Characterizing rice lesion mimic mutants and identifying a mutant with broad-spectrum resistance to rice blast and bacterial blight

Many plant mutants develop spontaneous lesions that resemble disease symptoms in the absence of pathogen attack. In several pathosystems, lesion mimic mutations have been shown to be involved in programmed cell death, which in some instances leads to enhanced disease resistance to multiple pathogens. We investigated the relationship between spontaneous cell death and disease resistance in rice with nine mutants with a range of lesion mimic phenotypes. All nine mutations are controlled by recessive genes and some of these mutants have stunted growth and other abnormal characteristics. The lesion mimics that appeared on the leaves of these mutants were caused by cell death as measured by trypan blue staining. Activation of six defense-related genes was observed in most of the mutants when the mimic lesions developed. Four mutants exhibited significant enhanced resistance to rice blast. One of the mutants, spl11, confers non-race-specific resistance not only to blast but also to bacterial blight. The level of resistance in the spl11 mutant to the two pathogens correlates with the defense-related gene expression and lesion development on the leaves. The results suggest that some lesion mimic mutations in rice may be involved in disease resistance, and cloning of these genes may provide a clue to developing broad-spectrum resistance to diverse pathogens.     

DOH1, a class 1 knox gene, is required for maintenance of the basic plant architecture and floral transition in orchid

We report here the isolation and identification of an orchid homeobox gene, DOH1, from Dendrobium Madame Thong-In. Analyses of its sequence and genomic organization suggest that DOH1 may be the only class 1 knox gene in the genome. DOH1 mRNA accumulates in meristem-rich tissues, and its expression is greatly downregulated during floral transition. In situ hybridization analysis demonstrates that DOH1 is also expressed in the incipient leaf primordia and is later detected in the same region of the inflorescence apex, as in DOMADS1. Overexpression of DOH1 in orchid plants completely suppresses shoot organization and development. Transgenic orchid plants expressing antisense mRNA for DOH1 show multiple shoot apical meristem (SAM) formations and early flowering. In addition, both the sense and antisense transformants exhibit defects in leaf development. These findings suggest that DOH1 plays a key role in maintaining the basic plant architecture of orchid through control of the formation and development of the SAM and shoot structure. Investigations of DOMADS1 expression in the SAM during floral transition reveal that the precocious flowering phenotype exhibited by DOH1 antisense transformants is coupled with the early onset of DOMADS1 expression. This fact, together with the reciprocal expression of DOH1 and DOMADS1 during floral transition, indicates that downregulation of DOH1 in the SAM is required for floral transition in orchid and that DOH1 is a possible upstream regulator of DOMADS1.     

Direct effects of varying doses of oestradiol on early embryonic development in in vitro culture of rat's two-cell embryos

Hyperstimulation in the rat using pregnant mares' serum gonadotrophin (PMSG) has been known to cause death in pre-implantation embryos, as well as enhancement of oestradiol production. This study examines the effect of oestradiol, in levels that are found in hyperstimulated pregnant rats, on pre-implantation embryonic development. Using a simplified in vitro system, 2-cell embryos retrieved from rats on the 2nd day of pregnancy were cultured in rat two-cell embryo culture medium (R2ECM) containing pharmacological doses of oestradiol for 96 h and scored daily in the morning. Three ngxmL(-1) oestradiol reduced the incidence of >8-cell embryos to morulae on the 5th day and blastocysts on the 6th day of development. Most embryos were retarded at the lower cell stages on the 5th day and degenerated by the 6th day. None of the blastocysts expanded on the last day of culture. Fifteen ngxmL(-1) oestradiol accelerated embryo development on the 3rd day but retarded development on the 4th day, and increased the incidence of degenerated embryos by the 5th and 6th day of development. These results suggest that the elevated oestradiol may constitute a mechanism by which PMSG induces death in pre-implantation rat embryos, possibly via a direct action on the embryos.     

