Bitrophic toxicity of Cry1Ac to Cycloneda sanguinea,a predator in Brazilian cotton

Insect predators are exposed to the Cry1Ac toxin in Bt cotton fields through several pathways. In this study, we investigated the effects of activated Cry1Ac added to a diet on Cycloneda sanguinea (L.) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), which is one of the main predators of non‐target pests in Brazilian cotton. Direct bitrophic exposure of C. sanguinea to Cry1Ac was done by feeding beetles with Aphis gossypii (Glover) (Hemiptera: Aphidae) sprayed with 500 μg per ml Cry1Ac solution. Larval and pupal survival, development time, aphid consumption, and adult longevity were recorded daily. Couples within the same experimental treatment were paired and numbers of eggs laid and hatched per female were recorded daily. Net replacement rate was calculated for each female. During development, a C. sanguinea larva consumed on average 1.8 μg of activated Cry1Ac. No significant differences due to Cry1Ac were observed for any of the response variables, except aphid consumption. Larvae receiving Cry1Ac consumed more aphids than larvae receiving distilled water alone. Additional statistical analyses were conducted to evaluate independence of responses, and for the independent responses, a simple meta‐analysis was conducted to test the null hypothesis that all responses were zero. Nearly all of the response variables were statistically independent. Two pairs of responses were not independent, but the associated multivariate tests were not significant. The meta‐analysis suggested that all effects were not different from random variation around zero and no cumulative effects could be detected. Our results indicated that bitrophic exposure to activated Cry1Ac is likely to have little or no adverse ecological effect on C. sanguinea.     

Role of p53/FAK association and p53 phosphorylation in staurosporine-mediated apoptosis: Wild type versus mutant p53-R175H

A novel survival role of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) that involves its nuclear translocation and direct association with p53 has been demonstrated. Here we examined the relationship between the p53/FAK interaction and Ser46 phosphorylation of p53 (p-p53^Ser46) in the apoptotic regulation of human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (HOSCC) cell lines, expressing either wild type (wt) p53 or mutant (mt) p53-R175H. In contrast to the wt p53 cell lines, the mt p53-R175H cell line was resistant to staurosporine (STS)-mediated detachment and caspase-3 activation. Furthermore, despite the resistance of mt p53-R175H to Ser46 phosphorylation, both wt and mt HOSCC cells translocate FAK into the nucleus and maintain the p53/FAK interaction post STS treatment. These findings provide unique insight into how tumor cells harboring the R175H mutant may resist chemotherapeutic intervention.

Structured summary

MINT-7294020: FAK (uniprotkb:Q05397) physically interacts (MI:0915) with p53 (uniprotkb:P04637) by anti-bait coimmunoprecipitation (MI:0006)     

Some New Aryl-5′-fluoro-2′-meth-oxyphenyl Ketones and Their Thiosemicarbazones as Possible Fungicides

Feeding studies on rice genetically modified with soybean glycinin were performed on rats for four weeks. The rats were divided into three groups, each being fed on (I) only a commercial diet, (II) this diet plus control rice and (III) this diet plus rice genetically modified with glycinin. The rats were fed with 10 g/kg-weight of rice every day by oral administration. During the test period, the rats in every group grew well without marked differences in appearance, food intake, body weight, or cumulative body weight gain. There were also no significant differences in the blood count, blood composition or internal organ weights among the rats. Necropsy at the end of the experiment indicated neither pathological symptoms nor histopathological abnormalities in the liver and kidney. Judging from these results, the rice genetically modified with glycinin is considered to have been essentially the same in nutritional and biochemical characteristics as the control rice.     

Kidney proteome responses in the teleost fish Paralichthys olivaceus indicate a putative immune response against Streptococcus parauberis

The proteomic response to bacterial infection in a teleost fish (Paralichthys olivaceus) infected with Streptococcus parauberis was analyzed using label-free protein quantitation coupled with LC-MS(E) tandem mass spectrometry. A total of 82 proteins from whole kidney, a major lymphoid organ in this fish, were found to be differentially expressed between healthy and diseased fish analyzed 6, 24, 72 and 120 h post-infection. Among the differentially expressed proteins, those involved in mediating immune responses (e.g., heat shock proteins, cathepsins, goose-type lysozyme and complement components) were most significantly up-regulated by infection. In addition, cell division cycle 48 (CDC48) and calreticulin, which are associated with cellular recovery and glycoprotein synthesis, were up-regulated in the universal protein group, whereas the other proteins in that group were down-regulated. There was continuous activation of expression of immune-associated proteins during infection, but there was also loss of expression of proteins not involved in immune function. We expect that our findings regarding immune response at the protein level would offer new insight into the systemic response to bacterial infection of a major immune organ in teleost fish.     

生物多样性的几个问题（续）

从生物多样性的现状、存在的问题及应采取的措施等三个方面比较全面地叙述了我国生物多样性的情况。“生物安全”是《生物多样性公约《签订后每次缔约国会议都要讨论的中心议题之一。为之本文也用一定的篇幅作了较详细的介绍。     

全球转基因大豆专利信息分析与技术展望

转基因大豆作为目前转基因作物推广种植面积最广的作物,在保障人类油料与饲料供给上发挥着重要作用。基于智慧芽数据库(PatSnap)对欧盟、美国及中国等国家地区1985~2016年收录的全球转基因大豆技术领域专利文献进行统计分析,得出全球转基因大豆专利信息的总体发展趋势、研发热点及技术分布与格局,并对比分析了我国转基因大豆研发的竞争力,对未来转基因大豆的产业发展提出了展望。     

A petal‐specific InMYB1 promoter from Japanese morning glory: a useful tool for molecular breeding of floricultural crops

Production of novel transgenic floricultural crops with altered petal properties requires transgenes that confer a useful trait and petal‐specific promoters. Several promoters have been shown to control transgenes in petals. However, all suffer from inherent drawbacks such as low petal specificity and restricted activity during the flowering stage. In addition, the promoters were not examined for their ability to confer petal‐specific expression in a wide range of plant species. Here, we report the promoter of InMYB1 from Japanese morning glory as a novel petal‐specific promoter for molecular breeding of floricultural crops. First, we produced stable InMYB1_1kb::GUS transgenic Arabidopsis and Eustoma plants and characterized spatial and temporal expression patterns under the control of the InMYB1 promoter by histochemical β‐glucuronidase (GUS) staining. GUS staining patterns were observed only in petals. This result showed that the InMYB1 promoter functions as a petal‐specific promoter. Second, we transiently introduced the InMYB1_1 kb::GUS construct into Eustoma, chrysanthemum, carnation, Japanese gentian, stock, rose, dendrobium and lily petals by particle bombardment. GUS staining spots were observed in Eustoma, chrysanthemum, carnation, Japanese gentian and stock. These results showed that the InMYB1 promoter functions in most dicots. Third, to show the InMYB1 promoter utility in molecular breeding, a MIXTA‐like gene function was suppressed or enhanced under the control of InMYB1 promoter in Arabidopsis. The transgenic plant showed a conspicuous morphological change only in the form of wrinkled petals. Based on these results, the InMYB1 promoter can be used as a petal‐specific promoter in molecular breeding of floricultural crops.