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Key message: Thchit42 constitutive expression for fungal resistance showed synchronisation with leaf augmentation and transcriptome analysis revealed the Longifolia and Zinc finger RICESLEEPER gene is responsible for plant growth and development. Pelargonium graveolens essential oil possesses significant attributes, known for perfumery and aromatherapy. However, optimal yield and propagation are predominantly hindered by biotic stress. All biotechnological approaches have yet to prove effective in addressing fungal resistance. The current study developed transgenic geranium bridging molecular mechanism of fungal resistance and plant growth by introducing cassette 35S::Thchit42. Furthermore, 120 independently putative transformed explants were regenerated on kanamycin fortified medium. Primarily transgenic lines were demonstrated peak pathogenicity and antifungal activity against formidable Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and Fusarium oxysporum. Additionally, phenotypic analysis revealed ~ 2fold increase in leaf size and ~ 2.1fold enhanced oil content. To elucidate the molecular mechanisms for genotypic cause, de novo transcriptional profiles were analyzed to indicate that the auxin-regulated longifolia gene is accountable for augmentation in leaf size, and zinc finger (ZF) RICESLEEPER attributes growth upregulation. Collectively, data provides valuable insights into unravelling the mechanism of Thchit42-mediated crosstalk between morphological and chemical alteration in transgenic plants. This knowledge might create novel opportunities to cultivate fungal-resistant geranium throughout all seasons to fulfil demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: The present study reports differentially expressed transcripts in the waterlogging-induced adventitious root (AR) of Mentha arvensis; the identified transcripts will help to understand AR development and improve waterlogging stress response. Waterlogging notably hampers plant growth in areas facing waterlogged soil conditions. In our previous findings, Mentha arvensis was shown to adapt better in waterlogging conditions by initiating the early onset of adventitious root development. In the present study, we compared the transcriptome analysis of adventitious root induced after the waterlogging treatment with the control taproot. The biochemical parameters of total carbohydrate, total protein content, nitric oxide (NO) scavenging activity and antioxidant enzymes, such as catalase activity (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, were enhanced in the adventitious root compared with control taproot. Analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in adventitious root compared with the control taproot were grouped into four functional categories, i.e., carbohydrate metabolism, antioxidant activity, hormonal regulation, and transcription factors that could be majorly involved in the development of adventitious roots. Differential expression of the upregulated and uniquely expressing thirty-five transcripts in adventitious roots was validated using qRT-PCR. This study has generated the resource of differentially and uniquely expressing transcripts in the waterlogging-induced adventitious roots. Further functional characterization of these transcripts will be helpful to understand the development of adventitious roots, leading to the resistance towards waterlogging stress in Mentha arvensis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bacosides are dammarane-type triterpenoidal saponins in Bacopa monnieri and have various pharmacological applications. All the bacosides are diversified from two isomers, i.e., jujubogenin and pseudojujubogenin. The biosynthetic pathway of bacoside is not well elucidated. In the present study, we characterized a UDP-glycosyltransferase, UGT79A18, involved in the glycosylation of pseudojujubogenin. UGT79A18 shows higher expression in response to 5 h of wounding, and 3 h of MeJA treatment. The recombinant UGT79A18 shows in vitro activity against a wide range of flavonoids and triterpenes and has a substrate preference for protopanaxadiol, a dammarane-type triterpene. Secondary metabolite analysis of overexpression and knockdown lines of UGT79A18 in B. monnieri identify bacopasaponin D, bacopaside II, bacopaside N2 and pseudojujubogenin glucosyl rhamnoside as the major bacosides that were differentially accumulated. In the overexpression lines of UGT79A18, we found 1.7-fold enhanced bacopaside II, 8-fold enhanced bacopasaponin D, 3-fold enhanced pseudojujubogenin glucosyl rhamnoside, and 1.6-fold enhanced bacopaside N2 content in comparison with vector control plant, whereas in the knockdown lines of UGT79A18, we found 1.4-fold reduction in bacopaside II content, 3-fold reduction in the bacopasaponin D content, 2-fold reduction in the pseudojujubogenin glucosyl rhamnoside content, and 1.5-fold reduction in bacopaside N2 content in comparison with vector control. These results suggest that UGT79A18 is a significant UDP glycosyltransferase involved in glycosylating pseudojujubogenin and enhancing the pseudojujubogenin-derived