The genes for benzene catabolism in Pseudomonas putida ML2 are flanked by two copies of the insertion element IS1489, forming a class-I-type catabolic transposon, Tn5542

Two directly repeated sequences of the IS elements IS1489v1 and IS1489v2 flank the benzene dioxygenase (bedC1C2BA) and the cis-benzene dihydrodiol dehydrogenase (bedD) genes on the catabolic plasmid pHMT112 in Pseudomonas putida ML2, forming a Class-I-type composite transposon, Tn5542. Both IS1489v1 and IS1489v2 contain an identical 1371-bp open reading frame, tnpA, that is preceded by a possible ribosome binding site. The tnpA gene of IS1489v1 is bound by a pair of 40-bp imperfect inverted repeats while that of IS1489v2 is flanked only by the left inverted repeat. The tnpA gene codes for a putative 53-kDa polypeptide of 456 amino acids bearing similarity to transposases encoded on IS elements of P. alcaligenes, P. aeruginosa, P. stutzeri, and Serratia marcescens. The basic nature of the putative TnpA protein with a deduced pI of 8.93 is typical of IS-encoded transposases. Similar to other IS elements, an outward facing promoter was detected at the right end of IS1489v1. Experiments involving the suicide vector, pKNG101, failed to show transposition of Tn5542.     

Molecular ecology of a facultative swine waste lagoon

Aims:  To investigate the microbial ecology of three facultative swine waste lagoons.
Methods and Results:  Phylogenetic analysis of sequences in a 16S rRNA gene clone library and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analyses were used to assess bacterial diversity in a swine waste lagoon. FISH analysis and Gram-staining were used to compare the microbial communities of all three swine waste lagoons. Six operational taxonomic units were in high relative abundance and corresponded to the following phylotypes; Thiolamprovum , Verrucomicrobia , Acholeplasma , Turicibacter , Clostridium and Bacteroides . PCR was employed to detect the genes apsA and dsrAB which encode for enzymes specifically associated with dissimilatory sulfate-reduction within sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB). Amplification of these genes confirmed their presence within the lagoons.
Conclusions:  All lagoons were dominated by purple sulfur bacteria, affiliated to Thiolamprovum pedioforme . The molecular identification of fermentative bacteria and SRB indicate the following metabolic processes within such facultative ponds: sulfur-cycling, fermentation, inter-species hydrogen transfer and carbon cycling.
Significance and Impact of the Study:  This study provides the first molecular evidence for the existence of a sulfur cycle which is linked to phototrophic sulfide oxidation by purple bacteria and organotrophic sulfate-reduction by SRB.     

Optimization of Heavy Chain and Light Chain Signal Peptides for High Level Expression of Therapeutic Antibodies in CHO Cells

Translocation of a nascent protein from the cytosol into the ER mediated by its signal peptide is a critical step in protein secretion. The aim of this work was to develop a platform technology to optimize the signal peptides for high level production of therapeutic antibodies in CHO cells. A database of signal peptides from a large number of human immunoglobulin (Ig) heavy chain (HC) and kappa light chain (LC) was generated. Most of the HC signal peptides contain 19 amino acids which can be divided into three domains and the LC signal peptides contain 22 amino acids. The signal peptides were then clustered according to sequence similarity. Based on the clustering, 8 HC and 2 LC signal peptides were analyzed for their impacts on the production of 5-top selling antibody therapeutics, namely, Herceptin, Avastin, Remicade, Rituxan, and Humira. The best HC and LC signal peptides for producing these 5 antibodies were identified. The optimized signal peptides for Rituxan is 2-fold better compared to its native signal peptides which are available in the public database. Substitution of a single amino acid in the optimized HC signal peptide for Avastin reduced its production significantly. Mass spectrometry analyses revealed that all optimized signal peptides are accurately removed in the mature antibodies. The results presented in this report are particularly important for the production of these 5 antibodies as biosimilar drugs. They also have the potential to be the best signal peptides for the production of new antibodies in CHO cells.