Temperature Ramp Strategy for Regulating Oxygen Vacancies in NiCo2O4 Nanoneedles Towards Enhanced Electrocatalytic Water Splitting

The oxide-based systems often suffer from higher overpotentials compared to transition metal sulphides and phosphides for the electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction. Interestingly, the generation of oxygen vacancy has been seen as strategy for further activating transition metal oxides (NiCo2O4 as a model system) for electrochemical watersplitting. Herein, we employ the temperature ramp strategy (ambient air calcination) for the generation of oxygen vacancies in NiCo2O4 (NCO) towards tuning of electrocatalytic enhancements. The NiCo2O4 synthesized at temperature ramp rates of 2 (NCO-2), 5 (NCO-5), and 10ºC/ min (NCO-10) depicts contrasting structural features and varying Ni:Co:O surface composition. The decrease in the crystallite size and converse trend in the particle strain were observed from NCO-2 to NCO-10. Interestingly, the surface Ni:Co:O ratios of 1:0.78:3.6, 1:0.81:3.3, and 1:0.69:2.8 for NCO-2, NCO-5, and NCO-10, respectively, were observed. The reduced relative oxygen ratio in the latter implies generation of  ample amount of oxygen vacancy defects. HER performance depicts a consistent trend with enhanced oxygen defect concentration with the overpotential requirement of 700, 647, and 597 mV for NCO-2, NCO-5, and NCO-10, respectively, for the generation of a cathodic current of 25 mA cm-2. The same trend in an electrocatalytic enhancement is observed for other cathodic currents.

Transformation and expressional studies of GaZnF gene to improve drought tolerance in Gossypium hirsutum

Drought stress is the major limiting factor in plant growth and production. Cotton is a significant crop as textile fiber and oilseed, but its production is generally affected by drought stress, mainly in dry regions. This study aimed to investigate the expression of Zinc finger transcription factor's gene (GaZnF) to enhance the drought tolerance in Gossypium hirsutum. Sequence features of the GaZnF protein were recognized through different bioinformatics tools like multiple sequence alignment analysis, phylogenetic tree for evolutionary relationships, Protein motifs, a transmembrane domain, secondary structure and physio-chemical properties indicating that GaZnF is a stable protein. CIM-482, a local Gossypium hirsutum variety was transformed with GaZnF through Agrobacterium-mediated transformation method with 2.57% transformation efficiency. The integration of GaZnF was confirmed through Southern blot showing 531 bp, and Western blot indicated a 95 kDa transgene-GUS fusion band in transgenic plants. The normalized real-time expression analysis revealed the highest relative fold spatial expression of cDNA of GaZnF within leaf tissues at vegetative and flowering stages under drought stress. Morphological, physiological and biochemical parameters of transgenic cotton plants at 05- and 10-day drought stress was higher than those of non-transgenic control plants. The values of fresh and dry biomass, chlorophyll content, photosynthesis, transpiration rate, and stomatal conductance reduced in GaZnF transgenic cotton plants at 05- and 10-day drought stress, but their values were less low in transgenic plants than those of non-transgenic control plants. These findings showed that GaZnF gene expression in transgenic plants could be a valuable source for the development of drought-tolerant homozygous lines through breeding.

Drought Stress Mitigating Morphological, Physiological, Biochemical, and Molecular Responses of Guava (Psidium guajava L.) Cultivars

Guava (Psidium guajava L.), a major fruit crop of the sub-tropical region, is facing a production decline due to drought stress. Morphophysiological responses to drought stress and underlying transcriptional regulations in guava are, largely, unknown. This study evaluated the drought stress tolerance of two guava cultivars, viz. "Gola" and "Surahi," at morphological and physiological levels regulated differentially by ESTs (Expressed Sequence Tags). The treatments comprises three moisture regimes, viz. T_o = 100% (control), T₁ = 75%, and T₂ = 50% of field capacity. There was an overall decrease in both morphological and physiological attributes of studied guava cultivars in response to drought stress. Nonetheless, the water use efficiency of the "Surahi" cultivar increased (41.86%) speculating its higher drought tolerance based on enhanced peroxidase (402%) and catalase (170.21%) activities under 50% field capacity (T₂). Moreover, higher proline and flavonoid contents reinforced drought stress retaliation of the "Surahi" cultivar. The differential expression of a significant number of ESTs in "Surahi" (234) as compared to "Gola" (117) cultivar, somehow, regulated its cellular, biological, and molecular functions to strengthen morphophysiological attributes against drought stress as indicated by the upregulation of ESTs related to peroxidase, sucrose synthase (SUS), alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), and ubiquitin at morphological, biochemical, and physiological levels. In conclusion, the drought stress acclimation of pear-shaped guava cultivar "Surahi" is due to the increased activities of peroxidase (POD) and catalase (CAT) complimented by the upregulation of related ESTs.

