Neutrophil Heterogeneity Is Modified during Acute Lung Inflammation in Apoa1-/- Mice.

Neutrophils play important roles in inflammatory airway diseases. In this study, we assessed whether apolipoprotein A-I modifies neutrophil heterogeneity as part of the mechanism by which it attenuates acute airway inflammation. Neutrophilic airway inflammation was induced by daily intranasal administration of LPS plus house dust mite (LPS+HDM) to Apoa1-/- and Apoa1+/+ mice for 3 d. Single-cell RNA sequencing was performed on cells recovered from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid on day 4. Unsupervised profiling identified 10 clusters of neutrophils in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from Apoa1-/- and Apoa1+/+ mice. LPS+HDM-challenged Apoa1-/- mice had an increased proportion of the Neu4 neutrophil cluster that expressed S100a8, S100a9, and Mmp8 and had high maturation, aggregation, and TLR4 binding scores. There was also an increase in the Neu6 cluster of immature neutrophils, whereas neutrophil clusters expressing IFN-stimulated genes were decreased. An unsupervised trajectory analysis showed that Neu4 represented a distinct lineage in Apoa1-/- mice. LPS+HDM-challenged Apoa1-/- mice also had an increased proportion of recruited airspace macrophages, which was associated with a reciprocal reduction in resident airspace macrophages. Increased expression of a common set of proinflammatory genes, S100a8, S100a9, and Lcn2, was present in all neutrophils and airspace macrophages from LPS+HDM-challenged Apoa1-/- mice. These findings show that Apoa1-/- mice have increases in specific neutrophil and macrophage clusters in the lung during acute inflammation mediated by LPS+HDM, as well as enhanced expression of a common set of proinflammatory genes. This suggests that modifications in neutrophil and macrophage heterogeneity contribute to the mechanism by which apolipoprotein A-I attenuates acute airway inflammation.

A rare case of metastatic malignant phyllodes tumor with osteosarcomatous differentiation presenting with intestinal obstruction.

Phyllodes tumors (PTs) are uncommon biphasic breast neoplasms constituting 0.5 to 1.0% of all breast tumors. Malignant PTs form a very small proportion of these and may metastasize, especially to the lungs and bones. Aggression and metastatic potential are accentuated in tumors exhibiting heterologous differentiation. Metastases to the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) have seldom been reported and are often confined to a segment of the digestive tract. In the absence of relevant clinical history, such patients presenting with gastrointestinal symptoms can lead to diagnostic perplexities. We report a unique case of a malignant PT with extensive osteosarcomatous differentiation and widespread metastases to the GIT.

Anticancer acumens of three Annona species: a proportional review.

INTRODUCTION: Cumulative pattern of cancer could be seen in day-to-day life with each passing year and, it is becoming a great matter of concern especially to the scientific community worldwide. Alternative treatment methods for various types of cancer are in place and, being continuously worked out. Plant-derived natural substances have shown great results in combating cancer in comparison to chemo and radiotherapies which are toxic besides having serious side effects. In continuation, Annona species, native to America, Africa, Asia and Australia have been used in folk medicines and, are reported to have many anti-carcinogenic substances. METHODS: For a prudent understanding of Annona species against various cancers, comparative investigation and analysis of three species viz., A. cherimola, A. muricata, and A. squamosa was undertaken through a detailed review of the in-attendance subject. The major scientific biomedical literature databases were consulted and the information available from 2011 until January 2021 was taken into account. RESULTS: Studies on anti-cancer activities along with the thorough analysis of the findings and the pieces of evidence supporting their anti-proliferative, apoptosis, G1 cell cycle arrest and cytotoxic effects are described. A. muricata displayed maximum number of anti-cancer activities being revealed by most of its parts with the lowest IC50 values against various cancer cell lines compared to A. cherimola and A. squamosa. On account of the findings, it is advocated that, further detailed studies on anti-cancer explorations of Annona species could be proved fruitful in paving new and innovative methodologies for novel anti-cancer drug discovery and development.

