فصلنامه ایمنی زیستی
سال یازدهم شماره 3 (پاییز 1397)

Iron deficiency anemia and zinc deficiency are among the most recognized forms of micronutrient malnutrition and about two billion of people around the world suffer from it.  Monotonous diets based on staple cereals are in fact a poor source of iron and zinc. Rice is a staple food for more than half of the worldchr('39')s population. Various methods have been proposed for food enrichment, but many of them are not effective for biological and socio-economic reasons. Conventional methods used to increase the availability of such micronutrients mainly include supplementing certain foods and enriching them. One of the new methods that has attracted a lot of attention is biofortification of cereal grains, such as rice, has therefore emerged as a promising strategy. Traditional breeding alone is not a valid option for rice biofortification in many circumstances, owing to low genetic variability of micronutrients in the rice germplasm. Gene technology offers perspectives for efficiently improving iron and zinc content in rice grain. In this paper the biotechnology strategies used in order to improve rice for iron and zinc content and the genes controlling iron and zinc homeostasis are reviewed.

The number of people suffering from infectious, inflammatory and bone diseases is increasing every year. Producing of pharmaceutical proteins by extracting from human and animal tissues by using the traditional ways not only has a lot of disadvantages, but cannot supply increasingly demands as well. The demands for those pharmaceuticals available in the market and new ones will remarkably grow in the future, so great efforts are being made to find alternative approaches to produce pharmaceutical proteins, and one of them is biofarming. In this method, genetically engineered plants and animals are used to produce pharmaceuticals. Nowadays, plants have been given special attention for producing pharmaceutical proteins. Bone morphogenetic protein (BMP), a biological active drug, has a growing market. This protein is used in spinal surgery, bone fracture, jaw surgery and root canal, as well as bone tissue regeneration. Various systems are currently being used to generate BMP. Due to increasingly demand for BMP, there is seemingly a need to find a cheaper alternative way to mass produce it, which using transgenic plants is one of them rather than other expression systems. Here, the benefits of producing biological pharmaceuticals in plants and high economic efficiency of this sort of producing, and the use of BMP are reviewed.

The Filoviridae family within the order Mononegavirales consists of two genera, Ebolaviruses and Marburgviruses. Zaire strain of ebolavirus as one of the most lethal viruses ever isolated, with nearly a 90% fatality rate that causes severe hemorrhagic fever in humans and nonhuman primates. Of the seven proteins encoded by ebolavirus, VP24, Glycoprotein and VP35 are virulence factors. Viral protein 35 (VP35) is a multifunctional protein that functions at several stages in the viral replication cycle. VP35 is known to antagonize numerous components in the Interferon induction and signaling pathway including RLR receptors, especially RIG-1, IRF-3 and IRF-7 kinases, protein kinase R, and protein kinase R-activator (PACT) are known. VP35 also functions as an RNAi silencing suppressor, a co-factor for the viral polymerase and a structural component of the viral nucleocapsid. Therefore VP35 is required for efficient viral replication and pathogenesis. Studies revealed that there are two highly conserved basic patches termed the first basic patch (FBP) and the central basic patch (CBP) located within the C-terminal interferon inhibitory domain (IID) of VP35. Given the importance of this protein in the pathogenesis of the Ebola virus, VP35 is a potential target for antiviral development. In this regard, we describe the important parts of this protein from Structural and functional aspects.

Plant-pathogenic fungi and viruses have developed some advanced molecular mechanisms in their coevolution with their host plants that lead to plant disease. Effector molecules are such a mechanisms for plant-pathogenic fungi and viruses. Some of functional proteins produced to various pathogens, including viruses, oomycetes, fungi, nematodes and bacteria, affect the nucleus of host cells and in the nucleus, the effector proteins are able to manipulate protein transcription or modify the metabolism pathways of the host cell thus increasing pathogenicity. Some effectors also influence the packing of histones thus changing the configuration of chromatin. Furthermore, microbial effectors may directly activate transcription or change the host transcription factors acting on regulatory molecules and the nuclear translocation of effector may lead to expression of host resistance genes and affect the processes of plant resistance and immunity. In this review article we try to explain the mechanism of some pathogenicity effectors in Plant-pathogenic fungi (Oomycetes, biotrophic fungi, hemibiotrophic or necrotrophic parasites and mycorrhiza fungi) and viruses how they affect pathogenicity in detail.

RNA interference (RNAi) is a mechanism of post-transcriptional regulation of gene-expression, during which the introduced dsRNA results in target gene silencing through siRNA or miRNA pathways. Over the past few years, it has been shown that this approach has a great ability in management of insects including insect pests’ control, manipulated disease-carrying insects treatment and prevention of disease in beneficial insects. At least two pathways for dsRNA uptake in insects are described and among the various methods of dsRNA delivery, oral delivery of dsRNA is the best method for practical control of pests in the farm. Due to the success of RNAi method in pest control, it is expected that the method has a high potential for future pest management strategies, however due to the lack of genomic data for most exposed non-target organisms, it becomes difficult to understand the environmental risks caused by RNAi-based technologies and the benefits provided for the protection of crops. Further studies and better understanding the mechanisms of RNAi in insects would accelerate the world wide release of commercial RNAi-based methods.

Toxic substances and chemical agents, Decontamination, Washing solutions, Nanoparticles, Disinfection.Individual protection is important for warfighters, first responders and civilians to meet the current threat of toxic chemicals and chemical agents. Within the realm of individual protection, decontamination of warfare agents is not only required on the battlefield but also in laboratory, pilot plants, production and agent destruction sites. It is of high importance to evaluate various decontaminants and decontamination techniques for implementing the best practices in varying scenarios such as decontamination of personnel, sites and sensitive equipment. This manuscript considers decontamination technologies such as adsorptive carbon and enzymes and highlights recent developments such as reactive skin decontamination lotion and Low-cost Personal Decontamination System (LPDS). Decontamination using solvent and non-solvent based systems is an important countermeasures strategy adopted by military, first responders and emergency personnel to sustain their operational capability and prevent additional contamination.