Lycopene is a pigment belonging to the group of carotenoids and it is among the most carefully studied antioxidants found especially in fruit and vegetables. As a carotenoid, lycopene exerts ...beneficial effects on human health by protecting lipids, proteins, and DNA from damage by oxidation. Lycopene is a powerful oxygen inactivator in the singlet state. This is suggestive of the fact that lycopene harbors comparatively stronger antioxidant properties over other carotenoids normally present in plasma. Lycopene is also reported to hinder cancer cell proliferation. The uncontrolled, rapid division of cells is a characteristic of the metabolism of cancer cells. Evidently, lycopene causes a delay in the progression of the cell cycle, which explains its antitumor activity. Furthermore, lycopene can block cell transformation by reducing the loss of contact inhibition of cancer cells. This paper collects recent studies of scientific evidence that show the multiple beneficial properties of lycopene, which acts with different molecular and cellular mechanisms.
Molecular conformation has an important role in chemistry and materials science. Molecular nanoribbons can adopt chiral twisted helical conformations. However, the synthesis of single-handed ...helically twisted molecular nanoribbons still represents a considerable challenge. Herein, we describe an asymmetric approach to induce single-handed helicity with an excellent degree of conformational discrimination. The chiral induction is the result of the chiral strain generated by fusing two oversized chiral rings and of the propagation of that strain along the nanoribbon’s backbone.
5Gs for crop genetic improvement Varshney, Rajeev K; Sinha, Pallavi; Singh, Vikas K ...
Current opinion in plant biology,
08/2020, Letnik:
56
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
•5G breeding approach brings precision and enhances efficiency in breeding programs.•Genome, germplasm, gene function, genomic breeding and genome editing are the 5Gs.•NGS platforms, speed breeding ...and express edit facility are the key drivers for 5G breeding.•Haplotype-based breeding, genomic selection and gene editing are the key genomic breeding approaches of the future.•Multi-disciplinary team of scientists need to be trained to deploy 5G breeding in developing countries.
Here we propose a 5G breeding approach for bringing much-needed disruptive changes to crop improvement. These 5Gs are Genome assembly, Germplasm characterization, Gene function identification, Genomic breeding (GB), and Gene editing (GE). In our view, it is important to have genome assemblies available for each crop and a deep collection of germplasm characterized at sequencing and agronomic levels for identification of marker-trait associations and superior haplotypes. Systems biology and sequencing-based mapping approaches can be used to identify genes involved in pathways leading to the expression of a trait, thereby providing diagnostic markers for target traits. These genes, markers, haplotypes, and genome-wide sequencing data may be utilized in GB and GE methodologies in combination with a rapid cycle breeding strategy.
Emerging results indicate that an uncontrolled host immune response, leading to a life-threatening condition called cytokine release syndrome (also termed “cytokine storm”), is the major driver of ...pathology in severe COVID-19. In this pandemic, considerable effort is being focused on identifying host genomic factors that increase susceptibility or resistance to the complications of COVID-19 and translating these findings to improved patient care. In this regard, the chemokine receptor-ligand nexus has been reported as potentially important in severe COVID-19 disease pathogenesis and its treatment. Valuable genomic insights into the chemokine receptor-ligand nexus have been gained from HIV infection and disease progression studies. Applying that knowledge, together with newly discovered potential host genomic factors associated with COVID-19, may lead to a more comprehensive understanding of the pathogenesis and treatment outcomes in COVID-19 patients.
•Hyperimmune response is seen in cases of severe COVID-19.•The chemokine receptor-ligand system is potentially important in severe COVID-19.•Valuable genomic insights into this system have been gained from HIV/AIDS studies.•Applying that knowledge into COVID-19 studies may be important and beneficial.
•Wild rice grass is a potential energy feed stock.•Acid pretreatment is suitable for hydrolysis.•Physicochemical changes of the sample was observed by FTIR, XRD and SEM.•Results showed that ...utilization of this grass as bio-refinery raw material from Loktak Lake.
Zizania latifolia commonly known as wild rice grass which is available in huge quantities in Loktak Lake is a major concern as it occupies a large area of the Lake and causing a several environmental problems. The investigation of present study was to evaluate possibilities of using Zizania latifolia as feed stock for bioethanol production. The method involved the pretreatment with dilute acid or alkali followed by enzymatic hydrolysis with commercial cellulase. Acid pretreatment was performed with 10% biomass loading with different concentration of acids (0.4–2% w/v) and alkali (0.25–1.5% w/v). Maximum sugar release of 457 mg/g was obtained from 10% biomass loading and 2% w/v of acids. Alkali pretreatment is not effective for this grass. Physicochemical characterization of untreated and treated biomass was carried out by XRD, FTIR, SEM and corresponding alterations in the chemical composition were also monitored. Results showed the feasibility of this grass as biofuel (bioethanol) feed stock and can be potential approach to address the sustainable utilization phumdis grasses of Loktak Lake for the production of value added product.
Mobilization of clusters of genes called genomic islands (GIs) across bacterial lineages facilitates dissemination of traits, such as, resistance against antibiotics, virulence or hypervirulence, and ...versatile metabolic capabilities. Robust delineation of GIs is critical to understanding bacterial evolution that has a vast impact on different life forms. Methods for identification of GIs exploit different evolutionary features or signals encoded within the genomes of bacteria, however, the current state-of-the-art in GI detection still leaves much to be desired. Here, we have taken a combinatorial approach that accounted for GI specific features such as compositional bias, aberrant phyletic pattern, and marker gene enrichment within an integrative framework to delineate GIs in bacterial genomes. Our GI prediction tool, DICEP, was assessed on simulated genomes and well-characterized bacterial genomes. DICEP compared favorably with current GI detection tools on real and synthetic datasets.
•DICEP takes a combinatorial approach combining discriminative features to delineate genomic islands in bacterial genomes.•DICEP outperformed frequently used methods for genomic island detection on synthetic datasets and on a set of known islands.•Our study highlights complementary strengths of different approaches that can be used to improve genomic island detection.
Three-dimensional porous carbon materials have great importance as electrode materials for vanadium redox flow batteries due to electrochemical stability over a wide potential window and low cost. ...However, sluggish electrode kinetics toward vanadium redox reactions makes electrode treatment vital before its use in a vanadium redox flow battery. Researchers have used different routes to modify the graphite electrode surface. This article presents a very simple (and known) but tactical procedure to treat a graphite felt. The modified electrode possesses large surface area having well-developed uniform pore structures and abundant oxygen-rich surface functional groups (11.2%), which offers a significant reduction in peak separation potential and charge-transfer resistance with a noteworthy improvement in the peak current density and redox reaction reversibility compared to a bare graphite felt. The modified graphite felt electrode enables 14- and 19-fold improvements in exchange current toward VO2+/VO2 + and V3+/V2+ redox reactions, respectively, than those of a bare graphite felt. The battery performance at 50 mA cm–2 of current density displays energy efficiency (89%) and electrolyte utilization (89%) nearly 12 and 98%, respectively, higher than that of a bare graphite felt. The long-term performance (200 cycles) of the battery assured stable behavior of the modified electrode. Moreover, the present modified approach improves the peak power density by 3-fold compared to that of the bare graphite felt.
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