Monitoring and Risk Assessment of Pesticide Residues in Fishery Products Using GC-MS/MS in South Korea.

The aim of this study was to assess the risk of pesticide contamination in aquaculture and its impact on fishery products. We conducted an assessment of 300 samples collected from nine regions in South Korea, including various types of seafood, such as freshwater fish, marine fish, crustaceans, and shellfish. Pesticide residues in seafood were analyzed using GC-MS/MS after sample preparation using a modified QuEChERS method, revealing the presence of eight pesticides (4,4'-DDE, 4,4'-DDT, boscalid, isoprothiolane, oxadiazon, pendimethalin, thifluzamide, and trifluralin) across seven fish species (carp, far eastern catfish, crucian carp, eel, Chinese muddy loach, mirror carp, and sea bass). Following the grouping of DDE with DDT, a risk assessment of fishery products was conducted. After the estimated daily intake (EDI) of fish was calculated and compared with the acceptable daily intake (ADI), the health risk index (HI, %ADI) of the detected pesticides was evaluated and found to be 1.07% or lower. The results suggest that the consumption of domestically farmed fish products in South Korea poses minimal health risks associated with pesticide residues.

Halotolerant Pseudomonas koreensis S4T10 mitigate salt and drought stress in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Salt and drought are documented among the most detrimental and persistent abiotic stresses for crop production. Here, we investigated the impact of Pseudomonas koreensis strain S4T10 on plant performance under salt and drought stress. Arabidopsis thaliana Col-0 wild type and atnced3 mutant plants were inoculated with P. koreensis or tap water and exposed to NaCl (100 mM) for five days and drought stress by withholding water for seven days. P. koreensis significantly enhanced plant biomass and photosynthetic pigments under salt and drought stress conditions. Moreover, P. koreensis activated the antioxidant defence by modulating glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activities to scavenge the reactive oxygen species produced due to the stress. In addition, the application of P. koreensis upregulated the expression of genes associated with antioxidant responses, such as AtCAT1, AtCAT3, and AtSOD. Similarly, genes linked to salt stress, such as AtSOS1, AtSOS2, AtSOS3, AtNHX1, and AtHKT1, were also upregulated, affirming the positive role of P. koreensis S4T10 in streamlining the cellular influx and efflux transport systems during salt stress. Likewise, the PGPB inoculation was observed to regulate the expression of drought-responsive genes AtDREB2A, AtDREB2B, and ABA-responsive genes AtAO3, AtABA3 indicating that S4T10 enhanced drought tolerance via modulation of the ABA pathway. The results of this study affirm that P. koreensis S4T10 could be further developed as a biofertilizer to mitigate salt and drought stress at the same time.

Brevundimonas vesicularis (S1T13) Mitigates Drought-Stress-Associated Damage in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Drought stress is a significant threat to agricultural productivity and poses challenges to plant survival and growth. Research into microbial plant biostimulants faces difficulties in understanding complicated ecological dynamics, molecular mechanisms, and specificity; to address these knowledge gaps, collaborative efforts and innovative strategies are needed. In the present study, we investigated the potential role of Brevundimonas vesicularis (S1T13) as a microbial plant biostimulant to enhance drought tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana. We assessed the impact of S1T13 on Col-0 wild-type (WT) and atnced3 mutant plants under drought conditions. Our results revealed that the inoculation of S1T13 significantly contributed to plant vigor, with notable improvements observed in both genotypes. To elucidate the underlying mechanisms, we studied the role of ROS and their regulation by antioxidant genes and enzymes in plants inoculated with S1T13. Interestingly, the inoculation of S1T13 enhanced the activities of GSH, SOD, POD, and PPO by 33, 35, 41, and 44% in WT and 24, 22, 26, and 33% in atnced3, respectively. In addition, S1T13 upregulated the expression of antioxidant genes. This enhanced antioxidant machinery played a crucial role in neutralizing ROS and protecting plant cells from oxidative damage during drought stress. Furthermore, we investigated the impact of S1T13 on ABA and drought-stress-responsive genes. Similarly, S1T13 modulated the production of ABA and expression of AO3, ABA3, DREB1A, and DREB2A by 31, 42, 37, 41, and 42% in WT and 20, 29, 27, 38, and 29% in atnced3. The improvement in plant vigor, coupled with the induction of the antioxidant system and modulation of ABA, indicates the pivotal role of S1T13 in enhancing the drought stress tolerance of the plants. Conclusively, the current study provides valuable insights for the application of multitrait S1T13 as a novel strain to improve drought stress tolerance in plants and could be added to the consortium of biofertilizers.

