Piriformospora indica suppresses the symptoms produced by Banana bract mosaic virus by inhibiting its replication and manipulating chlorophyll and carotenoid biosynthesis and degradation in banana.

Banana bract mosaic virus (BBrMV) infection results in characteristic reddish streaks on pseudostem and chlorotic spindle lesions on leaves leading to traveler's palm appearance and complete crop loss depending on the stage of infection in banana plants. Here, we discuss the influence of P. indica colonization (a beneficial fungal root endophyte) on BBrMV infection, specific viral component genes responsible for symptom development, chlorophyll and carotenoid biosynthesis, and degradation in BBrMV-infected banana plants. P. indica colonization significantly and substantially reduced the severity of Banana bract mosaic disease (BBrMD) in addition to increased growth, development and yield of banana plants. The percent disease incidence (PDI) of BBrMV ranges from 50 to 70 per cent in plants raised from suckers and from 58 to 92 per cent in TC plants under artificial inoculation. P. indica-colonized plants inoculated with BBrMV resulted in an enhanced plant height, root length, leaf width, and leaf length of 72, 88, 90, and 60 per cent, respectively, compared to BBrMV alone-infected banana plants along with the reduced disease severity. BBrMV infection showed a drastic decrease of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and total chlorophyll contents by down-regulating chlorophyll biosynthesis (Chlorophyll synthase-CHLG) and upregulating chlorophyll degradation (Chlorophyllase-CLH1 and CLH2 and Pheophytin pheophorbide hydrolase-PPH) genes; and by up-regulating carotenoids biosynthesis (Phytoene synthases-PSY1 and PSY2) and down-regulating its degradation (Phytoene desaturase-PDS) genes compared to P. indica-colonized banana plants challenge inoculated with BBrMV. P. indica also inhibited the expression of the viral genes (P3 and HC-Pro) involved in symptom development. P. indica-colonized banana plants reduced the BBrMV symptoms severity by enhancing chlorophyll biosynthesis; and decreasing chlorophyll degradation and carotenoid biosynthesis and degradation; and inhibiting the viral genes responsible for symptom development in addition to enhanced growth and yield of banana plants. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13205-024-03983-y.

Improving the efficiency of induction motor drive by flux and torque control: A hybrid LSE-RERNN approach.

A hybrid technique is proposed in this manuscript for the optimal design of an induction motor (IM) drive for the dynamic load profiles during torque and flux control. The proposed hybrid method combines a Ladder-Spherical-Evolution-Search-Algorithm (LSE) and a recalling-enhanced recurrent-neural network (RERNN), which is called an LSE-RERNN technique. The major objective of the proposed method is to minimize IM losses while maintaining control over speed and torque. The proposed method effectively tunes the gain parameter of the PI controller for flux and torque regulation. The LSE methodgenerates a set of gain parameters optimally predicted by RERNN. The method reduces losses without prior knowledge of load profiles, achieving energy savings for steady-state optimum flux. The performance of the proposed technique is done in the MATLAB and is compared with different existing techniques. The value of the proposed method for the mean is 0.328, the standard deviation (SD) is 0.00334, and the median is 0.4173. The loss of the proposed method is much less than 0.3 W while compared to different existing approaches. Moreover, the computation time of the proposed approach is lesser than the existing techniques.

Comparison of the epidemiological features of COVID-19 patients in the first and second waves: A study from South India.

Introduction: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has seen multiple surges globally since its emergence in 2019. The second wave of the pandemic was generally more aggressive than the first, with more cases and deaths. This study compares the epidemiological features of the first and second COVID-19 waves in Kozhikode district of Kerala and identifies the factors associated with this change. Methods: A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in Kozhikode district. A total of 132,089 cases from each wave were selected for the study using a consecutive sampling method. Data were collected from the District COVID-19 line list using a semistructured proforma and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) ver. 18. Results: The second wave had a higher proportion of symptomatic cases (17.3%; 20.1%), cases with severe symptoms (0.3%; 0.6%), intensive care unit (ICU) admissions (11.2%; 17.9%), and case fatality rate (0.69%; 0.72%). Significant difference was noted in the age, gender, locality, source of infection, comorbidity profile, symptom, and the pattern of admission in various healthcare settings between the first and second wave. Among the deceased, gender, duration between onset of symptoms and death, comorbidity status, and cause of death were significantly different in both waves. Conclusion: The presence of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Delta variant, as well as changes in human behavior and threat perception as the pandemic progressed, resulted in significant differences in various epidemiological features of the pandemic in both waves, indicating the need for continued vigilance during each COVID-19 wave.

