Limited utility of plasma elafin as a biomarker for skin graft-versus-host disease following allogeneic stem cell transplantation.

BACKGROUND: Acute cutaneous graft-versus-host disease (acGVHD) following haematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) is common but difficult to distinguish from other causes of rash. Plasma elafin has been proposed as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker of skin GVHD. AIM: To evaluate the role of plasma elafin as a biomarker in acGVHD in an Indian population. METHODS: Plasma elafin was evaluated in a prospective study of HSCT recipients, conducted over 2 years, taking measurements at baseline and at onset of skin rash after HSCT. Patients were categorized into those with GVHD rash, those with non-GVHD rash and those with no rash and the three groups were compared. RESULTS: Two hundred and sixty-one patients with a median age of 16 years (range 1-61 years) and a male predominance (175 : 86 M/F) underwent HSCT during the study period: 56 patients in the GVHD group, 49 in the non-GVHD group and 156 in the no-rash group. The median baseline elafin was similar in all three groups. At the onset of rash, median elafin level was similar between GVHD and non-GVHD rash (34 549 vs. 32 077 pg/mL; P = 0.58) and between GVHD and no rash (34 549 vs. 26 197 pg/mL; P = 0.08). A rise in elafin from baseline was significantly different between GVHD and no rash (P < 0.001) but not between GVHD and non-GVHD rash (P = 0.44). CONCLUSION: The utility of plasma elafin as a biomarker of skin GVHD is very limited. Plasma elafin, although elevated in cutaneous GVHD, is not helpful in distinguishing between GVHD rash and other causes of rash following HSCT.

Biological nutrient recovery from human urine by enriching mixed microalgal consortium for biodiesel production.

Utilization of waste resources is necessary to harness the long-term sustainability of algal technology. The study focused on the use of human urine as the basic nutrient source for culturing native microalgal consortium and further optimized the process parameters using response surface methodology. A full factorial, central composite rotatable design (CCRD) with three variables: urine concentration (1-10% vol of urine/vol of distil water [%v/v]), pH (6.5-9) and light intensity (50-350 µmolphotonsm-2sec-1) was used to evaluate the microalgal biomass and lipid content. Results indicated that at 95% confidence limits, the selected factors influence the biomass and lipid productivity. The maximum biomass productivity of 211.63 ± 1.40 mg l-1 d-1 was obtained under optimized conditions with 6.50% v/v of urine, pH of 7.69 and at light intensity of 205.40 µmolphotonsm-2sec-1. The lipid content was found to increase from 18.96 ± 1.30% in control media to 26.27 ± 1.94% under optimal conditions. The interactive effect of variables over the microalgal biomass and lipid content has also been elucidated. The data obtained were comparable to the BG11 media (control). Optimized diluted urine media in the presence of ammonium ions and under limited nitrate showed better lipid yields. Significant lipid biomolecules were detected in the algal oil extracts obtained from the diluted urine media characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GCMS) revealed the presence of several monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids in the transesterified algal oil. Such studies would aid in technically realizing the field scale cultivation of microalgae for biofuels.

Evaluating the harvesting efficiency of inorganic coagulants on native microalgal consortium enriched with human urine.

Flocculation is a common technique to harvest microalgae, where the negatively charged algal cells coalesce together to form larger flocs that settle under gravity. Although several inorganic flocculants have been applied for algal biomass recovery, the dosage varies depending on the algal strain-specific features. Thus, the selection of inorganic coagulant that can be applied at a low dosage for achieving the maximal biomass recovery under normal physiological conditions is necessary. The present study analyses the influence of different inorganic flocculants like ferric chloride (FeCl3), alum, calcium hydroxide, ferrous sulphate and copper sulphate on the biomass removal efficiency of a mixed microalgal consortium isolated from the open ponds of the National Institute of Technology Rourkela and further enriched with diluted human urine. Flocculation experiments were carried out with varying coagulant dosages, pH between 7.5 and 7.8, and 0.5 g L-1 algal concentration. The results revealed that FeCl3 at the dosage of 0.05 g L-1 and KAl(SO4)2 with the dosage of 0.04 g L-1 could be utilized to achieve the biomass recovery efficiency of 99.5% and 97.9%, respectively, within a duration of 5 min. An economic evaluation of the harvesting process showed KAl(SO4)2 to be the cheapest coagulant that could be feasibly used to recover algae at a large scale.

