Insect pest complex, cotton leaf curl disease and weeds pose major threat to crop production worldwide, including Pakistan. To address these problems, in the present study a triple gene construct harboring Cry1Ac, Cry2Ab, and EPSPS cassettes has been developed for plant specifically in cotton transformation against lepidopteron insect-pests and weeds. Nicotiana benthamiana (tobacco) was used as a model system for characterization of this triple gene construct. The construct has been assembled in plant expression vector and transformed in N. benthamiana. In six transgenic tobacco lines the integration of Cry1Ac-Cry2Ab-EPSPS in tobacco genome was checked by PCR, while successful protein expression of all the three genes was confirmed through immunostrip assay. Efficacy of Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab was evaluated through insect bioassay using armyworm (Spodoptera littoralis). These transgenic tobacco plants showed significant insect mortality as compared to control plants during insect bioassay. Three out of six tested transgenic lines L3, L5, and L9 exhibited 100% mortality of armyworm, while three other lines L1, L10, and L7 showed 86, 80, and 40% mortality, respectively. This construct can readily be used with confidence to transform cotton and other crops for the development of insect resistant and herbicide tolerant transgenic plants. The transgenic crop plants developed using this triple gene construct will provide an excellent germplasm resource for the breeders to improve their efficiency in developing stable homozygous lines as all the three genes being in a single T-DNA border will inherit together.

Phytate is a major constituent of wheat seeds and chelates metal ions, thus reducing their bioavailability and so the nutritional value of grains. Transgenic plants expressing heterologous phytase are expected to enhance degradation of phytic acid stored in seeds and are proposed to increase the in vitro bioavailability of mineral nutrients. Wheat transgenic plants expressing Aspergillus japonicus phytase gene (phyA) in wheat endosperm were developed till T generation. The transgenic lines exhibited 18-99 % increase in phytase activity and 12-76 % reduction of phytic acid content in seeds. The minimum phytic acid content was observed in chapatti (Asian bread) as compared to flour and dough. The transcript profiling of phyA mRNA indicated twofold to ninefold higher expression as compared to non transgenic controls. There was no significant difference in grain nutrient composition of transgenic and non-transgenic seeds. In vitro bioavailability assay for iron and zinc in dough and chapatti of transgenic lines revealed a significant increase in iron and zinc contents. The development of nutritionally enhanced cereals is a step forward to combat nutrition deficiency for iron and zinc in malnourished human population, especially women and children.

Abstract:Calotropis procera, commonly known as "milkweed", possesses long seed trichomes for seed dispersal and has the ability to survive under harsh conditions such as drought and salinity. Aquaporins are water channel proteins expressed in all land plants, divided into five subfamilies plasma membrane intrinsic proteins (PIPs), tonoplast intrinsic proteins (TIPs), NOD26-like proteins (NIPs), small basic intrinsic proteins (SIPs), and the unfamiliar X intrinsic proteins (XIPs). PIPs constitute the largest group of water channel proteins that are involved in different developmental and regulatory mechanisms including water permeability, cell elongation, and stomata opening. Aquaporins are also involved in abiotic stress tolerance and cell expansion mechanisms, but their role in seed trichomes (fiber cells) has never been investigated. A large number of clones isolated from C. procera fiber cDNA library showed sequence homology to PIPs. Both expressed sequence tags (ESTs) and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) studies revealed that the transcript abundance of this gene family in fiber cells of C. procera is greater than that of cotton. Full-length cDNAs of CpPIP1 and CpPIP2 were isolated from C. procera fiber cDNA library and used for constructing plant expression vectors under constitutive (2×35S) and trichome-specific (GhLTP3) promoters. Transgenic tobacco plants were developed via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. The phenotypic characteristics of the plants were observed after confirming the integration of transgene in plants. It was observed that CpPIP2 expression cassette under 2×35S and GhLTP3 promoter enhanced the numbers of stem and leave trichomes. However, 2×35S::CpPIP2 has a more amplified effect on trichome density and length than GhLTP3::CpPIP2 and other PIP constructs. These findings imply the role of C. procera PIP aquaporins in fiber cell elongation. The PIPs-derived cell expansion mechanism may be exploited through transgenic approaches for improvement of fiber staple length in cotton and boosting of defense against sucking insects by enhancing plant pubescence.

