Tibetan is a valuable Himalayan sheep breed classified as endangered. Knowledge of the level and distribution of genetic diversity in Tibetan sheep is important for designing conservation strategies for their sustainable survival and to preserve their evolutionary potential. Thus, for the first time, genetic variability in the Tibetan population was accessed with twenty five inter-simple sequence repeat markers. All the microsatellites were polymorphic and a total of 148 alleles were detected across these loci. The observed number of alleles across all the loci was more than the effective number of alleles and ranged from 3 (BM6506) to 11 (BM6526) with 5.920 ± 0.387 mean number of alleles per locus. The average observed heterozygosity was less than the expected heterozygosity. The observed and expected heterozygosity values ranged from 0.150 (BM1314) to 0.9 (OarCP20) with an overall mean of 0.473 ± 0.044 and from 0.329 (BM8125) to 0.885 (BM6526) with an overall mean 0.672 ± 0.030, respectively. The lower heterozygosity pointed towards diminished genetic diversity in the population. Thirteen microsatellite loci exhibited significant (P < 0.05) departures from the Hardy–Weinberg proportions in the population. The estimate of heterozygote deficiency varied from − 0.443 (OarCP20) to 0.668 (OarFCB128) with a mean positive value of 0.302 ± 0.057. A normal ‘L’ shaped distribution of mode-shift test and non-significant heterozygote excess on the basis of different models suggested absence of recent bottleneck in the existing Tibetan population. In view of the declining population of Tibetan sheep (less than 250) in the breeding tract, need of the hour is immediate scientific management of the population so as to increase the population hand in hand with retaining the founder alleles to the maximum possible extent.

Coprological examination of 416 bovine faecal samples revealed the presence of parasitic stages of Toxocara vitulorum, strongyles, Strongyloides spp., Fasciola spp., amphistomes, coccidia (Eimeria spp. and Cryptosporidium spp.) and Buxtonella sulcata. About 42 % (n = 302) faecal samples from cattle and 36 % (n = 114) samples from buffaloes were positive for gastrointestinal (GI) parasitic infections. Both cattle (14.57 %) and buffalo (15.79 %) had the highest incidence of Buxtonella sulcata, respectively. The overall incidence of GI parasitic infections in young animals (below 1 year) was higher followed by older (more than 5 years) and adult animals (1-5 years) and the difference was statistically significant (p \ 0.05). Non descriptive breeds of bovines showed more parasitic infections than pure breeds, the difference being statistically non-significant (p [ 0.05). Season wise GI parasitic infections were recorded to be non-significantly (p [ 0.05) higher in monsoon (48.38 %) followed by summer (39 %) and winter (34.61 %) in cattle. There was no significant variation of GI infections in buffaloes in relation to season though highest prevalence was documented in monsoon (44.89 %) followed by winter (35.71 %) and summer (24.32 %). Similarly, sex wise females recorded higher infection rates than males in bovines and the difference being statistically non-significant (p [ 0.05).

The embryo rescue technique was successfully used to raise hybrids between Trifolium alexandrinum and T. constantinopolitanum. As a result of its narrow genetic base, genetic improvement in Egyptian clover (syn. Berseem; T. alexandrinum), an important fodder crop in tropical and subtropical countries, is hampered, thereby making it imperative to introduce alien genes from related species. In a conventional interspecific hybridization program, hybrids could not be raised due to post-fertilization barriers. Of the several combinations tried, pollination 2 days after emasculation was found to be the best. Globular embryos were observed 5-7 days after pollination (DAP), followed by heart-shaped embryos 10-12 DAP. Embryos excised at the heart-shaped stage responded well to EC3 culture medium. Of 612 crosses, 33 healthy embryos could be excised and cultured on EC3 medium. The plumule emerged 8-12 days following inoculation. The embryo-rescued plants were hardened, inoculated with Rhizobium and transferred to the field. The hybrids showed intermediate morphological features with reduced pollen fertility (55-65%) and a chromosomal complement of 2n = 16. Biochemical characterization using isozymes confirmed hybridity.