MicroRNA Identification, Target Prediction, and Validation for Crop Improvement.

Micro-RNAs (mi-RNAs) are regulatory elements that play a vital role in the growth, development, and metabolic regulation of plants. In current research, the isolation of miRNAs is a tedious and difficult task using in vitro methods. However, recent exploration into the remarkably highly conserved nature of nucleotide sequences of miRNAs assists in the identification of miRNAs in plant species through homologous approaches. Here, we describe the in silico-based method for identification of miRNAs from the EST database which is emerging as a faster and more reliable approach along with the development of miRNA-SSR markers. This approach has the potential to accelerate research into the regulation of gene expression in various plant species such as tea, potato, tomato, tobacco, and orphan crops like cluster bean.

NF kappa B regulator Bcl3 controls development and function of classical dendritic cells required for resistance to Toxoplasma gondii.

The atypical IκB family member Bcl3 associates with p50/NF-κB1 or p52/NF-κB2 homodimers in the nucleus, and positively or negatively modulates transcription in a context-dependent manner. In mice lacking Bcl3 globally or specifically in CD11c+ cells, we previously reported that Toxoplasma gondii infection is uniformly fatal and is associated with an impaired Th1 immune response. Since Bcl3 expression in dendritic cells (DC) is pivotal for antigen presentation and since classical DCs (cDC) are major antigen presenting cells, we investigated the role of Bcl3 specifically in cDCs in vivo by crossing Zbtb46 cre mice with Bcl3flx/flx mice. Bcl3flx/flx Zbtb46 cre mice were as susceptible to lethal T. gondii infection as total Bcl3-/- mice and generated poor Th1 immune responses. Consistent with this, compared to wildtype controls, splenic Xcr1+ Bcl3-deficient cDC1 cells were defective in presenting Ova antigen to OT-I cells both for Ova257-264 peptide and after infection with Ovalbumin-expressing T. gondii. Moreover, splenic CD4+ and CD8+ T cells from infected Bcl3flx/flx Zbtb46 cre mice exhibited decreased T. gondii-specific priming as revealed by both reduced cytokine production and reduced T. gondii-specific tetramer staining. In vitro differentiation of cDCs from bone marrow progenitors also revealed Bcl3-dependent cDC-specific antigen-presentation activity. Consistent with this, splenocyte single cell RNA seq (scRNAseq) in infected mice revealed Bcl3-dependent expression of genes involved in antigen processing in cDCs. We also identified by scRNAseq, a unique Bcl3-dependent hybrid subpopulation of Zbtb46+ DCs co-expressing the monocyte/macrophage transcription factor Lysozyme M. This subpopulation exhibited Bcl3-dependent expansion after infection. Likewise, by flow cytometry we identified two T. gondii-induced hybrid subpopulations of Bcl3-dependent cDC1 and cDC2 cells both expressing monocyte/macrophage markers, designated as icDC1 and icDC2. Together, our results indicate that Bcl3 in classical DCs is a major determinant of protective T cell responses and survival in T. gondii-infection.

In silico Identification of miRNAs and Their Targets in Cluster Bean for Their Role in Development and Physiological Responses.

