The CYP2C8 and CYP2C9 are two major isoforms of the cytochrome P450 enzyme family, which is involved in drug response, detoxification, and disease development. This study describes the differential distribution of amino acid substitution variants of CYP2C8 (*2-I269F & *3-R139K) and CYP2C9 (*2-C144R & *3-L359A) genes in 234 type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients and 218 healthy controls from Andhra Pradesh, South India. Single locus genotype analysis has revealed that homozygous recessive genotypes of 2C8*2-TT (P ≤ .03), 2C9*2-TT (P ≤ .02), and heterozygous 2C9*3-AC (P ≤ .006) are seen to be increasingly present in the case group, indicating a significant level of their association with diabetes in Andhra population. The statistical significance of these recessive genotypes has persisted even under their corresponding allelic forms (P ≤ .01). Genotype association results were further examined by computational protein structure and stability analysis to assess the deleteriousness of the amino acid changes. The mutant CYP 2C8 and 2C9 (both *2 and *3) proteins showed structural drifts at both amino acid residue (range 0.43Å-0.77Å), and polypeptide chain levels (range 0.68Å-1.81Å) compared to their wild-type counterparts. Furthermore, the free energy value differences (range -0.915 to -1.38 Kcal/mol) between mutant and native protein structures suggests the deleterious and destabilizing potential of amino acid substitution polymorphisms of CYP genes. The present study confirms the variable distribution of CYP2C8 (*2 and *3) and CYP2C9 (*2 and *3) allelic polymorphisms among South Indian diabetic populations and further warrants the serious attention of CYP gene family, as a putative locus for disease risk assessment and therapy.

Studies of loss estimation and relative susceptibility of genotypes of sorghum to earhead caterpillar (Heliothis armigera Huebner) (Abstract. An estimation of the avoidable loss of sorghum grains due to damage caused by Heliothis armigera was carried out with applications of endosulfan 0.05% at the early milk stage on CSH-5 and CSH-9 hybrids. The larval population was considerably lower in the protected crops compared to the unprotected one. Further, the hybid CSH-5 has a lower level of larval infestation compared to CSH-9. A significantly higher grain yield was obtained in the protected plot than the unprotected one. Losses of 6.65 q/ha (14.51%) in CSH-9 and 5.18 q/ha (12.87%) in CSH-5 were recorded. The overall loss for the two crops was 5.92 q/ha (13.72%). In CSH-9 the cost-benefit ratio was 1:12.70 compared with 1:9.89in CSH-5, with the mean ratio being 1:11.30. The most commonly recommended insecticides, endosulfan spray and BHC dust, were applied at different earhead stages to determine for control of H. armigera, which combination provided the best level of control. The application of insecticides at the early milk stage was highly effective; recording a low number of larvae and a high grain yield. The next earhead stages, in order of merit, were the full flowering and dough stage. The endosulfan spray was more effective in reducing the larval population size and increasing the grain yield than use of the BHC dust. The cost-benefit ratio was 1:31.02 in endosulfan at the early milk stage, and 1:25.06 for the BHC dusting. Among the 36 genotypes, the entries SPV-772, PSYH-2, PM-11344, SPV-756, SPV-690, SPV-790 and MSH-62 of losse earhead type sorghums were found to be less susceptible to the pest compared with the remaining entries from semicompact and compact earhead types.