Cardiac complications of COVID-19: Incidence and outcomes

Background: Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has been associated with pre-existing cardiac conditions as well as cardiovascular complications. The incidence rates of cardiac complications, age, and gender differences in this population are unknown. Objectives: We wanted to study the incidence of cardiac complications and mortality in patients with COVID-19. Methods: Data from the TriNetX COVID-19 global research network platform was used to identify COVID19 patients. We compared patients with and without cardiac complications in patients with COVID-19 and obtained survival data. Results: The final cohort was composed of 81,844 patients with COVID-19. Cardiac complications occurred in 9.3% of patients as follows: acute coronary syndromes in 1.3%, heart failure in 4.4%, atrial fibrillation in 4.5%, sinus bradycardia 1.9%, ventricular tachycardia in 0.5% and complete heart block in 0.01%. Mortality was significantly higher in patients with the cardiac complications mentioned (20%) than in those without them (2.9%) (odds ratio 7.2, 95% CI, 6.7e7.7; p < 0.0001). Older males seem to have higher incidence of cardiac complications and mortality. Conclusions: Patients with COVID-19 who have cardiac complications have a higher risk of mortality when compared to those without cardiac complications.

T-DNA insertional mutagenesis in Arabidopsis: a tool for functional genomics

With the availability of complete genome sequences of several organisms, the focus has shifted from structural genomics to functional genomics, specifically in plants where the complete genomic sequences are becoming available i.e., Arabidopsis and rice. Agrobacterium mediated transformation which is exploited for transgenic technology is also being used as an effective mutagen and as a tool for functional genomics in higher plants. Besides the fact that the insertion of T-DNA element into a gene can lead to loss or gain of function, ingenious use of a variety of vectors have led to the identification of genes and regulatory elements in Arabidopsis. In this review, we highlight the progress made in the field of functional genomics of Arabidopsis using T-DNA tagging. Since this strategy has been very successfully employed in Arabidopsis and is now being extended to other plant species, we discuss the various vectors and experimental approaches employed to tag, identify and clone genes and promoter elements in Arabidopsis using T-DNA as a tool.