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Rupesh Raina,1– 3 Ahmad Houry,1,3 Pratik Rath,1 Guneive Mangat,1 Davinder Pandher,1,4 Muhammad Islam,3 Ala’a Grace Khattab,3 Joseph K Kalout,1 Sumedha Bagga5 1Akron Nephrology Associates/Cleveland Clinic Akron General Medical Center, Akron, OH, USA; 2Department of Nephrology, Akron Children’s Hospital, Akron, OH, USA; 3College of Medicine, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, OH, USA; 4Mount Sinai South Nassau, Oceanside, NY, 11570, USA; 5Questrom School of Business, Boston University, Boston, MA, USACorrespondence: Rupesh Raina, Consultant Nephrologist, Adult-Pediatric Kidney Disease/Hypertension, Akron Nephrology Associates/Cleveland Clinic Akron General Medical Center, Akron, OH, USA, Tel +1 330-543-8950, Fax +1 330-543-3980, Email rraina@akronchildrens.org; raina@akronnephrology.comAbstract: Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease, also known as ADPKD, is the most common hereditary kidney disease, affecting different age groups. ADPKD can eventually lead to end-stage renal disease. The etiology of ADPKD is genetic, resulting in the formation of cysts containing fluids on the kidneys. Patients with ADPKD present a range of symptoms following a decline in kidney function. Pain, stones, proteinuria and osteoporosis are few of the many symptoms, resulting from decreased kidney function. Tolvaptan, a selective V2 receptor antagonist, is the etiological treatment used for ADPKD. In this paper, we conducted a systematic review of the literature between 2011 and 2021 to gather data regarding the tolerability and efficacy of tolvaptan use in ADPKD. A total of 22 trials were reviewed. Tolvaptan efficacy in the trials was measured using changes in eGFR or changes in total kidney volume. Results showed that tolvaptan use in ADPKD was associated with a slower decline in kidney function and a decrease in total kidney volume. Side effects of this drug include polyuria, nocturia and polydipsia along with hepatotoxicity. The two biggest trials, TEMPO and REPRISE, change in eGFR from pre-treatment baseline to post-treatment was 1.3 mL/min/1.73 for REPRISE and 1 mL/min/1.73 for TEMPO 3:4. A mean decrease of 49% in total kidney volume from baseline to post-treatment was found in the TEMPO 3:4 study.Keywords: ADPKD, tolvaptan

Rice is a principal food crop for more than half of the global population. Grain number and grain weight (2Gs) are the two complex traits controlled by several quantitative trait loci (QTLs) and are considered the most critical components for yield enhancement in rice. Novel molecular biology and QTL mapping strategies can be utilized in dissecting the complex genetic architecture of these traits. Discovering the valuable genes/QTLs associated with 2Gs traits hidden in the rice genome and utilizing them in breeding programs may bring a revolution in rice production. Furthermore, the positional cloning and functional characterization of identified genes and QTLs may aid in understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying the 2Gs traits. In addition, knowledge of modern genomic tools aids the understanding of the nature of plant and panicle architecture, which enhances their photosynthetic activity. Rice researchers continue to combine important yield component traits (including 2Gs for the yield ceiling) by utilizing modern breeding tools, such as marker-assisted selection (MAS), haplotype-based breeding, and allele mining. Physical co-localization of GW7 (for grain weight) and DEP2 (for grain number) genes present on chromosome 7 revealed the possibility of simultaneous introgression of these two genes, if desirable allelic variants were found in the single donor parent. This review article will reveal the genetic nature of 2Gs traits and use this knowledge to break the yield ceiling by using different breeding and biotechnological tools, which will sustain the world's food requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An experiment was conducted at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, India during kharif 2017 and 2018 to determine the effect of seedling age on growth, phenology and thermal energy utilization by different rice genotypes. The field experiment was laid--out in factorial RCBD design keeping three seedling age (25, 35, 45 days) and four rice genotypes (PR 121, PR 122,PR 124, PR 126) with three replicates. The prevalence of dry weather conditions especially during September month of 2017, which coincides with grain growth phase was congenial for rice crop and was reflected in the yield and yield attributes. There was consistent decline in grain and straw yield of rice with increase in seedling age due to reduced leaf area index (LAI), dry matter partitioning to grain/culm and SPAD value. This may be due to prevalence of higher range of minimum temperature resulting into more respiratory losses and thereby leading to lower heat use efficiency. Among genotypes, PR 126 was found to be most heat use efficient owing to its shorter duration (93.9 days), where as PR 121 and PR 122 recorded the highest grain and straw yield due to higher accumulation of growing degree and more congenial temperature leading to more number of panicles m-2 along with the bold grains. It was also observed that increasing seedling age beyond 25 days caused sharp decline in grain and straw yield of PR 124 and PR 126 through effect on panicles m-2,SPAD value and AGDD; while PR 121 and PR 122 gave similar yield when transplanted using 25 to 45 days older seedlings. Harvest index did not differ due to various treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A number of maize (Zea mays L.) genotypes were tested for their influence on induction and regeneration of haploid wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) embryos to improve further the efficiency of the wheat x maize system of haploid production. Fifteen maize genotypes were crossed to five diverse wheat [F.sub.1] hybrids in a line x tester fashion in three replications. Two efficiency parameters, caryopses formation frequency (CFF--number of caryopses/100 pollinated florets) and embryo formation frequency (EFF--number of embryo-carrying caryopses/100 pollinated florets), were estimated. Analysis of variance revealed that lines (wheat genotypes), testers (maize genotypes), and their interaction showed significant effects on both efficiency parameters, but the effect of maize genotypes was greater than that of wheat genotypes. The EFF of individual maize genotypes ranged from 1.1 to 23.4% and the EFF of individual wheat genotypes ranged from 8.4 to 10.2%. Maize genotypes also showed significant differences for general combining ability estimates. In addition to EFF, maize genotypes had a striking effect on haploid embryo regeneration as analyzed using one of the wheat genotypes. The values ranged from 0.0 to 87.8%. For maize genotypes producing the highest EFFs, the regeneration frequency was not necessarily higher. Hence, we suggest a new index, haploid formation efficiency (HFE--number of haploid plants formed/100 pollinated florets), be used for identification of efficient pollinators. The HFE ranged from 0.0 to 9.9%. In this study, a pop corn cultivar, Pearl Pop Corn, was identified as the best pollinator with an average EFF of 15.1% across five wheat genotypes and an HFE of 9.9% with the one wheat genotype tested., THE WHEAT X MAIZE SYSTEM has emerged as the system of choice for inducing haploids in wheat (Snape, 1998). It represents a simple and relatively inexpensive technology which augurs well [...]