Forest Research Institute

About: Forest Research Institute is a facility organization based out in Dehra Dūn, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Forest management. The organization has 5320 authors who have published 7625 publications receiving 185876 citations.

Role of complement activation in atherosclerosis.

Abstract: Purpose of reviewAtherosclerosis is characterized by a strong inflammatory component. One factor contributing to inflammation in the arterial intima is the complement system. Here we summarize recent progress in the field of complement research on atherogenesis.Recent findingsThe complement system i

Daylength and temperature during seed production interactively affect adaptive performance of Picea abies progenies.

Abstract: Adaptive traits in Picea abies (Norway spruce) progenies are influenced by the maternal temperatures during seed production. Here, we have extended these studies by testing the effects of maternal photoperiod and temperature on phenology and frost hardiness on progenies. Using eight phytotron rooms, seeds from three unrelated crosses were made in an environmental 2 x 2 factorial combination of long and short days and high and low temperatures. The progenies were then forced to cease growth rapidly at the end of the first growing season. An interactive memory effect was expressed the second growth season. Progenies from high temperature and short days, and from low temperatures and long days, started growth later in spring, ceased shoot growth later in summer, grew taller and were less frost hardy in the autumn than their full siblings from low temperatures and short days, and from high temperatures and long days. Norway spruce has developed a memory mechanism, regulating adaptive plasticity by photoperiod and temperature, which could counteract harmful effects of a rapidly changing climate.

Aortic valve stenosis: an active atheroinflammatory process.

Abstract: Purpose of review To summarize the current understanding of the pathobiology of aortic valve stenosis and portray the major advances in this field. Recent findings Stenotic aortic valves are characterized by atherosclerosis-like lesions, consisting of activated inflammatory cells, including T lymphocytes, macrophages, and mast cells, and of lipid deposits, calcific nodules, and bone tissue. Active mediators of calcification and cells with osteoblast-like activity are present in diseased valves. Extracellular matrix remodeling, including collagen synthesis and elastin degradation by matrix metalloproteinases and cathepsins, contributes to leaflet stiffening. In experimental animals, hypercholesterolemia induces calcification and bone formation in aortic valves, which can be inhibited by statin treatment. The potential of statins to retard progression of aortic valve stenosis has also been recognized in clinical studies; however, further prospective trials are needed. Angiotensin II-forming enzymes are upregulated in stenotic valves. Angiotensin II may participate in profibrotic progression of aortic valve stenosis and may serve as a possible therapeutic target. Summary Recent findings regarding the interaction of inflammatory cells, lipids, mediators of calcification, and renin-angiotensin system in stenotic valves support the current opinion of aortic valve stenosis being an actively regulated disease, potentially amenable to targeted molecular therapy. Evidence from prospective clinical studies is eagerly awaited.

Suppression of mycorrhizal fungi in fescue by the acremonium coenophialum endophyte

Abstract: Propagule population densities of the nine mycorrhizal species detected in field plots planted to tall fescue free of the Acremonium coenophialum endophyte were more than double those in plots planted to fescue heavily infected with Acremonium . Seedlings of Acremonium -free fescue detected more propagules of most of the eleven mycorrhizal species detected in a field soil than seedlings infected with Acremonium . Sporulation by three mycorrhizal isolates over 17 weeks was higher on fescue seedlings free of Acremonium than on seedlings infected with Acremonium . Since mycorrhizal fungi are believed to be confined to roots and Acremonium endophytes to shoots, the inhibitory effect of Acremonium on mycorrhizal fungi may be due to the translocation to roots of alkaloids produced by the Acremonium-Festuca symbiosis.