Signaling mechanisms and biochemical pathways regulating pollen-stigma interaction, seed development and seedling growth in sunflower under salt stress.

Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is one of the major oilseed crops cultivated world over for its high-quality oil rich in linoleic acid. It also has established applications in pharmaceutical and biotechnological industries, mainly through recombinant production of unique oil body (OB) membrane proteins-oleosins, which are used for producing a wide variety of vaccines, food products, cosmetics and nutraceuticals. The present review provides a critical analysis of the progress made in advancing our knowledge in sunflower biology, ranging from mechanisms of pollen-stigma interaction, seed development, physiology of seed germination and seedling growth under salt stress, and finally understanding the signaling routes associated with various biochemical pathways regulating seedling growth. Role of nitric oxide (NO) triggered post-translational modifications (PTMs), discovered in the recent past, have paved way for future research directions leading to further understanding of sunflower developmental physiology. Novel protocols recently developed to monitor temporal and spatial distributions of various biochemicals involved in above-stated developmental events in sunflower, will go a long way for similar applications in plant biology in future.

Cow Urine Keratopathy: A Case Report.

Injury to the ocular surface has been described to occur with a wide variety of chemicals. In most cases the cause is industrial injury with acids or alkalis. We are reporting a case of ocular surface injury due to "Cow urine" which to the best of our knowledge is been reported for the first time. Cow urine is a well-accepted medicinal ingredient in ancient Indian medicine. However, wrong formulation and inadvertent prescriptions by quacks can lead to severe ocular surface injury and morbidity. Here, with this case report we have discussed the possible culprit and possible mechanism of ocular injury due to instillation of a concoction containing cow urine as an active ingredient and also discuss legal aspects of quackery in India.

Randomized controlled trial of thermal balloon ablation versus vaginal hysterectomy for leiomyoma-induced heavy menstrual bleeding.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy of thermal balloon ablation (TBA) with that of vaginal hysterectomy in the treatment of leiomyoma-induced heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB). METHODS: An open-label randomized controlled trial was conducted between November 1, 2012, and October 31, 2014, in a tertiary care hospital in Delhi, India. Eligible women with HMB (aged ≥40 years, uterus size ≤14 weeks of pregnancy, leiomyoma ≤5 cm, uterocervical length ≤12 cm) were randomly assigned (1:1) to undergo TBA or vaginal hysterectomy using computer-generated random number tables. The primary outcome was the number of women in the TBA group with HMB 6 months after surgery. Analyses were by intention to treat. RESULTS: Each group contained 20 women. No women in the TBA group had HMB at 6 months. Nineteen women were amenorrheic by 6 months and one was hypomenorrheic. CONCLUSION: TBA can replace vaginal hysterectomy in some perimenopausal women with uterine leiomyomas. Clinical Trials Registry India: CTRI/2016/07/007119.

Comparative Efficacy and Safety of Oral Iron Chelators and their Novel Combination in Children with Thalassemia.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy and safety of oral iron chelators (Deferiprone and Deferasirox) when used singly and in combination in multi-transfused children with thalassemia. DESIGN: Prospective comparative study. SETTING: Thalassemia Center of a medical college affiliated hospital. PARTICIPANTS AND INTERVENTION: 49 multi-transfused children with thalassemia with a mean (SD) age 11.6 (6.21) y received daily chelation therapy with either deferiprone alone (75 mg/kg/day in 3 divided doses), deferasirox alone (30 mg/kg/day single dose) or their daily combination (same dose as monotherapy) for 12 months. OUTCOME MEASURES: Serum ferritin levels at the start of study, after 6 months and after 12 months. MRI T2* of liver and heart initially and after 6 months of follow up. 24-hour urinary iron excretion values at the outset and after 12 months of chelation therapy. At every visit for blood transfusion, all patients were clinically assessed for any adverse effects; liver and renal functions were monitored 6-monthly. RESULTS: After 12 months of respective chelation therapy, serum ferritin values decreased from a mean of 3140.5 ng/mL to 2910.0 ng/mL in deferiprone alone group, 3859.2 ng/mL to 3417.4 ng/mL in deferasirox alone group and from 3696.5 ng/mL to 2572.1 ng/mL in the combination group. The combination therapy was more efficacious in causing fall in serum ferritin levels compared to deferiprone and deferasirox monotherapy (P= 0.035 and 0.040, respectively). Results of MRI T2 were equivocal. Combined drug usage produced maximum negative iron balance in the body by maximally increasing the iron excretion in urine from 61.1 umol/day to 343.3 umol/day (P = 0.002). No significant adverse reactions were noticed in either the monotherapy or the combination group. CONCLUSION: Oral combination therapy of deferiprone and deferasirox appears to be an efficacious and safe modality to reduce serum ferritin in multi-transfused children with thalassemia.