Cluster bean popularly known as "guar" is a drought-tolerant, annual legume that has recently emerged as an economically important crop, owing to its high protein and gum content. The guar gum has wide range of applications in food, pharma, and mining industries. India is the leading exporter of various cluster bean-based products all across the globe. Non-coding RNAs (miRNAs) are involved in regulating the expression of the target genes leading to variations in the associated pathways or final protein concentrations. The understanding of miRNAs and their associated targets in cluster bean is yet to be used to its full potential. In the present study, cluster bean EST (Expressed Sequence Tags) database was exploited to identify the miRNA and their predicted targets associated with metabolic and biological processes especially response to diverse biotic and abiotic stimuli using in silico approach. Computational analysis based on cluster bean ESTs led to the identification of 57 miRNAs along with their targets. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on identification of miRNAs and their targets using ESTs in cluster bean. The miRNA related to gum metabolism was also identified. Most abundant miRNA families predicted in our study were miR156, miR172, and miR2606. The length of most of the mature miRNAs was found to be 21nt long and the range of minimal folding energy (MFE) was 5.8-177.3 (-kcal/mol) with an average value of 25.4 (-kcal/mol). The identification of cluster bean miRNAs and their targets is predicted to hasten the miRNA discovery, resulting in better knowledge of the role of miRNAs in cluster bean development, physiology, and stress responses.

Isolation and propagation of classical swine fever virus in porcine Wharton's Jelly mesenchymal stem cells.

Classical Swine Fever (CSF) is an extremely infectious and deadly disease of pigs and wild boars caused by the CSF virus (CSFV) which is a member of the Pestivirus genus and the family Flaviviridae. This study was designed to detect the permissibility and replication of CSFV in mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) monolayer derived from Porcine Wharton's jelly. Porcine Wharton's jelly MSCs (pWJ-MSCs) were ex vivo expanded and propagated for more than 81 generations and third passage pWJ-MSCs were characterized as per standard criteria i.e., growth characteristics, trilineage differentiation potential and molecular characterization for pluripotency and stem cell surface markers. Porcine WJ tissue samples found negative for CSFV by RT-PCR test were processed further for the isolation of pWJ-MSCs and CSFV was propagated over the characterized pWJ-MSCs monolayer. No cytopathic effect was observed, which was consistent with non-cytopathic nature of CSFV. The replication of CSFV in pWJ-MSCs was affirmed by RT-PCR and demonstration of viral antigen in the cytoplasm of virus infected cells by immuno-staining technique. In total, three different CSFV isolates were propagated in pWJ-MSCs. Primary pWJ-MSCs permitted CSFV replication to good titer. To the best of our information, this is the first ever report of isolation of CSFV in pWJ-MSCs.

Promising versions of a commercial pearl millet hybrid for terminal drought tolerance identified through MAS.

Extreme climatic conditions like drought are a major threat to global food production. Terminal drought stress causes severe yield losses in pearl millet. Development of climate-resilient varieties/hybrids can minimize the yield losses to the farmers caused due to climatic extremes. In the present study, marker-assisted selection (MAS) was employed with an aim to develop improved version of HHB 226 by introgression of QTLs for terminal drought stress tolerance into the male parent of the hybrid (HBL 11). HBL 11 (recurrent parent) was crossed with PRLT 2 (donor) to develop F1 and backcrossed four times to raise BC4F1 and further selfed twice to raise BC4F3. Four polymorphic SSR markers were used to track the QTL introgressed lines in each subsequent generation until BC4F2. The recurrent parent genome recovery was assessed using 25 polymorphic SSRs. Morpho-physiological analysis of BC4F3 generation at field-level under terminal drought stress conditions showed that the QTL introgressed lines showed higher, grain yield, 1000-seed weight, relative water content (%), and lower electrolyte leakage (%) than the recurrent parent. Line number 63 performed best with all the four foreground markers, 97.20% recurrent parent genome recovery, 7.27 g 1000-seed weight, 73.27% relative water content, 65.06% electrolyte leakage, 0.58 (fv/fm) chlorophyll fluorescence, and 53.25 g grain yield per plant. Finally, the Improved version of HHB 226 was developed by using the Improved HBL 11 developed through MAS. Besides this, HBL 11 is the male parent of other commercial hybrids like HHB 223 and HHB 197 as well making Improved HBL 11 an asset to improve these pearl millet hybrids.

High-Throughput Phenotyping: A Platform to Accelerate Crop Improvement.

