biology and Molecular Mechanisms of Host-Pathogen Interactions for Aflatoxin Contamination in Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) and Maize (Zea mays L.)

Aflatoxins are secondary metabolites produced by soilborne saprophytic fungus Aspergillus flavus and closely related species that infect several agricultural commodities including groundnut and maize. The consumption of contaminated commodities adversely affects the health of humans and livestock. Aflatoxin contamination also causes significant economic and financial losses to producers. Research efforts and significant progress have been made in the past three decades to understand the genetic behavior, molecular mechanisms, as well as the detailed biology of host-pathogen interactions. A range of omics approaches have facilitated better understanding of the resistance mechanisms and identified pathways involved during host-pathogen interactions. Most of such studies were however undertaken in groundnut and maize. Current efforts are geared toward harnessing knowledge on hostpathogen interactions and crop resistant factors that control aflatoxin contamination. This study provides a summary of the recent progress made in enhancing the understanding of the functional biology and molecular mechanisms associated with host-pathogen interactions during aflatoxin contamination in groundnut and maize

Single Seed-Based High-Throughput Genotyping and Rapid Generation Advancement for Accelerated Groundnut Genetics and Breeding Research

The groundnut breeding program at International Crops Research Institute for the Semi- Arid Tropics routinely performs marker-based early generation selection (MEGS) in thousands of segregating populations. The existing MEGS includes planting of segregating populations in fields or glasshouses, label tagging, and sample collection using leaf-punch from 20–25 day old plants followed by genotyping with 10 single nucleotide polymorphisms based early generation selection marker panels in a high throughput genotyping (HTPG) platform. The entire process is laborious, time consuming, and costly. Therefore, in order to save the time of the breeder and to reduce the cost during MEGS, we optimized a single seed chipping (SSC) process based MEGS protocol and deployed on large scale by genotyping >3000 samples from ongoing groundnut breeding program. In SSC-based MEGS, we used a small portion of cotyledon by slicing-off the posterior end of the single seed and transferred to the 96-deep well plate for DNA isolation and genotyping at HTPG platform. The chipped seeds were placed in 96-well seed-box in the same order of 96-well DNA sampling plate to enable tracking back to the selected individual seed. A high germination rate of 95–99% from the chipped seeds indicated that slicing of seeds from posterior end does not significantly affect germination percentage. In addition, we could successfully advance 3.5 generations in a year using a low-cost rapid generation turnover glass-house facility as compared to routine practice of two generations in field conditions. The integration of SSC based genotyping and rapid generation advancement (RGA) could significantly reduce the operational requirement of person-hours and expenses, and save a period of 6–8 months in groundnut genetics and breeding research