Rare diseases affect nearly 300 million people globally with most patients aged five or less. Traditional diagnostic approaches have provided much of the diagnosis; however, there are limitations. For instance, simply inadequate and untimely diagnosis adversely affects both the patient and their families. This review advocates the use of whole genome sequencing in clinical settings for diagnosis of rare genetic diseases by showcasing five case studies. These examples specifically describe the utilization of whole genome sequencing, which helped in providing relief to patients via correct diagnosis followed by use of precision medicine.

No abstract

The Calotropis procera seed fibers provide an excellent model system to study the genes involved in fiber elongation, fineness and strength. Expansins constitute one of the important gene families involved in plant cell expansion and other cell wall modification processes. Four homologs of Expansin A gene i.e. CpEXPA1, CpEXPA2, CpEXPA3 and CpEXPA4 were isolated from the cDNA library obtained from fast growing Calotropis procera fibers. These homologs represented typical Expansin A family. Each of them had two conserved domains including GH45 like domain and the putative polysaccharide binding domain. The deduced amino acid sequences of the homologs indicated three conserved motifs: i) eight cysteine residues at N-terminus, ii) four tryptophan residues at C-terminus and iii) a Histidine-Phenylalanine-Aspartate motif in the center of the sequence. The presence of N-terminal signal peptide consisting of hydrophobic amino acids and a transmembrane region in all these expansin isoforms suggests their cotranslational insertion into the endoplasmic reticulum and then transportation to the cell wall by secretory pathway. The relative quantification of the four expansins in root, stem, fiber and leave tissues indicated that the transcripts of CpEXPA1, CpEXPA2, CpEXPA3 and CpEXPA4 are variably transcribed in these tissues. The lowest transcription of all the four Expansin A isoforms was observed in elongating roots indicating that root tissue might be having specific expansins other than those confined to air grown organs.

Cotton fiber genes and promoters are of great importance in understanding fiber development mechanism as well as for improvement of fiber. Sucrose phosphate synthase gene (SPS) (insert abbreviation of gene)has found to express at higher rate in developing cotton fibers. It is an important enzyme that have major role in sucrose as well as cellulose synthesis. Upstream region of a SPS gene from cotton was retrieved through HTGS database and analyzed using bioinformatics tools. Sequence analysis identified various regulatory motifs including light, drought, heat responsiveness and MYB binding sites in the promoter. The SPS promoter was isolated from cotton genomic DNA (using what method) and fused to β-glucuronidase (GUS) gene in a plant expression vector. Transient GUS expression analysis in various cotton tissues showed that promoter was active in the fiber tissues. Full length 2 kb SPS promoter showed high expression in fibers during elongation and secondary cell wall synthesis stage. A 1.5 kb deletion fragment showed reduced expression in fibers. Our results suggest that cotton SPS promoter may be used to express genes specifically in fiber cells for improvement of cotton fiber quality traits.

Structuralism was a reactionary approach that concentrated on signs, structure, language,synchrony, and a unique technique while challenging the independent subject. The works of Gestalt,Saussure, Strauss, Barthes, Marx, and Freud all reflected the concepts of structuralism, but The Necklace by Maupssant is the first book to do so. The scholars used structuralist ideas advanced by Dosse,Sanders, Sturrock, etc. to study one of Maupssant's masterpieces within the framework of structuralism.The current study assessed the existence of structuralism's principles The Necklace's in a hitherto-unstudied location. The aim of this research is to look into the principles of structuralism, The "words and phrases" of Maupssant's story were examined in the context of structuralism, the results of this qualitative investigation were examined using textual analysis.Binary oppositions of poverty and wealth, Id (irrational desire), Superego (sensibility), and syn-chronic and diachronic system in showing Matilda's life of a young beautiful and intuitive lady at one stage and his family background and character's comparison of Matildaand Forestier, components of the narrative's structure.