Retention of laryngoscopy skills in medical students: a randomised, cross-over study of the Macintosh, A.P. Advance(™) , C-MAC(®) and Airtraq(®) laryngoscopes.

In addition to being effective and easy to learn how to use, the ideal laryngoscope should be associated with minimal reduction in skill performance during gaps in practice over time. We compared the time taken to intubate the trachea of a manikin by novice medical students immediately after training, and then after 1 month, with no intervening practice. We designed a two-period, four-group, randomised, cross-over trial to compare the Macintosh, Venner(™) A.P. Advance(™) with difficult airway blade, C-MAC(®) with D-Blade and Airtraq(®) with wireless video-viewer. A bougie was used to aid intubation with the Macintosh and the C-MAC. After training, there was no significant difference in median (IQR [range]) intubation time using the videolaryngoscopes compared with the Macintosh, which took 30 (26.5-35 [12-118])s. One month later, the intubation time was longer using the C-MAC (41 (29.5-52 [20-119])s; p = 0.002) and A.P. Advance (40 (28.5-57.5 [21-107])s; p = 0.0003)m compared with the Macintosh (27 (21-29 [16-90])s); there was no difference using the Airtraq (27 (20.5-32.5 [15-94])s; p = 0.258) compared with the Macintosh. While skill acquisition after a brief period of learning and practice was equal for each laryngoscope, performance levels differed after 1 month without practice. In particular, the consistency of performance using the C-MAC and A.P. Advance was worse compared with the Macintosh and the Airtraq. While the clinical significance of this is doubtful, we believe that reliable and consistent performance at laryngoscopy is desirable; for the devices that we tested, this requires regular practice.

A maize α-zein promoter drives an endosperm-specific expression of transgene in rice.

An alpha-zein promoter isolated from maize containing P-box, E motif sequence TGTAAAGT, opaque-2 box and TATA box was studied for its tissue-specific expression in rice. A 1,098 bp promoter region of alpha-zein gene, fused to the upstream of gusA reporter gene was used for transforming rice immature embryos (ASD 16 or IR 64) via the particle bombardment-mediated method. PCR analysis of putative transformants demonstrated the presence of transgenes (the zein promoter, gusA and hpt). Nineteen out of 37 and two out of five events generated from ASD 16 and IR 64 were found to be GUS-positive. A histological staining analysis performed on sections of mature T1 seeds revealed that the GUS expression was limited to the endosperm and not to the pericarp or the endothelial region. GUS expression was observed only in the following seed development stages : milky (14-15 DAF), soft dough (17-18 DAF), hard dough (20-23 DAF), and mature stages (28-30 DAF) of zein-gusA transformed (T0) plants. On the contrary a constitutive expression of GUS was evident in CaMV35S-gusA plants. PCR and Southern blotting analyses on T1 plants demonstrated a stable integration and inheritance of transgene in the subsequent T1 generation. GUS assay on T2 seeds revealed that the expression of gusA gene driven by alpha-zein promoter was stable and tissue-specific over two generations. Results suggest that this alpha-zein promoter could serve as an alternative promoter to drive endosperm-specific expression of transgenes in rice and other cereal transformation experiments.

First Report of Fusarium cuneirostrum Causing Root Rot Disease in Dry Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) in Canada.

