Pollen wall development: the associated enzymes and metabolic pathways

Pollen grains are surrounded by a sculpted wall, which protects male gametophytes from various environmental stresses and microbial attacks, and also facilitates pollination. Pollen wall development requires lipid and polysaccharide metabolism, and some key genes and proteins that participate in these processes have recently been identified. Here, we summarise the genes and describe their functions during pollen wall development via several metabolic pathways. A working model involving substances and catalytic enzyme reactions that occur during pollen development is also presented. This model provides information on the complete process of pollen wall development with respect to metabolic pathways.

A direct comparison of expression profiles of adhesion molecules on naïve T cells between cord blood and steady-state bone marrow grafts of healthy donors

INTRODUCTION

We compared the profiles of adhesion molecule expression on naïve T cells between umbilical cord blood (UCB) and steady-state bone marrow (SS-BM) grafts.

METHODS

The expressions of 4 adhesion molecules, including very late antigen 4 (VLA-4), intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), L-selectin, and lymophocyte function-associated antigen-1 (LFA-1) on naïve T cells in UCB (n = 25) and SS-BM (n = 10) were analyzed using flow cytometry.

RESULTS

The expressions of ICAM-1 and L-selectin on CD4(+) T cells and CD8(+) T cells in UCB were significantly lower than those on SS-BM (P < .05 for all). The expressions of VLA-4 and LFA-1 on CD8(+) T cells in UCB were significantly lower than those of SS-BM (P = .002 and .047, respectively). Compared with SS-BM, we observed lower expression of ICAM-1 on naïve CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells in UCB (P < .001 for all). The percentages of interferon (IFN)-γ positive cells among naïve CD4(+) and CD8(+) T-cell subsets were significantly lower in UCB, leading to ready polarization of naïve UCB T cells from a Th1 to Th2 phenotype versus those on SS-BM.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results among UCB suggested lower intensities of ICAM-1 expression on naïve T cells and their easier polarization from Th1 to Th2 elements.

Degree of Chinese ancestry affects behavioral characteristics of infant rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta)

BACKGROUND

The use of Chinese-origin macaques in biomedical research is problematic for some scientists because of the reported behavioral and physiological differences from those of Indian origin. However, few studies have examined the effects of varying degrees of Chinese ancestry (DCA) on behavior, and they were typically based on small sample sizes and unusual rearing conditions.

METHODS

Using data from a colony-wide program, we examined whether DCA was related to behavior and temperament ratings reflecting emotionality (fearfulness, aggression, and anxiety) and activity. The 249 subjects, born and reared in an outdoor social environment, were separated from their groups for a 25-h period of indoor testing. Their DCA (range: 0.6-99.4%) was determined by analyzing the frequency of short tandem repeat alleles.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

The major effect of DCA was on fearfulness, with the more hybridized animals scoring lowest and the more pure Indian- and Chinese-origin macaques resembling each other.

Gene expression patterns of invertase gene families and modulation of the inhibitor gene in tomato sucrose metabolism

Patterns of gene expression in the different types of sucrose metabolism in the tomato are highly variable and heritable. This genetic variation causes considerable functional differences. We examined the patterns of expression of invertase (Inv) gene families and an invertase inhibitor (INH) gene involved in elongating roots, hypocotyls, and fruit of the tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum cv. Micro-Tom and L. chmielewskii) through a real-time quantitative PCR analysis. We found that the Lin6 gene plays an important role in the vegetative growth stage. Lin5 and Lin7 did not express in Micro-Tom, but did express in L. chmielewskii. Overall relative expression levels of sucrose Inv gene families were significantly lower in L. chmielewskii during the reproductive growth stage than in Micro-Tom, being up to hundreds of times lower. It was not expressed in the dissepiment in L. chmielewskii. We suggest that differences in sucrose accumulation in tomato fruit is mainly due to differentially expressed invertase gene families at the later fruit growth stages.

