MIND OVER MATTER: THE REQUIRED PHYSICAL AND SOCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR COGNITIVE ALERTNESS AMONG PAKISTANI GERIATRIC POPULATION

Background and Objective: Aging is influenced by culture, individual experiences, and socio-demographic characteristics along with societal expectations. Cognitive functioning and activity level in geriatric population may alter their participation in daily life activities thus this study aims to explore the required physical and social activities for cognitive alertness among Pakistani Geriatric population. Methodology: An observation based study of 169 aging individuals who performed on MoCA for cognitive functioning and interviewed on IPAQ for duration of physical activity in everyday life. Results: It is an observational study, conducted among the geriatric population of different areas of Pakistan. A total number of 169 individuals participated out of which 59 % were males and 40 % were females with a majority of the population 74% falling between 65-75 years of age. It was found that 59% of the male and only 19% of the female had 22 score on MoCA for cognitive functioning and these individuals were practicing physical activities such as brisk walk for 3 days a week for more than 40 minutes and are involve at least once a week in social activities. Conclusion: The research finding concluded that physical activities and social gathering both has impact on cognitive function of geriatric population to participate actively in daily activities.

Polymorphism Detection and Genotyping of Salt Tolerant Rice Genotypes Using Next Generation Sequencing

Rice production is greatly limited by high level of soil salinity around the world. To overcome this major abiotic constraint, different strategies have been adopted for the development of salt tolerant rice varieties. In present study, tolerance potential of 63 rice genotypes was evaluated at seedling stage under different levels of salt stress. Among screened genotypes, six were found tolerant, 37 moderate tolerant and 20 were sensitive under tested levels of salt stress. Tolerant genotypes showed less reduction in root shoot length, fresh weight and dry weight, compared with FL478 (positive control). Sensitive genotypes showed ~ 90 % reduction in all growth parameters. Selected genotypes, were further assessed using 21 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers, residing within SalTol QTL region on chromosome 1. Ninteen SSR markers were found polymorphic among salt tolerant and sensitive genotypes. Cluster analysis based on SSR markers, grouped genotypes into three clusters as sensitive, tolerant and moderate tolerant. However, population structure analysis combined tolerant and moderate tolerant genotypes in one set. To identify the genetic variation in stress-related genes in salt tolerant genotypes, we performed genotyping by sequencing (GBS) of seven rice lines with contrasting responses to salinity stress. Approximately 83 % reads were mapped to the rice reference genome (Nipponbare). We identified a total of 80,159 SNPs and 6,403 InDels among the seven rice genotypes. Of the SNPs 42 % were identified from the genic regions and out of these 27 % were observed in coding regions. Bioinformatics analysis was used to identify functional SNPs in the genes that changed the functions of proteins. We identified 116 abiotic stress related genes that contained 138 nsSNPs (between tolerant and sensitive) in coding regions, thus having effects on proteins. In other study, selected four BC1F5 populations derived by crossing a high yield recipient rice line (WTR-1) with four donors were used. These populations were sequenced by tGBS. Data analysis revealed presence of 99 non-synonymous deleterious SNPs in 62 loci. Of the 62 affected loci, 10 were predicted to be responsive towards salinity tolerance. Analysis indicated that these genes may contribute to salt stress phenotype in rice varieties, and the identified nonsynonymous deleterious SNPs are useful to distinguish tolerant and sensitive genotypes.