Strategies for wheat stripe rust pathogenicity identified by transcriptome sequencing

Stripe rust caused by the fungus Puccinia striiformis f.sp. tritici (Pst) is a major constraint to wheat production worldwide. The molecular events that underlie Pst pathogenicity are largely unknown. Like all rusts, Pst creates a specialized cellular structure within host cells called the haustorium to obtain nutrients from wheat, and to secrete pathogenicity factors called effector proteins. We purified Pst haustoria and used next-generation sequencing platforms to assemble the haustorial transcriptome as well as the transcriptome of germinated spores. 12,282 transcripts were assembled from 454-pyrosequencing data and used as reference for digital gene expression analysis to compare the germinated uredinospores and haustoria transcriptomes based on Illumina RNAseq data. More than 400 genes encoding secreted proteins which constitute candidate effectors were identified from the haustorial transcriptome, with two thirds of these up-regulated in this tissue compared to germinated spores. RT-PCR analysis confirmed the expression patterns of 94 effector candidates. The analysis also revealed that spores rely mainly on stored energy reserves for growth and development, while haustoria take up host nutrients for massive energy production for biosynthetic pathways and the ultimate production of spores. Together, these studies substantially increase our knowledge of potential Pst effectors and provide new insights into the pathogenic strategies of this important organism.J.P.R. is an ARC Future Fellow (FT0992129). This project has been supported by Bioplatforms Australia through funding from the Commonwealth Government NCRIS and Education Investment Fund Super Science programs

PHARMACOGNOSTICAL EVALUATION OF KATUKA (PICRORHIZA KURROA ROYLE EX BENTH.)

Now days, one of the major lacunae in the Ayurvedic system of medicine is adulteration of medicinal plant species i.e. raw drug. Drug sellers for their financial gains adulterate the raw drugs with cheap, similar looking drugs or other substances. So, it has become necessary for the Ayurvedic physicians and pharmaceuticals to identify the raw drug before its clinical use. There is a need to set the standards for proper identification of the raw drug. So, this study was designed to establish various pharmacognostical standards which can help in ensuring identification of Katuka, a well known herb in Ayurvedic medicine. Botanically, the drug Katuka is Picrorhiza kurroa Royal ex. Benth belonging to the family Scrophulariaceae. Katuka is a valuable bitter tonic and is mainly used in Ayurveda for its hepatoprotective action. Its rhizome is used for medicinal purpose. So, macroscopical and microscopical characters of intact and powdered rhizome were studied. Macroscopic study of rhizome and its powder indicated the organoleptic characters like size, shape, colour, odour, taste and texture. Microscopic study of T.S. of rhizome showed the presence of cork, cortex, vascular cambium, xylem, phloem, pith and pith ray. Microscopic study of powder of rhizome showed the presence of starch grain, cork cells, xylem vessels, and pith cell with pitted wall thickenings, tracheid and lignified fiber. Pharmacognostical characters of rhizome of Katuka revealed from this study will help in standardization of this raw drug and preventing adulteration in the herbal raw drug market

Optical transitions in a quantum wire with spin-orbit interaction and its applications in terahertz electronics: Beyond zeroth-order theory

We calculate the terahertz absorption spectra associated with intersubband transitions in a semiconductor quantum wire in the presence of spin-orbit interaction and a transverse magnetic field. The frequencies and intensities of the absorption peaks are found to depend strongly on the spin-orbit coupling strength, which can be varied with an external electric field. This feature can be exploited to realize reconfigurable multispectral terahertz detectors and amplitude and/or frequency modulators. We also show that electric dipole transitions between spin-split levels in the same subband (which are normally deemed forbidden) become allowed because of spin texturing effects. The absorption associated with these transitions experience a redshift (blueshift) with increasing spin-orbit coupling strength for materials with negative (positive) g factor. The normally allowed transitions, on the other hand, experience the opposite shift, i.e., blue for materials with negative g factor and red for materials with positive g factor. The theory described here is universal and applies to all semiconductors

Atomic scale friction studies on single crystal GaAs using AFM and molecular dynamics simulation

This paper provides a fresh perspective and new insights on the nanoscale friction investigated using molecular dynamics simulation and atomic force microscope (AFM) nanoscratch experiments. The work considered Gallium Arsenide, an important III-V direct bandgap semiconductor material residing in the zinc-blende structure as a reference sample material due to its growing usage in 5G communication devices. In the simulations, the scratch depth was tested as a variable in the fine range of 0.5 nm to 3 nm to understand the behaviour of material removal as well as to gain insights into the nanoscale friction. Scratch force, normal force and average cutting forces were extracted from the simulation to obtain two scalar quantities namely, the scratch cutting energy (defined as the work done in removing a unit volume of material) and kinetic coefficient of friction (defined as the force ratio). A strong size effect was observed for scratch depths below 2 nanometres from the MD simulations and about 15 nm from the AFM experiments. A strong quantitative corroboration was obtained between the MD simulations and the AFM experiments in the specific scratch energy and more qualitative corroboration with the pile up and the kinetic coefficient of friction. This conclusion suggested that the specific scratch energy is insensitive to the tool geometry and the speed of scratch used in this investigation but the pile up and kinetic coefficient of friction are dependent on the geometry of the tool tip

