One of the most grievous heavy metal pollutants in the environment is cadmium (Cd), which is not only responsible for the crop yield loss owing to its phytotoxicity, but also for the human health ...hazards as the toxic elements usually accumulate in the consumable parts of crop plants. In the present study, we aimed to isolate and functionally characterize the OsMTP1 gene from indica rice (Oryza sativa L. cv. IR64) to study its potential application for efficient phytoremediation of Cd. The 1257 bp coding DNA sequence (CDS) of OsMTP1 encodes a ∼46 kDa protein belonging to the cation diffusion facilitator (CDF) or metal tolerance/transport protein (MTP) family. The OsMTP1 transcript in rice plant was found to respond during external Cd stress. Heterologous expression of OsMTP1 in tobacco resulted in the reduction of Cd stress-induced phytotoxic effects, including growth inhibition, lipid peroxidation, and cell death. Compared to untransformed control, the transgenic tobacco plants showed enhanced vacuolar thiol content, indicating vacuolar localization of the sequestered Cd. The transgenic tobacco plants exhibited significantly higher biomass growth (2.2–2.8-folds) and hyperaccumulation of Cd (1.96–2.22-folds) compared to untransformed control under Cd exposure. The transgenic plants also showed moderate tolerance and accumulation of arsenic (As) upon exogenous As stress, signifying broad substrate specificity of OsMTP1. Together, findings of our research suggest that the transgenic tobacco plants overexpressing OsMTP1 with its hyperaccumulating activity and increased growth rate could be useful for future phytoremediation applications to clean up the Cd-contaminated soil.
•The full length coding DNA sequence of OsMTP1 belonging to plant CDF/MTP family was isolated from indica rice cultivar IR64.•The OsMTP1 gene expression was found to be significantly upregulated in seeds and leaves but downregulated in roots of rice plant upon cadmium (Cd) stress.•Heterologous expression of OsMTP1 in tobacco significantly reduced the Cd stress-induced phytotoxicity, such as growth inhibition, lipid peroxidation and cell death.•Transgenic tobacco plants exhibited significantly higher growth pattern, enhanced vacuolar thiol content and hyperaccumulated Cd compared to untransformed control under Cd exposure.•Transgenic tobacco plants expressing OsMTP1 could be useful for future phytoremediation applications to clean up Cd contaminated soil.
Key message
The
OsPCS2
exhibits root- and shoot-specific differential ratios of alternatively spliced transcripts in
indica
rice under Cd stress, and plays role in Cd and As stress tolerance and ...accumulation.
Enzymatic activity of phytochelatin synthase (PCS) in plant produces phytochelatins, which help in sequestration of heavy metal(loid)s inside the cell vacuole to alleviate toxicity. Here we report that among the two
PCS
genes—
OsPCS1
and
OsPCS2
in
indica
rice (
Oryza sativa
) cultivar, the
OsPCS2
produces an alternatively spliced
OsPCS2b
transcript that bears the unusual premature termination codon besides the canonically spliced
OsPCS2a
transcript. Root- and shoot-specific differential ratios of alternatively spliced
OsPCS2a
and
OsPCS2b
transcript expressions were observed under cadmium stress.
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
cells transformed with
OsPCS2a
exhibited increased cadmium (Cd) and arsenic (As) tolerance and accumulation, unlike the
OsPCS2b
transformed yeast cells. An intron-containing hairpin RNA-mediated gene silencing was carried out in endosperm-specific manner for efficient down-regulation of
OsPCS
genes in rice grains. Analysis of the transgenic rice lines grown under metal(loid) stress revealed almost complete absence of both
OsPCS1
and
OsPCS2
transcripts in the developing seeds coupled with the significant reduction in the content of Cd (~51%) and As (~35%) in grains compared with the non-transgenic plant. Taken together, the findings indicate towards a crucial role played by the tissue-specific alternative splicing and relative abundance of the
OsPCS2
gene during heavy metal(loid) stress mitigation in rice plant.
