Recent developments in understanding salinity tolerance

Effects of drugs on clinical laboratory tests

Background As minerals have diverse functionalities and potentials in the body's metabolism and homeostasis, deficiency of these bioactive constituents can result in an abundant incidence of common disorders and disease symptoms. Maintenance knowledge of the mineral content in terms of safe food fortification and processing techniques can significantly increase their absorption and bioavailability rate. Scope and approach This overview mainly discusses current investigations about the identification of high-available sources and remarkable functions of mineral elements, quantification methods for the bioavailability assessment, and influence of different processing practices and usual fortification strategies on mineral content and quality of staple food products. Key findings and conclusions The most dominant minerals to fortify various food preparations are iron, calcium, zinc and iodine. Utilization of isotopic approaches can sensitively determine the bioavailability values of food minerals. Modern processing techniques (e.g., high pressure and sonication) compared with the conventional processes have lower negative impacts on the content of micro- and macro-minerals. Accumulation of mineral elements in the edible tissues of crops using agrobiotechnological techniques (e.g., gene overexpression and activation control) and their direct fortification into formulation of processed foods along with nanoencapsulation could enhance the concentration and bioaccessibility of these bioactive ingredients.

The importance of minerals in human nutrition: Bioavailability, food fortification, processing effects and nanoencapsulation

List of Contributors Preface 1. Introduction K.V. Madhava Rao.- 2.Water Stress A. Yokota, K. Takahara and K. Akashi.- 3.Salt Stress Zora Dajic .- 4. High Temperature Stress Thomas D. Sharkey and Stephen M. Schrader.- 5. Freezing Stress Russell G. Trischuk, Brian S. Schilling, M. Wisniewski and Lawrence V. Gusta .- 6.Photooxidative Stress Attipalli R. Reddy and Agepati S. Raghavendra.- 7.Nutrient Stress K. Janardhan Reddy.- 8.Heavy Metal Stress Ksenija Gasic and Schuyler S. Korban.- 9.Metabolic Engineering for Stress Tolerance Bala Rathinasabapathi and Ramandeep Kaur.- 10.Functional Genomics of Stress Tolerance Akhilesh K. Tyagi, Shubha Vij and Navinder Saini.- Index

Physiology and molecular biology of stress tolerance in plants

Generation and scavenging of reactive oxygen species in chloroplasts : a submolecular approach

Background Identification of human remains is an imperative element of any medicolegal investigation, and a challenging task for forensic experts and physical anthropologists worldwide. Aim The aim of this study was to determine sex (male/female) by hand dimensions and index and ring finger length ratio in Upper Egyptians. Materials and methods Five hundred students (250 males and 250 females) above age 18 years were examined. Hand length, breadth and hand index (breadth divided by length × 100), as well as index and ring finger ratio were estimated. Results The average hand length was found to be about 1.3 cm greater in males than females. Hand index ⩽40.55 is suggestive of females and >40.55 is suggestive of males. The index and ring finger ratio is found to be higher in females. Index and ring finger ratio ⩽0.976 is suggestive of males, and ratio >0.976 is suggestive of females. Conclusion This study may prove useful to determine the sex of an isolated hand when it is subjected for medicolegal examination.

Determination of sex from hand dimensions and index/ring finger length ratio in Upper Egyptians

Metabolomic profiling and antioxidant activity of some Acacia species

The Escherichia coli gene katE, which is driven by the promoter of the Rubisco small subunit gene of tomato, rbcS3C, was introduced into a tomato ( Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) by Agrobacterium tumefaciens -mediated transformation. Catalase activity in progeny from transgenic plants was approximately three-fold higher than that in wild-type plants. Leaf discs from transgenic plants remained green at 24 h after treatment with 1 µ M paraquat under moderate light intensity, whereas leaf discs from wild-type plants showed severe bleaching after the same treatment. Moreover, ion leakage from transgenic leaf discs was significantly less than that from wild-type leaf discs at 24 h after treatment with 1 µ M paraquat and 10 m M H 2 O 2 , respectively, under moderate light intensity. To evaluate the efficiency of the E. coli catalase to protect the whole transgenic plant from the oxidative stress, transgenic and wildtype plants were sprayed with 100 µ µ µ M paraquat and exposed to high light illumination (800 µ mol m − 2 s − 1 ). After 24 h, the leaves of the transgenic plants were less damaged than the leaves of the wild-type plants. The catalase activity and the photosynthesis activity (indicated by the F v / F m ratio) were less affected by paraquat treatment in leaves of transgenic plants, whereas the activities of the chloroplastic ascorbate peroxidase isoenzymes and the ascorbate content decreased in both lines. In addition, the transgenic plants showed increased tolerance to the oxidative damage (decrease of the CO 2 fixation and photosystem II activity and increase of the lipid peroxidation) caused by drought stress or chilling stress (4 ° C) under high light intensity (1000 µ mol m − 2 s − − − 1 ). These results indicate that the expression of the catalase in chloroplasts has a positive effect on the protection of the transgenic plants from the photooxidative stress invoked by paraquat treatment, drought stress and chilling stress.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1046/j.0016-8025.2003.01121.x

Overexpression of bacterial catalase in tomato leaf chloroplasts enhances photo‐oxidative stress tolerance

A bacterial strain Y242 isolated from agricultural wastewater was found to be highly effective in degrading chlorpyrifos. On the basis of morphology, physiological characteristics, biochemical tests, and phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA sequence, the isolate was identified as Bacillus subtilis. The efficiency of the B. subtilis Y242 isolate as a chlorpyrifos degrader was examined under different culture conditions formulated according to the Plackett-Burman experimental design. It was observed that B. subtilis Y242 was able to utilize chlorpyrifos as a sole carbon and energy source and grows on a medium containing concentration up to 150 mg/L. A growth medium formulated based on the results of the Plackett-Burman experiment and supplied with 150 mg/L chlorpyrifos recorded 95.12% pesticide decomposition within 48 h. Degradation study of chlorpyrifos by B. subtilis Y242 was examined by gas chromatography–mass spectrometer (GC-MS) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). These results sug...

Eman A. Mohamed

Papers

Determination of sex from hand dimensions and index/ring finger length ratio in Upper Egyptians

Metabolomic profiling and antioxidant activity of some Acacia species

Overexpression of bacterial catalase in tomato leaf chloroplasts enhances photo‐oxidative stress tolerance

Biodegradation of Chlorpyrifos by a Newly Isolated Bacillus subtilis Strain, Y242

Preliminary phytochemical screening, plant growth inhibition and antimicrobial activity studies of Faidherbia albida legume extracts