Development of Groundnut (Arachis Hypogaea L.) Transgencis for Resistance to Aspercillus Flavus

Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is an economically important oilseed crop which is grown widely in the semi-arid tropics, and India being the second largest producer in world with annual yield of 5.78 MT (FAOSTAT, 2012). Aflatoxin contamination of peanut has gained global significance due to the deleterious effects of these contaminants on human and livestock health, and the consequent importance in international trade. Although, aflatoxin contamination does not affect crop productivity, it makes the produce unfit for consumption while the higher aflatoxins load in the exportable commodities jeopardize the export earnings. Breeding efforts so far have not resulted in varieties with durable resistance to high levels of A. flavus infection and consequent aflatoxin production. Biotechnological applications involving the genetic engineering technology provides an attractive approach for developing transgenic events to circumvent this important problem. Plant lipoxygenases (LOXs) are hypothesized to play an important role in mediating host-pathogen interactions by initiating the octadecanoic branch in response to fungal attack, catalyzing the oxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids such as linoleic acid (18:2) and α-linolenic acid (18:3) to produce unsaturated fatty acid hydroperoxides. Jasmonic acid (JA), a derivative of α- linolenic acid has been reported as a potent inhibitor of aflatoxin biosynthesis. At ICRISAT, work was initiated using the LOX gene approach for addressing this recalcitrant problem in peanut. A highly efficient peanut transformation protocol using cotyledon explants was used to produce 25 marker-free transgenic events of peanut by incorporating PnLOX3 gene under the control of constitutive and seed specific promoters. These transgenic events were characterized at molecular level using PCR, Southern hybridization and RT-PCR assays for the presence and expression of the transgene which were further evaluated under contained greenhouse conditions

Studies on the development of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L,) transgenics for resistance to Aspergillus jlavus

Leguminosae is a very important family of angiosperms comprising of many species in relation to human nutrition, pasture and fodder needs. Important protein rich seed bearing plants, mostly herbaceous, such as peas, lentils, beans collectively known as pulses are members of this family. They rank next to cereals in terms of human nutrition. In quantitative significance they are far behind the cereals, however, gaining some due importance as food additives in the recent years. Domination of the cereals in the food sector allowed only marginal increases in the overall yield of pulses. Recent concerns over the importance of these crops led to augmented efforts to improve the equality and quantity. Classical and modem breeding technologies resulted in limited succtss in interchange of the desirable characters in these crops. Biotechnological improvement has emerged as a potential supplement to these crops. Advances in plant tissue culture, genetic transformation methods and simultaneous improvements in molecular biology techniques and gene isolations gave an impetus to these efforts. Amalgamation of all these strategies laid foundation for many potential strategies for crop improvement

PROFICIENT REPLACE PROTOCOLS FOR EQUIVALENT FILE SYSTEMS

When using the growing use of very network-attached storage systems, several works has focussed on scalable security. Our purpose ought to be to design ingenious in addition to secure techniques of authenticated key exchange which gets together particular needs of parallel Network File System.  Our work focuses on present Internet standards particularly parallel Network File System using Kerberos to begin parallel session keys among clients and storage products. We produce a study of impracticality of key establishment for efficient many-to-many communications. The recommended techniques can decrease workload of metadata server by means of about 50 % in comparison with provide Kerberos-based protocol, whereas achieving needed security characteristics in addition to keeping computational overhead at clients and storage products at practically low-level

ASSESSMENT OF EFFICACY AND SAFETY OF ORAL FOSFOMYCIN SINGLE DOSE IN UNCOMPLICATED URINARY TRACT INFECTION AT A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL IN SOUTH INDIA

Objectives: Urinary tract infection (UTI) affects 150 million people worldwide each year. The rise in the UTIs is attributed to multidrug-resistant pathogens for which there are minimal treatment options available. This has facilitated the reemergence of certain old antimicrobials such as fosfomycin trometamol (FT). It seems an alternative, but the evidence towards its therapeutic efficiency is scanty. The objective of the study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of single dose of FT in treating uncomplicated UTI and the resultant variations in the intensity of symptoms after the treatment. Methods: The study is a prospective, observational, and open-label study in the outpatient unit of the Department of General Medicine, RVM institute of Medical Sciences, for 6 months. The study comprises 50 patients among the age group of 18–70 years. Urinary Tract Infection Symptom Assessment questionnaire was used for the evaluation of symptoms pre and post treatment. After the diagnosis of uncomplicated UTI, patients were treated with single-dose of FT. Results: The study comprises 22 males and 28 females. After the treatment, there was a drastic improvement in the condition of patients. The severity level reduced and the quality of life improved post treatment and the results were statistically significant. Among 50 patients treated with the drug, 11 patients reported the side effect of diarrhea. Conclusion: Single dose oral Fosfomycin (3 g) regimen is effective in managing uncomplicated UTI with minimal side effects

Synergistic Effect of Anemia and Red Blood Cells Transfusion on Inflammation and Lung Injury

Anemia and resultant red blood cell transfusion may be associated with adverse long-term clinical outcomes. To investigate the mechanism(s) responsible, we profiled inflammatory biomarkers and circulating levels of the bioactive lysophospholipid mediator sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) in control and anemic mice with or without LPS-induced systemic inflammation. Acute anemia or lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenge alone triggered an increase of circulating levels of the inflammatory markers IL-6 and keratinocyte-derived chemokine (CXCL1/KC). Moreover, administration of LPS to anemic mice reduced circulating S1P levels and augmented lung injury and pulmonary vascular permeability. Transfusion of aged, but not fresh, red blood cells (RBCs) worsened pulmonary vascular leak. S1P levels decline markedly during storage of mouse RBCs. Loading stored murine RBCs with S1P prior to transfusion partially attenuated anemia-associated acute pulmonary vascular leak. Taken together, our results indicate that anemia and systemic inflammation can alter the S1P buffering capacity of RBCs, suggesting possible strategies for alleviating transfusion-related lung injury in clinical practice

