ThePulmonaria dacica group: Its affinities with central and south-east European allies and with the genusParaskevia (Boraginaceae)

Comparative morphological, karyological and chorological studies prove the distinctness of the SE European and Asiatic populations ofPulmonaria mollis s.l., to be treated asP. dacica (Figs. 4, 5).P. mollis s.str. is interpreted as a relatively young taxon, which probably has evolved from an older stock ofP. dacica ancestors during the Pleistocene (Figs. 6, 8) and might have migrated, perhaps with oak woodland communities, from SE to C. Europe. A similar evolution can be postulated for S—SE European dysploidP. rubra-carnica-stiriaca-vallarsae group; this may have involved still unknown tetraploids (P. carnica?, Fig. 7). This group is linked via the hypertriploid speciesP. vallarsae with theP. saccharata group and at least the eastern species of theP. australis group. The monotypic genusParaskevia apparently marks the earliest divergence from the common Tertiary ancestral stock (Fig. 8). It exhibits a tetraploid chromosome number (2n = 28) but has preserved the most primitive characters. — Some comments on the systematics and nomenclature ofP. australis andParaskevia are added.     

Myocardial protection by Protykin,a novel extract of trans-resveratrol and emodin

Protykin is an all-natural, high potency standardized extract of trans-resveratrol (20%) and emodin (10%) derived from the dried rhizome of Polygonum cuspidatum. Previous studies have demonstrated free radical scavenging and anti-inflammatory activities of resveratrol. Since free radicals play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury, we examined whether Protykin could preserve the heart during ischemic arrest. Sprague—Dawley rats were divided into two groups: experimental group was gavaged Protykin (100 mg/kg body wt) dissolved in corn oil for three weeks, while the control group was gavaged corn oil alone. After three weeks, rats were sacrificed, isolated hearts perfused via working mode, were made globally ischemic for 30 min followed by 2 h of reperfusion. Left ventricular functions were continuously monitored and malonaldehyde (MDA) (presumptive marker for oxidative stress) formation were estimated. At the end of each experiment, myocardial infarct size was measured by TTC staining method. Peroxyl radical scavenging activity of Protykin was determined by examining its ability to remove peroxyl radical generated by 2,2′-azobis (2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride, while hydroxy radical scavenging activity was tested with its ability to reduce 7-OH^·-coumarin-3-carboxylic acid. The results of our study demonstrated that the Protykin group provided cardioprotection as evidenced by improved post-ischemic left ventricular functions (dp, dp/dt_max) and aortic flow as compared to control group. This was further supported by the reduced infarct size in the Protykin group. Formation of MDA was also reduced by Protykin treatment. In vitro studies demonstrated that Protykin possessed potent peroxyl and hydroxyl radical scavenging activities. The results of this study indicate that Protykin can provide cardioprotection, presumably by virtue of its potent free radical scavenging activity.     

Tetraploid cells from cytokinesis failure induce aneuploidy and spontaneous transformation of mouse ovarian surface epithelial cells

Most ovarian cancers originate from the ovarian surface epithelium and are characterized by aneuploid karyotypes. Aneuploidy, a consequence of chromosome instability, is an early event during the development of ovarian cancers. However, how aneuploid cells are evolved from normal diploid cells in ovarian cancers remains unknown. In the present study, cytogenetic analyses of a mouse syngeneic ovarian cancer model revealed that diploid mouse ovarian surface epithelial cells (MOSECs) experienced an intermediate tetraploid cell stage, before evolving to aneuploid (mainly near-tetraploid) cells. Using long-term live-cell imaging followed by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), we demonstrated that tetraploid cells originally arose from cytokinesis failure of bipolar mitosis in diploid cells, and gave rise to aneuploid cells through chromosome mis-segregation during both bipolar and multipolar mitoses. Injection of the late passage aneuploid MOSECs resulted in tumor formation in C57BL/6 mice. Therefore, we reveal a pathway for the evolution of diploid to aneuploid MOSECs and elucidate a mechanism for the development of near-tetraploid ovarian cancer cells.     

