No abstract

Endophytism is the phenomenon of mutualistic association of a plant with a microorganism wherein the microbe lives within the tissues of the plant without causing any symptoms of disease. In addition to being a treasured biological resource, endophytes play diverse indispensable functions in nature for plant growth, development, stress tolerance, and adaptation. Our understanding of endophytism and its ecological aspects are overtly limited, and we have only recently started to appreciate its essence. Endophytes may impact plant biology through the production of diverse chemical entities including, but not limited to, plant growth hormones and by modulating the gene expression of defense and other secondary metabolic pathways of the host. Studies have shown differential recruitment of endophytes in endophytic populations of plants growing in the same locations, indicating host specificity and that endophytes evolve in a coordinated fashion with the host plants. Endophytic technology can be employed for the efficient production of agricultural and economically important plants and plant products. The rational application of endophytes to manipulate the microbiota, intimately associated with plants, can help in enhancement of production of agricultural produce, increased production of key metabolites in medicinal and aromatic plants, as well as adaption to new bio-geographic regions through tolerance to various biotic and abiotic conditions. However, the potential of endophytic biology can be judiciously harnessed only when we obtain insight into the molecular mechanism of this unique mutualistic relationship. In this paper, we present a discussion on endophytes, endophytism, their significance, and diverse functions in nature as unraveled by the latest research to understand this universal natural phenomenon.

The great interest gathered to explore piperazine based molecules in relatively few years reflects the broad potential of the entity. Earlier, this scaffold was considered to express CNS activity only. However, a significant increase in research covering studies of several different activities of piperazine ring suggest a successful emergence of the pharmacophore. Certain patents outlined in the present article recommend that piperazines can be a flexible building block to discover drug-like elements and modification of substituents present on the piperazine ring may have a significant impact on the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics factors of the resulting molecules. This article aims to provide insights to piperazine based molecular fragments that would assist drug discoverers to rationally design molecules for various diseases. We anticipate, and highly recommend, further therapeutic investigations on this motif.

68 Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT scanning is a widely accepted method for imaging of neuroendocrine tumors. This cross-sectional study was performed to review the first 8 y of patient data from a large 68 Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT database in order to establish the impact of the modality on patient treatment and survival. Methods: Demographic data, clinical outcome, survival, and change in management after 68 Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT were evaluated. Results: Between May 2005 and August 2013, 1,258 68 Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT scans were obtained in 728 patients with confirmed or suspected neuroendocrine tumors. In most patients, the primary site was located in the midgut (26.4%). Analysis of NET grading in patients with known histopathologic data revealed that 35.7% had NET grade G1, 12.2% G2, and 8.7% G3. The most common indications for 68 Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT were follow-up (24.4%) and initial tumor staging (23.4%). Of the 1,258 68 Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT scans completed, 75.7% were positive and 24.3% negative; there were 14 false-positive and 29 false-negative scans. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 97%, 95.1%, 96.6%, 98.5%, and 90.4%, respectively. In 40.9% of patients, the treatment plan was changed after the scans, owing mainly to new, unexpected findings. Statistically significant differences in survival were shown between patients with G1, G2, and G3 grade tumors (P , 0.0001) and also between patients with bone metastasis versus patients with soft-tissue metastasis (P , 0.0001). Conclusion: 68 Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT scanning is safe and influences management in a large proportion of patients. Prognosis was dependent on tumor grade, and the presence of bone metastasis was associated with worse overall survival.