Transgenic Interventions in Peanut Crop Improvement

Legumes rank third in world crop production in which the major constraint to crop productivity is attributed to biotic and abiotic stress. Peanut, also knows as groundnut (arachis hypogaea L.) is a major oilseed crop in the world, both for oil and as a protein source. Host plant resistance provides the most effective and economic option to manage stress tolerance in peanut which is also time consuming involving expensive agronomic practices. However , for many biotice and abiotic stresses, effective resistance gene(s) in cultivated peanut have not been identified. Success in breeding for better adapted varieties to biotic/abiotic stresses depend upon the combined efforts of various research domains like plant and cell physiology, molecular biology, genetics and breeding. Moreover, availability of known genotypes with natural resistance to stresses is a prerequisite for the successful breeding program. With a few exceptions, crop improvement in peanut programs through conventional breeding has received little progress

The TIGR Gene Indices: clustering and assembling EST and known genes and integration with eukaryotic genomes

Although the list of completed genome sequencing projects has expanded rapidly, sequencing and analysis of expressed sequence tags (ESTs) remain a primary tool for discovery of novel genes in many eukaryotes and a key element in genome annotation. The TIGR Gene Indices (http://www.tigr.org/tdb/tgi) are a collection of 77 species-specific databases that use a highly refined protocol to analyze gene and EST sequences in an attempt to identify and characterize expressed transcripts and to present them on the Web in a user-friendly, consistent fashion. A Gene Index database is constructed for each selected organism by first clustering, then assembling EST and annotated cDNA and gene sequences from GenBank. This process produces a set of unique, high-fidelity virtual transcripts, or tentative consensus (TC) sequences. The TC sequences can be used to provide putative genes with functional annotation, to link the transcripts to genetic and physical maps, to provide links to orthologous and paralogous genes, and as a resource for comparative and functional genomic analysis

Small-angle neutron scattering studies on water soluble complexes of poly(ethylene glycol)-based cationic random copolymer and SDS

The interaction of cationic random copolymers of methoxy poly(ethylene glycol) monomethacrylate and (3-(methacryloylamino)propyl) trimethylammonium chloride with oppositely charged surfactant, sodium dodecyl sulphate, and the influence of surfactant association on the polymer conformation have been investigated by small-angle neutron scattering. SANS data showed a positive indication of the formation of RCPSDS complexes. Even though the complete structure of the polyion complexes could not be ascertained, the results obtained give us the information on the local structure in these polymer-surfactant systems. The data were analysed using the log-normal distribution of the polydispersed spherical aggregate model for the local structure in these complexes. For all the systems the median radius and the polydispersity were found to be in the range of 20 ± 2 Å and 0.6 ± 0.05, respectively

Isolation and Functional Characterization of a Novel Seed-Specific Promoter Region from Peanut

The importance of using tissue-specific promoters in the genetic transformation of plants has been emphasized increasingly. Here, we report the isolation of a novel seed-specific promoter region from peanut and its validation in Arabidopsis and tobacco seeds. The reported promoter region referred to as groundnut seed promoter (GSP) confers seed-specific expression in heterologous systems, which include putative promoter regions of the peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) gene 8A4R19G1. This region was isolated, sequenced, and characterized using gel shift assays. Tobacco transgenics obtained using binary vectors carrying uidA reporter gene driven by GSP and/or cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoters were confirmed through polymerase chain reaction (PCR), RT-PCR, and computational analysis of motifs which revealed the presence of TATA, CAAT boxes, and ATG signals. This seed-specific promoter region successfully targeted the reporter uidA gene to seed tissues in both Arabidopsis and tobacco model systems, where its expression was confirmed by histochemical analysis of the transgenic seeds. This promoter region is routinely being used in the genetic engineering studies in legumes aimed at targeting novel transgenes to the seeds, especially those involved in micronutrient enhancement, fungal resistance, and molecular pharming

Design of intelligent mesoscale periodic array structures utilizing smart hydrogel

Mesoscale Periodic Array Structures (MPAS, also known as crystalline colloidal arrays), composed of aqueous or nonaqueous dispersions of self-assembled submicron colloidal spheres are emerging toward the development of advanced optical devices for technological applications. This is because of their unique optical diffraction properties and the ease with which these intriguing properties can be modulated experimentally. Moreover our recent advancements in this area which include 'locking' the liquid MPAS into solid or semisolid polymer matrices for greater stability with longer life span, and incorporation of CdS quantum dots and laser dyes into colloidal spheres to obtain nonlinear optical (NLO) responses further corroborate the use of MPAS in optical technology. Our long term goal is fabrication of all-optical and electro-optical devices such as spatial light modulators for optical signal processing and flat panel display devices by utilizing intelligent nonlinear periodic array structural materials. Here we show further progress in the design of novel linear MPAS which have the ability to sense and respond to an external source such as temperature. This is achieved by combining the self-assembly properties of polymer colloidal spheres and thermoshrinking properties of smart polymer gels. At selected temperatures the periodic array efficiently Bragg diffracts light and transmits most of the light at other temperatures. Hence these intelligent systems are of potential use as fixed notch filters optical switches or limiters to protect delicate optical sensors from high intensity laser radiation