Mutant Gossypium universal stress protein-2 (GUSP-2) gene confers resistance to various abiotic stresses in E. coli BL-21 and CIM-496-Gossypium hirsutum

Gossypium arboreum is considered a rich source of stress-responsive genes and the EST database revealed that most of its genes are uncharacterized. The full-length Gossypium universal stress protein-2 (GUSP-2) gene (510 bp) was cloned in E. coli and Gossypium hirsutum, characterized and point mutated at three positions, 352–354, Lysine to proline (M1-usp-2) & 214–216, aspartic acid to serine (M2-usp-2) & 145–147, Lysine to Threonine (M3-usp-2) to study its role in abiotic stress tolerance. It was found that heterologous expression of one mutant (M1-usp-2) provided enhanced tolerance against salt and osmotic stresses, recombinant cells have higher growth up to 10-5dilution in spot assay as compared to cells expressing W-usp-2 (wild type GUSP-2), M2-usp-2 and M3-usp-2 genes. M1-usp-2 gene transcript profiling exhibited significant expression (8.7 fold) in CIM-496-Gossypium hirsutum transgenic plants and enhance drought tolerance. However, little tolerance against heat and cold stresses in bacterial cells was observed. The results from our study concluded that the activity of GUSP-2 was enhanced in M1-usp-2 but wipe out in M2-usp-2 and M3-usp-2 response remained almost parallel to W-usp-2. Further, it was predicted through in silico analysis that M1-usp-2, W-usp-2 and M3-usp-2 may be directly involved in stress tolerance or function as a signaling molecule to activate the stress adaptive mechanism. However, further investigation will be required to ascertain its role in the adaptive mechanism of stress tolerance.

Overexpression of nicotinamidase 3 (NIC3) gene and the exogenous application of nicotinic acid (NA) enhance drought tolerance and increase biomass in Arabidopsis

Overexpressing Nicotinamidase 3 gene, and the exogenous application of its metabolite nicotinic acid (NA), enhance drought stress tolerance and increase biomass in Arabidopsis thaliana. With progressive global climatic changes, plant productivity is threatened severely by drought stress. Deciphering the molecular mechanisms regarding genes responsible for balancing plant growth and stress amelioration could imply multiple possibilities for future sustainable goals. Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) biosynthesis and recycling/ distribution is a crucial feature for plant growth. The current study focuses on the functional characterization of nicotinamidase 3 (NIC3) gene, which is involved in the biochemical conversion of nicotinamide (NAM) to nicotinic acid (NA) in the salvage pathway of NAD biosynthesis. Our data show that overexpression of NIC3 gene enhances drought stress tolerance and increases plant growth. NIC3-OX plants accumulated more NA as compared to WT plants. Moreover, the upregulation of several genes related to plant growth/stress tolerance indicates that regulating the NAD salvage pathway could significantly enhance plant growth and drought stress tolerance. The exogenous application of nicotinic acid (NA) showed a similar phenotype as the effect of overexpressing NIC3 gene. In short, we contemplated the role of NIC3 gene and NA application in drought stress tolerance and plant growth. Our results would be helpful in engineering plants with enhanced drought stress tolerance and increased growth potential.

