Physio-biochemical responses and crop performance analysis in chickpea upon botanical priming.

Chickpea is a highly nutritious protein-rich source and one of the major crops to alleviate global malnutrition, but poor seed quality affects its productivity. Seed quality is essential for better crop establishment and higher yields, particularly in the uncertain climate change. The present study investigated the impact of botanical priming versus hydropriming and bavistin seed treatment on chickpea seeds. A detailed physiological (germination percentage, root and shoot length, vigour index) and biochemical (amylase, protease, dehydrogenase, phytase, and lipid peroxidation) analysis was carried out in order to assess the effect of priming treatments. Turmeric-primed seeds showed better germination rate (94.5%), seedling length, enzyme activity, and lower malondialdehyde (MDA) content. Sodium dodecyl-sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) analysis revealed the expression of minor polypeptides of albumin and globulin in the primed seeds. Moreover, field experiments indicated increased crop growth, vigour, days to 50% flowering, yield and its attributing traits in turmeric-primed seeds. Botanical priming can increase chickpea yield by up to 16% over the control group. This low-cost and eco-friendly technique enhances seed and crop performance, making it a powerful tool for augmenting chickpea growth. Therefore, chickpea growers must adopt botanical priming techniques to enhance the quality of seed and crop performance. Moreover, this approach is environmentally sustainable and can help conserve natural resources in the long term. Therefore, this new approach must be widely adopted across the agricultural industry to ensure sustainable and profitable farming practices.

Assessing the Accuracy of Information on Medication Abortion: A Comparative Analysis of ChatGPT and Google Bard AI.

Background and objective ChatGPT and Google Bard AI are widely used conversational chatbots, even in healthcare. While they have several strengths, they can generate seemingly correct but erroneous responses, warranting caution in medical contexts. In an era where access to abortion care is diminishing, patients may increasingly rely on online resources and AI-driven language models for information on medication abortions. In light of this, this study aimed to compare the accuracy and comprehensiveness of responses generated by ChatGPT 3.5 and Google Bard AI to medical queries about medication abortions. Methods Fourteen open-ended questions about medication abortion were formulated based on the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) from the National Abortion Federation (NAF) and the Reproductive Health Access Project (RHAP) websites. These questions were answered using ChatGPT version 3.5 and Google Bard AI on October 7, 2023. The accuracy of the responses was analyzed by cross-referencing the generated answers against the information provided by NAF and RHAP. Any discrepancies were further verified against the guidelines from the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). A rating scale used by Johnson et al. was employed for assessment, utilizing a 6-point Likert scale [ranging from 1 (completely incorrect) to 6 (correct)] to evaluate accuracy and a 3-point scale [ranging from 1 (incomplete) to 3 (comprehensive)] to assess completeness. Questions that did not yield answers were assigned a score of 0 and omitted from the correlation analysis. Data analysis and visualization were done using R Software version 4.3.1. Statistical significance was determined by employing Spearman's R and Mann-Whitney U tests. Results All questions were entered sequentially into both chatbots by the same author. On the initial attempt, ChatGPT successfully generated relevant responses for all questions, while Google Bard AI failed to provide answers for five questions. Repeating the same question in Google Bard AI yielded an answer for one; two were answered with different phrasing; and two remained unanswered despite rephrasing. ChatGPT showed a median accuracy score of 5 (mean: 5.26, SD: 0.73) and a median completeness score of 3 (mean: 2.57, SD: 0.51). It showed the highest accuracy score in six responses and the highest completeness score in eight responses. In contrast, Google Bard AI had a median accuracy score of 5 (mean: 4.5, SD: 2.03) and a median completeness score of 2 (mean: 2.14, SD: 1.03). It achieved the highest accuracy score in five responses and the highest completeness score in six responses. Spearman's correlation coefficient revealed no correlation between accuracy and completeness for ChatGPT (rs = -0.46771, p = 0.09171). However, Google Bard AI showed a marginally significant correlation (rs = 0.5738, p = 0.05108). Mann-Whitney U test indicated no statistically significant differences between ChatGPT and Google Bard AI concerning accuracy (U = 82, p>0.05) or completeness (U = 78, p>0.05). Conclusion While both chatbots showed similar levels of accuracy, minor errors were noted, pertaining to finer aspects that demand specialized knowledge of abortion care. This could explain the lack of a significant correlation between accuracy and completeness. Ultimately, AI-driven language models have the potential to provide information on medication abortions, but there is a need for continual refinement and oversight.

The curious case of genome packaging and assembly in RNA viruses infecting plants.

