Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A candidate gene approach for the genetic analysis of susceptibility to tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is the most frequent and severe human disease caused by mycobacteria. In the mouse a candidate gene for innate resistance to mycobacteria (Bcg) was recently isolated and termed Nramp. We used SSCA and DNA sequencing to identify mutations in the human homologue, NRAMP, in chromosome region 2q35 in order to test if NRAMP contributes to susceptibility to tuberculosis. We have identified 16 sequence variants in or near NRAMP and defined haplotypes segregating in multiplex tuberculosis families from Canada, Columbia and Hong Kong. We defined a recessive susceptibility model for linkage analysis with four liability classes which take into account clinical status, age, exposure, and BCG vaccination. Our preliminary results support a role of NRAMP in tuberculosis susceptibility in an epidemic situation. This research was supported by grants from the Medical Research Council of Canada and the Canadian Genetic Diseases Network.
Immunological and productive performance of local Saudi chicken differing in their primary response to SRBC antigen.

ABSTRACT A twenty-six weeks old 500 Saudi local chicken were evaluated for their primary antibody response to sheep red blood cells (SRBC). The evaluation criterion was antibody titer at 7d post-primary im injection with 1ml of 15% SRBC. According to the evaluation two separate groups composed, high (H) and low (L) each 150 chicken. In addition, a random control group (C) considered. At 32 weeks of age secondary immune response to SRBC, and Newcastle disease (ND) were evaluated. Body weight, Egg production, and egg weight were recorded for 3 weeks. The H group harvested significant (P< 0.05) higher secondary antibody response against SRBC over the L group at all measuring points and at the first three measuring points for ND antigen too. Weight gain, growth rate, and egg production of L group were significantly (P< 0.05) higher than H group. Through the research work the positive correlated trend between both antigens has been observed. The study emphasized the concept of allocation of resources between the different needs of one bird, and declared the negative relationship between immune response to SRBC and ND and the productive performance of the birds.
THE ROLE OF THE BACTERIAL ENDOSYMBIONT, ARSENOPHONUS , IN THE SOYBEAN APHID, APHIS GLYCINES

OF DISSERTATION THE ROLE OF THE BACTERIAL ENDOSYMBIONT, ARSENOPHONUS, IN THE SOYBEAN APHID, APHIS GLYCINES Bacterial endosymbionts can have profound impacts on their host’s ecology. Notably, endosymbionts can protect their hosts against natural enemies and influence host plant interactions. The endosymbiont Candidatus Arsenophonus infects a wide taxonomic range of arthropod hosts, and is suspected of an uncharacterized mutualistic role in hemipterous insects. In the soybean aphid, Aphis glycines, an introduced pest of soybeans in the United States, Arsenophonus is the sole facultative endosymbiont. The focus of this dissertation is to characterize the role of Arsenophonus in the aphid, with an overall emphasis on its impact on aphid management strategies. I first used diagnostic PCR to determine Arsenophonus infection frequency and strain diversity for native and introduced soybean aphids. I found that Arsenophonus infection is a uniform strain that is highly prevalent in soybean aphid. I then determined if Arsenophonus was a defense symbiont by curing two genotypes of soybean aphid of their natural Arsenophonus infection, resulting in infected and uninfected isolines within the same genetic background. I subjected these isolines to assays with three parasitoid species and a common aphid fungal pathogen, Pandora neoaphidis. I did not find differences in parasitism or fungal infections within the treatments. These results indicate that, although Arsenophonus is widespread, the symbiont should not interfere with biological control efforts. I next examined the influence of Arsenophonus on the ability of soybean aphid “biotypes” to colonize resistant Rag plants. I cured three additional soybean aphid biotypes. All isolines were subjected to growth rate assays on resistant Rag versus susceptible soybean. My results indicate that Arsenophonus infected soybean aphids have an increased population growth compared to uninfected aphids regardless of soybean plant type Finally, I induced soybean plants with jasmonic acid (JA) or salicylic acid (SA) to determine the effective plant defense against soybean aphid feeding. I also used Arsenophonus infected and uninfected aphids to determine any interaction between Arsenophonus and plant defense. I found SA treatment decreased soybean aphid population growth for one experiment, but had no effect when replicated. JA treatment had no effect, and there were no interactions between Arsenophonus infection and plant treatments.
Transactivation by human Adenovirus Early Region 1A-Conserved Region Three