Root rot is a major disease of dry bean and can cause significant yield reductions due to weakened root systems and poor plant stands. An in-depth study on root rot pathogen identification was conducted in 2011 in three commercial dry bean fields from the major production areas in Manitoba. Ten plants, sampled at each of four random sites within each field, were rated for disease severity. Twenty roots were processed for pathogen isolation and identification in the laboratory. Roots were cut into eight sections (~1 cm) and surface-sterilized in a laminar flow bench. Four root sections were placed on potato dextrose agar plates amended with 0.02% streptomycin sulfate (PDA-Strep) and four root sections were placed on peptone-pentachloronitrobenzene agar amended with 0.1% streptomycin sulfate and 0.012% neomycin sulfate. Afterward, 960 monosporic cultures were obtained representing 320 single spore isolates of potential root rot pathogens per commercial field. Common monosporic cultures from each field were subcultured on PDA-Strep and Spezieller Nährstoffarmer Agar (SNA) media. Based on morphological characteristics, 74 isolates were identified as Fusarium cuneirostrum (1). Colonies grew slowly on PDA-Strep with undulated margins, radial cream-grey mycelia, and conidia pustules with a cream-greyish pigmentation. Sporodochial conidia were falcate, mostly 5-septate, with a wedge shape and slightly protruding basal foot cell (56.3 to 71.8 × 4.6 to 6.2 µm on average). Species identity was confirmed for two isolates by sequencing the translation elongation factor 1 alpha (EF1-α) gene (2), the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region (4), and the ribosomal intergenic spacer (IGS) (3) (GenBank Accession Nos. KF530848, KF530849, and KF025648 to 51). Sequence homology was compared using BLAST analysis and the FUSARIUM-ID database. The F. cuneirostrum isolates were deposited at the Canadian Collection of Fungal Cultures (DAOM 242540 and 242541). Pathogenicity screenings of two isolates was performed using sterilized seed of navy bean cv. Envoy. Seeds were germinated on moist filter paper for 3 days at 25°C and then inoculated by immersion in a prepared conidial suspension (2.5 × 105 conidia/ml) for 5 min. Seeds of the controls were immersed in sterile water. After inoculation, the germinated seeds were planted in 10-cm diameter pots, filled with sterile soilless mix (Sunshine #3). In the greenhouse, the experiment was arranged as a completely randomized design with three replicates with four germinated seeds per isolate, and was repeated twice. Disease assessment was performed 14 days after inoculation. Infected plants displayed dark brown lesions on the hypocotyl and primary root with a disease severity of 4 scored on a 0 to 5 scale. Fusarium cuneirostrum was re-isolated from roots of symptomatic plants. To our knowledge, this is the first report of F. cuneirostrum causing root rot of dry bean in Canada. It has been previously isolated from mung bean (Vigna radiata) in Ontario (1). References: (1) T. Aoki et al. Mycoscience. 46:162, 2005. (2) D. M. Geiser et al. Eur. J. Plant Pathol. 110:473, 2004. (4) H. Wang et al. J. Clin. Microbiol. 49:1890, 2011. (3) T. J. White et al. Page 315 in: PCR Protocols: A Guide to Methods and Applications. M. A. Innis et al., eds. Academic Press, New York, 1990.

Long-term fertilization and manuring effects on the nexus between sulphur distribution and SOC in an Inceptisol over five decades under a finger millet-maize cropping system.