The Impact of Scholarship in Servant Leadership: Journals and Institutions

This study examines the impact of research published in the two academic journals in servant leadership – International Journal of Servant-Leadership and the Servant Leadership: Theory & Practice. Although various metrics suggest that the latter (and younger) journal has generally been more impactful, other metrics indicate that more “home run” research has thus far appeared in the former (and older) outlet. Analysis of the institution-based data reveals that affiliates of the Spears Center for Servant Leadership have produced the most impactful research in servant leadership, followed by those faculty and others at Regent University, Utah Valley University, Our Lady of the Lake University and Indiana Wesleyan University. Other prominent institutions in the servant leadership realm include Ashford University, Gonzaga University, the U.S. Army, Palm Beach Atlantic University and Southeastern University

Oil Price And Real Exchange Rate: The Case Of India

This paper studies the effect of oil price change on the real exchange rate between the Indian rupee and the U.S. dollar.  For that, a model is developed which is based on a monetary model of exchange rate which incorporates the real GDP, real money balances, and the interest rates of both the home and foreign country and the real price of the crude oil.  Quarterly time series data from 1996 to 2012 is used.  Before estimating the model, the time series properties of the data are diagnosed in order to ensure the stationarity of the data.  The data series are found to be integrated of order one and the null hypothesis of no cointegration is rejected.  Therefore an error correction model is developed and estimated.  The estimated results suggest that there is no detectable effect of oil price change on the real exchange rate between the Indian rupee and the U.S. dollar

Nepal and Bhutan: development strategies and growth

This paper has sought to examine the factors that have contributed to the economic growth of Nepal and Bhutan. After a brief discussion of the economy and growth strategy of each country, standard growth models for Nepal and Bhutan are developed and estimated. The results indicate that domestic capital has been a significant source of economic growth in Nepal whereas foreign aid has not had any appreciable effect on growth. The reverse is true for Bhutan

Characterization and Evaluation of a Rare Orchid Renanthera imschootiana Rolfe from Manipur & Nagaland

The orchid Renanthera imschootiana Rolfe is the only species under the genus available in India at Manipur and Nagaland, which is a part of Indo-Burma mega diversity hot-spot. The only collection, NRCO-Coll-77 (1998)/IC 566525 of this species available with us was evaluated and characterized as per 'Common Descriptors of Orchids' developed at this center. Monopodial nature in habit, un-branched raceme with a length of 32.2 cm having attractive dominant red-purple (RHS-60A) flowers and petals coloured grayed orange (RHS-164C) with shade is typical of this species. Broad, lateral sepals with attractive dominant crimson/red purple colour flower having medium-range vase life of 23.7 days, imparts high breeding value to this species for developing new hybrid derivatives

Magnetic field effects on spin texturing in a quantum wire with Rashba spin-orbit interaction

A quantum wire with strong Rashba spin-orbit interaction is known to exhibit spatial modulation of spin density along its width owing to coupling between subbands caused by the Rashba interaction. This is known as spin texturing. Here, we show that a transverse external magnetic field introduces additional complex features in spin texturing, some of which reflect the intricate details of the underlying energy dispersion relations of the spin-split subbands. One particularly intriguing feature is a 90° phase shift between the spatial modulations of two orthogonal components of the spin density, which is observed at moderate field strengths and when only the lowest spin-split level is occupied by electrons. Its origin lies in the fact that the Rashba interaction acts as an effective magnetic field whose strength is proportional to the electron’s velocity

Another Look at Devaluation and the Trade Balance in China

This paper estimates the effect of Chinese Yuan devaluation on the trade balance of China.  For that a regression equation is developed in which domestic income, foreign income, domestic money supply, foreign money supply and real effective exchange rate are used as explanatory variable with trade balance as the dependent variable. In order to test the J-curve phenomenon the lagged values of exchange rata are also included.  Quarterly time series data from 1999 to 2016 are used.  Before estimating the model the time series properties of the data are diagnosed and an error correction model is developed and estimated.  The estimated results show that the contemporaneous effect of devaluation is positive, but the total effect is insignificant.  A J-curve pattern of adjustment of the trade balance is also detected