Identification of Potential Cytokinin Responsive Key Genes in Rice Treated With Trans-Zeatin Through Systems Biology Approach.

Rice is an important staple food grain consumed by most of the population around the world. With climate and environmental changes, rice has undergone a tremendous stress state which has impacted crop production and productivity. Plant growth hormones are essential component that controls the overall outcome of the growth and development of the plant. Cytokinin is a hormone that plays an important role in plant immunity and defense systems. Trans-zeatin is an active form of cytokinin that can affect plant growth which is mediated by a multi-step two-component phosphorelay system that has different roles in various developmental stages. Systems biology is an approach for pathway analysis to trans-zeatin treated rice that could provide a deep understanding of different molecules associated with them. In this study, we have used a weighted gene co-expression network analysis method to identify the functional modules and hub genes involved in the cytokinin pathway. We have identified nine functional modules comprising of different hub genes which contribute to the cytokinin signaling route. The biological significance of these identified hub genes has been tested by applying well-proven statistical techniques to establish the association with the experimentally validated QTLs and annotated by the DAVID server. The establishment of key genes in different pathways has been confirmed. These results will be useful to design new stress-resistant cultivars which can provide sustainable yield in stress-specific conditions.

Genome wide in-silico miRNA and target network prediction from stress responsive Horsegram (Macrotyloma uniflorum) accessions.

Horsegram (Macrotyloma uniflorum (Lam.) Verdc.) is a drought hardy food and fodder legume of Indo-African continents with diverse germplasm sources demonstrating alternating mechanisms depicting contrasting adaptations to different climatic zones. Tissue specific expression of genes contributes substantially to location specific adaptations. Regulatory networks of such adaptive genes are elucidated for downstream translational research. MicroRNAs are small endogenous regulatory RNAs which alters the gene expression profiles at a particular time and type of tissue. Identification of such small regulatory RNAs in low moisture stress hardy crops can help in cross species transfer and validation confirming stress tolerance ability. This study outlined prediction of conserved miRNAs from transcriptome shotgun assembled sequences and EST sequences of horsegram. We could validate eight out of 15 of the identified miRNAs to demonstrate their role in deficit moisture stress tolerance mechanism of horsegram variety Paiyur1 with their target networks. The putative mumiRs were related to other food legumes indicating the presence of gene regulatory networks. Differential miRNA expression among drought specific tissues indicted the probable energy conservation mechanism. Targets were identified for functional characterization and regulatory network was constructed to find out the probable pathways of post-transcriptional regulation. The functional network revealed mechanism of biotic and abiotic stress tolerance, energy conservation and photoperiod responsiveness.

In silico structural and functional analysis of protein encoded by wheat early salt-stress response gene (WESR3).

Salt stress is one of the major abiotic stresses limiting grain yield in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Wheat early salt-stress response gene (WESR3) is one of the major salt stress genes, which is affected in the first phase of salt stress. In this study, sequence and structural analysis of protein coded by WESR3 gene was carried out using various bioinformatics tools. Sequence analysis of WESR3 protein revealed the presence of highly conserved regions of Mlo gene family. Three-dimensional modeling was carried out to elucidate its structure and its active site. The sequence analysis revealed that WESR3 protein might be involved in fungal pathogen attack pathway. Thus, in addition to its involvement in abiotic stresses, it also seemed to play an important part in biotic stress pathways. Out of the three modeled protein structures obtained from I-TASSER, HHPred and QUARK, the I-TASSER protein model was the best model based on high confidence score and lesser number of bad contacts. The Ramchandran plot analysis also showed that all amino acid residues of I-TASSER model lie in the allowed region and thus indicating towards the overall good quality of the predicted model. Seventeen active sites were predicted in the protein bearing resemblance to the Mlo family conserved regions. In conclusion, a detailed analysis of WESR3 protein suggested an important role of WESR3 in biotic and abiotic stress. These results aid to the experimental data and help to build up a complete view of WESR3 proteins and their role in plant stress response.

Experimental evaluation of the analgesic property of eclipta alba (L) hassk.

A narcotic or a non-narcotic analgesic that would not cause respiratory depression and addiction in may be used as an alternative to morphine. In Ayurveda a large number of indigenous drugs have been mentioned possessing the analgesic properties e.g Guggul, Erand, Rasna, Bhringaraja, Methika, palandu and prasikayavani. Total alcoholic extracts of Bhringaraja (Eclipta alba) was undertaken to study the analgesic activity in albino rats and albino mice by using different standard experimental models.

Variants of subtilisin BPN' with altered specificity profiles.

A strategy for increasing the size of the S4 binding pocket was used to improve the specificity of subtilisin BPN' toward substrates with large hydrophobic P4 side chains. This approach involves single and double amino acid replacements at positions 104, 107, and 126. Previously, alteration of I107 to glycine has been found to increase the specificity of subtilisin toward leucine, isoleucine, and phenylalanine as P4 residues by up to 214-fold. Replacement of Y104 by alanine also yields a similar improvement in specificity. However, this subtilisin variant favors isoleucine and phenylalanine over leucine. When L126 was replaced by valine, alanine, and glycine, respectively, only the L126A subtilisin variant, which possesses a 28-fold-increased catalytic efficiency for isoleucine compared with all other substrates tested, showed a significantly improved specificity profile. As inferred from the double-mutant enzymes I107G/L126V, I107G/L126A, and I107G/Y104A, none of the effects of the single amino acid replacements on the kinetic parameters are additive. The I107G/L126V mutant subtilisin has the largest improvement in P4 substrate specificity reported so far: kcat/KM is increased 340-fold for leucine compared to alanine. By contrast, the specificity profile of the I107G/Y104A mutant enzyme is impaired in comparison with that of the corresponding single mutants. Therefore, the design of high-specificity subtilisin variants through the combination of single amino acid replacements in the S4 pocket appears to be nontrivial due to the interference of the introduced structural changes.

India's population problem: myth and reality.

PIP: It is not population growth but lack of will to introduce institutional changes in India's economy that causes gruelling poverty and economic backwardness. The reduction of the birth rate is important only in an economic context. The population problem is actually a development problem. India has 2.4% of the world's area and 15 per cent of the world's population. 1 Indian in 5 is a severe destitute. A severe destitute is defined as one who has less than 70 paise consumption expenditure in rural areas; 93 paise a day in urban areas. The per capita annual income of the Indian people in 1974-75 was Rs. 341.4, less than a rupee a day. A new, institutional approach is needed to change property relations, increase production, and raise the standard of living. It is no use to preach family planning to people who are in the abyss of poverty.^ieng