Green Synthesis and Characterization of Silver Nanoparticles Using Azadirachta indica Seeds Extract: In Vitro and In Vivo Evaluation of Anti-Diabetic Activity.

BACKGROUND: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a non-communicable, life-threatening syndrome that is present all over the world. The use of eco-friendly, cost-effective, and green-synthesised nanoparticles as a medicinal therapy in the treatment of DM is an attractive option. OBJECTIVE: In the present study, silver nanoparticles (AI-AgNPs) were biosynthesized through the green synthesis method using Azadirachta indica seed extract to evaluate their anti-diabetic potentials. METHODS: These nanoparticles were characterized by using UV-visible spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometers (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), DLS, and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The biosynthesized AI-AgNPs and crude extracts of Azadirachta indica seeds were evaluated for anti-diabetic potentials using glucose adsorption assays, glucose uptake by yeast cells assays, and alpha-amylase inhibitory assays. RESULTS: Al-AgNPs showed the highest activity (75 ± 1.528%), while crude extract showed (63 ± 2.5%) glucose uptake by yeast at 80 µg/mL. In the glucose adsorption assay, the highest activity of Al-AgNPs was 10.65 ± 1.58%, while crude extract showed 8.32 ± 0.258% at 30 mM, whereas in the alpha-amylase assay, Al-AgNPs exhibited the maximum activity of 73.85 ± 1.114% and crude extract 65.85 ± 2.101% at 100 µg/mL. The assay results of AI-AgNPs and crude showed substantial dose-dependent activities. Further, anti-diabetic potentials were also investigated in streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice. Mice were administered with AI-AgNPs (10 to 40 mg/kg b.w) for 30 days. CONCLUSIONS: The results showed a considerable drop in blood sugar levels, including pancreatic and liver cell regeneration, demonstrating that AI-AgNPs have strong anti-diabetic potential.

Parthenium hysterophorus's Endophytes: The Second Layer of Defense against Biotic and Abiotic Stresses.

Parthenium hysterophorus L. is considered an obnoxious weed due to its rapid dispersal, fast multiplications, and agricultural and health hazards. In addition to its physio-molecular and phytotoxic allelochemical usage, this weed most probably uses endophytic flora as an additional line of defense to deal with stressful conditions and tolerate both biotic and abiotic stresses. The aim of this article is to report the diversity of endophytic flora (fungi and bacteria) in P. hysterophorus and their role in the stress mitigation (biotic and abiotic) of other important crops. Various endophytes were reported from P. hysterophorus and their roles in crops evaluated under biotic and abiotic stressed conditions. These endophytes have the potential to alleviate different stresses by improving crops/plants growth, development, biomass, and photosynthetic and other physiological traits. The beneficial role of the endophytes may be attributed to stress-modulating enzymes such as the antioxidants SOD, POD and APX and ACC deaminases. Additionally, the higher production of different classes of bioactive secondary metabolites, i.e., flavonoids, proline, and glutathione may also overcome tissue damage to plants under stressed conditions. Interestingly, a number of medicinally important phytochemicals such as anhydropseudo-phlegmcin-9, 10-quinone-3-amino-8-O methyl ether 'anhydropseudophlegmacin-9, 10-quinone-3-amino-8-Omethyl ether were reported from the endophytic flora of P. hysterophorus. Moreover, various reports revealed that fungal and bacterial endophytes of P. hysterophorus enhance plant growth-promoting attributes and could be added to the consortium of biofertilizers.

