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The study aims to improve fiber traits of local cotton cultivar through genetic transformation of sucrose synthase (SuS) gene in cotton. Sucrose synthase (SuS) is an important factor that is involved in the conversion of sucrose to fructose and UDP-glucose, which are essential for the synthesis of cell wall cellulose. In the current study, we expressed a synthetic SuS gene in cotton plants under the control of a CaMV35S promoter. Amplification of an 813-bp fragment using gene-specific primers confirmed the successful introduction of SuS gene into the genome of cotton variety CEMB-00. High SuS mRNA expression was observed in two transgenic cotton plants, MA0023 and MA0034, when compared to the expression in two other transgenic cotton plants, MA0035 and MA0038. Experiments showed that SuS mRNA expression was positively correlated with SuS activity at the vegetative (54%) and reproductive stages (40%). Furthermore, location of transgene was found to be at chromosome no. 9 in the form of single insertion, while no signal was evident in non-transgenic control cotton plant when evaluated through fluorescent in situ hybridization and karyotyping analysis. Fiber analyses of the transgenic cotton plants showed increases of 11.7% fiber length, 18.65% fiber strength, and up to 5% cellulose contents. An improvement in the micronaire value of 4.21 was also observed in the MA0038 transgenic cotton line. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed that the fibers of the SuS transgenic cotton plants were highly spiral with a greater number of twists per unit length than the fibers of the non-transgenic control plants. These results determined that SuS gene expression influenced cotton fiber structure and quality, suggesting that SuS gene has great potential for cotton fiber quality improvement.

The common problem of insulation failure is the root cause of concern for the aging of the equipment. The objective of this work is to use the Impedance Analyzer to investigate the electrical parameters of Cross-Linked Polyethylene (XLPE) insulation under various aging conditions. The electrical parameters of XLPE insulation are measured and compared for both aged and unaged samples. Aging of XLPE insulation is carried out at different values of Relative Humidity (RH), i.e., at 60°C & 50% RH, and 60°C & 80% RH. The samples are aged at a specified temperature and relative humidity under constant and cyclic stress in a thermal and humidity chamber. Frequency spectroscopy is performed between 4 Hz to 1000 Hz. The electrical parameters measured are dissipation factor, capacitance, and conductance. It is seen that aging modifies the XPLE samples' electrical parameters and relies on temperature and relative humidity.

Sucking insects require a surface of plants on which the legs and the eggs of insects will adhere and to which insect mouthparts will access. The primary plant protection against insects is their surface property, which hinders the attachment of the insect’s legs and eggs. The epicuticular waxes chemistry influences the fine structure of the cuticular surface. In current study, an attempt was made to investigate the variation of chemical compounds in epicuticular waxes of four cotton species that classify them resistant or susceptible i.e., Gossypium abroreum, G. hirsutum, G. arboreum wax deficient mutant (GaWM3) and G. harknessi which were evaluated for their interaction with whitefly and CLCuV transmission. Gossypium hirsutum an insect and CLCuV susceptible cotton variety, was found to have four compounds namely Trichloroacetic acid, hexadecylester, P-xylenolpthalein, 2-cyclopentene-1-ol, 1-phenyl-and Phenol, 2,5-bis [1,1- dimethyl] which could interact with chitin of whitefly while only two compounds in Gossypium arboreum an insect and CLCuV resistant cotton variety could interact with chitin of whitefly. Similarly, GaWM3 and Gossypium harkasnessi were found to have only a single compound. Number of whiteflies found on leaves of G. hirsutum was much higher as compared to other cotton species. Keeping this fact in mind a wax biosynthetic gene CER3, from Arabidopsis thaliana was transformed into G. hirsutum and the plants were evaluated for their resistance against whitefly and CLCuV transmission. In microscopic analysis transgenic plants clearly showed higher amounts of leaf waxes as compared to non-transgenics. The least whitefly population and CLCuV titer of

Two coordination polymers have been synthesized and characterized by IR spectroscopy, NMR spectroscopy and single crystal X-ray diffraction. An equivalent reaction of Ag(OAc) and 4-pyridinecarboxylic acid (4-pyCOOH) with either o-methoxyphenyl diphenylphosphine (PPh2(o-C6H4OMe)) or dicyclohexylphenylphosphine (PPhCy2) has afforded the formation of [Ag2(4-pyCOO)2(PPh2(o-C6H4OMe))2·MeOH·H2O]n (1) and [Ag4(4-pyCOO)4(PPhCy2)4·MeOH]n (2), respectively. Both compounds 1 and 2 exhibit a 2D structure with 3-connected 4.82-fes topology. Complexes 1 and 2 have also been screened for their cytotoxicity against two cancerous cell lines, MCF-7 and HCT 116.

