A Physiological and Molecular Docking Insight on Quercetin Mediated Salinity Stress Tolerance in Chinese Flowering Cabbage and Increase in Glucosinolate Contents.

The present study was performed to investigate the negative impact of salinity on the growth of Chinese flowering cabbage (Brassica rapa ssp. chinensis var. parachinensis) and the ameliorative effects of quercetin dihydrate on the plant along with the elucidation of underlying mechanisms. The tolerable NaCl stress level was initially screened for the Chinese flowering cabbage plants during a preliminary pot trial by exposing the plants to salinity levels (0, 50, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 350, and 400 mM) and 250 mM was adopted for further experimentation based on the findings. The greenhouse experiment was performed by adopting a completely randomized design using three different doses of quercetin dihydrate (50, 100, 150 µM) applied as a foliar treatment. The findings showed that the exposure salinity significantly reduced shoot length (46.5%), root length (21.2%), and dry biomass (32.1%) of Chinese flowering cabbage plants. Whereas, quercetin dihydrate applied at concentrations of 100, and 150 µM significantly diminished the effect of salinity stress by increasing shoot length (36.8- and 71.3%), root length (36.57- and 56.19%), dry biomass production (51.4- and 78.6%), Chl a (69.8- and 95.7%), Chl b (35.2- and 87.2%), and carotenoid contents (21.4- and 40.3%), respectively, compared to the plants cultivated in salinized conditions. The data of physiological parameters showed a significant effect of quercetin dihydrate on the activities of peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, and catalase enzymes. Interestingly, quercetin dihydrate increased the production of medicinally important glucosinolate compounds in Chinese flowering cabbage plants. Molecular docking analysis showed a strong affinity of quercetin dihydrate with three different stress-related proteins of B. rapa plants. Based on the findings, it could be concluded that quercetin dihydrate can increase the growth of Chinese flowering cabbage under both salinity and normal conditions, along with an increase in the medicinal quality of the plants. Further investigations are recommended as future perspectives using other abiotic stresses to declare quercetin dihydrate as an effective remedy to rescue plant growth under prevailing stress conditions.

Comparative Effect of Seed Coating and Biopriming of Bacillus aryabhattai Z-48 on Seedling Growth, Growth Promotion, and Suppression of Fusarium Wilt Disease of Tomato Plants.

Beneficial plant microbes can enhance the growth and quality of field crops. However, the benefits of microbes using cheap and efficient inoculation methods are still uncommon. Seed coating with biocontrol agents can reduce the amount of inocula along with having the potential for large-scale application. Hence, in this research work, the comparative potential of tomato seed coating and biopriming with Bacillus aryabhattai Z-48, harboring multiple plant-beneficial traits, to suppress Fusarium wilt disease along with its beneficial effect on seedling and plant growth promotion was analyzed. Among two bacterial strains, B. aryabhattai Z-48 was able to antagonize the mycelial growth of Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. lycopersici in vitro and its application as a seed coating superiorly benefited seedling traits like the germination percentage, vigor index, and seedling growth index along with a reduced germination time. The seed coating with B. aryabhattai Z-48 resulted in significant increases in the shoot length, root length, dry biomass, and total chlorophyll contents when compared with the bioprimed seeds with the same bacterial strain and non-inoculated control plants. The seed coating with B. aryabhattai Z-48 significantly reduced the disease index (>60%) compared with the pathogen control during pot trials. Additionally, the seed coating with B. aryabhattai Z-48 resulted in a significantly higher production of total phenolics, peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase, and phenylalanine ammonia lyase enzyme in tomato plants. The GC/MS-based non-targeted metabolic profiling indicated that the seed coating with B. aryabhattai Z-48 could cause large-scale metabolite perturbations in sugars, sugar alcohols, amino acids, and organic acids to increase the fitness of tomato plants against biotic stress. Our study indicates that a tomato seed coating with B. aryabhattai Z-48 can improve tomato growth and suppress Fusarium wilt disease effectively under conventional agricultural systems.