A Comparative Study of Cytotoxicity of PPG and PEG Surface-Modified 2-D Ti3C2 MXene Flakes on Human Cancer Cells and Their Photothermal Response

The MXenes are a novel family of 2-D materials with promising biomedical activity, however, their anticancer potential is still largely unexplored. In this study, a comparative cytotoxicity investigation of Ti3C2 MXenes with polypropylene glycol (PPG), and polyethylene glycol (PEG) surface-modified 2-D Ti3C2 MXene flakes has been conducted towards normal and cancerous human cell lines. The wet chemical etching method was used to synthesize MXene followed by a simple chemical mixing method for surface modification of Ti3C2 MXene with PPG and PEG molecules. SEM and XRD analyses were performed to examine surface morphology and elemental composition, respectively. FTIR and UV-vis spectroscopy were used to confirm surface modification and light absorption, respectively. The cell lines used to study the cytotoxicity of MXene and surface-modified MXenes in this study were normal (HaCaT and MCF-10A) and cancerous (MCF-7 and A375) cells. These cell lines were also used as controls (without exposure to study material and irradiation) to measure their baseline cell viability under the same lab environment. The surface-modified MXenes exhibited a sharp reduction in cell viability towards both normal (HaCaT and MCF-10A) and cancerous (MCF-7 and A375) cells but cytotoxicity was more pronounced towards cancerous cell lines. This may be due to the difference in cell metabolism and the occurrence of high pre-existing levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) within cancerous cells. The highest toxicity towards both normal and cancerous cell lines was observed with PEGylated MXenes followed by PPGylated and bare MXenes. The normal cell's viability was barely above 70% threshold with 250 mg/L PEGylated MXene concentration whereas PPGylated and bare MXene were less toxic towards normal cells, even at 500 mg/L concentration. Moreover, the toxicity was found to be directly related to the type of cell lines. In general, the HaCaT cell line exhibited the lowest toxicity while toxicity was highest in the case of the A375 cell line. The photothermal studies revealed high photo response for PEGylated MXene followed by PPGylated and bare MXenes. However, the PPGylated MXene's lower cytotoxicity towards normal cells while comparable toxicity towards malignant cells as compared to PEGylated MXenes makes the former a relatively safe and effective anticancer agent.

Genetic modification of Gossypium arboreum universal stress protein (GUSP1) improves drought tolerance in transgenic cotton (Gossypium hirsutum)

Cotton crop suffers shortage of irrigation water at reproductive stage which reduces the yield and fibre quality. Universal stress proteins belong to Pfam00582 which enables several plants to cope with multiple stresses via ATP binding. GUSP1 (Gossypium arboreum USP) is one of such proteins; its amino acids were mutated after in silico simulations including homology modeling and molecular docking analysis. Transgenic cotton plants were developed through Agrobacterium mediated genetic transformation by using mutated pmGP1 and non mutated pGP1 constructs under CaMV35S promoter. PCR and semi-quantitative PCR analyses confirmed the amplification and expression of transgene in transgenic plants. It was revealed that leaf relative water content, total chlorophyll content, CO₂ assimilation as net photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, total soluble sugars and proline content was significantly increased at P ≤ 0.0001 and P ≤ 0.001 in both the pmGP1 and pGP1 transgenic plants as compared to non transgenic control plants. Moreover, relative membrane permeability and the transpiration rate were reduced significantly at P ≤ 0.0001 and P ≤ 0.001 respectively in transgenic plants under drought stress. Furthermore, the T1 transgenic seedlings containing pmGP1 mutated construct showed longer roots under desiccation stress imposed by 5% PEG. Transgene inheritance into the T1 progeny plants was confirmed by amplification through PCR and integration through Southern blot. Hence, our results pave the way to utilize the mutagenized known genes for increasing endurance of plants under drought stress. This will help to increase our understanding of drought tolerance/ sensitivity in cotton plants at the molecular level.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12298-021-01048-5.