Association of HLA-DRB1 single nucleotide polymorphisms with left ventricular remodelling in elderly patients with essential hypertension

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the associations between human leucocyte antigen DRβ1 (HLA-DRB1) gene polymorphisms and cardiovascular remodelling (left ventricular dilatation [LVD]) in Han Chinese patients ≥ 60 years old, with essential hypertension.

METHODS

LVD was diagnosed via echocardiographic measurements. Multiplex polymerase chain reaction-ligase detection reaction was used to determine the genotypes of three HLA-DRB1 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs; rs2308765, rs9269186 and rs3135388).

RESULTS

HLADRB1 rs2308765 wild-type (G) allele and genotype (GG) were associated with decreased risk of LVD. HLA-DRB1 rs9269186 and rs3135388 were not associated with LVD risk. Mean waist and abdominal circumferences were significantly larger in patients with, compared with those without, LVD. Multivariate logistic regression analyses found that rs2308765 was associated with LVD (GT + TT versus GG; odds ratio 7.958; 95% confidence interval 1.935, 32.723).

CONCLUSIONS

Mutation in HLA-DRB1 rs2308765 was associated with increased risk of LVD in elderly patients with hypertension. Genotype analysis may allow identification of patients at high risk of cardiovascular events such LVD.

136 EFFECTS OF INSULIN-LIKE GROWTH FACTOR I (IGF-1) ON THE DEVELOPMENT AND APOPTOSIS OF PREIMPLANTATION BUFFALO (BUBALUS BUBALIS) EMBRYOS

The aim of this study was to explore the effects of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-1) on the development and apoptosis of preimplantation buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) embryos derived from IVF or somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) in order to improve the quality of in vitro embryo culture (IVC). Buffalo oocytes collected from ovaries at slaughter were cultured in the maturation medium (TCM-199 + 26.2 mmol L–1 NaHCO3 + 5 mmol L–1 HEPES + 5% FBS) for 22–24 h, and fertilized in vitro, or enucleated and reconstructed for SCNT. Embryos were then cultured in the culture medium (CM: TCM-199 + 3% FBS) supplemented with different concentrations of IGF-1. Blastocyst development was evaluated after 7 days of culture. A total of 1566 oocytes were used in this study. The experimental data were analyzed using two-way ANOVA, P < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. The results showed that the cleavage rates of IVF or SCNT embryos cultured with 0, 10, 50, or 100 ng mL–1 IGF-I, were not significantly different (P > 0.05). However, the blastocyst rate of IVF embryos cultured with 50 ng mL–1 IGF-1 was significantly increased compared to the 0 ng mL–1 group (35.1 v. 23.0%; P < 0.05), but not significantly different among the 0, 10, and 100 ng mL–1 groups (23.0 v. 28.2 and 26.5%; P > 0.05). In the same line, more SCNT embryos could develop to the blastocyst stage when cultured in the CM supplemented with 50 ng mL–1 IGF-I by comparison with the 0 ng mL–1 group (32.3 v. 20.2%; P < 0.05), but the blastocyst development decreased with 100 ng mL–1 (32.3 v. 21.4%; P < 0.05). Apoptosis and total cell number (TCN) of IVF/SCNT blastocysts were respectively detected by TUNEL or Hoechst 33342 staining. By comparison with the 0 ng mL–1 group, the TCN of IVF/SCNT blastocysts was significantly increased (IVF: 91.7 ± 6.9 v. 108.7 ± 3.9, SCNT: 76.3 ± 5.6 v. 92.8 ± 3.9; P < 0.05) and the apoptotic index was obviously decreased (IVF: 3.9 ± 0.7 v. 2.5 ± 0.7; 7.2 ± 0.5 v. 2.9 ± 0.5; P < 0.05) when the embryos were cultured in the CM with 50 ng mL–1 IGF-I. The result of RT-qPCR analysis showed that the mRNA expression level of the anti-apoptotic bcl-2 gene was distinctly enhanced, while the mRNA expression level of the pro-apoptotic bax gene was remarkably reduced in IVF/SCNT embryos cultured with 50 ng mL–1 IGF-I by comparison with the 0 ng mL–1 group (P < 0.05). These results demonstrated that supplementing CM with 50 ng mL–1 IGF-1 could improve the developmental competence of buffalo embryos, increase the TCN of blastocysts and decrease their apoptotic index, probably by down-regulating the mRNA level of pro-apoptotic bax gene and up-regulating the mRNA level of anti-apoptotic bcl-2 gene. This work was funded by the China High Technology Development Program (2011AA100607), China Natural Science Foundation (31072033), and Guangxi Science Foundation (2012GXNSFFA060004).