Bedaquiline: A Novel Diarylquinoline for Multidrug-Resistant Pulmonary Tuberculosis.

A new drug Bedaquiline, a diarylquinoline agent has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of pulmonary multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. It has been given approval for use along with the basic regimen with only conditional access through the National Program for tuberculosis in India. The major problem with existing antitubercular drugs used for the treatment of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis is antimicrobial resistance, less efficacy, and poor side effect profile. Bedaquiline might be a solution to these issues. Bedaquiline is a first of its class drug with a unique and specific mechanism of action. It inhibits mycobacterial adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthase's proton pump. There are many randomized clinical trials and cohort studies that reported a higher culture conversion rate with bedaquiline treatment as compared to the control group. Many meta-analyses and systematic reviews have reported higher culture conversion rate, higher cure rate, and lower mortality rate in patients with drug-resistant tuberculosis treated with a bedaquiline-containing regimen. Here is a detailed drug profile of bedaquiline to help health care workers treat tuberculosis patients. Keywords.

Critical Appraisal of Drug Promotional Literature in Accordance With WHO Guidelines.

Background Drug promotional literature (DPL) is used as a marketing tactic to publicize the introduction of new medications. As drug companies are promoting the literature for their brand products, bias is possible. Various studies have demonstrated that printed DPLs disseminated by pharmaceutical companies are typically skewed. Material and method A prospective, observational study was carried out in the outpatient departments of a tertiary care hospital to analyze the DPL of different pharmaceutical companies using WHO criteria for "Ethical criteria for medicinal drug promotion, 1988". Results Out of 192 DPLs analyzed, information regarding the generic name, brand name, amount of active ingredient, and manufacturer name was found in all the DPLs (100%). Though therapeutic uses were mentioned in 91% of DPLs, dosage schedule (regimen) was mentioned only in 60%. Drug safety information such as the side effects and significant adverse drug reactions, precautions and warnings, contraindications, and major drug interactions were present in 24%, 36%, and 20%, respectively. Address of the manufacturer and reference to scientific literature were present only in 63% and 53% of DPLs, respectively. References mainly were from journals, present in 71% of DPLs. Most of the claims made in DPLs were regarding efficacy (73%), followed by safety (34%).  Conclusion In our study, not a single DPL fulfilled all the nine WHO criteria. A doctor should rigorously evaluate study findings before prescribing because misleading and incorrect information is now frequently found in this literature.

From QTL to variety-harnessing the benefits of QTLs for drought, flood and salt tolerance in mega rice varieties of India through a multi-institutional network.

Rice is a staple cereal of India cultivated in about 43.5Mha area but with relatively low average productivity. Abiotic factors like drought, flood and salinity affect rice production adversely in more than 50% of this area. Breeding rice varieties with inbuilt tolerance to these stresses offers an economically viable and sustainable option to improve rice productivity. Availability of high quality reference genome sequence of rice, knowledge of exact position of genes/QTLs governing tolerance to abiotic stresses and availability of DNA markers linked to these traits has opened up opportunities for breeders to transfer the favorable alleles into widely grown rice varieties through marker-assisted backcross breeding (MABB). A large multi-institutional project, "From QTL to variety: marker-assisted breeding of abiotic stress tolerant rice varieties with major QTLs for drought, submergence and salt tolerance" was initiated in 2010 with funding support from Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, in collaboration with International Rice Research Institute, Philippines. The main focus of this project is to improve rice productivity in the fragile ecosystems of eastern, northeastern and southern part of the country, which bear the brunt of one or the other abiotic stresses frequently. Seven consistent QTLs for grain yield under drought, namely, qDTY1.1, qDTY2.1, qDTY2.2, qDTY3.1, qDTY3.2, qDTY9.1 and qDTY12.1 are being transferred into submergence tolerant versions of three high yielding mega rice varieties, Swarna-Sub1, Samba Mahsuri-Sub1 and IR 64-Sub1. To address the problem of complete submergence due to flash floods in the major river basins, the Sub1 gene is being transferred into ten highly popular locally adapted rice varieties namely, ADT 39, ADT 46, Bahadur, HUR 105, MTU 1075, Pooja, Pratikshya, Rajendra Mahsuri, Ranjit, and Sarjoo 52. Further, to address the problem of soil salinity, Saltol, a major QTL for salt tolerance is being transferred into seven popular locally adapted rice varieties, namely, ADT 45, CR 1009, Gayatri, MTU 1010, PR 114, Pusa 44 and Sarjoo 52. Genotypic background selection is being done after BC2F2 stage using an in-house designed 50K SNP chip on a set of twenty lines for each combination, identified with phenotypic similarity in the field to the recipient parent. Near-isogenic lines with more than 90% similarity to the recipient parent are now in advanced generation field trials. These climate smart varieties are expected to improve rice productivity in the adverse ecologies and contribute to the farmer's livelihood.

