Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR) 5 articles published in JoVE Biology Developing a Feeding Assay System for Evaluating the Insecticidal Effect of Phytochemicals on Helicoverpa armigera Sharada D. Mohite1,2, Yogita P. Patil1,2, Vikram J. Nichit1,2, Rakesh S. Joshi1,2 1Biochemical Sciences Division, CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, 2Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR) This protocol describes the obligate feeding assay to evaluate the potentially toxic effect of a phytochemical on the lepidopteran insect larvae. This is a highly scalable insect bioassay, easy to optimize the sublethal and lethal dose, deterrent activity, and physiological effect. This could be used for screening eco-friendly insecticides. Biology A Simple Protocol for Mapping the Plant Root System Architecture Traits Devesh Shukla1,2, Prabodh Kumar Trivedi2,3, Shivendra Sahi1,4 1Department of Biology, Western Kentucky University, 2Plant Biotechnology Division, CSIR Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, 3Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), 4 We use simple laboratory tools to examine the root system architecture (RSA) of Arabidopsis and Medicago. The plantlets are grown hydroponically over mesh and spread using an art brush to reveal the RSA. Images are taken using scanning or a high-resolution camera, then analyzed with ImageJ to map traits. Biology Reverse Genetic Approach to Identify Regulators of Pigmentation using Zebrafish Babita Sharma*1,2, Yogaspoorthi J. Subramaniam*1,2, Desingu Ayyappa Raja1,2,3, Ayush Aggarwal1,2, Sridhar Sivasubbu1, Vivek T. Natarajan1,2 1CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, 2Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research, 3Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology Regulators of melanocyte functions govern visible differences in the pigmentation outcome. Deciphering the molecular function of the candidate pigmentation gene poses a challenge. Herein, we demonstrate the use of a zebrafish model system to identify candidates and classify them into regulators of melanin content and melanocyte number. Neuroscience Generation of Neurospheres from Mixed Primary Hippocampal and Cortical Neurons Isolated from E14-E16 Sprague Dawley Rat Embryo Gaurav Das1,2, Varsha Gupta1, Juhee Khan1, Deepshikha Mukherjee1, Surajit Ghosh1,2 1Organic and Medicinal Chemistry Division, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, 2Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR) Presented here is a protocol for the spontaneous generation of neurospheres enriched in neural progenitor cells from high density plated neurons. During the same experiment, when neurons are plated at a lower density, the protocol also results in prolonged primary rat neuron cultures. Neuroscience A Simple Alternative to Stereotactic Injection for Brain Specific Knockdown of miRNA Hemant Suryawanshi*1, Mayuresh Anant Sarangdhar*1,2, Manika Vij1,2, Reema Roshan1, Vijay Pal Singh1, Munia Ganguli1, Beena Pillai1,2 1CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, New Delhi, India, 2Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), New Delhi, India MicroRNAs play crucial roles in the brain and are potential targets for modeling neuro-degeneration. However, perturbing miRNA levels is challenging due to the short length of miRNA and inaccessibility of the brain tissue. This video presents a method for antagomir design and brain specific delivery using a neuropeptide in mice.
