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Qatar is largely characterized by a hyper-arid climate and low soil fertility, which combine to create a stressful soil environment for arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi. Here we present a study on AM fungi communities and their relationship to soil chemical characteristics. We used high-throughput seqeuncing technique for identifying AM fungal diversity and community composition from different habitat types across Qatar. We found 127 AM fungal taxa, of which majority wee members of the family Glomeraceae. In contrast to what was hypothesized, AM fungi were mainly influenced by soil phosphorous and potassium. Chemical soil properties explained 76% of the variation in AM fungi between locations. The lowest AM fungal diversity was observed in barren areas and sand dunes, possibly due to low bioavailability of total nitrogen, while the highest diversity was observed in well-developed grass patches. Present AM fungi in Qatar were not affected by soil and pH; these fungi have likely been exposed to high salinities through their evolutionary history in the region, favoring resistant AM fungi through natural selection. These findings provide baseline information on AM fungal assemblages from the Arabian Peninsula, and thus contribute to better understanding of global patterns of AM fungi and their chemical drivers.

Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) is a non-destructive analytical technique that has been employed in this research to characterize the biochemical make-up of various rat brain regions. The sensorimotor cortex, caudate putamen, thalamus, and the hippocampus were found to have higher olefinic content&mdash, an indicator of a higher degree of unsaturated fatty acids&mdash, rich in short-chain fatty acids, and low in ester and lipid contents. While the regions of the corpus callosum, internal, and external capsule were found to contain long-chained and higher-esterified saturated fatty acids. These molecular differences may reflect the roles of the specific regions in information processing and can provide a unique biochemical platform for future studies on the earlier detection of pathology development in the brain, as a consequence of disease or injury. Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectroscopy (LA-ICP-MS) is another vital analytical technique that was used in this work to analyze the elements&rsquo, distribution patterns in various regions of the brain. The complementary data sets allowed the characterization of the brain regions, the chemical dominating groups, and the elemental composition. This set-up may be used for the investigation of changes in the brain caused by diseases and help create a deeper understanding of the interactions between the organic and elemental composition.

Thalassemia is the most common genetically inherited blood disorder in the world arisen from defect in hemoglobin production, resulting in ineffective erythropoiesis and rapid destruction of RBC in the periphery that leads to severe anemia. While transfusion therapy corrects the anemia, it gives rise to secondary iron overload. Finally, recurrent blood exposure can induce alloimmunization to erythrocytes antigens, leading to difficulty in finding compatible blood. Current iron chelation therapy using Desferal® (DFO) is challenging due to its short vascular half-life, frequency of injections, toxicity and expense. To address these issues new iron chelating agents and improved iron chelation therapy we propose using combination of iron chelators. To test the utility of different chelators, in vivo studies performed on iron loaded zebrafish embryos (100 μM Fe3+; ferric ammonium citrate (FAC); 3dpf -6dpf). Iron chelation studies utilized either single or combinational treatment with Deferiprone (L1) or DFO for 7dpf-10dpf on zebrafish iron loaded model. The efficacy of treatment was assessed by total iron with ICP-MS, clinical chemistry analyzer spectrophotometry and with Perl's iron stain microscopy. Iron treatment alone resulted in a significant increase in total iron, histochemical iron staining, also resulted in an increase in stainable iron. Treatment with iron chelators either L1 or DFO alone demonstrated modestly decreased total iron and iron staining. Importantly, combination therapy (L1+ DFO), resulted in an additive effect in FAC-driven iron levels after 96 hours treatment. As expected, iron chelators (e.g., 100 μM DFO or L1) reduced the level of iron. These studies confirm that cellular iron utilization requires one chelator to have the properties to enter cells, chelate intracellular iron and subsequently that go to another chelator with higher affinity to iron binding. The development of improved combination iron chelation therapy using nigh and low molecular weight biocompatible iron chelators may provide better therapeutic value (less toxic and less frequent administration) in developing nations. These biocompatible iron chelators can improve shelf life of blood products to minimize oxidative damage due to iron-mediated oxidation. Consequent to this, iron mediated pathology to patients diminished resulting in less cost to already strained public health budgets in many poor countries. Qatar University