Natural variation in the promoter of OsHMA3 contributes to differential grain cadmium accumulation between Indica and Japonica rice

Rice is a major source of cadmium(Cd) intake for Asian people. Indica rice usually accumulates more Cd in shoots and grains than Japonica rice. However, underlying genetic bases for differential Cd accumulation between Indica and Japonica rice are still unknown. In this study, we cloned a quantitative trait locus(QTL) grain Cd concentration on chromosome 7(GCC7) responsible for differential grain Cd accumulation between two rice varieties by performing QTL analysis and map-based cloning. We found that the two GCC7 alleles, GCC7~(PA64s) and GCC7~(93-11), had different promoter activity of OsHMA3,leading to different OsHMA3 expression and different shoot and grain Cd concentrations. By analyzing the distribution of different haplotypes of GCC7 among diverse rice accessions, we discovered that the high and low Cd accumulation alleles, namely GCC7~(93-11) and GCC7~(PA64s), were preferentially distributed in Indica and Japonica rice,respectively. We further showed that the GCC7~(PA64s)allele can be used to replace the GCC7~(93-11) allele in the super cultivar 93-11 to reduce grain Cd concentration without adverse effect on agronomic traits. Our results thus reveal that the QTL GCC7 with sequence variation in the OsHMA3 promoter is an important determinant controlling differential grain Cd accumulation between Indica and Japonica rice.     

QTL pyramiding for producing nutritious and safe rice grains

正Breeding of rice varieties that are enriched with essential micronutrients and simultaneously have reduced levels of toxic elements in grains is largely unexplored in rice breeding practice. In this issue of JIPB, Liu et al.(2020)developed two rice lines with a low level of cadmium and simultaneously high levels of zinc or selenium accumulation in the grains, thus providing elite genetic materials for breeding rice varieties that are important for addressing mineral malnutrition and ensuring food safety.m entary     

响应面法优化类芽胞杆菌HB172198产褐藻胶裂解酶发酵培养基

为了提高类芽胞杆菌新种HB172198产褐藻胶裂解酶活力,本研究采用响应面法对该菌株液体发酵培养基进行了优化实验。在单因素实验和Plackett-Burman试验筛选出海藻酸钠、胰蛋白胨、NaCl、MgSO4·7H2O等4个显著影响产酶因素的基础上,通过Box-Behnken设计及响应面法进行回归分析,得出产褐藻胶裂解酶最佳发酵培养基,其成分为:海藻酸钠7.50 g/L、胰蛋白胨13.57 g/L、NaCl 29.75 g/L、MgSO4·7H2O 0.08 g/L。优化条件下该菌株最大酶活性达14.60 U/mL,是优化前的1.87倍。本研究为菌株HB172198产褐藻胶裂解酶的大规模生产和工业应用提供了重要的理论依据。     

Epidemiological,Clinical and Serological Characteristics of Children with Coronavirus Disease 2019 in Wuhan: A Single-centered,Retrospective Study

In December 2019, SARS-CoV-2 was first detected in the samples obtained from three adult patients who suffered from an unknown viral pneumonia in Wuhan (Li et al. 2020). This unknown viral pneumonia is further named as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) by the World Health Organization. To date, the number of new COVID-19 cases has continued to skyrocket and the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on humans is far greater than any pathogen of this century in both breadth and depth. Previous studies have shown that adults with COVID-19 have symptoms of fever, dry cough, dyspnea, fatigue and lymphocytopenia. Moreover, COVID-19 is more likely to cause death in the elderly, especially those with chronic comorbidities (Huang et al. 2020). In Wuhan, more than 50, 000 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed, including over 780 pediatric patients, and only one child death case (Lu et al. 2020). Although the number of children cases was far fewer than that of adults, COVID-19 might endanger children's health and the information on children remains limited, especially in serological study. In the retrospective study, the investigators analyzed the epidemiological, clinical and serological characteristics of children with COVID-19 in Wuhan in the early stages of the outbreak, which might provide theoretical and practical help in controlling COVID-19 and similar emerging infectious diseases in the future.     

Long-Term Existence of SARS-CoV-2 in COVID-19 Patients: Host Immunity,Viral Virulence,and Transmissibility

Virologica Sinica - COVID-19 patients can recover with a median SARS-CoV-2 clearance of 20 days post initial symptoms (PIS). However, we observed some COVID-19 patients with existing...     

Human Monoclonal Antibodies: On the Menu of Targeted Therapeutics Against COVID-19

Virologica Sinica - Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), reminiscent of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003, has been a tragic disaster to people all over the world. As...     

360度群体遗传变异扫描——大豆泛基因组研究

大豆(Glycine max)是重要的油料和蛋白作物, 其丰富的遗传变异为生物学性状挖掘和育种改良提供了重要的资源基础。然而, 单个基因组信息无法全面揭示种质资源的遗传变异, 泛基因组研究为解决这一不足提供了新方案。近日, 中国科学院遗传与发育生物学研究所田志喜和梁承志研究团队从2 898份大豆种质中选取26份代表性材料, 并整合已有的3个基因组, 构建了包含野生和栽培大豆的泛基因组和图基因组(graph-based genome), 鉴定了整个群体的绝大多数结构变异数据集, 确定了大豆种质的核心、非必需和个体特异的基因集。利用这些数据系统地揭示了生育期位点E3的等位基因变异和基因融合事件、种皮颜色基因I的单体型和演化关系以及结构变异对铁离子转运基因表达和地区适应性选择的影响。该研究为作物基因组学研究提供了一个新的模式, 同时将加速推动大豆遗传变异的鉴定、性状解析和种质创新。     

微区XRF技术分析无机元素在植物中的原位分布

植物的无机元素分布特征对植物生理过程具有重要的指标作用, 可揭示营养物质分布、代谢途径及毒理耐受性等多种生命过程。用微区XRF技术测试样品中无机元素的分布, 具有原位无损、可进行较大面积样品连续成像分析以及前处理过程简单等诸多优势。将微区XRF技术应用于植物样品不同器官的无机元素分布检测, 旨在探讨该技术在植物样品测试中的仪器参数选择、样品前处理方法和数据后处理手段等对测试结果的影响。为得到可靠的实验结果, 对不同含水量的器官进行不同的前处理, 并比较不同驻留时间、测试腔体真空与否等仪器条件对测试结果的影响, 同时对数据处理方法进行探索, 包括对获得的数据进行图像叠加及对不同元素浓度比例进行半定量分析。研究结果表明, 微区XRF技术测试植物样品中无机元素分布具有一定的技术优势。