Despite the fact that the estrogenic effects of bisphenols were first described 80 years ago, recent data about its potential negative impact on birth outcome parameters raises a strong rationale to ...investigate further. The adverse health effects of plastics recommend to measure the impacts of endocrine‐disrupting compounds (EDCs) such as bisphenols (BPA, BPS, BPF), bis(2‐ethylhexyl) phthalate, and dibutyl phthalate (DBP) in human health. Exposure to these compounds in utero may program the diseases of the testis, prostate, kidney and abnormalities in the immune system, and cause tumors, uterine hemorrhage during pregnancy and polycystic ovary. These compounds also control the processes of epigenetic transgenerational inheritance of adult‐onset diseases by modulating DNA methylation and epimutations in reproductive cells. The early developmental stage is the most susceptible window for developmental and genomic programming. The critical stages of the events for a normal human birth lie between the many transitions occurring between spermatogenesis, egg fertilization and the fully formed fetus. As the cells begin to grow and differentiate, there are critical balances of hormones, and protein synthesis. Data are emerging on how these plastic‐derived compounds affect embryogenesis, placentation and feto‐placental development since pregnant women and unborn fetuses are often exposed to these factors during preconception and throughout gestation. Impaired early development that ultimately influences fetal outcomes is at the center of many developmental disorders and contributes an independent risk factor for adult chronic diseases. This review will summarize the current status on the impact of exposure to plastic derived EDCs on the growth, gene expression, epigenetic and angiogenic activities of the early fetal development process and their possible effects on birth outcomes.
An expeditious approach to catalytic enantioselective total syntheses of crinine-type Amaryllidaceae alkaloids has been accomplished via a Pd-catalyzed enantioselective decarboxylative allylation of ...allylenol carbonates as a key step (up to 96% ee). Using this strategy, collective total syntheses of Amaryllidaceae alkaloids such as (−)-epi-elwesine (1b), (−)-crinine (1c), (−)-epi-crinine (1e), (−)-oxocrinine (1f), and (−)-buphanisine (1d) have been accomplished. Gratifyingly, naturally occurring Amaryllidaceae alkaloids such as (+)-vittatine (1g), (+)-epi-vittatine (1h), and (+)-epi-elwesine (1i) enantiomers of (−)-1c, (−)-1e, and (−)-1b, respectively have also been achieved by switching the antipode of ligand used in the catalytic enantioselective step.
Key message
The
OsMATE2
upon constitutive expression in tobacco decreases root-to-shoot As transfer coefficient and its endosperm-specific silencing in rice reduces grain As content, broadening the ...role of MATE proteins in planta.
Rice (
Oryza sativa
) is capable of accumulating significant amount of arsenic (As) in grains, causing serious health hazard for rice consuming population. The multidrug and toxic compound extrusion (MATE) protein family comprises a large group of secondary transporters present universally in living organisms, and transports metabolites and/or xenobiotic compounds. OsMATE2, one of the MATE family members of rice was found to be transcriptionally up-regulated (sixfolds) in the developing seeds during As stress, and showed positive correlation with the As content in mature grains. Therefore, to understand the role of OsMATE2 in As accumulation, constitutive expression in tobacco was carried out. Transgenic tobacco plants exhibited decreased root-to-shoot As transfer coefficient (33.3–39.6%) along with augmented As sensitivity by increasing oxidative stress compared to untransformed control plants, indicating the involvement of OsMATE2 in As accumulation. Consequently, RNAi strategy was utilized for endosperm-specific silencing of endogenous
OsMATE2
to mitigate As accumulation in rice grains. Transgenic rice lines demonstrated significant reduction of both
OsMATE2
transcript (~ 38–87%) and grain As content (36.9–47.8%) compared to the control plants without undesirable effects on agronomical traits. Together, the present findings indicate the connection of OsMATE2 in As accumulation, and could expand the functional role of MATE proteins in planta.
Significant research in reservoir computing over the past two decades has revived interest in recurrent neural networks. Owing to its ingrained capability of performing high-speed and low-cost ...computations this has become a panacea for multi-variate complex systems having non-linearity within their relationships. Modelling economic and financial trends has always been a challenging task owing to their volatile nature and no linear dependence on associated influencers. Prior studies aimed at effectively forecasting such financial systems, but, always left a visible room for optimization in terms of cost, speed and modelling complexities. Our work employs a reservoir computing approach complying to echo-state network principles, along with varying strengths of time-delayed feedback to model a complex financial system. The derived model is demonstrated to act robustly towards influence of trends and other fluctuating parameters by effectively forecasting long-term system behavior. Moreover, it also re-generates the financial system unknowns with a high degree of accuracy when only limited future data is available, thereby, becoming a reliable feeder for any long-term decision making or policy formulations.
Biomimetic total syntheses of either enantiomers of a number of ergot alkaloids, chanoclavine I (1b), chanoclavine I aldehyde (1c), pyroclavine (1e), festuclavine (1f), pibocin A (1g), ...9-deacetoxyfumigaclavine C (1h), and fumigaclavine G (1i), have been achieved from seco-agroclavine (1a). The advanced intermediate for seco-agroclavine (1a) was synthesized via a key thiourea-catalyzed intramolecular nitronate addition onto α,β-unsaturated ester.