Development of high-throughput phenotyping technologies has progressed considerably in the last 10 years. These technologies provide precise measurements of desired traits among thousands of field-grown plants under diversified environments; this is a critical step towards selection of better performing lines as to yield, disease resistance, and stress tolerance to accelerate crop improvement programs. High-throughput phenotyping techniques and platforms help unraveling the genetic basis of complex traits associated with plant growth and development and targeted traits. This review focuses on the advancements in technologies involved in high-throughput, field-based, aerial, and unmanned platforms. Development of user-friendly data management tools and softwares to better understand phenotyping will increase the use of field-based high-throughput techniques, which have potential to revolutionize breeding strategies and meet the future needs of stakeholders.

Immune-Boosting, Antioxidant and Anti-inflammatory Food Supplements Targeting Pathogenesis of COVID-19.

The COVID-19 is an acute and contagious disease characterized by pneumonia and ARDS. The disease is caused by SARS-CoV-2, which belongs to the family of Coronaviridae along with MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV-1. The virus has the positive-sense RNA as its genome encoding for ~26 proteins that work together for the virus survival, replication, and spread in the host. The virus gets transmitted through the contact of aerosol droplets from infected persons. The pathogenesis of COVID-19 is highly complex and involves suppression of host antiviral and innate immune response, induction of oxidative stress followed by hyper inflammation described as the "cytokine storm," causing the acute lung injury, tissue fibrosis, and pneumonia. Currently, several vaccines and drugs are being evaluated for their efficacy, safety, and for determination of doses for COVID-19 and this requires considerable time for their validation. Therefore, exploring the repurposing of natural compounds may provide alternatives against COVID-19. Several nutraceuticals have a proven ability of immune-boosting, antiviral, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory effects. These include Zn, vitamin D, vitamin C, curcumin, cinnamaldehyde, probiotics, selenium, lactoferrin, quercetin, etc. Grouping some of these phytonutrients in the right combination in the form of a food supplement may help to boost the immune system, prevent virus spread, preclude the disease progression to severe stage, and further suppress the hyper inflammation providing both prophylactic and therapeutic support against COVID-19.

The population of oomycetes in a recycled irrigation water system at a horticultural nursery in southern California.

Recapture and recycling of irrigation water is often required to meet enormous water demands at horticultural nurseries. We tested four water types associated with a recycled irrigation system at a commercial container nursery in southern California for presence of oomycete plant pathogens from July 2015 to December 2017. These water types included: the main source of water originating from a reservoir, retention water from an on-site collection pond, irrigation water received by different growing areas within the nursery, and irrigation runoff captured in polyethylene sheet-lined runoff channels. The genera Phytophthora, Pythium, and Phytopythium together contributed more than 85% of the total oomycete population detected in the recycled irrigation system. The Phytophthora and Pythium genera were represented by member species from nine (1-4, 6-10) and eight (A, B, D-F, H-J) different sub-generic clades, respectively. Incoming water sourced from the reservoir was found to harbor known plant pathogens such as Phytophthora citricola-complex, P. capsici-cluster, P. tropicalis,P citrophthora-cluster, P. nemorosa-cluster, P. riparia, P. cryptogea-complex, P. parsiana-cluster, P. sp. nov. aff. kernoviae, Pythium dissotocum-complex, Py. oligandrum-cluster, Py. irregulare, and Phytopythium litorale. Runoff water showed the highest oomycete species richness and frequency of detection with both filtration and leaf baiting methods. In addition to plant pathogens, oomycete fish pathogens such as Aphanomyces laevis, Pythium chondricola-complex, Pythium flevoense-complex, and Saprolegnia diclina-complex were also detected in greater abundance in the recycled irrigation water. The oomycete species richness in the runoff water was correlated with several environmental parameters such as soil temperature. Greater oomycete richness in incoming water was associated with higher soil temperatures, whereas richness in runoff declines with increasing soil temperature, likely suggesting connections to weather-dependent nursery operations.

