Baseline status and effect of genotype, environment and genotype × environment interactions on iron and zinc content in Indian chickpeas (Cicer arietinum L.)

Genetic biofortification is a cost-effective strategy to address iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) deficiencies prevalent worldwide. Being a rich and cheap protein source, chickpea, a food legume grown and consumed across the globe, is a good target for biofortification. Nineteen popular commercial cultivars of India were analysed for Fe and Zn content at four locations representing different agro-climatic zones to study the genotypic and genotype 9 environment interactions on Fe and Zn. Distribution of phytic acid (PA), an important anti-nutrient that chelates and reduces the mineral bioavailability, was also analysed. Influence of other agronomic traits like days to flowering, plant height and 100 seed weight on Fe and Zn content was also studied. All the traits showed significant G and G 9 E interactions; however, the magnitude of variance of GXE was lesser than that of G alone. Genotype ? genotype-by-environment and genotype- by-trait biplots were used to assess the relations between different environments, genotypes and traits. Iron and zinc content showed positive correlation between them indicating a possibility of their coselection in breeding. A negative correlation between Zn and PA was observed. However, there was very low variability for PA content in the cultivars under study, indicating that moderate PA is naturally selected in these cultivars during breeding. Despite significant GXE interactions, cultivars with high Fe ([70 lg/g) and Zn content ([40 lg/g) at three out of four test locations were identified. Such genotypes will be useful in breeding programs for enhancing mineral micronutrient content and understanding the molecular mechanisms governing their differential uptake

Factors affecting survival in 267 consecutive patients undergoing surgery for spinal metastasis from renal cell carcinoma

Object Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) frequently metastasizes to the spine, and the prognosis can be quite variable. Surgical removal of the tumor with spinal reconstruction has been a mainstay of palliative treatment. The ability to predict prognosis is valuable when determining the role and magnitude of surgical intervention in cancer patients. To better identify factors affecting survival in patients undergoing surgery for spinal metastasis from RCC, the authors undertook a retrospective analysis of a large patient cohort at a tertiary care cancer center. Methods Relevant clinical data on a consecutive series of patients who had undergone surgery for spinal metastasis of RCC between 1993 and 2007 at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center were retrospectively reviewed. Demographic data, histopathological grade of primary tumor, timing of spinal surgery relative to diagnosis, treatment history prior to surgery, neurological status, and systemic disease burden were analyzed to determine the impact of these factors on survival outcome. Results The authors identified 267 patients who met the study criteria. Five-year overall survival (OS) after spine tumor resection was 7.8%, with a median OS of 11.3 months (95% CI 9.5–13.0 months). Patients with Fuhrman Grade 4 RCC had a median OS of 6.1 months (95% CI 3.5–8.7 months), which was significantly lower than the 14.3 months (95% CI 9.1–19.4 months) observed in patients with Fuhrman Grade 3 or less RCC (p &lt; 0.001). Patients with preoperative neurological deficits had a median survival of 5.9 months (95% CI 4.1–7.7 months), which was significantly lower than the 13.5 months (95% CI 10.4–16.6 months) observed in patients with a normal neurological examination (p &lt; 0.001). Patients whose spine was the only site of metastasis had a median OS of 19 months (95% CI 9.8–28.2 months) after surgery, significantly longer than the 9.7 months (95% CI 8.1–11.3 months) observed in patients with additional extraspinal metastasis sites (p &lt; 0.001). Patients with nonprogressing extraspinal metastasis (no metastasis, stable, or concurrent) had a median survival of 20.6 months (95% CI 15.1–26.1 months), compared with 5.6 months (95% CI 4.4–6.8 months) in patients with progressing metastasis (p &lt; 0.001). Conclusions The authors identified several factors influencing survival after spine surgery for metastatic spinal RCC, including grade of the original nephrectomy specimen, activity of the systemic disease, and neurological status at the time of surgery. These clinical features may help to identify patients who may benefit from aggressive surgical intervention.</jats:sec