Exogenously Applied Sodium Nitroprusside Mitigates Lead Toxicity in Rice by Regulating Antioxidants and Metal Stress-Related Transcripts.

Sustainable agriculture is increasingly being put in danger by environmental contamination with dangerous heavy metals (HMs), especially lead (Pb). Plants have developed a sophisticated mechanism for nitric oxide (NO) production and signaling to regulate hazardous effects of abiotic factors, including HMs. In the current study, we investigated the role of exogenously applied sodium nitroprusside (SNP, a nitric oxide (NO) donor) in ameliorating the toxic effects of lead (Pb) on rice. For this purpose, plants were subjected to 1.2 mM Pb alone and in combination with 100 µM SNP. We found that under 1.2 mM Pb stress conditions, the accumulation of oxidative stress markers, including hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) (37%), superoxide anion (O2-) (28%), malondialdehyde (MDA) (33%), and electrolyte leakage (EL) (34%), was significantly reduced via the application of 100 µM SNP. On the other hand, under the said stress of Pb, the activity of the reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavengers such as polyphenol oxidase (PPO) (60%), peroxidase (POD) (28%), catalase (CAT) (26%), superoxide dismutase (SOD) (42%), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) (58%) was significantly increased via the application of 100 µM SNP. In addition, the application of 100 µM SNP rescued agronomic traits such as plant height (24%), number of tillers per plant (40%), and visible green pigments (44%) when the plants were exposed to 1.2 mM Pb stress. Furthermore, after exposure to 1.2 mM Pb stress, the expression of the heavy-metal stress-related genes OsPCS1 (44%), OsPCS2 (74%), OsMTP1 (83%), OsMTP5 (53%), OsMT-I-1a (31%), and OsMT-I-1b (24%) was significantly enhanced via the application of 100 µM SNP. Overall, our research evaluates that exogenously applied 100 mM SNP protects rice plants from the oxidative damage brought on by 1.2 mM Pb stress by lowering oxidative stress markers, enhancing the antioxidant system and the transcript accumulation of HMs stress-related genes.

Porostereum spadiceum-AGH786 Regulates the Growth and Metabolites Production in Triticum aestivum L. Under Salt Stress.

The role of the most fungal endophytes in the host plant growth and production of metabolites under stress conditions is still unknown. Fungal endophytes occur in almost all plants to benefit the host plants exposed to biotic and abiotic stress. In the present work, we investigated salt (NaCl) stress alleviation capability of a fungal endophyte (Porostereum spadiceum-AGH786). The culture filtrate (CF: 1.5 mL.) of P. spadiceum-AGH786 contained IAA (158 µg/ml), SA (29.3 µg/ml), proline (114.6 µg/ml), phenols (167.4 µg/ml), lipids (71.4 µg/ml), sugar (133.2 µg/ml), flavonoids (105.04 µg/ml). Smaller amounts of organic acids, such as butyric acid (5.8 µg/ml), formic acid (2.34 µg/ml), succinic acid (2.02 µg/ml), and quinic acid (2.25 µg/ml) were also found in CF of P. spadiceum-AGH786. Similarly, the CF displayed antioxidant activity in 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2'-Azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) assays. Moreover, wheat plants colonized by P. spadiceum-AGH786 showed significantly (P = 0.05) higher polyphenol oxidases activity (2.2 mg/g DW) under normal conditions as compared to the NaCl-treated plants. We also observed that P. spadiceum-AGH786 improved biomass (0.30 g) of wheat plants subjected to 140 mM NaCl stress. The results conclude that the wheat plant colonization by P. spadiceum-AGH786 greatly improved the plant growth under 70 mM and 140 mM NaCl stress. Thus, the biomass of the P. Spadiceum-AGH786 can be used in saline soil to help the host plants.

