A pentatricopeptide repeat protein restores fertility in Moricandia arvensis based cytoplasmic male sterility system in Brassica juncea.

An introgression from Moricandia arvensis is known to restore male fertility to Brassica juncea cytoplasmic male sterile lines carrying M. arvensis, Diplotaxis berthautii, D. catholica or D.

Molecularly Defined Glycocalyx Models Reveal AB Toxins Recognize Their Target Glycans Superselectively.

AB toxins are a class of bacterial toxins that recognize cell surface carbohydrates to facilitate their uptake by the target cell. Among them are cholera toxin (CT) from Vibrio cholerae that causes cholera, and Shiga toxin (STx) from Shigella dysenteriae and certain strains of Escherichia coli, which cause hemolytic uremic syndrome. While the glycolipid ligands for CT and STx (gangliosides GM1 and Gb, respectively) have long been known, recent studies have shown that fucosylated structures, like Lewis (Le ), also play a role in CT binding.

Lectin-anticancer peptide fusion demonstrates a significant cancer-cell-selective cytotoxic effect and inspires the production of "clickable" anticancer peptide in Escherichia coli.

Targeted killing of tumor cells while protecting healthy cells is the pressing priority in cancer treatment. Lectins that target a specific glycan marker abundant in cancer cells can be valuable new tools for selective cancer cell killing. The lectin Shiga-like toxin 1 B subunit (Stx1B) is an example that specifically binds globotriaosylceramide (CD77 or Gb3), which is overexpressed in certain cancers.

Critical review on uranium and arsenic content and their chemical mobilization in groundwater: A case study of the Malwa region Punjab, India.

The presence of pollutants like uranium and arsenic in the groundwater can have a terrible impact on people's health (both radiologically and toxicologically) and their economic conditions. Their infiltration into groundwater can occur through geochemical reactions, natural mineral deposits, mining and ore processing. Governments and scientists are working to address these issues, and significant progress has been achieved, but it's challenging to deal with and mitigate without adequately understanding the different chemical processes and the mobilization mechanism of these hazardous chemicals.

Targeted delivery of oligonucleotides using multivalent protein-carbohydrate interactions.

Cell surface protein-carbohydrate interactions are essential for tissue-specific recognition and endocytosis of viruses, some bacteria and their toxins, and many glycoproteins. Often protein-carbohydrate interactions are multivalent - multiple copies of glycans bind simultaneously to multimeric receptors. Multivalency enhances both affinity and binding specificity, and is of interest for targeted delivery of drugs to specific cell types.

Piggybacking on the Cholera Toxin: Identification of a CTB-Binding Protein as an Approach for Targeted Delivery of Proteins to Motor Neurons.

A significant unmet need exists for the delivery of biologic drugs such as polypeptides or nucleic acids to the central nervous system for the treatment and understanding of neurodegenerative diseases. Naturally occurring bacterial toxins have been considered as tools to meet this need. However, due to the complexity of tethering macromolecular drugs to toxins and the inherent dangers of working with large quantities of recombinant toxins, no such route has been successfully exploited.

Analysis of mitochondrial recombination in the male sterile Brassica juncea cybrid Og1 and identification of the molecular basis of fertility reversion.

Recombinations between the parental genomes produced a novel mitochondrial genome in the cytoplasmic male sterile Brassica juncea cybrid Og1. A mitochondrial stoichiometric shift greatly reduced the molecule containing male-sterility-inducing orf138 gene leading to reversion to male fertility. An improved, chlorosis-corrected, cytoplasmic male sterile Brassica juncea cybrid Og1 derived from Ogura cytoplasm shows frequent reversion to male fertility.

Correction: Rapid sodium periodate cleavage of an unnatural amino acid enables unmasking of a highly reactive α-oxo aldehyde for protein bioconjugation.

Correction for 'Rapid sodium periodate cleavage of an unnatural amino acid enables unmasking of a highly reactive α-oxo aldehyde for protein bioconjugation' by Robin L. Brabham et al., Org.

Rapid sodium periodate cleavage of an unnatural amino acid enables unmasking of a highly reactive α-oxo aldehyde for protein bioconjugation.

The α-oxo aldehyde is a highly reactive aldehyde for which many protein bioconjugation strategies exist. Here, we explore the genetic incorporation of a threonine-lysine dipeptide into proteins, harbouring a "masked"α-oxo aldehyde that is rapidly unveiled in four minutes. The reactive aldehyde could undergo site-specific protein modification by SPANC ligation.

Physiological characterization and allelic diversity of selected drought tolerant traditional rice ( L.) landraces of Koraput, India.

Water-deficit stress tolerance in rice is important for maintaining stable yield, especially under rain-fed ecosystem. After a thorough drought-tolerance screening of more than 130 rice genotypes from various regions of Koraput in our previous study, six rice landraces were selected for drought tolerance capacity. These six rice landraces were further used for detailed physiological and molecular assessment under control and simulated drought stress conditions.

Carbohydrate inhibitors of cholera toxin.

Cholera is a diarrheal disease caused by a protein toxin released by in the host's intestine. The toxin enters intestinal epithelial cells after binding to specific carbohydrates on the cell surface. Over recent years, considerable effort has been invested in developing inhibitors of toxin adhesion that mimic the carbohydrate ligand, with particular emphasis on exploiting the multivalency of the toxin to enhance activity.