Expressed sequence tag analysis of the emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) pituitary by 454 GS Junior pyrosequencing

Emus (Dromaius novaehollandiae) are farmed for their oil for pharmaceutical and cosmetic uses. This emu pituitary expressed sequence tag study was undertaken to identify novel transcripts in the emu pituitary to propel their identification and functional studies. By mapping reads derived from the Roche 454 GS Junior pyrosequencer to 8 reference species (human, mouse, chicken, zebra finch, fruit fly, turkey, round worm, and Carolina anole lizard) from the UniGene database, a total of 81,788 reads (53,312 mapped reads) were obtained and assembled with Reference Sequence (RefSeq). We annotated 6,676 potential emu genes by referencing 7 species (excluding lizard) and identified 1,232 potential genes common among 3 species (human, mouse, and chicken) with complete available reference genomes. Gene Ontology analysis revealed 376 Gene Ontology terms showing, with the highest counts, their involvements in biological processes, metabolism, and cellular components. These potential genes were detected to associate with 20 pathways including mitogen-activated protein kinase, insulin, neurotrophin signaling pathways, and carbohydrate digestion and absorption pathway. We also revealed a panel of tissue-specific genes including regulator of G-protein signaling protein (RGS), glucagon-like peptide receptor (GLPR), and growth hormone-inducible transmembrane protein (GHITM). Additionally, fatty acid binding protein (FABP), fatty acid desaturase (FAS), and stearoyl-coenzyme A desaturase (SCD), key enzyme genes in fat metabolism, were found to be also expressed in emu pituitary. This expressed sequence tag study represents the first step in functional characterization of emu pituitary gene expression and SNP identification for the improvement of fat production in the emu.

Abstract S2-3: Disparities in the utilization of axillary sentinel lymph node biopsy among black and white patients with node-negative breast cancer from 2002–2007

Background: Disparities exist in many aspects of standard breast cancer treatment in certain patient populations. In the mid-1990s, axillary sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) was introduced as an alternative to axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) for staging clinically node-negative breast cancer. During the early 2000s, the validity of SLNB was being determined and its technique was being disseminated throughout the surgical community. By the mid to late-2000s, SLNB had been shown to provide accurate axillary staging with lower complications and no difference in survival compared to ALND in node-negative patients. SLNB has now replaced ALND as the accepted method for staging early breast cancer. The purpose of this study is to examine differences in the utilization of SLNB in pathologic node-negative invasive black breast cancer patients compared to white patients as SLNB became standard axillary staging and whether this difference impacted patient complications.

Methods: Using the population-based Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare data, cases of incident, non-metastatic, pathologic node-negative breast cancer in women age≥66 were identified. Patients were considered to have undergone SLNB if specified by SEER records or if a billing claim for axillary lymphatic mapping was identified. Unadjusted associations of SLNB with race were evaluated using the chi-square test. The Cochran-Armitage test evaluated trends over time. Multivariate logistic regression tested whether race was associated with the use of SLNB after adjustment for clinicopathologic factors. Five-year cumulative incidence of lymphedema assessed via ICD-9 diagnosis codes was measured using the Kaplan-Meier method. Adjusted proportional hazards regression evaluated assiciations of race and ALND with lymphedema risk.