bacosides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: - Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a common metabolic complication in pregnancy affecting the maternal and foetal wellbeing. Aim: - The aim of this original research article is to investigate the histological changes in placenta of GDM and control women. Method: - This study was done in Rama Medical College & Hospital Kanpur. Placenta sample from 100 cases of GDM and 150 of control women collected and histological changes studied. Result: - In this study, the histological changes revealed that Fibrin was in 78% of GDM. Calcification was seen in 42% of GDM. Infarction was found in 4% of GDM, but in control the histological changes revealed Fibrin in 40%, Calcification was 25.3% and Infarction was 4%. Conclusion: - Gestational diabetes mellitus causes significant histological changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: - The ideal of this original exploration composition is to find Socio-Demographic Factors of Tubectomy in the North Indian Population. Material & System: - A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Obs and Gyne, SSPG District Hospital (Female) Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India from January 2017-January 2019. The sample size for the study was calculated using the couple protection rate of Uttar Pradesh, which were around 38%. The estimated sample size determined for the study was 750. Women under the age group 15-50 years reported to the SSPG District Hospital Varanasi were assessed by structured interview and data recorded. Result: - maturity of the women 367(49) were in the age group of 21 - 30 years with a mean age of 25-26 yrs. Among the study group 645(86%) were Hindu, 101(13.5%) were Muslims and 04(0.5%) were Christians. The number of children the couples had at the time of tubectomy. The maximum number of couples (47%) had 3 children before concluding for tubectomy. The coming predominant group was the couple who had 1-2 children (24%). Among Hindus 119(28%) were tubectomized and only 07(15%) were tubectomized in Muslims. Conclusion: - It has been concluded that further of the youthful population in India is concluding for tubectomy. Still, women with 3 children are predominating the tubectomy group. Muslim women are less likely to be castrated than non-Muslim women so junking of the religious taboos is essential for the wide perpetration of family planning programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: OscWRKY1 from Ocimum sanctum positively regulates phenylpropanoid pathway genes and rosmarinic acid content. OscWRKY1 overexpression promotes resistance against bacterial pathogen in Arabidopsis. WRKY transcription factor (TF) family regulates various developmental and physiological functions in plants. PAL genes encode enzymes which are involved in plant defense responses, but the direct regulation of PAL genes and phenylpropanoid pathway through WRKY TF's is not well characterized. In the present study, we have characterized an OscWRKY1 gene from Ocimum sanctum which shows induced expression by methyl jasmonate (MeJA), salicylic acid (SA), and wounding. The recombinant OscWRKY1 protein binds to the DIG-labeled (Digoxigenin) W-box cis-element TTGAC[C/T] and activates the LacZ reporter gene in yeast. Overexpression of OscWRKY1 enhances Arabidopsis resistance towards Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato Pst DC3000. Upstream activator sequences of PAL and C4H have been identified to contain the conserved W-box cis-element (TTGACC) in both O. sanctum and Arabidopsis. OscWRKY1 was found to interact with W-box cis-element present in the PAL and C4H promoters. Silencing of OscWRKY1 using VIGS resulted in reduced expression of PAL, C4H, COMT, F5H and 4CL transcripts. OscWRKY1 silenced plants exhibit reduced PAL activity, whereas, the overexpression lines of OscWRKY1 in Arabidopsis exhibit increased PAL activity. Furthermore, the metabolite analysis of OscWRKY1 silenced plants showed reduced rosmarinic acid content. These results revealed that OscWRKY1 positively regulates the phenylpropanoid pathway genes leading to the alteration of rosmarinic acid content and enhances the resistance against bacterial pathogen in Arabidopsis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: The present review highlights the regulatory roles of microRNAs in plant secondary metabolism and focuses on different bioengineering strategies to modulate secondary metabolite content in plants. