Induction of systemic stress tolerance by brassinosteroid in Cucumis sativus

? Brassinosteroids (BRs) are a new class of plant hormones that are essential for plant growth and development. Here, the involvement of BRs in plant systemic tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses was studied. ? The effects of 24-epibrassinolide (EBR) on plant stress tolerance were studied through the assessment of symptoms of photooxidative stress by chlorophyll fluorescence imaging pulse amplitude modulation, the analysis of gene expression using quantitative real-time PCR and the measurement of hydrogen peroxide (H?O?) production using a spectrophotometric assay or confocal laser scanning microscopy. ? Treatment of primary leaves with EBR induced systemic tolerance to photooxidative stress in untreated upper and lower leaves. This was accompanied by the systemic accumulation of H?O? and the systemic induction of genes associated with stress responses. Foliar treatment of EBR also enhanced root resistance to Fusarium wilt pathogen. Pharmacological study showed that EBR-induced systemic tolerance was dependent on local and systemic H?O? accumulation. The expression of BR biosynthetic genes was repressed in EBR-treated leaves, but elevated significantly in untreated systemic leaves. Further analysis indicated that EBR-induced systemic induction of BR biosynthetic genes was mediated by systemically elevated H?O?. ? These results strongly argue that local EBR treatment can activate the continuous production of H?O?, and the autopropagative nature of the reactive oxygen species signal, in turn, mediates EBR-induced systemic tolerance.     

Survivin在人非小细胞肺癌中的表达及其与VEGF表达的相关性

目的:探讨Survivin在人非小细胞肺癌组织中表达、临床意义及其与VEGF表达的相关性。方法:采用免疫组织化学(Envision二步法)检测Survivin和VEGF在116例肺鳞癌、腺癌组织及15例肺良性病变组织中的表达情况。结果:Survivin、VEGF的阳性率分别为62.1%(72/116)、72.4%(84/116),显著高于肺良性病变组织的0(0/15)、13.3%(2/15);Survivin表达与非小细胞肺癌的低分化(P<0.05)、淋巴结转移呈正相关(P<0.05),与患者预后负相关(P<0.05);VEGF的表达与肺癌组织的分化程度、TNM分期及淋巴结转移均有关(P<0.05);并且Survivin表达与VEGF表达呈正相关(P<0.05)。结论:Survivin有望成为肺癌诊断和基因治疗的新靶点。     

Arabidopsis phosphatidylinositol phosphate kinase 1 binds F-actin and recruits phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase beta1 to the actin cytoskeleton

The actin cytoskeleton can be influenced by phospholipids and lipid-modifying enzymes. In animals the phosphatidylinositol phosphate kinases (PIPKs) are associated with the cytoskeleton through a scaffold of proteins; however, in plants such an interaction was not clear. Our approach was to determine which of the plant PIPKs interact with actin and determine whether the PIPK-actin interaction is direct. Our results indicate that AtPIPK1 interacts directly with actin and that the binding is mediated through a predicted linker region in the lipid kinase. AtPIPK1 also recruits AtPI4Kbeta1 to the cytoskeleton. Recruitment of AtPI4Kbeta1 to F-actin was dependent on the C-terminal catalytic domain of phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate 5-kinase but did not require the presence of the N-terminal 251 amino acids, which includes 7 putative membrane occupation and recognition nexus motifs. In vivo studies confirm the interaction of plant lipid kinases with the cytoskeleton and suggest a role for actin in targeting PIPKs to the membrane.     

Cryptic gametic interactions confer both conspecific and heterospecific advantages in the Chrysochus (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) hybrid zone

Most species pairs are isolated through the collective action of a suite of barriers. Recent work has shown that cryptic barriers such as conspecific sperm precedence can be quite strong, suggesting that they evolve quickly. However, because the strength of multiple barriers has been formally quantified in very few systems, the relative speed with which conspecific sperm precedence evolves remains unclear. Here, we measure the strength of both conspecific sperm precedence and cryptic non-competitive isolation between the hybridizing sister species, Chrysochus auratus and C. cobaltinus (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), and compare the strength of those barriers to the strength of other known reproductive barriers in this system. Overall, cryptic barriers in this system are weaker than other barriers, indicating that they have not evolved rapidly. Furthermore, their evolution has been asymmetric. Non-competitive barriers substantially reduce the production of hybrid offspring by C. auratus females but not by C. cobaltinus females. In multiply-mated C. cobaltinus females, heterospecific sperm outcompete conspecific sperm, as evidenced by the fact that heterospecific males sired disproportionately more offspring than predicted from the results for singly-mated females. In C. auratus females, neither sperm type has a competitive advantage. Such asymmetries explain why nearly all F1 hybrids in the field are from crosses between C. cobaltinus females and C. auratus males. We discuss these findings in terms of understanding the cost of mating 'mistakes' in the Chrysochus hybrid zone. In addition, our discovery that 95% confidence intervals for commonly-used isolation statistics can be very wide has important implications for speciation research. Specifically, to avoid biases in the interpretation of such isolation metrics, we suggest that studies should routinely include error estimates in their analyses of reproductive isolation.     