Our investigation revealed that alterations in sulphur (S) pools are predominantly governed by soil organic carbon (SOC), soil nitrogen (N), microbial biomass, and soil enzyme activities in sandy clay loam (Vertic Ustropept) soil. We employed ten sets of nutrient management techniques, ranging from suboptimal (50% RDF) to super-optimal doses (150% RDF), including NPK + Zn, NP, N alone, S-free NPK fertilizers, NPK + FYM, and control treatments, to examine the interrelation of S with SOC characteristics. Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy was utilized to analyze the functional groups present in SOC characterization across four treatments: 100% NPK, 150% NPK, NPK + FYM, and absolute control plots. Principal component analysis (PCA) was then applied to assess 29 minimal datasets, aiming to pinpoint specific soil characteristics influencing S transformation. In an Inceptisol, the application of fertilizers (100% RDF) in conjunction with 10 t ha-1 of FYM resulted in an increase of S pools from the surface to the subsurface stratum (OS > HSS > SO42--S > WSS), along with an increase in soil N and SOC. FT-IR spectroscopy identified cellulose and thiocyanate functional groups in all four plots, with a pronounced presence of carbohydrate-protein polyphenol, sulfoxide (S=O), and nitrate groups specifically observed in the INM plot. The PCA findings indicated that the primary factors influencing soil quality and crop productivity (r2 of 0.69) are SOC, SMBC, SMBN, SMBS, and the enzyme activity of URE, DHA, and AS. According to the study, the combined application of fertilizer and FYM (10 t ha-1) together exert a positive impact on sulphur transformation, SOC accumulation, and maize yield in sandy clay loam soil.

Asynchronous quasi delay insensitive majority voters corresponding to quintuple modular redundancy for mission/safety-critical applications.

Electronic circuits and systems employed in mission- and safety-critical applications such as space, aerospace, nuclear plants etc. tend to suffer from multiple faults due to radiation and other harsh external phenomena. To overcome single or multiple faults from affecting electronic circuits and systems, progressive module redundancy (PMR) has been suggested as a potential solution that recommends the use of different levels of redundancy for the vulnerable portions of a circuit or system depending upon their criticality. According to PMR, triple modular redundancy (TMR) can be used where a single fault is likely to occur and should be masked, and quintuple modular redundancy (QMR) can be used where double faults are likely to occur and should be masked. In this article, we present asynchronous QDI majority voter designs for QMR and state which are preferable from cycle time (i.e., speed), area, power, and energy perspectives. Towards this, we implemented example QMR circuits in a robust QDI asynchronous design style by employing a delay insensitive dual rail code for data encoding and adopting four-phase handshake protocols for data communication. Based on physical implementations using a 32/28nm CMOS process, we find that our proposed QMR majority voter achieves improved optimization in speed and energy.

Speed, energy and area optimized early output quasi-delay-insensitive array multipliers.

Multiplication is a widely used arithmetic operation that is frequently encountered in micro-processing and digital signal processing. Multiplication is implemented using a multiplier, and recently, QDI asynchronous array multipliers were presented in the literature utilizing delay-insensitive double-rail data encoding and four-phase return-to-zero (RTZ) handshaking and four-phase return-to-one (RTO) handshaking. In this context, this article makes two contributions: (i) the design of a new asynchronous partial product generator, and (ii) the design of a new asynchronous half adder. We analyze the usefulness of the proposed partial product generator and the proposed half adder to efficiently realize QDI array multipliers. When the new partial product generator and half adder are used along with our indicating full adder, significant reductions are achieved in the design metrics compared to the optimum QDI array multiplier reported in the literature. The cycle time is reduced by 17%, the area is reduced by 16.1%, the power is reduced by 15.3%, and the product of power and cycle time is reduced by 29.6% with respect to RTZ handshaking. On the other hand, the cycle time is reduced by 13%, the area is reduced by 16.1%, the power is reduced by 15.2%, and the product of power and cycle time is reduced by 26.1% with respect to RTO handshaking. Further, the RTO handshaking is found to be preferable to RTZ handshaking to achieve slightly improved optimizations in the design metrics. The QDI array multipliers were realized using a 32/28nm complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process technology.

Algal biodiesel production with engineered biochar as a heterogeneous solid acid catalyst.