Results: Of 31,274 women identified, 1,767 (5.7%) were Black, 27,856 (89%) were White and 1,651 (5.3%) were of other/unknown race. SLNB was performed in 74% of white patients compared to 62% of black patients (P&lt;0.001). Although use of SLNB increased by year for both black and white patients (P&lt;0.001), a fixed disparity in the use of SLNB persisted through 2007.

Nonisotopic in situ hybridization and plant genome mapping: the first 10 years

Nonisotopic in situ hybridization (ISH) was introduced in plants in 1985. Since then the technique has been widely used in various areas of plant genome mapping. ISH has become a routine method for physical mapping of repetitive DNA sequences and multicopy gene families. ISH patterns on somatic metaphase chromosomes using tandemly repeated sequences provide excellent physical markers for chromosome identification. Detection of low or single copy sequences were also reported. Genomic in situ hybridization (GISH) was successfully used to analyze the chromosome structure and evolution of allopolyploid species. GISH also provides a powerful technique for monitoring chromatin introgession during interspecific hybridization. A sequential chromosome banding and ISH technique was developed. The sequential technique is very useful for more precise and efficient mapping as well as cytogenetic determination of genomic affinities of individual chromosomes in allopolyploid species. A critical review is made on the present resolution of the ISH technique and the future outlook of ISH research is discussed.

Alloplasmic wheat - Elymus ciliaris chromosome addition lines

Alloplasmic euploid wheat with the cytoplasm of Elymus ciliaris (2n = 4x = 28, ScScYcYc) is male sterile and has reduced vigor. However, alloplasmic plants with E. ciliaris chromosomes 1Sc or 1Yc marked by gliadin genes Gli-Sc1 and Gli-Ycl, respectively, are vigorous and fertile. The Rf genes on 1Sc and 1Yc are named Rf-Sc1 and Rf-Yc1. Two chromosome translocations involving 1Yc were isolated. The first involved the short arm of 1Yc translocated to the short arm of wheat chromosome 3B. The second involved the short arm of 1Yc translocated to the short arm of a chromosome, designated L, of E. ciliaris. The second line also has another E. ciliaris chromosome designated A and lacks wheat chromosome 6A. This line is resistant to Puccinia recondita. The relationship between fertility restoration and nucleolar organizing regions is discussed. Key words : Triticum aestivum, Elymus ciliaris, chromosome addition, Rf genes, nucleolar organizing regions.

[A Meta-Analysis of Platinum Plus Gemcitabine or Vinorelbine for Advanced Non-small Cell Lung Cancer.]

BACKGROUND

Platinum plus the third-generation agent doublet chemotherapy is the standard regimens and first line chemotherapy for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The aim of this study is to determine the benefits and harms of platinum plus gemcitabine or vinorelbine for advanced NSCLC.

METHODS

The databases PubMed, CENTRAL, EMBASE and Chinese Biomedical Literature database were retrieved by using the key words "non small cell lung cancer" or "Carcinoma, Non Small Cell Lung" so as to search the studies about the randomized controlled clinical trials (RCT) that had compared the gemcitabine plus platinum versus vinorelbine plus platinum for advanced NSCLC. A meta-analysis was conducted.

RESULTS

Nine randomized controlled trials, with total 2 186 patients, were included. The overall response rate and one-year survival rate of the gemcitabine group were not significantly different from that of vinorelbine regimen (RR=0.91, 95%CI: 0.81-1.03, P =0.15; RR=1.06, 95%CI: 0.96-1.18, P =0.27, respectively). The incidence rate of grade 3-4 netropenia, constipation, phlebitis and grade 1-4 neuropathy were higher in vinorelbine group, just like higher incidence rate of grade 3-4 thrombocytopenia in the gemcitabine group.