Isolation and identification of multi-trait plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria from coastal sand dune plant species of Pohang beach.

Rhizobacteria are root-associated bacteria that influence plant growth by various direct and indirect mechanisms. In quest of efficient plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) with multiple plant growth-promoting traits, a total of 52 rhizobacterial isolates were isolated from the rhizospheric soil collected at Pohang beach, Republic of Korea. The bacterial isolates were evaluated in vitro for their plant growth-promoting traits like production of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) deaminase, indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), siderophore, and phosphate solubilization activities. More than 28% of the isolates revealed all of the multi-trait plant growth-promoting activities, whereas 11.54% exhibited robust results for producing IAA, ACC deaminase, siderophore, and phosphate solubilization activities. Similarly, 36% isolates were capable for the production of IAA, siderophore, and ACC deaminase, while 32% revealed phosphate solubilization and siderophore production. The isolates with prominent multi-trait plant growth-promoting activities were identified based on 16S rRNA gene sequences and matched to Pseudomonas koreensis-(S4T10), Pseudomonas fluorescens-(S3B1), Serratia fonticola-(S1T1), Sphingobacterium multivorum-(S1B1), Brevundimonas vesicularis-(S1T13), and Arthrobacter sp.-(S2T9) with 99-100% similarity. Our results confirm that further evaluation of these PGPR (exhibiting multi-traits for plant growth promotion) is required on crop plants to reveal their pragmatic role under normal and abiotic stress conditions and add into the consortium of biofertilizers for sustainable agriculture.

Possible mechanisms for the equilibrium of ACC and role of ACC deaminase-producing bacteria.

Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) actively colonize the plant rhizosphere, which not only stimulates plants' growth and development but also mitigates the adverse effects of abiotic stressors. Besides other techniques and approaches used for the alleviation of abiotic stress conditions, the utilization of PGPR with multiplant growth-promoting traits is desirable because the application of PGPR is pragmatic, sustainable, and environmentally friendly. In the past four decades, numerous ACC deaminase-producing PGPR have been reported for the improvement of crop plants' growth and development under different abiotic stress conditions. Since 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase producing PGPR regulates ethylene production by utilizing the exuded ACC, which is an immediate precursor of ethylene biosynthesis. However, little is known about the basic mechanism involved in the acquisition of ACC by ACC deaminase-producing bacteria since the enzyme ACC deaminase is localized inside the bacterial cells and ACC is exuded into the rhizosphere from plant roots. In the present article, we proposed candidate attractants involved in the transfer of ACC into ACC deaminase-producing bacteria. Additionally, we discussed the importance and relation of these candidate attractants with ACC deaminase under abiotic stress conditions. KEY POINTS: • The ethylene precursor, ACC, exude from plant tissues under abiotic stresses • ACC deaminase activity of PGPR localized in the cytoplasm and periplasm of bacteria • Proposed candidate attractants for the transfer and equilibrium of exuded ACC.

Corn Starch: Quality and Quantity Improvement for Industrial Uses.

Corn starch serves as food, feed, and a raw material for industrial use. Starch makes up most of the biomass of the corn hybrid and is the most important and main yield component in corn breeding programs. Starch is composed of two polymers, branched amylopectin and linear amylose, which normally constitute about 75% and 25% of the corn starch, respectively. Breeding for corn starch quality has become economically beneficial because of the development of niche markets for specialty grains. In addition, due to the increased demands of biofuel production, corn ethanol production is receiving more attention. Consequently, improving starch quantity has become one of the most important breeding objectives. This review will summarize the use of corn starch, and the genetics and breeding of grain quality and quantity for industrial applications.

Theobroxide Treatment Inhibits Wild Fire Disease Occurrence in Nicotiana benthamiana by the Overexpression of Defense-related Genes.

