Characterization of leaf transcriptome, development and utilization of unigenes-derived microsatellite markers in sugarcane (Saccharum sp. hybrid).

Sugarcane (Saccharum species hybrid) is the major source of sugar (> 80% sugar) in the world and is cultivated in more than 115 countries. It has recently gained attention as a source of biofuel (ethanol). Due to genomic complexity, the development of new genomic resources is imperative in understanding the gene regulation and function, and to fine tune the genetic improvement of sugarcane. In this study, a cDNA library was constructed from mature leaves so as to develop ESTs resources which were further compared with nucleotide and protein databases to explore the functional identity of sugarcane genes. The non-redundant ESTs (unigenes) were categorized into 18 metabolic functions. The major categories were bioenergetics and photosynthesis (4%), cell metabolism (5%), development related protein (3%), membrane-related, mobile genetic elements (5%), signal transduction (2%), DNA (1%), RNA (1%) and protein (2%) metabolism, other metabolic processes (3%), transcription factors (1%), transport (4%) and proteins related to stress/defense (4%). From 540 unique ESTs, 212 simple sequence repeats were identified, of which 206 were from 463 singlets and six were mined from 77 contig sequences. A total of 540 unique EST sequences were used for SSR search of which 97 (17.9%) contained specified SSR motifs, generating 212 unique SSRs. The genes characterized in this study and the EST-derived microsatellite markers identified from the cDNA library will enrich genomic resources for association- and linkage-mapping studies in sugarcane.

QTL mapping and identification of candidate genes linked to red rot resistance in sugarcane.

Sugarcane (Saccharum species hybrid) is one of the most important commercial crops cultivated worldwide for products like white sugar, bagasse, ethanol, etc. Red rot is a major sugarcane disease caused by a hemi-biotrophic fungus, Colletotrichum falcatum Went., which can potentially cause a reduction in yield up to 100%. Breeding for red rot-resistant sugarcane varieties has become cumbersome due to its complex genome and frequent generation of new pathotypes of red rot fungus. In the present study, a genetic linkage map was developed using a selfed population of a popular sugarcane variety CoS 96268. A QTL linked to red rot resistance (qREDROT) was identified, which explained 26% of the total phenotypic variation for the trait. A genotype-phenotype network analysis performed to account for epistatic interactions, identified the key markers involved in red rot resistance. The differential expression of the genes located in the genomic region between the two flanking markers of the qREDROT as well as in the vicinity of the markers identified through the genotype-phenotype network analysis in a set of contrasting genotypes for red rot infection further confirmed the mapping results. Further, the expression analysis revealed that the plant defense-related gene coding 26S protease regulatory subunit is strongly associated with the red rot resistance. The findings can help in the screening of disease resistant genotypes for developing red rot-resistant varieties of sugarcane. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13205-023-03481-7.

The water-deficit stress- and red-rot-related genes in sugarcane.

Sugarcane is an important international commodity as a valuable agricultural crop especially in developing countries. Sequencing was carried out to generate >35,000 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from healthy as well as red-rot-infected tissue of Indian subtropical variety of sugarcane. Subsequent clustering with existing sugarcane ESTs in public databases identified 4,087 clusters, including 85 clusters that preferentially express upon Colletotrichum falcatum (red-rot) infection, which were previously unreported. Real-time reverse transcription-PCR profiling of selected EST clusters identified several sugarcane clusters that show differential expression in response to biotic and abiotic stress conditions. Twenty-five stress-related clusters showed >2-fold relative expression during water-deficit stress in sugarcane. Similarly, EST clusters could be identified, which exhibit association with red-rot disease when assessed in red-rot-susceptible and red-rot-resistant varieties of sugarcane. Such EST clusters are good candidates for in-depth analysis to elucidate stress-responsive pathways in sugarcane and facilitate genetic manipulation to tailor this crop for tolerance to various stresses.

Prevalence and associated Risk Factors of Severe Early Childhood Caries in 12- to 36-month-old Children of Sirmaur District, Himachal Pradesh, India.

AIM: To assess the prevalence, distribution, and associated risk factors of severe early childhood caries (S-ECC) among 12- to 36-month-old children of district Sirmaur, Himachal Pradesh, India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present study was conducted on a random sample of 510 children, both boys and girls, between 12 and 36 months of age randomly selected from various government-sponsored day-care centers, private day-care centers, and vaccination centers. Caries was recorded using World Health Organization criteria. Statistical analysis was done by using chi-square test and Mann-Whitney test. A two-sided p value was calculated for each statistical test. Multiple logistic regressions were done to calculate the risk of S-ECC from independent variables. RESULTS: In the present study, S-ECC was found in 21% of 510, 12 to 36 months old children of Sirmaur district, Himachal Pradesh. The S-ECC was found to be significantly higher in 25 to 36 months old children's age group and was 27.8% in them as compared with 8% in 12 to 24 months old children. CONCLUSION: Providing anticipatory guidance and education to parents is essential for the promotion of optimal oral health of their children. There is a need for moving upstream to propose and implement policies and programs to improve the oral health of the very young, especially in a developing country like India, which lacks much data on S-ECC. HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE: Mangla RG, Kapur R, Dhindsa A, Madan M. Prevalence and associated Risk Factors of Severe Early Childhood Caries in 12- to 36-month-old Children of Sirmaur District, Himachal Pradesh, India. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2017;10(2):183-187.

Working in the transference: clinical and research perspectives.