Novel approaches to circumvent the devastating effects of pests on sugarcane

Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) is a cash crop grown commercially for its higher amounts of sucrose, stored within the mature internodes of the stem. Numerous studies have been done for the resistance development against biotic and abiotic stresses to save the sucrose yields. Quality and yield of sugarcane production is always threatened by the damages of cane borers and weeds. In current study two problems were better addressed through the genetic modification of sugarcane for provision of resistance against insects and weedicide via the expression of two modified cane borer resistant CEMB-Cry1Ac (1.8 kb), CEMB-Cry2A (1.9 kb) and one glyphosate tolerant CEMB-GTGene (1.4 kb) genes, driven by maize Ubiquitin Promoter and nos terminator. Insect Bio-toxicity assays were carried out for the assessment of Cry proteins through mortality percent of shoot borer Chilo infuscatellus at 2nd instar larvae stage. During V0, V1 and V2 generations young leaves from the transgenic sugarcane plants were collected at plant age of 20, 40, 60, 80 days and fed to the Chilo infuscatellus larvae. Up to 100% mortality of Chilo infuscatellus from 80 days old transgenic plants of V2 generation indicated that these transgenic plants were highly resistant against shoot borer and the gene expression level is sufficient to provide complete resistance against target pests. Glyphosate spray assay was carried out for complete removal of weeds. In V1-generation, 70-76% transgenic sugarcane plants were found tolerant against glyphosate spray (3000 mL/ha) under field conditions. While in V2-generation, the replicates of five selected lines 4L/2, 5L/5, 6L/5, L8/4, and L9/6 were found 100% tolerant against 3000 mL/ha glyphosate spray. It is evident from current study that CEMB-GTGene, CEMB-Cry1Ac and CEMB-Cry2A genes expression in sugarcane variety CPF-246 showed an efficient resistance against cane borers (Chilo infuscatellus) and was also highly tolerant against glyphosate spray. The selected transgenic sugarcane lines showed sustainable resistance against cane borer and glyphosate spray can be further exploited at farmer's field level after fulfilling the biosafety requirements to boost the sugarcane production in the country.

RNA-Seq Data Analysis Unveils Potential Conserved Micro-RNAs in Agave Deserti

Aims:

Exploring molecular mechanism of abiotic stress tolerance in plants is needed to overcome the deterioration of yield and quality of crop plants to meet the food security challenges of the growing population.

Background:

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNA molecules that regulate target gene expression for modulating plant growth, development, and response to different stresses. Agave belonging to CAM plants’ has remarkable tolerance to extreme conditions of drought and heat; however, molecular mechanisms underlying this excellence are yet to explore.

Objective:

This study applies comparative genomics approach on available Transcriptome (RNA- Seq) data of Agave deserti to identify potential miRNAs, and miRNA targets.

Methods:

Transcriptome datasets consisting of 128,869 Agave contigs was processed to create local database, for nucleotide homology analysis with 6,028 non-redundant plant miRNAs as query sequences. Protein coding sequences were removed, and potential pre-miRNA sequences were tested for stability analysis based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to %G+C content and minimum free energy (-ΔG), as a filter to remove pseudo pre-miRNAs.

Results:

This study identified 30 unique miRNAs of Agave deserti harboring 14 different categories of precursors. Phylogenetic analysis revealed evolutionary relationship between newly identified pre-miRNAs with corresponding pre-miRNA homologues. Target genes of miRNAs were predicted subsequently, and possible functions were defined by functional annotation analysis.

Conclusion:

The results of this study will pave the way for further research, exploring the molecular mechanisms in Agave deserti and the role of miRNAs in gene regulation under abiotic stresses.

Short-term outcomes after Ivor Lewis oesophagectomy for cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic

INTRODUCTION

Elective surgery in the UK came to a halt during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic. As COVID-19-related infection and mortality rates in Devon and Cornwall were relatively low, however, urgent elective surgery continued in Plymouth, with the necessary precautions in place. This study aimed to assess outcomes following Ivor Lewis oesophagectomy (ILO) during the pandemic.

METHODS

We prospectively analysed details of 20 consecutive patients who underwent ILO for cancer over a 3-month period between 17 March and 12 June 2020. All patients underwent COVID-19 swab testing 24-48 hours before surgery and during admission when clinically indicated. The primary outcome measure was COVID-19-related morbidity. Secondary outcome measures were non-COVID-19-related morbidity, mortality and length of hospital stay.

RESULTS

Twenty patients underwent ILO during the study period. All patients identified as white British. No patients tested positive for COVID-19 pre- or postoperatively. There was no COVID-19-related morbidity. There was no in-hospital mortality. Seven patients developed pneumonia, which settled with antibiotics. One patient developed an anastomotic leak, which was treated conservatively. One patient returned to theatre for a para-conduit hernia repair. The median length of hospital stay was nine days. One patient required admission to the high dependency unit for inotropic support for two days.

CONCLUSIONS

ILO can be performed safely during the COVID-19 pandemic with the necessary precautions in place.

