Immunisation of calves against bovine tropical theileriosis (Theileria annulata) with graded doses of sporozoites and irradiated sporozoites

Host responses to infections with serially diluted, unirradiated, infective Theileria annulata, tick tissue stabilates and irradiated stabilates, were compared and the resultant immunity tested against lethal homologous challenge. In infections due to unirradiated parasites duration of fever and proportion of schizontinfected cells in regional lymph nodes, and of parasitised erythrocytes in the peripheral circulation were directly related to the dose of the infective inoculum, whereas time responses, that is, times to first onset of fever and swelling of the regional lymph node, and to first appearance of parasites in the lymph node and blood were inversely related to the dose.Irradiation at 50 Gy did not appreciably affect the parasite. But in infections with the parasite irradiated at 100 Gy and 150 Gy, degrees of parasitisation were of reduced intensity and inversely proportional to the level of irradiation, whereas the time responses were unaffected except fever, onset of which was delayed. The minimal effect on time responses suggested that irradiation might have altered virulence rather than reduced the number of infective units in the inoculum.All the calves surviving the immunising infections fully resisted the challenge which produced severe theileriosis in unimmunised calves killing 3 of them. It was concluded, therefore, that both methods of immunisation conferred comparable levels of immunity on the animals.     

Chromium and nickel tolerance of Trema orientalis (Blume) L. in tissue culture

Callus of Trema orientalis derived from both contaminated and uncontaminated sources were tested in vitro for their relative tolerance to chromium and nickel. The calluses derived from contaminated source were metal-tolerant and showed better growth than those obtained from uncontaminated plants. The specificity of metal tolerance shown by the parent material was maintained in the calluses. Compared to the uncontaminated explants, the calli derived from contaminated sources exhibited higher catalase and peroxidase activities but a reduced acid phosphatase activity. Biochemical studies, provided evidence that the contaminated sources were physiologically distinct from the uncontaminated ones. Thus, this study indicated that seeds of Trema orientalis collected from contaminated sites were tolerant to chromium and nickel, and may have the advantage of being used in sustainable revegetation programmes on chromiferous minewastes.     

Role of histone deacetylase inhibitors in androgenic callus induction of Oryza sativa sub indica,in sight into evolution and mode of action of histone deacetylase genes

Molecular Biology Reports - The potential of paddy breeding has reached its pinnacle, and hybrids have been the principal research outcome. Hence, our hypothesis was based on improvising the callus...     

Biotechnology of the Banana: A Review of Recent Progress

Abstract: A number of biotechnological tools have been developed which could help breeders to evolve new plant types to meet the demand of the food industry in the next century. Available techniques for the transfer of genes could significantly shorten the breeding procedures and overcome some of the agronomic and environmental problems which would otherwise not be possible through conventional methods. In vitro protocols have been standardized to allow commercially viable propagation of desired clones of Musa. An overview of the regeneration of banana by direct and indirect organogenesis, and somatic embryogenesis is presented in this article. In addition, the use of several other biotechnological techniques to enrich the genome of banana, such as selection of somaclonal variants, screening for various useful characteristics, cryopreservation, genetic transformation and molecular genetics are reviewed. In conclusion, the improvement of banana through modern biotechnology should help ensure food security by stabilizing production levels in sustainable cropping systems geared towards meeting domestic and export market demands.     

Identification and assessment of genetic relationships in three <Emphasis Type="Italic">Chlorophytum</Emphasis> species and two high yielding genotypes of <Emphasis Type="Italic">C. borivilianum</Emphasis> through RAPD markers

Conservation of identified germplasm is an important component for efficient and effective management of plant genetic resources. Since Chlorophytum species are important medicinal plants, studies were carried out for identification and establish genetic relationships in three species of Chlorophytum and two high yielding genotypes of Chlorophtum borivilianum using RAPD markers. Out of one hundred primers tested, 47 decamers amplified a total of 454 distinct bands ranging from 0.25–3.0 kbp to identify and to evaluate genetic relationships between and among three species of Chlorophytum and two genotypes of Chlorophtum borivilianum. The cluster analysis indicated that three species of Chlorophytum and two genotypes (NRCCB-1 and NRCCB-2) of C. borivilianum formed two major clusters. The first major cluster constituted C. arundinaceum and C. tuberosum, and the second major cluster composed of two subclusters; the first subcluster represented NRCB-1 and NRCB-2 where as the second subcluster represented C. borivilianum. Thus, the RAPD markers have the potential for identification and characterization of genetic relatedness among the species and genotypes. C. borivilianum along with two genotypes also showed similar banding patterns which could be chosen as candidate markers for differentiating the other two species such as C. arundinaceum and C. tuberosum. This would helpful for breeding programmes and provides an important input in conservation biology.     

Role of the Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factor Rom2 in Cell Wall Integrity Maintenance of Aspergillus fumigatus

Aspergillus fumigatus is a mold and the causal agent of invasive aspergillosis, a systemic disease with high lethality. Recently, we identified and functionally characterized three stress sensors implicated in the cell wall integrity (CWI) signaling of this pathogen, namely, Wsc1, Wsc3, and MidA. Here, we functionally characterize Rom2, a guanine nucleotide exchange factor with essential function for the cell wall integrity of A. fumigatus. A conditional rom2 mutant has severe growth defects under repressive conditions and incorporates all phenotypes of the three cell wall integrity sensor mutants, e.g., the echinocandin sensitivity of the Δwsc1 mutant and the Congo red, calcofluor white, and heat sensitivity of the ΔmidA mutant. Rom2 interacts with Rho1 and shows a similar intracellular distribution focused at the hyphal tips. Our results place Rom2 between the cell surface stress sensors Wsc1, Wsc3, MidA, and Rho1 and their downstream effector mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase module Bck1-Mkk2-MpkA.