One of the critical functions of human adenovirus (hAd) early region 1A (E1A) protein is to activate transcription of the early viral genes. The largest isoform of E1A contains a unique region termed conserved region 3 (CR3), which includes a Cysteine-4 (C4) zinc finger domain. This region activates viral gene expression by interacting with and recruiting cellular transcription machinery to the regulatory regions of early viral genes. Although this process has been studied at length with hAd type 5 E1A, far less is known about how the E1A proteins from other hAd types activate transcription. There are dramatic differences in the potency of transactivation by E1A CR3s from representative hAd species that cannot be explained by the current model of E1A transactivation. I hypothesized that many of the co-activators targeted by hAd E1A CR3 are conserved between types. However, I also hypothesized that additional cellular factors specific to certain hAd E1A CR3s are also required. The cellular co-activators required by hAd5 E1A CR3 to activate transcription were demonstrated to be conserved among representative members of each hAd species. Furthermore, the cellular lysine acetyl transferase (KAT) GCN5 was identified as a novel negative regulator of E1A CR3 transactivation. The KAT activity of GCN5 was required to exert the effect on E1A CR3. Finally, the C4 zinc finger domain of CR3 is predicted to differ from the rest of E1A by exhibiting a stable structure that is critical for transactivation. A well defined stable solution structure of E1A CR3 was confirmed by NMR spectroscopy. Coordination of a single zinc ion was critical to CR3 structure and folding. Together these observations expand the existing model of E1A CR3 transactivation to not only include representative members of each hAd species, but also implicate a layer of negative regulation and provide structural insight into this paradigm of non-acidic viral transactivators.
CHEMICAL INACTIVATION OF CALICIVIRUSES: A COMPARATIVE STUDY

are non-enveloped small viruses, with a single stranded positive-sense genomic RNA grouped into four different genera: Norovirus, Sapovirus, Vesivirus and Lagovirus. Out of these genera Noroviruses (NV) have emerged as one of the most common causes of acute gastroenteritis in humans with sporadic cases as well as large outbreaks in various community settings (6, 9). Although the course of disease is usually mild and self-limiting, the combination of high viral load in vomit and feces together with high environmental stability of the viral particles represents a public health risk (10). Residual virus after disinfection can result in prolonged or recurring outbreaks with considerable economic losses. Previous studies have revealed the potential role of environmental surfaces in the transmission of Caliciviruses (3, 7). Therefore, measures for prevention and control of Calicivirus-spread are necessary to assure public safety. Since there are no known animal or mammalian cell culture systems that can determine infectivity of NV, a closely related virus, the feline Calicivirus (FCV) of the genus Vesivirus, has been suggested to be an adequate model for NV-inactivation studies because it has similar genome organization, capsid architecture and biochemical properties (3, 5, 7, 12, 15, 17). FCV, one of the most common agents of conjunctivitis and upper respiratory tract disease in cats, can be cultured and plaque assayed (5, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17). According to the guidelines of the German Veterinary Association (DVG) disinfection tests with four commercially available disinfectants (an organic acid, an aldehyde
Knowledge and lifestyle practices regarding cardiovascular risk factors among middle school children in a rural area in Coimbatore