生长抑素联合双歧杆菌四联活菌治疗急性胰腺炎的效果及对肠粘膜屏障功能的影响

目的:探究生长抑素联合双歧杆菌四联活菌治疗急性胰腺炎的效果及对肠粘膜屏障功能的影响。方法:选取2015年8月～2018年8月我院收治的急性胰腺炎患者98例,根据患者入院先后顺序分为两组。对照组患者给予生长抑素治疗,观察组在对照组的基础上联合双歧杆菌四联活菌片治疗。比较两组患者的临床治疗效果,临床症状和指标的恢复时间及胃肠动力的恢复情况,治疗前后D-乳酸、二胺氧化酶(DAO)和尿乳果糖和甘露醇的比值(L/M)水平的变化。结果:治疗后,观察组患者的总有效率显著高于对照组(P0.05),腹痛、腹胀、腹膜刺激征、血淀粉酶和尿淀粉酶恢复正常时间均显著短于对照组(P0.05)。治疗后,两组患者的血清D-乳酸、DAO和L/M水平均较治疗前显著下降,且观察组以上指标均显著低于对照组(P0.05)。此外,观察组患者的腹内压显著低于对照组,肠鸣音恢复时间显著短于对照组,胃肠减压引流量显著低于对照组(P0.05)。结论:与单用生长抑素相比,生长抑素联合双歧杆菌四联活菌可更迅速缓解急性胰腺炎患者的临床症状及指标,恢复胃肠动力,并显著改善患者的肠粘膜屏障功能,利于患者的康复。     

A large nested association mapping population for breeding and quantitative trait locus mapping in Ethiopian durum wheat

The Ethiopian plateau hosts thousands of durum wheat (Triticum turgidum subsp. durum) farmer varieties (FV) with high adaptability and breeding potential. To harness their unique allelic diversity, we produced a large nested association mapping (NAM) population intercrossing fifty Ethiopian FVs with an international elite durum wheat variety (Asassa). The Ethiopian NAM population (EtNAM) is composed of fifty interconnected bi‐parental families, totalling 6280 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) that represent both a powerful quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping tool, and a large pre‐breeding panel. Here, we discuss the molecular and phenotypic diversity of the EtNAM founder lines, then we use an array featuring 13 000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to characterize a subset of 1200 EtNAM RILs from 12 families. Finally, we test the usefulness of the population by mapping phenology traits and plant height using a genome wide association (GWA) approach. EtNAM RILs showed high allelic variation and a genetic makeup combining genetic diversity from Ethiopian FVs with the international durum wheat allele pool. EtNAM SNP data were projected on the fully sequenced AB genome of wild emmer wheat, and were used to estimate pairwise linkage disequilibrium (LD) measures that reported an LD decay distance of 7.4 Mb on average, and balanced founder contributions across EtNAM families. GWA analyses identified 11 genomic loci individually affecting up to 3 days in flowering time and more than 1.6 cm in height. We argue that the EtNAM is a powerful tool to support the production of new durum wheat varieties targeting local and global agriculture.     

深畦栽培对干旱胁迫下葡萄叶幕微气候和光合作用的影响

试验以‘京亚’和‘红地球’葡萄品种2年生苗木为材料,在田间遮雨棚内考察了自然干旱胁迫下深畦栽植和平畦栽植葡萄根际土壤湿度、叶幕微气候因子、光合作用参数变化特征,探讨根际土壤湿度与叶幕气候互作对葡萄光合作用的影响。结果显示:(1)在干旱逆境下,葡萄根际土壤湿度和叶幕微气候因子交互作用能通过影响水分条件来影响葡萄的光合作用;土壤湿度阀值是葡萄进行光合作用时水分利用最有效的土壤湿度点值,土壤湿度阀值存在“阀值漂移”现象,与叶幕空气湿度呈明显负相关关系,维持较高的叶幕空气湿度有利于实现在较低的土壤湿度下达到更高的光合效率。(2)在干旱逆境下,与平畦栽植相比,深畦栽植在改善葡萄根际土壤水分和叶幕微气候方面具有明显的优势,在该模式下葡萄具有更强的保水能力和更高的水分利用效率,从而具有更强的光合效率。(3)采用深畦栽植模式时,根际土壤相对含水量30%~50%是显著影响葡萄光合作用的土壤湿度区间;根际土壤相对含水量分别在43.32%~50.00%和40.19%~50.00%是‘京亚’和‘红地球’光合作用适宜的土壤湿度范围,在43.32%和40.19%时分别为2种葡萄光合作用水分利用效率达到最高的最适土壤湿度。研究发现,干旱逆境条件下,葡萄根际土壤湿度和叶幕微气候因子交互作用能改善葡萄的光合作用效率;深畦栽植葡萄光合作用对土壤湿度的需求较低,在相对较低的土壤湿度即可达到相对较高的光合能力;深畦栽植模式可以协调葡萄光合作用和水分消耗之间的关系,具有较高的水分利用效率和光合能力,是干旱地区进行葡萄抗旱节水生产的理想模式。     

First Report of Greeneria uvicola Causing Bitter Rot of Grape in China

In 2013, bitter rot of grape was observed in Changbei Vineyard located in Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province, China. Greeneria species was consistently isolated from the diseased grape berries (Vitis labruscana cv. Kyoho) at approximately 91% of isolation rate in three independent experiments. The species was identified as Greeneria uvicola based on the morphological characteristics, cultural appearance and sequence analysis. Koch's postulates were fulfilled through pathogenicity tests on detached healthy Kyoho grape berries. To our knowledge, this is the first report of G. uvicola causing bitter rot of grape in China.