Two complementary genes in a presence-absence variation contribute to indica-japonica reproductive isolation in rice.

Understanding the evolutionary forces in speciation is a central goal in evolutionary biology. Asian cultivated rice has two subspecies, indica and japonica, but the underlying mechanism of the partial reproductive isolation between them remains obscure. Here we show a presence-absence variation (PAV) at the Se locus functions as an indica-japonica reproductive barrier by causing hybrid sterility (HS) in indica-japonica crosses. The locus comprises two adjacent genes: ORF3 encodes a sporophytic pollen killer, whereas ORF4 protects pollen in a gametophytic manner. In F1 of indica-japonica crosses, pollen with the japonica haplotype, which lacks the sequence containing the protective ORF4, is aborted due to the pollen-killing effect of ORF3 from indica. Evolutionary analysis suggests ORF3 is a gene associated with the Asian cultivated rice species complex, and the PAV has contributed to the reproductive isolation between the two subspecies of Asian cultivated rice. Our analyses provide perspectives on rice inter-subspecies post-zygotic isolation, and will promote efforts to overcome reproductive barriers in indica-japonica hybrid rice breeding.

Ameliorative effect of ferruginol on isoprenaline hydrochloride-induced myocardial infarction in rats.

Cardiovascular-related diseases continue to be a leading cause of death globally. Among ischemic-induced cardiac diseases, myocardial infarction (MI) is reported to be of an alarming value. Despite numerous improvements in the medical intrusions, still this armamentarium fails to be effective in managing the illness without setbacks. Ferruginol (FGL) is a major polyphenols and terpenoids with numerous pharmacological activities including antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. Following, this work was aimed to explore the cardio protective effect of FGL (50 mg/kg) in isoprenaline hydrochloride (ISO)-induced MI in experimental rats. After treatment with FGL in ISO-induced MI in rats, noticeable changes were observed in the experimental rats. Injection of ISO to rats resulted in the augmented cardiac weight, serum cardiac markers (creatine kinase, creatine kinase-MB, cardiac troponin T, and Cardiac troponin I), lipid peroxidation end products (thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance and lipid hydroperoxides), reduced endogenous antioxidants (superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, and glutathione), reduced ATPase activity, and escalated pro-inflammatory cytokines (interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α, and nuclear factor-κB) levels. Interestingly, the FGL supplementation to the ISO-treated rats revealed the diminished heart weight, reduced cardiac markers, and lipid peroxidation. FGL also possessed the improved antioxidants status and diminished pro-inflammatory mediator levels. The outcomes of histological analysis also evidenced the cardio protective role of FGL. Treatment with FGL reduced the cardiac damage biomarkers maintained to near normal levels in ISO-induced rats. These study findings disclose the prospective capability of FGL in the treatment of MI in the future.

Anticancer Properties of Different Solvent Extracts of Cucumis melo L. Seeds and Whole Fruit and Their Metabolite Profiling Using HPLC and GC-MS.

Honeydew melon (Cucumis melo L.) is an oval-shaped delicious fruit of one cultivar group of the muskmelon with immense nutritional importance and is extensively consumed by many tropical countries. The effect of various organic solvents on the recovery of phytochemicals from honeydew melon plant fruits and seeds was assessed. Further, High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) was used to examine and assess the contents of phenolic acid (gallic acid) and flavonoid (rutin) compounds. The use of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis explained the presence of volatile phytocompounds in the extracts. The use of organic solvents had a substantial impact on the total dry weight and extract yield. In general, the solvent-extracted constituents remained in the order of methanol>chloroform>distilled water for both honeydew melon seeds and whole fruit. 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) was used to assess the cytotoxicity effect against PC3, HCT116, HeLa, and Jurkat cell lines. The chloroform extract exhibited a good cytotoxic activity against all cell lines as compared to other solvent extracts. HPLC analysis revealed the occurrence of gallic acid content of 0.102 ± 0.23 mg/10 mg of dry whole fruit extract, while 10 mg of dry seed extract contained only 0.022 ± 0.12 mg of gallic acid content. Likewise, rutin content was observed to be 0.224 ± 0.31 mg and 0.1916 ± 0.82 mg/10 mg of dry whole fruit and seed extract, respectively. Further, GC-MS analysis revealed the presence of a total of 37 compounds in chloroform extract of whole fruit, while only 14 compounds were found in seed extract. Nevertheless, more examinations are needed to identify and characterize other metabolites from honeydew melon and evaluate their pharmacological importance.

The diversity of coral associated bacteria and the environmental factors affect their community variation.

Coral associated bacterial community potentially has functions relating to coral health, nutrition and disease. Culture-free, 16S rRNA based techniques were used to compare the bacterial community of coral tissue, mucus and seawater around coral, and to investigate the relationship between the coral-associated bacterial communities and environmental variables. The diversity of coral associated bacterial communities was very high, and their composition different from seawater. Coral tissue and mucus had a coral associated bacterial community with higher abundances of Gammaproteobacteria. However, bacterial community in seawater had a higher abundance of Cyanobacteria. Different populations were also found in mucus and tissue from the same coral fragment, and the abundant bacterial species associated with coral tissue was very different from those found in coral mucus. The microbial diversity and OTUs of coral tissue were much higher than those of coral mucus. Bacterial communities of corals from more human activities site have higher diversity and evenness; and the structure of bacterial communities were significantly different from the corals collected from other sites. The composition of bacterial communities associated with same coral species varied with season's changes, geographic differences, and coastal pollution. Unique bacterial groups found in the coral samples from more human activities location were significant positively correlated to chemical oxygen demand. These coral specific bacteria lead to coral disease or adjust to form new function structure for the adaption of different surrounding needs further research.

Inhibition of autophagy enhances apoptosis induced by proteasome inhibitor bortezomib in human glioblastoma U87 and U251 cells.

Glioblastoma is the most aggressive cerebral gliomas. Despite advances in therapies, the prognosis is still very poor. Therefore, novel therapeutic strategies are required. As a proteasome inhibitor, bortezomib has shown its efficacy as an active antitumor agent against a variety of tumors. However, inhibition of proteasome activity leads to cell death and also induces cell autophagy, and due to the dual roles of autophagy in the survival and death of tumor cells, the effect of inhibition of autophagy on glioblastoma cells remains to be explored. We therefore assessed whether bortezomib is capable of inducing autophagy, and investigated the antitumor effect of bortezomib combined with autophagy inhibitors on human glioblastoma U251 and U87 cells. Cell viability was measured by MTT assay. The expressions of autophagy and apoptosis-related proteins were determined by Western blot analysis. U251 and U87 cells proliferation was inhibited in a dose-dependent manner. Both apoptosis and autophagy induced by bortezomib were observed in human glioblastoma U87 and U251 cells. However, when U251 and U87 cells were co-treated with bortezomib and autophagy inhibitors 3-MA or Atg7 siRNA, the autophagy inhibitors blocked the autophagy in the cells and resulted in a further inhibition of cell proliferation and a further increase in cell apoptosis as compared with that treated with bortezomib alone. These findings indicated that combination of bortezomib and autophagy inhibitors may shed new light on glioblastoma treatment.