The article describes synthesis, characterization (NMR, FT-IR, microanalysis, X-ray crystallography), and in vitro anticancer activity of para-xylyl linked bis-benzimidazolium salts and respective dinuclear Ag–NHC complexes. All the compounds were tested for their cytotoxicity against human colorectal cancer (HCT 116) and promyelocytic leukemia (HL-60) cell lines. According to cell viability measurements using MTT assay, all tested compounds showed dose-dependent cytotoxic activity against both cell lines. The tested compounds demonstrated significant activity with IC50 values range 0.01–18.7 μM for HCT 116 and 0.7–55.7 μM for HL-60 cells. 5-Fluorouracil was used as standard drug (IC50 19.2 μM for HCT 116 and 5.4 μM for HL-60). We found that as the size of N-alkyl substitution on benzimidazolium salt increases its cytotoxicity decreases whereas a reverse occurred in case of respective complexes.

Microbial pigments are gaining intensive attention due to increasing awareness of the toxicity of synthetic colours. In this study, a novel polymer-producing bacterium designated as Cupriavidus sp. USMAHM13 was also found to produce yellow pigment when cultivated in nutrient broth. Various parameters such as temperature, pH and ratio of culture volume to flask volume were found to influence the yellow pigment production. UV-Visible, Fourier transform infrared and (13)C-nuclear magnetic resonance analyses revealed that the crude yellow pigment might probably represent new bioactive compound in the carotenoid family. The crude yellow pigment also exhibited a wide spectrum of antimicrobial activity against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria with their inhibition zones and minimal inhibitory concentrations ranged from 25 to 38 mm and from 0.63 to 2.5 mg/ml, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the identification and characterization of yellow pigment produced by bacterium belonging to the genus Cupriavidus.

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, C(28)H(32)N(4) (2+)·2Br(-)·0.5H(2)O, contains one 3,3'-[1,2-phenyl-enebis(methyl-ene)]bis-(1-propyl-benzimidazolium) cation, two bromide anions and one half-mol-ecule of water. In the crystal, the whole 3,3'-[1,2-phen-yl-enebis(methyl-ene)]bis-(1-propyl-benzimidazolium) cation and one of the bromide anions are each disordered over two positions with site-occupancy ratios of 0.751 (6):0.249 (6) and 0.680 (8):0.320 (8). For the major component of the disordered cation, the central benzene ring forms dihedral angles of 83.6 (5) and 88.2 (4)° with its adjacent imidazole rings, while these angles for the minor component are 89.2 (15) and 84.9 (13)°. In the crystal, the cations and anions are linked by C-H⋯Br hydrogen bonds into dimers and then stacked along the c axis. The crystal packing is further stabilized by C-H⋯π and π-π inter-actions [shortest centroid-centroid distance = 3.646 (4) Å].

In the title molecular salt, C(25)H(38)N(4) (2+)·2PF(6) (-), one of the butyl groups and four F atoms in the basal plane of one of the PF(6) (-) octa-hedra are disordered over two sets of sites, with occupancy ratios of 0.704 (5):0.296 (5) and 0.71 (3):0.29 (3), respectively. The central benzene ring makes dihedral angles of 85.17 (12) and 81.97 (12)° with the terminal imidazole rings. In the crystal, cations and anions are linked together via inter-molecular C-H⋯F hydrogen bonds forming a three-dimensional network.

In the title hydrated molecular salt, C38H52N42+·2Br−·H2O, the central benzene ring of the dication makes dihedral angles of 89.47 (13) and 72.69 (12)° with the pendant benzimidazol-3-ium rings. The conformations of the octyl side chains are completely different. In the crystal, the components are linked by O—H...Br, C—H...Br and C—H...O hydrogen bonds into a two-dimensional network lying parallel to theacplane. Aromatic π–π stacking interactions are also observed [shortest centroid-to-centroid separation = 3.5047 (16) Å].

In the title salt, C(36)H(48)N(4) (2+)·2Br(-)·H(2)O, the central benzene ring makes dihedral angles of 84.77 (9) and 69.92 (7)° with the adjacent imidazole rings. In the crystal, one of the heptyl groups is disordered over two sets of sites with an occupancy ratio of 0.474 (5):0.526 (5). In the crystal, the cations, anions and water mol-ecules are connected via inter-molecular O-H⋯Br, C-H⋯Br and C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming a three-dimensional network.

In the title compound, C26H28N4 2+·2PF6 −, the complete cation is generated by a crystallographic twofold axis. The benzimidazole ring is almost planar (r.m.s. deviation = 0.0207 Å) and makes dihedral angles of 50.12 (2)° with its symmetry-related component and 65.81 (2)° with the central benzene ring. In the crystal, molecules are linked into a three-dimensional network by C—H...F interactions. A π–π interaction with a centroid–centroid distance of 3.530 (1) Å is observed. Four F atoms of the hexafluorophosphate anion are disordered over two sets of sites in a 0.889 (6):0.111 (6) ratio.