Retinoid BMS411 (4-{[(5,5-dimethyl-8-phenyl-5,6-dihydronaphthalen-2-yl) carbonyl] amino} benzoic acid), a potential inhibitor of NS5A protein of hepatitis C virus, a candidate for combined therapy of hepatitis C infection.

Hepatitis C infection is a serious health issue worldwide caused by hepatitis C virus (HCV). There is an urgent need of search for new direct acting antiviral drugs due to the rapid development of drug resistance. The HCV NS5A protein is involved in creating resistance against antiviral therapy and there are also many reports that vitamin A deficiency is associated with non-responsiveness to antiviral treatment in HCV infected patients. So the present in silico study was aimed to find the relation between vitamin A deficiency and the NS5A protein's function in antiviral resistance. Structure of NS5A protein was predicted by using I-Tasser (Interactive Tasser). Previous data on conservative domains and dimer formation were confirmed by using a series of current computational methods. The structure was employed for molecular docking analysis to investigate the interaction of ligand BMS411 (4-[(5,5-dimethyl-8-phenyl-6H-naphthalene-2-carbonyl)amino]benzoic acid), a vitamin A related compound with NS5A protein. Docking analysis showed that retinoid BMS411 can bind to HCV NS5A protein and may act as inhibitor of this protein. The functionally interacting amino acid residues surrounding the ligand molecule were identified and were shown to be involved in the formation of binding pocket. The present study suggests that retinoids may play an important role in the improvement of the outcomes of antiviral therapy against HCV through interaction with NS5A and inhibition of this protein. It is of great importance to check and verify if other retinoids could act as NS5A inhibitors.

Impact of forage clipping treatments on performance of winter wheat.

Farmers in northern parts of Pakistan face severe shortage of green forage for their livestock during the harsh winter season. Winter wheat has the potential to be used as a dual-purpose crop for forage plus grain production in these areas. Ten elite winter wheat lines from Oklahoma State University were evaluated at Hazara Research Station Abbottabad under unclipped and clipped treatment level during 2005-06. The material was planted in a randomized complete block design with three replications, with a row length of four meters and a row to row space of 25 cm. Data were recorded on green forage yield, plant height, spike length, spikelets/spike, days to maturity, spike weight, biological weight, and grain yield. Analysis of variance indicated significant differences among genotypes for all traits except spike length. Similarly all traits except spikelets/spike exhibited significant differences between unclipped and clipped treatment levels. Genotype x clipping interaction was non-significant for all traits except grain yield. Overall, winter wheat lines OK98G508W and OK00611W performed better for important traits such as early maturity, biological yield and grain yield, although over-environment testing is needed before recommendations can be made to the farmers.

Change in heritability estimates due to half-sib family selection in the maize variety Pahari.

This research was carried out at the Agriculture Research Farm, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Agricultural University, Peshawar, and the Cereal Crops Research Institute, Pirsabak, Nowshera, during 2009 and 2010. Half-sib families (HS) derived from the maize variety Pahari in spring crop seasons 2009 and 2010 were developed at the Cereal Crops Research Institute. All HS families were detasseled well before pollen shedding. At maturity, each family was harvested and shelled separately. During the summer crop of seasons 2009 and 2010, these HS families were evaluated in 12 x 12 and 11 x 11 partially balanced lattice square arrangements at the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Agricultural University, Peshawar, for various flowering and yield traits, respectively. The data on days to mid-silking, anthesis, anthesis-silking interval, 100-grain weight, and grain yield were recorded. The results revealed significant differences among families for all traits in both cycles. High heritability (0.88) was observed for days to mid-silking in cycle 0 (C0), while moderate heritability (0.42) was recorded for 100-grain weight in C1. The selection differential was quite reasonable and varied according to the traits of interest. The observed response for grain yield in C0 (815.74 kg/ha) was greater than the expected response (681.76 kg/ha).

Triterpenoid saponins from Bongardia chrysogonum.

Two new triterpenoid saponins, 3-O-[beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1-->4)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1-->4)-alph a-L-arabinopyranosyl]-hederagenin (1) and 3-O-[beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1-->4)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1-->4)-alph a-L-arabinopyranosyl]-hederagenin 28-O-[beta-L-glucopyranosyl-(1-->6)-beta-L-glucopyranosyl] ester (2), together with five known saponins, were isolated from an ethanolic extract of the tubers of Bongardia chrysogonum. The structures of 1 and 2 were determined on the basis of spectroscopic studies.