This study evaluates the use of engineered biochar as a heterogeneous solid acid catalyst for transesterification of algal oil derived from a native microalgal consortium. Biochar derived from sugarcane bagasse, coconut shell, corncob and peanut shell were evaluated for catalytic activity following surface modification. Peanut shell pyrolyzed at 400 °C with the sulfonic acid density of 0.837 mmol/g having 6.616 m2/g surface area was selected for efficient catalysis. The efficiency of transesterification was evaluated with 1-7 wt% catalyst loading, methanol: oil ratio of 6:1 to 30:1 at 55-85 °C over 2-8 h. Biodiesel yield of 94.91% was obtained with 5 wt% catalyst loading, MeOH: oil ratio of 20:1 at 65 °C after 4 h. Spectral analysis of algal biodiesel showed the presence of functional groups corresponding to esters. GC-MS analysis revealed the prominent presence of palmitic and oleic acids, further advocating the suitability of the technology for commercial application.

Cytotoxic and pharmacokinetic studies of Indian seaweed polysaccharides for formulating raindrop synbiotic candy.

Gut microbiome evidenced as the assembling mode of action facilitates the relationship of environmental factors (such as diet and lifestyle) with colorectal cancer. The cytotoxic and anticancer studies of the enzymatically extracted polysaccharides from selected Indian seaweeds (such as S. wightii, E. compressa, and A. spicifera) on Raw 264.7 macrophage and HT-29 human colon cancer cell line were investigated. E. compressa showed nitric oxide production up to a concentration of 6.99 ± 0.05 µM. The polysaccharide extract of seaweed (PES), A. spicifera (100 µg/ml) had shown the highest in-vitro cytotoxicity effect on HT-29 cells up to 52.13 ± 1.4%. Absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME) predictions were performed for exploring the possibility of anti-cancer drug development. The formulated synbiotic candy exhibited post storage survivability of probiotic species L. plantarum NCIM 2083 up to 107 CFU/ml until three weeks and it could be an aesthetic functional food for treating colon cancer.

Peptide agonist of the thrombopoietin receptor as potent as the natural cytokine.

Two families of small peptides that bind to the human thrombopoietin receptor and compete with the binding of the natural ligand thrombopoietin (TPO) were identified from recombinant peptide libraries. The sequences of these peptides were not found in the primary sequence of TPO. Screening libraries of variants of one of these families under affinity-selective conditions yielded a 14-amino acid peptide (Ile-Glu-Gly-Pro-Thr-Leu-Arg-Gln-Trp-Leu-Ala-Ala-Arg-Ala) with high affinity (dissociation constant approximately 2 nanomolar) that stimulates the proliferation of a TPO-responsive Ba/F3 cell line with a median effective concentration (EC50) of 400 nanomolar. Dimerization of this peptide by a carboxyl-terminal linkage to a lysine branch produced a compound with an EC50 of 100 picomolar, which was equipotent to the 332-amino acid natural cytokine in cell-based assays. The peptide dimer also stimulated the in vitro proliferation and maturation of megakaryocytes from human bone marrow cells and promoted an increase in platelet count when administered to normal mice.

Transgenic resistance by N gene of a Peanut bud necrosis virus isolate of characteristic phylogeny.

The nucleocapsid protein (N) gene of a Tospovirus devastating tomato crop in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu was cloned and characterized. The high identity of the cloned sequence to a Peanut bud necrosis virus (PBNV) tomato isolate (97.8/99.6% nucleotide/amino acid) and a PBNV peanut isolate (94.4/96.3% nucleotide/amino acid) identified the Tospovirus as an isolate of PBNV, designated PBNV Coimbatore tomato (PBNV CT) isolate. Phylogenetic analysis of PBNV CT N gene provided useful insights into the movement and evolution of PBNV within Indian Territory. The characteristic phylogeny of PBNV CT N gene implied its potential to be an efficient transgene to confer effective PBNV resistance on crop plants. The efficacy of PBNV CT N gene in conferring PBNV resistance was studied by generating tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv Wisconsin) lines transgenic to the sense or antisense version of the gene. Several transgenic lines showed transgenic mRNA and/or protein accumulation, ranging from very high to undetectable levels, accompanied by different degrees of PBNV resistance. The undetectable or very low levels of transgene transcripts in certain PBNV-resistant sense or antisense N gene transgenic lines suggested RNA-mediated resistance by post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) mechanism. However, PBNV resistance of certain transgenic lines with high levels of N gene transcripts was suggestive of possible operation of RNA-mediated non-PTGS mechanism(s) of resistance in those lines. Moreover, the high levels of N protein in certain PBNV-resistant sense N gene transgenic lines suggested protein-mediated resistance. The results predict the potential of PBNV CT N gene to confer effective PBNV resistance on tomato and other economically important crops.