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are the class of small endogenous, essential, non-coding RNAs that riboregulate the gene expression involved in various biological processes in most eukaryotes. MiRNAs has emerged as important regulators in plants that function by silencing target genes through cleavage or translational inhibition. These miRNAs plays an important role in a wide range of plant biological and metabolic processes, including plant development and various environmental response controls. Several important plant secondary metabolites like alkaloids, terpenoids, and phenolics are well studied for their function in plant defense against different types of pests and herbivores. Due to the presence of a wide range of biological and pharmaceutical properties of plant secondary metabolites, it is important to study the regulation of their biosynthetic pathways. The contribution of miRNAs in regulating plant secondary metabolism is not well explored. Recent advancements in molecular techniques have improved our knowledge in understanding the molecular function of genes, proteins, enzymes, and small RNAs involved in different steps of secondary metabolic pathways. In the present review, we have discussed the recent progress made on miRNA biogenesis, its regulation, and highlighted the current research developed in the field of identification, analysis, and characterizations of various miRNAs that regulate plant secondary metabolism. We have also discussed how different bioengineering strategies such as artificial miRNA (amiRNA), endogenous target mimicry, and CRISPR/Cas9 could be utilized to enhance the secondary metabolite production in plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to determine the physicochemical quality of groundwater and its potential health risk for drinking in Oromia, Ethiopia. The groundwater samples were collected from 17 sampling stations in the dry and wet season in the Sebeta zone, Oromia, from March to August 2020. Metals and physicochemical parameters, and selected heavy metals, such as iron (Fe), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), chromium (Cr), zinc (Zn), and lead (Pb) were monitored. The data were analyzed using multivariate statistical methods (Pearson's Correlation and T-test). The means seasonal variations were higher in the dry season than in the wet season except for pH and Turbidity. The variation was significant for most parameters except Pb, Zn, chlorine, Total Alkaline, Magnesium Hardness, Calcium Hardness), and Turbidity. There was a strong and positive correlation between Total dissolved solids (TDS) and Conductivity), (pH and Cr), (T.H. and Magnesium (Mg)), (bicarbonate and Calcium (Ca), (Zn and Turbidity) in the dry season; and (T.H. with Potassium (K), (Pb and Fe); (bicarbonate and T.H.); (Ca and Mg); (Na and T.A.,) in the wet season. The hazard index (H.I.) values in the dry season (HI = 1.331) were higher than in the wet season (HIadults = 0.075). Likewise, the H.I. (dry season) was higher (HIchildren = 1.861) than in the wet season (HIchildren = 0.105). Chronic groundwater exposure at drinking sources in the dry season is a potential health risk to humans in general and is relatively high for children. Urgent management and close monitoring are required for drinking groundwater sources and other nearby residents' safety areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding, endogenous RNAs containing 20–24 nucleotides that regulate the expression of target genes involved in various plant processes. A total of 1,429 conserved miRNAs belonging to 95 conserved miRNA families and 12 novel miRNAs were identified from Bacopa monnieri using small RNA sequencing. The Bm-miRNA target transcripts related to the secondary metabolism were further selected for validation. The Bm-miRNA expression in shoot and root tissues was negatively correlated with their target transcripts. The Bm-miRNA cleavage sites were mapped within the coding or untranslated region as depicted by the modified RLM-RACE. In the present study, we validate three miRNA targets, including asparagine synthetase, cycloartenol synthase and ferulate 5 hydroxylase (F5H) and elucidate the regulatory role of Bm-miR172c-5p, which cleaves the F5H gene involved in the lignin biosynthesis. Overexpression (OE) of Bm-miR172c-5p precursor in B. monnieri suppresses F5H gene, leading to reduced lignification and secondary xylem thickness under control and drought stress. By contrast, OE of endogenous target mimics (eTMs) showed enhanced lignification and secondary xylem thickness leading to better physiological response under drought stress. Taken together, we suggest that Bm-miRNA172c-5p might be a key player in maintaining the native phenotype of B. monnieri under control and different environmental conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study of flow characteristics of human airways using Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) analysis is very important in the context of prognosis, diagnostic and treatment of respiratory diseases. The present study is focused on effect of elasticity on the respiratory wall during inhalation. Airflow in Computed Tomography (CT) scan model with rigid and compliant airway walls is studied. FSI technique is used to simulate the airflow in the model. The comparison for the two different respiratory models (rigid and compliant) shows that FSI technique brings out more realistic results as compared to Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis. It is found that respiratory wall elasticity affects the different flow parameters (pressure, wall shear stress, etc.) at different location of the model. Wall shear stress (WSS) and airway pressure were decreased due to flexibility effect of the airway wall. This will help medical practitioners to correlate the clinical assessment with this FSI