Chloride channels (CLCs), member of anion transporting proteins, are present ubiquitously in all life forms. Diverging from its name, the CLC family includes both channel and exchanger (proton‐coupled) proteins; nevertheless, they share conserved structural organization. They are engaged in diverse indispensable functions such as acid and fluoride tolerance in prokaryotes to muscle stabilization, transepithelial transport, and neuronal development in mammals. Mutations in genes encoding CLCs lead to several physiological disorders in different organisms, including severe diseases in humans. Even in plants, loss of CLC protein function severely impairs various cellular processes critical for normal growth and development. These proteins sequester Cl− into the vacuole, thus, making them an attractive target for improving salinity tolerance in plants caused by high abundance of salts, primarily NaCl. Besides, some CLCs are involved in NO3− transport and storage function in plants, thus, influencing their nitrogen use efficiency. However, despite their high significance, not many studies have been carried out in plants. Here, we have attempted to concisely highlight the basic structure of CLC proteins and critical residues essential for their function and classification. We also present the diverse functions of CLCs in plants from their first cloning back in 1996 to the knowledge acquired as of now. We stress the need for carrying out more in‐depth studies on CLCs in plants, for they may have future applications towards crop improvement.

Crop Wild Relatives (CWRs) form a comprehensive gene pool that can answer the queries related to plant domestication, speciation, and ecological adaptation. The genus ‘Oryza’ comprises about 27 species, of which two are cultivated, while the remaining are wild. Here, we have attempted to understand the conservation and diversification of the genes encoding Cystathionine β-synthase (CBS) domain-containing proteins (CDCPs) in domesticated and CWRs of rice. Few members of CDCPs were previously identified to be stress-responsive and associated with multiple stress tolerance in rice. Through genome-wide analysis of eleven rice genomes, we identified a total of 36 genes encoding CDCPs in O. longistaminata, 38 in O. glaberrima, 39 each in O. rufipogon, O. glumaepatula, O. brachyantha, O. punctata, and O. sativa subsp. japonica, 40 each in O. barthii and O. meridionalis, 41 in O. nivara, and 42 in O. sativa subsp. indica. Gene duplication analysis as well as non-synonymous and synonymous substitutions in the duplicated gene pairs indicated that this family is shaped majorly by the negative or purifying selection pressure through the long-term evolution process. We identified the presence of two additional hetero-domains, namely TerCH and CoatomerE (specifically in O. sativa subsp. indica), which were not reported previously in plant CDCPs. The in silico expression analysis revealed some of the members to be responsive to various abiotic stresses. Furthermore, the qRT-PCR based analysis identified some members to be highly inducive specifically in salt-tolerant genotype in response to salinity. The cis-regulatory element analysis predicted the presence of numerous stress as well as a few phytohormone-responsive elements in their promoter region. The data presented in this study would be helpful in the characterization of these CDCPs from rice, particularly in relation to abiotic stress tolerance.

Cystathionine β-synthase (CBS) domains have been identified in a wide range of proteins of unrelated functions such as, metabolic enzymes, kinases and channels, and usually occur as tandem re-peats, often in combination with other domains. In plants, CBS Domain-Containing Proteins (CDCPs) form a multi-gene family and only a few are so far been reported to have a role in development via regu-lation of thioredoxin system as well as in abiotic and biotic stress response. However, the function of majority of CDCPs still remains to be elucidated in plants. Here, we report the cloning, characterization and functional validation of a CBS domain containing protein, OsCBSCBSPB4 from rice, which pos-sesses two CBS domains and one PB1 domain. We show that OsCBSCBSPB4 encodes a nucleo-cytoplasmic protein whose expression is induced in response to various abiotic stress conditions in salt-sensitive IR64 and salt-tolerant Pokkali rice cultivars. Further, heterologous expression of OsCBSCB-SPB4 in E. coli and tobacco confers marked tolerance against various abiotic stresses. Transgenic tobac-co seedlings over-expressing OsCBSCBSPB4 were found to exhibit better growth in terms of delayed leaf senescence, profuse root growth and increased biomass in contrast to the wild-type seedlings when subjected to salinity, dehydration, oxidative and extreme temperature treatments. Yeast-two hybrid stud-ies revealed that OsCBSCBSPB4 interacts with various proteins. Of these, some are known to be in-volved in abiotic stress tolerance. Our results suggest that OsCBSCBSPB4 is involved in abiotic stress response and is a potential candidate for raising multiple abiotic stress tolerant plants.

Introduction: Premature infants frequently suffer from feeding intolerance related to prematurity and are highly associated with morbidity and mortality. Breast milk is fundamental to the improvement of the infant’s immature vulnerable framework and decreases child mortality. The aim of this study was to find out the prevalence of feeding intolerance in premature neonates admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit of a tertiary care centre. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out among premature infants admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of a tertiary care hospital, from 15 December 2021 to 15 May 2022 after receiving ethical approval from the Institutional Review Committee (Reference number: 2211202103). Convenience sampling was done. Point estimate and 95% Confidence Interval were calculated. Results: Among the 55 preterm neonates, the prevalence of feeding intolerance was 21 (38.18%) (25.34-51.02, 95% Confidence Interval). Conclusions: The study showed that the prevalence of feeding intolerance among neonates was higher than in studies conducted in similar settings.