Thirty-six inbred lines selected in West and Central Africa for moderate to high resistance to maize ear rot under conditions of severe natural infection were screened for resistance to aflatoxin contamination using the previously established kernel screening assay. Results showed that more than half the inbreds accumulated aflatoxins at levels as low as or lower than the resistant U.S. lines GT-MAS:gk or MI82. In 10 selected aflatoxin-resistant or aflatoxin-susceptible inbreds, Aspergillus flavus growth, which was quantified using an A. flavus transformant containing a GUS-beta-tubulin reporter gene construct, was, in general, positively related to aflatoxin accumulation. However, one aflatoxin-resistant inbred supported a relatively high level of fungal infection, whereas two susceptibles supported relatively low fungal infection. When kernels of the 10 tested lines were profiled for proteins using sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, significant variations from protein profiles of U.S. lines were observed. Confirmation of resistance in promising African lines in field trials may significantly broaden the resistant germplasm base available for managing aflatoxin contamination through breeding approaches. Biochemical resistance markers different from those being identified and characterized in U.S. genotypes, such as ones inhibitory to aflatoxin biosynthesis rather than to fungal infection, may also be identified in African lines. These discoveries could significantly enhance the host resistance strategy of pyramiding different traits into agronomically useful maize germplasm to control aflatoxin contamination.

Aflatoxins↗

PubMed2000

The flaw is human

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Journal Article↗

PubMed2000

Fluorometers dissected. Fluorometry offers lower detection limits for various applications

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Journal Article↗

PubMed2000

In-hospital mortality after acute myocardial infarction in patients with diabetes mellitus.

OBJECTIVES: To examine in-hospital mortality after acute myocardial infarction in patients with diabetes mellitus. METHODS: All patients in an 800-bed teaching hospital who had a discharge diagnosis of myocardial infarction, verified by creatine kinase levels at admission, between 1991 and 1993 made up the study population. All 118 such patients who died during this period made up the case group. Two control subjects (n = 236), survivors of the hospitalization, matched by sex, age, and length of hospitalization, were selected randomly for each case. Information on the presence of diabetes mellitus, medical history, and data related to myocardial infarction were obtained through retrospective chart review. RESULTS: The mean age of all subjects in the study was 76 years. Thirty-three percent of the patients in the case group and 31% of the control subjects had a history of diabetes mellitus (odds ratio = 1.04; 95% CI, 0.64-1.70), indicating that diabetes mellitus was not associated with an increased risk of in-hospital death. The adjusted odds ratio was 1.10 (95% CI, 0.48-2.51) in patients with non-insulin-treated diabetes mellitus and 0.80 (95% CI, 0.34-1.86) in insulin-treated patients. Multivariate analysis, with conditional logistic regression, confirmed that known prognostic factors for myocardial infarction, rather than diabetic status, are predictive of in-hospital mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Once the effects of age are accounted for, the risk of in-hospital mortality is not greater in patients with diabetes mellitus than in patients without diabetes; however, diabetes mellitus may be an important factor for long-term survival.

Adult↗

PubMed1998