results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: Present review describes the structure, evolution, transport mechanism and physiological functions of SWEETs. Their application using TALENs and CRISPR/CAS9 based genomic editing approach is discussed. Sugars Will Eventually be Exported Transporters (SWEET) proteins were first identified in plants as the novel family of sugar transporters which mediates the translocation of sugars across cell membranes. The SWEET family of sugar transporters is unique in terms of their structure which contains seven predicted transmembrane domains with two internal triple-helix bundles which possibly originate due to prokaryotic gene duplication. SWEETs perform diverse physiological functions such as pollen nutrition, nectar secretion, seed filling, phloem loading, and pathogen nutrition which we have discussed in the present review. We also discuss how transcriptional activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs) and CRISPR/CAS9 genome editing tools are used to engineer SWEET mutants which modulate pathogen resistance in plants and its applications in the field of agriculture. The expression of SWEETs promises to implement insights into many other cellular transport mechanisms. To conclude, the present review highlights the recent aspects which will further develop better understanding of molecular evolution, structure, and function of SWEET transporters in plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Main conclusion: Steroidal saponins exhibited numerous pharmacological activities due to the modification of their backbone by different cytochrome P450s (P450) and UDP glycosyltransferases (UGTs). Plant-derived steroidal saponins are not sufficient for utilizing them for commercial purpose so in vitro production of saponin by tissue culture, root culture, embryo culture, etc, is necessary for its large-scale production.Saponin glycosides are the important class of plant secondary metabolites, which consists of either steroidal or terpenoidal backbone. Due to the existence of a wide range of medicinal properties, saponin glycosides are pharmacologically very important. This review is focused on important medicinal properties of steroidal saponin, its occurrence, and biosynthesis. In addition to this, some recently identified plants containing steroidal saponins in different parts were summarized. The high throughput transcriptome sequencing approach elaborates our understanding related to the secondary metabolic pathway and its regulation even in the absence of adequate genomic information of non-model plants. The aim of this review is to encapsulate the information related to applications of steroidal saponin and its biosynthetic enzymes specially P450s and UGTs that are involved at later stage modifications of saponin backbone. Lastly, we discussed the in vitro production of steroidal saponin as the plant-based production of saponin is time-consuming and yield a limited amount of saponins. A large amount of plant material has been used to increase the production of steroidal saponin by employing in vitro culture technique, which has received a lot of attention in past two decades and provides a way to conserve medicinal plants as well as to escape them for being endangered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: As waterlogging and successive events severely influence growth and development of economically important plants, we attempted to characterize the role of a waterlogging‐responsive group I (A‐6) ethylene response factor (MaRAP2‐4) from Mentha arvensis. Waterlogging, ethylene and methyl jasmonate rapidly induced the expression of MaRAP2‐4. MaRAP2‐4 interacted with multiple cis‐elements like dehydration response elements (DRE1/2), anoxia/jasmonic acid response element (JARE) and GCC box showing its involvement in multiple responses. MaRAP2‐4 localizes in the nucleus and acts as a transcriptional activator. Truncation and internal deletion identified a 20 amino acids potential transactivation domain (PLPSSVDAKLEAICQSLAIN) in MaRAP2‐4. MaRAP2‐4 transgenic Arabidopsis showed enhanced waterlogging and subsequent oxidative stress tolerance. Microarray analysis revealed that within up‐regulated genes 483, 212 and 132 promoters carry either single or multiple copies of DRE, JARE and GCC cis‐element/s, respectively. Within these promoters, a large section belongs to carbohydrate metabolism/transport, including many SWEET transporters. Further analysis showed MaRAP2‐4 specifically targets two positions in AtSWEEET10 promoter carrying DRE and/or GCC box that might regulate carbohydrate availability and waterlogging tolerance. These results demonstrate that MaRAP2‐4 is a positive regulator of waterlogging tolerance, and as energy‐consuming processes such as carbohydrate biosynthesis are reduced under waterlogging‐induced hypoxia, sugar transport through SWEETs may be the primary option to make sugar available to the required tissue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pyrethrins are monoterpenoids and consist of either a chrysanthemic acid or pyrethric acid with a rethrolone moiety. Natural pyrethrins are safe and eco-friendly while possessing