Cloning, Genetic Transformation and Cellular Localization of Abiotic Stress Responsive Universal Stress Protein Gene (GUSP1) in Gossypium hirsutum

BACKGROUND

Drought stress seriously affects the cotton fiber development. Universal stress protein gene isolated from native species Gossypium arboreum has the promising tolerance role against these stresses.

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to clone, characterize, and genetically transform the GUSP1 gene in local cotton and to observe its expression in transgenic plants under drought stress.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Universal Stress Protein (GUSP1) gene from Gossypium arboreum was cloned in pCEMBIA (-) 1301plant expression vector by replacing Hygromycin and GUS exon with GUSP1-GFP fusion fragment. The construct was transformed into Agrobacterium tumefaciens and transient expression assay was confirmed by agro-infiltration of Nicotiana benthamiana leaves and green fluorescence under a confocal microscope. Gene integration and expression in transgenic plants was observed through Southern blot and real-time PCR analyses. Cellular localization was observed through a confocal microscope and the copy number of the transgene was observed in progeny plants.

RESULTS

Transformation efficiency was 1.9%. Developmental and spatial expression of GUSP1 was observed through Real-time PCR in stem, root, leaf, inflorescence, and seeds of transgenic plants at the vegetative and flowering stage. Integration of GUSP1 revealed a fragment of approximately 500 bp in Southern Blot analyses. Localization of GUSP1 was detected in the intact leaf of transgenic plants through GFP fluorescence in midrib, guard cells of stomata, and trichomes. Single gene copy was detected in the chromosome of transgenic seeds.

CONCLUSION

GUSP1 has cloned from native species of local cotton and its integration and expression in transgenic plants confirmed that the role of GUSP1 will provide direction to breed economically important cotton varieties.

Role of Critical Success factors (CSF) in the implementation of Six Sigma in hospitals: A preliminary study in Pakistan

Six sigma can enable us to determine the possible solutions to most of the problems which are being faced by the healthcare system of Pakistan. Six sigma is a viable way to make healthcare rapid and proficient. It is already being successfully utilized around the globe in service as well as the manufacturing sector.  This research is a preliminary study; conducted, in an attempt, to highlight the issues in healthcare like scarcity of medicines, the inefficiency of medical staff, insufficient beds and low doctor/patient ratio in hospitals of Pakistan. A proposal is proposed for a viable solution in the form of six-sigma. For this study, six-sigma identifies the potential issue by involving all employees of the targeted sectors. The collection of primary data was done from employees at quality departments in hospitals and via survey. The importance of critical success factors in the public and private hospitals of Pakistan was determined by the aforementioned survey. Critical analysis pointed out that most of the employees were unaware of the quality initiatives and six-sigma.

Identification and validation of superior housekeeping gene(s) for qRT-PCR data normalization in Agave sisalana (a CAM-plant) under abiotic stresses

The adaptive mechanisms in Agave species enable them to survive and exhibit remarkable tolerance to abiotic stresses. Quantitative real-time PCR is a highly reliable approach for validation of targeted differential gene expression. However, stable housekeeping gene(s) is prerequisite for accurate normalization of expression data by qRT-PCR. Till date, no systematic validation study for candidate housekeeping gene identification or evaluation has been carried-out in Agave species. A total of 17 candidate housekeeping genes were identified from the de novo assembled transcriptomic data of A. sisalana and rigorously analyzed for expression stability assessment under drought, heat, cold and NaCl stress. Different statistical algorithms like geNorm, BestKeeper, NormFinder, and RefFinder on expression data determined the superior housekeeping gene(s) for accurate normalization of the gene of interest (GOI). The comprehensive evaluation revealed the β-Tub 4, WIN-1 and CYC-A as the most stable, while EEF1α, GAPDH, and UBE2 were ranked as the least stable genes in pooled samples. Pairwise combination by geNorm showed that up to two housekeeping genes would be adequate to normalize the GOI expression data precisely. Validation of identified most and least stable housekeeping genes was carried-out by normalizing the expression data of AsHSP20 under abiotic stress conditions. Copy number of AsHSP20 gene supports the reliability of the genes used for normalization. This is the first report on the screening and validation of the housekeeping genes under abiotic stress condition in A. sisalana that would assist to understand the stress tolerance mechanisms by novel gene identification and accurate validation.