CONCLUSIONS

The curative effects of the gemcitabine or vinorelbine plus platinum regimens are similar. The choice of gemcitabine or vinorelbine depends on the toxicity of the drugs and patients' tolerance.

Sequential chromosome banding and in situ hybridization analysis

Different combinations of chromosome N- or C-banding with in situ hybridization (ISH) or genomic in situ hybridization (GISH) were sequentially performed on metaphase chromosomes of wheat. A modified N-banding-ISH/GISH sequential procedure gave best results. Similarly, a modified C-banding - ISH/GISH procedure also gave satisfactory results. The variation of the hot acid treatment in the standard chromosome N- or C-banding procedures was the major factor affecting the resolution of the subsequent ISH and GISH. By the sequential chromosome banding - ISH/GISH analysis, multicopy DNA sequences and the breakpoints of wheat-alien translocations were directly allocated to specific chromosomes of wheat. The sequential chromosome banding- ISH/GISH technique should be widely applicable in genome mapping, especially in cytogenetic and molecular mapping of heterochromatic and euchromatic regions of plant and animal chromosomes.

Characterization of Hordeum chilense chromosomes by C-banding and in situ hybridization using highly repeated DNA probes

C-banding patterns of Hordeum chilense and of Triticum aestivum 'Chinese Spring' - H. chilense disomic addition lines were analyzed and compared with in situ hybridization patterns using a biotin-labeled highly repetitive Triticum tauschii DNA sequence, pAs1, and a wheat 18S-26S rDNA probe. All seven H. chilense chromosomes pairs and the added H. chilense chromosomes present in the addition lines were identified by their characteristic C-banding pattern. Chromosome morphology and banding patterns were similar to those of the corresponding chromosomes present in the parent H. chilense accession. A C-banded karyotype of the added H. chilense chromosomes was constructed and chromosome lengths, arm ratios, and relative length, as compared with chromosome 3B, were determined. The probe pAs1 was found to hybridize to specific areas on telomeres and interstitial sites along the chromosomes, allowing the identification of all seven pairs of the H. chilense chromosomes. Comparison of the patterns of distribution of the hybridization sites of clone pAs1 in the T. tauschii and H. chilense chromosomes was carried out by in situ hybridization on somatic metaphase chromosomes of the HchHchDD amphiploid. In situ hybridization using the 18S-26S rDNA probe confirmed that the H. chilense chromosomes 5Hch and 6Hch were carrying nucleolus organizer regions. The results are discussed on the basis of phylogenetic relationships between D and Hch genomes.

Isolation and characterisation of Chrysanthemum crassum SOS1, encoding a putative plasma membrane Na(+) /H(+) antiporter

A full-length cDNA homologue of SOS1 (salt overly sensitive 1) was isolated from the salinity-tolerant species Chrysanthemum crassum and found to encode a Na(+) /H(+) antiporter, using degenerate PCR and RACE-PCR. The 3752-bp sequence comprised a 3438 bp open reading frame, encoding a 127-kDa protein with 12 transmembrane domains within its N terminal portion, and a hydrophilic cytoplasmic tail in its C-terminal portion. CcSOS1 appears to be a plasma membrane protein, and shares ∼62% identity at the peptide level with its Arabidopsis thaliana homologue. Expression of CcSOS1 in the roots of C. crassum was sensitive to salinity stress, while in the leaves CcSOS1 was down-regulated in the presence of abscisic acid. CcSOS1 transcript abundance was reduced in both roots and leaves of plants exposed to low temperature, while it was increased in leaves (but not in roots) after drought stress. CcSOS1 expression was not regulated in the presence of CaCl2 . A heterologous complementation assay in yeast suggested that CcSOS1 directs Na(+) efflux, mimicking the function of the endogenous NHA1 protein. Thus CcSOS1 appears to encode a salinity-inducible plasma membrane Na(+) /H(+) antiporter. This gene may be useful in transgenic approaches to improving the salinity tolerance of related ornamental species.