Mannose-binding lectin 1 haplotypes influence serum MBL-A concentration,complement activity,and milk production traits in Chinese Holstein cattle

Mannose-binding lectin (MBL) is a member of the collectin protein family that binds a broad range of microorganisms and activates the lectin-complement pathway of innate immunity. MBL deficiency is associated with an increased risk for various infections and arises from five polymorphisms in the promoter and first exon of the MBL gene in humans. In this study, three novel single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the promoter region and two previously reported SNPs in exon 2 of the MBL1 gene were detected using PCR single-strand conformation polymorphism, restriction fragment length polymorphism, and DNA sequencing in 537 cattle from three Chinese breeds. Analysis of the genotypes and haplotypes was used to investigate the polymorphisms and their possible implications, especially their association with serum MBL-A levels, complement activity (CH50 and ACH50), and milk production traits was investigated. The g.2651G>A SNP in exon 2 affected the serum MBL-A concentrations and the serum CH50 values, whereas the g.−1330G>A SNP significantly affected CH50 and the somatic cell scores (SCSs). Statistical analysis revealed that cows with the ATGGC/ACAAC combined genotype and those with the AAGGT/ACGGT combined genotype exhibited the lowest and highest SCSs, respectively. Serum antibacterial activities were also conducted to verify the effect of the SNPs on resistance to mastitis pathogens. Results of real-time PCR showed that the liver of cows with clinical mastitis exhibited a higher MBL1 expression compared with healthy ones (P < 0.05). Findings of this study indicate that the MBL1 gene possibly contributes to bacterial infection resistance and can be used as a molecular marker of milk production traits to control mastitis.     

C3d3通过促进脾脏B细胞高表达CXCR4增强hCGβ DNA免疫体液免疫效应

本文旨在探讨分子佐剂C3d3与hCGβ融合在基因免疫中增强抗hCGβ体液免疫效应的机制。分别用质粒pCMV4-hCGB-C3d3、pCMV4-hCGβ和pCMV4免疫BALB/c小鼠,间接ELISA法检测免疫小鼠外周血IgG/IgA类抗hCGβ抗体水平;ELISPOT分析免疫鼠脾脏组织IgG/IgA类抗体分泌细胞水平(ASC);RT-PCR分析免疫鼠脾脏B细胞趋化因子受体表达,RT-PCR和FCM分析CXCR4表达水平;RT-PCR和ELISA检测脾脏组织CXCL12表达水平。结果显示,pCMV4- hCGβ-C3d3免疫组外周血IgG类抗hCGβ抗体水平明显高于pCMV4-hCGβ免疫组;而IgA类抗hCGβ抗体水平在两组间无明显差异。pCMV4-hCGβ-C3d3免疫组脾脏组织IgG类ASCs水平明显高于pCMV4-hCGβ组;两组间IgA类ASCs水平无明显差异。经pCMV4-hCGB、pCMV4-hCGβ- C3d3免疫鼠脾脏B细胞CXCR4表达明显高于对照组;且pCMV4-hCGβ-C3d3组明显高于pCMV4-hCGβ免疫组。CXCR4~ 细胞与ASCs呈正相关,r=0.966,(P<0.05)。pCMV4-hCGβ-C3d3和pCMV4-hCGβ组脾脏组织CXC L12表达均显著高于对照组。结果表明,分子佐剂C3d3与hCGβ基因融合,在基因免疫小鼠后能够显著升调节脾脏ASCs CXCR4表达,从而可能增强抗hcGβ基因疫苗的体液免疫效应。     

4-Aryl-5-carbamoyl-3-isoxazolols as competitive antagonists of insect GABA receptors: Synthesis,biological activity,and molecular docking studies

Competitive antagonists (CAs) of ionotropic GABA receptors (GABARs) reportedly exhibit insecticidal activity and have potential for development as novel insecticides for overcoming emerging resistance to traditional GABAR-targeting insecticides. Our previous studies demonstrated that 4,5-disubstituted 3-isoxazolols or 3-isothiazolols are an important class of insect GABAR CAs. In the present study, we synthesized a series of 4-aryl-5-carbamoyl-3-isoxazolols and examined their antagonism of insect GABARs expressed in Xenopus oocytes. Several of these 3-isoxazolols exhibited potent antagonistic activities against housefly and common cutworm GABARs, with IC₅₀ values in the low-micromolar range in both receptors. 4-(3-Amino-4-methylphenyl)-5-carbamoyl-3-isoxazolol (3u) displayed the highest antagonism, with IC₅₀ values of 2.0 and 0.9?μM in housefly and common cutworm GABARs, respectively. Most of the synthesized 3-isoxazolols showed moderate larvicidal activities against common cutworms, with more than 50% mortality at 100?μg/g. These results indicate that 4-monocyclic aryl-5-carbamoyl-3-isoxazolol is a promising scaffold for insect GABAR CA discovery and provide important information for the design and development of GABAR-targeting insecticides with a novel mode of action.     