The aim of this paper is to address a matter that has been noted, but not adequately confronted, in the psychotherapy research literature--that different psychoanalytic psychotherapists mean very different things by the expression transference interpretations. We explore the matter in three ways: firstly, by providing a brief overview of clinical perspectives on transference interpretations; secondly, by looking at examples of transference interpretations provided by researchers who have studied this form of clinical intervention; and thirdly, by reporting an empirical study of the quality, frequency, and distribution of transference interpretations employed by a psychoanalytic psychotherapist in the course of three routine psychodynamic assessment interviews in the National Health Service (NHS). We emphasize that the meaning of a clinical concept such as transference interpretation is grounded in a set of therapeutic principles and practices that are difficult to characterize by means of a succinct definition. It follows that we should be circumspect about generalizing from research on the therapeutic effectiveness of transference interpretations when what is meant may differ widely from study to study.

Management of intense countertransference in group psychotherapy conducted in situations of civic conflict.

Conducting group psychotherapy in a situation of intractable conflict such as Northern Ireland activates turbulent emotional dilemmas within psychotherapists and group members alike. Professional practice and therapeutic zeal must struggle daily to survive the stark encounter with the reality of a regressive and primitive psychology and on occasion may succumb to atavistic tendencies, dragging relationships down to primitive levels and leaving connections broken. In this article, three group therapists describe their countertransference struggles when leading such groups. They meet in a psychosocial setting in which the risk to one's psyche parallels the risk to one's life and limb. The countertransference experienced here is dark, indeed identified by one author as not unlike Dante's Inferno. They describe how understanding their personal countertransference enables them to survive emotionally even though it may not always lead to the survival of their groups. The effect of those struggles also troubled the act of writing itself making cooperation difficult on occasion, a mirror of the external social matrix.

Subtractive hybridization-mediated analysis of genes and in silico prediction of associated microRNAs under waterlogged conditions in sugarcane (Saccharum spp.).

Sugarcane is an important tropical cash crop meeting 75% of world sugar demand and it is fast becoming an energy crop for the production of bio-fuel ethanol. A considerable area under sugarcane is prone to waterlogging which adversely affects both cane productivity and quality. In an effort to elucidate the genes underlying plant responses to waterlogging, a subtractive cDNA library was prepared from leaf tissue. cDNA clones were sequenced and annotated for their putative functions. Major groups of ESTs were related to stress (15%), catalytic activity (13%), cell growth (10%) and transport related proteins (6%). A few stress-related genes were identified, including senescence-associated protein, dehydration-responsive family protein, and heat shock cognate 70 kDa protein. A bioinformatics search was carried out to discover novel microRNAs (miRNAs) that can be regulated in sugarcane plants subjected to waterlogging stress. Taking advantage of the presence of miRNA precursors in the related sorghum genome, seven candidate mature miRNAs were identified in sugarcane. The application of subtraction technology allowed the identification of differentially expressed sequences and novel miRNAs in sugarcane under waterlogging stress. The comparative global transcript profiling in sugarcane plants undertaken in this study suggests that proteins associated with stress response, signal transduction, metabolic activity and ion transport play important role in conferring waterlogging tolerance in sugarcane.

Development, cross-species/genera transferability of novel EST-SSR markers and their utility in revealing population structure and genetic diversity in sugarcane.

Sugarcane (Saccharum spp. hybrid) with complex polyploid genome requires a large number of informative DNA markers for various applications in genetics and breeding. Despite the great advances in genomic technology, it is observed in several crop species, especially in sugarcane, the availability of molecular tools such as microsatellite markers are limited. Now-a-days EST-SSR markers are preferred to genomic SSR (gSSR) as they represent only the functional part of the genome, which can be easily associated with desired trait. The present study was taken up with a new set of 351 EST-SSRs developed from the 4085 non redundant EST sequences of two Indian sugarcane cultivars. Among these EST-SSRs, TNR containing motifs were predominant with a frequency of 51.6%. Thirty percent EST-SSRs showed homology with annotated protein. A high frequency of SSRs was found in the 5'UTR and in the ORF (about 27%) and a low frequency was observed in the 3'UTR (about 8%). Two hundred twenty-seven EST-SSRs were evaluated, in sugarcane, allied genera of sugarcane and cereals, and 134 of these have revealed polymorphism with a range of PIC value 0.12 to 0.99. The cross transferability rate ranged from 87.0% to 93.4% in Saccharum complex, 80.0% to 87.0% in allied genera, and 76.0% to 80.0% in cereals. Cloning and sequencing of EST-SSR size variant amplicons revealed that the variation in the number of repeat-units was the main source of EST-SSR fragment polymorphism. When 124 sugarcane accessions were analyzed for population structure using model-based approach, seven genetically distinct groups or admixtures thereof were observed in sugarcane. Results of principal coordinate analysis or UPGMA to evaluate genetic relationships delineated also the 124 accessions into seven groups. Thus, a high level of polymorphism adequate genetic diversity and population structure assayed with the EST-SSR markers not only suggested their utility in various applications in genetics and genomics in sugarcane but also enriched the microsatellite marker resources in sugarcane.

Management of Intense Countertransference in Group Psychotherapy Conducted in Situations of Civic Conflict.

Conducting group psychotherapy in a situation of intractable conflict such as Northern Ireland activates turbulent emotional dilemmas within psychotherapists and group members alike. Professional practice and therapeutic zeal must struggle daily to survive the stark encounter with the reality of a regressive and primitive psychology and on occasion may succumb to atavistic tendencies, dragging relationships down to primitive levels and leaving connections broken. In this article, three group therapists describe their countertransference struggles when leading such groups. They meet in a psychosocial setting in which the risk to one's psyche parallels the risk to one's life and limb. The countertransference experienced here is dark, indeed identified by one author as not unlike Dante's Inferno. They describe how understanding their personal countertransference enables them to survive emotionally even though it may not always lead to the survival of their groups. The effect of those struggles also troubled the act of writing itself, making cooperation difficult on occasion, a mirror of the external social matrix.