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Sulphur-oxidizing bacteria are the important organism of sulphur cycle. SOB is the dominating prokaryote with the ability to oxidize sulphur in to absorbable form sulphate. The ability to metabolize organic and inorganic form of sulphur make them organism of interest in soil. In nature SOB are the versatile microorganisms found in normal to acidic/alkaline soil, water habitat to extreme conditions of geothermal areas, acid drains and volcanic eruptions. The amount of sulphur oxidation depends on the physico-chemical conditions. The quantity of sulphate ion produced by SOB is drastically affected by cultural conditions. Attempts are made to standardize the cultural conditions and same was optimized for five SOB. The incubation time was optimized to 2 days at 300C with media pH 8.0. The carbon source improving sulphate ion production is glucose and nitrogen source is ammonium chloride.

Medicinal plants are one of the most sensitive commodity areas of research in the world today. India is the treasure of traditional knowledge of alternative medicine in the world. The importance of medicinal plant in disease control was well explained in Vedas. Cissusquadrangularis L. has been documented in Ayurveda, as a curative medicine for various diseases made it important ancient medicinal plant for pharmacological study. The extract obtained from C.quadrangularis is a magical remedy in gout, syphilis, piles, venereal disease and leucorrhoea. Chromatographic techniques are the strong tool to reveal the constituents of medicinal plant with curative mechanism to be discovered. Among them HPLC and HPTLC are the strong tools for the phytochemical studies.

Description of additional methods and procedures used in the study. Also includes Supplementary References.

List of shRNAs on the custom reductase library.

Supplementary Figure Legends from Identification of P450 Oxidoreductase as a Major Determinant of Sensitivity to Hypoxia-Activated Prodrugs

Evaluation of SN30000-induced bystander cell killing in a co-culture system (S1); SN30000 clonogenic survival curves for HT-29, PANC-1 cells and HKO1 (S2); Plating efficiency in HT-29, PANC-1 and HKO2 reductase screens (S3); Density distributions and correlations of reductase screen sequencing data (S4); Log2 enrichment factors of shRNAs significantly selected in the reductase screens (S5); Depletion of POR protein by shRNAs in PANC-1 and HT-29 cells (S6); Replicate SN30000 clonogenic survival assays performed in stably transduced HT-29 and PANC-1 cells (S7); Measurement of plating efficiency in HKO1 and HKO2 whole-genome screens (S8); Coincidence of shRNAs significantly selected (Z > 1.96) in HT-29 and PANC-1 reductase screens and the HKO1 genome-wide screen (S9); Validation of POR shRNAs and clonogenic survival following SN30000 treatment of POR-knockout HCT116 cells (S10); Spatial distribution of POR and CA-IX expression in tongue SCC (S11); Quantitation of POR and CA-IX expression in HNSCC (S12); POR IHC staining in isogenic xenografts used for method development (S13); POR mRNA expression and sequence variation in the TCGA HNSCC dataset (S14).

The emphasis on search of new plant-derived drugs containing medicinally useful chemical constituents has increased in the last two decade. Additionally medicinal herbs are considered to be a chemical factory as it contains multitude of chemical compounds like alkaloids, glycosides, saponins, resins, oleoresin, and oils (essential and fixed). The studies on medicinal plant begin with knowing the anatomy and morphology of the plant followed by biochemical charcetrization and extraction of compounds of interest.Cissus quadrangularis L. is an important medicinal plant with diverse applications in alternative medicines. The extracts obtained from plant were used in treatment from ancient time as documented in Ayurveda.

Soybean is an important oil seed crop produced in India, Madhya Pradesh is the largest soybean producing state. Charcoal rot caused by Macrophomina phaseolina is a major threat to soybean production leading to 30-50% yield loss. Biological control is an effective measure for management of this disease. Soil rhizosphere is a rich source of beneficial microbes able to suppress plant pathogens and promote plant growth. Present study aimed at isolating and characterizing indigenous antagonistic bacteria against M. phaseolina causing charcoal rot in soybean.