Plasma Fibrinogen in Type 2 Diabetic Patients with Metabolic Syndrome and its Relation with Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD) and Retinopathy.

INTRODUCTION: Metabolic syndrome or Syndrome X is characterized by hyperlipidemia, increased blood pressure, abdominal obesity and hyperglycemia, which increases the risk of cardiovascular complications. In addition to these, it is also associated with nontraditional risk factor like C- reactive protein, Plasminogen activator and fibrinogen. Various studies have documented association of these nontraditional risk factor, in Type 2 diabetes mellitus. Thus patients with diabetes mellitus are higher risk of developing micro and macro vascular complications like ischemic heart disease (IHD) and diabetic retinopathy. Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of decreased visual acuity, which is associated with maculopathy and profierative complications of it. Chronic hyperglycemia and its associated nonenzymatic glycation play an important role in the development of microangiopathy. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To study the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in type 2 diabetes mellitus. To study the plasma fibrinogen and its relationship with IHD and retinopathy in type 2 Diabetes mellitus patients with metabolic syndrome. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients of type 2 diabetes Mellitus were recruited based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. History of IHD and ECG evidence of ischemia was obtained. Retinopathy was diagnosed by direct opthalmoscopy. Fasting glucose, lipid profile and plasma fibrinogen were analyzed. Stastical analysis was carried by Chi square test and student't' test. RESULTS: The prevalence of metabolic syndrome in study population of 100 type 2 diabetic patients is 58% and is significantly associated with duration of the disease (p<0.001). Fifty eight patients have hyperfibrinogenemia and mean fibrinogen level is significantly high in diabetic patients with metabolic syndrome when compared to diabetic patients without metabolic syndrome (p<0.001). Diabetic patient with metabolic syndrome and hyperfibrinogenemia have higher prevalence of IHD and retinopathy in comparison with diabetic patients without metabolic syndrome (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of metabolic syndrome is higher in type 2 Diabetes mellitus patients. The combination of metabolic syndrome and hyperfibrinogenemia increases the risk of developing micro and macro vascular complications.

6a-Nitro-6-(2,2,7,7-tetra-methyl-tetra-hydro-3aH-bis-[1,3]dioxolo[4,5-b:4',5'-d]pyran-5-yl)-6a,6b,7,8,9,11a-hexa-hydro-6H-spiro-[chromeno[3,4-a]pyrrolizine-11,11'-indeno-[1,2-b]quinoxaline].

In the title compound, C39H38N4O8, the quinoxaline and indene subunits are essentially planar, with maximum deviations of 0.071 (2) and 0.009 (2) Å, respectively. The indeno-quinoxaline system forms a dihedral angle of 72.81 (3)° with the chromenopyrrolizine system. The two dioxolane rings, as well as the pyran ring of the chromeno group and the terminal pyrrolizine, each adopt an envelope conformation with O and C as flap atoms. The central pyrrolizine ring adopts a twisted conformation. Intra-molecular C-H⋯O and C-H⋯N hydrogen bonds occur. The crystal structure exhibits C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, and is further stablized by C-H⋯π inter-actions, forming a two-dimensional network along the bc plane.

Methyl 3'-benzyl-4'-(2-chloro-phen-yl)-1'-methyl-2-oxo-spiro-[indoline-3,2'-pyrrolidine]-3'-carboxyl-ate.