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease is on the rise and is a global threat by being the leading cause of mortality globally. Primordial prevention of the potential risk factors will benefit not only the individual but also reduce the burden on the health sector as a whole. Early adolescence is the period in which the children are initially exposed to risk factors. Rapid urbanization and change in lifestyle that occurred during the past two decades have led to the growing burden of coronary risk factors even in rural setting in India. OBJECTIVES: To assess the level of awareness of risk factors of cardiovascular diseases among middle School children (6th – 8th standard) in the field practice area of Rural Health Training Centre, Vedapatti, attached to Department of Community Medicine, PSG IMSR, Coimbatore & to examine the association of socio-demographic factors and lifestyle practices with physical parameters of cardiovascular risk factors among these middle School children. Settings and Design: A School based cross sectional study involving 502 students of 6th to 8th standard. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study was approved by IHEC. Demographic details and informed written consent was obtained from the parents. Assent was obtained from the students. Self-administered questionnaires for assessing the Knowledge of cardiovascular risk factors, physical activity, sedentary activity per day, dietary food frequency and tobacco product usage were collected. Then anthropometry, blood pressure & step test for assessing the cardio-respiratory reserve were measured. Dependent variables were Knowledge, overweight & obesity, elevated Blood pressure(BP, poor cardio-respiratory reserve. Logistic regression analysis was done to identify association of factors with last three dependent variables. RESULTS: In our study Adequate knowledge of cardiovascular disease risk factors was found in 28.7% of the students (95% CI 24.72% - 32.66%). Inadequate physical activity 42.2% (95% CI ; 37.9% - 46.6%), Unacceptable dietary practices 60.2% (95% CI ; 55.7% - 64.5%), tobacco product usage 8.37% (95% CI ;6.1% - 11.23%) and time spent in sedentary activity in a usual day of more than 4 hours was seen in 25.1% (95% CI ; 21.3% - 28.9%) of the 502 participants. About 11.4% of the students were overweight and 6.6% were Obese. Elevated blood pressure was seen in 13.3% of students. Inadequate physical activity and tobacco product usage was associated with overweight & obesity and Inadequate physical activity with elevated BP. CONCLUSION: This study establishes the fact that the knowledge about cardiovascular disease and lifestyle practices were not satisfactory among the study participants. Creating awareness among the students and providing access for adequate physical activity and avoidance of tobacco products is the need of the hour. This might be helpful in tackling the future burden on health due to cardiovascular disease in particular and non-communicable disease as a whole as most of the risk factors overlap.
Analysis of the in vivo functions and assembly pathway of small subunit ribosomal proteins in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

In eukaryotes, in vivo formation of the two ribosomal subunits from four ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs) and approximately 80 ribosomal proteins (r-proteins) involves more than 150 non-ribosomal proteins and around 100 small non-coding RNAs. Ribosome biogenesis is temporally and spatially organised within three different cellular compartments: the nucleolus, nucleoplasm and cytoplasm. Despite the rising knowledge about ribosome function and structure and how ribosomal subunits assemble in vitro in bacteria, the in vivo role of many ribosomal proteins remains obscure both in pro- and eukaryotes. This work describes the systematic analysis of yeast small subunit r-proteins (rpS) in vivo function(s) in small ribosomal subunit (SSU) maturation and assembly. The results described herein demonstrate that most eukaryotic r-proteins fulfill different roles in ribosome biogenesis, making them indispensable for growth. Different r-proteins control distinct steps of nuclear and cytoplasmic pre-18S rRNA processing and, thus, ensure that only properly assembled ribosomes become engaged in translation. Furthermore several r-proteins are required for efficient nuclear export of pre-18S rRNA, suggesting that they form an interaction platform with the export machinery. In addition, in vivo analysis of rpS assembly suggests that the pre-rRNA � rpS interactions are stabilised in the course of the SSU maturation process. Finally, analysis of rpS assembly status in two mutants in which pre-SSU nuclear export is blocked (crm1, rps5) and one in which export is strongly delayed (rps15) show that key aspects of the in vivo assembly of eukaryotic r-proteins into distinct structural parts of the SSU are similar to the in vitro assembly pathway of their prokaryotic counterparts. Interestingly, the establishment of a stable assembly intermediate of the eukaryotic SSU-body, but not of the SSU-head, is closely linked to early rRNA processing events. On the other hand, formation of assembly intermediates of the head controls efficient nuclear export of the SSU and cytoplasmic pre-rRNA maturation steps. Therefore the formation of certain assembly intermediates is required to allow the rRNA processing steps or the export of the SSU to take place. The above intermediates can also contribute substantially to the quality control of the maturing subunit.
Mathematical Constants for Non-Destructive Rapid Method of Leaf Area Determination in Mulberry (Morus spp.)

