Towards an Understanding of Physiological and Biochemical Mechanisms of Drought Tolerance in Plant

Drought stress is one of the major abiotic stress that can causes huge loss to the world food production. It remains a major contributor to severe food shortage and famine. With a consistent increase in world population, pressure will continue to mount on the existing yet limited water resources. The situation is respected to further aggravate due to the predicted increase in temperature and decrease in precipitation consequent upon global warming. Water scarcity has already become a severe constraint in plant survival and productivity of crops in arid and semi-arid regions. The active response of plants to drought stress through various biochemical and physiological modifications improves the metabolism and can further the mobilize various defense mechanisms in order to enhance survival of the plants under conditions of drought. In this review, various physiological and biochemical responses in plants towards enhancement of drought tolerance are discussed.

OCD and Bacterial Infection: Is there a link.

The data which addresses the validity of the proposed unique subgroup of children with early and abrupt onset of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and/or tic disorder subsequent to streptococcal infection was reviewed. The aetiology of OCD and tic disorder is unknown, although it appears that both disorders may arise from a variety of genetic and environmental factors. Post-streptococcal autoimmunity has been postulated as one such mechanism. Although much research remains to be done, an increasing body of evidence provides support for the postulate that OCD may arise from post-streptococcal autoimmunity. The unique clinical characteristic of the PANDAS sub group, the presence of volumetric changes in basal ganglia and the dramatic response to immunomodulatory treatment suggest that symptoms arise from a combination of local, regional and systemic dysfunction and further research is required in order to provide novel strategies of prevention and treatment.