Superior Haplotypes for Early Root Vigor Traits in Rice Under Dry Direct Seeded Low Nitrogen Condition Through Genome Wide Association Mapping.

Water and land resources have been aggressively exploited in the recent decades to meet the growing demands for food. The changing climate has prompted rice scientists and farmers of the tropics and subtropics to adopt the direct seeded rice (DSR) system. DSR system of rice cultivation significantly reduces freshwater consumption and labor requirements, while increasing system productivity, resource use efficiency, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Early root vigor is an essential trait required in an ideal DSR system of rice cultivation to ensure a good crop stand, adequate uptake of water, nutrients and compete with weeds. The aus subpopulation which is adapted for DSR was evaluated to understand the biology of early root growth under limited nitrogen conditions over two seasons under two-time points (14 and 28 days). The correlation study identified a positive association between shoot dry weight and root dry weight. The genome-wide association study was conducted on root traits of 14 and 28 days with 2 million single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) using an efficient mixed model. QTLs over a significant threshold of p < 0.0001 and a 10% false discovery rate were selected to identify genes involved in root growth related to root architecture and nutrient acquisition from 97 QTLs. Candidate genes under these QTLs were explored. On chromosome 4, around 30 Mbp are two important peptide transporters (PTR5 and PTR6) involved in mobilizing nitrogen in the root during the early vegetative stage. In addition, several P transporters and expansin genes with superior haplotypes are discussed. A novel QTL from 21.12 to 21.46 Mb on chromosome 7 with two linkage disequilibrium (LD) blocks governing root length at 14 days were identified. The QTLs/candidate genes with superior haplotype for early root vigor reported here could be explored further to develop genotypes for DSR conditions.

Bone morphogenetic proteins: Signaling periodontal bone regeneration and repair.

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are a group of growth factors also known as cytokines and as metabologens. Originally discovered by their ability to induce the formation of bone and cartilage, BMPs are now considered to constitute a group of pivotal morphogenetic signals, orchestrating tissue architecture throughout the body. The important functioning of BMP signals in physiology is emphasized by the multitude of roles for dysregulated BMP signaling in pathological processes. A study done wherein it was found that protein extracts from bone implanted into the animals at nonbone sites induced the formation of new cartilage and bone tissue. This protein extract contained multiple factors that stimulated bone formation and was termed as "BMP." There are at least 15 different BMPs identified to date and are a part of the transforming growth factor-ß super family. The most widely studied BMPs are BMP-2, BMP-3 (osteogenin), BMP-4, and BMP-7 (osteogenic protein-1). Now, any recombination type of morphogenic proteins have been synthesized, for example - recombinant human BMPs.

Comparative evaluation of shear bond strength of two different chairside soft liners to heat processed acrylic denture base resin: An in vitro study.

BACKGROUND: Chairside softliners are used more frequently than is reported and studies regarding the bond strength of chairside softliners to heat-polymerized denture base resin are few and limited. Hence, this study was conducted to comparatively evaluate the shear bond strength of two chairside soft relining materials viz., autopolymerizing plasticized acrylic resin liner and a silicone-based liner bonded to heat polymerized polymethyl methacrylate denture base resin and to analyze the mode of interfacial bond failure. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty test specimens (n = 40) were prepared by bonding plasticized acrylic- and silicone-based soft liner to heat polymerized acrylic resin blocks. Twenty specimens, ten from each group, were subjected to thermal cycling and later to shear bond strength testing. The debonded specimens were then qualitatively analyzed for the mode of failure using scanning electron microscopy. The results obtained were tabulated and statistically analyzed. RESULTS: The mean shear bond strength values obtained for acrylic-based soft liner before and after thermal cycling were 0.3365 ± 0.025 MPa and 0.3164 ± 0.04 MPa, respectively. The mean shear bond strength values obtained for silicone-based soft liner before and after thermal cycling were 0.4159 ± 0.025 MPa and 0.4335 ± 0.02 MPa, respectively. Silicone-based soft liner showed higher shear bond strength than the acrylic-based both before and after thermal cycling (P = 0.0001). Scanning electron microscopy analysis showed a predominantly mixed mode of failure with silicone-based liner and predominantly adhesive mode of failure with acrylic-based soft liner. CONCLUSION: The silicone-based soft liner showed higher shear bond strength to heat polymerized acrylic resin than acrylic-based soft liner both before and after thermal cycling.