Stacked mutations in wheat homologues of rice SEMI-DWARF1 confer a novel semi-dwarf phenotype.

BACKGROUND: Semi-dwarfing alleles are used widely in cereals to confer improved lodging resistance and assimilate partitioning. The most widely deployed semi-dwarfing alleles in rice and barley encode the gibberellin (GA)-biosynthetic enzyme GA 20-OXIDASE2 (GA20OX2). The hexaploid wheat genome carries three homoeologous copies of GA20OX2, and because of functional redundancy, loss-of-function alleles of a single homoeologue would not be selected in wheat breeding programmes. Instead, approximately 70% of wheat cultivars carry gain-of-function mutations in REDUCED HEIGHT 1 (RHT1) genes that encode negative growth regulators and are degraded in response to GA. Semi-dwarf Rht-B1b or Rht-D1b alleles encode proteins that are insensitive to GA-mediated degradation. However, because RHT1 is expressed ubiquitously these alleles have pleiotropic effects that confer undesirable traits in some environments. RESULTS: We have applied reverse genetics to combine loss-of-function alleles in all three homoeologues of wheat GA20OX2 and its paralogue GA20OX1 and evaluated their performance in three years of field trials. ga20ox1 mutants exhibited a mild height reduction (approximately 3%) suggesting GA20OX1 plays a minor role in stem elongation in wheat. ga20ox2 mutants have reduced GA1 content and are 12-32% shorter than their wild-type segregants, comparable to the effect of the Rht-D1b 'Green Revolution' allele. The ga20ox2 mutants showed no significant negative effects on yield components in the spring wheat variety 'Cadenza'. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates that chemical mutagenesis can expand genetic variation in polyploid crops to uncover novel alleles despite the difficulty in identifying appropriate mutations for some target genes and the negative effects of background mutations. Field experiments demonstrate that mutations in GA20OX2 reduce height in wheat, but it will be necessary to evaluate the effect of these alleles in different genetic backgrounds and environments to determine their value in wheat breeding as alternative semi-dwarfing alleles.

Effects of task-oriented training on dexterous movements of hands in post stroke patients.

Objective: The objective of the study was to determine the effect of task-oriented training on the dexterous movements of hands in Hemiplegic post-stroke patients.Methods: This study has been registered on site ClinicalTrial.gov with clinical trial number NCT05201196. The study was Randomized controlled trial, 18 patients were recruited that meet the inclusion criteria, randomly allocated to task-oriented training Group A (n = 9) and Conventional Therapy Group B (n = 9). Both exercise trainings were applied for 45 min/session, 5 times/week for 6 weeks. Fugl-Meyer Assessment Scale Motor, sensory and coordination portion, Wolf Motor Function Scale and Barthel Index were used as outcome measures, assessed patients at Baseline, after 3 weeks and 6 weeks after training. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 23.Results: The results suggested the mean Age was 60.78 ± 9.08 and 61.33 ± 6.78 for Group A and Group B, respectively. Average BMI was 23.66 ± 2.66 for Task-oriented group and 21.36 ± 2.46 for Conventional group. Fugl-Meyer scale shows significant P-value 0.03 post treatment compare to pre-treatment which was .283, Wolf Motor Function test and Barthel Index also showed significant P-values as 0.023 and 0.007, respectively, indicating that Task-oriented training shows more significant improvements than conventional group.Conclusion: Task-based training produced statistically significant as well as clinically meaningful enhancement in the dexterous hand movements of acute and subacute stroke patients than conventional therapy and ultimately improves the functional independence in their daily activities such as feeding, bathing and hygiene.

Butterfly (Order: Lepidoptera) species Richness, diversity and distribution in different localities of Battagram, Pakistan.

Butterflies are the beautiful creatures and need to be conserved. The present survey was conducted to explore the biodiversity of butterflies of District Battagram Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan, from March to September 2021. During this study the butterflies were collected from 2 Tehsil including 12 localities using line transect method. A total of 572 specimens were collected from all localities. Species identified were belonging to 3 families and 7 genera. The species were Cynthia cardui. Danaus chrysippus, Junonia orithya, Papilio demoleus, Papilio polytes, Colias croceus, Pieris ajaka, Pontia daplidice and Pieris napi. In the recorded 9 species Papilo demoleus was the most common species of the district Battagram and the most rear specie was Pieris ajaka during this study. The current study is new detailed work on the butterflies from district Battagram . It is concluded from the present study that district Battagram is rich in flora and provide a much suitable environment and place for biodiversity to insects. As this study is the first survey of butterflies population in the district and recorded rich diversity, so more explorative work is needed for its population estimation and specie abundance.

2,5-Dichloro-N-(4-meth-oxy-phen-yl)benzensulfonamide.

In the title compound, C(13)H(11)Cl(2)NO(3)S, the dihedral angle between the benzene rings is 74.37 (3)°. In the crystal, inter-molecular N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds link the mol-ecules into chains along the b axis.