Castor (Ricinus communis L.) is one of the oldest cultivated crops, but currently it represents only 0.15% of the vegetable oil produced in the world. Castor oil is of continuing importance to the global specialty chemical industry because it is the only commercial source of a hydroxylated fatty acid. Castor also has tremendous future potential as an industrial oilseed crop because of its high seed oil content (more than 480 g kg−1), unique fatty acid composition (900 g kg−1 of ricinoleic acid), potentially high oil yields (1250–2500 L ha−1), and ability to be grown under drought and saline conditions. The scientific literature on castor has been generated by a relatively small global community of researchers over the past century. Much of this work was published in dozens of languages in journals that are not easily accessible to the scientific community. This review was conducted to provide a compilation of the most relevant historic research information and define the tremendous future potential of castor. The article was prepared by a group of 22 scientists from 16 institutions and eight countries. Topics discussed in this review include: (i) germplasm, genetics, breeding, biotic stresses, genome sequencing, and biotechnology; (ii) agronomic production practices, diseases, and abiotic stresses; (iii) management and reduction of toxins for the use of castor meal as both an animal feed and an organic fertilizer; (iv) future industrial uses of castor including renewable fuels; (v) world production, consumption, and prices; and (vi) potential and challenges for increased castor production.

AAV2-sFLT01 is a vector that expresses a modified soluble Flt1 receptor designed to neutralize the proangiogenic activities of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) for treatment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) via an intravitreal injection. Owing to minimal data available for the intravitreal route of administration for adeno-associated virus (AAV), we initiated a 12-month safety study of AAV2-sFLT01 administered intravitreally at doses of 2.4 × 10(9) vector genomes (vg) and 2.4 × 10(10) vg to cynomolgus monkeys. Expression of sFlt01 protein peaked at ~1-month postadministration and remained relatively constant for the remainder of the study. Electroretinograms, fluorescein angiograms, and tonometry were assessed every 3 months, with no test article-related findings observed in any group. Indirect ophthalmoscopy and slit lamp exams performed monthly revealed a mild to moderate but self-resolving vitreal inflammation in the high-dose group only, which follow-up studies suggest was directed against the AAV2 capsid. Histological evaluation revealed no structural changes in any part of the eye and occasional inflammatory cells in the trabecular meshwork, vitreous and retina in the high-dose group. Biodistribution analysis in rats and monkeys found only trace amounts of vector outside the injected eye. In summary, these studies found AAV2-sFLT01 to be well-tolerated, localized, and capable of long-term expression.

Recent research of the Agricultural Research Service of USDA on the use of natural products to manage pests is summarized. Studies of the use of both phytochemicals and diatomaceous earth to manage insect pests are discussed. Chemically characterized compounds, such as a saponin from pepper (Capsicum frutescens L), benzaldehyde, chitosan and 2-deoxy-D-glucose are being studied as natural fungicides. Resin glycosides for pathogen resistance in sweet potato and residues of semi-tropical leguminous plants for nematode control are also under investigation. Bioassay-guided isolation of compounds with potential use as herbicides or herbicide leads is underway at several locations. New natural phytotoxin molecular target sites (asparagine synthetase and fructose-1,6-bisphosphate aldolase) have been discovered. Weed control in sweet potato and rice by allelopathy is under investigation. Molecular approaches to enhance allelopathy in sorghum are also being undertaken. The genes for polyketide synthases involved in production of pesticidal polyketide compounds in fungi are found to provide clues for pesticide discovery. Gene expression profiles in response to fungicides and herbicides are being generated as tools to understand more fully the mode of action and to rapidly determine the molecular target site of new, natural fungicides and herbicides.

We identified IB␣/MAD-3 as an immediate-early gene in human monocytes that is expressed in response to a variety of signals, including adhesion, lipopolysaccharide, and phorbol myristate acetate. Within 5 min of monocyte adhesion, the level of the IB␣ protein is markedly diminished but is rapidly replaced in a cycloheximide-sensitive manner within 20 min. Accompanying the rapid turnover of the IB␣ protein is simultaneous translocation of NF-B-related transcription factors to nuclei of adhered monocytes. The demonstration that NF-B can regulate IB␣/MAD-3 gene transcription in other cell types suggested that the rapid increase in steady-state IB␣/MAD-3 mRNA levels we observed within 30 min of monocyte adherence would result from NF-B-dependent transcriptional stimulation of the IB␣/MAD-3 gene. Nuclear run-on analyses indicated that, instead, while several immediate-early cytokine genes, such as the interleukin 1␤ (IL-1␤) gene, were transcriptionally activated during monocyte adhesion, the rate of IB␣/MAD-3 gene transcription remained constant. The adherence-dependent increase in IB␣/MAD-3 mRNA levels was also not a consequence of mRNA stabilization events. Interestingly, while increases in both IL-1␤ and IB␣/MAD-3 mRNA levels were detected in nuclei of adherent monocytes, cytoplasmic levels of IL-1␤ mRNA increased during adherence whereas those of IB␣/MAD-3 mRNA did not. Taken together, our data suggest that two interactive mechanisms regulate monocytic IB␣/MAD-3 mRNA levels. We propose that adherent monocytes regulate nuclear processing (or decay) of IB␣/MAD-3 mRNA, thereby increasing mRNA levels without stimulating IB␣/MAD-3 gene transcription. Moreover, since inhibition of protein synthesis leads to accumulation of IB␣/MAD-3 mRNA without stimulating IB␣/MAD-3 gene transcription, we suggest that low cytoplasmic levels of IB␣/MAD-3 mRNA are maintained by a translation-dependent degradation mechanism.Transcription factor NF-B plays a critical role in the regulation of many immediate-early response genes associated with the host response to infection and tissue damage (reviewed in references 25 and 42). Rel/NF-B activity is modulated, in part, by a growing family of regulatory molecules, including IB␣, IB␥, the C-terminal domains of precursors for the p50 and p52 components of NF-B (p105 and p100, respectively), and Bcl-3 (for a recent review, see reference 8). The IB inhibitors function by sequestering Rel family members in the cytoplasm, effectively interfering with their transcription activation potential (reviewed in references 8 and 27). Recently, several groups have reported that cytokine, phorbol myristate acetate, or lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation of a variety of malignant cell lines results in rapid degradation of the IB␣ protein (9,11,17,45,47,60). In each case, loss of IB␣ was associated with simultaneous translocation of p50/65 to the nucleus. This indicates that dissociation of NF-B from IB␣, a prerequisite for B-dependent transcriptional activation, requires proteolytic processing of the IB␣ inh...

Flavonoid content was quantified by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and seed-coat colour was recorded from different legume seeds. Soybean seeds generally contained significantly higher amounts of daidzein (315 -354 mg/g), genistein (438 -458 mg/g), kaempferol (38 -68 mg/g) and total measured flavonoids (892 -917 mg/g), while cowpea and peanut seeds contained a significantly higher amount of quercetin (214 -280 mg/g and 133-289 mg/g, respectively) than the other legumes tested. Significant variation for flavonoid content existed among and within legume species. Daidzein was significantly correlated with genistein and kaempferol (r ¼ 0.92, P , 0.0001; r ¼ 0.68, P , 0.0001), respectively. Genistein was also significantly correlated with kaempferol (r ¼ 0.84, P , 0.0001). Due to differences in genetic background, no consistent relationship was observed between seedcoat colour and flavonoid content. Variation observed in flavonoid content and seed-coat colour would be useful for legume breeding programmes and consumer use.

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