Transcriptomic analysis of Amaranthus retroflex resistant to PPO-inhibitory herbicides

Amaranthus retroflexus L. is one of the malignant weeds which can cause a reduction in the soybean yield. We found a population of A. retroflexus (R-Q) resistant to fomesafen through the initial screening of whole-plant dose response bioassay in the research. The resistance index of the population (R-Q) was 183 times of the sensitive population (S-N). The resistant and sensitive populations were used as experimental materials in the paper. Strand-specific RNA-Seq analyses of R‒Q and S‒N populations obtained from herbicide-treated and mock-treated leaf samples after treatment were conducted to generate a full-length transcriptome database. We analyzed differentially expressed genes (DEGs) among the R-Q and S‒N A. retroflexus populations treated with recommended dose and mock-treated on the 1st (24 h) and 3rd (72 h) days to identify genes involved in fomesafen resistance. All 82,287 unigenes were annotated by Blastx search with E-value < 0.00001 from 7 databases. A total of 94,815 DEGs among the three group comparisons were identified. Two nuclear genes encoding PPO (PPX1 and PPX2) and five unigenes belonging to the AP2-EREBP, GRAS, NAC, bHLH and bZIP families exhibited different expression patterns between individuals of S‒N and R-Q populations. The A. retroflexus transcriptome and specific transcription factor families which can respond to fomesafen in resistant and susceptible genotypes were reported in this paper. The PPX1 and PPX2 genes of the target enzyme were identified. The study establishes the foundation for future research and provides opportunities to manage resistant weeds better.

MicroRNA-760 inhibits the biological progression of colorectal carcinoma by directly targeting FOXA1 and regulating epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and PI3K/AKT signaling pathway

OBJECTIVE

Colorectal carcinoma (CRC) is one of the most common factors for tumor-associated mortalities globally. In recent years, microRNAs (miRNAs) have been identified as novel therapeutic biomarkers for cancer treatment. The purpose of the current study was to unravel the clinical significance and underlying molecular mechanisms of miR-760 in CRC progression.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Fifty-four pairs of CRC tissue samples and adjacent para-carcinoma tissue samples were collected from CRC patients who underwent surgical resection. We measured miR-760 expressions in CRC using quantitative Real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analysis. MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) assays and transwell assays were performed to determine the functions of miR-760 in CRC cell proliferation, invasion and migration. Dual-luciferase reporter assays and Western blots were used to investigate the underlying molecular mechanisms. Moreover, the association between miR-760 expressions and clinicopathological features was analyzed.

RESULTS

In this study, the results showed that the down-regulated miR-760 expressions were related to the poor prognosis and malignant clinicopathologic features of CRC patients. Furthermore, functional assays revealed that miR-760 restoration obviously suppressed CRC cell proliferation, migration and invasion through modulating phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/ protein kinase B (PI3K/AKT) pathway and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). FOXA1 was also considered as a functional target of miR-760 in CRC cells. Furthermore, miR-760 up-regulation also significantly repressed tumorigenesis in vivo.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggested that miR-760 exerted cancer-suppressive functions in CRC, providing a therapeutic strategy for CRC treatment.

[Analysis of 100 cesarean section with indication of cephalopelvic disproportion]

A retrospective analysis on the 100 cases cesarean section with indication of cephalopelvic disproportion was carried out in Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, From March to October in 1992, there were 73 cases were performed operation with correct diagnosis and management, another 27 cases were required further discussion, such as too early intervention of the delivery in laten phase in 8 cases, improper observation and management in active phase in 19 cases. Therefore we suggest that the diagnosis of cephalopelvic disproportion should be carefully after observation in labor stage and sufficiently trials of labor. It may decrease the rate of cesarean section and increase the obstetric quality.

Calcium supplementation during pregnancy for reducing pregnancy induced hypertension

Pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH) is a common complication in pregnancy and prenatal stage. Because the direct and indirect relationship between low calcium intake and many diseases, such as rachitis, young age myopia and hypertension, calcium supplementation has been a hot topic among nutritionists. Randomized trials of calcium supplementation during pregnancy were conducted in 212 healthy primipara. They were divided into 4 groups and gave 120mg, 240mg, 1g or 2g of calcium daily from 20 to 28 wks of gestation up to delivery respectively. As a result, the incidence of PIH was 8.9%, 7.5%, 8% and 4% respectively in these groups. The control group (106 pregnant women) who did not receive calcium gave an incidence of 18%. Supplementation of 2g of calcium daily showed significant results in lowering the incidence of PIH (P < 0.05) without any adverse effects. In 1992 calcium supplementation was widely used in antenatal-clinic. 200 cases with intake of 2g calcium were compared with corresponding non-calcium supplementation cases, and the incidence of PIH was 7.5% and 16.5% (P < 0.005) respectively. Mediating parathyroid hormone and renin activity are thought to be the effect of calcium on decreasing the incidence of PIH.