The "survival of the fittest" is the paradigm of Darwinian evolution in which the best-adapted replicators are favored by natural selection. However, at high mutation rates, the fittest organisms are not necessarily the fastest replicators but rather are those that show the greatest robustness against deleterious mutational effects, even at the cost of a low replication rate. This scenario, dub...

Viroids, the smallest known pathogens, unable to encode any proteins, can cause severe diseases in their host plants. One of the proposed mechanisms of their pathogenicity includes silencing the host's genes via viroid-derived small RNAs, which are products of the host's immune response to the viroid's double stranded RNA. Humulus lupulus (hop) plants are hosts to several viroids; two of them, ...

Citrus peels, the waste by-products of citrus juices factories are reckoned valuable healthful functional food. The present investigation performed to assess nutritional status of wheat and fortified biscuits with citrus peels powders. Study included determination of gross chemical composition, caloric value , minerals (Fe, Mn, Cu, Ca, Mg, Na, K and P) of wheat and fortified biscuits with citru...

The satellite RNA of tobacco ringspot virus (sTobRV) undergoes self-catalysed cleavage during replication. A plasmid for in vitro expression of sTobRV has been constructed and used to obtain a library of mutagenized sTobRV sequences. Screening of these mutants has allowed precise definition of the sequences required for (+) and (-) strand cleavage. The sequences and RNA structures associated wi...

The interest has increased in the consumption of Citrus fruits, it is not only due to their sweet refreshing properties but also because of their other important properties like medicinal, antioxidant and nutritional values . Four different indigenous varieties of Citrus namely Citrus grandis var Robab, Citrus grandis var Khaloi, Citrus sinensis var Valencia, and Citrus sinensis var Sohniangria...

This paper reviews the pharmacological properties of Mediterranean-grown citrus species (Citrus L., Rutaceae), including citron (Citrus medica L.), lime (Citrus xauantiifolia [Christm.] Swingle), lemon (Citrus xlimon [L.] Osbeck), bitter orange (Citrus xaurantium L.) and pomelo (Citrus maxima [Burm.] Merr.), as referred to in ancient, medieval and 16th century sources. The virtues of the specie...