Serological Study of Toxoplasma gondii Infection Using IFA Method in Renal Transplant Recipients

Toxoplasmosis is a wide distributed opportunistic infection caused by Toxoplasma gondii. This was a cross-sectional study of T. gondii antibody titer, which was conducted from June 2003 to August 2004 on renal transplant recipients in Iran. A total of 551 serum samples were obtained from randomly selected population referred from different areas all over the country to Shafa Central Clinic in Tehran. Patient’s information was recorded in a questionnaire before sampling. Two samples of finger-prick blood were collected from each person and antibody titer against Toxoplasma was assessed by Indirect Fluorescence Antibody (IFA) technique on serum samples. Totally 39 cases (7.1%) of samples were positive for antibody by the titer of 1: 20 and higher. On investigation of risk factors, no significant difference was found between consumption of under-cooked meat, close contact with animals, and the source of drinking water and seropositivity rate of toxoplasmosis. The relatively low seroprevalence rate of Toxoplasma infection shows the successful approaches to awareness of transplant recipients about the potential risks of acquisition of infectious diseases due to regular administration of suppressive drugs. However, the regular surveillance through serological screening of Toxoplasma antibody in kidney transplant recipients is advisable

Using transgenic modulation of protein synthesis and accumulation to probe protein signaling networks in Arabidopsis thaliana

Deployment of new model species in the plant biology community requires the development and/or improvement of numerous genetic tools. Sequencing of the Arabidopsis thaliana genome opened up a new challenge of assigning biological function to each gene. As many genes exhibit spatiotemporal or other conditional regulation of biological processes, probing for gene function necessitates applications that can be geared toward temporal, spatial and quantitative functional analysis in vivo. The continuing quest to establish new platforms to examine plant gene function has resulted in the availability of numerous genomic and proteomic tools. Classical and more recent genome-wide experimental approaches include conventional mutagenesis, tagged DNA insertional mutagenesis, ectopic expression of transgenes, activation tagging, RNA interference and two-component transactivation systems. The utilization of these molecular tools has resulted in conclusive evidence for the existence of many genes, and expanded knowledge on gene structure and function. This review covers several molecular tools that have become increasingly useful in basic plant research. We discuss their advantages and limitations for probing cellular protein function while emphasizing the contributions made to lay the fundamental groundwork for genetic manipulation of crops using plant biotechnology