芝麻愈伤组织诱导与植株再生体系的建立

以芝麻栽培种(Sesamum indicum, 2n=26)、野生种(S. radiatum, 2n=64; S. schinzianum, 2n=64)及其远源杂交后代(S. schinzianum × S. indicum)为材料, 研究了不同基因型、外植体类型、激素种类及其浓度对芝麻愈伤组织诱导及植株再生的影响, 建立了芝麻愈伤组织诱导及高频植株再生的技术体系。结果表明, 6-BA/NAA激素组合有利于绿色紧密型愈伤组织的形成及分化; 最佳愈伤组织诱导及分化培养基为MS+ 0.1 mg·L^–1NAA + 2.0 mg·L^–16-BA+ 30 g·L^–1蔗糖。在该培养条件下, 野生种下胚轴愈伤组织的诱导率最高为97.50%, 分化率为94.02%; 栽培种下胚轴愈伤组织的诱导率最高为40.60%, 分化率为8.16%; 远缘杂交后代幼胚外植体愈伤组织的诱导率最高为46.67%, 分化率为89.29%。该研究结果为芝麻转基因技术体系的建立及新种质创制奠定了基础。     

Knockdown of phosphotyrosyl phosphatase activator induces apoptosis via mitochondrial pathway and the attenuation by simultaneous tau hyperphosphorylation

Phosphotyrosyl phosphatase activator (PTPA) is decreased in the brains of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and the AD transgenic mouse models. Here, we investigated whether down‐regulation of PTPA affects cell viability and the underlying mechanisms. We found that PTPA was located in the integral membrane of mitochondria, and knockdown of PTPA induced cell apoptosis in HEK293 and N2a cell lines. PTPA knockdown decreased mitochondrial membrane potential and induced Bax translocation into the mitochondria with a simultaneous release of Cyt C, activation of caspase‐3, cleavage of poly (DNA ribose) polymerase (PARP), and decrease in Bcl‐xl and Bcl‐2 protein levels. Over‐expression of Protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) catalytic subunit (PP2A_C) did not rescue the apoptosis induced by PTPA knockdown, and PTPA knockdown did not affect the level of and their phosphorylation of mitogen‐activated protein kinases (MAPKs), indicating that PP2A and MAPKs were not involved in the apoptosis induced by PTPA knockdown. In the cells with over‐expression of tau, PTPA knockdown induced PP2A inhibition and tau hyperphosphorylation but did not cause significant cell death. These data suggest that PTPA deficit causes apoptotic cell death through mitochondrial pathway and simultaneous tau hyperphosphorylation attenuates the PTPA‐induced cell death.

     

Improving the accuracy of genomic prediction in Chinese Holstein cattle by using one-step blending

Background

The one-step blending approach has been suggested for genomic prediction in dairy cattle. The core of this approach is to incorporate pedigree and phenotypic information of non-genotyped animals. The objective of this study was to investigate the improvement of the accuracy of genomic prediction using the one-step blending method in Chinese Holstein cattle.

Findings

Three methods, GBLUP (genomic best linear unbiased prediction), original one-step blending with a genomic relationship matrix, and adjusted one-step blending with an adjusted genomic relationship matrix, were compared with respect to the accuracy of genomic prediction for five milk production traits in Chinese Holstein. For the two one-step blending methods, de-regressed proofs of 17 509 non-genotyped cows, including 424 dams and 17 085 half-sisters of the validation cows, were incorporated in the prediction model. The results showed that, averaged over the five milk production traits, the one-step blending increased the accuracy of genomic prediction by about 0.12 compared to GBLUP. No further improvement in accuracies was obtained from the adjusted one-step blending over the original one-step blending in our situation. Improvements in accuracies obtained with both one-step blending methods were almost completely contributed by the non-genotyped dams.

Conclusions

Compared with GBLUP, the one-step blending approach can significantly improve the accuracy of genomic prediction for milk production traits in Chinese Holstein cattle. Thus, the one-step blending is a promising approach for practical genomic selection in Chinese Holstein cattle, where the reference population mainly consists of cows.