Natural plant extracts as an economical and ecofriendly alternative for harvesting microalgae.

The study investigated the ability of plant based natural coagulants from Azadirachta indica; Ficus indica; Moringa oleifera; Citrus sinensis; Punica granatum and Musa acuminata to harvest the microalgal biomass. Influence of eluent type (water and NaCl) and concentration (1-5 N) on coagulant extraction; coagulant dosage (1-5 g) and volume (20-100 ml); pH (6-12) and algal concentration (0.1-1 g l-1) on harvesting were analyzed. The results obtained were compared with alum and chitosan. FTIR and biochemical analysis confirmed the presence of bioactive compounds to aid coagulation. Biomass removal efficiency of 75.50% was obtained with M. oleifera extracts (8 mg ml-1) at pH 7.5-7.8, within 100 min. The harvesting efficiency increased to 95.76% when 4 mg ml-1M. oleifera extracts was combined with 0.75 mg ml-1 chitosan. The life cycle and cost analysis acknowledged the eco-friendly coagulants as strong alternative for conventional coagulants used in microalgal harvesting, thereby improvising the overall bioprocess.

Speed and energy optimized quasi-delay-insensitive block carry lookahead adder.

We present a new asynchronous quasi-delay-insensitive (QDI) block carry lookahead adder with redundant carry (BCLARC) realized using delay-insensitive dual-rail data encoding and 4-phase return-to-zero (RTZ) and 4-phase return-to-one (RTO) handshaking. The proposed QDI BCLARC is found to be faster and energy-efficient than the existing asynchronous adders which are QDI and non-QDI (i.e., relative-timed). Compared to existing asynchronous adders corresponding to various architectures such as the ripple carry adder (RCA), the conventional carry lookahead adder (CCLA), the carry select adder (CSLA), the BCLARC, and the hybrid BCLARC-RCA, the proposed BCLARC is found to be faster and more energy-optimized. The cycle time (CT), which is expressed as the sum of the worst-case times taken for processing the data and the spacer, governs the speed. The product of average power dissipation and CT viz. the power-cycle time product (PCTP) defines the low power/energy efficiency. For a 32-bit addition, the proposed QDI BCLARC achieves the following reductions in design metrics on average over its counterparts when considering RTZ and RTO handshaking: i) 20.5% and 19.6% reductions in CT and PCTP respectively compared to an optimum QDI early output RCA, ii) 16.5% and 15.8% reductions in CT and PCTP respectively compared to an optimum relative-timed RCA, iii) 32.9% and 35.9% reductions in CT and PCTP respectively compared to an optimum uniform input-partitioned QDI early output CSLA, iv) 47.5% and 47.2% reductions in CT and PCTP respectively compared to an optimum QDI early output CCLA, v) 14.2% and 27.3% reductions in CT and PCTP respectively compared to an optimum QDI early output BCLARC, and vi) 12.2% and 11.6% reductions in CT and PCTP respectively compared to an optimum QDI early output hybrid BCLARC-RCA. The adders were implemented using a 32/28nm CMOS technology.

Genetic transformation of tropical maize (Zea mays L.) inbred line with a phytase gene from Aspergillus niger.