Microbial conversion of lignocellulosic feedstock to the target bioproduct requires efficient assimilation of its constituent sugars, a large part of which comprises of glucose and xylose. This study ...aims to identify and characterize sugar transporters capable of xylose uptake in an oleaginous strain of the industrially relevant yeast Candida tropicalis. In silico database mining resulted in two sugar transporter proteins- CtStp1 and CtStp2, containing conserved amino acid residues and motifs that have been previously reported to be involved in xylose transport in other organisms. Several softwares predicted the likelihood of 10–12 transmembrane (TM) helices to be present in both the Stps, while molecular modelling showed 12 TM helices that were organized into a typical structure found in the major facilitator superfamily of transporters. Docking with different sugars also predicted favorable interactions. Heterologous expression in a Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain harboring functional xylose metabolic genes validated the broad substrate specificity of the two Stps. Each transporter supported prominent growth of recombinant S. cerevisiae strains on six sugars including xylose at various concentrations. Expression of CtSTP1 and CtSTP2 along with the xylose metabolic genes in yeast transformants grown in presence of xylose was confirmed by transcript detection. Growth curve and sugar consumption profiles revealed uptake of both glucose and xylose simultaneously by the recombinant yeast strains, though CtStp1 showed relatively less effect of glucose repression in mixed sugars and was a better transporter of xylose than CtStp2. Such glucose-xylose utilizing efficient transporters can be effective tools for developing co-fermenting yeasts through genetic engineering in future, with noteworthy applications in renewable biomass utilization.
•Two putative sugar transporter proteins have been identified in the yeast Candida tropicalis.•Molecular modelling of each transporter identified a domain of 12 transmembrane helices responsible for sugar binding.•Conserved amino acids were predicted in transporter-sugar interaction in silico.•Growth of Saccharomyces cerevisiae transformants on sugars validated broad substrate specificity of each transporter.•Yeast transformants showed efficient utilization of both glucose and xylose simultaneously.
Persistent organic substances in wastewater are creating serious problems to the living world as well as to the environment, thereby creating a hugely detrimental impact on the ecosystem. Given the ...critical situation, the removal of the persistent organic substances from wastewater effluent holds a great promise to balance the ecosystem and sustain societal impact value. Among the several wastewater treatment techniques, the advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) employing solar energy is the acceptable one and is considered one of the promising alternative methods to work on. Organic pollutants like dye-contaminated wastewater, pharmaceutical wastewater, petroleum wastewater, municipality wastewater, etc. are treated for purification purposes by these techniques. This review article aims to provide an overview on the importance of the above techniques, from their origin to their recent modification, progress, and the probable scopes for further improvement. The modification of the Fenton process has been processed to overcome several weaknesses including high bandgap, recombination of electron-hole pair, lower light intensity in solar light, operation under visible light, and natural pH conditions. The photo-catalysts with novel properties are functioning as an emergent class of smart materials with recently introduced promising materials like graphene, g-C3N4, metal-organic framework, quantum dots, etc. The review will spark the kinetic study and role of scavengers to investigate the mechanistic insights for the development of value-added photo-catalysts. The study also evaluates the prospects and future challenges to follow strict regulations.
Testicular germ cell tumour (TGCT) is the most common cancer in young men in large parts of the world, but the aetiology is mainly unknown. Genome-wide association studies have so far identified ...about 50 susceptibility loci associated with TGCT, including SPRY4. SPRY4 has shown tumour suppressor activity in several cancer cells, such as lung and prostate, while it was found to act as an oncogene in ovarian cancer. An intronic region within the SPRY4 gene produces a long non-coding RNA, SPRY4-IT1, which has been reported to act as an oncogene in melanoma, breast cancer, and colorectal cancer, and as a tumour suppressor in lung cancer. The roles of SPRY4 and SPRY4-IT1 in TGCT development are yet unknown. We found higher expression levels of SPRY4, both mRNA and protein, and of SPRY4-IT1 in human TGCT than in normal adult testis. Small-interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated transient knockdown of SPRY4 and SPRY4-IT1 in two TGCT cell lines 833 K and NT2-D1 resulted in decreased cell growth, migration, and invasion. Knockdown of SPRY4 and SPRY4-IT1 also led to a significant reduction in the phosphorylation of Akt. Our findings indicate that SPRY4 and SPRY4-IT1 may act as oncogenes in TGCTs via activation of the PI3K / Akt signalling pathway.
PDF