A part of the upstream promoter region of SHN2 gene directs trichome specific expression in Arabidopsis thaliana and heterologous plants.

A promoter trap mutant line of Arabidopsis carrying a promoterless β-glucuronidase (uidA) gene exhibited GUS expression predominantly in all the trichomes. In this mutant, the T-DNA insertion was localized at 147bp upstream of the putative start codon, ATG, of the At5g11190 (SHN2) gene. Transcript profiling of the SHN2 suggested a constitutive expression of the gene in all the tissues.

The () Gene Is Required for Megaspore Mother Cell Specification and Gametophyte Development.

In plants, the role of TRAF-like proteins with meprin and the TRAF homology (MATH) domain is far from clear. In animals, these proteins serve as adapter molecules to mediate signal transduction from Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor to downstream effector molecules. A seed-sterile mutant with a disrupted TRAF-like gene () exhibiting aberrant gametogenesis led us to investigate the developmental role of this gene in Arabidopsis ().

New structural classes of antituberculosis agents.

Tuberculosis (TB), one of the deadliest diseases is shattering the health and socioeconomic status of the society. The emergence of multidrug resistant (MDR) and extremely drug resistant (XDR) strains has provided unprecedented lethal character to TB. The development of MDR and XDR strains of TB results in more deaths, longer duration of therapy, and appearance of the disease in the immunocompromised patients.

Analysis of Promoters of Arabidopsis thaliana Divergent Gene Pair SERAT3;2 and IDH-III Shows SERAT3;2 Promoter is Nested Within the IDH-III Promoter.

Intergenic regions of divergent gene pairs show bidirectional promoter activity but whether regulatory sequences for gene expression in opposite directions are shared is not established. In this study, promoters of divergently arranged gene pair At4g35640-At4g35650 (SERAT3;2-IDH-III) of Arabidopsis thaliana were analyzed to identify overlapping regulatory regions. Both genes showed the highest expression in flower buds and flowers.

Promoter Trapping and Deletion Analysis Show Arabidopsis thaliana APETALA2 Gene Promoter Is Bidirectional and Functions as a Pollen- and Ovule-Specific Promoter in the Reverse Orientation.

The Arabidopsis thaliana promoter trap mutant Bitrap-112 expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene in the ovules was found to carry transferred DNA (T-DNA) insertion at -309 position of the APETALA2 (AP2) gene. Bitrap-112 line did not show phenotype associated with the AP2 mutation, suggesting that T-DNA insertion did not interrupt the AP2 promoter. Further, head-to-head orientation of GFP and AP2 genes indicated that the AP2 promoter could be bidirectional.

Assessment of Arabidopsis thaliana CENH3 promoter in Brassica juncea for development of haploid inducer lines.

Centromeres are epigenetically specified by the centromeric histone H3 protein (CENH3). The timing and level of expression of CENH3 is tightly regulated to match the demands of the host cell. So far in plants, only CENH3 promoter of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.

Synthetic multivalent ligands for cholera & cholera-like toxins: Protected cyclic neoglycopeptides.

Synthesis of a set of novel glycopeptide analogues as potential cholera/cholera-like toxin inhibitors in their protected form is described. They include di-, tri-, tetra- and pentavalent scaffolds. The synthetic steps were achieved using a combination of solvent-free mechanochemical as well as the conventional solution-phase reactions.

Transmembrane START domain proteins: in silico identification, characterization and expression analysis under stress conditions in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.).

Steroidogenic acute regulatory related transfer (StART) proteins that are involved in transport of lipid molecules, play a myriad of functions in insects, mammals and plants. These proteins consist of a modular START domain of approximately 200 amino acids which binds and transfers the lipids. In the present study we have performed a genome-wide search for all START domain proteins in chickpea.

In(III) triflate-catalyzed detritylation and glycosylation by solvent-free ball milling.

A highly efficient In(III) triflate-assisted method for the detritylation of O-trityl derivatives of carbohydrates, phenols, and alcohols using solvent-free mechanochemical method is described. In the case of carbohydrates, further reaction in the presence of an acceptor sugar leads to highly efficient glycosylation in the same pot resulting in the formation of the desired glycoside-product in very high yields. The method was applied successfully to the synthesis of a combinatorial library of galactose-based (1,6)-linked cyclohexa-, hepta-, and octasaccharides on gram scale.

In(III) triflate-mediated solvent-free synthesis and activation of thioglycosides by ball milling and structural analysis of long chain alkyl thioglycosides by TEM and quantum chemical methods.

Conventional solution-phase synthesis of thioglycosides from glycosyl acetates and thiols in the presence of In(III) triflate as reported for benzyl thioglucoside failed when applied to the synthesis of phenolic and alkyl thioglycosides. But, it was achieved in high efficiency and diastereospecificity with ease by solvent-free grinding in a ball mill. The acetates in turn were also obtained by the homogenization of free sugars with stoichiometric amounts of acetic anhydride and catalytic In(OTf)3 in the mill as neat products.

In Silico analysis of the lateral organ junction (LOJ) gene and promoter of Arabidopsis thaliana.

A T-DNA based promoter trapped mutant has led to the identification of a novel lateral organ junction specific promoter upstream of the pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) protein coding gene LOJ in Arabidopsis thaliana by our laboratory. Various in silico based prediction tools are employed to characterize the upstream sequence of the LOJ gene. Out of numerous cis-elements detected in the LOJ promoter a few are considered important based on the expression pattern of the LOJ gene.