For protection against cholera, it is important to develop efficient vaccine capable of inducing anti-toxin as well as anti-colonizing immunity against Vibrio cholerae infections. Earlier, expression of cholera toxin B subunit (CTB) in tomato was reported by us. In the present investigation, toxin co-regulated pilus subunit A (TCPA), earlier reported to be an antigen capable of providing anti-colonization immunity, has been expressed in tomato. Further, to generate more potent combinatorial antigens, nucleotides encoding P4 or P6 epitope of TCPA were fused to cholera toxin B subunit gene (ctxB) and expressed in tomato. Presence of transgenes in the tomato genome was confirmed by PCR and expression of genes was confirmed at transcript and protein level. TCPA, chimeric CTB-P4 and CTB-P6 proteins were also expressed in E. coli. TCPA protein expressed in E. coli was purified to generate anti-TCPA antibodies in rabbit. Immunoblot and G(M1)-ELISA verified the synthesis and assembly of pentameric chimeric proteins in fruit tissue of transgenic tomato plants. The chimeric protein CTB-P4 and CTB-P6 accumulated up to 0.17 and 0.096% of total soluble protein (TSP), respectively, in tomato fruits. Whereas expression of TCPA, CTB-P4 and CTB-P6 in E. coli can be utilized for development of conventional vaccine, expression of these antigens which can provide both anti-toxin as well as anti-colonization immunity, has been demonstrated in plants, in a form which is potentially capable of inducing immune response against cholera infection.
Sustaining agricultural productivity is essential to ensuring food security. Climate change, increasing population and dwindling resources are factors of concern threatening crop productivity. Research across the globe have focused on seeking innovative measures to protect and enhance crop yield. We explored and analyzed peer-reviewed literature to provide an understanding of current and emerging trends in the field. A bibliometric method was followed using the database Scopus. Search queries used
to retrieve documents were “Agriculture/crop productivity” and “Plant stress”. The study period was restricted to the last five years, from 2017-2021. The search query found 2207 documents in Scopus under the agriculture and plant stress theme. Increasing growth of publications was observed in successive years. Research activities in this field have the most contributors from Asian countries – China and India followed by the US. The major stresses affecting agricultural productivity being investigated were-Water stress, Temperature stress, Salinity stress. Amongst these, the theme related to water stress/ precipitation/ drought stress was the most investigated. The availability of water has a pivotal role in sustainable agriculture.
The use of conservation agricultural practices such as intercropping,
no-tillage, and soil mulching has proven to be effective in retaining soil water content and reducing the dependency on irrigation, especially
in rainfed areas, thereby assisting in drought mitigation and increasing crop yield. Precision agriculture approach employing satellite data to predict weather and rainfall and early detection of stress signals using hyperspectral reflectance has shown promising results in ensuring sustained productivity. Breeding and transgenic approaches for plants with higher water use efficiency (WUE) and the ability to tolerate water stress are key areas
of research being followed throughout the world.
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