Whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) damages field crops by sucking sap and transmitting viral diseases. None of the insecticidal proteins used in genetically modified (GM) crop plants to date are effective against whitefly. We report the identification of a protein (Tma12) from an edible fern, Tectaria macrodonta (Fee) C. Chr., that is insecticidal to whitefly (median lethal concentration = 1.49 μg/ml in in vitro feeding assays) and interferes with its life cycle at sublethal doses. Transgenic cotton lines that express Tma12 at ∼0.01% of total soluble leaf protein were resistant to whitefly infestation in contained field trials, with no detectable yield penalty. The transgenic cotton lines were also protected from whitefly-borne cotton leaf curl viral disease. Rats fed Tma12 showed no detectable histological or biochemical changes, and this, together with the predicted absence of allergenic domains in Tma12, indicates that Tma12 might be well suited for deployment in GM crops to control whitefly and the viruses it carries.

HIV/AIDS and depression are often thought to be interlinked. HIV positive cases may trigger symptoms of depression which, in turn, may result in risky sexual behavior and spread of HIV. Interviews were conducted in 104 patients of HIV/AIDS at the Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) Clinic of a teaching hospital in Uttar Pradesh (India) to study depression and examine its prevalence and association, if any, with some socio-demographic and clinical variables. The tools used to assess anxiety and depression and their severities were General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) 28 and Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) . The majority of patients were of age 35 years & above (62%), males (67%), married (85%), Hindus (88%), literate (73.1%), unemployed (35%) and of upper-lower socio-economic status (52%). Significant association of depression was found with religion, occupation and socio-economic status. Depression and anxiety were also found to be significantly associated with each other. There was, however, no association of depression with respondents' age, gender, marital status, education, habitat, income, duration of illness from HIV/AIDS and the CD4 count. The high prevalence rate (67.3%) of depression amongst HIV patients in our study may be taken as marker to alert Counsellors of country's ART Clinics for possible risk of depression in HIV patients. The above findings however, should be interpreted in the light of the fact that a parallel control group in the study was not included, studied sample was not large enough and the tools used to study the subjects for depression and anxiety were not adequately standardized.

Background: Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002 is an attractive organism as a feedstock and for photoautotrophic production of biofuels and biochemicals due to its fast growth and ability to grow in marine/brackish medium. Previous studies suggest that the growth of this organism is limited by the HCO 3 − transport across the cytoplasmic membrane. Tools for genetic engineering are well established for this cyanobacterium, which makes it possible to overexpress genes of interest. Results: In this work, we overexpressed two different native Na +-dependent carbon transporters viz., SbtA and BicA in Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002 cells under the influence of a strong light-inducible promoter and a strong RBS sequence. The overexpression of these transporters enhanced biomass by about 50%, increased intracellular glycogen about 50%, and increased extracellular carbohydrate up to threefold. Importantly, the biomass and glycogen productivity of the transformants with air bubbling was even higher than that of WT cells with 1% CO 2 bubbling. The overexpression of these transporters was associated with an increased carotenoid content without altering the chl a content. Conclusions: Our work shows the utility of increased carbon transport in improving the growth as well as product formation in a marine cyanobacterium and will serve to increase the utility of this organism as a potential cell factory.