Bacteria-inducing legume nodules involved in the improvement of plant growth, health and nutrition

Bacteria-inducing legume nodules are known as rhizobia and belong to the class Alphaproteobacteria and Betaproteobacteria. They promote the growth and nutrition of their respective legume hosts through atmospheric nitrogen fixation which takes place in the nodules induced in their roots or stems. In addition, rhizobia have other plant growth-promoting mechanisms, mainly solubilization of phosphate and production of indoleacetic acid, ACC deaminase and siderophores. Some of these mechanisms have been reported for strains of rhizobia which are also able to promote the growth of several nonlegumes, such as cereals, oilseeds and vegetables. Less studied are the mechanisms that have the rhizobia to promote the plant health; however, these bacteria are able to exert biocontrol of some phytopathogens and to induce the plant resistance. In this chapter, we revised the available data about the ability of the legume nodule-inducing bacteria for improving the plant growth, health and nutrition of both legumes and nonlegumes. These data showed that rhizobia meet all the requirements of sustainable agriculture to be used as bio-inoculants allowing the total or partial replacement of chemicals used for fertilization or protection of crops

Oxidative Criteria And Somebone Turnover Markers In Beta-Thalassemic Patients

Bone disease in beta-thalassemic patients has multifactorial etiology;increased iron stores and per-oxidative stress are involved factors.This study aimed to investigate the relationship between some boneturnover markers and some oxidants, antioxidants parameters of betathalassemicpatients. The study included 50 patients were diagnosedas beta-thalassemia major aged between 3 and 40 years, 30 males and20 females compared to 34 normal controls of same age and sex ratio.The patients and the controls were divided into 2 groups: group A1≤18 years compared to their controls group B1 and group A2 > 18years compared to their controls group B2. All were subjected to fullclinical examination and laboratory analysis of their blood and urinefor bone turnover markers; osteocalcin (OC), bone specific alkalinephosphatase (BAP) and urinary deoxypyridinoline (DPD).Alsoparathormone (PTH), serum calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (Ph).Oxidants and antioxidants determined were; plasma malondialdehyde(MDA), nitric oxide (NO), blood reduced glutathione (GSH),erythrocyte Cu- Zn Superoxide dismutase (SOD). Serum levels ofcopper (Cu), zinc (Zn), selenium (Se), vitamin E and total antioxidantcapacity (TAOC) were also determined. The results showedsignificant increase in urinary DPD and decrease in serum OC, BAPand PTH in thalassemic groups compared to controls. Also, the resultsrevealed significant elevation in plasma MDA, NO, SOD and serumCu and TAOC especially in group A1. While there was significant decrease in GSH, serum Zn, Se, and vitamin E. Plasma OC waspositively correlated with serum iron and NO and negativelycorrelated with plasma TAOC in thalassemic patients within agegroup 3 ≤18 years. On other hand, plasma BAP level was positivelycorrelated with the frequency of transfusion. Moreover, a significantinverse correlation of plasma PTH with blood GSH and plasma Vit.Ewere observed in thalassemic patients within age group 18 ≤ 40.Furthermore, a significant positive correlation of plasma OC withheight, DPD with age and Ph. were seen too in the same group. Also,plasma DPD was negatively correlated with NO in thalassemicpatients within age group 18 ≤ 40. In Conclusion, there aredisturbance in bone turnover markers in beta-thalassemic patientswhich favor increased bone resorption and decreased bone formation.These markers have to some extent correlations with oxidantantioxidantparameters in those patients.Key Words : Oxidative stress markers , MDA , antioxidant , osteocalcin, PT

