Biofortification of safflower: an oil seed crop engineered for ALA-targeting better sustainability and plant based omega-3 fatty acids.

Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) deficiency and a skewed n6:n3 fatty acid ratio in the diet is a major explanation for the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases and inflammatory/autoimmune diseases. There is mounting evidence of the health benefits associated with omega-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC PUFA's). Although present in abundance in fish, a number of factors limit our consumption of fish based omega-3 PUFA's.

SEM Analysis of Residual Dentin Surface in Primary Teeth Using Different Chemomechanical Caries Removal Agents.

Background: The purpose of this in vitro study was to analyze the residual dentinal surfaces following caries removal using two chemomechanical methods (Papacarie Duo and Carie Care), by scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

Study Design: Twenty extracted primary molars with active occlusal carious lesions were randomly assigned two groups depending on the CMCR agent used for the caries excavation - Group 1 - with Papacarie Duo and Group - 2 with Carie Care. After the caries excavation, the specimens were subjected to SEM analysis.

Evaluation of antimicrobial action of Carie Care™ and Papacarie Duo™ on Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans a major periodontal pathogen using polymerase chain reaction.

Background: In the present scenario, we are made available with chemomechanical caries removal system containing a natural proteolytic enzyme for the ease in the excavation of infected dentine. The additive action for these agents is providing antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties.

Aim: This study was undertaken for assessing the action of Carie Care™ and Papacarie Duo™ on Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans.

Lactobacillus plantarum mediated fermentation of Psidium guajava L. fruit extract.

Sixteen hour fermentation of the white flesh raw guava Lucknow 49 cultivar using Lactobacillus plantarum NCIM 2912 was taken up for enhancing the antioxidant potential. The fermented guava product with high antioxidant potential, total phenolic content and short and medium chain fatty acids can be used as functional food.

Synthetic racemates of abyssinone I and II induces apoptosis through mitochondrial pathway in human cervix carcinoma cells.

Abyssinones I and II are prenylated flavanones existing in plant Erythrina abyssinica showing diverse biological activities including anticancer activities. We synthesized racemic mixtures of these flavanones from corresponding chalcones and herein we report for the first time the molecular mechanisms of cell death, anti-proliferative effect and ability to induce apoptosis in human cervical carcinoma (HeLa) cells. Cytotoxicity was assessed by MTT assay to determine LD50 for prenylated chalcones and their corresponding flavones.

NeeMDB: Convenient Database for Neem Secondary Metabolites.

Indian Neem tree is known for its pesticidal and medicinal properties for centuries. Structure elucidation of large number of secondary metabolites responsible for its diverse properties has been achieved. However, this data is spread over various books, scientific reports and publications and difficult to access.

Chemomechanical Caries Removal: A Review & Study of an Indigen-ously Developed Agent (Carie Care (TM) Gel) In Children.

The invention and application of engine driven or rotary instruments in operative treatment of carious lesions has resulted in removal of considerable toothe structure. However, with the introduction of adhesive materials for restorations, and the advent of minimal cavity design this principle has been challenged and is now considered to be too destructive to the tooth structure during caries removal. A number of techniques are available for cutting tooth tissue.

Molecular regulation of santalol biosynthesis in Santalum album L.

Santalum album L. commonly known as East-Indian sandal or chandan is a hemiparasitic tree of family santalaceae. Santalol is a bioprospecting molecule present in sandalwood and any effort towards metabolic engineering of this important moiety would require knowledge on gene regulation.

Isolation and functional characterization of bacterial endophytes from Carica papaya fruits.

Aims: To isolate and characterize the endophytes from papaya fruits and to determine the fermentative potential of the strains.

Methods And Results: Endophytes provide potential sources for novel natural products for the use in agriculture and nutrition. There is very limited information on isolation and characterization of bacterial endophytes from papaya.

Spatial and temporal volatile organic compound response of select tomato cultivars to herbivory and mechanical injury.

Plants resist an insect or pathogen attack through a range of direct and indirect defense signals. Vegetable crop plants constitutively synthesize and store a battery of volatiles implicated in defense against herbivores. We examined the effect of herbivory (Spodoptera litura Fab.