Genome packaging is the crucial step for maturation of plant viruses containing an RNA genome. Viruses exhibit a remarkable degree of packaging specificity, despite the probability of co-packaging cellular RNAs. Three different types of viral genome packaging systems are reported so far. The recently upgraded type I genome packaging system involves nucleation and encapsidation of RNA genomes in an energy-dependent manner, which have been observed in most of the plant RNA viruses with a smaller genome size, while type II and III packaging systems, majorly discovered in bacteriophages and large eukaryotic DNA viruses, involve genome translocation and packaging inside the prohead in an energy-dependent manner, i.e., utilizing ATP. Although ATP is essential for all three packaging systems, each machinery system employs a unique mode of ATP hydrolysis and genome packaging mechanism. Plant RNA viruses are serious threats to agricultural and horticultural crops and account for huge economic losses. Developing control strategies against plant RNA viruses requires a deep understanding of their genome assembly and packaging mechanism. On the basis of our previous studies and meticulously planned experiments, we have revealed their molecular mechanisms and proposed a hypothetical model for the type I packaging system with an emphasis on smaller plant RNA viruses. Here, in this review, we apprise researchers the technical breakthroughs that have facilitated the dissection of genome packaging and virion assembly processes in plant RNA viruses.

Knockdown of capsid protein encoding novel ATPase domain inhibits genome packaging in potato leafroll virus.

Potato leafroll virus (PLRV) uses powerful molecular machines to package its genome into a viral capsid employing ATP as fuel. Although, recent bioinformatics and structural studies have revealed detailed mechanism of DNA packaging, little is known about the mechanochemistry of genome packaging in small plant viruses such as PLRV. We have identified a novel P-loop-containing ATPase domain with two Walker A-like motifs, two arginine fingers, and two sensor motifs distributed throughout the polypeptide chain of PLRV capsid protein (CP). The composition and arrangement of the ATP binding and hydrolysis domain of PLRV CP is unique and rarely reported. The discovery of the system sheds new light on the mechanism of viral genome packaging, regulation of viral assembly process, and evolution of plant viruses. Here, we used the RNAi approach to suppress CP gene expression, which in turn prevented PLRV genome packaging and assembly in Solanum tuberosum cv. Khufri Ashoka. Potato plants agroinfiltrated with siRNA constructs against the CP with ATPase domain exhibited no rolling symptoms upon PLRV infection, indicating that the silencing of CP gene expression is an efficient method for generating PLRV-resistant potato plants. In addition, molecular docking study reveals that the PLRV CP protein has ATP-binding pocket at the interface of each monomer. This further confirms that knockdown of the CP harboring ATP-binding domain could hamper the process of viral genome packaging and assembly. Moreover, our findings provide a robust approach to generate PLRV-resistant potato plants, which can be further extended to other species. Finally, we propose a new mechanism of genome packaging and assembly in plant viruses.

Inhibition of potato leafroll virus multiplication and systemic translocation by siRNA constructs against putative ATPase fold of movement protein.

Viruses cause many severe plant diseases, resulting in immense losses of crop yield worldwide. Therefore, developing novel approaches to control plant viruses is crucial to meet the demands of a growing world population. Recently, RNA interference (RNAi) has been widely used to develop virus-resistant plants. Once genome replication and assembly of virion particles is completed inside the host plant, mature virions or sometimes naked viral genomes spread cell-to-cell through plasmodesmata by interacting with the virus-encoded movement protein (MP). We used the RNAi approach to suppress MP gene expression, which in turn prevented potato leafroll virus (PLRV) systemic infection in Solanum tuberosum cv. Khufri Ashoka. Potato plants agroinfiltrated with MP siRNA constructs exhibited no rolling symptoms upon PLRV infection, indicating that the silencing of MP gene expression is an efficient method for generating PLRV-resistant potato plants. Further, we identified novel ATPase motifs in MP that may be involved in DNA binding and translocation through plasmodesmata. We also showed that the ATPase activity of MP was stimulated in the presence of DNA/RNA. Overall, our findings provide a robust technology to generate PLRV-resistant potato plants, which can be extended to other species. Moreover, this approach also contributes to the study of genome translocation mechanisms of plant viruses.

First report on molecular basis of potato leaf roll virus (PLRV) aggravation by combined effect of tuber and prevailing aphid.

OBJECTIVE: The Potato Leaf Roll Virus (PLRV) is one of the most devastating virus causing severe yield losses worldwide in potato. The comprehensive observations were made to study the PLRV infestation in major potato growing areas of Bihar (India) and further detailed molecular basis of PLRV aggravation was established. RESULTS: Although aphids population were found comparatively lower with maximum symptomatic plants, our molecular data further confirms the presence of PLRV in all possible symptomatic tissues such as tubers, shoots and leaves. For the first time, we have proposed molecular basis of aggravation of PLRV, where tuber acts as a reservoir during off-season and further transmitted by aphids.

Seasonal variation of human sex ratio at birth and the modifying factors.

PIP: An analysis of seasonal variations in the live birth sex ratio is presented using data for 8,729 live births occurring in 1973 and 1974 in Vishakapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. The results suggest that the sex ratio is inversely related to the live birth ratio. The number of conceptions is shown to increase gradually from July to February, and the sex ratio decreases proportionately.^ieng