The Modulatory Effects of Non-Thermal Plasma on Seed's Morphology, Germination and Genetics-A Review.

Non-thermal plasma (NTP) is a novel and promising technique in the agricultural field that has the potential to improve vegetal material by modulating the expression of various genes involved in seed germination, plant immune response to abiotic stress, resistance to pathogens, and growth. Seeds are most frequently treated, in order to improve their ability to growth and evolve, but the whole plant can also be treated for a fast adaptive response to stress factors (heat, cold, pathogens). This review focuses mainly on the application of NTP on seeds. Non-thermal plasma treated seeds present both external and internal changes. The external ones include the alterations of seed coat to improve hydrophilicity and the internal ones refer to interfere with cellular processes that are later visible in metabolic and plant biology modifications. The usage of plasma aims to decrease the usage of fertilizers and pesticides in order to reduce the negative impact on natural ecosystem and to reduce the costs of production.

Clinical impact of echocardiography parameters and molecular biomarkers in heart failure: Correlation of ACE2 and MCP-1 polymorphisms with echocardiography parameters: A comparative study.

Heart failure is still the leading cause of hospitalization in patients over 65 years of age and is defined as a multifactorial pathology which involves environmental factors and also genetic predispositions. The aim of the present study was to evaluate a possible correlation between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) genes and cardiac remodeling in Caucasian patients diagnosed with heart failure. Our comparative translational research study included 116 patients diagnosed with heart failure and was carried out in Cluj-Napoca, Romania between September 2017 and March 2019. Three SNPs, namely rs4646156, rs4646174 and rs1024611, were genotyped using a Taqman real-time PCR technique. Our results showed that carriers of the AA genotype for ACE2 rs4646156 had a significant dilatation of the left ventricle (LV) with signs of LV hypertrophy (LVH), while TT carriers had a significant left atrial dilatation. For ACE2 rs4646174, homozygotes for the C allele presented a dilated LV with signs of LVH with statistical significance and had a tendency towards a lower ejection fraction. MCP-1 rs1024611 AA variant carriers had a significant LVH in the dominant model. In conclusion, our study showed a strong association between echocardiographic parameters of cardiac remodeling and SNPs rs4646156, rs4646174 of ACE2 and rs1024611 of MCP-1.