Genetic interactions regulating seed phytate and oligosaccharides in soybean (Glycine max L.).

Two low-phytate soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) mutant lines- V99-5089 (mips mutation on chromosome 11) and CX-1834 (mrp-l and mrp-n mutations on chromosomes 19 and 3, respectively) have proven to be valuable resources for breeding of low-phytate, high-sucrose, and low-raffinosaccharide soybeans, traits that are highly desirable from a nutritional and environmental standpoint. A recombinant inbred population derived from the cross CX1834 x V99-5089 provides an opportunity to study the effect of different combinations of these three mutations on soybean phytate and oligosaccharides levels. Of the 173 recombinant inbred lines tested, 163 lines were homozygous for various combinations of MIPS and two MRP loci alleles. These individuals were grouped into eight genotypic classes based on the combination of SNP alleles at the three mutant loci. The two genotypic classes that were homozygous mrp-l/mrp-n and either homozygous wild-type or mutant at the mips locus (MIPS/mrp-l/mrp-n or mips/mrp-l/mrp-n) displayed relatively similar ~55% reductions in seed phytate, 6.94 mg g -1 and 6.70 mg g-1 respectively, as compared with 15.2 mg g-1 in the wild-type MIPS/MRP-L/MRP-N seed. Therefore, in the presence of the double mutant mrp-l/mrp-n, the mips mutation did not cause a substantially greater decrease in seed phytate level. However, the nutritionally-desirable high-sucrose/low-stachyose/low-raffinose seed phenotype originally observed in soybeans homozygous for the mips allele was reversed in the presence of mrp-l/mrp-n mutations: homozygous mips/mrp-l/mrp-n seed displayed low-sucrose (7.70%), high-stachyose (4.18%), and the highest observed raffinose (0.94%) contents per gram of dry seed. Perhaps the block in phytic acid transport from its cytoplasmic synthesis site to its storage site, conditioned by mrp-l/mrp-n, alters myo-inositol flux in mips seeds in a way that restores to wild-type levels the mips conditioned reductions in raffinosaccharides. Overall this study determined the combinatorial effects of three low phytic acid causing mutations on regulation of seed phytate and oligosaccharides in soybean.

A transcriptional regulatory network of Rsv3-mediated extreme resistance against Soybean mosaic virus.

Resistance genes are an effective means for disease control in plants. They predominantly function by inducing a hypersensitive reaction, which results in localized cell death restricting pathogen spread. Some resistance genes elicit an atypical response, termed extreme resistance, where resistance is not associated with a hypersensitive reaction and its standard defense responses. Unlike hypersensitive reaction, the molecular regulatory mechanism(s) underlying extreme resistance is largely unexplored. One of the few known, naturally occurring, instances of extreme resistance is resistance derived from the soybean Rsv3 gene, which confers resistance against the most virulent Soybean mosaic virus strains. To discern the regulatory mechanism underlying Rsv3-mediated extreme resistance, we generated a gene regulatory network using transcriptomic data from time course comparisons of Soybean mosaic virus-G7-inoculated resistant (L29, Rsv3-genotype) and susceptible (Williams82, rsv3-genotype) soybean cultivars. Our results show Rsv3 begins mounting a defense by 6 hpi via a complex phytohormone network, where abscisic acid, cytokinin, jasmonic acid, and salicylic acid pathways are suppressed. We identified putative regulatory interactions between transcription factors and genes in phytohormone regulatory pathways, which is consistent with the demonstrated involvement of these pathways in Rsv3-mediated resistance. One such transcription factor identified as a putative transcriptional regulator was MYC2 encoded by Glyma.07G051500. Known as a master regulator of abscisic acid and jasmonic acid signaling, MYC2 specifically recognizes the G-box motif ("CACGTG"), which was significantly enriched in our data among differentially expressed genes implicated in abscisic acid- and jasmonic acid-related activities. This suggests an important role for Glyma.07G051500 in abscisic acid- and jasmonic acid-derived defense signaling in Rsv3. Resultantly, the findings from our network offer insights into genes and biological pathways underlying the molecular defense mechanism of Rsv3-mediated extreme resistance against Soybean mosaic virus. The computational pipeline used to reconstruct the gene regulatory network in this study is freely available at https://github.com/LiLabAtVT/rsv3-network.