Structural and functional analyses of a saturated acyl ACP thioesterase, type B from immature seed tissue of Jatropha curcas.

The distinguishing structural and functional domains of plant acyl-acyl carrier protein (ACP) thioesterases and their complex interaction with the ACP-linked fatty acid substrate complex have remained elusive. E. coli based heterologous expression and characterisation of many plant thioesterases reported so far have not been extended and linked to in silico modelling studies to explain the diversity in plant thioesterase substrate specificities.

Abyssinones and related flavonoids as potential steroidogenesis modulators.

Abyssinones and related flavonoids were screened against 3 enzymes (3betaHSD, 17betaHSD and Aromatase) of steroidogenesis pathway. The virtual screening experiment shows high affinity for flavonones than their respective chalcones. A 4' -OH blocked prenylated flavonone 2b (2-(2', 2'-dimethyl chroman-6'-yl)-7-hydroxy chroman-4-one) had consistent binding affinity to all the three enzymes used in this study showing higher binding affinity to aromatase.

Single-shot cardiorenal scintigraphy with 99mTc-tetrofosmin: a dynamic characterization at rest and during adenosine infusion.

Unlabelled: Renal function is known to be a strong predictor of cardiovascular prognosis, and cardiorenal disease is increasingly investigated in medical research. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that a single combined cardiorenal scintigraphy examination with the perfusion tracer (99m)Tc-tetrofosmin is feasible and may allow the simultaneous investigation of cardiac and renal pathology in cardiovascular patients.

Methods: Thirty patients scheduled for dual-day gated SPECT also gave their informed consent for a renal acquisition after a single injection of 370 MBq of (99m)Tc-tetrofosmin, at rest (30 patients) or with adenosine (21 patients), and to undergo an additional standard renal study with the glomerular tracer (99m)Tc-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) (74 MBq) after 1 wk (24 patients).

Synthesis of benzamide derivatives of anacardic acid and their cytotoxic activity.

Several benzamide derivatives were synthesized from anacardic acid (1a) which was the product of hydrogenation of the naturally occurring anacardic acid mixture (1a-d), a major constituent of cashew nut shell liquid. Anacardic acid (1a) was first alkylated followed by hydrolysis of the ester to obtain synthones namely, 2-ethoxy-6-pentadecylbenzoic acid (5) and 2-isopropoxy-6-pentadecylbenzoic acid (6). These salicylic acid derivatives were then coupled with a variety of anilines to obtain novel benzamide compounds (7-39).

Synthesis and in vitro antitumor activities of novel 4-anilinoquinazoline derivatives.

A series of 6, 7-dialkoxy-4-anilinoquinazolines were designed, synthesized by substituting different heterocycles on 6-position and a variety of anilines on 4-position of the quinazoline. These novel quinazoline compounds were screened for their cytotoxic effect on epidermal growth factor receptor overexpressing skin epidermoid carcinoma cell line (A431), by using nonoverexpressing tumor cells as negative control (breast adeno carcinoma cell line MCF-7). 2-Butyl-4-chloro-1-{3-[7-methoxy-4-(3-(trifluoromethyl)phenylamino)quinazolin-6-yloxy]-propyl}-1H-imidazole-5-carboxaldehyde (30) and 2-butyl-4-chloro-1-{3-[4-(3-iodophenyl amino)-7-methoxyquinazolin-6-yloxy]propyl}-1H-imidazole-5-carboxaldehyde (33) were found to be more potent against A431 cell line (IC(50) 3.

In silico approach of azadirachtin binding with actins.

In silico docking analysis reported here suggests that insect cellular cytoskeletal beta-actin could be the target of Azadirachtin A (Aza-the principle bioactive compound of neem seeds). The best docking energy of -40.09 kcal/mol at 8.

Cytosine methylation occurs in a CDC48 homologue and a MADS-box gene during adventitious shoot induction in Petunia leaf explants.

