Synthesis of homo- and copolymer containing sulfonic acid via atom transfer radical polymerization.

Well-defined functional poly(p-phenyl styrenesulfonate) and poly(p-phenyl styrene-sulfonate-co-styrene) were successfully synthesized by the atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) using CuBr/bpy(PMDETA) catalyst and 1-phenylethyl bromide (1-PEBr) as an ATRP initiator in diphenyl ether (DPE) or dimethyl formamide (DMF). In both homo- and copolymers, the CuBr/PMDETA catalytic system in DPE or DME showed higher yield than CuBr/bpy and the polydispersity index (PDI) of polymer was low. Using PMDETA or bpy as a ligand in DMF, the high yield with high PDI was obtained than in DPE. We found that the CuBr/PMDETA catalyzed ATRP of p-phenyl styrenesulfonate and copolymerization with styrene comonomer in DPE proceeded in a controlled manner. The polymers containing sulfonic acid were obtained by the chemical deprotection of protecting group, followed by acidification. The molecular structure, molecular weights and thermal properties of the copolymers were determined by nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, size exclusion chromatography (SEC), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), respectively.

Genome-wide in silico identification of phospholipase D (PLD) gene family from Corchorus capsularis and Corchorus olitorius: reveals their responses to plant stress.

BACKGROUND: Plant grows in nature facing various types of abiotic stresses for their normal growth and development. During abiotic stress, plants evolve different types of mechanisms to survive in a hostile environment. Phospholipase D (PLD) plays important role in the regulation of diverse cellular processes including stress responses in plants. Member of PLD genes are well studied in different model plants; however, their functions in the jute are not clear yet. RESULT: In the present study, a total of 12 and 11 PLD genes were identified in the genome of C. capsularis and C. olitorius, respectively. The presence of the two conserved HKD motifs in PLD genes except for CoPLDδ-2 in jute suggests their strong lipase activity. Twenty different motifs were found in the identified PLD genes, and PLD-ß1, PLD-γ1, and all members of PLD-δ1 of both jute species contained the highest number of motifs. Phylogenetic analysis showed the close evolutionary relationship among the five groups of jute PLD proteins along with the PLD proteins from Arabidopsis. Tissue-specific expression pattern of PLDα1-2, PLD-α2, PLDß1, PLDγ1, and PLDδ1 of two jute species suggested their involvement in plant growth and development. However, the expression pattern of PLDα1-2, PLDα1-3, PLD-α4, PLDδ1, and PLDδ3 indicated their association during waterlogging stress. In addition, PLD-α2, PLDß1, and PLDδ2 seemed to be involved in drought stress as well as salinity stress. CONCLUSION: This genome-wide identification of jute PLD genes from C. capsularis and C. olitorius will help to further functional characterization of the PLD genes for developing stress-tolerant jute variety.

Genome-wide identification of F-box proteins in Macrophomina phaseolina and comparison with other fungus.

BACKGROUND: In fungi, like other eukaryotes, protein turnover is an important cellular process for the controlling of various cellular functions. The ubiquitin-proteasome pathway degrades some selected intracellular proteins and F-box proteins are one of the important components controlling protein degradation. F-box proteins are well studied in different model plants however, their functions in the fungi are not clear yet. This study aimed to identify the genes involved in protein degradation for disease development in the Macrophomina phaseolina fungus. RESULTS: In this research, in silico studies were done to understand the distribution of F-box proteins in pathogenic fungi including Macrophomina phaseolina fungus. Genome-wide analysis indicates that M. phaseolina fungus contained thirty-one F-box proteins throughout its chromosomes. In addition, there are 17, 37, 16, and 21 F-box proteins have been identified from Puccinia graminis, Colletotrichum graminicola, Ustilago maydis, and Phytophthora infestans, respectively. Analyses revealed that selective fungal genomes contain several additional functional domains along with F-box domain. Sequence alignment showed the substitution of amino acid in several F-box proteins; however, gene duplication was not found among these proteins. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that F-box proteins having similar functional domain was highly diverse form each other showing the possibility of various function. Analysis also found that MPH_00568 and MPH_05531 were closely related to rice blast fungus F-box protein MGG_00768 and MGG_13065, respectively, may play an important role for blast disease development. CONCLUSION: This genome-wide analysis of F-box proteins will be useful for characterization of candidate F-box proteins to understand the molecular mechanisms leading to disease development of M. phaseolina in the host plants.

Genome-wide identification of fasciclin-like arabinogalactan proteins in jute and their expression pattern during fiber formation.

Fasciclin-like arabinogalactan proteins (FLAs), a class of arabinogalactan proteins (AGPs) are involved in plant growth and development via cell communication and adhesion. FLAs were also associated with fiber and wood formation in plants but no information is available about the roles of FLA proteins during fibre development of jute. Here, we performed molecular characterization, evolutionary relationship and expression profiling of FLAs proteins in jute (Corchorus olitorius). In total, nineteen CoFLA genes have been identified in jute genome, which were divided into four classes like FLAs of other species based on protein structure and similarity. All CoFLAs have N-terminal signal peptide and one or two FAS domain while two FLAs lack well defined AGP region and eight FLAs were devoid of C-terminal glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchor. Expression analysis of different regions of jute stem suggested their involvement in different fiber development stages. Four genes CoFLA 11, 12, 20, and 23 were highly or predominately expressed in fiber containing bark tissues while the expression levels of six CoFLA genes 02, 03, 04, 06, 14 and 19 were comparatively higher in stick. Higher transcripts levels of CoFLA 12 and 20 in the middle bark tissues suggest their involvement in fiber elongation. In contrast, the CoFLA 11 and 23 were more expressed in bottom bark tissues suggesting their potential involvement in secondary cell wall synthesis. Our study can serve as solid foundation for further functional exploration of FLAs and in future breeding program of jute aiming fiber improvement.