Evaluating stripe rust resistance in Indian wheat genotypes and breeding lines using molecular markers.

Stripe rust (yellow rust), caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst), is a serious disease of wheat worldwide, including India. Growing resistant cultivars is the most cost-effective and eco-friendly approach to manage the disease. In this study, 70 publically available molecular markers were used to identify the distribution of 35 Yr genes in 68 wheat genotypes. Out of 35 Yr genes, 25 genes amplified the loci associated with Yr genes. Of the 35, 18 were all-stage resistance ASR (All-stage resistance) genes and 7 (Yr16, Yr18, Yr29, Yr30, Yr36, Yr46 &Yr59) were APR (Adult-plant resistance) genes. In the field tests, evaluation for stripe rust was carried out under artificial inoculation of Pst. Fifty-three wheat genotypes were found resistant to yellow rust (ITs 0), accounting for 77.94% of total entries. Coefficients of infection ranged from 0 to 60 among all wheat genotypes. Two genotypes (VL 1099 & VL 3002) were identified with maximum 15 Yr genes followed by 14 genes in VL 3010 and HI8759, respectively. Maximum number of all-stage resistance genes were identified in RKD 292 (11) followed by ten genes in DBW 216, WH 1184 and VL 3002. Maximum number of adult-plant resistance gene was identified in VL 3009 (6), HI 8759 (5) and Lassik (4) respectively. Genes Yr26 (69.2%), Yr2 (69.1%), Yr64 (61.7%), Yr24 (58.9%), Yr7 (52.9%), Yr10 (50%) and Yr 48 (48.5%) showed high frequency among selected wheat genotypes, while Yr9 (2.94%), Yr36 (2.94%), Yr60 (1.47%) and Yr32 (8.8%) were least frequent in wheat genotypes. In future breeding programs, race specific genes and non-race specific genes should be utilised to pyramid with other effective genes to develop improved wheat cultivars with high-level and durable resistance to stripe rust. Proper deployment of Yr genes and utilizing the positive interactions will be helpful for resistance breeding in wheat.

SRAPs and EST-SSRs provide useful molecular diversity for targeting drought and salinity tolerance in Indian mustard.

Abiotic stress tolerance is one of the target trait in crop breeding under climate change scenario. Selection of suitable gene pools among available germplasm is first requisite for any crop improvement programme. Drought and salinity traits, being polygenic, are most difficult to target. The present investigation aimed at exploring and assessment of the genetic variability in Indian mustard at molecular level. A total of twenty-five genotypes and five related species were used. Sixty-three molecular markers including sequence related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) markers along with twenty-three expressed sequence tag-simple sequence repeats (EST-SSRs) were used for diversity analysis. Thirty-seven SRAPs and 18 EST-SSRs showed amplification producing a total of 423 alleles of which 422 were polymorphic. These markers gave an overall polymorphism of 99.78%, with 99.67% polymorphism in SRAPs and 100% polymorphism in EST-SSRs. The study revealed the genetic relationships among different genotypes of B. juncea and related species which could be used for Indian mustard improvement for targeting drought and salinity tolerance in future. Four SRAP and two EST-SSRs identified unique bands which may be related to abiotic stress tolerance. EST sequence BRMS-040 (IM7) was similar to Brassica and radish sequences related to PR-5 (pathogenesis-related) protein.

Molecular breeding of ameliorating commercial pearl millet hybrid for downy mildew resistance.

