Cytological behaviour of floral organs and in silico characterization of differentially expressed transcript-derived fragments associated with 'floral bud distortion' in soybean.

An attempt was made to understand the 'floral bud distortion' (FBD), an unexplored disorder prevailing in soybean. Cytological behaviour of floral reproductive organs and in silico characterization of differentially expressed transcript-derived fragments (TDFs) in symptomatic and asymptomatic soybean plants were carried out. Pollens in asymptomatic plants do not have defects in number, size, shape and function. However, in symptomatic plant, pollens were found nonviable, abnormal in shape and with reduced germination ability. Here, we employed a computational approach, exploring invaluable resources. The tissue-specific transcript profile of symptomatic and asymptomatic sources was compared to determine differentially expressed TDFs associated with FBD to improve its basic understanding. A total of 60 decamer primers produced 197 scorable amplicons, ranged 162-1130 bp, of which 171 were monomorphic and 26 were differentially regulated. Reproducible TDFs were sequenced and characterized for their homology analysis, annotation, protein-protein interaction, subcellular localization and their physical mapping. Homology-based annotation of TDFs in soybean revealed presence of two characterized and seven uncharacterized hits. Annotation of characterized sequences showed presence of genes, namely auxin response factor 9 (ARF9) and forkhead-associated (FHA) domain, which are directly involved in plant development through various pathways, such as hormonal regulation, plant morphology, embryogenesis and DNA repair.

Study of pterion in skulls of Awadh area--in and around Lucknow.

Two hundred and three skulls of known sex (100 male and 103 female) were studied to find out the variations of Pterion. Sphenoparietal variety of Pterion was seen predominantly along with frontotemporal and stellate varieties.

Genotoxic effects of five polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in human and rat mammary epithelial cells.

Five polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) of different carcinogenic activities were evaluated for their effects on DNA synthesis (3HTdR labeling index (L.I.] of rat and human mammary epithelial cells (MEC) and for their effects on chromosomes in MEC-mediated sister chromatid exchange (SCE) assays. When compared with DMSO-treated cells, exposures of rat MEC to the two most potent carcinogens (5 micrograms/ml for 24 hr), i.e., 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA) and benzo(a)pyrene (B[a]P), resulted in a 45-62% reduction in the L.I. of rat MEC. Another carcinogen, 20-methylcholanthrene (MCA), produced a 35-48% reduction in L.I., while the noncarcinogenic PAHs, 1,2-benzanthracene (BA) and benzo(e)pyrene (B[e]P), showed no effect. Similarly, exposures of human MEC to DMBA and B[a]P resulted in a 50-90% depression in L.I. while BA was significantly less effective (30% reduction). When co-cultivated with Chinese hamster V-79 cells in the presence of PAH, both rat and human MEC can activate and release the active metabolites to induce SCE in V-79 cells. In the rat MEC-mediated assay for all 5 PAHs, the frequencies of SCE per chromosome in DMBA-, B[a]P-, MCA-, BA-, B[e]P-, and DMSO (solvent control)-treated groups were 6, 3, 1.4, 0.7, 0.4, and 0.3, respectively. DMBA was most effective in increasing SCE, while B[e]P was ineffective. In the human MEC-mediated assay, B[a]P was more effective than DMBA in inducing SCE, and the frequencies of SCE per chromosome were 4.5 and 3.6 in B[a]P- and DMBA-treated groups, respectively. Comparing depression of L.I., SCE, and in vivo carcinogenicity for the 5 PAHs, SCE mediated by rat MEC is better correlated with carcinogenicity in rat than L.I. depression.