Theobroxide, a novel compound isolated from a fungus Lasiodiplodia theobromae, stimulates potato tuber formation and induces flowering of morning glory by initiating the jasmonic acid synthesis pathway. To elucidate the effect of theobroxide on pathogen resistance in plants, Nicotiana benthamiana plants treated with theobroxide were immediately infiltrated with Pseudomonas syringae pv. tabaci. Exogenous application of theobroxide inhibited development of lesion symptoms, and growth of the bacterial cells was significantly retarded. Semi-quantitative RT-PCRs using the primers of 18 defense-related genes were performed to investigate the molecular mechanisms of resistance. Among the genes, the theobroxide treatment increased the expression of pathogenesis-related protein 1a (PR1a), pathogenesis-related protein 1b (PR1b), glutathione S-transferase (GST), allen oxide cyclase (AOC), and lipoxyganase (LOX). All these data strongly indicate that theobroxide treatment inhibits disease development by faster induction of defense responses, which can be possible by the induction of defense-related genes including PR1a, PR1b, and GST triggered by the elevated jasmonic acid.

Genetic basis of destruxin production in the entomopathogen Metarhizium robertsii.

Destruxins are among the most exhaustively researched secondary metabolites of entomopathogenic fungi, yet definitive evidence for their roles in pathogenicity and virulence has yet to be shown. To establish the genetic bases for the biosynthesis of this family of depsipeptides, we identified a 23,792-bp gene in Metarhizium robertsii ARSEF 2575 containing six complete nonribosomal peptide synthetase modules, with an N-methyltransferase domain in each of the last two modules. This domain arrangement is consistent with the positioning of the adjacent amino acids N-methyl-L: -valine and N-methyl-L: -alanine within the depsipeptide structure of destruxin. DXS expression levels in vitro and in vivo exhibited comparable patterns, beginning at low levels during the early growth phases and increasing with time. Targeted gene knockout using Agrobacterium-mediated transformation produced mutants that failed to synthesize destruxins, in comparison with wild type and ectopic control strains, indicating the involvement of this gene in destruxin biosynthesis. The destruxin synthetase (DXS) disruption mutant was as virulent as the control strain when conidial inoculum was topically applied to larvae of Spodoptera exigua, Galleria mellonella, and Tenebrio molitor indicating that destruxins are dispensable for virulence in these insect hosts. The DXS mutants exhibited no other detectable changes in morphology and development.

Enhanced resistance to bacterial and fungal pathogens by overexpression of a human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide (hCAP18/LL-37) in Chinese cabbage.

The human cathelicidin antimicrobial protein hCAP18, which includes the C-terminal peptide LL-37, is a multifunctional protein. As a possible approach to enhancing the resistance to plant disease, a DNA fragment coding for hCAP18/LL-37 was fused at the C-terminal end of the leader sequence of endopolygalacturonase-inhibiting protein under the control of the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter region. The construct was then introduced into Brassica rapa. LL-37 expression was confirmed in transgenic plants by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis. Transgenic plants exhibited varying levels of resistance to bacterial and fungal pathogens. The average size of disease lesions in the transgenic plants was reduced to less than half of that in wild-type plants. Our results suggest that the antimicrobial LL-37 peptide is involved in wide-spectrum resistance to bacterial and fungal pathogen infection.

Potent anti-aging activity of Aruncus dioicus, a native plant of Ulleung-do, South Korea, in CCD-986sk fibroblasts via suppression of matrix metalloproteinases.