Mathematical constants for multiplication with leaf length (I) or breadth (b) or l b have been worked out for determining leaf area in promising mulberry genotypes viz., Chinese White, S-146, Chak Majra and Sujanpur Local of sub-tropical India. When pooled, the mathematical constants worked out were 8.1132, 10.1019 and 0.5992 for multiplication with leaf length, breadth and l b, respectively, for genotypes bearing un-lobbed leaves and 6.9447, 8.2761 and 0.5009 for multiplication with leaf length, breadth and l b, respectively for genotypes bearing lobbed leaves. Leaf area can be worked out by using any constant by multiplying either with leaf length or breadth or both (l b). Estimated leaf areas worked out were found significantly and positively correlated with actual leaf area (r＝999). The suggested present non-destructive method by using mathematical constants is very quick and alternative to electronic leaf area meter for spot leaf area determination in mulberry which is the only food source for mulberry silkworm in sericulture industry.
Ionising radiation-induced DNA damage response in marine mussels, Mytilus edulis

The effects of ionising radiation (IR) present in aquatic environments have been observed principally in vertebrate species but the potential biological impacts for aquatic invertebrate species are less clear. It is important to determine the influence of IR as a pollutant causing DNA damage in invertebrates at the molecular level since this may serve as an early warning of future population level repercussions. In this study, the biological effects of the IR as an environemntal contaminant at the molecular level was investigated by studying the induction of DNA damage, measured as mRNA expression of DNA repair genes and comet damage, in experimentally- and environmentally-exposed mussels, M. edulis. The experimental exposure consisted of different IR doses (1, 2, 10 and 50 Gy) and sampling at different post-exposure time points (1hr, 4 and 7 days). The environmental exposure was investigated using mussels collected from a contaminated site (Ravenglass Estuary) and a reference site (Brighton Marina). Two new molecular biomarkers were developed and employed. The first involves Rad51, a key protein in resynthesis, catalyzing and transferring of strands between broken sequences and its homologues in double strand break (DSBs) damage. The second biomarker involved a cell cycle checkpoint protein, check point kinase 1 (Chk1). To explore the activation of Rad51 and Chk1 mRNA activity as a result of exposure to IR, Rad51 and Chk1 mRNA in M. edulis were partially isolated and characterized and a quantitative assay developed to measure their expression using real-time PCR. Experimental exposure of M. edulis to IR (1, 2, 10 and 50 Gy) resulted in a statistically significant increase in the levels of Rad51 transcripts. Chk1 mRNA expression levels, initially investigated in the experimental group, were altered following exposure to IR. In the samples collected from the environment, Rad51 mRNA expression levels were increased in Ravenglass M. edulis gonad samples compared with the reference samples from Brighton Marina. In contrast, Chk1 transcripts decreased in Ravenglass M. edulis gonad samples compared to Brighton samples. The observed effects, and the potential role of both Rad51 and Chk1 in the IR DNA damage response of mussels are discussed.
Effet de la biosynthèse de lipides sur la toxicité de l'α-synucléine, protéine impliquée dans la maladie de Parkinson, chez Saccharomyces cerevisiae