A draft of the genome and four transcriptomes of a medicinal and pesticidal angiosperm Azadirachta indica.

BACKGROUND: The Azadirachta indica (neem) tree is a source of a wide number of natural products, including the potent biopesticide azadirachtin. In spite of its widespread applications in agriculture and medicine, the molecular aspects of the biosynthesis of neem terpenoids remain largely unexplored. The current report describes the draft genome and four transcriptomes of A. indica and attempts to contextualise the sequence information in terms of its molecular phylogeny, transcript expression and terpenoid biosynthesis pathways. A. indica is the first member of the family Meliaceae to be sequenced using next generation sequencing approach. RESULTS: The genome and transcriptomes of A. indica were sequenced using multiple sequencing platforms and libraries. The A. indica genome is AT-rich, bears few repetitive DNA elements and comprises about 20,000 genes. The molecular phylogenetic analyses grouped A. indica together with Citrus sinensis from the Rutaceae family validating its conventional taxonomic classification. Comparative transcript expression analysis showed either exclusive or enhanced expression of known genes involved in neem terpenoid biosynthesis pathways compared to other sequenced angiosperms. Genome and transcriptome analyses in A. indica led to the identification of repeat elements, nucleotide composition and expression profiles of genes in various organs. CONCLUSIONS: This study on A. indica genome and transcriptomes will provide a model for characterization of metabolic pathways involved in synthesis of bioactive compounds, comparative evolutionary studies among various Meliaceae family members and help annotate their genomes. A better understanding of molecular pathways involved in the azadirachtin synthesis in A. indica will pave ways for bulk production of environment friendly biopesticides.

Alkaloid production in Vernonia cinerea: Callus, cell suspension and root cultures.

Fast-growing callus, cell suspension and root cultures of Vernonia cinerea, a medicinal plant, were analyzed for the presence of alkaloids. Callus and root cultures were established from young leaf explants in Murashige and Skoog (MS) basal media supplemented with combinations of auxins and cytokinins, whereas cell suspension cultures were established from callus cultures. Maximum biomass of callus, cell suspension and root cultures were obtained in the medium supplemented with 1 mg/L alpha-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) and 5 mg/L benzylaminopurine (BA), 1.0 mg/L NAA and 0.1 mg/L BA and 1.5 mg/L NAA, respectively. The 5-week-old callus cultures resulted in maximum biomass and alkaloid contents (750 microg/g). Cell suspension growth and alkaloid contents were maximal in 20-day-old cultures and alkaloid contents were 1.15 mg/g. A 0.2-g sample of root tissue regenerated in semi-solid medium upon transfer to liquid MS medium containing 1.5 mg/L NAA regenerated a maximum increase in biomass of 6.3-fold over a period of 5 weeks. The highest root growth and alkaloid contents of 2 mg/g dry weight were obtained in 5-week-old cultures. Maximum alkaloid contents were obtained in root cultures in vitro compared to all others including the alkaloid content of in vivo obtained with aerial parts and roots (800 microg/g and 1.2 mg/g dry weight, respectively) of V. cinerea.