strong insecticidal properties. Despite such advantages of commercial value coming with the eco-friendly tag, most enzymes/genes involved in the pyrethrin biosynthesis pathway remain unidentified and uncharacterized. Since the flowers of Tanacetum cinerariifolium are rich in major pyrethrins, next generation transcriptome sequencing was undertaken to compare the flowers and the leaves of the plant de novo to identify differentially expressed transcripts and ascertain which among them might be involved in and responsible for the differential accumulation of pyrethrins in T. cinerariifolium flowers. Results: In this first tissue specific transcriptome analysis of the non-model plant T. cinerariifolium, a total of 23,200,000 and 28,500,110 high quality Illumina next generation sequence reads, with a length of 101 bp, were generated for the flower and leaf tissue respectively. After functional enrichment analysis and GO based annotation using public protein databases such as UniRef, PFAM, SMART, KEGG and NR, 4443 and 8901 unigenes were identified in the flower and leaf tissue respectively. These could be assigned to 13344 KEGG pathways and the pyrethrin biosynthesis contextualized. The 2-C-methyl-D-erythritol 4-phosphate (MEP) pathway was involved in the biosynthesis of acid moiety of pyrethrin and this pathway predominated in the flowers as compared to the leaves. However, enzymes related to oxylipin biosynthesis were found predominantly in the leaf tissue, which suggested that major steps of pyrethrin biosynthesis occurred in the flowers. Conclusions: Transcriptome comparison between the flower and leaf tissue of T. cinerariifolium provided an elaborate list of tissue specific transcripts that was useful in elucidating the differences in the expression of the biosynthetic pathways leading to differential presence of pyrethrin in the flowers. The information generated on genes, pathways and markers related to pyrethrin biosynthesis in this study will be helpful in enhancing the production of these useful compounds for value added breeding programs. Related proteome comparison to overlay our transcriptome comparison can generate more relevant information to better understand flower specific accumulation of secondary metabolites in general and pyrethrin accumulation in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Submergence, whether partial or complete, imparts some serious consequences on plants grown in flood prone ecosystems. Some plants can endure these conditions by embracing various survival strategies, including morphological adaptations and physiological adjustments. This review summarizes recent progress made in understanding of the stress and the acclimation responses of plants under waterlogged or submerged conditions. Waterlogging and submergence are often associated with hypoxia development, which may trigger various morphological traits and cellular acclimation responses. Ethylene, abscisic acid, gibberellic acid and other hormones play a crucial role in the survival process which is controlled genetically. Effects at the cellular level, including ATP management, starch metabolism, elemental toxicity, role of transporters and redox status have been explained. Transcriptional and hormonal interplay during this stress may provide some key aspects in understanding waterlogging and submergence tolerance. The level and degree of tolerance may vary depending on species or climatic variations which need to be studied for a proper understanding of waterlogging stress at the global level. The exploration of regulatory pathways and interplay in model organisms such asArabidopsisand rice would provide valuable resources for improvement of economically and agriculturally important plants in waterlogging affected areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Saponins are mainly amphipathic glycosides that posses many biological activities and confer potential health benefits to humans. Inspite of its medicinal attributes most of the triterpenes and enzymes involved in the saponin biosynthesis remains uncharacterized at the molecular level. Since the major steroidal components are present in the roots of A. racemosus our study is focussed on the comparative denovo transcriptome analysis of root versus leaf tissue and identifying some root specific transcripts involved in saponin biosynthesis using high-throughput next generation transcriptome sequencing. Results: After sequencing, de novo assembly and quantitative assessment, 126861 unigenes were finally generated with an average length of 1200 bp. Then functional annotation and GO enrichment analysis was performed by aligning all-unigenes with public protein databases including NR, SwissProt, and KEGG. Differentially expressed genes in root were initially identified using the RPKM method using digital subtraction between root and leaf. Twenty seven putative secondary metabolite related transcripts were experimentally validated for their expression in root or leaf tissue using q-RT PCR analysis. Most of the above selected transcripts showed preferential expression in root as compared to leaf supporting the digitally subtracted result obtained. The methyl jasmonate