A full-length cDNA of phyA gene of Aspergillus niger, encoding phytase enzyme, was cloned and expressed in E. coli BL21 cells and assayed for its activity. The phyA cDNA consisted of 1404 bp, which encoded 467 amino acid residues. The phytase activity of purified phytase was 826.33 U/mL. The phyA gene under the control of endosperm-specific promoters was transformed into an Indian maize inbred line, UMI29, using particle bombardment-mediated transformation method to generate transgenic maize plants over-expressing phytase in seeds. PCR and GUS analyses demonstrated the presence of transgenes in T0 transgenic plants and their stable inheritance in the T1 progenies. Three transgenic events expressing detectable level of A. niger phytase were characterized by western blot analysis. Phytase activity of 463.158 U/kg of seed was observed in one of the events, JB-UMI29-Z17/2. The phytase activity of transgenic maize seeds was 5.5- to 7-fold higher than the wild-type UMI29 seeds and, consequently, the seeds had 0.6- to 5-fold higher inorganic phosphorus content.

Genetic analysis and QTL mapping of the seed hardness trait in a black common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) recombinant inbred line (RIL) population.

Seed hardness trait has a profound impact on cooking time and canning quality in dry beans. This study aims to identify the unknown genetic factors and associated molecular markers to better understand and tag this trait. An F2:7 recombinant inbred line (RIL) population was derived from a cross between the hard and soft seeded black bean parents (H68-4 and BK04-001). Eighty-five RILs and the parental lines were grown at two locations in southern Manitoba during years 2014-2016. Seed samples were harvested manually at maturity to test for seed hardness traits. The hydration capacity and stone seed count were estimated by soaking the seeds overnight at room temperature following AACC method 56-35.01. Seed samples from 2016 tests were also cooked to determine effect of seed hardness on cooking quality. For mapping of genomic regions contributing to the traits, the RIL population was genotyped using the genotype by sequencing (GBS) approach. The QTL mapping revealed that in addition to the major QTL on chromosome 7 at a genomic location previously reported to affect seed-hydration, two novel QTL with significant effects were also detected on chromosomes 1 and 2. In addition, a major QTL affecting the visual appeal of cooked bean was mapped on chromosome 4. This multi-year-site study shows that despite large environmental effects, seed hardness is an oligo-genic and highly heritable trait, which is inherited independently of the cooking quality scored as visual appeal of cooked beans. The identification of the QTLs and development of SNP markers associated with seed hardness can be applied for common bean variety improvement and genetic exploitation of these traits.

Biosynthesis of magnesium oxide (MgO) nanoflakes by using leaf extract of Bauhinia purpurea and evaluation of its antibacterial property against Staphylococcus aureus.

Nanobiotechnology has become a newly evolving field of interest in biomedical applications due to its biocompatibility and non-toxic nature towards the environment. Metal and metal oxide nanoparticles have been widely used as an antibacterial agent due to the emergence of antibiotic resistant pathogens, which leads to the outbreak of infectious diseases. In the present paper, biogenic synthesis of magnesium oxide (MgO) nanoflakes is reported by using Bauhinia purpurea leaf extract through alkaline precipitation method along with its detailed characterization. The average size of synthesized nanoflakes was found to be around 11 nm. Electron microscopy was used to investigate the morphology of the MgO nanoflakes. Additionally, the presence of antioxidants, phenolics and flavonoids in B. purpurea leaf extract has been studied by using different assays, which suggested the efficacy of leaf extract as a potential reducing agent for MgO nanoflakes synthesis. Antibacterial activity of synthesized MgO nanoflakes was investigated against Staphylococcus aureus, a gram positive bacteria known to cause various infections in humans. Results suggested the high efficacy of MgO nanoflakes as a potential antibacterial agent against S. aureus at meager dose size (250 µg/ml) and possible mode of action was investigated through surface morphology analysis of bacterial cells by field emission scanning electron microscopy.