Glaucoma is a heterogeneous group of optic neuropathies and is one of the leading causes of irreversible blindness worldwide. Primary angle closure glaucoma (PACG) is a major subtype, prevalent mostly in east and south Asia, where occludable anterior chamber angle is considered as a primary risk factor, which in turn could be responsible for high intraocular pressure (IOP) and subsequent neurodegeneration of retinal ganglion cells. Clinically, IOP is considered as a major risk factor for glaucoma and viewed as an important endophenotype to promote the disease severity. To investigate the comprehensive genomic insights, we conducted a genomewide association study (GWAS) on IOP in individuals with occludable angle (<15 degrees), thus anatomically predisposed to PACG. After performing GWAS on IOP, we identified 25 genomewide suggestive significant loci (P<1e^-05, n = 240) of which, six were in complete linkage disequilibrium with the ABCA4 genic region. We successfully replicated the most significant discovery, SNPs of ABCA4 (rs2065712) in a separate cohort of 89 individuals (P =1.16e^-09). We identified multiple SNPs in ABCA4 to be associated with IOP. Also, we obtained genes harbouring significantly associated SNPs, included in relevant biological pathways that could potentially be involved in IOP variation and glaucomatous neurodegeneration.

Rhinoceros unicornis, also known as the greater one-horned rhinoceros (GoHR), is a vulnerable wildlife species found in the Indian subcontinent with an estimated global population of 3582, of which an estimated 2995 resides in India. The Kaziranga National Park of Assam is the home to ~80.56% of the GoH population in India. Recent advances in genetics and microbial studies underscored theimportance of gut microbial symbiosis as a crucial factor for host metabolic health and environmental interaction, particularly for higher mammals. Alteration of the normal microbiome can also be an indicator of chronic disease and infection. Freshly voided dung samples from nine dung heaps of free ranging or wild GoH rhinoceros were collected from Kaziranga National Park for mapping the gut microbial architecture through 16S-metagenomic approach. In our sample, the GoH gut harbours 168.8±12.55 (SE) bacteria-specific OTUsbelonging to 21 phyla of which the gram-negative Proteobacteria is the most abundant phyla. Other abundant phylas found in the GoH gut are Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes. Although the GoH rhinoceros gut can utilize fibrous plant by microbial fermentation, the aerobic, nonfermenting Acinetobacter (20.7%), Stenotrophomonas (17.8%) and Brevundimonas (9.1%) constitute about 50% of all identified genus. Functional prediction of the GoH microbiome reveals that >50% of the bacteria present are involved in metabolism followed by cellularprocesses and information processing. A significant proportion (>1%) are associated with different diseases. In summary, our study characterized bacterial communities of nine wild GoH to identify some unique features and its implication in disease and survival of GoH.