Target prediction of candidate miRNAs from Oryza sativa for silencing the RYMV genome

In order to maintain a consistent supply of rice globally, control of pathogens affecting crop production is a matter of due concern. Rice yellow mottle virus(RYMV) is known to cause a variety of symptoms which can result in reduced yield. Four ORFs can be identified in the genome of RYMV encoding for P1 (ORF1), Polyprotein (processed to produce VPg, protease, helicase, RdRp4) (ORF2), putative RdRp (ORF3) and capsid/coat protein (ORF4). This research was aimed at identifying genome encoded miRNAs of O. sativa that are targeted to the genome of Rice Yellow Mottle Virus (RYMV). A consensus of four miRNA target prediction algorithms (RNA22, miRanda, TargetFinder and psRNATarget) was computed, followed by calculation of free energies of miRNA-mRNA duplex formation. A phylogenetic tree was constructed to portray the evolutionary relationships between RYMV strains isolated to date. From the consensus of algorithms used, a total of seven O. sativa miRNAs were predicted and conservation of target site was finally evaluated. Predicted miRNAs can be further evaluated by experiments involving the testing of the success of in vitro gene silencing of RYMV genome; this can pave the way for development of RYMV resistant rice varieties in the future.

De novo assembly of Agave sisalana transcriptome in response to drought stress provides insight into the tolerance mechanisms

Agave, monocotyledonous succulent plants, is endemic to arid regions of North America, exhibiting exceptional tolerance to their xeric environments. They employ various strategies to overcome environmental constraints, such as crassulacean acid metabolism, wax depositions, and protective leaf morphology. Genomic resources of Agave species have received little attention irrespective of their cultural, economic and ecological importance, which so far prevented the understanding of the molecular bases underlying their adaptations to the arid environment. In this study, we aimed to elucidate molecular mechanism(s) using transcriptome sequencing of A. sisalana. A de novo approach was applied to assemble paired-end reads. The expression study unveiled 3,095 differentially expressed unigenes between well-irrigated and drought-stressed leaf samples. Gene ontology and KEGG analysis specified a significant number of abiotic stress responsive genes and pathways involved in processes like hormonal responses, antioxidant activity, response to stress stimuli, wax biosynthesis, and ROS metabolism. We also identified transcripts belonging to several families harboring important drought-responsive genes. Our study provides the first insight into the genomic structure of A. sisalana underlying adaptations to drought stress, thus providing diverse genetic resources for drought tolerance breeding research.

Decreased hemispheric connectivity and decreased intra- and inter- hemisphere asymmetry of resting state functional network connectivity in schizophrenia

Many studies have shown that schizophrenia patients have aberrant functional network connectivity (FNC) among brain regions, suggesting schizophrenia manifests with significantly diminished (in majority of the cases) connectivity. Schizophrenia is also associated with a lack of hemispheric lateralization. Hoptman et al. (2012) reported lower inter-hemispheric connectivity in schizophrenia patients compared to controls using voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity. In this study, we merge these two points of views together using a group independent component analysis (gICA)-based approach to generate hemisphere-specific timecourses and calculate intra-hemisphere and inter-hemisphere FNC on a resting state fMRI dataset consisting of age- and gender-balanced 151 schizophrenia patients and 163 healthy controls. We analyzed the group differences between patients and healthy controls in each type of FNC measures along with age and gender effects. The results reveal that FNC in schizophrenia patients shows less hemispheric asymmetry compared to that of the healthy controls. We also found a decrease in connectivity in all FNC types such as intra-left (L_FNC), intra-right (R_FNC) and inter-hemisphere (Inter_FNC) in the schizophrenia patients relative to healthy controls, but general patterns of connectivity were preserved in patients. Analyses of age and gender effects yielded results similar to those reported in whole brain FNC studies.

