Pyrosequencing the Bemisia tabaci Transcriptome Reveals a Highly Diverse Bacterial Community and a Robust System for Insecticide Resistance

BACKGROUND: Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) is a phloem-feeding insect poised to become one of the major insect pests in open field and greenhouse production systems throughout the world. The high level of resistance to insecticides is a main factor that hinders continued use of insecticides for suppression of B. tabaci. Despite its prevalence, little is known about B. tabaci at the genome level. To fill this gap, an invasive B. tabaci B biotype was subjected to pyrosequencing-based transcriptome analysis to identify genes and gene networks putatively involved in various physiological and toxicological processes. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Using Roche 454 pyrosequencing, 857,205 reads containing approximately 340 megabases were obtained from the B. tabaci transcriptome. De novo assembly generated 178,669 unigenes including 30,980 from insects, 17,881 from bacteria, and 129,808 from the nohit. A total of 50,835 (28.45%) unigenes showed similarity to the non-redundant database in GenBank with a cut-off E-value of 10-5. Among them, 40,611 unigenes were assigned to one or more GO terms and 6,917 unigenes were assigned to 288 known pathways. De novo metatranscriptome analysis revealed highly diverse bacterial symbionts in B. tabaci, and demonstrated the host-symbiont cooperation in amino acid production. In-depth transcriptome analysis indentified putative molecular markers, and genes potentially involved in insecticide resistance and nutrient digestion. The utility of this transcriptome was validated by a thiamethoxam resistance study, in which annotated cytochrome P450 genes were significantly overexpressed in the resistant B. tabaci in comparison to its susceptible counterparts. CONCLUSIONS: This transcriptome/metatranscriptome analysis sheds light on the molecular understanding of symbiosis and insecticide resistance in an agriculturally important phloem-feeding insect pest, and lays the foundation for future functional genomics research of the B. tabaci complex. Moreover, current pyrosequencing effort greatly enriched the existing whitefly EST database, and makes RNAseq a viable option for future genomic analysis

Digital Teaching Methodology among the Dental Students a Questionnaire Based Survey

Background: The implementation of digital technologies in dental curricula has started globally and reached varying levels of penetration counting on local resources and demands. One of the biggest challenges in digital education is the need to continuously adapt and adjust to the developments in technology and apply these to dental practice in communicating with dental professionals, medical doctors, dental technicians, and insurance providers, dental students need to be prepared to manage digitized data, ensure patient safety, and understand the advantages and limitations of conventional and digital processes.&#x0D; Aim: To create awareness about digital teaching methodology among the dental students.&#x0D; Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among the adolescent population with a sample size of 120. A self administered structured questionnaire was prepared based on digital teaching methodology and consisted of 13 questions. It was circulated to participants through an online platform (google form). The statistics were done using SPSS software, chi-square test was used to check the association and P value of 0.05 was said to be statistically significant.The pros of the survey is that the adolescents of different lifestyles and cultures were surveyed. Children and adults were excluded from the survey. Simple random sampling method was the sampling method used to minimise the sampling bias.&#x0D; Results: The results showed that the dental students are aware about the digital teaching methodology.&#x0D; Conclusion: The people are aware of the digital teaching methodology. But more awareness needs to be spread so that digital handling can be improvised in the near future.</jats:p

In-vitro Antidiabetic on leaf extracts of Mimosa pudica and Euphorbia hirta - A Comparative Study

Background: Mimosa pudica commonly known as the “Touch me not” originated from the family “mimosaceae”. Mimosa pudica possesses a lot of medicinal values such as anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-diabetic properties etc. Euphorbia hirta is commonly known for curing patients suffering from asthma hence the name “Asthma plant”. It has various medicinal properties such as anti-fungal,anti-bacterial,anti-diabetic etc. Both these plants has anti-diabetic property hence the present was done to compare which medicinal herb is a better replacement for the standard synthetic drug “Metformin”. Materials and Methods: Assessment of in vitro anti-diabetic activity of Mimosa pudica and Euphorbia hirta was performed by alpha-amylase inhibitory activity and alpha-glucosidase inhibitory activity. The result was compared to the standard drug metformin. The data were analysed statistically using one way analysis of variance (ONE-WAY ANOVA). Duncan Multiple range test was used to analyze the statistical significance between groups. The levels of significance were considered at the levels of p&lt;0.05. Result: Both the plants showed an increase in percentage on inhibition of alpha amylase and alpha glucosidase in dose dependent manner. Conclusion: In the present study, it was revealed that the medicinal plant Euphorbia hirta showed a better antidiabetic activity than Mimosa pudica.</jats:p

Utility of Next Generation Sequencing in Genetic Testing and Counseling of Disorders Involving the Musculoskeletal System–Trends Observed From a Single Genetic Unit

