He-Ne Laser Seed Treatment Improves the Nutraceutical Metabolic Pool of Sunflowers and Provides Better Tolerance Against Water Deficit

Water-scarce areas are continually increasing worldwide. This factor reduces the quantity and quality of crops produced in affected areas. Physical seed treatments are considered economical and ecofriendly solutions for such problems. It was hypothesized that a moderately drought-tolerant crop grown from seeds treated with a He-Ne laser utilizes water-limited conditions better than plants grown from untreated seeds. A field study was conducted, growing a moderately drought tolerant crop (sunflower) with supportive seed treatment (He-Ne laser treatment at 300 mJ) for 0, 1, 2, and 3 min. Thirty-day-old plants were subjected to two irrigation conditions: 100% (normal) and 50% (water stress). Harvesting was done at flowering (60-day-old plants) at full maturity. The sunflowers maintained growth and yield under water limitation with a reduced achene number. At 50%, irrigation, there was a reduction in chlorophyll a, a+b and a/b; catalase activity; soluble sugars; and anthocyanin, alongside elevated proline. The improved chlorophyll a, a+b and a/b; metabolisable energy; nutritional value; and yield in the plants grown from He-Ne-laser-treated seeds support our hypothesis. Seeds with 2-min exposure to a He-Ne laser performed best regarding leaf area; leaf number; leaf biomass; chlorophyll a, a+b and a/b; per cent oil yield; 50-achene weight; achene weight per plant; carotenoid content; and total soluble phenolic compound content. Thereafter, the leaves from the best performing level of treatment (2 min) were subjected to high-performance-liquid-chromatography-based phenolic profiling and gas-chromatography-based fatty acid profiling of the oil yield. The He-Ne laser treatment led to the accumulation of nutraceutical phenolic compounds and improved the unsaturated-to-saturated fatty acid ratio of the oil. In conclusion, 2-min He-Ne laser seed treatment could be the best strategy to improve the yield and nutritional value of sunflowers grown in water-limited areas.

Early onset necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in premature twins

Twin infants born at 34 week gestation had frank blood in stools on day three of life on mixed feeds of formula and maternal breast milk. Sepsis work up was negative in these relatively well appearing infants with pneumatosis in the colon on abdominal x-ray. Blood in stools recurred on reintroduction of breast milk in Twin A. Both infants recovered from episodes of bloody stools on amino-acid based formula and were thriving at discharge. Early necrotizing enterocolitis in both twins is rare and has not been reported. Cow's milk protein sensitivity, possibly from in-utero sensitization, could explain non-infectious colitis in these twins, precipitated by formula or breast milk after birth.

Efficacy of differently applied tyrosine and tryptophan for modulation of phenolic metabolism in Trachyspermum ammi (L.) sprague seedlings

Phenolics are pharmaceutically important molecules. Tyrosine and tryptophan are precursors of phenolic metabolism. It was aimed to investigate the potential of exogenously introduced precursors on the phenolic contents in Trachyspermum ammi (L.) Sprague seedlings. The seeds of two local varieties (Chakwal and Desi) were grown in completely randomized design in a growth chamber at 19 ± 2°C with two amino acids (tyrosine and tryptophan) applied (priming and supplementation in rooting medium) at two treatment levels (0, and 1%). Ten days old seedlings were harvested and subjected for growth (root and shoot length, fresh weight and dry weight) and phenolic estimation was done by HPLC method. Presence of seven phenolic acids including quercitin, chromatotropic acid, gallic acid, chlorogenic acid, sinnapic acid, trans 4 hydroxy 3 methoxy cinamic acid and P-courmeric acid was confirmed in both varieties with dissimilar fraction. Poor growth was observed by "Desi" under controlled conditions that were efficiently enhanced by tyrosine and tryptophan treatments. As precursors both amino acids differed for allosteric regulation of the pathway. That varied from application to application and variety to variety too for a pattern of phenolic accumulation. In conclusion, tyrosine and tryptophan application can be useful for farmers for improved growth of T. ammi and for pharmaceutical scientists to modulate metabolites of interest.