Post translational modifications (PTMs) are involved in variety of cellular activities and phosphorylation is one of the most extensively studied PTM, which regulates a number of cellular functions like cell growth, differentiation, apoptosis and cell signaling in healthy condition. However, alterations in phosphorylation pathways result in serious outcomes in the form of diseases, especially cancer. Many signalling pathways including Tyrosine kinase, MAP kinase, Cadherin-catenin complex, Cyclin-dependent kinase etc. are major players of the cell cycle and deregulation in their phosphorylation-dephosphorylation cascade has been shown to be manifested in the form of various types of cancers. Tyrosine kinase family encompasses the greatest number of oncoproteins. MAPK cascade has an importance role in cancer growth and progression. Bcl-2 family proteins serve either proapoptotic or antiapoptotic function. Cadherin-catenin complex regulates cell adhesion properties and cyclins are the key regulators of cell cycle. Altered phosphorylations in any of the above pathways are strongly associated with cancer, at the same time they serve as the potential tergets for drug development against cancer. Drugs targeting tyrosine kinase are potent anticancer drugs. Inhibitors of MEK, PI3K and ERK signalling pathways are undergoing clinical trials. Thus, drugs targeting phosphorylation pathways represent a promising area for cancer therapy.

Summary1. While evidence suggests that undisturbed refuges within agricultural fields conserve natural enemies, few studies have examined whether pest control does actually improve following predator conservation. When the targets of conservation are generalists, polyphagy may complicate the impact of the conserved predators on agricultural pests. 2. We examined the use of beetle banks to conserve predatory beetles for the control of pest Diptera. Locally, the community of predatory beetles included several species of small carabid and staphylinid beetles (< 1 cm in length), which eat fly eggs, and one common larger carabid beetle (> 1·5 cm), Pterostichus melanarius , which rarely eats fly eggs but does eat smaller beetles. 3. Predator beetle activity densities, but not rates of fly egg predation, increased in fields including beetle banks. A series of field experiments was conducted to examine whether two types of polyphagy, intraguild predation and feeding on non-target prey, could be preventing increased egg predation following successful predator conservation. 4. The putative intraguild predator Pterostichus melanarius reduced activity densities of smaller beetles, and thus weakened fly egg predation. The strength of fly suppression increased with increasing densities of small beetles in the absence of Pterostichus melanarius , but not when aphid alternative prey were readily available. In the presence of abundant aphids, egg predation rates did not increase at higher small beetle densities. 5. Synthesis and applications. Overall, our results suggest that both intraguild predation and the presence of alternative prey could limit conservation biological control that targets generalist predators. Thus, higher predator densities will not necessarily lead to improved pest control. Ecologists must consider the impact of predator manipulations at multiple trophic levels when assessing the success or failure of conservation biological control.

Spot blotch caused by Bipolaris sorokiniana is a major disease of wheat in warm and humid wheat growing regions of the world including south Asian countries such as India, Nepal and Bangladesh. The CIMMYT bread wheat line Saar which carries the leaf tip necrosis (LTN)-associated rust resistance genes Lr34 and Lr46 has exhibited a low level of spot blotch disease in field trials conducted in Asia and South America. One hundred and fourteen recombinant inbred lines (RILs) of Avocet (Susceptible) × Saar, were evaluated along with parents in two dates of sowing in India for 3 years (2007-2008 to 2009-2010) to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with spot blotch resistance, and to determine the potential association of Lr34 and Lr46 with resistance to this disease. Lr34 was found to constitute the main locus for spot blotch resistance, and explained as much as 55 % of the phenotypic variation in the mean disease data across the six environments. Based on the large effect, the spot blotch resistance at this locus has been given the gene designation Sb1. Two further, minor QTL were detected in the sub-population of RILs not containing Lr34. The first of these was located about 40 cM distal to Lr34 on 7DS, and the other corresponded to Lr46 on 1BL. A major implication for wheat breeding is that Lr34 and Lr46, which are widely used in wheat breeding to improve resistance to rust diseases and powdery mildew, also have a beneficial effect on spot blotch.

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In bread wheat, high grain protein content (GPC) determines nutritional value, processing properties and quality of the end-product. In view of this, marker-assisted selection (MAS) was performed for introgression of a major gene for high GPC (Gpc-B1) into 10 wheat genotypes. As a result, 124 BC 3 F 5 /F 6 progenies with Gpc-B1 were developed and evaluated in multi-location field trials. Significant interaction of Gpc-B1 with the recipient parent genotypes and the environment was noticed. However, a total of seven MASderived progenies with significantly higher GPC (14.83-17.85%) than their recipient parental genotypes and having no yield penalty were obtained. In these selected progenies, no significant negative correlation of grain yield with GPC (%) or protein yield was observed suggesting that GPC could be improved without yield penalty. This study thus suggested that MAS in combination with phenotypic selection is a useful strategy for development of wheat genotypes with high GPC associated with no loss in yield.

Trait-mediated interactions (TMII) can alter the outcome or magnitude of species interactions. We examined how the interaction between a guild of ground and rove beetles and their fly egg prey was altered by a larger predator, the ground beetle Pterostichus melanarius, and an additional prey, aphids. In field and laboratory experiments, we manipulated the presence or absence of P. melanarius and aphids and recorded the impact of these manipulations on beetle activity and fly egg predation. Individually, aphids, by serving as preferred prey, and P. melanarius, by reducing focal beetle activity, weakened egg predation. However, egg predation was restored when both aphids and P. melanarius were present together, because aphids triggered greater foraging activity, and thus increased incidental predation of fly eggs, by P. melanarius. Thus, TMII among subsets of the community that were disruptive to predation on fly eggs could not be summed to predict the dominant, positive TMII within a more diverse community. Future TMII studies should include more realistic representations of species diversity, and should not ignore the influence of prey on predator behavior.