Downy mildew (DM) caused by Sclerospora graminicola is the most calamitous disease of pearl millet. Therefore, for introgression of DM resistance (DMR) in HHB 197 (MH-1302), an elite pearl millet hybrid, a marker-assisted breeding was undertaken by targeting three DMR loci on linkage groups (LGs) 1, 2 and 4. Breeding programme was initiated by crossing HBL 11 (DM susceptible), male parent of HHB 197 hybrid with ICMP 451 (DM-resistant) to produce true F1 plants. By conducting three rounds of backcrossing and selection, BC3F1 lines were generated. Foreground selection was employed using six polymorphic simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers of the 18 total selected markers. Four of these markers were linked to LG 1, five to LG 2 and nine to LG 4. Background selection was performed in BC3F1 generation using 33 polymorphic SSR markers of a total of 56 evenly spread SSR markers in the pearl millet genome to check recovery of recurrent parent genome. On the basis of genotypic selection (foreground as well as background) using selected SSR markers, agronomic performance in field and DM screening in greenhouse; 10 improved HBL 11 lines were selected and crossed with ICMA 97111 to produce DM-resistant HHB 197 hybrid versions. Six putatively improved HHB 197 hybrids were successfully tested in first year trials at Hisar and Bawal locations of Haryana and two selected versions with higher yield and zero DM incidence will be further tested in multilocation trials.

Nanotechnology based approaches for detection and delivery of microRNA in healthcare and crop protection.

Nanobiotechnology has the potential to revolutionize diverse sectors including medicine, agriculture, food, textile and pharmaceuticals. Disease diagnostics, therapeutics and crop protection strategies are fast emerging using nanomaterials preferably nanobiomaterials. It has potential for development of novel nanobiomolecules which offer several advantages over conventional treatment methods. RNA nanoparticles with many unique features are promising candidates in disease treatment. The miRNAs are involved in many biochemical and developmental pathways and their regulation in plants and animals. These appear to be a powerful tool for controlling various pathological diseases in human, plants and animals, however there are challenges associated with miRNA based nanotechnology. Several advancements made in the field of miRNA therapeutics make it an attractive approach, but a lot more has to be explored in nanotechnology assisted miRNA therapy. The miRNA based technologies can be employed for detection and combating crop diseases as well. Despite these potential advantages, nanobiotechnology applications in the agricultural sector are still in its infancy and have not yet made its mark in comparison with healthcare sector. The review provides a platform to discuss nature, role and use of miRNAs in nanobiotechnology applications.

High Quality Unigenes and Microsatellite Markers from Tissue Specific Transcriptome and Development of a Database in Clusterbean (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba, L. Taub).

Clusterbean (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba L. Taub), is an important industrial, vegetable and forage crop. This crop owes its commercial importance to the presence of guar gum (galactomannans) in its endosperm which is used as a lubricant in a range of industries. Despite its relevance to agriculture and industry, genomic resources available in this crop are limited. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to generate RNA-Seq based transcriptome from leaf, shoot, and flower tissues. A total of 145 million high quality Illumina reads were assembled using Trinity into 127,706 transcripts and 48,007 non-redundant high quality (HQ) unigenes. We annotated 79% unigenes against Plant Genes from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), Swiss-Prot, Pfam, gene ontology (GO) and KEGG databases. Among the annotated unigenes, 30,020 were assigned with 116,964 GO terms, 9984 with EC and 6111 with 137 KEGG pathways. At different fragments per kilobase of transcript per millions fragments sequenced (FPKM) levels, genes were found expressed higher in flower tissue followed by shoot and leaf. Additionally, we identified 8687 potential simple sequence repeats (SSRs) with an average frequency of one SSR per 8.75 kb. A total of 28 amplified SSRs in 21 clusterbean genotypes resulted in polymorphism in 13 markers with average polymorphic information content (PIC) of 0.21. We also constructed a database named 'ClustergeneDB' for easy retrieval of unigenes and the microsatellite markers. The tissue specific genes identified and the molecular marker resources developed in this study is expected to aid in genetic improvement of clusterbean for its end use.