Abstract Background: Disorders involving the musculoskeletal system are often identified with short stature and a range of orthopedic problems. The clinical and genetic heterogeneity of these diseases, with several characteristic overlaps, makes specific diagnosis difficult for clinicians using conventional tests, hence molecular testing becomes essential for appropriate diagnosis and management. Methods: Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) based testing has become common in current day clinical practice. To do genetic counseling in cases with disorders in musculoskeletal system, classify and refer for appropriate genetic testing and to assess utility of NGS based testing for molecular diagnosis. Detailed pre and posttest genetic counseling, NGS based clinical exome testing, genotype-phenotype correlation, and segregation analysis. Results: This manuscript reports a molecular spectrum of variants in 34 orthopedic cases referred to a single genetic unit attached to a tertiary care hospital. The diagnostic yield of NGS based tests coupled with genetic counseling and segregation analysis was 79% which included 7 novel variants. Cases which benefited or will get a benefit in the near future were 53% (i.e. 18/34 cases), as eight underwent prenatal diagnosis, since they were either in their early gestation or had planned a pregnancy subsequent to molecular testing, while ten cases were premaritally/prenatally counseled for the families to take informed decisions as they were in the reproductive age. Conclusions: The report highlights the importance of NGS based tests even in a low resource setting as it helps patients, families and health care providers in reducing the economic, social and emotional burden of these disorders.</jats:p

A Review on Anthracycline Induced Cardiotoxicity- A Mechanism-based Approach

Doxorubicin has become one of the most effective chemotherapeutic agents, but its use was complicated by the development of heart failure. Proposed mechanisms for its antitumor effects included intercalation into DNA that caused the prevention of micro molecule synthesis, DNA cross-linkage and binding, DNA damage due to topoisomerase 2b suppression, reactive oxygen species production, and induction of apoptosis. Several drugs such as ACE inhibitors or the angiotensin receptor blockers, beta-blockers and the CHF therapy are used for the treatment processes. The present brief review of the literature, focuses on literature based on the mechanism of anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity.</jats:p

Utility of next-generation sequencing in genetic testing and counseling of disorders involving the musculoskeletal system—trends observed from a single genetic unit

Abstract Background Disorders involving the musculoskeletal system are often identified with short stature and a range of orthopedic problems. The clinical and genetic heterogeneity of these diseases along with several characteristic overlaps makes definitive diagnosis difficult for clinicians. Hence, using molecular testing in addition to conventional tests becomes essential for appropriate diagnosis and management. Methods Comprehensive clinical examination, detailed pretest and posttest counseling, molecular diagnosis with next-generation sequencing (NGS), genotype–phenotype correlation and Sanger sequencing for targeted variant analysis. Results This manuscript reports a molecular spectrum of variants in 34 orthopedic cases referred to a single genetic unit attached to a tertiary care hospital. The diagnostic yield of NGS-based tests coupled with genetic counseling and segregation analysis was 79% which included 7 novel variants. In about 53% (i.e. 18/34 cases), molecular testing outcome was actionable since 8 of the 18 underwent prenatal diagnosis, as they were either in their early gestation or had planned a pregnancy subsequent to molecular testing, while ten cases were premaritally/prenatally counseled for the families to take informed decisions as they were in the reproductive age. Conclusions The report highlights the importance of NGS-based tests even in a low resource setting as it helps patients, families and healthcare providers in reducing the economic, social and emotional burden of these disorders. </jats:sec

Cultivable gut bacteria provide a pathway for adaptation of Chrysolina herbacea to Mentha aquatica volatiles

Background: A chemical cross-talk between plants and insects is required in order to achieve a successful co-adaptation. In response to herbivory, plants produce specific compounds, and feeding insects respond adequately7 to molecules produced by plants. Here we show the role of the gut microbial community of the mint beetle Chrysolina herbacea in the chemical cross-talk with Mentha aquatica (or watermint). Results: By using two-dimensional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry we first evaluated the chemical patterns of both M. aquatica leaf and frass volatiles extracted by C. herbacea males and females feeding on plants, and observed marked differences between males and females volatiles. The sex-specific chemical pattern of the frass paralleled with sex-specific distribution of cultivable gut bacteria. Indeed, all isolated gut bacteria from females belonged to either α- or γ-Proteobacteria, whilst those from males were γ-Proteobacteria or Firmicutes. We then demonstrated that five Serratia marcescens strains from females possessed antibacterial activity against bacteria from males belonging to Firmicutes suggesting competition by production of antimicrobial compounds. By in vitro experiments, we lastly showed that the microbial communities from the two sexes were associated to specific metabolic patterns with respect to their ability to biotransform M. aquatica terpenoids, and metabolize them into an array of compounds with possible pheromone activity. Conclusions: Our data suggest that cultivable gut bacteria of Chrysolina herbacea males and females influence the volatile blend of herbivory induced Mentha aquatica volatiles in a sex-specific way