La maladie de Parkinson est une pathologie neurodegenerative qui peut etre liee a la presence de mutations genetiques au niveau du gene SNCA codant pour le pro oxydant α-synucleine. De nombreux travaux montrent que la levure Saccharomyces cerevisiae constitue un modele utile et valable pour etudier les mecanismes moleculaires de la toxicite cellulaire de l'α-synucleine. En effet, l'expression heterologue de l'α-synucleine chez une souche sauvage de S. Cerevisiae entraine des dysfonctionnements cellulaires identiques a ceux deja observes dans les neurones. En plus de ces anomalies fonctionnelles, l'α-synucleine entraine une accumulation de particules lipidiques cytoplasmiques dans les levures. Afin d'elucider le role de ces particules lipidiques dans la toxicite cellulaire de l'α-synucleine, nous avons exprime cette proteine dans une souche de S. Cerevisiae incapable de fabriquer les particules lipidiques. De maniere surprenante, l'incapacite de fabriquer les particules lipidiques rend les cellules plus tolerantes a l'α-synucleine. Nos resultats indiquent que le niveau de toxicite de l'α-synucleine est correle non seulement a l’activite de synthese des acides gras mais egalement au statut redox cellulaire.
SUCCESSION OF ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZAL FUNGI: CAUSES, CONSEQUENCES, AND CONSIDERATIONS

119 Introduction 121 Are there predictable patterns of AMF succession? 124 Potential environmental drivers of AMF succession in organic management 126 Consequences of AMF succession to production 133 Can we manage AMF succession in organic agriculture? 135 Future research needs to improve AMF application 138 Conclusions 139 References 141
Production maximale de matière sèche et rayonnement solaire intercepté par un couvert végétal

De nombreux resultats concernant la relation entre la production de matiere seche totale et le rayonnement intercepte par la culture permettent de proposer un modele simple d'estimation de la production potentielle d'une espece donnee dans un lieu donne. De plus, ce type de demarche a permis de proposer une methode pour quantifier l'effet de la duree de vegetation, de la position du cycle de vegetation dans l'annee et de la vitesse de mise en place de surface foliaire. Un exemple precis est donne pour une culture de mais dans le Nord de la France
Production of colchicine by using plant cell culture

Plant cell and tissue culture is an established alternative to the harvest and extraction of whole plant material for the production of valuable secondary metabolites. Colchicine, a secondary metabolite of Colchicum autumnale and Gloriosa superba has anti-mitotic and anti-inflammatory properties, has been used for centuries in the treatment of gout and more recently for familial Mediterranean fever, and has been recognized for some time as an anti-tumour agent. This thesis investigated the biotechnological application of cell and tissue cultures of Colchicum autumnale and Gloriosa superba. Two analytical methods (HPLC and ELISA) have been developed and optimised for determination of the colchicine accumulated in liquid medium and in plant tissue. Callus tissue of Colchicum autumnale and callus and root tissue of Gloriosa superba has been established, growth kinetics and accumulation of colchicine examined, and culture optimized for accumulation of colchicine. Precursor feeding has been investigated and yields of colchicine have been increased in both plant cells and root cultures by the addition of relatively low levels of suitable precursors. Total Colchicine accumulated in Colchicum autumnale culture fed with ImM coumaric acid was 180(ig/g dry weight compared to 63 (_ig/g dry weight for the control and the same treatment to the Gloriosa superba culture accumulated 85|_ig/g dry weight compared to 22(j,g/g dry weight for the control. Continuous extraction of colchicine using Amberlite resin as a solid phase extraction has been demonstrated to increase production. Combination of precursor feeding with in situ extraction led to significant enhancement of colchicine production and recovery using a continuous in situ extraction system. Combination of precursor feeding and adsorption on an Amberlite column significantly enhanced the total colchicine accumulation at the end of the batch culture by 3.5 and 3.7 fold in a culture supplemented with 0.5mM coumaric acid or 3-phenyl propionic acid respectively. The growth rate of Gloriosa superba root culture in liquid medium can be estimated by simple, reliable and non-invasive methods by measuring the conductivity and the amount of soluble carbohydrate in the liquid medium. A simple model for enhanced production of colchicine has been developed. In this study the two types of bioreactor, air-lift bioreactor and trickle column bioreactor systems were examined for growing Gloriosa superba root tissues on a pilot scale.