Our study demonstrates bacterial specific proteins and host defence proteins to infection which strengthen the hypothesis of infection as a possible initiator of disc disease. These results can lead to a paradigm shift in our understanding and management of disc disorders.

BackgroundPlant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR), Pseudomonas fluorescens strain KH-1 was found to exhibit plant growth promotional activity in rice under both in-vitro and in-vivo conditions. But the mechanism underlying such promotional activity of P. fluorescens is not yet understood clearly. In this study, efforts were made to elucidate the molecular responses of rice plants to P. fluorescens treatment through protein profiling. Two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis strategy was adopted to identify the PGPR responsive proteins and the differentially expressed proteins were analyzed by mass spectrometry.ResultsPriming of P. fluorescens, 23 different proteins found to be differentially expressed in rice leaf sheaths and MS analysis revealed the differential expression of some important proteins namely putative p23 co-chaperone, Thioredoxin h- rice, Ribulose-bisphosphate carboxylase large chain precursor, Nucleotide diPhosphate kinase, Proteosome sub unit protein and putative glutathione S-transferase protein.ConclusionFunctional analyses of the differential proteins were reported to be directly or indirectly involved in growth promotion in plants. Thus, this study confirms the primary role of PGPR strain KH-1 in rice plant growth promotion.

The study identifies specific SNP associations of five genes in young adults with severe lumbar disc degeneration. These five genes (COL11A1, ADAMTS5, CALM1, IL1F5 and COX2) have different functions in the matrix metabolism, intracellular signalling and inflammatory cascade. This shows that disc degeneration is a complex disease with an intricate interplay of multiple genetic polymorphisms.

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Study DesignA prospective genetic association study.PurposeThe etiology of Modic changes (MCs) is unclear. Recently, the role of genetic factors in the etiology of MCs has been evaluated. However, studies with a larger patient subset are lacking, and candidate genes involved in other disc degeneration phenotypes have not been evaluated. We studied the prevalence of MCs and genetic association of 41 candidate genes in a large Indian cohort.Overview of LiteratureMCs are vertebral endplate signal changes predominantly observed in the lumbar spine. A significant association between MCs and lumbar disc degeneration and nonspecific low back pain has been described, with the etiopathogenesis implicating various mechanical, infective, and biochemical factors.MethodsWe studied 809 patients using 1.5-T magnetic resonance imaging to determine the prevalence, patterns, distribution, and type of lumbar MCs. Genetic association analysis of 71 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of 41 candidate genes was performed based on the presence or absence of MCs. SNPs were genotyped using the Sequenome platform, and an association test was performed using PLINK software.ResultsThe mean age of the study population (n=809) was 36.7±10.8 years. Based on the presence of MCs, the cohort was divided into 702 controls and 107 cases (prevalence, 13%). MCs were more commonly present in the lower (149/251, 59.4%) than in the upper (102/251, 40.6%) endplates. L4–5 endplates were the most commonly affected levels (30.7%). Type 2 MCs were the most commonly observed pattern (n=206, 82%). The rs2228570 SNP of VDR (p=0.02) and rs17099008 SNP of MMP20 (p=0.03) were significantly associated with MCs.ConclusionsGenetic polymorphisms of SNPs of VDR and MMP20 were significantly associated with MCs. Understanding the etiopathogenetic mechanisms of MCs is important for planning preventive and therapeutic strategies.