In the title compound, C27H25ClN2O3, the methyl-pyrrolidine ring adopts an envelope conformation with the N atom at the flap. The mean plane of the pyrrolidine ring makes dihedral angles of 82.1 (1), 84.4 (1) and 79.8 (1)°, respectively, with the adjacent benzene ring, the mean plane of the indoline ring system and the phenyl ring. The mol-ecular structure is stabilized by intra-molecular C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds. In the crystal, mol-ecules are linked into chains along [101] by N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds. C-H⋯π inter-actions are observed between the chains.

Methyl 2-[(2-chloro-quinolin-3-yl)(hy-droxy)meth-yl]acrylate.

There are two independent mol-ecules (A and B) in the asymmetric unit of the title compound, C14H12ClNO3. The mean planes of the methyl ester unit (Cmeth-yl-O-C=O; r.m.s. deviation = 0.051 Šfor mol-ecule A and 0.016 Šfor mol-ecule B) and the chloro-quilonine ring system (r.m.s. deviation = 0.023 Šfor mol-ecule A and 0.014 Šfor mol-ecule B) form dihedral angles of 63.5 (1)° in mol-ecule A and 78.1 (1)° in mol-ecule B. The main difference between the two independent mol-ecules is reflected in the (H)O-C-C=C(H2) torsion angle which is -109.7 (2)° in mol-ecule A and 10.6 (2)° in mol-ecule B. An intra-molecular O-H⋯O hydrogen bond is observed in mol-ecule A. In the crystal, mol-ecules A and B are linked into pairs via bifurcated O-H⋯(N,Cl) hydrogen bonds and a weak C-H⋯O hydrogen bond links pairs of mol-ecules into chains along [100].

2-[(2-Chloro-quinolin-3-yl)(hy-droxy)meth-yl]acrylo-nitrile.

In the title compound, C13H9ClN2O, the dihedral angle between the acrylo-nitrile C=C-CN plane and the quilonine ring system is 71.3 (2)°. In the crystal, mol-ecules are linked by O-H⋯N hydrogen bonds, forming chains along [01-1]. The chains are linked into a three-dimensional network through C-H⋯N inter-actions.

Methyl (E)-2-[(2-nitro-phen-oxy)meth-yl]-3-phenyl-acrylate.

The title compound, C(17)H(15)NO(5), adopts an E conformation with respect to the C=C double bond of the phenyl-acrylate unit. The phenyl ring and methyl acrylate group of the phenyl-acrylate unit are disordered over two sets of sites with site-occupancy ratios of 0.705 (5):0.295 (5) and 0.683 (3):0.317 (3), respectively. The mean plane through the benzene ring of the phenyl acrylate makes dihedral angles of 88.4 (8) (major component) and 86.7 (8)° (minor component) with the nitro-phen-oxy ring; the dihedral angle between the two components is 3.64 (6)°. Intra-molecular C-H⋯O interactions stabilise the molecular structure. In the crystal, C-H⋯O inter-actions result in a chain of mol-ecules running along the b axis.

(E)-Methyl 2-[(2-formyl-6-meth-oxy-phen-oxy)meth-yl]-3-phenyl-acrylate.

The title compound, C(19)H(18)O(5), crystallizes with two independent mol-ecules (A and B) in an asymmetric unit in both of which the two aromatic rings are in a bis-ectional orientation as evidenced by the dihedral angle between them [41.7 (1)° in mol-ecule A and 35.6 (1)° in mol-ecule B]. Both mol-ecules adopt an E configuration with respect to the C=C bond. An intra-molecular C-H⋯O hydrogen-bond occurs in mol-ecule A. The crystal packing features inter-molecular C-H⋯O inter-actions.

(E)-Methyl 2-[(4-bromo-2-formyl-phen-oxy)meth-yl]-3-phenyl-acrylate.

The C=C double bond in the title compound, C(18)H(15)BrO(4), adopts an E configuration. The two rings are almost orthogonal to each other, making a dihedral angle of 82.8 (1)°. An intra-molecular C-H⋯O hydrogen bond occurs. The crystal structure is stabilized by inter-molecular C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds.

Transgenic tobacco and peanut plants expressing a mustard defensin show resistance to fungal pathogens.