Aruncus dioicus var. kamtschaticus HARA, also known as goat's beard, is a native plant in Ulleung-do, South Korea. It has been used as a remedy in skin care, detoxification, blood stanching, tonsillitis. High performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection was used for partial validation of bioactive chemicals in A. dioicus ethyl acetate (EtOAc) extract, and EtOAC extract was examined for its effect on ultraviolet (UV)-induced cell aging using CCD-986sk-human skin fibroblast cells. Cells were exposed to UV-B for 1 min before extract treatment. An established viability assay was performed to test cell toxicity of A. dioicus at 5, 10, or 50 µg/ml concentrations, and activities of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) 1, 2, 3, phosphorylated-p38 (p-p38, an activated form of p38), p38, and c-fos transcription factors were evaluated. A. dioicus extract decreased the amount of mRNA transcripts and total proteins of MMP1, 2, 3 as well as p-p38 and c-fos. The c-fos expression was also confirmed by in vivo fluorescent staining of CCD-986sk cells after UV-B exposure followed by EtOAc extract treatment. The results showed that expression of skin aging related genes encoding MMP1, 2, and 3 was inhibited by reduced transcription factor expression of p-p38 and c-fos by A. dioicus EtOAc extract. The results suggest that A. dioicus extract can be used to reduce UV-B-induced skin aging and is a potential candidate for cosmedical materials.

Agrobacterium-mediated disruption of a nonribosomal peptide synthetase gene in the invertebrate pathogen Metarhizium anisopliae reveals a peptide spore factor.

Numerous secondary metabolites have been isolated from the insect pathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae, but the roles of these compounds as virulence factors in disease development are poorly understood. We targeted for disruption by Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation a putative nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NPS) gene, MaNPS1. Four of six gene disruption mutants identified were examined further. Chemical analyses showed the presence of serinocyclins, cyclic heptapeptides, in the extracts of conidia of control strains, whereas the compounds were undetectable in DeltaManps1 mutants treated identically or in other developmental stages, suggesting that MaNPS1 encodes a serinocyclin synthetase. Production of the cyclic depsipeptide destruxins, M. anisopliae metabolites also predicted to be synthesized by an NPS, was similar in DeltaManps1 mutant and control strains, indicating that MaNPS1 does not contribute to destruxin biosynthesis. Surprisingly, a MaNPS1 fragment detected DNA polymorphisms that correlated with relative destruxin levels produced in vitro, and MaNPS1 was expressed concurrently with in vitro destruxin production. DeltaManps1 mutants exhibited in vitro development and responses to external stresses comparable to control strains. No detectable differences in pathogenicity of the DeltaManps1 mutants were observed in bioassays against beet armyworm and Colorado potato beetle in comparison to control strains. This is the first report of targeted disruption of a secondary metabolite gene in M. anisopliae, which revealed a novel cyclic peptide spore factor.

Amplification of genome-integrated BeYDV replicons by transient expression of Rep in Arabidopsis thaliana

Bean yellow dwarf geminivirus (BeYDV) has been used as a potential vector to improve foreign gene expression, specifically, to achieve higher yields of vaccine proteins in plants. Previously, we have shown that when the BeYDV replication initiator protein Rep was provided in trans, replication and gene expression of GUS were enhanced enormously from a BeYDV expression vector in a transient assay system. In this paper, transgenic lines of Arabidopsis (cv. Columbia) were generated harboring the BeYDV cis-acting elements required for replication. Constructs encoding BeYDV Rep or intronless Rep open reading frames (ORFs) were transiently introduced into transgenic plants via Agrobacterium-mediated infiltration in order to examine the relative levels of replication and expression of the genome-integrated GUS reporter gene. This study shows that expression of Rep protein was regulated in trans from a separate cassette which enabled the rescue, replication and enhancement of the genome-integrated GUS gene in transgenic Arabidopsis. We conclude that Rep expression can be effectively controlled in Arabidopsis plants, and that regulation of Rep expression can result in the amplification of a genome-integrated foreign gene by circumventing the negative effects of gene silencing.

Production of mutagenic metabolites by Metarhizium anisopliae.

