Investigation of water and heat response to the compression property of raffia, bamboo and coconut fiber-reinforced-polyester composites

The dearth of construction materials has been the bane of the global construction industry. In a bid to curb this menace, it becomes very imperative to source for construction materials from discarded and least costly materials from raffia, bamboo and coconut fibers. This research investigates the hydrothermal response of plant fiber-reinforced-polyester composites (PFRC). Imperical methods were used to determine the mechanical properties of PFRC (bamboo, raffia and coconut fiber composites), with the usage of Monasanto Tensometer testing machine. All the samples were chemically modified with 12.5g of sodium hydroxide. Numerical and micro-soft excel graphics were used to model compressive responses of the PFRCs. From the analyses, the compressive strengths of raffia, bamboo and coconut composites are 40, 45 and 38MPa respectively.

HspB1 Overexpression Improves Lifespan and Stress Resistance in an Invertebrate Model

To explore the role of the small heat shock protein beta 1 (HspB1, also known as Hsp25 in rodents and Hsp27 in humans) in longevity, we created a Caenorhabiditis elegans model with a high level of ubiquitous expression of the naked mole-rat HspB1 protein. The worms showed increased lifespan under multiple conditions and also increased resistance to heat stress. RNAi experiments suggest that HspB1-induced life extension is dependent on the transcription factors skn-1 (Nrf2) and hsf-1 (Hsf1). RNAseq from HspB1 worms showed an enrichment in several skn-1 target genes, including collagen proteins and lysosomal genes. Expression of HspB1 also improved functional outcomes regulated by SKN-1, specifically oxidative stress resistance and pharyngeal integrity. This work is the first to link a small heat shock protein with collagen function, suggesting a novel role for HspB1 as a hub between canonical heat response signaling and SKN-1 transcription.

Anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities of Vatavidhvamsana rasa, An Ayurvedic herbo-mineral formulation

Background: Inflammation is a complex process mainly comprises of three phases namely acute, sub-acute and chronic. In acute inflammatory conditions fluid and granulocytic cells accumulate at the site of injury because of the changes in small blood vessels. This response often activates systemic response such as leucocytosis, protein catabolism, fever and synthesis of C-reactive protein, an acute-phase protein In Ayurvedic texts, several herbo-mineral preparations to fight against inflammation have been found; among them, Vatavidhvamsana Rasa (VVR) is one, which is said to be remarkable in inflammation condition. Aim and Objectives: To assess the anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects of VVR in pharmacologically validated models. Materials and methods: Wistar strain albino rats weighing 200 ± 20 of either sex were used in the study. VVR was administered at a dose of 22.5 mg/kg for the rat. Results: Vatavidhvamsana Rasa (VVR) showed a significant decrease in the carrageenan-induced paw oedema after 1-hour interval in comparison to the control group (P<0.05) and at 3 hours and 5 hours intervals it showed a non-significant decrease in carrageenan-induced paw oedema in albino rats. In the analgesic activity, VVR treated group showed a significant increase in radiant heat response at 30 min. interval (P<0.05) and non-significant increase at 60 mins in comparison to initial and control group. Conclusion: The results concluded that Vatavidhvamsana Rasa has anti-inflammatory and analgesic activity. Accordingly, it can be used in the management of pain and inflammatory conditions.

Heat Stress and its Impact on Plant Function: An Update

An astonishing increase in temperature is posing several harmful impacts on crop plants. Heat stress is an abiotic environmental phenomenon that causes limits, inhibits plant growth, metabolism, and productivity worldwide, resulting in losses in production yields. Heat stress is caused by human activities and global warming,s such as greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and water vapour. There are many pieces of evidence to support that heat stress reduces the crop plants yield worldwide, and the effects of heat stress are challenging to meet nutritional security and global food security for human beings. Heat stress has negative impacts on each developmental stage, including from germination to harvesting. Prevalent approaches for heat adaption is inadequate management that is unable either to increase the crop productivity or sustain ld. Several responses to dissect the relevant knowledge about heat stress mechanism involving morphological phenomena, physiological phenomena, reproductive replies, and molecular responses such as heat shock proteins act as mRNA synthesis, mRNA control (effects of genes during heat stress), the translation process, heat response element. There are such phenomena involving disseminating the knowledge concerning heat stress. In this review, we summarise the effect of heat stress on plant mechanisms, including morphological, biochemical and molecular responses.

Reading between the Lines: RNA-seq Data Mining Reveals the Alternative Message of the Rice Leaf Transcriptome in Response to Heat Stress

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is a major food crop but heat stress affects its yield and grain quality. To identify mechanistic solutions to improve rice yield under rising temperatures, molecular responses of thermotolerance must be understood. Transcriptional and post-transcriptional controls are involved in a wide range of plant environmental responses. Alternative splicing (AS), in particular, is a widespread mechanism impacting the stress defence in plants but it has been completely overlooked in rice genome-wide heat stress studies. In this context, we carried out a robust data mining of publicly available RNA-seq datasets to investigate the extension of heat-induced AS in rice leaves. For this, datasets of interest were subjected to filtering and quality control, followed by accurate transcript-specific quantifications. Powerful differential gene expression (DE) and differential AS (DAS) identified 17,143 and 2162 heat response genes, respectively, many of which are novel. Detailed analysis of DAS genes coding for key regulators of gene expression suggests that AS helps shape transcriptome and proteome diversity in response to heat. The knowledge resulting from this study confirmed a widespread transcriptional and post-transcriptional response to heat stress in plants, and it provided novel candidates for rapidly advancing rice breeding in response to climate change.

Positive Selection and Heat-Response Transcriptomes Reveal Adaptive Features of the Arabidopsis Desert Relative, Anastatica hierochuntica

Extremophytes have evolved genetic adaptations for tolerance to abiotic stresses characteristic of their extreme environments. Comparative molecular analyses of Arabidopsis thaliana with its halophytic Brassicaceae relatives have revealed that the halophytes exist in a pre-adapted, stress-ready state. We generated a reference transcriptome of the heat-tolerant A. thaliana desert relative, Anastatica hierochuntica (True Rose of Jericho) and used two approaches to identify adaptations that could facilitate an extremophyte lifestyle: (i) We identified common positively selected extremophyte genes that target stomatal opening, nutrient acquisition, and UV-B induced DNA repair. In A. hierochuntica, we identified genes consistent with a photoperiod-insensitive, early-flowering phenotype that could be advantageous in the desert environment; (ii) Using RNA-seq analysis, we demonstrate that A. thaliana and A. hierochuntica transcriptomes exhibit similar transcriptional adjustment in response to heat, and that the A. hierochuntica transcriptome does not exist in a heat stress-ready state, unlike its halophytic relatives. Furthermore, the A. hierochuntica global transcriptome as well as orthologs belonging to specific functional groups, display a lower basal expression but higher heat-induced expression than in A. thaliana. We suggest that the increased reactiveness of the A. hierochuntica transcriptome in response to heat stress is related to specific conditions native to a desert environment.