Prediction of Host-Derived miRNAs with the Potential to Target PVY in Potato Plants

Potato virus Y has emerged as a threatening problem in all potato growing areas around the globe. PVY reduces the yield and quality of potato cultivars. During the last 30 years, significant genetic changes in PVY strains have been observed with an increased incidence associated with crop damage. In the current study, computational approaches were applied to predict Potato derived miRNA targets in the PVY genome. The PVY genome is approximately 9 thousand nucleotides, which transcribes the following 6 genes:CI, NIa, NIb-Pro, HC-Pro, CP, and VPg. A total of 343 mature miRNAs were retrieved from the miRBase database and were examined for their target sequences in PVY genes using the minimum free energy (mfe), minimum folding energy, sequence complementarity and mRNA-miRNA hybridization approaches. The identified potato miRNAs against viral mRNA targets have antiviral activities, leading to translational inhibition by mRNA cleavage and/or mRNA blockage. We found 86 miRNAs targeting the PVY genome at 151 different sites. Moreover, only 36 miRNAs potentially targeted the PVY genome at 101 loci. The CI gene of the PVY genome was targeted by 32 miRNAs followed by the complementarity of 26, 19, 18, 16, and 13 miRNAs. Most importantly, we found 5 miRNAs (miR160a-5p, miR7997b, miR166c-3p, miR399h, and miR5303d) that could target the CI, NIa, NIb-Pro, HC-Pro, CP, and VPg genes of PVY. The predicted miRNAs can be used for the development of PVY-resistant potato crops in the future.

Microarray: gateway to unravel the mystery of abiotic stresses in plants

Environmental factors, such as drought, salinity, extreme temperature, ozone poisoning, metal toxicity etc., significantly affect crops. To study these factors and to design a possible remedy, biological experimental data concerning these crops requires the quantification of gene expression and comparative analyses at high throughput level. Development of microarrays is the platform to study the differential expression profiling of the targeted genes. This technology can be applied to gene expression studies, ranging from individual genes to whole genome level. It is now possible to perform the quantification of the differential expression of genes on a glass slide in a single experiment. This review documents recently published reports on the use of microarrays for the identification of genes in different plant species playing their role in different cellular networks under abiotic stresses. The regulation pattern of differentially-expressed genes, individually or in group form, may help us to study different pathways and functions at the cellular and molecular level. These studies can provide us with a lot of useful information to unravel the mystery of abiotic stresses in important crop plants.

OUTCOME OF OPEN CARPAL TUNNEL RELEASE SURGERY

BACKGROUND

Carpel tunnel syndrome is a common compression neuropathy of the median nerve causing pain, numbness and functional dysfunction of the hand. Among the available treatments, surgical release of the nerve is the most effective and acceptable treatment option. The aim of this study was to see the outcomes of surgical release of carpel tunnel using open technique.

METHODS

This descriptive case series was conducted at the Department of neurosurgery, Ayub Teaching Hospital Abbottabad from April 2013 to March 2014. One hundred consecutive patients with carpel tunnel syndrome were included who underwent open carpel tunnel release surgery. They were followed up at 1, 3 and 6 months. Residual pain, numbness and functional improvement of the hand were the main outcome measures.

RESULTS

Out of 100 patients, 19 were males. The age ranged from 32 to 50 years with a mean of 39.29±3.99 years. The duration of symptoms was from 5 to 24 months. In the entire series patient functional outcome and satisfaction was 82% at 1 month, 94% at 3 months and 97% at 6 months. 18% patient had residual pain at 1 month post-operative follow-up, 6% at 3 months and 3% at 6 month follow-up.

CONCLUSION

Open carpel tunnel release surgery is an effective procedure for compression neuropathy of the median nerve. It should be offered to all patients with moderate to severe pain and functional disability related to carpel tunnel syndrome.

Transformation and Evaluation of Cry1Ac+Cry2A and GTGene in Gossypium hirsutum L

More than 50 countries around the globe cultivate cotton on a large scale. It is a major cash crop of Pakistan and is considered "white gold" because it is highly important to the economy of Pakistan. In addition to its importance, cotton cultivation faces several problems, such as insect pests, weeds, and viruses. In the past, insects have been controlled by insecticides, but this method caused a severe loss to the economy. However, conventional breeding methods have provided considerable breakthroughs in the improvement of cotton, but it also has several limitations. In comparison with conventional methods, biotechnology has the potential to create genetically modified plants that are environmentally safe and economically viable. In this study, a local cotton variety VH 289 was transformed with two Bt genes (Cry1Ac and Cry2A) and a herbicide resistant gene (cp4 EPSPS) using the Agrobacterium mediated transformation method. The constitutive CaMV 35S promoter was attached to the genes taken from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) and to an herbicide resistant gene during cloning, and this promoter was used for the expression of the genes in cotton plants. This construct was used to develop the Glyphosate Tolerance Gene (GTGene) for herbicide tolerance and insecticidal gene (Cry1Ac and Cry2A) for insect tolerance in the cotton variety VH 289. The transgenic cotton variety performed 85% better compared with the non-transgenic variety. The study results suggest that farmers should use the transgenic cotton variety for general cultivation to improve the production of cotton.