Elucidating the role of missense SNP of protein kinase C epsilon in HCV-induced hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: The protein kinase C (PKC) family of serine/threonine kinases contains more than ten isozymes that are involved in multiple signaling pathways, including cell cycle regulation and carcinogenesis. The PKCε isozyme is an oncogene known to be upregulated in various signaling pathways involved in hepatitis C virus (HCV)-induced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, there is no known association of missense SNPs in PKCε with this disease, which can be a potential biomarker for early diagnosis and treatment. This research reveals a novel missense SNP in PKCε that is associated with HCV-induced HCC in the Pakistani population. METHODS: The PKCε SNP with amino acid substitution of E14K was chosen for wet lab analysis. Tetra ARMS-PCR was employed for the identification of high-risk SNP in PKCε of HCV-induced HCC patients. Liver function testing was also performed for comparison between the liver condition of the HCC patient and control group, and the viral load of HCC patient samples was evaluated to determine any alteration in the viral infectivity between different genotypes of the selected high-risk PKCε variant SNP. RESULTS: Frequency distribution of the homozygous GG genotype was found to be highest among HCV-induced HCC patients and was also found to be significantly associated with disease development and progression. The p values of comparative data obtained for the other two genotypes, heterozygous AG and homozygous AA, of the SNP also showed the significance of the data for these alleles. Still, their odds ratio and relative risk analysis did not indicate their association with HCV-induced HCC. CONCLUSION: The distribution of a genotype GG of PKCε has been found in HCV- induced HCC patients. Therefore, these PKCε SNP have the potential to be biomarkers for HCV-induced HCC. Further investigation using a larger sample size would provide additional insight into these initial data and open a new avenue for a better prognosis of this disease.

Rare Manifestation Of Anti-Nmdar Encephalitis.

N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antibody encephalitis is an autoimmune syndrome with the development of antibody production against the NMDAR, affecting synaptic plasticity and cognition. It has a common association with ovarian teratomas with women being affected disproportionately. We present a case of an eight-year-old female child presented with complaints of fever, altered level of consciousness and choreiform movements. Owing to its common occurrence in the developing world, initially, rheumatic fever was kept in the differential diagnosis and was treated accordingly, but through a series of investigations, was diagnosed as a case of N methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antibody encephalitis. This case report urges the healthcare providers to keep Anti NMDAR encephalitis as a differential in their minds, while dealing with patients, having chorea as their main clinical manifestation. Owing to its rarity, we have primarily reported it here.

Correlation of Fibromyalgia with Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

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Influence of PRKCE non-synonymous variants on protein dynamics and functionality.

Novel protein kinase C (nPKC) family member, protein kinase C epsilon (PKCε) is an AGC kinase superfamily member. It is associated with neurological and metabolic diseases as well as human cancers. No study so far has been conducted to identify genetic variations and their effect on PKCε folding and functioning. The present study aimed to identify mutational hotspots in PKCε and disease-causing non-synonymous variants (nsSNPs) along with the investigation of nsSNP impact on protein dynamics. Twenty-nine in silico tools were applied to determine nsSNP deleteriousness, their impact on protein dynamics and disease association, along with the prediction of PKCε post-translational modification (PTM) sites. The present study's outcomes indicated that most nsSNPs were concentrated in the PKCε hinge region and C-terminal tail. Most pathogenic variants mapped to the kinase domain. Regulatory domain variants influenced PKCε interaction with molecular players whereas kinase domain variants were predicted to impact its phosphorylation pattern and protein-protein interactions. Most PTM sites were mapped to the hinge region. PKCε nsSNPs have an association with oncogenicity and its expression dysregulation is responsible for poor overall survival. Understanding nsSNP structural impact is a primary step necessary for delineating the relationship of genetic level differences with protein phenotype. The obtained knowledge can eventually help in disease diagnosis and therapy design.

Autoimmune Encephalitis in a Girl With Psychiatric Manifestations.

Autoimmune encephalitis (AIE) can be caused by various neuronal surface and intracellular antibodies. The prevalence and gender predisposition vary according to the subtype involved. It can produce a wide range of neurologic or psychiatric symptoms. We present a case of a young female patient who presented to a psychiatric facility with behavioral and perceptual disturbances and was later referred to a medical department, where, through a series of investigations, she was diagnosed as a case of AIE. Unfortunately, the ultimate outcome was death due to a delay in reaching toward accurate diagnosis. This case report highlights the lapse of the healthcare system, particularly in low- and middle-income countries at multiple levels in providing adequate health care.