A genetic analysis of the quality of northern-style Chinese steamed bread

Dissecting the genetic basis for the traits of northern-style Chinese steamed bread (NCSB) is of great significance for wheat quality breeding. Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for the processing quality of NCSB were studied using a recombinant inbred line (RIL) consisting of 173 lines derived from a “Shannong01–35 × Gaocheng9411” cross. Twenty-four putative additive QTLs were detected on chromosomes 1A, 1B, 1D, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B, 5B, 6B, and 7B. Of these QTLs, QTex1A.1-27, QHei5B.5-488, and QGum4B.4-17 had the highest contribution and accounted for 9.33, 10.9, and 12.0% of the phenotypic variations, respectively. Several co-located QTLs with additive effects were detected on chromosomes 1A, 1D, 4B, and 5B. Two clusters (RFL_CONTIG2160_524-WSNP_CAP12_C2438_1180601 and EX_C101685_705-RAC875_C27536_611) for height, total score, and texture and for chewiness, gumminess, and hardness were detected on chromosomes 1A and 4B, respectively. Two QTLs for chewiness and hardness (QCh1D-4, QHa1D-4) with additive effects were detected; these alleles could be good targets for improving the processing quality of steamed bread from common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). In addition, QTLs for wheat flour quality and the associated correlations with NCSB were simultaneously analyzed. Negative correlations were detected between chewiness and the wet/dry gluten content (WGC/DGC) or protein content. Two QTLs (QCh4B.4-17 and QPr4B.4-17) and three QTLs (QCh4B.4-13, QWG4B.4-13, and QDG4B.4-13) clustered in the same chromosomal region. The detected QTL clusters should be further investigated during wheat breeding and could be used by breeders to improve wheat quality and especially the processing quality of NCSB.     

Description of a new Neoactinomyxum type actinosporean from the oligochaete <Emphasis Type="Italic">Branchiura sowerbyi</Emphasis> Beddard

Actinosporean infection of oligochaetes living in the mud of a commercial gibel carp pond with myxosporean disease was studied. Six actinospore types were detected exclusively from the oligochaete Branchiura sowerbyi Beddard with very high prevalence (18%). Five out of the six types were identified as the same actinosporeans described in previous reports, the sixth actinosporean was identified as a new Neoactinomyxum type and described here based on morphological and molecular characterisation. Spore body of the actinospore was globular, much smaller than caudal processes. Three caudal processes were disc-like in apical view, hemispherical in side view, closer together and encircling the spore body. The number of sporoplasm cells was detected as eight in one specimen. The new actinosporean markedly differed from other Neoactinomyxum types in literature having much bigger caudal processes. DNA sequence analyses further confirmed the morphological identification, and revealed the actinosporean described here (KU641392) possessed less than 94% sequence similarity with myxozoans available in the GenBank database.     

Marek's disease virus (MDV) ICP4, pp38, and meq genes are involved in the maintenance of transformation of MDCC-MSB1 MDV-transformed lymphoblastoid cells.

An antisense strategy has been used to identify genes important for the maintenance of transformation of MDCC-MSB1 (MSB1) Marek's disease virus-transformed lymphoblastoid cells. Oligodeoxynucleotides antisense to the predicted translation initiation regions of ICP4 and pp38 mRNAs inhibited proliferation of MSB1 cells but not MDCC-CU91 (CU91) reticuloendotheliosis virus-transformed cells. Control oligodeoxynucleotides having the same base composition but a different sequence did not inhibit MSB1 cell proliferation. In addition, ICP4 and pp38 antisense oligodeoxynucleotides resulted in 77- and 100-fold reductions in colony formation by MSB1 cells in soft agar, respectively. To extend and corroborate these results, a novel system based on efficiently regulated expression of eukaryotic genes by a chimeric mammalian transactivator, LAP267 (S. B. Baim, M. A. Labow, A. J. Levine, and T. Shenk, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 88:5072-5076, 1991), was used. MSB1-derived stably transfected cell lines in which RNA antisense to Marek's disease virus ICP4, pp38, or meq could be induced by treatment of the cells with isopropyl-beta-D-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) were constructed. Control cell lines in which expression of ICP4 sense or pUC19 sequences could be induced by IPTG were also constructed. Induction of the cell lines indicated that ICP4 antisense RNA, but not ICP4 sense RNA or pUC19 RNA, inhibited proliferation of MSB1 cells. Induction of ICP4, meq, or pp38 antisense RNAs, but not ICP4 sense or pUC19 RNAs, had a dramatic effect on relative colony formation by MSB1 cells in soft agar. These results indicate that ICP4, pp38, and Meq are all involved in the maintenance of transformation of MSB1 cells.     

Automatic methyl assignment in large proteins by the MAGIC algorithm

Selective methyl labeling is an extremely powerful approach to study the structure, dynamics and function of biomolecules by NMR. Despite spectacular progress in the field, such studies remain rather limited in number. One of the main obstacles remains the assignment of the methyl resonances, which is labor intensive and error prone. Typically, NOESY crosspeak patterns are manually correlated to the available crystal structure or an in silico template model of the protein. Here, we propose methyl assignment by graphing inference construct, an exhaustive search algorithm with no peak network definition requirement. In order to overcome the combinatorial problem, the exhaustive search is performed locally, i.e. for a small number of methyls connected through-space according to experimental 3D methyl NOESY data. The local network approach drastically reduces the search space. Only the best local assignments are combined to provide the final output. Assignments that match the data with comparable scores are made available to the user for cross-validation by additional experiments such as methyl-amide NOEs. Several NMR datasets for proteins in the 25–50 kDa range were used during development and for performance evaluation against the manually assigned data. We show that the algorithm is robust, reliable and greatly speeds up the methyl assignment task.     

植物SnRKs家族在胁迫信号通路中的调节作用

蔗糖非发酵1(SNF1)相关蛋白激酶家族(SnRKs)是植物胁迫响应过程中的一类关键蛋白激酶。在响应生物胁迫时,SnRKs可通过参与活性氧和水杨酸介导的信号转导途径,增强植物对生物侵害的耐受性。在响应非生物胁迫时,SnRKs通过脱落酸(ABA)介导的信号通路,增强植株对干旱、盐碱和高温等的耐受性;且通过独立于ABA的信号通路,SnRKs可调控胞内能量状态,维持离子平衡。该文总结了SnRKs蛋白激酶作为胁迫信号通路中的主要调节因子的最新研究进展,并展望了未来的研究方向。