Functional analysis of cotton small heat shock protein promoter region in response to abiotic stresses in tobacco using Agrobacterium-mediated transient assay

The cotton (Gossypium arboreum) stress-related gene GHSP26 responds to dehydration. To elucidate its stress tolerant mechanism at the transcriptional level, we isolated and characterized the promoter region (PGHSP26, -2,831 bp) flanking the 5' GHSP26 coding region from the genomic DNA. A series of PGHSP26 deletion derivatives was created for the identification of the upstream region of the gene required for the promoter activity. Each deletion construct was analyzed by agrobacterium mediated transient transformation in tobacco leaves after treatment with abscissic acid (ABA), heavy metals and dehydration. Promoter fragments of 716 bp or longer showed two-fold or greater induction after each treatment. These findings further our understanding of the regulation of GHSP26 expression and provide a new drought-inducible promoter system in transgenic plants.

[Isolation and functional analysis of cotton universal stress protein promoter in response to phytohormones and abiotic stresses]

The 949 bp promoter fragment upstream from the translation initiation site of the GUSP gene encoding a universal stress protein was isolated from the genomic DNA of Gossypium arboream. Some putative cis-acting elements involved in stress responses including E-box, ABRE, DPBF-box, and MYB-core elements were found in the promoter region. In an Agrobacterium-mediated transient expression assay, strong activation of the GUSP full promoter region occurred in tobacco leaves following dehydration, abscisic acid, salt, heavy metal, gibberellic acid and dark treatments. Deletion analysis of the promoter revealed that the dehydration, abscisic acid and salt responses were affected by the deletion between -208 and -949 bp and showed 2-4-fold induction. However, in response to dark, gibberellic acid and heavy metals the induction was only 2-fold. This is an important study as no report of this universal stress protein promoter is available in literature.

Identification of micro-RNAs in cotton

The plant genome has conserved small non-coding microRNAs (miRNAs) genes about 20-24 nucleotides long. They play a vital role in the gene regulation at various stages of plant life. Their conserved nature among the various organisms not only suggests their early evolution in eukaryotes but also makes them a good source of new miRNA discovery by homology search using bioinformatics tools. A systematic search approach was used for interspecies orthologues of miRNA precursors, from known sequences of Gossypium in GenBank. The study resulted in 22 miRNAs belonging to 13 families. We found 7 miRNA families (miR160, 164, 827, 829, 836, 845 and 865) for the first time in cotton. All 22 miRNA precursors form stable minimum free energy (mfe) stem loop structure as their orthologues form in Arabidopsis and the mature miRNAs reside in the stem portion of the stem loop structure. Fifteen miRNAs belong to the world's most commercial fiber producing upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum), five are from Gossypium raimondii and one each is from Gossypium herbaceum and Gossypium arboreum. Their targets consist of transcription factors, cell division regulating proteins and virus response gene. The discovery of 22 miRNAs will be helpful in future for detection of precise function of each miRNA at a particular stage in life cycle of cotton.

[Identification and expression of six drought responsive transcripts through differential display in desi cottion (Gossypium aroreum)]

There is not enough information available on drought-modulated gene(s) in Gossypium arboreum, which can be a valuable gene pool for improving modern cotton cultivars. In the present work differential display reverse transcriptase PCR (DDRT) was used to compare overall differences in gene expression between water stressed and control plants. By screening 93 primer-pair combinations DDRT technique resulted in up-regulation of 30 cDNA transcripts. Through reamplification and quality control assay 10 cDNA transcripts appeared false positive. The remaining 20-cDNA transcripts were extracted from the gel, reamplified, cloned and sequenced. Homology search revealed that 6 transcripts showed significant homology with known genes. Real-time RT-PCR showed that among 6 transcripts 5 showed significant over expression in water stressed leaves as compared to control. This is an important finding since there are only few reports of universal stress protein and transposable elements are available in plants but none in cotton under drought condition.