Procrastination among basic science undergraduate medical students in a Caribbean medical school.

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. PURPOSE: The study was conducted to study procrastination behavior among basic science undergraduate medical students using the previously validated procrastination assessment scale students (PASS). Frequency of and reasons for procrastination were compared among different subgroups of respondents. METHODS: The study was conducted during the first two weeks of February 2017 using PASS. Gender, nationality and semester of study of the respondents were noted. PASS explores areas of and frequency of procrastination, reasons for procrastination and interest in changing the behavior. The frequency of procrastination, fear of failure, risk aversiveness, laziness and rebellion against control scores were compared among different subgroups using appropriate statistical tests. RESULTS: A total of 107 students (84.9%) participated in the study. The mean frequency of procrastination score was 32.9 (maximum score 60). The score was significantly correlated with the respondents' gender. With regard to the percentage of students who nearly always or always procrastinated on a task, the percentages with regard to completing assignments, studying for exams, completing reading assignments, academic administrative tasks, attendance tasks and school activities in general were 25.2, 19.7, 25.2, 19.6, 18.7 and 17.7. The mean score for 'fear of failure' and 'aversiveness of task' as described by Solomon and Rothblum was 2.29 and 2.83. The mean scores for fear of failure, risk taking, and laziness were 26.17, 13.76 and 14.32. The median rebellion against control score was 6. Risk taking score was higher among respondents of other nationalities compared to Americans. CONCLUSIONS: Procrastination was regarded as a greater problem with regard to studying for exams and completing reading assignments and preparing for problem-based learning sessions. Only 42% of students were interested in attending a program to overcome procrastination. Similar studies among students during the clinical years are required. A study correlating self-reported procrastination with behavior can be carried out. Procrastination can also be studied in other offshore, Caribbean medical schools.

Genome-wide transcriptome analyses of developing seeds from low and normal phytic acid soybean lines.

BACKGROUND: Low phytic acid (lpa) crops are potentially eco-friendly alternative to conventional normal phytic acid (PA) crops, improving mineral bioavailability in monogastric animals as well as decreasing phosphate pollution. The lpa crops developed to date carry mutations that are directly or indirectly associated with PA biosynthesis and accumulation during seed development. These lpa crops typically exhibit altered carbohydrate profiles, increased free phosphate, and lower seedling emergence, the latter of which reduces overall crop yield, hence limiting their large-scale cultivation. Improving lpa crop yield requires an understanding of the downstream effects of the lpa genotype on seed development. Towards that end, we present a comprehensive comparison of gene-expression profiles between lpa and normal PA soybean lines (Glycine max) at five stages of seed development using RNA-Seq approaches. The lpa line used in this study carries single point mutations in a myo-inositol phosphate synthase gene along with two multidrug-resistance protein ABC transporter genes. RESULTS: RNA sequencing data of lpa and normal PA soybean lines from five seed-developmental stages (total of 30 libraries) were used for differential expression and functional enrichment analyses. A total of 4235 differentially expressed genes, including 512-transcription factor genes were identified. Eighteen biological processes such as apoptosis, glucan metabolism, cellular transport, photosynthesis and 9 transcription factor families including WRKY, CAMTA3 and SNF2 were enriched during seed development. Genes associated with apoptosis, glucan metabolism, and cellular transport showed enhanced expression in early stages of lpa seed development, while those associated with photosynthesis showed decreased expression in late developmental stages. The results suggest that lpa-causing mutations play a role in inducing and suppressing plant defense responses during early and late stages of seed development, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides a global perspective of transcriptomal changes during soybean seed development in an lpa mutant. The mutants are characterized by earlier expression of genes associated with cell wall biosynthesis and a decrease in photosynthetic genes in late stages. The biological processes and transcription factors identified in this study are signatures of lpa-causing mutations.