Anatomic Cartography of the Hypogastric Nerves and Surgical Insights for Autonomic Preservation during Radical Pelvic Procedures.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To clarify the relationship of hypogastric nerves (HNs) with several pelvic anatomic landmarks and to assess any anatomic differences between the 2 sides of the pelvis, both in cadaveric and in vivo dissections. DESIGN: Prospective observational study. SETTING: An anatomic theater for cadaveric dissections and a university hospital for in vivo laparoscopy. PATIENTS: Five nulliparous female cadavers underwent laparotomic dissection; 10 nulliparous patients underwent laparoscopic surgery for rectosigmoid endometriosis without posterolateral parametrial infiltration. INTERVENTIONS: Measurements of the closest distance between HNs and ureters, the midsagittal plane, the midcervical plane, and uterosacral ligaments on both hemipelvises. A comparison of anatomic data of the 2 hemipelvises was conducted. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The right and left HNs were identified in all specimens, both on cadavers and in vivo dissections. A wide anatomic variability was reported. Regarding the differences between the 2 hemipelvises, we found that the right HN was significantly (p <.001) farther to the ureter (mean\u202f=\u202f14.5 mm; range, 10-25 mm) than the left one (mean\u202f=\u202f8.6 mm; range, 7-12 mm). The HN was closer to the midsagittal plane on the right side (mean\u202f=\u202f14.6 mm; range, 12-17 mm) than on the left side (mean\u202f=\u202f21.6 mm; range, 19-25 mm). The midcervical plane was found 2.7 mm (range, 2-4 mm) to the left of the midsagittal one. The right HN was found to be nonsignificantly closer to the midcervical plane and the uterosacral ligament on the right side than on the left side (p >.05). CONCLUSIONS: Despite a wide anatomic variability of position and appearance, the HNs are reproducibly identifiable using an "interfascial" technique and considering the ureters and uterosacral ligaments as anatomic landmarks

Evolution of orthologous tandemly arrayed gene clusters

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Tandemly Arrayed Gene (TAG) clusters are groups of paralogous genes that are found adjacent on a chromosome. TAGs represent an important repertoire of genes in eukaryotes. In addition to tandem duplication events, TAG clusters are affected during their evolution by other mechanisms, such as inversion and deletion events, that affect the order and orientation of genes. The DILTAG algorithm developed in <abbrgrp><abbr bid="B1">1</abbr></abbrgrp> makes it possible to infer a set of optimal evolutionary histories explaining the evolution of a single TAG cluster, from an ancestral single gene, through tandem duplications (simple or multiple, direct or inverted), deletions and inversion events.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We present a general methodology, which is an extension of DILTAG, for the study of the evolutionary history of a set of orthologous TAG clusters in multiple species. In addition to the speciation events reflected by the phylogenetic tree of the considered species, the evolutionary events that are taken into account are simple or multiple tandem duplications, direct or inverted, simple or multiple deletions, and inversions. We analysed the performance of our algorithm on simulated data sets and we applied it to the protocadherin gene clusters of human, chimpanzee, mouse and rat.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results obtained on simulated data sets showed a good performance in inferring the total number and size distribution of duplication events. A limitation of the algorithm is however in dealing with multiple gene deletions, as the algorithm is highly exponential in this case, and becomes quickly intractable.</p

Canopy physiology, vine performance and host-pathogen interaction in a fungi resistant cv. Sangiovese x Bianca accession vs. a susceptible clone

The present study compares the physiological and cropping response of the new fungi-resistant grapevine Accession 72-096 ('Sangiovese' x 'Bianca' hybrid) against a susceptible 'Sangiovese' clone which was either fully (FS-SG) or partially sprayed (PS-SG). Data logged on Accession 72-096 indicate that while two early season sprays were enough to avoid major downy mildew (DM) and powdery mildew (PM) outbreaks, Accession 72-096 also showed concurrent desirable features such as moderate cropping, loose clusters, fast sugar accumulation coupled with sufficient acidity even at peak total soluble solids (TSS) concentration (around 24 °Brix), good color and higher flavonols prompting co-pigmentation. Conversely, FS-SG showed final lower acidity despite the notably lower sugar concentration (â18 °Brix), as well as larger clusters and berries that resulted in more compact bunches. From a methodological viewpoint, end of season single-leaf readings appeared to overestimate the limitation of leaf function due to PM and DM infections in SG-PS vines which, when assessed via a whole-canopy approach, did not show significant differences vs. Accession 72-096, a result likely due to counteracting effects linked to a compensation mechanism by healthy tissues. Our data also suggest that a PM infection can lead to a decoupling in sugar-color accumulation patterns