Recent Insights into Signaling Responses to Cope Drought Stress in Rice

Drought is one of the hot topics needing urgent attention in the current era of climate change.It massively disturbs the rice growth and productivity and is becoming a serious threat.The drought avoidance strategies in rice include stomatal closure,cellular adaptation and changes in root development.Moreover,the endogenous plant hormones(abscisic acid and jasmonic acid)and reactive oxygen species have paramount importance in drought tolerance in rice.The drought tolerance induces modification in biochemical,molecular and physiological properties of plants.At the molecular level,expression of several transcription-factors is modulated which further determine the activation of drought responsive gene families.Mitogen activated protein kinases and Ca signaling pathways initiate an array of signaling cascade for mediating the gene expression in rice.Approaches,conventional breeding methods combined with modern emerging techniques such as genetic engineering,to improve rice drought tolerance were discussed.This review provided recent insights into major regulatory factors against drought stress,signaling mechanisms and molecular engineering strategies(including conventional transgenic and recent genome editing approaches)to induce drought tolerance in rice.

Perceptions and experiences of female burn survivors with facial disfigurement

Purpose This study aimed at exploring the perceptions and experiences of female burn survivors with facial disfigurement in Pakistan.Methods Two different quantitative and qualitative studies were conducted,of which the data were collected from 100 burn patients.A pilot interview protocol was developed.An indepth interview of five female burn survivors with facial disfigurement was taken in Lahore,Pakistan.The transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis and four major themes were identified,respectively physical appearance,posttraumatic growth,relationships and coping strategies.Results Thematic analysis reflected differences in attributional style,perceptions and individual experiences of female burn survivors with facial disfigurement.The study showed the importance of physical appearance for different burn survivors and how their life had changed after suffering from a burn injury.Conclusion It could be easy to have a positive outlook towards life and accept visible differences post injury for the burn survivors,who are grateful for life,get a strong family support and have available resources.On the contrary,with low self-esteem,lack of a family support and available resources,patients would be dissatisfied with their life.