Plants absorb sulphate, the oxidized form of elemental sulphur (S°), from soil. Sulphur-oxidizing bacteria play a key role in transformation of sulphur in soil. Oil seed crops require high amount of sulphur and it plays an important role in the formation of proteins, vitamins and enzymes. It increases yield, oil content and protein content in oil seed crops. Sulphur is the important constituent of amino acids, viz. methionine, cystine, and cysteine. It necessitates various enzymatic, metabolic processes such as photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation. In the last few years, the prominence of sulphur in oil seed crop nutrition has been accepted as widespread occurrence of its inadequacy in agricultural soil. Approximately 41% of Indian soil is deficient in sulphur. The soil microbial population is the major enforcement behind sulphur transformation. They mineralize, immobilize, oxidize and reduce the elemental and other reduced forms of sulphur. The main step in transformation is oxidation carried out by microorganisms to convert sulphur into sulphate. The chemolithotrophic bacteria belonging to genus Thiobacillus are of primary importance; there are heterotrophic bacteria also which can oxidize sulphur in soil. The pH reduction at the time of oxidation helps in mineralization and absorption of other essential nutrients also. This property of sulphur-oxidizing bacteria (SOB) shows their potential to be used as bioinoculants. Bioformulations prepared using carrier-based formulations, immobilization, biostimulation, etc., are sustainable forms of fertilizers. These SOB inoculants can be used to increase the fertility and sulphate production in soil.

Introduction In orthodontic treatment, infra-zygomatic crest screws have been effectively used in the correction of borderline skeletal malocclusion. The success of bone screws depends on factors such as biomechanical factors, placement technique, and microbial factors. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the success rate as well as assess the microbiota of silver nanoparticle coated and uncoated infra zygomatic crest (IZC) screws on clinical application. Method A sample of 36 stainless steel IZC screws was divided into 2 groups. Group I- Silver nanoparticle (AgNP) coated (n = 18) and group II uncoated (n = 18). A total of 18 patients (4 male, 14 female; mean age 22.58±3.52) received IZC screws (coated or uncoated) via a double-blind, split-mouth design. The success rate was evaluated based on the stability of IZC screws. And also molecular analysis was carried out using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism complemented with cloning and identification of species. Results The success rate was higher in group I (77.80%) than in group II (50.00%). The mean rank for terminal restriction fragments in AgNP coated group (14.92%) was significantly lower than the uncoated group (22.08%) (PConclusion The success rate for AgNP-coated IZC screws was higher compared to uncoated screws, while predominant bacteria present in coated and uncoated samples were found to be of different biological significance which needs to be explored subsequently.

In the present study, unsteady MHD boundary layer flow of a rotating Walters’-B fluid (viscoelastic fluid) over an infinite vertical porous plate embedded in a uniform porous medium with fluctuating wall temperature and concentration taking Hall and ion-slip effects into consideration is discussed. The MHD flow in the rotating fluid system is induced due to the non-torsional oscillations of the plate in its own plane and the buoyancy forces arises from temperature and concentration differences in field of gravity. The partial differential equations governing the fluid motion are solved analytically by using regular perturbation and variable separable methods by assuming very small viscoelastic parameter. Solution for velocity field in the case when natural frequency due to rotation and Hall current is equals to the frequency of oscillations i.e. in the case of resonance is also obtained. In order to note the influences of various system parameters and to discuss the important flow characteristics, the numerical results for fluid velocity in the non-resonance case, temperature and species concentration are computed and depicted graphically versus boundary layer parameter whereas skin friction, Nusselt number and Sherwood number at the plate are computed and presented in tabular form. An interesting observation recorded that there arises flow reversal in the primary flow direction due to high rotation. When natural frequency is greater than the frequency of oscillations the fluid velocity in the primary flow direction is maximum at the plate whereas incase when natural frequency is smaller than the frequency of oscillations, it is maximum in the neighborhood of the plate.

Hypoxia is a prevalent feature of many tumors contributing to disease progression and treatment resistance, and therefore constitutes an attractive therapeutic target. Several hypoxia-activated prodrugs (HAP) have been developed, including the phase III candidate TH-302 (evofosfamide) and the preclinical agent SN30000, which is an optimized analogue of the well-studied HAP tirapazamine. Experience with this therapeutic class highlights an urgent need to identify biomarkers of HAP sensitivity, including enzymes responsible for prodrug activation during hypoxia. Using genome-scale shRNA screens and a high-representation library enriched for oxidoreductases, we identified the flavoprotein P450 (cytochrome) oxidoreductase (POR) as the predominant determinant of sensitivity to SN30000 in three different genetic backgrounds. No other genes consistently modified SN30000 sensitivity, even within a POR-negative background. Knockdown or genetic knockout of POR reduced SN30000 reductive metabolism and clonogenic cell death and similarly reduced sensitivity to TH-302 under hypoxia. A retrospective evaluation of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas showed heterogeneous POR expression and suggested a possible relationship between human papillomavirus status and HAP sensitivity. Taken together, our study identifies POR as a potential predictive biomarker of HAP sensitivity that should be explored during the clinical development of SN30000, TH-302, and other hypoxia-directed agents. Cancer Res; 75(19); 4211–23. ©2015 AACR.