application induces the secondary metabolite related gene transcripts leading to their increased accumulation in plants. Therefore, the identified transcripts related to saponin biosynthesis were further analyzed for their induced expression after 3, 5 and 12 hours of exogenous application of Methyl Jasmonate in tissue specific manner. Conclusions: In this study, we have identified a large set of cDNA unigenes from A. racemosus leaf and root tissue. This is the first transcriptome sequencing of this non-model species using Illumina, a next generation sequencing technology. The present study has also identified number of root specific transcripts showing homology with saponin biosynthetic pathway. An integrated pathway of identified saponin biosynthesis transcripts their tissue specific expression and induced accumulation after methyl jasmonate treatment was discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Ocimum L. of family Lamiaceae is a well known genus for its ethnobotanical, medicinal and aromatic properties, which are attributed to innumerable phenylpropanoid and terpenoid compounds produced by the plant. To enrich genomic resources for understanding various pathways, de novo transcriptome sequencing of two important species, O. sanctum and O. basilicum, was carried out by Illumina paired-end sequencing. Results: The sequence assembly resulted in 69117 and 130043 transcripts with an average length of 1646 ± 1210.1 bp and 1363 ± 1139.3 bp for O. sanctum and O. basilicum, respectively. Out of the total transcripts, 59648 (86.30%) and 105470 (81.10%) from O. sanctum and O. basilicum, and respectively were annotated by uniprot blastx against Arabidopsis, rice and lamiaceae. KEGG analysis identified 501 and 952 transcripts from O. sanctum and O. basilicum, respectively, related to secondary metabolism with higher percentage of transcripts for biosynthesis of terpenoids in O. sanctum and phenylpropanoids in O. basilicum. Higher digital gene expression in O. basilicum was validated through qPCR and correlated to higher essential oil content and chromosome number (O. sanctum, 2n = 16; and O. basilicum, 2n = 48). Several CYP450 (26) and TF (40) families were identified having probable roles in primary and secondary metabolism. Also SSR and SNP markers were identified in the transcriptomes of both species with many SSRs linked to phenylpropanoid and terpenoid pathway genes. Conclusion: This is the first report of a comparative transcriptome analysis of Ocimum species and can be utilized to characterize genes related to secondary metabolism, their regulation, and breeding special chemotypes with unique essential oil composition in Ocimum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plants posses a complex co-regulatory network which helps them to elicit a response under diverse adverse conditions. We used an in silico approach to identify the genes with both DRE and ABRE motifs in their promoter regions in Arabidopsis thaliana. Our results showed that Arabidopsis contains a set of 2,052 genes with ABRE and DRE motifs in their promoter regions. Approximately 72% or more of the total predicted 2,052 genes had a gap distance of less than 400 bp between DRE and ABRE motifs. For positional orientation of the DRE and ABRE motifs, we found that the DR form (one in direct and the other one in reverse orientation) was more prevalent than other forms. These predicted 2,052 genes include 155 transcription factors. Using microarray data from The Arabidopsis Information Resource (TAIR) database, we present 44 transcription factors out of 155 which are upregulated by more than twofold in response to osmotic stress and ABA treatment. Fifty-one transcripts from the one predicted above were validated using semiquantitative expression analysis to support the microarray data in TAIR. Taken together, we report a set of genes containing both DRE and ABRE motifs in their promoter regions in A. thaliana, which can be useful to understand the role of ABA under osmotic stress condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wounding is required to be made in the walls of the green seed pod of Opium poppy prior exudation of latex. To withstand this kind of trauma plants regulate expression of some metabolites through an induced transcript level. 167 unique wound-inducible ESTs were identified by a repetitive round of cDNA subtraction after 5 hours of wounding in Papaver somniferum seedlings. Further repetitive reverse northern analysis of these ESTs revealed 80 transcripts showing more than two fold induction, validated through semi-quantitative RT-PCR & real time expression analysis. One of the major classified categories among identified ESTs belonged to benzylisoquinoline transcripts. Tissue specific metabolite analysis of benzylisoquinoline alkaloids (BIAs) in response to wounding revealed increased accumulation of narcotine and papaverine. Promoter analysis of seven transcripts of BIAs pathway showed the presence of W-box cis-element with the consensus sequence of TGAC, which is the proposed binding site for WRKY type transcription factors. One of the Wound inducible 'WRKY' EST isolated from our subtracted library was made