Defensins are small positively charged, antimicrobial peptides (approximately 5 kDa in size) and some of them exhibit potent antifungal activity. We have cloned the complete cDNA containing an ORF of 243 bp of a defensin of mustard. The deduced amino acid sequence of the peptide showed more than 90% identity to the amino acid sequence of the well-characterized defensins, RsAFP-1 and RsAFP-2 of Raphanus sativus. We have generated and characterized transgenic tobacco and peanut plants constitutively expressing the mustard defensin. Transgenic tobacco plants were resistant to the fungal pathogens, Fusarium moniliforme and Phytophthora parasitica pv. nicotianae. Transgenic peanut plants showed enhanced resistance against the pathogens, Pheaoisariopsis personata and Cercospora arachidicola, which jointly cause serious late leaf spot disease. These observations indicate that the mustard defensin gene can be deployed for deriving fungal disease resistance in transgenic crops.

Molecular, biochemical and structural characterization of osmotin-like protein from black nightshade (Solanum nigrum).

A full-length 910bp cDNA encoding osmotin-like protein with an open reading frame of 744bp encoding a protein of 247 amino acids with a calculated molecular mass of 26.8kDa was cloned from Solanum nigrum (SniOLP). Phylogenetic analysis revealed the evolutionary conservation of this protein among diverse taxa. The genomic DNA gel blot showed that SniOLP belongs to a small multigene family and it showed organ-specific expression. Time-course studies revealed that the expression of SniOLP was upregulated by treatment with various signaling molecules, osmotic and oxidative stress inducers. Recombinant protein purified from overexpressed Escherichia coli cells showed hyphal growth inhibition in Rhizoctonia batiticola and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum but without any endo-beta-1,3-glucanase activity. Model built by homology modeling showed that the protein consists of an acidic cleft region that is capable of interacting with the carbohydrate components of the fungal cell walls. Analysis of the structure and functional relationship was carried out by docking of the beta-(1,3)-glucan onto the acidic cleft region on the surface of the protein (SniOLP).

Genetic transformation of peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) using cotyledonary node as explant and a promoterless gus::nptII fusion gene based vector.

We have generated putative promoter tagged transgenic lines in Arachis hypogaea cv JL-24 using cotyledonary node (CN) as an explant and a promoterless gus::nptII bifunctional fusion gene mediated by Agrobacterium transformation. MS medium fortified with 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) at 4mg/l in combination with 0.1 mg/l alpha -napthaleneacetic acid (NAA) was the most effective out of the various BAP and NAA combinations tested in multiple shoot bud formation. Parameters enhancing genetic transformation viz. seedling age, Agrobacterium genetic background and co-cultivation periods were studied by using the binary vector p35SGUSINT. Genetic transformation with CN explants from 6-day-old seedlings co-cultivated with Agrobacterium GV2260 strain for 3 days resulted in high kanamycin resistant shoot induction percentage (45%); approximately 31% transformation frequency was achieved with p35S GUSINT in beta-glucuronidase (GUS) assays. Among the in vivo GUS fusions studied with promoterless gus::nptII construct, GUS-positive sectors occupied 38% of the total transient GUS percentage. We have generated over 141 putative T 0 plants by using the promoterless construct and transferred them to the field. Among these, 82 plants survived well in the green house and 5 plants corresponding to 3.54% showed stable integration of the fusion gene as evidenced by GUS, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Southern blot analyses. Twenty-four plants were positive for GUS showing either tissue-specific expression or blue spots in at least one plant part. The progeny of 15 T 0 plants indicated Mendelian inheritance pattern of segregation for single-copy integration. The tissue-specific GUS expression patterns were more or less similar in both T 0 and corresponding T 1 progeny plants. We present the differential patterns of GUS expression identified in the putative promoter-tagged transgenic lines in the present communication.

Floral induction by gibberellic acid in Impatiens balsamina, a qualitative short-day plant.

In the qualitative short-day plant Impatiens balsamina, gibberellic acid (GA3) not only promoted the formation of floral buds in response to suboptimal photoinductive conditions and reduced the number of SD cycles that are required for their development into flowers, but also caused initiation of floral buds under non-inductive photoperiods. In plants treated with repeated applications of GA3, the floral buds developed into flowers irrespective of whether the apex was left intact or was removed. In those that received a single application of GA3 the floral buds developed into flowers only in decapitated plants.