Abstract: A process to identify tumour characteristics involves obtaining three different marker sets each predictive of a characteristic of interest, obtaining a sample gene expression signals from tumour cells, adding a reporter to affect a change in the sample permitting assessment of a gene expression signal of interest in the tumour, combining the gene expression signals with the reporter, correlating the extracted gene expression signals to the three different marker sets, assigning a designation to the extracted gene expression signals according to the following rankings: if the correlation of all three predictive gene expression signal sets predict it to have characteristics of concern, it is designated a bad tumour; if the correlation of all three predictive gene expression signal sets predict it to lack characteristics of concern it is designated a good tumour; and, if the correlation of all three predictive gene expression signal sets do not provide the same predicted clinical outcome, the tumour is designat

Abstract: Lipo Chitooligosaccharide (LCO) [NodBj-V(C18:1,Mefuc)] isolated from Bradyrhizobium japonicum strain 532C was able to stimulate seed germination/seedling emergence, or in the case of potato, sprouting, of a number of crop plants representing eight distantly related plant families (Poaceae, Fabaceae, Brassicaceae, Cucurbitaceac, Malvaceae, Asteraceae, Chenopodiaceae and Solanaceae) of plants, at 25 and/or at 15° C. It also promoted sprouting potato minitubers. Other LCOs [NodRM-V(C16:2,5) and LCO from R. leguminosarum] were also shown to also display growth-promoting effects on the tested crop plants. The compositions comprising at least one LCO are shown to be effective in promoting growth under both laboratory and field conditions. The invention thus also relates to methods for promoting seed germination and/or seedling emergence and/or growth of plants comprising subjecting the seeds and/or plants to an effective amount of an agricultural composition comprising at least one LCO.