NG-391 (1) and NG-393 (2), previously reported from undescribed Fusarium species as nerve-cell growth stimulants, were identified from fermentation extracts of the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae. These compounds are 7-desmethyl analogues of fusarin C and (8Z)-fusarin C, mutagenic toxins from Fusarium species that contaminate corn. A mutant strain of M. anisopliae (KOB1-3) overproduces 1 and 2 by ca. 10-fold relative to the wild-type strain, ARSEF 2575, from which it was derived. Overproduction of these compounds in KOB1-3 imparts a yellow pigmentation to the culture medium of the fungus. These compounds were inactive at 100 mug/disk in antimicrobial disk diffusion assays. Compound 1 was inactive at 100 ppm in a mosquitocidal assay. However, like their fusarin analogues, 1 and 2 exhibited potent S9-dependent mutagenic activity in the Salmonella mutagenicity test. Discovery of these highly mutagenic mycotoxins in M. anisopliae suggests that screening for production of NG-391 and NG-393 in strains that are used as biocontrol agents would be a prudent course of action. The impact of these findings on the use of M. anisopliae as a biocontrol agent is currently unknown and requires further investigation.

Multi-tasking of nonstructural gene products is required for bean yellow dwarf geminivirus transcriptional regulation.

Mastreviridae, of the family geminiviridae, possess a monopartite genome and are transmitted by leafhoppers. Bean yellow dwarf dirus (BeYDV) is a mastrevirus which originated from South Africa and infects dicoyledenous plants, a feature unusual for mastreviridae. Previously, the nonstructural proteins Rep and RepA were examined with respect to their independent roles in BeYDV replication. This was achieved by placing both gene products under independent constitutive promoter control and examining their effects on replication-competent constructs. In the current study, Rep and RepA are examined further for their roles in regulating BeYDV gene expression using a series of replication-incompetent constructs. While both Rep and RepA are found to behave as equally potent inhibitors of complementary-sense gene expression, they differ considerably with respect to their abilities to transactivate virion-sense gene expression. Furthermore, RepA is identified as playing more than one role in this transactivation process. A nuclear localization domain is identified in Rep which is absent in RepA, and Rep-RepA interactions are examined under in vivo conditions. The study concludes with an investigation into the expression strategies of the BeYDV capsid protein.

Overlapping vs. one long stenting in long coronary lesions.

Intervention of long coronary lesions remains problematic, and optimal treatment strategy is yet to be determined. Despite advancement of stent technology, data are few regarding the efficacy of overlapping stents vs. a single long stent in long coronary lesions. This study was performed to evaluate the results of those strategies for long coronary lesions and to determine the predictors of in-stent restenosis (ISR). Sixty-four lesions (> 20 mm) in 64 patients were treated with either one long stent (group 1, n = 32) or two overlapping stents (group 2, n = 32). Overlapping stents were used at tortuous or calcified lesions and at lesions with diameter discrepancy or significant dissection. Immediate results, follow-up clinical and angiographic outcomes, and predictors of ISR were evaluated. Procedures were successful in all patients in both groups. Clinical and angiographic follow-ups were performed in 54 (84%) cases and 50 (78%) cases, respectively. During the follow-up, major adverse cardiac event occurred in 36% of group 1 and 29% of group 2 (P = 0.56). Six-month ISR rates were 39% in group 1 and 41% in group 2 (P = 0.91). Age (>/= 65 years old) was an independent risk factor of ISR (54% vs. 23%; OR = 4.4; P = 0.04), and distal reference diameter (RD) of less than 2.5 mm tended to predict ISR in multivariate analysis (60% vs. 25%; OR = 3.5; P = 0.06). In conclusion, stent overlapping can be used with outcome similar to that of one long stent in long coronary lesions. The optimal result may be obtained by considering the patient's age and the distal vessel diameter of the lesion.

Percutaneous intervention of spontaneous renal artery dissection complicated with renal infarction: a case report and literature review.

Spontaneous renal artery dissection (SRAD) is a rare condition that occurs before renal infarction. Using percutaneous intervention to treat SRAD remains controversial because it is not clear whether it is feasible or effective. We describe a 48-year-old male patient with SRAD complicated with renal infarction who was successfully treated with percutnaeous angioplasty and renal artery stenting.