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HLA-B*07 Alleles in B27 Negative Spondarthritides Patients
from Mumbai, Western India
--Umapathy Shankarkumar, Devaraj J Parasannavar
and Kanjaksha Ghosh M D
Spondarthritides (SpA) is a group of inflammatory disorders which share certain clinical features and an association with the HLA-B27 allele. In addition to B27, other B locus alleles are also involved in SpA. It has been reported that HLA-B7 antigen was associated with B27 negative American Black Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) patients. So our aim was to study the involvement of HLA-B*07 alleles among B27 negative SpA patients from Western India. Consecutive 416 SpA patients, who were negative for B27 antigen, were selected by strictly following Modified New York criteria for AS and ESSG criteria for SpA. Microlymphocytotoxicity test was done to look for B27 positivity. Serology defined 119 HLA-B7 positive patients were selected for allele subtyping of B locus by PCR-RLS-SSOP technique (Dynal-Reli-SSO typing) and compared with 120 B27 negative normal healthy individuals. Molecular subtyping of B locus among B27 negative SpA patients and controls revealed that HLA-B*0702 (% Allele Frequency (AF) 32.77 versus 7.08; Odds Ratio (OR) 11.527; p-value 4.84E-16), HLA-B*0706 (% AF 6.30 versus 1.25; OR 5.62; p-value 0.003) and B*0720 (% AF 7.56 versus 0.0; OR 43.926; p-value 9.4E-06) had significantly increased among patients as compared to the controls. When clinical characters of HLA-B7 positive groups were analyzed, 50% of patients had the onset of clinical symptom at the age of 16 to 30 years. Analysis of the type of arthritis showed that 42% of the patients were suffering from polyarticular arthritis with SI joint, hip joint and knee joint involvement. © 2011 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Prediction of Fish Growth Rate and Food Availability
in the Himalayan Waterbodies by Estimation of RNA/DNA Ratios
-- G K Sivaraman, A Barat, S Ali and P C Mahanta
Recent biotechnological methods have made it possible to measure the real-time growth rate of fishes in response to changes in environmental conditions, as compared to the traditional methods. The accurate isolation and quantification from a tiny amount of tissue’s DNA, RNA and protein concentration would give the physiological status of fishes in their natural environment. The DNA content of tissue/cell remains stable and provides an index of cell number, whereas RNA content changes in response to transcription-dependent protein synthesis and is directly correlated with the growth rate of fish. The RNA/DNA ratio of tissue has proven to be a reliable estimator of real-time growth and its nutritional status of fish larvae and juvenile fish and it is an indicator of the protein synthesizing potential of a cell. © 2011 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
In Vitro Propagation of Celastrus paniculatus Willd.,
a Threatened Medicinal Plant
-- Ananth A, Lakshman K, Rajasekaran P E and Ravish B S
Celastrus paniculatus willd. (Celastraceae) is a large woody climber and possesses sesquiterpene alkaloids, namely, celapagine, celapanigine, celapanine and celastrol, used in traditional system of medicine for various disorders. The present investigation is an effort to establish protocols for micropropagation of C. paniculatus. The shoots were used as explants and cultured on MS media supplemented with phytohormones in different combinations, combination of BAP (1.0 mg L–1) + 5% coconut water produced multiple shoots. The in vitro regenerated shoots were excised aseptically and implanted on half and quarter strength of MS media with growth regulators at different concentrations for rooting. Half strength MS medium + NAA 0.5 mg L–1 induced maximum rooting. © 2011 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Selection of Flower Buds and Carbon Source for Anther Culture
in Melon (Cucumis melo)
-- A K M A Islam, Shuji Misoo and Takeshige Ishii
Pollen fertility studies showed that flowers from the early flowering stage contain more fertile pollen (93.9-97.6 %) than later stage of flowering (68.9%). Pollen fertility percentage indicates development of anther. If the anthers are well-developed, the pollen fertility is expected to be high. The uninucleate stage is optimal for the culture of melon anthers, and these pollen stages appear in flower bud and anther with 4.5-5.0 mm and 1.9-2.0 mm length, respectively, in first week and 3.3-4.3 mm and 1.6-1.8 mm length, respectively, in the second week. This result indicates that flower and anther size reduces with increase in the age of the donor plant. In the early flowering stage, the plant produces larger flowers than at later stages. Among the three polysaccharides, lactose showed good effect on pollen division. The anther cultured in lactose supplemented MS medium produced the highest number of living anther per plate, number of living pollen per anther and dividing pollen per anther. Maltose supplemented MS medium showed moderate performance and sucrose the lowest for all parameters studied. © 2011 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Effect of CHA on Morphological Characters in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)
-- Rajesh Kumar, S K Sethi, R K Arya and Ashwani Kumar
The present investigation was carried out to study the morphological traits effected by different Chemical Hybridizing Agents (CHA) during rabi 2001-02 at CCS HAU, Hisar. CHC series of chemicals adversely affected morphological characters, while CH series of chemicals had a little effect on these traits. The plant height of CHA treated lines was significantly shorter. Reduction in plant height was mainly due to reduction in peduncle length in all the genotypes. Germination of outcrossed seed showed reduced germination percentage than the control. Reduced germination could be due to seed shriveling or phytotoxic effect of CHA. © 2011 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Isolation of a Congo Red Degrading Bacillus Species from the Effluent
of a Textile Industry in Bangalore
-- Rashmi M and Savitha K
The paper presents the isolation of a Bacillus species from the industrial effluent of a textile industry in Bangalore that was heavily contaminated with congo red along with other azo dyes. Congo red is a carcinogenic direct diazo dye. Azo compounds constitute the largest and the most diverse group of synthetic dyes and are widely used in a number of industries such as textile, food, cosmetics and paper printing. They are generally recalcitrant to biodegradation due to their xenobiotic nature. However, microorganisms, being highly versatile, have developed enzyme systems for the decolorization and mineralization of azo dyes under certain environmental conditions. In our study, a wide range of bacterial species were isolated from the industrial effluent, and the chemical analysis of the water showed very high concentration of congo red. Cultural, microscopical and biochemical tests showed that Bacillus formed the major biomass. The microscopical tests included the Gram’s staining of the bacteria, endospore staining and motility study. The biochemical activity of the bacteria was confirmed by a set of tests that included IMViC, starch hydrolysis, oxidase test, etc. The growth studies showed that the Bacillus species utilized congo red at different concentrations ranging from 25-100 mg L–1. © 2011 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Kartagener’s Syndrome: A Summary of Thai Cases
-- Viroj Wiwanitkit
Kartagener’s syndrome is a rare genetic disorder. This condition is uncommon and interesting. This paper presents a retrospective review of Thai reports on Kartagener’s syndrome.
© 2011 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
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