full-length and named as 'PsWRKY'. Bacterially expressed PsWRKY interacted with the W-box element having consensus sequence TTGACT/C present in the promoter region of BIAs biosynthetic pathway genes. PsWRKY further activated the TYDC promoter in yeast and transiently in tobacco BY2 cells. Preferential expression of PsWRKY in straw and capsule and its interaction with consensus W-box element present in BIAs pathway gene transcripts suggest its possible involvement in the wound induced regulation of BIAs pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We reported earlier that ectopic expression of CAP2, a single AP2 domain containing transcription activator from chickpea ( Cicer arietinum) in tobacco improves growth and development, and tolerance to dehydration and salt stress, of the transgenic plants. Here, we report that, in addition, the CAP2-transgenic tobacco seeds also exhibit higher germination efficiency at high temperature and show higher expression levels of genes for tobacco heat shock proteins and a heat shock factor. CAP2 was able to activate the 5′-upstream activating sequence of tobacco heat shock factor. Surprisingly, expression of CAP2 cDNA in Saccharomyces cerevisiae also enhanced heat tolerance, with increased expression of the gene for yeast heat shock factor 1 ( Hsf1) and its target, the gene for yeast heat shock protein 104 ( Hsp104). Sequence analysis of the Hsf1 promoter revealed the presence of a dehydration-responsive element/C-repeat-like element (DRE/CRE). Recombinant CAP2 protein bound to the DRE/CRE in the Hsf1 promoter in a gel shift assay and transactivated the Hsf1 promoter– His reporter construct. The full-length CAP2 protein was required to provide thermotolerance in yeast. If these findings are taken together, our results suggest that CAP2 is involved in the heat stress response and provides an example of functioning of a plant transcription factor in yeast, highlighting the strong evolutionary conservation of the stress response mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

L- myo-inositol 1-phosphate synthase (MIPS; EC5.5.1.4) catalyses the rate-limiting step in inositol biosynthetic pathway, and is extremely widespread in living organisms including plants. Several plants possess multiple copies of MIPS gene(s) indicating a possibility of differential expression of each gene to perform distinct physiological functions. To explore this, two MIPS genes ( CaMIPS1 and CaMIPS2) were isolated from a drought-tolerant plant chickpea. Both genes are extremely divergent in respect to their introns, at the same time retaining 85% identity to their exons and functionally complementing inositol auxotroph Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Expression analysis showed both genes were expressed in all organs except seed, where only CaMIPS2 transcript was detected. Under environmental stresses, only CaMIPS2 was induced whereas CaMIPS1 expression remained same, which could be explained by the divergence of their 5′ upstream regulatory sequences. Remarkably, both gene products exhibited similar biochemical characteristics; however, CaMIPS2 retained higher activity than CaMIPS1 at a high temperature and salt concentration. Furthermore, functional expression of CaMIPS2 in S. pombe results better growth response than CaMIPS1 under stress environment. Taken together, our results suggest that CaMIPS1 and CaMIPS2 are differentially expressed in chickpea to play discrete though overlapping roles in plant; however CaMIPS2 is likely to be evolved through gene duplication to function under environmental stresses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of processed arecanut is on the increase. In the impending danger of increased occurrence of oral submucous fibrosis and subsequent oral cancer following this habit is colossal. So an attempt is made to clinically evaluate the condition and to evaluate the effect of triamcinolone on this condition. Using the clinical data collected from the patients presenting in the ENT OPD of NSCB Medical College Hospital, Jabalpur, a cross sectional study was done and the effect of intralesional triamcinolone on this condition is noted by biweekly submucosal injections of 40 mg triamcinolone for 12 weeks and followed up for 1 year. The effect of therapy was evaluated subjectively by improvement in symptoms and objectively by increase in mouth opening. The age of occurrence and sex predilection also showed a significant change with more young males being affected by the condition. There was no significant correlation between effect of triamcinolone therapy and duration of addiction but a significant correlation (P < 0.0001) was noted with the frequency of addiction per day. A significant improvement in mouth opening is observed following local triamcinolone therapy. The results imply that the exposure and the frequency of chewing habits, and not mere the duration that is significant in producing the condition and affecting the treatment outcome. Local triamcinolone therapy has good effect in the initial stages of the disease. The fact that more youngsters are being affected needs serious consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]