The DNA methylase inhibitors, 5-azacytidine and 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine inhibited adventitious shoot induction in Petunia leaf cultures. Cytosine methylation status at CCGG sites in shoot- and callus-inducing culture treatments was analysed by coupled restriction enzyme digestion (HpaII or MspI) and random amplification. Two differentially methylated genomic DNA bands from the PCR products were cloned (OPU9-1 and OPU9-2) and sequenced.

Oxy5, a novel protein from Arabidopsis thaliana, protects mammalian cells from oxidative stress.

The use of molecular oxygen in various cellular processes results in the generation of toxic intracellular by-products termed reactive oxygen species (ROS). In Escherichia coli the oxyR gene product is a transcriptional regulator of the oxyR regulon that is induced in response to hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress (OS). We have previously shown that an annexin-like protein from Arabidopsis thaliana, termed Oxy5, can replace the obligatory role of OxyR in E.

Distribution patterns of 104 kDa stress-associated protein in rice.

A 104 kDa protein (SAP 104) accumulates in rice seedlings in response to several abiotic stress conditions and immunological homologues of rice SAP 104 have been detected in several monocot and dicot species, as also Neurospora crassa, a fungus. In this report, we show that the amino acid sequence of a tryptic peptide generated from purified SAP 104 bears significant homology with an ATP-binding domain of the HSP 100 family proteins of Arabidopsis thaliana and Glycine max. It is further shown that differential uninduced and induced (by high-temperature stress) levels of this protein are accumulated in various organs of the mature rice plant grown under field conditions.

A novel Arabidopsis thaliana protein protects tumor cells from tumor necrosis factor-induced apoptosis.

Recently we have cloned and characterized a novel, oxidative stress-induced Arabidopsis thaliana gene (oxy5), and showed that expression of oxy5 protects bacterial cells from death caused by oxidative stress. As oxidative stress is one pathway of TNF cytotoxicity, we investigated whether the encoded protein could also protect human tumor cells from TNF killing. We stably transfected the oxy5 gene into TNF-sensitive HeLa D98 cells (D98/O.

Annexin-like protein from Arabidopsis thaliana rescues delta oxyR mutant of Escherichia coli from H2O2 stress.

Reactive oxygen species are common causes of cellular damages in all aerobic organisms. In Escherichia coli, the oxyR gene product is a positive regulator of the oxyR regulon that is induced in response to H2O2 stress. To identify genes involved in counteracting oxidative stress in plants, we transformed a delta oxyR mutant of E.

cDNA cloning and characterisation of a maize homologue of the MCM proteins required for the initiation of DNA replication.

A central question in cell cycle regulation is how DNA replication is initiated and executed only once in each cell cycle. The cell cycle-regulated assembly of specific initiation protein complexes at chromosomal origins appears to specify the initial sites and timing of DNA replication, and to restrict this process to only one round in the somatic cell cycle. Among the enzymes involved in origin activation, the MCM proteins play a conserved key role.

Cloning and characterization of cDNA encoding farnesyl diphosphate synthase from rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis).

Commercially used natural rubber (cis-1,4-polyisoprene) is a secondary metabolite of the rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis). Previous studies have shown the involvement of a prenyl transferase in the final steps of natural rubber biosynthesis which includes polymerization of isopentenyl pyrophosphate into rubber. Using synthetic oligonucleotides corresponding to the partial amino acid sequences of this protein as probes to screen a laticifer-specific cDNA library, we have isolated a full-length cDNA which encodes a 47 kDa protein with strong homology to farnesyl diphosphate synthases from many species.

[Epitope specificity and protective activity of monoclonal antibodies to Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis virus].

Epitope specificity and protective activity of 5 types of monoclonal antibodies (MAB) to strain TM-14 of Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis (VEE) virus were studied. The competing VEE A4 and VEE B5 MAB were shown to recognize the conformation-dependent epitope of glycoprotein E2 third site and to possess an extremely high protective activity. VEE C6 MAB were active in all the studied biological tests (hemagglutination inhibition, neutralization tests, passive defence) and were directed to glycoprotein E2 site six.