Acetaminophen is a widely prescribed drug used to relieve pain and fever; however, it is a leading cause of drug-induced liver injury and a burden on public healthcare. In this study, hepatotoxicity in mice post oral dosing of acetaminophen was investigated using liver and sera samples with Fourier Transform Infrared microspectroscopy. The infrared spectra of acetaminophen treated livers in BALB/c mice show decrease in glycogen, increase in amounts of cholesteryl esters and DNA respectively. Rescue experiments using L-methionine demonstrate that depletion in glycogen and increase in DNA are abrogated with pre-treatment, but not post-treatment, with L-methionine. This indicates that changes in glycogen and DNA are more sensitive to the rapid depletion of glutathione. Importantly, analysis of sera identified lowering of glycogen and increase in DNA and chlolesteryl esters earlier than increase in alanine aminotransferase, which is routinely used to diagnose liver damage. In addition, these changes are also observed in C57BL/6 and Nos2 −/− mice. There is no difference in the kinetics of expression of these three molecules in both strains of mice, the extent of damage is similar and corroborated with ALT and histological analysis. Quantification of cytokines in sera showed increase upon APAP treatment. Although the levels of Tnfα and Ifnγ in sera are not significantly affected, Nos2 −/− mice display lower Il6 but higher Il10 levels during this acute model of hepatotoxicity. Overall, this study reinforces the growing potential of Fourier Transform Infrared microspectroscopy as a fast, highly sensitive and label-free technique for non-invasive diagnosis of liver damage. The combination of Fourier Transform Infrared microspectroscopy and cytokine analysis is a powerful tool to identify multiple biomarkers, understand differential host responses and evaluate therapeutic regimens during liver damage and, possibly, other diseases.

Generation of new HIV-1 virions requires the constant supply of proteins, nucleotides, and energy; however, it is not known which cellular pathways are perturbed and what molecular mechanisms are employed. We hypothesized that HIV-1 may regulate pathways that control synthesis of biomolecules in the cell. In this study, we provide evidence that HIV-1 hyperactivates mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1), the central regulator of biosynthesis. Mechanistically, we identify the viral regulatory gene tat (transactivator) as being responsible for increasing mTORC1 activity in a PI3K-dependent manner. Furthermore, we show that hyperactivation of mTORC1 leads to activation of the enzyme, carbamoyl-phosphate synthetase 2, aspartate transcarbamylase, dihydroorotase, and repression of initiation factor 4E-binding protein 1 activity. These are regulators of nucleotide biogenesis and protein translation, respectively. Moreover, we are able to replicate these results in HIV-1 latent cell line models. Finally, we show that inhibition of mTORC1 or PI3K inhibits viral replication and viral reactivation as a result of a decrease in biosynthesis. Overall, our study identifies a new avenue in HIV-1 biology that can lead to development of novel therapeutic targets.-Kumar, B., Arora, S., Ahmed, S., Banerjea, A. C. Hyperactivation of mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 by HIV-1 is necessary for virion production and latent viral reactivation.

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The current study was conducted to investigate the incidence of parasitic diseases in bovines which were sick and brought at veterinary hospital for treatment. A total of 366 samples were investigated from cattle (n = 175) and buffaloes (n = 191) presented at Teaching Veterinary Clinical Complex (TVCC), Veterinary College, Junagadh, Gujarat during January to December 2014. Examination of Giemsa-stained peripheral blood smears exhibited that 58.6 % of cattle and 41.2 % of buffaloes were infected with haemoparasites comprising Babesia bigemina, Theileria annulata, and Anaplasma marginale @ of 54.0, 3.4 and 1.1 in cattle and 38.8, 1.2 and 1.2 percent in buffaloes, respectively. The incidence of total haemoparasites and B. bigemina infections was significantly higher (p \ 0.05) in cattle whereas, incidence of haemoparasites were recorded significantly higher in the month of July to November (i.e., rainy and autumn) in both cattle and buffaloes, respectively (p \ 0.01 and p \ 0.001). Coprological examination revealed that the overall incidence of gastrointestinal (GI) parasitic infection was 45.5 % in cattle and 43.4 % in buffaloes. The incidence of individual parasite was 11.4, 1.1, 2.3, 4.5, 1.1, 3.4, 2.3 and 19.3 in cattle and 4.7, 0.9, 0.0, 2.8, 0.9, 5.7, 0.0 and 28.3 % in buffaloes for Eimeria spp., Trichuris spp., Toxocara vitulorum, Strongyle, Fasciola spp., amphistomes, Schistosoma indicum and Buxtonella sulcata, respectively which differ insignificantly (p [ 0.05). Seasonal prevalence of GI parasites was highest in summer in both cattle and buffaloes, the data being statistically non-significant (p [ 0.05). However, the incidence of B. sulcata in both cattle (19.3 %) and buffaloes (28.3 %) was higher in comparisons to other GI parasites. The present investigation emphasized that B. bigemina and B. sulcata are the most important parasites of bovines of this region.